How am I spending the holiday? I’m in orbit above Fijun City, tapping into the Baxter, Fishman, Kerridge and Scott (known as BFKS) Holdings corporate network. OK, so first thing is, yes, it’s legal. I got permission, kind of. OK, the deal is I did some work for a BFKS Holdings middle management guy named Asif Naqvi off and on for almost eighteen months. I hadn’t heard from him in about five months. A week or two ago I attended the BOMC conference and learned he’s now an executive VP working for Drummond Industrial, based on New Corvo on Aremis (Vega II). He wasn’t the most above board client in general, but we had an understanding about one another. Asif was a co-worker with me at Hawat Information Conglomerate. I knew he was rough around the edges, sometimes difficult to get along with, but he followed his own honorable code of conduct and I grudgingly respected him for that. When I fell on rough times last year, Asif threw a few contracts my way to keep me going. They were not by the book contracts, but shady as they were I took them no questions asked and he respected me for that. We got to talking and he explained to me that when he was fired from BFKS Holding and it wasn’t on the best of terms. As he explained it, once he had a number of drinks in his system, he got kicked out before he could remove some sensitive material from the server. He’s been compiling a “hit list” of executives who has been doing quite a number of questionable financial transactions. He claimed they were buried deep within the servers. He wanted me to remove the information from the system and return them to Asif. I told him I was sure as soon as he was fired, any files in his account would have been scanned and dissected. He told me he had the files stored in a number of hidden packets located in separate individual employee accounts in the system. While he was sure the data was still intact and undetectable, the longer they sat in the servers the stronger chance they could be discovered or inadvertently erased. According to the guidelines of the contract that was established (Case 5003429481120: CV-RD60), I have access to all files and systems that the client has legal access to. While Asif was terminated and technically shouldn’t have access to the data, the termination by BFKS Holding meant that all personal property created by Asif was to be turned over to him. That was not fully implemented. Since technically the hidden data are his property and were not returned, Asif can retrieve that data through any means possible within a year of termination per a separate contract he signed with BFKS Holding at the time of his employment. He has contracted to retrieve that data through a third party data retrieval acquisitionist. So, I’m in a high synchronous orbit, using a narrow broadband beam precisely targeted to the BFKS Holdings building, scanning their data looking for the files Asif had hidden. Asif wasn’t high enough on the corporate food chain so there wasn’t a massive password reset on the system, which was fortunate, however there was a bit of luck that was too good to be true. One of the packets was hidden in a computer tech employee account, and that person didn’t practice the best of protocols. Apparently she thought the folder Asif created for the hidden files was an old scrap folder. She dropped a non-encrypted file that listed current password for all employees of the company, including executives. It was a scratch note that was never deleted, a very rookie mistake. As I’m interpreting the contract, since I was given access by Asif in my role as data retrieval acquisitionist and it is uncertain if there are other hidden files not told to me by the client, I would be prudent as an executor for the client to make sure all possible pertinent files be recovered and examined. Since the IT employee didn’t properly scan to confirm other files were in the folder, thus they dropped the packet into a file that was controlled by the client, technically all of the files that would be accessible by those passwords would be accessible to the client by the legal assertion that the passwords were added to client’s personal property. It might be a legal stretch to interpret the contract in this way, but I do believe in being discreet and careful in dealing with Asif or any contracted client. I think I can stay in orbit for another hour and do a full backup of their system, just for safety sake. I’m meeting Asif at the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo West at the Desmond Memorial Convention Center in Lorville on Hurston (Stanton I) tomorrow evening to deliver the data contracted by him and ONLY the information contracted by him. Just to be prudent, the backup files will be stored in a secure location to be examined at a later time