Red Entaries

Ten

Joanna looked up at the skyscraper and thought of her daunting task to blackmail Trevor Trahern as she walked before its porch. The glass swung on its hinges, while her persona darkened a lobby door. The marble floors gleamed as she tramped across, holding her disguise. As the floor receptionist blurred in the distance, an officer exited the restroom, and security checks were clearly seen, also, they were radioed by as she walked; while another guard was concerned with a news program on his com as he leaned back into his chair.

Joanne walked on, then the receptionist greeted her: "Pleasant afternoon." He breathed deeply to un-slouch from his desk, sitting alertly. He watched her sign in.

"Yes, pleasantly, isn't it? Jo smiled gently to finish Lorena's signature.

The guard overlooked the paper. "Excuse me, you're Lorena Brown?" The receptionist spoke politely to impede her stroll. "I see you're one of Trevor's secretaries."

"Yes, that's correct, but I'll be right out. " Joanna said evenly, heading toward the stairs.

Then a guard came striding. "Excuse me again," he said briskly, blocking her entry. "You'll have to come this way." He pointed towards the receptionist desk. "You haven't finished signing in, you left the rest blank."

"It's only a last-minute edit," Jo walked back, sighing heavily. Nevertheless, she finished signing in and the guard escorted her down the middle. But Joanne un-welcomed his guidance and walked impatiently toward the stairs.

From some meters down the guard showed her the lift: "So you work in marketing but take the elevator. It will save you more time; and don't forget to sign out, thank you."

When the light of the elevator highlighted her, Jo came through its sliding doors. She pressed for the thirteenth floor. Under the archway the doors closed. She was monitored closely as she shifted through the floors. Joanna needed a path past security and to have a way back for a solid alibi.

The floors had two spiral staircases in every main hall, interconnecting the ground lobby up into Trevor's private office. Lower floors held commercial industries, for buying-importing, and selling-exporting. They were in the trade of mining tools, commodities, and military craft. Higher up, marketing and sales representatives governed the thirteenth floor. Business management and financial reporters climbed higher on the pyramid; and as it rose less personnel were needed. Communication and business strategy worked closely with the senior members. They had higher seats on the seventeenth floor. Although they visited the deli recreational lobby, this was their only physical activity. The board of directors monitored management, overseeing transactions from the eighteenth floor. And last was Trahern's private penthouse and office. The board decisions he made were staff hiring and production designs. While other collaborators for the Solar Space Fleet engineered small arms, Moon rovers, and ground to air missile augments to keep the military corps updated. Also, for the twin cause, the Moon Landers Corp engineered miner tools, pod shuttles, and crops, and at regular phases, they both made shipments via the First Reach colony.

Joanna strode briskly. She had to show she was working. A quick slide of her I.D. The card unlocked the door. Entering the lounge, a middle long table uniformly fit fourteen monitors, the center lined with a glass cage; it protected the mainframe from dust particles and was designed to be cleaned by a robot custodian. As Joanne sat down typing, she attempted to edit the security program. The flashing screen enveloped her visage in the room while her sinister laugh echoed the silence. "So that's what being a hacker feels like." Joanna disengaged the security locks on Trevor's floor. "Now I don't need higher level security access," she said grinning.

Leaving the room, the computer tinted orange before logging off. Then locking the door securely two meters from the elevator; she walked by the lift's arch, a rise four feet above, it came into a sharp point over her head; the outline was a dark stripe with bright walls and silver-plated doors.