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PAUSE
This section covers the developments at the University.
Viewers familiar with this subject may pass on to the next
section.
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More Teamwork
When Marita arrived at the University she found that Sergeant
Fisher was waiting for her inside the gates.
He said, "Miss Andersson, Miss Kohlvits has discovered who
has been bugging the University processors. She is one of the
lecturers here, Mrs. Wanda Grigson. Miss Kohlvits put a miniature
vidcom recorder unit in your lecture room to see who was fitting
the bugs. She contacted Mr. Singh who passed on the message to
your Spacer Security services. I was told to come here and meet
you before you entered the University."
"Has the Bursar been informed?"
"No. Spacer Security has said that it is better if as few
people as possible know that she has been spotted. The bugs she
has used have only a short range so there must be a receiver recorder
nearby. Miss Kohlvits and her fellow students are looking for
it whenever they get the chance. It is better that they do it
because an outside investigator would be noticed. Mr. Singh has
told me that your students are a very able bunch and are very
keen to try to protect you."
"What should I do?" asked Marita.
"Nothing. Please carry on as if you do not know anything
about this except to remember that the processor in your lecture
room is bugged. The bug has to be working so that the receiver
recorder can be found. When it is found, Mr. Singh will deal with
it."
"Thank you Sergeant Fisher.
"It is all part of my job ma'am. It is Miss Kohlvits you
must thank. She is a very bright young lady."
With that the Sergeant walked away.
When she entered her lecture room, all her students were milling
around in small groups. As she passed one of the groups she was
given a piece of paper surreptitiously. Marita glanced at the
note as she arranged the papers on her desk. It read. 24 know
that you know.
Marita realised that the milling around had been a cover to pass
her the note as the students went back to their seats as soon
as she was ready to begin her lecture.
As she knew that she was being bugged, she gave a lecture that
was a selection of excerpts from previous lectures she had given.
It took the class a minute or two to realise what she was doing.
None made any comment. They all knew that what Marita was saying
was for the benefit of the bug. It would also make it easier to
crack any code that was used to encrypt the bug's output.
At the end of her lecture Marita said "I will circulate a
sheet of paper so that you can write down any questions you may
have so that I can prepare answers for you in a future lecture."
At the top of the page she wrote. 'Sorry about the repetition
but I am sure you know why. Observe carefully but do not do anything
that will betray the knowledge that we have.'
When the paper was returned it contained more information than
Marita was looking for. Five students had written that they also
attended Mrs. Grigson's lectures. Anita Kohlvits had written that
she had the whole lecture recorded with time marks to assist with
decryption. She had also monitored the bug's output since she
had discovered that a new one was there. Pietro Sanchez thought
that Mrs. Grigson may carry a receiver recorder with her. As he
was also one of her students, he would do his best to find out
if she did. Alice Shah wrote that she knew where Mrs. Grigson
lived because her student flat was nearby. Roberto Annigoni wrote
that Mrs. Grigson frequently shared a floater with a man who was
unconnected with the University who was not Mr. Grigson. Marita
added a few comments to the information she had been given and
said, "I will circulate this sheet again. I don't think that
your questions have been thought out well enough. See what the
others have written and see if you can do better."
When she got the sheet back again it was clear that synergy had
taken place. Li Fan Cho wrote. 'I know what Mrs. Grigson's floater
friend looks like.' Susannah Smith wrote. 'I have noticed that
Mrs. Grigson often looks in her briefcase during her lectures.
I have always wondered why until now. I think Pietro is right.'
Odine Ladingor wrote. 'Mrs. Grigson always spends a lot of time
with her processor after lectures. None of the other lecturers
do.' Anita Kohlvits had written. 'Pietro, Fan Cho and Odine. Brilliant
stuff! I am usually free when you have Mrs. Grigson's lectures.'
Marita said, "That is a lot better. If any of you think that
you want to revise your questions, please indicate."
Several hands were raised so Marita circulated the sheet again.
Alice Shah wrote. 'This is excellent but laborious. We can continue
this exercise after the lecture period. We will pass on our info
to Anita who has her own way of contacting Mr. Singh.'
Following Alice's comment was a series of 'OKs' and signatures.
Marita was delighted with the information that the class had gathered.
"Before you go to your next lectures I would like to remind
you of one of the golden rules of being a Spacer: Always
make sure that you know how to do a task before you attempt to
do it. A Spacer has to know her level of competence in order to
do her job properly."
The usual buzz of discussion at the end of the lecture period
was absent for a moment. Someone noticed and asked. "Who
is going to the hockey match tomorrow?" The buzz was quickly,
even if somewhat artificially, restored to normal. Marita hoped
that the unusual silence would not be noticed by whoever was listening.
PAUSE
The next section covers the discovery
of more information about the watchers.
Viewers familiar with this subject may pass on to the following
section.
Please select PASS or CONTINUE.