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ng program with a wholly innocent name that referred to a function carried out by another program entirely。 Thus only a very careful and directed search by a skilled puter operator could even detect that something was even there。 Exactly what the program did could only be determined by a one…by…zero reading of the program itself； something difficult to acplish at best。 It would be like trying to find what was wrong with a single leaf on a single tree in a vast forest where all the trees and all the leaves looked pretty much alike； except that this one leaf was smaller and humbler than most。 CIA and NSA could no longer attract the best programmers in America。 There was just too much money in the consumer electronics industry for government to pete effectively in that marketplace。 But you could still hire them； and the work that came out was just as good。 And if you paid them enough…strangely； you could pay lots more to a contractor than to an employee…they wouldn't talk to anyone about it。 And besides； they never really knew what it was all about anyway； did they？
In this case； there was an additional level of plexity that went back over sixty years。 When the Germans had overrun the Netherlands in 1940； they'd created a strange situation。 In Holland the Germans had found both the most cooperative of their conquered nations and the most fiercely resistant。 More Dutchmen per capita had joined the Germans than any other nationality…enough to form their own SS division； SS Nordland。 At the same time； the Dutch resistance became the most effective in Europe； and one of their number was a brilliant mathematician/engineer working for the national telephone pany。 In the second decade of the twentieth century； the telephone had reached a developmental roadblock。 When you lifted a phone； you were immediately connected with an operator to whom you gave the destination you were trying to call； and she then physically moved a plug into the proper hole。 This system had been workable when only a few telephones were in use； but the appliance had rapidly proved too useful for limited applications。 The solution to the problem； remarkably enough； had e from a mortician in the American South。
Vexed by the fact that the local operator in his town referred the bereaved to a peting undertaker； he had invented the stepping switch； which enabled people to reach their own phone destinations merely by turning a rotary dial。 That system served the world well； but also required the development of a whole body of new mathematical knowledge called 〃plexity theory；〃 which was systematized by the American pany AT&T in the 1930s。
Ten years later； merely by adding additional digits to be dialed； the Dutch engineer in the resistance had applied plexity theory to covert operations by creating theoretical pathways through the switching gear； thus enabling resistance fighters to call others without knowing whom they called； or even the actual telephone numbers they were calling。
This bit of electronic skullduggery had first been noticed by an officer for the British Special Operations Executive； the SOE； and； finding it very clever indeed； he'd discussed it over a beer with an American colleague in a London pub。 The American OSS officer； like most of the men Wild Bill Donovan had chosen； was an attorney by profession； and in his case； a very thorough one； who wrote everything down and forwarded it up the line。 The report on the Dutch engineer had made its way to the office of Colonel William Friedman； then America's foremost code…breaker。 Though not himself a hardware expert； Friedman had known something useful when he saw it； and he knew there would be an after…the…war； during which his agency…later reborn as the National Security Agency…would still be busy cracking other countries' codes and ciphers and producing codes and ciphers itself。 The ability to develop covert munications links through a relatively simple mathematical trick had seemed a gift from God's own hand。
In the 1940s and '50s； NSA had been able to hire American's finest mathematicians； and one of the tasks assigned them had been to work with AT&T to create a universal telephone operating system that could be used covertly by American intelligence officers。 Back then； AT&T was the only real rival NSA had had in the hiring of skilled mathematicians； and beyond that； AT&T had always been a prime contractor for just about every executive agency of the government。 By 1955； it was done； and for a surprisingly modest fee AT&T provided the entire world with a model for telephone systems that most of the world adopted…the modest cost was explained by the desire of AT&T to make its systems patible with every other country's to ease international munications。 With the 1970s had e push…button phones； which directed calls electronically by frequency…controlled codes even easier for electronic systems to use； and infinitely easier to maintain than the former electro…mechanical stepping switches that had made the mortician hugely rich。 They also proved even easier for AT&T to rig for NSA。 The operating systems first given the world's telephone panies by AT&T's Parsippany； New Jersey； research laboratory had been upgraded yearly at least； giving further improvements to the efficiency of the world's phone systems…so much so that scarcely any telephone system in the world didn't use it。 And tucked into that operating system were six lines of binary code whose operational concept traced back to the Nazi occupation of Holland。
Ming finished the installation and ejected the disk； discarding it into her waste can。 The easy way to dispose of secret material was to have your adversary do it； through the front door； not the back one。
Nothing really happened for some hours； while Ming did her usual office tasks and Nomuri visited three mercial businesses to sell his high…powered desktop puters。 All that changed at 7：45 P。M。
By this time； Ming was at her own home。 Nomuri would get a night off； Ming had to do some things with her roommate to avoid too much suspicion…watching local television； chatting with her friend； and thinking about her lover； while the whole reason for the wispy smiles on her face played out entirely outside her consciousness。 Strangely； it never occurred to her that her roomie had it all figured out in an instant； and was merely polite enough not to broach the subject。
Her NEC desktop puter had long since gone into auto…sleep mode； leaving the monitor screen dark and blank； and the indicator light in the lower right position of the plastic frame amber instead of the green that went with real activity。 The software she'd installed earlier in the day had been custom…designed for the NEC machines； which like all such machines had proprietary source…code unique to the brand。 The source…code； however； was known to the National Security Agency。
Immediately upon installation； the Ghost program…as it had been christened at Fort Meade； Maryland…had buried itself in a special niche in the NEC's operating system； the newest version of Microsoft Windows。 The niche had been created by a Microsoft employee whose favorite uncle had died over North Vietnam while flying an F…105 fighter…bomber；