X-Git-Url: https://git.njae.me.uk/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=2018%2F8a.plaintext;fp=2018%2F8a.plaintext;h=09563f8d5b8ba96561f2a3c43dcdd3fcdb543d9b;hb=9cd1b408d331f2426e614d5380e8a9a71363b03b;hp=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000;hpb=6f90a3a1930b078597f2cc5091d977df5731bdbb;p=cipher-tools.git diff --git a/2018/8a.plaintext b/2018/8a.plaintext new file mode 100644 index 0000000..09563f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/2018/8a.plaintext @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +I checked around to see if I was being watched but the room was definitely empty and I couldnt hear +anything outside so I ducked down to inspect the underside of the table The top was highly polished +with a graceful slope to the edge thickening as it approached the centre column There was no visible +mechanism to suggest that it was anything more than it appeared to be a grand work table at the +centre of a grand control room I pushed poked and listened for another mechanism but there was +nothing mechanical that I could find The thickening of the top and the bulk of the column did allow +room for a fairly substantial mechanism though and tucked up in the fold where the top joined the +column there was a small metal plate bearing a makers mark My heart skipped the door to the Shadow +Archive carried a similar plate inscribed with the trademark of John Tann the locksmith who +manufactured the security system on the entrance It looked like he had also made this table He was +not a furniture maker and there could only be one reason he had made this one It must be part of a +lock mechanism He was the leading safe maker in Victorian London and if Black had felt the need for +him to build a safe in the heart of the Shadow Archive it could only be because there were secrets +that were too dark even for the security of the Archive itself Maybe this is what my attacker was +really after and if so they had struck way too soon I should thank them really without my aching +head I would have been unlikely to discover Tan ns mechanism but that thought reminded me I was +still vulnerable down in the shadows I didnt think there was anyone else around but I couldnt be +sure and I needed backup Until now there hadnt been enough to get Harry involved in this adventure I +still wasnt certain that he would be allowed to help out as I wasnt really sure that national +security was involved but I was absolutely certain he would want to see this I needed to get out +safely and comeback with a team so we could properly explore the Archive and find out what the Tann +safe stored Before I left I took one more look around gathering the few papers that were left and +putting the codebook securely into a pocket of my backpack I still couldnt believe that my attackers +had left it behind but perhaps they missed it in the gloom in their excitement to gather the +government papers which they had found If nothing else came out of this I was certain that the +codebook was worth reading I hadnt had time to inspect it properly but the section on the Vi genere +cipher looked absolutely fascinating \ No newline at end of file