Cyberian Affair

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Cyberian Affair Page 15

by Mark A Pryor


  Vyper laid her hand on Niko’s arm. “This sounds dangerous. Maybe you should not do it.”

  Niko shook his head. “Sokolov sent five armed men to your home. He won’t stop looking for you as long as he’s free. We’ve got to nail him.”

  “Okay,” said Vyper. “When do we move to Nassau?”

  “You don’t understand,” said Smith. “Niko will work in Nassau, but you’ll be working out of one of our CIA offices in Virginia or Maryland, where we can guarantee your safety.”

  Vyper’s hands began to flap. She pressed her palms on the counter top and stared at her hands. A few moments later she looked up. “No! I go with Niko. You will not separate us again.”

  Niko didn’t want to take the risk, but he knew Vyper’s mind was made up.

  Smith wrinkled his brow. “That’s not the plan. Only Niko goes to Nassau. This isn’t—”

  “Change your plan.” Niko stood and walked behind Vyper. “You need our help. Those are our requirements.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Then make it simple or find someone else.”

  Smith stuffed the papers into his briefcase and locked it. “Give me a minute.” He grabbed his phone and walked across the room. He made a call, keeping his voice too low to hear.

  Niko wrapped his arms around Vyper. “Are you sure about this? You’d be safer here.”

  She hugged his arms tighter. “I am the safest when we are together.”

  A chime rang out, and Smith opened the door. He took a silver suitcase from someone before shutting the door and carrying it to the kitchenette. “I’ll rework the plan.” He set the case on the floor next to Vyper. “Meanwhile, I want you to be comfortable here. Even though you’re staying in a safe house, we agree not to monitor anything you do—visual, audio, or electronic.”

  Niko huffed. “We’re supposed to believe you?”

  Smith nodded. “After I leave, go ahead and open this suitcase from Mister Bodnar. He told me Vyper’s fingerprint will unlock it. He didn’t say what he packed, and I didn’t ask.” Smith turned to leave. “We can discuss the new plan and your training program tomorrow.”

  Once he left, Vyper opened the suitcase. Inside were their laptops, a game console, equipment to search for electronic bugs and hidden camera lenses, and a white noise generator to interfere with any long-distance surveillance.

  Maybe they couldn’t trust Smith, but Bodnar always came through.

  Mission

  Chapter 25

  Warrenton, Virginia

  Niko lay face-down on a table in the medical offices of Warrenton Training Center while a male nurse pushed his hair aside and inserted a needle.

  “That wasn’t so bad,” said Niko. “Can I sit up now?”

  The nurse shook his head. “Stay right there. That was just to numb the area. I’ll be back in ten minutes to insert the implant.” He walked out.

  Niko thought about Vyper, probably lying on a table next door getting the same treatment. They were both here because Mr. Smith agreed to a revised plan for Nassau—one that included Vyper. He said the CIA was serious about their safety and security, which meant they had to allow tiny transponders to be inserted under their skin. Smith also promised to remove these devices as soon as the Nassau operation was complete.

  For the next seven days, they’d stay in the Tower Apartments in downtown Warrenton, only a short drive to the training center where they’d prepare for the mission.

  The nurse returned. “You’ll only feel a little pressure. Your hair will hide the small scar.”

  The poking and prodding were annoying, but it didn’t hurt. The nurse opened a bottle and brushed something wet over the cut. “All done. The liquid bandage will keep it from bleeding. Don’t wash your hair for a few days.”

  At nine o’clock, Mr. Smith arrived to take Niko and Vyper to their next appointment. They walked across the parking lot to an office building. After going through three security checkpoints, they arrived at a small conference room with eight chairs around a rectangular table.

  Mr. Smith sat in front of the only laptop in the room. “We’ll start the week with a mission briefing.” He motioned for them to sit across from him. A large screen covered the wall at the end of the table. When he tapped a few keys on the computer, the CIA seal appeared on the screen with the word MKSIGMA in bold letters below it.

  Niko shared a bewildered look with Vyper. The internet was rife with rumors about CIA projects, like MONGOOSE and STARGATE, but the name on the screen sounded too much like the notorious mind-control program, MKULTRA.

  The CIA seal faded and was replaced by a world map with a line connecting Nassau, in the Bahamas, to Vladivostok, in Far Eastern Siberia. A large bubble containing a network diagram appeared above each location.

  Smith pointed a laser dot at the Siberian location. “Belenko, aka Zatan, is planning and coordinating Russian cyber-attacks from this restricted network in Vladivostok. The mission of MKSIGMA is to gain access to the restricted area, discover their plans, and neutralize the threat.” The red dot circled a graphic that resembled a brick wall. “This firewall isolates the restricted network. It’s configured like the Nassau firewall that Harris has been unable to crack.”

  “My name is Vyper. Nobody calls me Harris.”

  “Vyper it is.” Smith nodded. “Physical security around the Siberian datacenter is daunting, made even more difficult because it’s located inside Russia.” The red pointer circled a connection to the firewall. “This entry point is privileged, allowing trusted networks more complete access.” Smith moved the pointer slowly from the firewall to another one in the Bahamas, following the line connecting the locations. “We’ll break into the Siberian network from Nassau.”

  Niko shook his head. “You want me to walk into the datacenter and plant a bug on the privileged side of the firewall so Vyper can hack her way into Vladivostok?”

  Smith displayed a more detailed diagram and pointed the dot to one of the switches. “You’ve got the idea, but I don’t want you to plant a bug. Instead, you’ll make a network connection between this restricted switch port and an open port on the wide area switch.” The pointer moved between the two switch ports.

  “No.” Vyper shook her head. “They can detect everything I do. It will appear to be unexpected network traffic from the outside.”

  “We’ve got it covered,” said Smith. “Nassau Telecom configured a private channel that uses a separate wavelength over the same fiber. The Russians will never notice the covert tap.”

  Vyper was full of questions and so was Niko. Smith provided detailed documentation and went over each point they raised.

  Niko was convinced the technical aspects of the plan were solid. But none of it would work if he couldn’t sneak in and make the connection. It should be easy. Just another scam. He took a deep breath to calm himself and let it out. “How are you going to turn me into a spy?”

  Smith leaned back in his chair and closed the laptop. “Let’s start with your cover story. You’ll be a visiting professor from the Ukraine—always good to have a cover you’re comfortable with. The school, New Providence University, will hire you to teach network security.”

  “What name do I use?”

  “You’ll be Anton Zhora.” Smith crossed his arms against his chest. “Once in Nassau, you need to complete the following actions.” He projected a list of bullet items on the screen:

  ● Human Intelligence

  ● Electronic Intelligence—Coral Computing

  ● Penetration—Network Access

  ● Electronic Intelligence—Vladivostok

  The red dot moved to the item at the top of the list. “First, establish trust at the university while collecting information on everyone you encounter—students, faculty, anyone who shows interest in you.” The dot moved to the next item. “Second, break into the Coral Computing Datacenter remotely and collect all the information you can. It’s a multi-tenant facility, and Belenko is one of their clients.�


  The dot moved to the third entry. “Once you’ve collected enough information to develop a plan, go inside Zatan’s datacenter and connect the switches.” Smith moved the dot to the last item and looked at Vyper. “After the connection is made, you will break into Vladvistok from Nassau to discover what Zatan is up to.”

  “Sounds like it’ll work, but I’m not a spy. You said I need to collect information about people … do I take pictures or something?”

  “One of my associates will be joining us later to demonstrate the tools available to you.” Smith turned to face Vyper. “We got you a job as a security analyst for Charles Town Cloud—the largest internet provider on the island.”

  Vyper’s hands began to twitch until she laced her fingers together. “Do you expect me to spy, too? I am not good with people.”

  Smith shook his head. “No. I want you work your shift as a trusted employee, bringing no suspicion on yourself. Each day, after your shift is over, go back to your apartment and work for us. Your initial assignment is to hack into Coral Computing—gain access to their cameras, their security systems, robots … everything. Once Niko gets inside and makes the connection, you’ll penetrate the Vladivostok network as we discussed. We also need your help with a couple of special projects, but we can discuss them later.”

  “You mentioned an apartment,” said Vyper. “Where do we stay?”

  “You and Niko will have separate apartments on the third floor of Island Village. I know you want to be together but it’s important for you to act as strangers. You’ll each fly into Nassau on different days from different airports. Never go to your rooms at the same time and be sure to leave from your own apartment every morning. Keep in mind, the Russians could be watching you.”

  Smith stood. “We have to get moving. You are both scheduled for your first self-defense training session. Follow me.”

  Vyper shook her head. “No fighting. I do not like fighting.”

  Niko took her hand. “Think about it, Vyper. Sokolov’s still out there. He’s a violent man, and he’s looking for you.”

  When she didn’t respond, Smith opened the door. “We’ve got to go. They’re waiting.”

  Niko kissed Vyper’s hand. “Come and watch, then. You might learn something you could use if you ever get in trouble.”

  Smith led them to a gymnasium with two full-sized training dummies standing on wrestling mats. The only other person in the room was a short, muscular man in a sweat suit.

  The man motioned them to sit on a bench. “Good afternoon. I am Mister Jones. I’ll be your self-defense trainer. The methods you’ll learn are from Krav Maga, a combination of martial arts and street fighting.”

  “Should we change clothes or anything?” asked Niko.

  Jones shook his head. “Today will simply be an introduction. You won’t do anything physical. Starting tomorrow, you’ll need to wear more appropriate clothes.” He spent an hour discussing and demonstrating the basics of the art.

  Smith looked at his watch. “We’ve got another appointment.” He turned to the instructor. “Thank you, Mister Jones.”

  Niko and Vyper followed Smith back to the conference room where they took their seats.

  Smith opened a folder. “When my colleague arrives, she’ll describe some specialized equipment, but she’s not cleared to discuss your mission. She doesn’t even know where you’re going.”

  His phone beeped. He glanced at it and stood. “She’s here.”

  When he opened the door, a petite, gray-haired woman entered, wheeling a shiny black suitcase behind her. She had a pleasant grandmotherly smile that seemed out of place at a CIA training center.

  She took a seat and opened the case on the table. “I’m Miss Quincy, but most people call me ‘Q’ … like in the Bond movies.” She laid a cell phone in front of her and slid two more across the table.

  “We already have Samsung phones,” said Niko. “Why do we need these?”

  Q raised her eyebrows. “They look normal, don’t they?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “If someone snatches your phone, they’ll probably remove the SIM card to disable or clone it. But it’s only a decoy. The card contains no data. The functions found on the SIM have been built into a chip.”

  Niko picked one up and turned it in his hand. “Interesting.”

  “That’s not all.” Q popped out the card. “When it’s removed, the phone sends an alert to everyone working on the project. It also turns on the camera and mike, streaming everything to a web page. It keeps streaming until it runs out of batteries. Turning it off doesn’t stop it.”

  “This doesn’t have a removeable battery,” said Niko. “The only way to stop it would be to destroy the phone.”

  Q nodded. “That’s the idea. Anyone who removes the SIM card is potentially hostile.” She removed an ID badge from her case. “These phones have a few more tricks. I understand you’ll be working in a facility that uses this type of proximity card. When a legitimate user needs to prove their identity, they wave this within six inches of a reader to open a locked door or perform some other function. Your phone has an app that will copy the data from one of these badges if you’re close enough.” She held up a small box and some blank ID cards. “Later, you can use this device to create a duplicate badge.”

  Niko had worked in a datacenter that used cards like this. He thought about all the ways he could maneuver his phone within six inches of someone’s badge without them realizing what he was doing.

  As the briefing continued, Q brought out special eyeglasses with tiny, hidden cameras on the frames. She also explained the RF sniffer function of the phone that would detect and map wireless communication. She demonstrated a tiny camera that recorded video and sound but didn’t transmit.

  Right out of James Bond. No wonder they call her Q.

  “One final thing.” Q set a device that looked like an old calculator on the table. “Our medical team inserted transponder implants under your scalps. If you’re checked for bugs, these implants won’t give you away since they don’t transmit anything until interrogated by one of these devices.” She pointed to the calculator. “The transmitter in your implants are low power. Their range is only a hundred meters. We have a second transponder for each of you with twice the range, and we’ll conceal them in the lining of a purse or wallet.”

  Smith stood. “I’m sorry, but we have to cut this short. You can show them your other gadgets tomorrow.” He led her to the door.

  After Q left the room, Smith opened his laptop. “We have one more project to discuss today.” The CIA seal appeared on the screen. Below it appeared the word MKRODENT. “This project has a higher classification level than MKSIGMA. Don’t discuss this with anyone other than me. I’ll limit my briefing to those details you need to know. It’s similar to the project you completed—the Linux implant that crosses over to an industrial control computer.”

  Vyper nodded. “The one where I buried “KILROY WAS HERE” in the code.”

  “That’s right.” The CIA seal on the screen was replaced by a logic diagram. “This is a simplified version of the firmware that controls the triggering of a weapon.” Smith pointed the red laser dot at one of the inputs. “Before this weapon can trigger, it must be armed.” The dot moved to another spot on the screen. “But arming it is not sufficient to trigger it. That won’t happen until sensors indicate it’s safe and the target is in range.”

  Vyper’s eyes widened. “What kind of—”

  Smith raised his hand. “I can’t tell you. You don’t have a need to know.”

  Niko placed his hand on her arm. He looked at Smith. “I hope you don’t plan to start World War III.”

  Silence was the only response.

  Niko glanced at Vyper and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, Mister Smith. What do you want us to do?”

  “We have copies of the firmware used for these weapons—the one currently in production plus four previous versions. I need you to reverse engineer it and determine how to se
t all the safety and targeting signals high—authorizing triggering. Don’t make any changes to the arming signals.” Numbers and capital letters filled the screen. “This is a snapshot of the code starting at the load point.”

  Vyper studied it briefly. “If this mysterious weapon uses the program you have requested, it will trigger the instant someone arms it. Is that what you want?”

  “It is.”

  Nassau

  Chapter 26

  Nassau, Bahamas

  Niko opened his eyes. He was in Vyper’s apartment, three doors down the hall from his own. She lay next to him, still asleep, facing away. The ceiling fan turned slowly, blowing fresh ocean air in his face. The sun was still low in the morning sky. No need to turn on the air yet. This is the life.

  He arrived here a week ago, filling in as a substitute professor at New Providence University. Vyper arrived the following day. Smith had warned them to act as total strangers in public. If this had been a weekday, Niko would have gotten up before sunrise to sneak back into his room, but today was Sunday and they didn’t have anywhere to go.

  When Vyper rolled onto her back, Niko sat up and studied her face, looking for any sign she was awake. He watched her chest rise and fall with each breath. Then he thought of Sokolov and the armed gunmen who came after her.

  He’ll never get to you. I won’t let him!

  Vyper’s eyes opened and she smiled. “How long have you been staring at me?”

  “Only a few minutes, but I could admire you for hours.” Niko brushed the hair away from her face. “Did I ever tell you I love you?”

  “Every day, silly. I love you, too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “What do you want for breakfast?”

  “Only you.” He slowly pulled the sheet aside. “Just lean back and enjoy.”

  Their lovemaking was tender at first, then more energetic. They used every inch of the king-sized bed, trying out their favorite moves and experimenting with new ones. When exhaustion took over, Niko lay on his back with Vyper’s head resting on his chest.

 

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