LUCID LOVE

ANXIOUS BUT UNDAUNTED

I had cried my pent up emotions out and by the time we arrived at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's headquarters I was dry eyed and it was hard to believe I had cried at all.

As we stepped down from the car I returned the handkerchief to it's owner.

" Thank you " I said to the kind female officer.

"You are welcome and good luck" she said as they got into the car and left. I was taken charge of by a new set of officers.

While in the elevator, I pondered on the words of the female officer. Wishing me good luck like a job applicant heading for an interview when I was in fact heading to my land of doom was an amusing irony.

The elevator came to a halt and I was pushed alone into an office. As I came in I couldn't help but admire the luxuriously furnished room. Funny girl! you still have the mind to admire furnishings when you have gotten your self into a messy mess. I thought to myself. There was a huge mahogany desk with a man sitting behind it.

On sighting me, he pulled out a file and opened it in preparation for an interrogatory session. I didn't bother to greet since I decided to save my breath and energy for a prison welcome service probably in the next one hour.

"Seat" He said still looking down and scribbling away. I sat stiffly and upright. If he had been surprised to see a young girl sitting before him as the hacker, then he had done a good job in hiding his surprise.

"Name?" He asked.

"Eva Smith" I answered.

"Age?"

"Twenty three"

" Occupation"

" medical student"

" pardon?" I knew he was asking me to repeat myself because he didn't believe a medical student could know so much about hacking.

" I am a seasoned and professional hacker " I answered with sarcasm. He paused writing and looked at me in shock for a split second. Of course a girl like me in a tight corner was the least and last person he had expected such a rude answer from but sometimes my guts and ego get the better part of me. By now I knew I had successfully gotten myself a lifetime jail term but things had gotten to the point where I just didn't care anymore.

"You may go " He said still digesting the shock from my words. As I made for the door he said

" You will need to watch your tongue out there because you may likely not find a lenient person like me"

"Yeah... Thanks for your unsolicited advice anyways" I said with exaggerated gratitude, but I knew that he was right.

Damn! I thought as I closed the door of the office to find my escorts waiting for me. A part of me had been hoping to walk out of the building, hail a cab and riding home just in time to prevent my poor mother from having high blood pressure but here was I in an elevator heading for a God knows where.

The elevator came to a halt again. I stepped out and entered into the office. If I had been heaving a sigh of relief at the thought of no more interrogations then I had been in for a surprise. This scenario could be rightly referred to as from frying pan to fire. I was been watched by twelve pair of eyes sitting in the half moon format looking at the young hacker in utter disbelief. The panel of judges didn't even as much as have the courtesy to reserve a spare seat for the accused, I thought wordlessly.

I didn't need a soothsayer to tell me I had to comport myself properly here . Questions were thrown at me from every angle and I had barely enough time to answer them. It made me remember psychology classes, the aim of the technique was to make sure you didn't have enough time to cook up a lie.

"Young lady, what is your name?"

" My name is Eva Smith" I replied.

" Age?"

" Twenty three"

" Status"

"Medical student at Pacesetters University" This reply sparked a look of surprise from them as they had expected me to be a computer inclined student.

" Investigations recently conducted has revealed that you hacked into the USA military data base. How correct is that?"

" very correct" I replied swallowing hard.

"Can you in a few words tell us why you hacked the USA military database or were you a kind of accomplice?"

I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

" I did it single handedly because I wanted to achieve my vision of reaching out to the less privileged in developing countries..."

"By hacking into your country's military data base?" They asked simultaneously in surprise with a hint of amusement.

"No. It was an operation gone wrong. I intended to hack into the funds account" I said breathlessly.

"Go on"

"It has always been my dream to reach out to others and that explains why I earlier chose medicine as a course " I said solemnly.

"So why take such a great risk for the faceless less privileged?"

" So many people made sacrifices for me to be where I am today, I did not want the kindness to end with me because it is a debt that should be repaid even if not necessarily to the lender" I said.

"So were you not been unkind to your country to steal military funds even with good intentions?" they asked.

"Sirs with all due respect, the USA can part with a large sum of money without being negatively affected but millions have died and millions more will if quick measures are not taken against hunger, poor or no medical facilities etc" I said.

"So do you feel your actions were justified?"

"No sirs. I deeply regret my actions and wish I can retrace my steps to do things the right way" I said .

"Hmmm.. The results of the interrogatory session will be forwarded to the office of the president and you will be hearing from him soon" And with a wave of the hand I was dismissed.