Message-ID: <56492asstr$1188277802@assm.asstr-mirror.org> X-Original-To: ckought69@hotmail.com Delivered-To: ckought69@hotmail.com X-Original-Message-ID: <bea0ef5d0708271158i4fc9bc9dra595746e6a6dba70@mail.gmail.com> From: "Victor Echo" <victor.echo@gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline X-ASSTR-Original-Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:58:05 -0400 Subject: {ASSM} Luci - Chapter 6 (MF+, anal, cheat?, food, tech, slow, rom....etc, etc, etc.) Lines: 1337 Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 01:10:02 -0400 Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail Approved: <assm@asstr-mirror.org> Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d X-Archived-At: <URL:http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/Year2007/56492> X-Moderator-Contact: ASSTR ASSM moderation <story-ckought69@hotmail.com> X-Story-Submission: <ckought69@hotmail.com> X-Moderator-ID: newsman, dennyw (c) 2007 Victor Echo This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's disturbed imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, undead or mostly harmless, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Author's note: Greetings and my humblest apologies for the delay. No, I did not die, but I have been really tied around the axle in the real world which kind of gets in the way of my fantasy life. Thanks for reading and thank you for your comments. I am also online at http://storiesonline.net/auth/Victor_Echo Chapter 6 Even in a king size bed, four people can get a little crowded and we really did not get much sleep. At some point both Fay and I were awake long enough for her to tell me that Ellen was over at Chloe's and I had to get them to school. That would also give Luci and Nikki time to get to work before me. Fay got up and got dressed and Nikki and Luci followed suit leaving the bathroom to me. I showered and got dressed and was out the door to get Ellen and Chloe to school before I headed for work. I took the long way, stopped for coffee and walked in the door a little after 9. Maureen was waiting at the elevator as I walked up and we were alone in the lobby. "Good morning, Maureen. Ready for another day in the salt mine?" I asked. Regardless of the small amount of sleep I had gotten, I was feeling pretty good. "Good morning, Gary," she replied looking well scrubbed and rested. "You are looking good this morning. I don't think I remember you wearing a suit two days in a row." "Miracles occasionally happen," I responded. In truth, I had been planning to wear casual pants and a polo shirt, but when I got up, someone, or a group of someones had laid out my clothes for the day. They had chosen a grey herringbone double breasted suit, striped shirt and patterned tie and braces and a pair of black thong style underwear that I would have sworn I did not buy. Come to think of it, I do not remember buying the shirt, tie or braces. Maureen was wearing a grey pinstripe suit, the skirt falling just above her knee. She had decided to forgo a shell today and her cleavage was quite visible. "Aren't you afraid of causing a riot?" I asked as we got on the elevator. She pushed the button for the 15th floor and turned to me, as the door closed, slinging her purse and briefcase behind her, and cupped her breasts through her jacket. "Me? A riot? With theses little things?" she said with a sultry voice. "You are right," I replied after a moment of thought. "Riot is too slight a reaction." She was squeezing them for my benefit. "Careful, your bra might give out from the increased strain and then what would you do?" She seemed to think about that for a moment. Then, "Why, I guess I would just have to have you help me pick out a new one." The bell dinged and the door opened on 15 and she stepped out. "See you shortly?" she asked, holding the door. "I have to deal with Patricia first, so maybe not before lunch." "If you are done before lunch, I get to take you to lunch, deal?" "You're on," I said as she nodded and let go of the door. I pressed the button for the 4th floor and went back down to my office. Luci and Nikki had been in for close to an hour before me. Nikki was on her way out of my office as I rounded the corner. "There you are," she said turning to return with me to my office. I followed behind her and into my office. It looked like chaos itself had opened up in the middle of the floor. I looked at Nikki and then at Luci. They were wearing casual pants and shirts. Luci was wearing blue cotton with a red polo and Nikki was wearing tan wool and a navy blue scoop neck shirt that just hinted at her cleavage. Her breasts looked bigger today and she just smirked at my observation. "So what's happening, or should I ask, what happened?" I asked, looking at the chaos. My office was fairly organized when I left it last night and now there were books strewn everywhere. As far as I could tell, there was nothing broken or damaged, but I was not prepared to say there was nothing missing. "Eric happened," said Luci with a grimace. "Jerry wants to see you and so does Mike," Nikki continued. "In what order?" I asked. Both ladies looked puzzled. "Who wants to see me first, Jerry or Mike," I asked clarifying myself. "Actually, I think they are both in Jerry's office, waiting for you." Luci finished. She was sitting on a stool I use at the workbench. "Anything broken?" I asked taking another look around. "Not that I can tell," Luci said, "but Mike also told us not to touch anything until he said so, just keep an eye on the place." "Can I put my coat in your office then?" I asked Luci. Both Nikki and Luci nodded to my request and I turned and walked out the door. I was in a slow burn and it did not bode well for the rest of the day. I put my topcoat over the back of Luci's chair and fished my email unit out of my briefcase and clipped it to my belt. I might as well leave the briefcase here I thought. I wrote a quick note to Patricia saying I was detained by Security and would be up shortly. I let Nikki and Luci know I was with Jerry, then Patricia and then who knew. Anyone needing me was to call me. I walked over to Jerry's office. "Good morning, Jerry," I said walking in the door. "I see Tuesday has become the new Monday. Morning Mike," I said taking Mike's hand. Neither gentleman looked happy. "Shall I close the door?" I asked, turning to do just that. Neither of them stopped me. "You've seen your office," Mike started. "Yes, I have. But I don't recall leaving it that messy last night. I must have really been tired." I was making light of the situation. At least Jerry smirked at my comments. "You didn't," Mike responded. "We had a breach of security last night around midnight." Mike went on to tell me that Eric, who had been laid-off as part of the over all reorganization, something I did not know anything about, had come back later with a key card that was still activated and decided that I was to blame for him being out of work. One of the security patrols had caught him in the act (we had security patrols?) and as of right now he was cooling his heals at the local police station on charges of unlawful entry and willful destruction of property. "The police evidence unit will be by later this morning to photograph and fingerprint," Mike finished up. "Then you can put it back together and see if anything is missing. Would you know if anything was missing?" Mike was being funny! "Yes, believe it or not, I would. Fortunately I had my laptop with me and I secured the PDAs last week in the storage locker in the server room." "That is good news," Jerry said for the first time. There was a knock on the door and since I was closest, I reached around and opened it. Patricia was standing there and she did not look happy. She invited herself in. "Good morning, Mike, Jerry," she said to each in turn. "Do you have this under control?" she asked looking at Mike, who I would swear looked a little frightened for just a moment before she continued, "because I really need to get Gary's paperwork going or Craig will throw me out on the street." She smiled a little as she said it. "He is all yours Patricia," Mike said. "I just wanted to brief him on what was happening." "Quite proper," she responded. Turning to me, she said, "Gary, if you will," indicating the door and the fact that I was to precede her out. "I guess that is my cue. If you find my roller skates, sent them up to 15 will you?" I asked as I left at quick walk. So quick in fact that I actually left Patricia behind and had to slow down for her to catch up. She was wearing a long grey pleated skirt that flowed as she moved and a purple silk blouse with gold buttons. She looked quite lovely and I told her so as we got onto the elevator. "How can you not be furious?" she asked rounding on me. For an answer, I simply stepped into her and kissed her. She resisted momentarily and then gave in and kissed me back. We were interrupted by the ding and doors opening. I extracted myself and preceded her out, holding the door. "You did not answer my question," she responded as we walked to her office. "I didn't?" I asked with a smile. "You're sure? I thought I had." We walked past her desk and into Craig's office. It did not look like he had come in yet and I commented on the fact that she should not keep the boss up so late; it was not good for morale. She closed the door and walked over to me. "For your information," she said, as she put her arms around me, "he kept me up late last night, and it was wonderful but for some reason, all I could think of was your hard cock pistoning in and out of my cunt," she kissed me and pushed her groin against mine, my erection pushing back against her stomach. "Now, are you going to answer my question?" she asked as we broke our kiss. "Nothing was damaged as far as I can tell," I responded, not letting her go, but looking into her eyes. "Eric was a prick to the ladies and I actually expected him to do something juvenile..." my mind caught up with me. "Hold that thought a minute," I said pulling my phone off my hip and punching a number. "Pete Mason, networks, Pete answered the phone. "Pete, it's Gary. Very quietly, pull the senior staff in, as well as Jerry and Mike. Check the network. Everywhere. I will be down in two minutes." "What?" Patricia asked looking at me. "Twice in two weeks, we could have a problem. Eric had limited administrative access to the core systems, but he had full access to the workstations." Patricia caught up with my thought processes. "So why are you standing here? Go, go!" she practically pushed me out the door. My cell phone started ringing before I hit the elevator. "Gary, it's Luci, we have a problem." "Animal, vegetable or mineral," I asked as I hit elevator's down button. "It looks like the worm from last week. Pete is pulling plugs now but it is up on 15 again." I did a rapid halt and rewind, turning for Patricia's office again. "Does he know where?" "Not yet." "I have a hunch. Where is Nikki?" "Right behind you," I heard Nikki's voice behind me and she was a little out of breath. "Did you run up the stairs?" I asked as I slowed my pace for her. "Nothing to it. Here, you'll want this." she said handing me the disk. "Gary?" Luci was wondering where I had gone. "Luci, send Mike up here and get Pete up here once the system is secured. Send them to Craig's office, actually, Patricia's office." I hung up the phone. I had noticed that Patricia's old machine was back in place when I went through her office this morning. I quickened my step. Nikki headed for the wire closet. I came around the corner into Patricia's office and with little thought, dropped to my knees and scuttled under her desk, moving her out of the way slightly and pulled the network cable out of the back of her PC. "Gary," she said leaning down to look at me under her desk, "if you wanted to know what I was wearing under my skirt, all you had to do was ask." I could not help myself. I laughed. "What's so funny?" I heard Nikki ask from somewhere above me. "Underwear joke, I will tell you later," I responded. "Have you got a flashlight Nikki?" I asked looking at the back of Patricia's machine. By now, I was lying on my back, looking up at the underside of the desk. Something bumped my knee and I reached down and took the flashlight there. I turned it on and pointed it at the back of the PC. "Son of a..."I started and then pulled myself out from under the desk. By now Janice and Mike had shown up. I pulled Nikki and Janice into a huddle. "There is a key catcher on that PC," I said. "Janice, I want Patricia's account locked, and all connections to the financial and HR systems terminated. Get Jason if you have to. Then, change Patricia's password to something obscure. Nikki, I want Patricia's PC, the one she had for the last couple of days and Eric's PC, quarantined. No one touches it until I say so. Put them in Jerry's office for now. Clear?" I received nods from both ladies. I did not have to tell them not to say anything to anyone beyond us. I crawled back under the desk and pulled the key catcher out of the interface. "Nikki, do you have a marker?" I asked again and again something tapped my knee. I took the marker and made a notation on the back of the system, then crawled out and passed the flashlight and marker back to Nikki. Jerry was there as I stood back up. "Mike, I would like a word with you and Jerry and Patricia if you don't mind." "We can use Craig's office," Patricia said. "Janice, routine scans, and then you can turn everything back on please." "I will have Alex take care of it," she replied reaching for her phone. "Thank you, Janice," I replied following Jerry into Craig's office. Mike turned to me just as we entered, "Now what?" he asked. It was a good question. I handed him the key catcher. "Ever seen one of these?" I asked. Jerry slipped his glasses on and looked at it as Mike passed it to him. "No, what is it?" "Technically, it is a device used to capture the electrical signals sent from the keyboard to the CPU." I heard Jerry's gasp. "Aren't they illegal?" Mike asked. "They should be, but no, they aren't. Further they are not hard to make, and they are cheap to buy. I actually have a couple in a drawer somewhere. I have to check to see if any are missing, but I suspect this one was purpose bought." "By who?" Mike asked. Jerry sat down. "I don't know, Mike. I can guess, based on who last touched this PC, but I don't know. Jerry, I have already asked Janice to change Patricia's password and terminate all connections to the HR and financial systems. We are going to have to crawl under everyone's desk after that." Patricia had sat down by the time I finished the sentence, the implications setting in. Mike handed the catcher back to me. "Anything that can be used, I want," Mike said. "Count on it." I replied. Jerry walked over to Craig's phone and started dialing. I suspect he was calling accounting. "How do you want to play this?" Mike asked me. "We can run it under the cover of a simple network inventory. We haven't done one in a while. Put people under the desks to check serial numbers and they can check the connections on the way. Anything they find comes back to me." "Gary, Craig is going to want a damage assessment," Patricia said for the first time. "Initial assessment is as follows," I said, "and Mike, this is for the record. A worm was reintroduced into the network. Point of origin was Patricia's machine, but I do not for a minute believe she is in anyway responsible for the incident. I can make suppositions, but I have no firm evidence. I will know shortly the extent of the infection, but I suspect it is minimal." Patricia looked relieved. "I can accept that, sir," Mike said. That was the first time Mike had called me sir and he was older than I was. "You will keep me posted of any changes that occur?" "Count on it." "Gary, accounting is having kittens," Jerry said rejoining us. "I'll bet." I reached for my cell and dialed Luci. "Luci, is there a pair of khaki's hanging on the back of my door?" "Yes, and a shirt." "Thanks. Be down in a minute. Grab Tyrone and I will meet you both in the library." I hung up the phone and returned it to its hook. "I will turn Luci and Tyrone loose on accounting and I will do HR myself. Janice and Nikki can join in the fun once they have their side of the puzzle taken care of. Am I missing anything?" I looked around the room and no one else had anything to add. Mike was already turning to the door. "Good hunting, Gary. I am going to take a look at some old tape," he said and walked out of the office. I walked over and put my hand on Patricia's. "It isn't your fault. You did nothing wrong and I stand behind that position. Janice has locked your account and changed your password. She will be up soon with a new machine and then you can do you can get back to work. When is Craig due?" "Not until after lunch." She really looked shaken. "Are you going to be OK?" "I'll be fine, thank you, Gary." "Call me if you need me before then." I turned to Jerry and he was waiting for me. We left the office and made our way to the elevator. Neither one of us said a word until the doors closed. "That little, two-faced," Jerry went on like this for most of the ride down. I did not disagree. "What can I do?" Jerry asked as the doors opened. "I took the liberty of quarantining 3 PCs and they should be in your office by now. Just sit on them for the moment. I need to check with Fay on a couple of things and then we will move. In the meantime, the people that need to know about what is going on know. To everyone else, it was a glitch and the appropriate parties have been disciplined. I think it might be a good time to send Pete to one of the classes that he needs." Jerry looked at me for a moment. Then the light bulb went on. "That is a great idea. I will get Missy working on the papers." We parted company and I headed for the library. Tyrone and Luci were there along with Jason, Nikki, Alex and Janice. Pete and Steve came in behind me. "Well, I guess we have almost the entire department here." I looked at Pete and Steve. "What is our status?" I asked them. "Green on the WAN," Steve said. "Network is green, VLANs are up. External connections to the HR and Financial systems are down. The database VLANs are up." Pete reported. "Jason, Alex?" "Database is fine, Mr. Preston," Jason said. "Application and web servers are good, Gary," Alex responded. "Janice?" "Locked and changed. I will go up later this morning with a new machine." "Good. Take your time. Luci?" "Email system is up and running. Sven is working through some of the configuration changes we made in the lab. File servers are up and operational. External connections are terminated pending reconnection instructions." "Good. Janice, work with the helpdesk and expire everyone's password." I got a nod as she made a note. I brought everyone up to speed on what we were doing and showed them what we were looking for. I told them that when they found one to make a note of the location, and bring the information back to Janice but leave the device in place. I would check with Mike, but I suspected that if we could get fingerprints, that would make things so much the better. We would start at the bottom and work our way to the top. I finished my piece and let them loose. I then headed to my office to change my clothes and call Maureen. No lunch for me today. My phone was ringing as I walked into my office. "Gary Preston," I said, surveying the mess. "Hi Gary, its Missy. The police are here." "Right, I had forgotten about them. Hang on and I will walk around." I could not change my clothes because I could not take any thing out of my office. I just hoped I did not put a hole in my suit. I walked around to Missy's office where to slightly bored looking technicians were waiting. "Good morning, I am Gary Preston," I said, offering my hand. Neither seemed interested and wanted to be shown to the office, which I did. I instructed them to check out with Missy and went around and told her the same thing, then headed upstairs. We had enough people searching the floors that I felt I should go back and finish up with Patricia. She was sitting at her desk, but did not look particularly happy. "Do you have time for me?" I asked her quietly. "He's going to fire me, Gary," she said in a very small voice. "Who is? Craig? On what grounds?" I was back to a slow boil. She handed me a letter from HR. It was not even written by Craig and I knew it had not come from Mike's office. "Has he come in yet?" I asked her. She shook her head no. I stood up and walked around the corner to Sophie's office. She did not look too happy either. "I want on Craig's calendar. The SECOND he walks in the door," I said, some of my anger leaching out. "Can't, Valerie is first up," Sophie did not look happy to say it. Valerie was the Head of HR. "When is he due?" "Any minute now." I walked back around to Patricia's office and picked up the phone. "I need to speak to Mike, it's Gary Preston. Well then where is he? Never mind, I will find him." I put the phone back down and pulled out the PDA. It was time to put this thing to use. ALL! URGENT! First one to see Mike, send him to the CEO on the bounce! Gary. I sent the message, and then I helped Patricia to her feet and escorted her into Craig's office and sat her in the chair in front of his desk. I left the door open and went to get her some water. Craig beat Mike through the door by a dozen steps. He looked at me and he looked at Patricia and she fell apart. Craig scooped her up just as Valerie walked through the door. "Oh, good, you are all here," she said in a voice that was far too cheery for the occasion. I slipped next to Mike and passed him the note that Patricia had given me. Valerie was not paying any attention to us. "Craig, if you will just sign this," she slipped a letter under his nose. If there was ever any chance we thought he was not fully in control of this company, this proved it. "Gary, could you come here please?" he asked me, still trying to sooth Patricia. "Sir?" I waited for his instructions. "Would you please read this letter that Ms. Talbot is holding and verify its veracity." It was not a question. "Oh, I am sorry, but this is a personnel matter, sir," Valerie started. "I don't care if it is classified Ms. Talbot. You are making a serious charge against one of my most trusted employees on a subject that neither you, nor I know anything about. Further, since I see the two individuals who would know the most about this issue, I want them to give me their expert opinion. Should their opinion validate what is in this letter, then, I will sign it. Not before. Are we clear?" I was glad I was not in range of that salvo. Instead I simply removed the letter from her hands and reviewed it. I passed it over to Mike and he scanned it as well. We had both already read it. "And?" Craig was waiting for an answer. "Based on the information, the letter is factually correct," I said, Valerie had a triumphant smile on her face, "but technically incorrect. In fact, I would say it was heresy at best and borders on liable, but you might want to have Maureen take a look at it. Mike?" I smiled as I passed the note over to Mike. I think only Jerry knew about my JD. It was not something I talked about much. I could not even remember where the paperwork was. Maybe it had gotten mixed into Fay's things. Random thoughts were a sure sign I was under a lot of stress this morning. I tried not to let myself slip into my savant mode. "I have to agree with Mr. Preston, sir. Since he ran the issue to ground, I would say he is the one to know." "Thank you gentlemen for your input. Ms. Talbot that will be all." "But," she sputtered. "I said dismissed." She stumbled getting out of the room. "Sir," I began and he raised a hand to silence me and looked down at Patricia and whispered something. She nodded. "Sorry, Gary, you were going to say," he replied looking at me. "I was going to say, sir, that when you are ready for a status report, call me and I will be happy to brief you." I saw Mike nod out of the corner of my eye. "Thank you, Gary, again." He turned his attention to Patricia and Mike and I took it as our cue to leave, closing the door behind us. "I need to go and see Maureen," I said to Mike and we parted company. I swung past Sophie's office and gave her a quick thumbs-up before continuing on. She looked visibly relieved. "So, what do Amazon goddesses do for lunch?" I asked, lounging in the door of Maureen's office. She looked up and smiled at me. "You know, I don't know," she responded. "I don't believe they were cannibals, so I can't say I would eat you, although that doesn't sound like such a bad idea," she continued, standing up and walking over to where I was standing. Her phone rang before she took more than a step or two however. "Yes, Craig? Actually, he is lounging in my doorway. Something about Amazon goddesses and their food source. We will be right in." She hung up the phone with a giggle. "Craig want's to see us," she said, picking up a pad of paper. "Of course," I responded. "He probably didn't want you snacking on me until I had given him the dirt on today's events," I continued. "Something like that I suspect." We rounded the corner and Craig's door was open. Patricia was sitting curled on the sofa, looking like a china doll. "Come in you two, and close the door," Craig instructed. He was very gruff and all business. Someone was going to have a rough day, although give how this one was going, it could not get much more rough for me. "Sit, sit, both of you." He bent down and asked Patricia something and then came over to join us at the table where he more flopped than sat. "I need a drink," he said to no one in particular. "Scotch, bourbon, or gin?" I asked standing up to get it and looking Patricia back into her position. She acquiesced with a small smile. "Bourbon and pour one for yourself, your day sounds like it is as bad as mine seems to be. Maureen?" "Whatever, bourbon, neat is fine, thanks." "Patricia?" I asked looking at her. She simply nodded. I brought everyone their drinks and Craig began. "Where do we start? Maureen, what do you know?" "Gary's office was vandalized; the police have one suspect in custody. Something happened to the network, but no official word as to what yet. IT people are all over the building though doing an inventory. I would guess that we have equipment missing?" "Gary?" he prompted. I brought Maureen up to speed as well as Craig, filling in the holes with what I knew and what I suspected. "Have your people found anything?" Craig asked slightly startled and not happy when I completed my tale. "Actually, I don't know, sir," I said fishing in my pocket for the PDA. I flipped it on and put it on the table. It started buzzing almost immediately. "I would have to guess yes." I waited until it stopped buzzing and flipped through the messages. "Might I use your phone, sir?" "You don't need to call me 'sir' Gary. And, yes, go right ahead." I picked it up and dialed Mike's number and gave him the results. After I hung up with him I dialed Luci's number. "Luci Phelp's desk, this is Nikki." "Hi, Nikki, where's Luci?" "Looking for you." "She won't find me, I am with Craig. I got your combined emails. Mike is on his way up. I want you to work with him all right? I want all of them" "You got it. And Gary?" "Yes?" "Are you wearing the underwear we left out for you?" Was it only this morning? It felt like a hundred years. "Yes, Nikki. Now go do my bidding, wench." "Yes, my master," she said with a slight hiss and hung up. I walked back to the table. "So far, we have found 20 of them, mainly in accounting and HR, plus the one on Patricia's machine. They are still doing some of the lower floors and Janice is still working this floor. I wouldn't be surprised if we found another 10 or so." I reported. "What do you want to do Craig?" Maureen asked. "You mean besides give Gary another commendation for keeping this place working? Actually, make that two commendations for keeping this place working," he looked around at Patricia and she nodded. "How about we just promote him?" Maureen asked. "I already did," Craig responded swirling his drink. "Technically, not yet, the paperwork hasn't gone through," I said. He looked up sharply at me. "Hey, it's been a very busy morning. And I don't think Valerie is likely to fast track ANYTHING with my name on it anytime soon, regardless of who originated it." "That is my other problem. Valerie it seems has been taking liberties. Big ones. I won't go into details, Myron tipped me to them a couple of months ago, but I haven't seen what he was talking about until today's little stunt." He took a drink. "Gary, do you have any legal training. I know you are married to a lawyer, but do you have any training yourself?" "You want the truth or shall I lie?" I asked hedging my bets. "I am hoping you know what you are talking about," he said. I took a breath. "I have a JD from Georgetown and I am admitted to the Bar in California, DC, Virginia and Maryland, as well as having tried a case before the Supreme Court. But all that was back when I was young and stupid." I said, taking a drink myself. Maureen was positively gawking at me. "Damn," was all Craig said shaking his head. "I told you," that from Patricia sitting on the couch with a little smirk on her face. "You mean you are a bona fide lawyer?" Maureen was still in a state of shock. "'Fraid so. Fay couldn't believe it either when she found my diploma buried at the bottom of a box several years ago." "You mean your wife didn't know you were a lawyer?" Craig asked with a funny look on his face. "Nope, she just thought I was the firm's rent-a-nerd who read too much. I used to quiz her when she was trying to gain the bar here, whenever I was in the office. It used to drive her nuts." "I'll bet," Maureen responded. "So you were serious about the nature of the letter," Craig asked. "Very much so. It shouldn't be too hard to bring suit," I said thinking through the mechanics. Some rusty gears popped behind my eyes before I could complete the process, but I did not see any obvious stumbling blocks. "I am sure Maureen can pull something together." "Damn, Gary, I can barely afford to pay you now," Craig stood up and walked around the office. "Who said I wanted more money?" I asked reasonably. "Besides, you are not paying me to be a lawyer; you are paying me to be an IT wonk. Different skill sets." "Bullshit," Craig spat. "But, I for one am glad you are on our side. I suspect that if you really wanted to, you could be a menace to have for an enemy." "I suspect you are correct," I replied. "You don't list your JD on your resume," he continued. "Nope, it scares people when they see a network heavy resume with a JD on the top." "I can understand that. We need to get you an IT degree," Craig was thinking out loud. "Umm..," I began and he whirled around and looked at me. Patricia just laughed. "Well, as long as I am coming clean," I started, "I do have a masters in Information Security from the University of California at Berkeley," I finished, taking another drink. "It's were I met Fay. I worked on the side to pay my tuition." "I KNOW that is not on your resume," he said. "Nope, it isn't either. Although I think I may have mentioned it to Jerry at one point. Fay might also know, I forget." Patricia was having a giggling fit on the couch and both Craig and Maureen looked like fish out of water. There eyes were bulging and their mouths were opening and closing, but no sound was coming out. I got up and poured myself some more bourbon and brought the bottle back to the table, stopping to pour Patricia some on the way. She reached up and gave me a quick kiss and said, "You are priceless, Gary. This was almost worth the price of admission." "Do you have any medical training?" Craig asked sarcastically. I must have taken too long to respond because he started sputtering. "No, not really." "What does 'not really' mean," Maureen asked suspiciously. "I was a volunteer paramedic for a while. Didn't like the hours and when Ellen came along, it became harder and harder to meet all the training requirements," I finished saying. "You are buying lunch," Craig said, pointing at me. "Just let me get my coat." The four of us trooped out of the building to the company car. We ended up at a local steak house where we met Myron and Christine Thomas, another lawyer at the firm that we had on retainer. The six of us sat down at a round table, Maureen on one side of me, Christine on the other. Christine was quite attractive if you could get past the severe makeup, hairdo and generally unflattering clothing and glasses she wore. She stood about five foot six with her heels on and I gauged them at two inches. However, there was no question that she had a sharp mind. We sat down and ordered lunch and Myron started discussing the issues with HR. We tossed the subject back and forth for a while. I stayed on the periphery of the discussion. I added my two cents when it was asked for and helped out with some technical points, but generally I let the lawyers lawyer and be directed by the CEO. For his part, Craig did not let on that I was even following the complexities of the conversation. Patricia smiled my way on occasion and was generally looking better than she had and Maureen was playing footsie with me which kept me entertained throughout the meeting meal. I enjoyed my steak and wine and played my part. In the end, the company picked up the tab. After lunch, Christine was to come back and work with Maureen on some issues so it was very cozy on the ride back to the office. Christine was smaller than either Maureen or I, so she wound up sandwiched between us while Patricia sat next to Craig. We were dropped at the front of the building. Craig had decided to take the rest of the day off and Patricia had decided to join him. While everyone was extracting themselves from the car Craig pulled me aside. "Thank you again for all your help today, Gary. I cannot imagine it has been an easy day for you or the IT staff. Please let them know I appreciate all their hard work." "That is what you pay us for Craig. But on a personal note, no one is going to steamroll Patricia, we both know that." He smiled and shook my hand. I waved to Patricia and went inside to where Maureen and Christine were waiting. "We still have things to cover, Gary," Maureen said to me as I walked up to her and Christine. "More than a few things," I said in agreement. "As well as a few things to uncover," I followed with a straight face. She looked at me a minute then smiled. "You are a dangerous man. I am going to have to remember that." "What are you talking about?" Christine was not following the thread of our conversation at all. "My office was vandalized last night so I need to go and uncover the floor and the various other horizontal surfaces so I can actually do some work," I said with a smile. Maureen just linked her arm in mine and directed us to the elevator, pulling Christine along in our wake. "Come up when you have found your floor all right Gary?" Maureen asked. "We still need to nail down your new office." "I think I will wait until the HR problems are resolved before I start packing," I said in reply as we reached my floor. "Have a good afternoon ladies," I said stepping off and heading for my office. I arrived to a closed door with crime scene tape on it. "Is this someone's idea of a joke?" I asked to no one in particular. Luci came around the corner as I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "No, no joke," she said, reaching around me to hug me. I looped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her back. "I've missed you today," she said quietly. "I know," I replied. "It has been a very different sort of day and it isn't even close to being over yet." She hugged me again. "Jerry wants to see you, Louise is looking for you, Janice needs to talk to you and Mike wants to see you. Not in that order. Also, Jason needs a few minutes of your time. Sir." The last added with a crooked smile. "Are you applying for the position of assistant?" I asked swinging her into my arms. "I prefer the title Office Bimbo," she replied, trying to be vapid. "Won't happen, you have too much in here," I said tapping her head and then kissing it. "Come on, let's go see Janice. Maybe she can find you something to do." We walked down the hall to Janice's office. "You wished to converse, oh maven of the applications?" I asked, as I stuck my head into Janice's office. "You are a nut case, you know that Gary?" she said. "Well, I have been accused of being nutty once or twice," that got me a pinch from Luci. "Oh, can I have a go," Janice said. "Of course," Luci said stepping back and motioning for Janice to take her place. "Hey, don't I get a say?" I asked. "No," the ladies said in unison and then started laughing. "Luci, I need to molest Gary for a few minutes, please," Janice said as the laughter died down. She stood up and walked around her desk. "Don't worry, I won't bite," whether she said that to me or Luci, I don't know but Luci started laughing again. "I don't know about that," I replied. Luci smiled and headed out as Janice closed the door behind her. Janice turned and looked at me for a moment. "If you are going to molest me," I said, "now is a good time. The door is closed and I cannot get away." She walked up to me and put her arms around me and looked up at me. "You know, Gary. Half the women in this company want you as a lover. The other half are gay. And three want to see you ruined," she said. "Ah. And you are one of the three? So, that means I only have to find one more?" I replied putting my arms around her. "One more?" her eyes took on a shocked look. "No, I am not one of the ones who what to see you ruined. I was sort of kidding about that, but I don't think you are." "No, and it is a very long story Janice darling." "How long have we known each other Gary?" she asked. "Beats me, I can't count that high." I replied stroking her back. "Kiss me, Gary. Kiss me like you used to," she pleaded. Who was I to turn down a request from a pretty lady? Our lips met and we kissed, our tongues gliding across each other like the old friends they where. Janice sighed deep inside and pulled herself tighter against me. I stroked her hair and back. It was not a long kiss, but it was satisfying. "Are you taking care of Luci?" she asked me when we broke the kiss. "Yes." I replied. "Fay has made her one of the family." "That's good," she said wistfully. Fay did not like Janice. I do not know why and I was not going to reopen a closed subject. Janice and I had been friends for too long though for me to simply cut her off. So when she said she was looking for work, I put in a good word for her. She was a skilled technician and manager and we agreed to hide anything else. "I'm sorry, Gary," she said, "it has been a very stressful couple of days and I needed..." "Shh," I hushed her and held her against me. "I know. It has been tough on all of us." I kissed the top of her head. "Now, do you need me for anything else?" I asked gently. "Well, I really could use a good fucking, but I suspect you have a backlog of people wanting your body, so I will wait until things are quieter and settle for another kiss and send you on your way. Mike has every device we could find, about 30 in all," she said and then kissed me again. "At about $80 a piece, that is a fair chunk of change," I said later. "I will see Mike after I see Jason. You take care of yourself, OK? And my door is always open for you." "Thank you," she said giving me another hug and letting me go. "Off with you now, back to work." "Ay, Captain," I said and saluted and let myself out of the office and down to Jason's. "Jason, you needed to see me?" I asked as I walked into his office. Alex was fielding a call. "I am getting static from Accounting," he said looking exasperated. "They cannot understand why they cannot get in to do their work and why all their passwords have been changed." "Etcetera, ad nauseam," I replied. "I understand. I have to go and see Jerry and then I will try and see Bob on my way to see a dozen other people. At this point in time, tell them it is for their own good, otherwise they would be out of work." I shrugged. "Yeah, like that's going to work. Thanks," he said as he returned to his screen and I headed over to Jerry's office. "You wanted a pound of flesh?" I asked as I stuck my head into Jerry's office. Bob was already there. Well, this would work. "Come in Gary, I have been briefing Bob," he said. "Jason was telling me he is getting some static," I said. Bob actually looked chagrined. "Sorry about that. Some of our less sophisticated users are not happy." "Better not happy than the alternative at this point in time," I replied. "I agree," Bob said nodding his head. "Where are we at Gary?" Jerry asked me. "Well, Janice says the sweep is done, and Mike has custody of 30 odd devices. I seem to have lost access to my office and the toys there too. Good thing my laptop is in with Luci and Nikki. Half of 15 wants 10 minutes of my time and security is demanding some as well. I think that's it. Oh, and I believe HR would rather put a dagger in my back then see me promoted." "That is a bit dramatic, don't you thing?" Bob asked, not knowing the whole story. I just shrugged. I did not want to get into a contest with him at the moment, I had enough to do. "Anything else Jerry? Mike is holding the ball." "No, go, keep me posted. Have you seen Patricia this afternoon?" "Yes, she and Craig are taking the afternoon off," I left it at that. "OK, that explains why I can't find her." He turned back to Bob and I headed for Mike's office at the other end of the floor. Like IT, Security was behind a locked door. I rang the bell and waited. A few seconds later, the door buzzed and I pulled it open and walked into an outer office. "Hello Linda!" I said. Linda Weston was Mike's able assistant and a real crack investigator. "Hello yourself. What brings you back to the dark side of the building?" "You want the whole list?" I asked with a grin. I suspect she knew exactly what was going on. "No, I have it here," she said tapping the side of her head. "Mike!?" Her voice was almost as strong as mine. Mike walked around a corner and saw me standing there. "Gary! Thanks for coming by," he said directing me back and around some corners to his lab area, which was basically an office without windows. "What can I do for you, Mike?" I asked. "Well, to start, what the heck are these things?" he asked picking up a slightly dusty connector. "They are a little microchip designed to capture the electronic pulses of a keyboard. Essentially anything that is typed on the keyboard is recorded in the device and you can then "replay" it later. "Like what?" he asked. I suspect he was playing dumb. "Like your user name and password," I replied. "That is what I thought. Do you know how to retrieve it?" "I think so. Is that one ready for inspection?" "The police dusted it and the others after they finished with your office, which by the way is off-limits for the next week. Sorry." "I will let you tell Craig that. I had an experiment running in there and if I cannot get in, then I can't finish it." "It's in the report." I took the key catcher from him and hooked it up to the PC he had in the lab. It did not take much to get it to reveal its secrets. This particular one had come from Bob's PC and it had his user ID, password and other good stuff. Most of it pretty tame, but if you could get into his account with it, it would not matter much beyond that. Mike looked at me. "It is enough for a warrant if you have a fingerprint match," I said unplugging it and tossing it back to him. "Anything else?" "No, I think that is enough. I will walk you out," he said. I said good-bye to Linda and headed for the elevators. Nikki was coming the other way and smiled at me as she approached. "Where are you heading stranger?" she asked pushing the up button. "Same way you are," I replied. "Good." We stepped on to the elevator and I hit the button for the top floor and we both watched the doors close. She twisted and kissed me before her body had finished catching up and did not let go of me until the bell rung on 15. "Enjoy the rest of your afternoon," she said with a cheery wave as the door closed. I took a moment and let my breathing return to normal before I walked over to Louise's office. Her door was closed so I enquired with her assistant. "Oh, hi Gary. Just a second, she is in there hatching a plot or boiling someone in oil or something," she said as she picked up the phone and I looked around the space. Most of the VPs had offices along the windows while their assistants sat in a bullpen kind of area with very little natural light, unless someone left their door open. There were not a lot of open doors at the moment and the place was rather dark, even with all the florescent lights overhead and the supplemental lights and monitors on the desks. "OK, I will," she said hanging up the phone. "Go ahead in, she is waiting for you." "Thank you," I replied. I don't know that I even know who her assistant is. Need to rectify that if I am going to spend any time working with Louise. I knocked on the door and opened it when she said to come in. "You needed me oh sultan?" I asked sketching a bow in her direction. She snorted at me and waved me over to her desk. "For a very trivial thing, but not something I could trust to any of the folks downstairs," she said. She had the new organizational chart up on her screen. "So what's the issue?" I asked. "I need to print this thing," she said, "but I don't know where to?" "Ah." I took a look at it. "May I drive?" I asked and she slid her chair out of the way so I could get to her screen and keyboard. A quick look verified what I thought and I pulled my phone open. "Hi Janice, it's Gary. Can you give Louise access to the plotter please? Thank you." I hung up and set up the plotter for her and sent the job on its way. I called Janice back again. "Me again. Something is plotting right now; can you catch it when it is finished? Thanks again." "Where did you send it?" Louise was looking at me like she did not trust me. "Down to IT, it is the only plotter in the building that you can access. I think we might need another one up here somewhere. I will file the paperwork tomorrow. In the meantime, Janice is going to pull the job off and put it in her office until I get down there to get it." "You trust her?" "Intimately," I responded. "Anything else?" "No. When can I have this?" she asked. "About 10 minutes", I said. "Most of that time is travel between here and there. The job should take about 3 minutes or so to actually print." "Oh. OK. Thanks. No hurry bringing it back, I just don't want it seen yet, because I still need to verify some things and run it by Craig." "I understand. Let me go and get it for you now, since Maureen still wants a piece of me today." "Thank you. I understand you have had a very busy day." "You would be correct, Louise, I have. And it isn't even close to being over." I headed out the door and back to the elevators. I was logging a lot of miles between the floors. I should probably start walking; it would be good for me. I got off on 4 and headed for Janice's office to retrieve the plot. She was waiting for me with it, all rolled up with a rubber band around it. "That is some change," she said quietly as I picked it up from her. "Best forget you saw it," I said, giving her a quick peck. "I have to get this up to the dragon lady before she starts breathing fire." "Go. I am about to leave, so I will see you tomorrow. Have a good evening." "Good night Janice," I replied as I headed back to the elevator and back up to Louise's office. I dropped off the plot and headed next to Maureen's office. Maureen wasn't there, and neither was Christine. "They are in the conference room, Gary," one of the assistant's told me. Maureen did not have one of her own, but shared one with a couple of other people. It made sense. Most of what she did was so hush-hush that she typed most of her own stuff and kept her own calendar. I walked down the hall to the conference room where I heard raised voices, none of them belonging to Maureen. I let myself in anyway. "...is not relevant," Valerie said almost at the top of her lungs. "Is this a private argument, or did you want the company to hear?" I asked from the door way. "Get out," Valerie spat. "Come in, Gary, I think you can shed some valuable light on this," Maureen said from where she was sitting. Christine nodded her head. She had taken her jacket off and little wisps of hair had escaped to frame her face. She really was quite attractive if a trifle top heavy. "This is a human resources matter and he is not qualified," Valerie was on a roll today. "Actually, this is a policy matter," said Christine, "and, because it is an IT policy matter, I believe that Mr. Preston is more than qualified to speak to it. In fact, he is more qualified than anyone else in this room." "Oh, I don't know," I responded, sliding into a chair at the table. Valerie was still standing up. "Maureen is certainly very good with a computer." She stifled a laugh. "In this case, Gary, I am out of my element. The issue is the IT policy on intentionally introducing a virus into the network. The policy says termination is the punishment. Ms. Talbot is insisting that because Patricia introduced the virus into the network, she should be terminated. I know you and Mike both disagree. Why?" I looked at Valerie for a moment and then I looked at Christine for a moment, gathered my thoughts and began. "The issue is that of intent. Further, there are extenuating circumstances that are not to be discarded lightly. In this case, there is no intent," I said simply. "Says you," Valerie spat again. "Yes, Ms. Talbot. Says me. The reason I have the authority to say that is a combination of facts and the chain of events that you are not privy too. Further, had I been at work 20 minutes earlier this morning, the whole incident probably would not have happened." "You have no authority here. You are a simple employee." She was not going to let up. "Ignoring for the moment that Craig has in fact appointed him to the position of CTO and had that appointment confirmed by the Board of Directors," Maureen began, "Gary is hardly a 'simple' employee. He is recognized by this company as a subject matter expert in the field of Information Security." "Says who? There is nothing on his resume that indicates he knows anything about Information Security." She thought she was holding an ace. "Would that be the resume in the employee database?" I asked quietly. "Of course." She seemed almost surprised. I caught Maureen smiling out of the corner of my eye and I kicked her gently under the table. Christine looked a little confused. "Well, there you go then." I said. "If there is nothing else you need me for Maureen? I need to go and get some actual work done. You know how it is for us 'simple employees.' We always have trivial things to do such as get the CEO's PDA project off the ground without actually being able to get into my office." That got her attention, but Valerie interrupted, "we are not done here." "We aren't? Let's see, it was established that I know what I am talking about. That you are lacking key facts on which to make a rational decision and that I have more important things to do." I turned to Maureen. "Did I miss anything?" "Your office?" Maureen asked quietly. "Oh, Mike says it is a crime scene and will remain that way for a couple of weeks." "What can we do?" Christine continued. "About what? They want it to be a crime scene, it's a crime scene. Not a whole lot we can do really. Besides with all the evidence we have collected in the last few hours, we should be happy we can even get in the building." "What evidence," Valerie was not happy. "Not your concern," I said. "It is no longer a human resources issue. You look better without the jacket, Christine. Maureen, if you need me, please call my cell, since I don't know where I will be. I may just go home." "That probably would be a good idea," Maureen began. "I would not recommend it," Valerie said almost at the same time. "Why?" I asked looking at Valerie. "The IT staff is capable of servicing the needs of this company. I have more than enough hours logged in this pay cycle and I have close to 200 hours of vacation. I could take the rest of the week off if I really wanted to. I am sure my supervisor, whoever that happens to be at the moment, would approve it if I asked." I had had enough of this woman and I think Maureen sensed it because she put a hand on my arm, in plain sight of both Valerie and Christine. Alas, my escape was not to be. My cell phone rang. "Excuse me a moment," I said turning my back to the room. I turned back around a minute later and said, "now we are done. Call me if you need me Maureen. It was a pleasure meeting you Christine." I stood up to leave. "Sit down." This came from Valerie in surly tones. "Sorry, my supervisor has requested my presence on an issue. It would be both rude and insubordinate for me to remain here. I would suggest you lower your voice however, I could hear you in Louise's office." My parting shot as I closed the door got a snicker out of someone, but I was not sure who. "Am I the only one who thinks Valerie Talbot is unstable?" I asked as I walked into Jerry's office. "Unstable? Hmm, I hadn't looked at it from that perspective before. You might be right." He indicated I should sit down and passed me a letter to read. "Sure, let's take the meeting. We need some extra folks and it might be a good way to see what the state of the market is." I said after reading the sales pitch. "Even if we don't actually use them, it will help us gage the environment." "I was thinking similar thoughts. Should Janice sit in as well?" "Yes. I expect she will become your right hand if the company ever gets me promoted." "I thought that was done?" "Today's issues have thrown a wrench into things. Not from the position of the position, but getting the actual paperwork through the mill." "What do I need to do," Jerry looked concerned. "I don't know that we can do anything Jerry. We may see some more changes before I am officially the CTO," I said. "Well, in that case, how are we coming on the email project?" "We were making progress. I haven't said a dozen words to Luci so I don't know what she has done, if anything. With my office off-limits and all the software and licenses and such in there, I don't know that we can do much more." "Damn. Where is your PC?" "In Nikki and Luci's office, at least that is where I left it at some point this morning." I said scratching my head. I suspected it was still there, but I wasn't putting money on it. Not with the way this day had gone. "Go home then. I will sign your sheet for the full day. There is nothing you can do here at the moment, and you have done more than most of us I'm sure already today. Go and take Fay and Ellen out to dinner or something. They should see you when the sun is up, otherwise they might thing you are a vampire." "Maureen suggested the same thing, so I will bow to the combined wisdom. Anything else I need to do today?" "No, go. We will see you in the morning." "OK. Have a good evening Jerry and I will see you tomorrow." I walked around to Luci's office but both she and Nikki had left. My coat was on the back of the door and my briefcase was tucked under Luci's desk. Both had tucked little notes in my coat which made me feel better. Tomorrow was another day. ------- ASSM Moderation System Notice-------- This post has been reformatted by the ASSM Moderation Team due to inadequate formatting. -- Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | alt.sex.stories.moderated ------ send stories to: <ckought69@hotmail.com>| | FAQ: <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/faq.html> Moderators: <story-ckought69@hotmail.com> | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |ASSM Archive at <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org> Hosted by <http://www.asstr-mirror.org> | |Discuss this story and others in alt.sex.stories.d; look for subject {ASSD}| +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+