Page 52 of Wild Fever
"I guess we'll know if she's dying in the next day or so.”
The commotion must have rousted Piper out of bed. She staggered into the galley a few moments later with tousled hair and bleary eyes from staring at a computer screen for the last 24 hours. "What's for breakfast?”
"There are breakfast tacos in the freezer, or I can grill something up for you," I said.
"Isn't this an all-inclusive resort?"
I chuckled. "I guess so."
"I'll take French toast, bacon, and hash browns, thank you very much."
I smiled. "Coming right up.”
I hadn't seen Piper without makeup before. She looked a little different without the heavy eyeliner—all natural and wholesome. She wore a T-shirt and boxers and took a seat at the breakfast nook.
I grabbed the fixings and went to town. I figured I’d make some for everybody while we were here. Nothing like a second breakfast.
"Making any progress on the encryption?"
"I’ve had a program running all night, trying to crack it. But honestly, a brute force attack could take years. I’ve been digging around the dark web to see if I can find a leaked encryption key. They’re using a proprietary encryption layer on top of SM4. But it looks like a debug feature was left in during testing. There is a commented-out block in the code. That might be a way in.”
“In English.”
“Looks like a dev left a diagnostic backdoor. It happens a lot with proprietary encryption algorithms.”
"Can you get in?”
Piper shrugged. "Given enough time." She looked around. "Speaking of, where is the guest of honor?"
"I'm not exactly sure,” I said in a hesitant voice.
Piper huffed. "So, I'm working my ass off for nothing?"
"Not for nothing. We need to find out what's in that data, and why Yan was killed.” After a pause, I said, "And Kara will be back."
Piper scoffed and rolled her eyes.
32
Idid a little digging on the Internet after we ate. As it turns out, Dr. Cameron had one successful patient who was put into stasis for 30 days, then resuscitated.
One!
Jason Marlowe’s breakthrough was the cornerstone of their entire business operation. After multiple promising primate trials, Jason was the first human to successfully undergo cryogenic suspension and survive. The milestone allowed the company to generate massive publicity. Despite what Dr. Cameron had said, an IPO was in the works, and analysts rated it highly.
A little further digging, and I discovered that Jason had died a month after he'd been thawed. A massive heart attack dropped him in his tracks at a convenience store. Dr. Cameron maintained that cryogenic suspension did not influence his cardiovascular disease one way or the other. He was quoted as saying, "I'm deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Jason Marlowe. He will go down in history as the first cryonaught,traveling where no human has gone before. His bravery paved the way for the next generation to thrive and ultimately defeat death and disease.”
I would have liked to interview him to get the full scoop. I still wasn't sold on the concept.
We set out to find Elias while Piper continued work on the encryption. Thorne Wentworth and Associates was located in the Parker-Harrison building on Tidal Terrace.
Even though it was a relatively small operation, they took the entire top floor of the building. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the beach and the teal water beyond. After stepping through floor-to-ceiling glass doors with their name etched into the glass, we were greeted by a spacious lounge with leather couches, flatscreen displays, a minibar, a coffeemaker, and snacks. A cute receptionist sat behind a large marble desk, greeting clients as they stepped in.
"Morning, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"
I flashed my badge and made introductions. "We're here to see Elias Thorne.”
"Do you have an appointment?”
