Claire looked up. "I'm here to find out who taught her that this was acceptable."
Nobody spoke. Then the airport's secure system beeped again. A new alert appeared on the monitor. Robert read it. His face slowly lost its color. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED. Below it was another line. SUBJECT: DANIEL CROSS
Daniel looked at the screen. For the first time that morning, the calm expression disappeared from his face. Because the system had just reported something impossible. Someone else was already logged into the airport network... using his identity. And the access had been granted from somewhere inside Terminal Four. Daniel looked toward the restricted corridor. Then toward Robert. "Lock the terminal."
Robert stared. "What?"
"Now."
"Why?"
Daniel's eyes remained fixed on the screen. "Because whoever is using my credentials..."
He paused. "...knows exactly where I am."
And somewhere deep beneath the airport, a hidden server came online. A single message appeared on its screen. WELCOME BACK, DANIEL. Then another:
WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU. Robert Kline did not move. For several seconds, he simply stared at the monitor. The warning remained on the screen. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED
SUBJECT: DANIEL CROSS
ACCESS ORIGIN: TERMINAL FOUR
Then, beneath it, another line appeared. ACTIVE SESSION: 01
Robert swallowed. "That can't be right."
Daniel stood beside him. "Why?"
"Because your credentials are physically locked to your executive card."
Daniel looked at the black access card on the counter. "Then someone has cloned it."
Robert shook his head. "That shouldn't be possible."
Daniel gave him a calm look. "Neither should someone accessing my account from inside a terminal while I'm standing here."
Claire stepped closer. "What does this mean?"
Robert Kline reached for a pen while the OMEGA notice flashed on the monitor. Daniel stopped him. “Write the time,” he said. “Not what you think it means.” Robert wrote 9:31. “Now write who touched the keyboard.” Claire began to protest, but Daniel raised a hand. “This isn't a trial. It is the first accurate record we have.” The security message changed from red to blue for a fraction of a second. Daniel saw a familiar sequence: B-L-0-7. The same sequence appeared beside three elderly passengers in the notebook. Robert did not recognize it. Claire did. Her face changed, and Daniel understood that her earlier arrogance might be hiding something more useful than shame. “Where have you seen that code?” he asked. Claire looked toward the closed duty-office door. “On the weekly performance sheet,” she whispered. “We're told it means a resolved case.”
Robert turned toward her. "It means someone is using his identity."
Daniel corrected him. "Not just my identity."
Robert looked confused. Daniel pointed toward the screen. "They've accessed an executive-level account."
The monitor refreshed. A list appeared. GATE CONTROL
PASSENGER DATABASE