Saturday, April 11
Who: Dan Hoffman and Suchiana Hirsch What: Suchi and Dan get down to business When: Saturday Evening, April 11 Where: Dan's apartment, Pennington Condominium Rating: PG Status: Complete Suchi had arrived at Dan´s apartment promptly at six, with a box of home-made cookies and a fresh notepad in her messenger bag. Now she sat perched on the edge of one of Dan´s living room chairs, attentively taking notes and asking the occasional clarifying question.
The Medina Foundation was almost a dream job for her. She´d gone to the library and read up a bit on Marcos Medina, wondering why on earth she hadn´t followed his story, but checking the dates again, she´d remembered. February was right before things got difficult with Jerome. No matter now. She waited for Dan to finish talking, then asked her big question.
"So, Mr. Hoffman, what do you need me to do?"
Dan smiled at her over the coffee table. She had been easy to talk to so far and following some initial talk about her previous work, he was happy to see the conversation turn to the Foundation. "We're constantly looking to expand. Tributary funds are everywhere and they don't really serve much of a purpose. I don't want us to fall into the same trap."
He pressed his hands together and took a deep breath. "I could use someone to help with our publications. There is a weekly newsletter constantly in need of material... as well as regular press releases. We cover everything related to the Foundation as well as projects we're considering. It's important to keep an open mind... you heard about the bomb, right?"
Suchi didn´t need to look down at the paper as she jotted down the things Dan had mentioned. Newsletter, press releases, project descriptions... it sounded boring until you considered what the actual aubject matter was. And Suchi had reasons to be very interested in the Foundation´s work. Then Dan mentioned the bomb. Her pen skidded to a halt and she sucked in a startled breath. "At the Westin Bellevue? The papers haven´t said much, except to blindly point fingers at..." She pàused a moment, searching her memory. "House of Spades, right? They´ve been rather unwilling to provide evidence to support that claim."
"They have evidence," Dan retorted and sunk back in his chair. "That's the problem. Throwing accusations around is what newspapers do on a good day, with or without government backing. But this time, they're not just pointing fingers. What do you know about the House?" he pressed. "Do you think they could be behind the bomb?" Hackings were part of the discussion in Seattle if one talked politics. He was curious about her position.
Suchi paused for a moment, writing down the name of the hacking group carefully to stall for more time. "I don´t know enough about the organization to comment on that particular group." She said carefully, licking her lips before continuing. "But in a society where a government is hiding crucial facts from the populace, hacker groups play a necessary role." Like the fact that you could be relocated across the country to marry an abusive man, for example.
"I agree," Dan answered. "They've been a thorn in the side of the local government for months... and like all thorns, they're liable to be removed. They're an easy target. I want you to find out anything you can about their involvement in the bomb. Starting with the proof against them."
She circled the name of the hacker group, drawing an arrow from it to her notes about the Westin Bellevue bombing. Underneath it she wrote in large block letters ´proof?´ and turned back to Dan. Excellent, she had an assignment! Not so excellent, she had no idea whatsoever of where to start her information gathering. She looked at Dan and began hesitantly "Does Medina Foundation have access to any non-public knowledge that relates to this?" She asked, hoping that her phrasing was appropriately diplomatic.
Dan looked at her a moment and nodded. "I can get you a contact to the group, but I can't guarantee they'll talk to you. They haven't come to me since it happened and I haven't been able to get anything from them. Maybe that's normal. Unfortunately, this is a bad time to get to know them..."
Suchi smiled at him. "Thanks. I can understand they´ve probably gone into lockdown in response to the accusations, but I wouldn´t be worth much as a journalist if I can´t win the trust of a source..." She paused a moment, wondering how much to tell Dan, then decided that he´d trusted her by admitting he had contacts with House of Spades, and she´d just have to trust him as well.
"And with my past, they might be inclined to believe I have no interest in helping the government."
Dan frowned. "Your past?" He'd researched her, of course, but what little had come up on Google wasn't enough to justify the connection. She'd moved around, her parents were both dead. It was a sad thing and Dan could relate, but not enough to turn one anti-government.
Suchi sighed. At least she knew that Dan was a sympathetic ear. "When my mom and I came back to the States, we lived in New York. When my name came up in the lottery, I was shipped out here." She shuddered. It was supposed to get easier the more you talked about it, but she still found it hard. She settled for the brief overview. "My husband...ex-husband and I didn´t get along well. To the point where he threw me down a flight of stairs to prove a point. I woke up in the hospital with three broken ribs and a concussion. The divorce papers were signed before I even got discharged."
"God..." Dan shook his head. "That's horrible." And it was, even as her story held little difference from that of thousands of other women across the country. All of them in the same trap. "That should never have happened to you. To anyone."
Suchi nodded, forcing a little smile. "I strongly suspect, although I have no proof, that my relocation was due to my work with The Sun in New York. The lottery results came a week after our office was shut down." She shook her head. "No matter. Point is, I hope your contact at House of Spades will trust me.¨
"So do I," Dan agreed and paused. "I don't know if you've been in Seattle long enough to have seen it, but there have been rumors about relocations being not so accidental. The government is being a lot of things, especialy as far as the lottery goes. I can try to see if you were one of their experiments... some people are happy to talk for the right price. Especially now."
Suchi smiled again, a real one this time. "Thanks, Mr. Hoffman. But I´m really more interested in trying to make sure this doesn´t happen to other people. Somehow. I mean, I know I can handle myself. But I don´t want other people to go through what I did." She tapped her pen against the notepad on her lap. "Which is why I´m looking forward to working with you more."
"Don't run before you can walk. We're not working together yet. Get me that information and it'd mark the start of a very lucrative relationship." He offered her a smile. "I can't make any promises about the future. I trust you know that by agreeing to do this you'll be putting yourself in danger. And that you'll be on your own."
She took a moment to think about danger. The muggings in San Salvador, the fall out from The Sun... danger had long since ceased to scare her away from her work. "I appreciate your concern, Mr. Hoffman, but if I wanted a safe, social job, I'd have worked at the telephone company. I became a journalist knowing the risks, and that's not going to stop me for an instant." She began putting her things away in her messenger bag as she continued talking. "So the sooner you can get me the contact info for House of Spades, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this." She stood and offered her hand. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Hoffman. I can show myself out."