Chapter 10 : Emergency Security Clearance
‘Zak,’ said Herbet. ‘I didn’t think I would be glad to hear your voice again. Well done.’
Zak sensed that he was actually being genuine.
Herbet continued, careful to keep his voice down and not draw the attention of the guards.
‘We have had to give Krushkov what is called Maximum Security Clearance. So he now has total control of the ship, and complete access to everything on the ship’s computer.’
‘Oh,’ said Zak.
‘So I’m going to give you Emergency Security Clearance,’ said Herbet. ‘This is superior to Maximum Security Clearance, because of one crucial element. You can secretly override any setting on the computer, which won’t be visible to anyone using the system with Maximum Security Clearance.’
‘Wow!’ exclaimed Zak, taken aback at the power being handed out to him.
‘Emergency Security Clearance is for use in a situation such as this. But we were taken by surprise, and didn’t have time to make use of it. We were overwhelmed pretty quickly.’
Taken by surprise, apart from his warnings, thought Zak.
‘These hijackers are savvy about surveillance Zak, so you are going to have to stay on the ball, as it could be a running battle to stay undetected.’
‘I’m up for it,’ said Zak, excited at Herbet’s sudden confidence in him.
Herbet whispered the name and passcode, and Zak entered them as he did so.
‘Now, remove your PSI immediately,’ said Herbet.
Zak found himself with full access to the security system. He quickly brought up the PSI signal map. His escape didn’t look too obvious, as there was one mass of dots in the restaurant, and a smaller collection around the jail. Only one dot lay outside those two places, located in the Security Office. Zak requested the name from the computer, and found it was Krushkov.
