Ray Brown is the chief architect of the Atlas operating
system. He's brilliant and fundamentally decent, but also a drunk and a misfit.
Unfortunately, he's the only thing standing between Dianne Morgan and
the devastation of an
unprepared, unsuspecting nation.
Here's the e-mail Ray plans to release if he is captured
or killed:
While working on the next release of the Atlas
operating system, I discovered PeaceMaker, a lethal computer virus, and
I have decided to do everything in my power to defeat it and expose the
people who developed it. I’m scared, and I thought about walking
away from it. I can’t do that. Since you received this
message, I must have failed.
I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s the
story. Humiliated by the federal government in an anti-trust trial
that tore apart her software company, CEO Dianne Morgan has become
obsessed with a plan to unleash PeaceMaker and shut down computer
systems across the world. She is determined to crush the global
economy unless the nations of the world agree to share power with the
Domain, the clandestine organization she leads. She recruited some
of the best computer scientists in the world into the Domain and these
people developed PeaceMaker.
Before we go any further, I have to admit Dianne
and I were lovers several years ago, and she left me because I could not
control my drinking problem. I have been clean for six years and I
attend AA meetings most weeks, so I have it pretty much under control.
I’m working on a method of destroying the virus,
but it’s going to take some time. Dianne has already murdered one of my
associates because he discovered PeaceMaker, and now she has agents
watching everything I do. In case she gets to me before I can attack
PeaceMaker, I created this time-delayed message to alert you to the
danger. Unless I reschedule this message every day, it will be
sent as a warning to you. Since you are reading this, I must have
been captured or killed. In addition to my best friend Paul
Martino and me, Dianne knows that you are also aware of PeaceMaker.
So it's up to you and Paul.
One last thing – there is a mysterious third force
that has discovered PeaceMaker and plans to attack the Domain. I
don’t know who they are, but Dianne has made a lot of enemies over the
years.
Paul is the one person you can trust, if he's still
alive . God, I hope he's okay -- I dragged him into this mess.
Please contact him immediately, but make sure your
communications line isn't bugged.
And watch out for Dianne.
Ray Brown
Chief Software Architect, Atlas Operating System
“Ray is a complex, driven man whose
passion for work matches a passion for alcohol. His anguish over his
failures with wife and sons is compelling. Dianne is more enigmatic but
fascinating.” ----- Jeanette Cottrell, Reviewer, eBook Reviews Weekly,
Author of Sliding on Rainbows
“Enter Ray Brown, a software expert with a few demons of his own,
namely his alcoholism which has already destroyed his marriage and
alienated him from his two young sons, whom he longs to be a good
father to. Ray and Dianne shared a passionate relationship in the
past, which now threatens to reignite as he is drawn back into her
mysterious world, and when he discovers the existence of PeaceMaker,
and Dianne's true motives behind it, his world becomes filled with
danger and intrigue.” ----- Marie Jones, Reviewer, Bookideas.com
