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terrorists and other criminal organizations.
    People with Finn’s special skills, almost all of whom were formerly in the military, were tasked to impersonate terrorist cells and attempt to overcome a facility’s security. Often the penetrations were conducted in a nontraditional way, something also referred to as humanizing the task. That meant that Finn and his team members would emulate the skill levels of the terrorists they were attacking. Presently, Muslim terrorists were not deemed to have sophisticated skill levels. Even after 9/11 there was disbelief in American intelligence circles that such terror cells could take over a major facility or do what Finn had done that night with the aircraft carrier. They were good at blowing themselves and others up in public or driving planes into skyscrapers, but attacking a nuclear power plant or military installation was a whole different ball game.
    However, it had finally occurred to both politicians and higher-ups in the military that Muslims were not the only potential terrorists in the world. China, Russia and other former Soviet bloc countries, as well as several nations in America’s own hemisphere, might well want to do harm to the United States. And these countries
did
have the infrastructure, personnel and access to intelligence to make determined and possibly successful attacks on secure American installations. Thus, Finn had been instructed to pull out the stops, use all his skills and cutting-edge equipment to break through the navy’s defenses. And he had.
    Other men, including several on red cell teams Finn had worked with, might have stayed out all night celebrating this dramatic triumph. However, Finn was not like most people. He had stayed down in the Norfolk area an extra day for one very important reason. His oldest son, David, was on a soccer travel team that had a match in the area. The day after his briefing Finn attended his son’s match and then drove the victorious—and in high spirits—David back home that night. Along the way they talked about school, girls, sports. And then David, who at thirteen was nearly as tall as his dad, asked his father, “So what were you doing down there? Was it work-related?”
    Finn nodded. “Some people were having problems with a security issue and asked me to come down and help them with it.”
    “Did you get it figured out?”
    “Oh, yeah. Everyone’s on the same page now. It actually wasn’t that complicated once the problems were identified.”
    “Security with what?”
    “A wide range of things. Nothing too exciting.”
    “So can you tell me about it?”
    “I doubt you’d find it interesting. It’s the same stuff lots of people do across the country. The only good thing is I don’t have to sit behind a desk every day.”
    “I asked Mom about it once. She said she wasn’t sure what you did.”
    “I think your mother was just kidding you.”
    “You’re not a spy, are you?”
    Finn smiled. “Well, if I were I couldn’t tell you.”
    “Or if you did you’d have to kill me, right?” David said, laughing.
    “All I do is help people run things better by pointing out flaws in their systems.”
    “Like a computer guy does with bugs? So you’re like a debugger.”
    “Exactly. Like I said, pretty boring stuff, but it pays well and keeps food on the table, which by the way, you seem to be eating about a hundred pounds of a day.”
    “I’m a growing boy, Pop. Hey, did you know that Barry Waller’s dad chased a guy in his police car down an alleyway and wrestled a gun out of his hand after the dude robbed a bank? Barry said the guy almost shot his dad.”
    “Police work can be very dangerous. Barry’s dad is a brave man.”
    “I’m glad you don’t do stuff like that.”
    “Me too.”
    “So just keep doing your boring debugging stuff, Pop.” David gave his father a playful punch in the arm. “And stay out of trouble, will ya?”
    “I will, son. I will,” said Harry Finn.

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