From: Brant Forseng Date: Mon Jun 29, 1998 08:39:41 US/Pacific To: hudsonleick@onelist.com Subject: [hudsonleick] Ye olde Bookstore and Gunshop Reply-To: hudsonleick@onelist.com From: Brant Forseng TIME TO DE-LURK IN A MAJOR WAY: I'm not really sure who to post this to (Kevin Wong?) but I am now announcing the opening of Cirra's Ye Olde Gunshop and Bookstore. The OGB is a small establishment on the outskirts of Cirra that caters to those into the use of firearms and books that have to do with military strategy, history, subversion, cryptography, networks, computers, and related matters. It also houses a small bar, which serves nothing but fine scotch and Dortmunder Union Beer. The OGB is home to an extremely sophisticated network running a combination of UNIX and NT servers. And yes, the OGB is firewalled up the wazoo. An ISP in its own right, the OGB has attempted to gain the business of the Cirran city council on a number of ocassions, but with no success. This is mostly due to doubts harboured by the majority of Cirra regarding the allegiance of the OGB's proprietor. There is some question about his feelings towards Callisto. Doubts are well founded in the eyes of most, due in part to his refusal to refer to Callisto by any moniker other than her true name. Still, the OGB is a pleasant enough place to visit, and a number of dignitaries in the Cirran armed forces drop by on a regular basis. Mostly to trade stories with the OGB's part-time bartender -- Kari-Anne -- who holds PHds in History, Economics, and Computer Science. There is no truth to the rumour that Kari-Anne is popluar with the men only because she wears more leather than Callisto. However, the doubts about the OGB remain.... As Admiral Bello was once heard to remark to his aide: "for a simple ISP the OGB seems to have an awful lot ot excess computing power. I can't help but think those all extra servers are doing *something*." "Well, we've had no security breaches in *our* systems, sir." I know, thought Bello, and that's what worries me. He turned back to his aide. "Tear our whole system appart. Top to bottom. Look for anything, and I mean *anything* that looks out of place." His aide blanched at the thought of the work involved, not to mention the disruption to normal operations. "But Sir," he began. "Don't argue, Captain," snapped Bello, "just make it happen." "Very good Sir," sighed his aide. ************************************************ Anyone want to turn this into a thread? ************************************************ Brant Author, TIMES & Callisto's Way Proprietor, Ye Olde Gunshop & Bookstore ============================================================================== From: "Kevin C. Wong" Date: Tue Jun 30, 1998 02:52:15 US/Pacific To: hudsonleick@onelist.com Subject: [hudsonleick] Re: Ye Olde Bookstore and Gunshop Reply-To: hudsonleick@onelist.com From: Kevin C. Wong Three days, twelve anchovy and bell pepper pizzas, and four cases of Dr. Pepper later, the Cirran Navy I.S. Department had practically dismantled and rebuilt the Navy computer system without finding any problems other than an excessive amount of system resources devoted to the usual Games, GIFs, JPEGs, Movies, and Sounds -- many of dubious moral quality. Admiral Bello sat in his office and reread the report a third time, but the results remained the same: No evidence of security breaches nor any evidence that anyone had tried to breach the Navy's computer systems. Well, no evidence of anyone other than the usual American CIA, Russian KGB, British MI6, Israeli Mossad, and Madagascar University Computer Society attempts at infiltrating the Cirran Navy's ultra-secure systems. As interim Chief of Police, Commissioner Bello had also instigated an audit of the Cirran Police Department's polyglot computer network, some of whose computers dated to the Univac and Eniac era. He didn't really expect any meaningful results from that area -- the Cirran Police Department could give the Springfield Police Department a run for its money for the sheer ineptitude of its operations. Still, it was worth the attempt, although their investigations would probably take another month or two. Something drastic had to be done. Admiral Bello dare not bring up his suspicions to the Goddess, at least not so soon after the unfortunate Inquisition to which she subjected New Cirra. Both the Goddess and Leicky were in a bad mood after the trials, and the survivors were still too busy recuperating from the ordeal. Besides, if his department revealed the sinister operations of the OGB, it would certainly increase the Navy's standing in Cirran politics. What he needed was a professional. A free agent who could be trusted, for the right amount of money. Someone who could do some surreptitious, and most likely life threatening, investigations. Someone expendable, who would not be missed if the worst happened. Unfortunately, Dirk Gently was unavailable at the moment -- some case involving a Norse God, so his intelligence sources gathered. So he would have to go to his second choice. He called in his aide. "Get me Wight" was the only command he needed to give. The Navy's smooth-oiled machine rolled into action... ************************************************ Hey Brant, is this what you meant? I reformatted your text to 65 columns in case lots of people add to the story by replying with a '>' character in front of every line. Who wants to continue the next part? I got a skit to work on... ************************************************ ============================================================================== Web site copyright (c) 2001 Kevin C. Wong, All Rights Reserved. "Xena: Warrior Princess" and some material copyright MCA/Universal. Materials copyright their respective authors. Send questions and comments to me, Kevin C. Wong (jahn@csua.berkeley.edu) This page last updated: May 4, 2001.