Disclaimer : You'll have to re-read Chapter 1 for it.
Keep up the reviews folks...and for the Tiva fans, there's a little something comin' up for soon, I promise!
Chapter 13
"Has anyone informed the Canadian Embassy?" Roxane asked.
"We want to wait until this is solved." Gibbs said.
"Can't we just say he's disappeared? No need to say he's dead, right?" She asked.
"It might make his killer nervous…think that maybe the job wasn't done properly." Ziva thought.
Roxane nodded.
"Give it a few days and then say he's been found. Put him in ICU at a hospital." Roxane suggested.
"This isn't a movie, Roxane. We can't just put an agent in a darkened hospital room and then catch the bad guys in the act." Gibbs replied gently.
"Why not?" Roxane propped her blue jean clad legs up on McGee's desk and stared at the photo's of the crime scene.
Gibbs was impressed with her ability to remain calm and seemingly detached at the bloody photos.
"Because who ever did this is a professional and knows that Reed was killed." Gibbs explained. "But I suppose if we say that he disappeared, the killer will think that Sara hid the body."
"Does that make her a target?" Tim asked, worry etched on his face..
"Getting involved with a suspect, Probie?" Tony taunted. Gibbs questioned his own self on that matter as his eyes settled on Roxane.
She watched the interaction of the two younger males with interest. Gibbs noted that she had changed into much more casual clothing now that she was off work. Still, though, who knew blue jeans, a black t-shirt, black loafers and pony tail could be so appealing. He caught the flashing of the silver chain around her neck…her very kissable looking neck, he noted.
"It's infinity." She said, catching him staring.
"What?" Gibbs asked, choking down a bite of pizza.
"The necklace. It's the symbol of infinity."
"Why?"
"To remind me that all things come to an end. Infinity is theoretical, but improbable. Nothing lasts forever…and I need to live each day to its fullest."
"Inspirational." Gibbs said.
"Not really…just a helpful hint on how to live life." Roxane shrugged. She looked over at Ziva who was watching them. "How did the interviews go with the Canadian military personnel?"
Ziva grabbed the remote from Gibbs' desk and walked up to the screen.
"Private Robert Marque. Nervous." She stated.
"He's a kid, Ziva." Gibbs countered.
"Age does not matter when it comes to acts of violence. Says he thought Captain Reed and Ms. McLean were spending the day together, as well. Had to practically drag the word 'sex' out of his mouth." She flipped to the next military picture.
"Corporal Catharine DeSalle." Roxane, looking at the photo, affected a french accent in saying the woman's name. "She is an outstanding officer…great fit test, excels in examinations, fluent in four languages, masters degree in computer science from McGill University in Montreal."
"Why she is in the military then?" Tony asked.
"She muttered something about 'Les Bleus de Business Man' to us." Ziva shrugged.
Roxane smiled.
"Something amusing about that?" Gibbs asked.
"It's a song…'Les Bleus de Business Man'. Can't remember who sang it." Roxane grinned. "But it's about the life a corporate man, consumed by corporate jets, life without a real home, being solitary...and discovers that life just isn't quite complete."
"Sounds like she was talking about you." Ziva suggested.
"No…herself." Roxane replied. "Scroll down. You can see that she was part of the corporate world for a few years upon completion of her masters. Guess she decided that she wanted to make a difference in the world and being part of my world wasn't the way to do it."
Ziva looked at her friend.
"And besides…I like being solitary, Ziva. This girl was made for corporate jets." Roxane smiled contentedly and stretched.
Gibbs wondered what was hiding behind that smile. The eyes just didn't seem to equal the upward turned mouth of Ziva's friend.
Ziva flipped to the next picture.
"Corporal Henry Smith." Ziva announced. "He was at the lab all night. Security confirmed it."
Roxane frowned.
"Problem?" Gibbs asked. While his ears listened to his team, he realized that his gaze never left the blonde woman.
"I had a phone conversation with Ferdinand yesterday morning regarding the status of the project…you know, a timeline update. He had me on speaker phone as usual. Said this allowed him to talk to me while continuing to work." Roxane's frown deepened. "I had difficulty hearing him at one point and asked what the shouting was in the background. He said something to do with Smith and Reed arguing over some computer protocols. I asked him to either pick up the phone to talk with me or to ask them to take their discussion elsewhere. Rather than stop them, he picked up the phone. It surprised me…that he would stop working rather than stop them."
Gibbs nodded, storing the information for later. Van Werther would be questioned again.
"Last but not least, Captain Emilie Payette." Ziva announced.
"What's her story?" Tony asked.
"She is part of the don't-ask-don't-tell regime." Roxane offered.
"Too bad." Tony said, eyeing the soft hazel eyes, pouting mouth and light brown hair of the Captain.
"All about women's independence, women's equality, women in general." Roxane shrugged. "She's her own pride parade and women's rights advocate rolled into one. Knows her shit though."
"How so?"
"She came up with the idea of tying in the countermeasures into the main program so that the simm will determine the next course of action based on the participants' reactions rather than a people-controlled base." Roxane replied.
The team frowned at her. Only Tim's frown looked more like trying to understand the tie-in versus understanding what she had just said.
"Okay, let me put it this way. I'm not a computer expert, either, but I guess I understand the aspects of the program more than an outsider." Roxane suggested gently. "In most simulations, the participants conduct their exercise based on variables set up and controlled by a control base. People program in the variables and the participants conduct their exercise. Based on how the participants perform, the control base will determine which additional variables to throw at them. Like a flight simulation...perfect landing conditions, now we'll throw a thunderstorm at them, now we'll throw sudden cabin depressurization at them, and so on.
"Captain Payette wanted to develop a totally computerized system…where the program would determine additional variables and countermeasures dependent on the participants' actions. And it would remember past actions…it would, in essence, learn about the rats in the maze and adjust the maze…and rewards…accordingly."
"Wouldn't this allow you to sell the program outside of this contract?" Tim piped up.
Roxane nodded.
"If successful, the computer simulation would be marketable to almost any nation. We would just need to program in the military numbers, weapons, countermeasure offences, past history of attacks…basic stuff."
"But then a country could simulate an invasion on another country." Tim realized.
Roxane nodded sadly.
"Computer-wise, it'll be brilliant if it works. Unfortunately, if it falls into the wrong hands…"
"Don't we need some form of clearance level to be hearing this?" Gibbs asked.
Roxane shook her head.
"Unfortunately, with I.I. being a private-company, and the initial scope of the project with the militaries, no security clearance restrictions were provided beyond the actual coding. The scope and objectives of the project are public knowledge."
"So, someone could have wanted Reed to provide them with the coding." Gibbs thought outloud.
"But why kill him?" Roxane asked.
"Perhaps he wouldn't cooperate." Tony offered as he grabbed another slice of pizza.
"Or perhaps he cooperated enough and had outlived his usefulness." Ziva counter-offerred.
"Is there any way to find out if any coding has been copied or downloaded to an external source?" Tim asked.
Roxane shrugged. "I don't know. Like I said, I'm not a computer expert…but I'm fairly certain that I.I. takes extreme measures when it comes to these things."
Gibbs stood up.
"Call it a night. We'll head back to I.I. tomorrow morning." He announced.
"Can I help in some way?" Roxane asked.
Gibbs thought for a moment.
"Lansing Corp is the customer in all of this, right?" Gibbs asked.
Roxane nodded. It was technically the miltary, but Lansing, as the middle man, was the direct customer.
"Can you ask for some form of report showing the flow of coding…if it's been copied or downloaded, even if only for internal purposes?"
Roxane gnawed on her bottom lip. Gibbs found the process fascinating and watched as white teeth worked on the lower lip. He was turning into a horny old man, he thought to himself.
"I think so." Roxane replied, unseeing to the scrutiny she was under. "I might even be able to get them to tell me who was downloading and who was uploading. If there are gaps…copied onto a memory stick, for example, but never transferred to an internal computer. Do you think that this all about technological espionage?"
"It's an angle." Tony replied for the team.
"And right now the only one we have." Ziva said.
"Come on. I'll walk you out this time." Gibbs offered. "You guys clean up and be back here for oh-six-hundred tomorrow."