“Let's go.” Joe turned and shoved him back, and pointed back the way they'd come. “We found out what we come to.”
Dar stayed where she was until they disappeared, then she turned and regarded her partner. “They made our dog growl.” She looked down at Chino, who had seated herself on the tarmac, tongue lolling. “I never heard her do that before.”
Chino looked up with innocent brown eyes.
“They did.” Kerry said. “And you know, I think we might have done some good this time. Maybe these guys'll leave him alone now.”
“Mm.” Dar didn't sound convinced, but she opened the back door again. “Get in there, madam ferocious.”
Chino jumped up and sat down, wagging her tail, and sniffing at Mocha who scrambled back to join her.
Dar had gone around and gotten in the passenger seat, her head bent as she texted. “Just want Mark to know what happened, so he can tell his newbie to watch his back.”
“You think they'll do anything? I think they're all talk.” Kerry started up the engine. “Just like that guy was when he broke into our office. All bullshit.”
“That could be.” Dar said. “Let's get out of here before something else happens.”
“You got it.”
“Ker, they made our dog growl.”
**
Dar walked to the bow of the boat, using the freshwater hose to rinse off the fiberglass as the early morning sun bathed her. She whistled softly under her breath, glancing around at the crowded marina as she continued to work.
In the winter season, a lot of residents brought their boats in – or – more accurately, had their boats brought in from the Mediterranean, or from South America and almost every slip was filled. That made the docks crowded, and Dar was glad she'd gotten out early before everyone started moving about.
Seas looked good offshore, and after she finished cleaning, and stocking the boat she and Kerry planned on a reef trip off Key Biscayne and a picnic lunch on the water.
She finished rinsing off the deck and stowed the hose, walking around the side and down into the back section of the Dixie. Their gear was already out on the bench seats, and there was a basket of grapes and apples sitting on the waterproof table awaiting her attention.
She worked a grape off it's stem and popped it into her mouth, enjoying the crisp coolness of it as she bit into it. She paused to take a second, then stood quietly as she noted a man walking down the dock with a purposeful stride coming in her direction.
Wasn't someone she knew. He had a pair of dark blue sweatpants and a white sweatshirt on and he came right up to the slip and put his hand on one of the piers, leaning in towards her. “You Roberts?”
A number of answers occurred to Dar, who didn't feel like she wanted her Saturday morning to start with an asshole. She sighed inwardly, though. “Yes.” She answered, briefly.
He nodded. “My name's Roger Post. I know you've got no idea who I am, but a friend of mine who works for AT and T said he knows you, and said I should talk to you.” The man said. “And coincidentally, I was in the market and heard you call in for supplies so I asked them where I could find you.”
Well, that could be damn near anything. “C'mon aboard.” Dar said, in a genial tone, indicating the two chairs on the deck. “I'm going to head out in a while, but I've got a few minutes to talk.”
The man nodded, and stepped over onto the transom, then onto the deck with the skill and ease of someone well used to boats. “Thanks.” He held a hand out. “Sorry to just barge in here. Thanks for being decent about it.”
Dar took a seat and he did also. “What can I do for you?”
“Here's the thing.” Post said. “I won't waste your time, or mine. But I'm bankrolling a startup who's going to offer private networking, and Internet surfing, to high end clients.”
“Okay.” Dar said, slowly. “For what purpose?”
“Avoid the snoopers.” Post said promptly. “You've seen the headlines, people wanting to be able to watch where people are going, snoop into their business. I want to make systems that let people go where they want on the Internet, and not be afraid of someone watching them.”
The irony made Dar smile. “I can see there would be a market.” She said. “Why hunt me down? In case you missed the story in the Herald, the government's one of my clients.”
“I know.” He said. “That's why I wanted to talk to you. I want to hire you to tell me how to get around things.”
Dar studied him. “Around what things?”
“C'mon.” The man smiled at her. “We all know they're tapping the Internet. My buddy at ATT told me they've got those big black boxes looking at everything.”
Dar was almost shocked until she remembered who had suggested that to the government “Well.” She laced her fingers. “If they have big black boxes in line at the ISP level, you can't get around it.”
Post gazed at her. “Can't?”
Dar shook her head. “Can't. If the data stream goes through those boxes, you can't avoid your traffic going through them. The only way to get around that is buy point to point circuits between your clients and whatever they want to connect to.”
“That's expensive.”
“Yup.” Dar said. “And not very practical if you want to surf the Internet.”
“Damn. That's what Chuck said.” He sighed.
“Even if you encrypted the channel.” Dar said. “A good hardware based decrypt encrypt card with spoofed certificates could get around it. My advice to you, and your clients? If you want something to stay private, don't let it out of your control. Don't use the Internet to send it.”
He frowned.
Dar studied him for a moment. “Or have their porn or pirated stuff delivered on a hard drive. I mean seriously.” She said with a smile. “Just don't do it.”
'They're not doing illegal things.” He said. “They just don't want anyone to see what they're doing. They think that's a right, you know?”
“I do.” Dar agreed “Why not talk to my former employers? They can set up a private net if they're serious about that, and can pay for it. With a proxy out to the Internet, on their own backbone.”
“Yeah?”
“ILS.” Dar said. “They absolutely can do that.”
The man thought about that for a minute. “Would they want to do that?”
Dar lifted her hands and then let them fall. “Depends on what the project scope was. There's nothing illegal in setting up a private Internet. They would want common carrier protection though. They wouldn't want to know what you were running over it.”
He paused and thought again. “Can't we just do... what do you call them, a virtual private thing?”
Dar's eyebrows twitched a little. “Sure. You can make a VPN to a specific end point. That encrypts the traffic from you, to that endpoint, but then you still need to go out onto the Internet.”
“Huh.”
“Mm.” Dar's eyes twinkled a little bit. “Most of the time, people we... I mean, that I used to deal with when doing projects for ILS were more concerned about not letting their people surf things on the Internet than protecting them while they were doing it.”
He nodded. “There's just not a lot of trust out there these days” He said. “People want their privacy and they don't want anyone in their business.”
They both heard footsteps and the patter of dog toenails approaching, and Dar looked over to see Kerry heading their way. “I'm not sure you can have it both ways.” She said. “All the freedom of the public Internet and privacy too.”
Post sighed. “There has to be a way.” He said. “Some way to make just looking around anonymous.” He got up as Kerry neared the boat. “But I know you've got things to do, so thanks for the chat at any rate.” He offered his hand, which Dar took and pressed. “Have a good morning.”