by Mark A Pryor
“I’ll do some more digging—see how much I can learn about this place and what they did there. I also need to learn more about Grimes’ CIA assignment.”
“What should we do with the information?” Vyper tapped on her keyboard. “I can use my bots to spread the word—inside the US and also in Turkey.”
Niko had the beginnings of a plan, but everything depended upon Bodnar’s negotiations with Homeland. “Can you post something on the Homeland Security web page?”
“They will not like it.” Vyper smiled. “But I can post whatever you want on their public web page and most of the internal pages as well.”
The phone rang and Vyper answered. “Hello, Mister Bodnar … Yes … We will see you shortly.” She hung up. “Bodnar is on the way over—maybe half an hour. He has something to discuss, but he does not want to talk on the phone.”
Niko continued his research while Vyper studied the Homeland web pages. They also tossed around ideas about how to leverage the dirt on Grimes and the CIA.
When Bodnar arrived, Vyper led him to the dining room table. He sat, opened his briefcase, and took out a small manila folder. “Homeland’s interested in hiring both of you, but not without an interview. They weren’t specific about what they want you to do … ‘Need to know,’ I suspect. Since I insisted on tying the job to an immunity deal, they agreed to meet the three of us.”
Vyper held Niko’s hand and looked at their lawyer. “Does this mean we do not go to prison?”
Bodnar wrinkled his forehead. “I believe so, but I haven’t seen the agreement. No one’s signed anything.” He removed a paper from the folder. “When we meet with Homeland, make no mention of Prixster or Sokolov’s missing money.”
“When do we speak with them?” asked Niko. “Where is this place?”
“The interview is tomorrow at two o’clock. They scheduled it for two hours. Homeland won’t hire you directly—or authorize you to enter their offices. You’re actually applying for a job at a company called Crystal Intelligence—near Reagan Airport. But don’t be fooled, everyone in management works for Homeland.”
Even though it sounded like a good deal to Niko, he still had reservations. “What happens if they refuse to give us full immunity? If we turn down their offer, we have no deal—and we risk spending a long time in prison.”
“That’s a legitimate concern. They hold all the cards. I think they realize you didn’t work with the Russians, but they still don’t approve of unsanctioned hacking.”
Niko needed to prepare for the worst, so they had to let Bodnar in on their plan. “Vyper and I’ve discussed ways to mitigate the risk. If the government decides to screw us, we’re prepared to play hardball. To be precise, as far as the government is concerned, I’m the one that’ll play hardball.”
Bodnar raised an eyebrow. “Feel free to run your idea by me. I won’t try to stop you, and I won’t tell the government. I know Marko would want me to help you if I can.”
Niko took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You said the meeting starts at two o’clock and goes for two hours. We’ll schedule a time bomb to go off at 4:15—releasing compromising information around the world. If the government decides to screw us, I’ll ‘go rogue’ around four o’clock—and you two need to act surprised and worried. On the other hand, Mister Bodnar, if the government decides to give us full immunity, you’ll be able to stop it with a phone call or a text.”
The lawyer leaned forward on the table. “I won’t ask you what the compromising information is, but I don’t see how it’ll make them change their minds.”
Vyper smiled. “There will be more time bombs, each one releasing additional information. The bombs will continue until told to stop.”
Bodnar packed up his papers and set the briefcase on the floor, then he looked each of them in the eye. “Marko had confidence in both of you, so you can count on me.”
They talked through the details of the plan, refining it, and talking contingencies.
The lawyer stood and took his briefcase. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 11:00. We’ll have lunch before the meeting.”
“We’ll be ready.” Niko walked him to the door.
Crystal City, Virginia
The following morning, Niko and Vyper followed Bodnar into a courtyard surrounded by modern high-rise buildings, an unlikely location for the offices of Crystal Intelligence. They headed toward the glass and steel structures on the right. A fast food restaurant and a clothing store flanked a tall set of glass doors below the street address of the building.
Their lawyer held the door as they entered a small lobby with artificial potted trees on either side of a bank of elevators. They rode it up to the tenth floor.
The doors opened to a reception area that looked like the lobby of a fine hotel. They walked past a small unoccupied seating area, and approached a woman standing behind a desk.
She smiled. “May I help you?”
Bodnar nodded and handed her an identification card. “We have an appointment—”
“They’re waiting for you in Conference Room B.” She returned his ID and pressed a button. The door on the right clicked, and Bodnar opened it, waving his arm to encourage Niko and Vyper to enter.
To their left was a double set of oak doors. Ahead was a bland hallway devoid of any pictures or plants, where a tall woman in a dark business suit stepped through a door on the right that displayed the letter B. She offered her hand to each of them. “Mister Bodnar … Mister Zima … Miss Harris.” She waved toward the door. “Please come in.”
The windowless room had a large whiteboard on the wall and a rectangular conference table in the center, surrounded by seven chairs, four of them empty. The woman closed the door and took a seat at one end, leaving three available chairs—all on one side.
Niko sat closest to the woman who appeared to be in charge. Bodnar sat on his right, leaving the remaining seat for Vyper. Across the table, they faced three men in dark business suits, each one holding a light-blue folder.
On Niko’s left, the woman spoke. “My name is Victoria Evans. My associates are here to observe. We’ve studied your backgrounds and the recent events that brought you here. The security clearances you obtained at Kozel Group remain active, and they’ll be sufficient for the briefing you receive today.” She handed some papers to Mr. Bodnar. “Each of you need to sign this form before we proceed.”
Bodnar quickly read through each document and nodded. “This is standard.” He handed one copy to Niko and another to Vyper. “It says you can’t repeat anything you learn today—ever. Go ahead and sign it.”
When Ms. Evans received the signed copies, she placed them in her folder and set three identical large color photos on the table. “This is Stepan Belenko, also known as Zatan. He’s six feet tall, a hundred and ninety pounds. He runs a Russian cyber operation. As you know, his former boss and benefactor, Alexei Sokolov, is dead. Belenko seems to have found another benefactor, since his operation remains active.”
Niko had never known what Zatan looked like. He expected to see a young computer nerd, but this was a powerfully built man, with short blond hair and a long bulbous nose.
The men across the table stared at the three of them, like predators stalking their prey.
Evans leaned forward. “Several oil pipelines and refineries in Texas and Louisiana are experiencing cyber-attacks, and we believe it’s Belenko. His team hacked into the administrative systems and stole personal information. They’re probably behind the spear phishing campaign—system admins are receiving bogus emails demanding they change their password. So far, we believe none of them have clicked on the false link. But our greatest concern is the probes of the operational network, where pipelines are monitored and controlled. So far, they haven’t penetrated any of those systems.”
None of this was a surprise to Niko. What do they need us for?
Evans raised an eyebrow. “I know what you’re thinking. This is normal security monitoring and incident response.
” She took a sheet of paper from her folder and turned it for everyone to see. Names and logos of corporations dotted the page. “The pipelines, refineries, networks, and computers are privately owned by these companies. We’ve offered to inspect and defend their systems, but each company refused. They don’t trust the government. They treat their corporate secrets like gold.”
Niko pursed his lips to keep from smiling. Marko would never have let that stop him. If systems needed protection, Kozel Group would protect them, even if they refused assistance.
“The owners haven’t granted us authority to perform penetration tests. We can’t plant bugs on their networks to infect Russian computers.” Evans sat back in her chair and swiveled slightly in Niko’s direction. “We need someone else to do it for us. Someone who can do it anonymously. If these companies discover the intrusion, our government needs to be able to deny involvement.”
Niko nodded. It’s all about deniability.
Evans’ eyebrows pinched together. “One more thing. We know you were trying to track down Belenko … Zatan. We can’t do it ourselves without illegally breaking into private computers, spoofing addresses, and leveraging uncooperative telecom company networks. We need to learn where his operation is located. We need to plant bugs on his computers. But we aren’t authorized—someone else must do it instead.”
For the next hour and a half, the briefing went into details. Niko and Vyper engaged in the conversation cooperatively, asking and answering questions.
Niko glanced at his watch—3:45. So far, no one discussed immunity. He nudged his lawyer.
Mr. Bodnar cleared his throat. “This has been a productive meeting. One I feel will lead to better safeguards for our country. My clients are prepared to work for you if they’re granted immunity from prosecution as we previously discussed.”
Evans set her papers on the table. “We’ve spoken about this with Secretary Grimes who’s been in contact with the Department of Justice. They agreed to reduce the recommended sentence to a range from three to six months.”
Niko looked at Vyper, her eyes beginning to water. He shook his head.
Bodnar fixed his gaze on Evans. “Our understanding was complete immunity—no prison time at all. Who changed their mind?”
“I wasn’t aware of any earlier agreement. All I can tell you is Secretary Grimes won’t reduce the sentence recommendation. He feels your clients broke the law with their illegal hacking and need to serve time.”
“Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds? You want my clients to illegally hack on your behalf, so you have deniability, but they must serve time for doing the same thing.”
They continued to argue without making progress.
At 4:00 as agreed earlier, Niko began to play hardball. “Why’d you ask us to come here if you weren’t willing to grant full immunity?”
Evans shifted her gaze to Niko. “Would you prefer to spend twenty years in prison? That’s your alternative.”
“Lydia and I have cooperated. This meeting was productive. You know we could help keep the country safe. Is this the way you treat people who agree to help?”
“This is not negotiable. We treat all hackers the same.”
“I’m surprised none of them have retaliated—sought revenge.”
The men across the table glared at Niko. Even Vyper and Bodnar stared at him with looks of disbelief.
Evans’s eyes narrowed. “Revenge? What are you suggesting?”
“I was just saying. Lots of hackers have uncovered government secrets—black sites where prisoners are tortured, even killed. I could imagine hackers using information like that against the government.”
“Is this a threat?” Evans pulled out her phone and texted something.
Niko shook his head. “Of course not. I wouldn’t do anything like that. Even if I wanted to, I’ve been under surveillance ever since my arrest.”
The door opened, and two uniformed guards entered.
Evans looked at Bodnar. “Zima will remain here. You and Harris will come with me.” She stood up and faced the guards. “Don’t let him leave.”
Niko watched everyone exit the room, leaving him alone with the guards. His heart pounded. Stick to the plan.
In about five minutes, the first-time bomb was scheduled to go off. Thousands of bots were poised to distribute the exposé of the secret black site in Batman, Turkey, where captured ISIS fighters were held and tortured. Some were even killed. Niko had used Google to translate the exposé to Turkish for release in that country. The story would also show up on the Homeland Security web page, and Secretary Grimes would receive an anonymous email at his official and personal email accounts.
There was no backing out now. This was the only way he knew to keep Vyper out of prison. As far as the government knew, Vyper didn’t participate in this ‘revenge.’ In half an hour, another time bomb was scheduled to go off.
Twenty minutes later, the door opened. Evans returned with two short-haired men in suits. One of them took a set of handcuffs off his belt. “Hold your hands together in front of you.” He snapped the cuffs on Niko’s wrists.
Evans sat across the table from Niko. “We know you released the information about Batman, Turkey.”
“What?” Niko feigned surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What information?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. What other information are you planning to release?”
“How can I release anything?” Niko raised his arms. “You’ve got me handcuffed in a room surrounded by guards.”
“Talk now or you and Harris are going to prison for a long time.”
Niko dropped his head to his chest and mumbled. “I didn’t break my part of the deal.” He looked up and raised his voice. “You said Secretary Grimes agreed to a shorter sentence. Did he decide to revoke that deal, too? Does he even know what you’re threatening to do? I want to talk to Grimes. I want to talk to Bodnar.”
“You’re in no position to make any demands.”
“You think sending me to prison is going to stop these leaks—whatever they are?”
The door opened. Niko couldn’t see who was there, but Evans left the room.
The second time bomb must have gone off as scheduled. A message should have been posted on the Homeland webpage, promising to expose a high-level member of Homeland supporting illegal torture in Turkey. Grimes should have received an email with an audio attachment. He was recorded discussing the death of a prisoner, and how to cover it up. That recording was only for Grimes—at least for now.
Within five minutes, Evans returned. She waved all the guards to leave the room and took a seat next to Niko. She grabbed the arms of his chair and turned it to face her. “Can you stop the leaks?”
“I told you. I didn’t leak anything. I’ve been with you all day.”
“Cut the bullshit. End the leaks now!”
Niko held up his cuffed hands. “Even if I could, why should I? You’re going to send Lydia and me to prison.”
Evans grabbed Niko by the shoulders. “Stop the leaks. We’ll work something out.”
“No prison for Lydia or me?”
“Agreed.”
Niko shook his head. “Do you have approval to say this? Did Secretary Grimes authorize this?”
“I do. And the secretary authorized it.”
Cat and Mouse
Chapter 21
Niko sat at the conference table in the offices of Crystal Intelligence, hands bound in cuffs, police monitor attached to his ankle, staring into the eyes of Victoria Evans, mere inches from her face. He had taken a chance—a dangerous one—and he came out on top.
Despite winning, Niko didn’t trust Homeland. “Release me—Lydia, too. We’ll see if we can stop the leaks. Get the immunity paperwork to Bodnar within the hour and send someone to remove our ankle bracelets.”
Evans nodded and unlocked Niko’s cuffs. “Stop the leaks—immediately.” She stood and walked to the door. “You two work for me now. I expec
t you to do a good job, but you’ll never set foot in this building again.” She opened the door.
Vyper stood in the hallway, a worried look on her face. Her eyes opened wide and her face broke into a smile. Tears ran down her cheeks.
Niko rushed out and embraced her.
She buried her face into his shoulder. Trembling, she hung on with surprising strength.
Bodnar placed his hand on Niko’s shoulder. “You’ll have time for that later. We must be going.”
Silently, they walked to the car. In the back seat, they fitted their soundproofing socks over their ankle monitors.
The lawyer handed his prepaid phone to Vyper who sent an encrypted text to end the time bombs:
Gr@nd-tH3fT Quiesce
Bodnar removed a small electronic box from the glove compartment. He used it to scan the interior and exterior of the car before sitting behind the wheel. “We can talk.”
Niko gave Vyper a quick kiss. He sat back in his seat. “They’re going to remove our ankle bracelets and monitoring software, aren’t they?”
“I’ll make sure they take care of everything within a couple of hours,” said Bodnar. “You’ll be free from all those restrictions.”
Vyper handed the pre-paid phone back to the lawyer. “If Homeland backs out of this deal, we need to reset the time bombs. In the event I am unable to reset them myself, I need you to text the keyword ‘Boom.’ Then the whole world will hear Secretary Grimes’ voice demanding American guards to cover up the death of a prisoner.”
“Grimes won’t take a chance—he won’t screw up the deal. I’m sure Ms. Evans will come through.” Bodnar started the car and pulled out just as his phone beeped. He handed it to Vyper. “This could be her. Check out the message.”
She glanced at the phone. “This is not a text. It is a news alert … Someone hacked into the Moscow Metro—a cyber-attack. All the signal lights on the tracks around the city are red. No trains are moving … businesses and government offices are closed … people cannot get to work. Russia suspects the CIA, but they do not cite any evidence.”
Niko shook his head. “This isn’t like the CIA. I’m sure they could do it, but not without high-level government approval. If Russia had evidence of American involvement, they’d consider it an act of war.”