Antoine frowned.
“That’s Bellic.”
He took a closer look at the dead body.
“There’s no blood on the clothes. No visible injuries.”
Antoine laid his face flat against the floor.
“They sat at the table,” he pointed out. “There are slight traces in the carpet. The back of this seat hit the floor.”
“That was the crash we heard,” Kovac said.
He went behind Antoine and crossed his arms.
“They were probably talking. The killer paced around then came from behind. From that position it’s nearly impossible to get out, when you’re taken by surprise. After losing consciousness, Khabib could do whatever he wanted with Bellic.”
Antoine flipped the corpse around and searched its pockets, then let out a sigh.
“What is it?” Kovac asked.
“His phone and keys are gone,” Antoine said, looking up. “It was Khabib. Everything he would need to know is on that phone. And everything we need to know, gone.”
***
Shanghai, China
“Lao ban.” Mei Ling inclined her head towards Zhou. “The RAT is ready.”
She had changed since the last time Zhou had seen her. Her face was pale and dark circles shadowed her eyes. It was hard to trust anyone. If one trusted friend could be bought, so could others. Mei Ling’s loyalty and dedication seemed unwavering but...
The Remote Access Tool would shed some light on who was behind the great betrayal. Someone got to Chen or he cracked. That was a betrayal in Zhou’s eyes, whether coerced or bribed, the two million sitting in Chen’s account looked like thirty coins of silver.
He cleared his throat.
“Thank you,” Zhou said, as he took his place in the command center. This was not a fight out in the open. There were no bullets flying like in the old days. It was the hidden battle, fought twenty four seven, all over the world. It was the war of information.
“Do you want to follow the money first or the potential buyers, lao ban?”
“I want to hit them all. Here’s the list of IP addresses,” Zhou said. “All of our targets.”
“With all we got, lao ban?” Mei Ling said.
“Would the attack be traceable?” Zhou asked.
Mei Ling shook her head. “No. Data will be requested from multiple servers and shared. It will look like an Anonymous data leak attack.”
Zhou handed her a data-stick.
Mei Ling plugged it into her processor and scrolled through the list. A sea of numbers, codes that she read like an open book. “These are all targets?” she asked again.
Zhou nodded, standing next to her. He had spent the last week getting analyst to go through every possible buyer and bank that could be involved.
“It’s us against the world now,” Zhou said. He saw this as a necessary evil. Worst case his government would defend him. Whoever had his technology could inflict a large amount of damage if it fell into the wrong hands. It was not a stretch to assume it was already there. Chen’s dead body signaled foul play.
“We’ll be attacking practically every nation under the sun,” Mei Ling said scrolling through the targets.
“Whoever decided to meddle with us, will soon find out that there’s no place to hide.”
CHAPTER TEN
HACKER’S PARADISE
“There are ten kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary numerals, and those who don’t.” - Ian Stewart
Vienna, Austria
“Give me a quick report,” Rose said, hurrying into the office. “Who was hit?”
Priya shook her head.
“From Citi to Swiss banks, weapon manufactures, spy agencies, militaries,” she said. “The list goes on. It’s shorter to tell you who wasn’t hit.”
“First we lose Khabib and then this,” Rose said. “Any leads?”
“I can’t trace the attacker back. It came from out of nowhere, on a massive scale. At one point, systems started dumping their data onto the web. Like all files became public.” She stopped in her tracks. “Once on the other side of the firewall anyone can scan them. The hack is just one part. Very leakslike. But here is what is most interesting. The data is being crawled for something. Someone is looking for something specific, while the defenses are down.”
Rose frowned.
“The US took the brunt of it, so I’m guessing it wasn’t them,” Priya said.
“Or a good alibi.”
“Authorities are looking into a possible Chinese connection but the Chinese deny involvement,” Priya said.
“Priya, you said that data is now on the other side of the firewall. Could you crawl data while it is still there?” Rose asked with her eyes sparkling. She was going to make the most out of this. She did not give Priya time to respond. A nightmare scenario had given her hope. “I need you to use that window the cyber-attack caused. Hack into the CIA and look for any files containing the names: Olga Kovalenko, Tanya Sharipova or Dwayne Carter.”
“Who is Dwayne Carter?”
“Just another lead.”
“I can’t hack the CIA from the outside,” Priya said. “I need to get on the inside.”
“There’s no time to get you into Langley.”
“I’m not talking about Langley.”
Priya glanced towards the Techgate tower two hundred meters to the south.
“There is an NSA listening post right on our doorstep. If I can access one of their servers then I will be logged in as if on the US national server and could remotely ask for files. I can use it as an entry point and then launch my search from there which will look like an internal query.”
“Do it,” Rose said unsure exactly what Priya planned to do, but she understood enough to know that she could get results.
Priya smirked. “I will infiltrate it later tonight. I just need to find a way onto the premises without arising suspicion.”
“How do you plan to get inside?” Rose asked.
“That’s the easiest part” Priya said. “I just need to find a janitor and clone the key card. That would give me unrestricted access to the building,” Priya said revealing her plan.
***
Priya entered the building at 2:47 AM.
“That took way longer than expected,” she said.
“Don’t get too cocky,” Bekkend said. “Stay on your toes. With all the agencies recovering we don’t know what they will do.”
Emergency lights showed the way to the elevator. “The servers are on level thirteen,” Bekkend said.
Priya swiped her cloned key card and used the elevator pad. The doors opened and she stepped in. Some systems had already recovered, although the pattern was random, so she had to hurry.
She got out on level thirteen and adrenaline hit her. She crept through to the end of the hall where the servers were located.
“Okay Bekkend, I’m in position,” Priya said. “I need to deactivate power to the building till I get into the room. All you have to do is press enter to activate my program and press it again to deactivate it.”
“I think I got it,” Bekkend said. “I’m glad I can be of use.” It was his first time being used in a live mission yet his role was very limited.
“Hey you are also my eyes and ears. And I need you to pay a close attention to the network of computers.”
“My finger is on the button,” Bekkend replied.
“In three, two, one.” The lights in the hall died leaving the building pitch black. She went for the handle. The door opened. Only servers with their own backup power supply remained running. Their blue flashing lights provided an eerie glow. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
“I’m in.”
A few seconds later the power came back on. It was time to get to work. She looked for the main port, and plugged a mini-computer into it.
“I’m in the NSA network,” she reported. “Establishing connection. Let me know if you see anything.”
Priya wa
s concerned that the power cut might trigger a maintenance team to come.
Seek and you shall find.
She easily found Tanya’s files and copied them. She moved on to Olga’s.
Don’t forget about Dwayne she told herself and started the search.
“Priya, er, how many nodes are there supposed to be on the network?” Bekkend asked.
“It was thirty. Now with me it’s thirty-one,” Priya said as she copied multiple Dwayne Carter files.
“The numbers don’t add up. I see thirty-two.”
Priya stopped what she was doing and opened up the network window. It showed thirty-three computers. She double checked with her list of downloaded IP addresses. Thirty-two. Thirty-two! She was supposed to be alone in an empty building, but there was another active user in the network. Someone was there, accessing a computer, just like her in the very same moment, thinking the very same thing. If she could see him, he would see her too.
“There’s someone else accessing the network here,” Priya whispered.
“Priya, I hope it’s remote,” Bekkend said. “There is another problem.”
“What problem?” Priya said reluctantly whispering and looking around to see if someone had walked in after her. The buzzing of the servers drowned her whisper.
“A white van just pulled up in front of the building. Four guys just got out,” Bekkend informed her. She felt as if he was watching her computer symbol, just like she stared at.
“I have to go silent for a while,” she whispered.
Her eyes wandered to the corridor next to her, separated only by a glass wall.
The unknown user was still there.
A message popped up, making her jump.
The download was finished. She didn’t stay a second longer. She rushed to the stairs and began her descent. Her steps thundered in the underground car park. She headed straight back to the DC tower. Its illuminated gates were a beacon.
They didn’t open when she came into range. She fumbled with her card. Someone sighed as the glass doors glided open. Priya dashed inside. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears as if in slow motion.
One, she turned.
Two, she stared into the darkness.
Three, the gates began to close.
Four, she was safe.
***
Antoine watched his boss. He had no clue what she was thinking. He and Kovac had been summoned to her office. Kovac looked as clueless as Antoine was about this meeting.
“Let’s get straight to it,” Rose said as soon as the door closed behind them. “The massive data breach which you might have missed while in Monaco meant Priya was able to access some CIA files. That is where the good news ends.”
Antoine wondered what could be so bad.
“Bad news is, there’s an archive about Dwayne Carter.”
“That’s the bad news?” Antoine said. For once Antoine felt that he was one step ahead of Rose. He looked across at Kovac who had his, I told you so. You can’t hide anything from Rose - look on. Antoine realized this might be the right moment to tell Rose about Paris. “Ah Kovac,” Rose said, “Dwayne Carter is—”
“I know,” came Kovac’s reply.
“Good then you can also help me understand this,” Rose said.
Antoine stood there stunned. How could it get worse and why is Kovac involved?
“Why is your picture in Dwayne Carter’s file?” Rose said slapping down Kovac’s picture on her desk. “Yes, the current file has a picture of Kovac’s face, wearing his favourite black leather jacket in Paris.”
“Well, that’s something,” Kovac said, crossing his arms and throwing Antoine a blaming look. “Wanted by the CIA.”
“Which leads me to one question…,” Rose said, “how did it get there in the first place?”
Antoine felt his jaw harden. For every lie, there came a time when it was too late to still roll with it. There came the time of truth, however bitter that might be.
“My best guess, mistaken identity from our time in Paris,” he said.
“Tony,” Kovac warned him.
It was too late for that. As far as Antoine knew, Rose was the only person he could trust. He might as well confess to her.
“We ran into unidentified agents.”
“What case were you on?” Rose said.
“I wouldn’t call it a case,” Antoine confessed. “Let’s just say there was a little reunion that got crowded. We ran into unidentified agents.”
Turning to Kovac, Antoine continued, “I guess I was right about who they were.”
“Well at least I know what caused three corpses to be fished out the of the Seine,” Rose said. “If I had known I would have gotten the list of people at the funeral. Did you find out anything about the agents?”
“I’m on it,” Antoine said.
Rose gave him a poisonous look. Shaking her head, she sighed. “I can’t allow anything to interfere with our current mission. You should have told me sooner, Antoine. “Truth is like fire, it cannot be hidden under dry leaves.”
Kovac shrugged. “You can’t even hide Schnietz under dry leaves.”
Rose clenched her jaw.
“It’s my life we are talking about here,” Antoine said. “I messed this one up, I know. But there is a bomb in play and we should focus on it. No more secrets from now on.”
“Agreed.” Kovac rushed in to say, delighted that the focus had shifted.
“Agreed,” Rose said.
Antoine used the opening to go on the offensive. “Do you want to tell us your history with Tanya, because it feels like you have dealt with her before. It seems we all have a secret or two.”
“All I ever got about her was her name,” Rose said. “Priya’s hack picked up some minor things about her.”
Antoine was not convinced but Rose changed the subject.
“Khabib mentioned the fortress of Belgrade. Bellic was using a storeroom in its cellars. Assuming the painting is there, we can get Khabib. Priya will be watching traffic cams and get a tail on Khabib as soon as he arrives in Serbia.” She looked to the Serb. “This is your city. If anyone has the best chance to get him there, it’s you.”
“Kalemegdan,” Kovac said. The display table showed an aerial view of the fortress. Kovac zoomed in on certain entry points.
“I know this place well. He won’t try to break in there by day. We need breaching charges, some fast wheels and guns with suppressors, and sniper support to cover our extraction. By that I mean Smith.”
“We need Khabib alive,” Rose said. “Expect close quarters. Khabib has a long rap sheet. I am going to send your sidekick with you. Hopefully this time there will be less of a body count.”
“Hey we are not the ones planning to detonate a dirty bomb,” Kovac said.
“Regarding that bomb,” Rose said. “I hope they are still far away from it.”
***
Moscow, Russia
Olga sat tapping her fingers on the table in front of her. The room was dark with a taste of history. Tense faces lined with wrinkles surrounded her. She already had so much on her plate, not to mention both the planning and burden of being part of Team Tanya. Their grey hair was testament to the life they’d led. These were the men who’d led the KGB through the Cold War and before the Berlin wall fell. She hadn’t been a top level official for long, so she usually kept her mouth shut and her ears open. She could learn a lot from them. Olga looked to Dimitri, who began speaking from the other side of the table.
“I have come to believe there is an imminent terrorist attack with target St. Petersburg. A mafia tie or Chechen separatists.”
Olga could not believe her ears.
“What is the source?” someone else said.
Could they know about her bomb? Her sure way to the top? Was Tanya hedging her bets?
“Credible, comrade,” he replied.
“How credible?”
Olga knew she had to take control before other people became involved.
�
��Very credible,” Olga said. “I know about it too, so that makes two sources. I’m onto it. My people are already tracking the transfer.”
Murmurs of surprise went through the room.
“Do you need anything?” Major Norin asked.
“No thank you sir,” she replied. “I will come back to you if I do.”
“Then I say we close this meeting,” Norin said. “Keep this between us. Next time Kovalenko, let me know about threats of this nature.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well then this meeting is closed. Olga report to me directly on any updates,” Dimitri said.
Olga left her seat and went outside with the others. Hands were shook and courtesies given. She ducked out as soon as possible and headed to the roof of the building.
She took out her phone and called a number she had reserved for emergencies only.
“Tanya, I trust you are not double playing me. If not, there might be some people who are onto you.”
She paced the roof, waiting for Tanya’s reply. Maybe she couldn’t talk at the moment.
“I haven’t told anybody,” she continued. “I’m hoping Khabib is keeping his mouth shut.”
She looked around to make sure nobody followed her. She kept her voice low.
“There is a lot riding on the raid now. All eyes will be on me and I need to feed information to Dimitri.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BANG AND BURN
“Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack.” - Sun Tzu
Vienna, Austria
All of her closest loved ones had come. It was rare that every one of them had time to sit down at one table and have a meal together.
Rose took her son and daughter by the hand. She gazed at her husband Derek across the table.
“Before we pray today, an old proverb,” Rose said. “From our ancestors. It goes like this: When there’s no enemy within, the enemies without can’t harm you.”
“And whatever you might think, your own worst enemy is yourself,” Derek added.
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