The FBI Hack

“KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! Yes, come in!” IT tech Steven Jones said

Steven Jones is about 6’1” and doesn’t look nerdy like you’d think an IT person would look. He has a bald head and brown eyes with glasses. He was hired as IT for the FBI because he was number one in his class at MIT and he graduated at the early age of 20. When Paul Monrow retired at the age of 63 Steven was made head of IT at the age of 25.

Director Michael Porter opened the door to the IT office of the FBI.

“Director Porter, what can I do for you, sir?”

“My laptop was hacked and I’m not sure how. I bring it home every night and I bring it to the office so I don’t know how information could have been stolen.”

“How do you know you were hacked, sir?”

Michael Porter opened his laptop and showed Steven Jones the screen. On it was a picture of a dog smiling and taking a shit on a laptop and a note under saying “Give me 1 million dollars or I’m selling the info on this laptop to the highest bidder.”

“Every night before you leave the office important information is backed up to the server and deleted from your computer. What could have the hacker gotten, and how did they get it?”

“Now you know why I’m here. Is there anything you can do to see what they got or if it’s just a hoax? Maybe they thought I had top-secret documents?”

“Well, your password is double encrypted and needs a fingerprint and retina scan to get into it. First off, they’d need to unencrypt the password then they’d need your fingerprint and eye to be able to access the computer. Even then that’s just to get into it. I guess they could have gone through the server, but they’d have to get through 4 layers of 128-bit encryption and know about the safeguard I created; I’ll have to look into this. Let me set up this laptop so you can do your work and I’ll do some diagnostics on yours; I’ll also do some upgrades on the hardware in the hope this won’t happen again; I’ll also have to have you change your password but you won’t notice since you don’t have to type one in. would that be, okay?”

“Yes, of course, and thank you, Steven. Just let me know when to come down and pick it up.”

“I’ll bring it to you sir; you could have just called and I would have come up to see you.”

“Well thank you! I like going to other people's offices, it’s a change of scenery. Can you do me another favor?

“Sure, Director what do you need?”

“Well, can you do a check on Janice Cargrove and Mark Felstine, in tech? I hate to think this but one of them might be the mole. Also, check the surveillance cameras in the TAC office and see who could have accessed my office while I was in a meeting.”

Janice Cargrove is an African American woman in her 50s and has been with the FBI for 15 years. She was asked to join the FBI when she was a detective for the LAPD, she had the highest test scores and conviction rate of anyone else in homicide. She’s 5’3”, 110 pounds with long brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes, she looks very young for her age.

Mark Felstine is a Caucasian man in his early 40’s, 5’9”, 183 pounds of muscle, buzzed hair, and hazel eyes. He’s been with the agency for 6 years and was in the Navy for one tour. He graduated from the Navel Academy with top honors.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, Steven.”

Director Porter opened the door and left the office and took the elevator to the TAC office. When he got there, he walked to Mark and Janice.

“I need you guys to do me a favor. I installed a keylogger on my laptop before I gave it to IT. Janice, I’d like you to just make sure he’s not doing anything nefarious to it. Mark, can you check on what he’s been up to the last few days? Check his bank account(s), anything that you can find out if he’s getting money or has met with someone in the past few days that could have done this.”

“Yes Sir, they both said.” Then went to work.

“I have a meeting call I have to make. My room will be secure so unless it’s important I’m not to be disturbed.”

Director Porter walked into his office and sat at his desk. He pressed a button that blacked out the windows and basically made his office into a Fereday cage, all wifi and cell signals were blocked, his office was now secure. The only way he can communicate now is from an encrypted landline. He picked up the phone and made a call.

“Hello” said the woman on the other end of the line.

“Hi, it’s me. I need you to do me a favor, do you have time?”

“Of course, for you I do, what do you need?”

Director Porter told the woman on the phone what happened.

“I need you to do a check on everyone that has access to TAC, I don’t know who I can trust.”

Porter hears some clacking on the keys, and a few minutes later.

“Everyone is clean except one person, and two of your agents just found out who and will probably run into your office as soon as you get out of privacy mode.” Said the voice on the other end

“Ok, thank you. I owe you one.”

“No, you don’t, I owe you.”

They hung up. Director Porter sat at his desk for a bit could Steven Jones really have done this? He vetted everyone, to think one of his people is trying to blackmail him, but he couldn’t see it. After some time, he pressed the button again which set his office back to normal. He started working on some paperwork that needed to be done.

Mark Stagg and Janice Winters got up from their seats quickly and walked toward the director's office. Director Porter waved them in, and both of them were holding tablets, when they entered the office, they both sat down.

Director Porter pressed the button to secure the room. “What did you find out.”

“It’s Jones.” Janice said

“What’s your proof?”

“Well, the person who’s doing this to you made one mistake when trying to cover their tracks. The one he didn’t seem to know...and this is strange since he is IT. In one case he was smart and didn’t use his login to get into the server, he made a totally different account last week, one that he thought no one could trace but he had to use his login to make it. He did cover his tracks but forgot one thing, the server saves a cookie in an encrypted, hidden folder just in case something like this happens. The thing is he should have known, he helped build the service.”

“Ok, he’s supposed to come to my office when he finds something.”

“He hasn’t left his office and the keylogger is showing he’s working on your laptop. He first did a diagnostic then turned off your laptop for 38 minutes then rebooted and did another diagnostic.”

“He did say he was going to make some hardware upgrades to it. Can you see what he’s done?”

“No, just keystrokes and him using the fingerprint reader and other functions of the computer. Until I can physically look at it I won’t know.” Mark and Janice nodded in agreement.

“Ok, go back to your stations and keep an eye on what he’s doing. I’m guessing he’ll bring back the laptop and when he does, we’ll take him into custody. Put a flag on his card so if he does try and leave the building he’ll be detained.”

“Yes Sir” Mark and Janice said together

The two techs exited the office and went to their stations to continue working.

A couple of hours later Jones came running into the TAC room and toward the Directors' office. Director Porter waves him, Mark, and Janice in.

“Sir, we have a big problem. Someone is trying to frame me, whoever did this used my credentials. We have to find out who did this. I know you have to detain and question me; I’ll go without a fight.”

Jones handed in his badge and put his hands behind his back.

Director Porter looked into Jones’ eyes. “No need to cuff him, just take him into interrogation room one until we settle this. Something tells me Jones isn’t our hacker.”

Jones is escorted into the interrogation room, where he took a seat and put his head in his hands in disbelief oat what’s happening to him.

“If it’s not him, then who could have done this?” Mark asked

“I might have an idea, but let me make a call first before I tell you.”

“Yes, sir.” Mark said getting up and leaving the office, Janice followed.

When they exited the office Director Porter pressed the private button again and dialed a number.

“Hello.” The voice on the other end of the line answered

“Hi, this is Michael.”

“Hey man, how are you doing?”

“Ripar, I have to talk to you three together, we may have a problem.”

“Do you want us to come down there? We can be there in no time.”

"Yes, but you’ll have to come in without being seen. If three unknown people are seen walking into the FBI headquarters asking for me, there will be questions.”

“We can do that. See you in a few minutes.”

Director Porter left his office in private mode for when they come.

About 5 minutes later the three aliens uncloak in Director Porter's office.

“I’m so glad to see you, I wish it wasn’t under these circumstances though.”

“What’s wrong.” Roj asked

“Well, my laptop was hacked and the person it’s pointing to I don’t think did it. He’s our head of IT and the person who got into my laptop made a stupid mistake that I don’t think he’d make. We have him in an interrogation room, he came of his own free will, and he didn’t try and run. It just doesn’t feel right.”

Roj pressed some buttons on his wrist computer.

“We may have a breach here on Earth, have any criminals broken out of prison?”

“Actually, there were two, we don’t know exactly how they got out unless it was a prison worker, we’re investigating now. I’ll send you their files on your computer.” A voice said

“Thank you.”

“How did you do that? In privacy mode, no signals are supposed to get out or in?”

“Yes, but we can get past that, remember we’re from a planet with tech beyond yours.” Roj said

“Point taken.”

“Okay, now we know it could be one of our criminals. Let's look at their files and see what they were in for. One is named Terlac, they’re a thief, they tried to steal sensitive information from the Flandians. The other is Kor, he’s a murderer. We have to find Kor, I’ll contact Daro and let him know, he can work on catching them while we help you with your problem.”

“Terlac does seem like he’s the one we’re looking for.” Director Porter said

“Yes, it would seem.” Roj answered.

“Can you tell me if Jones is lying or not?”

“Yes, your human brains are simple.” Dr. Vocar said

“Ok, why don’t you three cloak and phase and I’ll go talk to Jones and you can get a read on him.”

The aliens disappeared and Director Porter pressed the privacy button again and the windows went clear. Porter walked out of the room toward the door. Mark and Janice started to get up and he gave them the stay-put signal. They walked toward the interrogation room; the guard opened it and they entered.

“Did you find anything, Director?”

“I’m still looking into it.”

“Ask him questions about what he did during the past couple of days before today.” Roj said telepathically to the Director

“What did you do at the conference? After the seminars did you just go to your room? Did you have any leisure time? Did you meet anyone there? Have drinks, dinner, go to a club or party?”

“I did meet a woman, we had drinks, then we...Ummm.”

“Went back to one of your rooms?”

Jone's face turned red. “Yes. But then the next day I couldn’t find her.”

“Did she take anything?”

“No Sir, nothing, she just left before I woke up the next morning and I never saw her the rest of the conference.”

Roj telepathically tells Director Porter “He’s telling the truth. I think this woman was Terlac and they could have easily cloned his badge and shifted into him.”

“Okay, I think it’s time to let him, agents Felstine and Cargrove in on this I believe they can be trusted and if they can’t then you can always delete the memories, right?”

“Yes, that can be done.” Vocar answered

“Come with me to my office, we need to talk in private.”

Steven Jones followed Director Porter out of the room. Porter told the guard he can go back to his regular duties. They walked into TAC.

“Can you two come into my office please?" Porter asked Cargrove and Felstine. Other people in TAC looked up wondering what was going on.

They entered Director Porter's office and he pressed the privacy button and sat down. Steven, Agents Cargrove, and Felstine followed

“What I’m about to show you is only between us, no one and I mean no one else is to know about this.”

The three all said Okay.

A second later Vocar, Ripar, and Roj became visible. The three people in his office jumped out of their chairs.

“What the fuck!” Steven Jones yelled staring at the three people that appeared.

“Calm down, this is Ripar, Captain Roj, and Doctor Vocar, they’re from the planet Targof, they’re friendly, I met them a couple of months ago when I was visiting friends, but that’s another story. They were able to prove that you didn’t do this and that it was someone from Targof.”

“How they look like humans, so Aliens look like humans?” Janice asked

“Well, no, they’re shapeshifters and the person who did this to me was also a shapeshifter that’s how they got away with what they did. They didn’t know about the cookie though which was lucky for you Steven. I would have brought the Targofians in at some point, but now we don’t have to waste any more time.”

“Aliens who are shapeshifters. Wow, boss, that’s some secret you’ve been hiding.” Janice said looking at the three aliens in disbelief

“Okay, I see you’re still skeptical even though they just appeared in my office. Do your thing.”

The three aliens telepathically said who they were going to shift into then they did. They were an exact copy of the three others in Porter's office. Mark Felstine looked at himself as did the other two.

“Are you exact duplicates, I mean everywhere?” Janice asked confusingly

“No, we can only duplicate what we see and since you’re wearing clothes, we’re not anatomically equal to you.” Vocar answered

“I know you must have a ton of questions, but we have a big problem here. Two Targofians broke out of prison and came here. One is named Terlac, is the thief we suspect is behind all this. The other is Kor, he’s dangerous but we have a cop who is looking into him.” Director Porter said hinting they should pay attention to the problem.

“Sorry Director.” Janice said

They all gave them their full attention.

“So, as you know we can shift into anyone we see. Someone must have come across you Mr. Jones and copied your credentials and then pretended to be you to access the laptop through the FBI server.”

“Wait, let me wrap my brain around this for a second.” Steven Jones said.

Jones, Felstine, and Cargrove looked like their heads were going to explode.”

“Okay now, breathe. When I first saw them, I was shocked too so I’m not going to blame you for your reactions.”

“What do you really look like?” Janice asked

“Do you have a ship?” Jones asked

“To answer the first question.” Ripar said shifting into his natural form “there.”

“I hear you in my brain.” Janice said

“Yes, we normally communicate telepathically, but we’ve learned to speak like you.” Roj answered

Ripar shifted back into his human form.

“Second question, yes, we do have a ship, and it’s nearby.”

“So, as I was saying one of ours came up to you and copied your credentials and we think it was this woman you met.”

“I had sex with an alien that shapeshifted into a human woman? I thought you said you couldn’t copy what they couldn’t see. Her body was perfect.”

“They can copy different body parts from different people so they must have seen a woman naked or she’s dead and they shifted into an exact replica of her body. If Kor and Terlac are in on this together, it’s probably the ladder.” Ripar answered

“BUT I’ve been listening to the police band and a body hasn’t been found, so hopefully Terlac and Kor went their separate ways once they got to Earth. Roj commented

“How do we find them if they look like humans?” Janice asked

“Well first off, they can be humans or animals. And second of all, we have technology that can tell the difference.” Roj answered

“So do the scan and let's find Terlac.” Jones said

“It’s not that easy, we have to be on our ship to scan and since they could be anywhere on Earth, we’ll have to take a little ride.”

“We’ll be able to ride on your ship?” Janice asked

Roj looked at Director Porter who gave a nod “they’ll just be distracted thinking about your ship so might as well.”

“Okay, let's go. But first, the other people in this office are getting curious, I should say something. We’ll go out there and I’ll wing it.” Porter said “Wing it, what has my life come to?”

The aliens disappeared and Porter let the three noobs regain their composure before pressing the privacy button. Once he did they exited the office.

“Okay people, listen up! We’ve had a breach and Mr. Jones and agents Felstine and Calgove are working on it with me. Go on with your work, the hole was patched but we have to find who did this. It was my laptop that got breached so I’m going with them to check out a lead. While I’m gone Agent Rollins, you’re in charge. If anyone asks for me just say I’m in a meeting, and I’ll leave my office in privacy. And yes, I’ll have to delete camera footage of us leaving.”

Director Porter pressed a code on a keypad by the office door and the windows went dark.

“When we exit the office and we’re clear I can cloak and phase everyone so we can leave without as much of a trace. From our ship we can take us out of the frames we’re in and no one will know the wiser.” Roj said telepathically

They left TAC and no one was around, the aliens cloaked everyone.

They walked into a conference room that had windows with a view of the outside.

“Now, don’t question, just follow us.” Roj said calmly

“Ummm, okay.” Jones said confusingly looking at the window

“I know there is a window here, but just walk, trust me.” Roj said

The aliens walked through the window as did Director Porter, the other three reluctantly followed. A moment later they were on their ship. The three new people looked around in amazement then back at the wall.

“Okay, don’t touch anything unless you ask first and follow us.” said Ripar

As they walked around the ship Janice, Mark and Steven looked around in amusement. They were really on an alien ship and they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone.

A few moments later they walked onto the bridge. Roj, Ripar, and Vocar took their stations and they were off.

“Starting scan.” Roj said

Ripar opened the window screens and the three new humans' jaws dropped. When they started moving, the land below was moving so fast they didn’t know where they were from one second to the next. Then they heard a beep, and Roj looked at the screen in front of him.

“I found one of them.” The ship came to a full stop in seconds. “They’re on the ground, in that building.”

Ripar landed the ship on the roof.

“Stay on board, if this is Kor he’s very dangerous. If it’s Terloc I don’t suspect him being difficult to capture. You can watch us on the front screen.” Roj said

They exited the bridge and Roj got a couple of guns and gave one to Ripar. They then cloaked themselves and walked out of the ship. The four humans watched the screen as they walked through the door and downstairs. Roj looked at the computer on his arm and continued walking. They came toward another door and walked through it, on the other side was a big warehouse with boxes lined up on shelves row after row.

“They’re in here, this way.”

Ripar and Doctor Vocar followed Roj. In the distance they saw them, it was Terloc who looked like a Caucasian man in his 20s, about 6’ and thin with brown short hair. The three aliens moved toward him; he was looking through a box for something. When they got close enough Roj and Ripar pointed their guns at him one was on each side to block him. They uncloaked and Terloc said:

“I was wondering when someone would find me. I’m unarmed.”

“Why did you hack into the director of the FBI’s laptop and ask for money?” Roj asked

“Well, it looked fun on human television. I was hoping it would get someone's attention. I broke out with Kor because the opportunity was there, I figured we’d leave together and then split up which we did. Then when I saw how these humans lived, I couldn’t let Kor go on a rampage. I’m a thief not a murderer of innocent, harmless people, also humans really don’t have anything worth stealing, their technology is primitive and they use paper and metal as currency? So, I decided to get someone's attention and this was kind of fun, also I hope maybe this good deed will shave off some time off my sentence or maybe let me stay here?”

“If we let you stay here then the worthless stuff will become not so worthless and you’ll start stealing from them.” Roj said sounding annoyed

“I could have actually stolen the info if I wanted. That’s got to mean something right?

“We’ll talk to the Elder. Maybe we can put you in Daro’s custody and see how that works out." Roj answered

“Okay, fair enough.”

“Until then you’re going to have to stay in our ship's cell, but we’ll talk to the Elder as soon as we get back.”

The four aliens cloaked and phased, then walked to the ship and put Terloc in the cell. They went to the bridge and called the Elder to tell them what happened and then brought up the idea of Terloc going into Daro’s custody, maybe he could be helpful.

“Well, why don’t I see what Daro thinks of the idea, I don’t just want to drop Terloc on him. I’ll contact them and get back to you.”

“Yes, Elder.”

The screen went blank.

Ten minutes later there was a chirping sound and Ripar pressed a button on the console.

“Daro! Howss detectiving coming along?”

“It’s good, I got the call from the Elder and I may be able to use Terloc. He did help you if you think he deserves it.”

Roj and Vocar walk onto the bridge.

“Hey Daro! Roj and Vocar said. I don’t know, he did help, but he could cause trouble still here without good supervision. I leave it up to you.” Roj said

“It’s hard to say, who knows maybe he’ll end up being like Parker from Leverage and enjoy helping people.” Ripar said snickering

“I watch Leverage too and that just happen on TV.

“I don’t know enough about him to say. I heard he only stole food and he would only take what he needed. He never took valuables.”

“I’m not sure about that, only the Elder and guards know what that’s about”

“Daro, it's all up to you.”

"Sure, why not? I'll keep a sharp eye on him. I get off work at about 7 pm why don’t you guys come to my place for dinner and we can catch up I can lay down the rules for him.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Roj answered

“Should we tell Terloc now?” Ripar asked

“Naaa, let him wonder a bit longer. Want to get something to eat?” Roj said laughing, then everyone laughed.

“Where is Michael and his workmates?” Ripar asked

“They’re in the dining room already trying out the replicated food.” Vocar answered

“Well let's join them and fill them in." Said Ripar

Around 7 pm Everyone was on the bridge and they were coming up to Daro’s apartment. They landed on the roof and went down to the 5th floor and knocked on his door.

“Come in, the doors open.”

Roj opened the door and they all walked in.

“Wow, nice place for a cop.” Director Porter commented

“I made some good investments, there is a Targofian scientist that invented Rolomine.”

“Damn, maybe I should say you could have a bigger place if you invested enough?”

“I didn’t want to draw attention so I just made as much as I needed.”

“Sounds like a good deal.” Terloc said

“By the way this is Terloc.” Roj pointed at him

“Yes, but I didn’t steal, I just bet on a Targofian.”

“Hmmm, would that be insider trading?” Janice Calgrove asked

“I’m not human, and neither is Dr. Fasmir so I it’s a grey area.” Daro said laughing

Porter stuck his hand out to shake Daro’s and he took it “I’ll give you that.”

Everyone ate, they had Pizza and pasta, with wine.

“I can get used to this food.” Terloc said patting his stomach

“Yes, humans do know how to make good food and drink.” Ripar said taking another slice of pizza

“Director. Don’t forget when you open your laptop you’ll be prompted to change your password.”

“Thanks, Steven.”

Time passed, and they all enjoyed themselves.

“We should probably get you back to the office?” Roj asked

“Yeah, I should check in and see what's going on. You guys can go home though.” Porter said to the agents

The aliens dropped Porter off at the office, then the two agents to their homes.

TO BE CONTINUED in “Scary Lake Story!”

Since “Scary Lake Story” was written before this one, I’m going to have to do a major rewrite to make the two stories come together.