Maria was silent, and her eyes dropped to her lap. Igloo allowed herself a brief moment of celebratory awe. She’d been right!
“Everything hangs in the balance at this moment. Maybe we all go to jail, T2 never happens, and Angie’s vision dies quietly in the night. Or maybe we get T2 out, fulfill Angie’s vision, and expose the corruption inside BRI so that they can’t ruin anyone else’s life.”
Maria was trembling now.
“Secrets are inherently safer while they remain secret, but they are corrosive and toxic. That’s what protecting BRI represents. Openness is scary and unpredictable, but healthy. That’s what coming forward represents. I can’t promise what will happen. But we can really use your help.”
Maria took a deep breath. “What can I do?”
When they woke in the morning, Forrest’s people were there with more food.
After they ate, Igloo decided to change direction, leaving the more mundane work to other people. She and Ben focused on the community-review aspect of future Tapestry updates.
Even while she was programming with Ben, part of her was preoccupied with Angie’s backdoor into Tape, the Tapestry communication layer. She’d removed the backdoor. When this was all done, she’d never been anything more than just another Tapestry user. She had lost the means to alter people’s feeds and fulfill Angie’s goal of ensuring a liberal agenda won the next election.
Now they’d have a community of people auditing code changes. It was one thing to have a preexisting backdoor woven into the fabric of Tapestry. It would be vastly more difficult, if not impossible, to sneak a new backdoor into a codebase that would be heavily scrutinized in the future.
“Ready to swap soon?” Ben asked.
They were parallel ping-ponging, a bastardization of the normal pair programming process. She and Ben were alternating writing tests and implementation code. For thirty minutes, they each wrote high level tests. Then the other person would write the code to implement the functionality. When they were both done, they’d go back to write more tests. It was more side-by-side programming than pair programming, but it had some of the same benefits of getting two minds on one problem. Just without the oversight of two people examining each line of code. They didn’t have the time for that.
“Almost there,” Igloo said.
“I’m going to take a bio-break while you finish up,” Ben said.
When Igloo stood to stretch her legs a few minutes later, she was surprised to see Forrest right behind her desk.
“I didn’t want to interrupt,” Forrest said, “but I need to talk to you.”
“What’s up?”
“The FBI is moving more assets into the Portland area. The National Guard has been mobilized for a training exercise.”
“So?” Igloo asked. “We’re safe here, aren’t we?”
Forrest shrugged. “Take a walk with me.”
They left the room and entered the hallway. There was about a hundred feet to the end of the hall, which terminated with double steel doors that looked fit for a bank vault. They paced the length of the hallway.
“There’s no scenario,” Forrest said, “in which putting FBI agents and the National Guard on the ground in Portland is going to turn up a bunch of software programmers who have gone into hiding. Correct?”
“Yeah, obviously.”
“So why would they deploy all those extra resources?”
Now it was Igloo’s turn to shrug.
“Because they have a plan to figure out where you are. On a hunch, I submitted a routine but manual data request through my intelligence contacts. They told me they’d get back to me tomorrow at the earliest. Their normal turnaround time for something like that is less than an hour.” Forrest paused at the end of the hallway and stared at Igloo for a moment before heading back. “My guess is that right now the NSA’s main computer center has been retasked, and everyone is focused on finding you.”
“That’s absurd.” Igloo threw up her hands. “We’re eight programmers releasing a software update. I can understand BRI tracking us, but the whole NSA? That’s like deploying a nuclear bomb to deal with a couple of bank robbers. There’s no way we merit that sort of attention.”
“Enso, the BRI head, is calling in all his chits. You represent too big a threat.”
“I get that T2 is a big deal, but isn’t this just a little crazy?”
Forrest shook her head. “The forensic evidence the police uncovered from Angie’s car made it look like the government tampered with her battery charger.”
Igloo couldn’t believe that. The note Angie left her pointed to Angie killing herself. Would the government…no, wait…it was Angie framing them. One last “fuck you” to the man in charge.
Forrest studied Igloo’s face. No words were necessary. “Yeah, you got it. See, I’m not sure how wise Angie’s move was. She made Enso angry, and angry people don’t think reasonably. But angry people also resort to desperate measures.”
“Fine, so finding us is now job number one for the NSA. So what? I thought you had us isolated here?”
“Isolated? No. You’re still using the Internet, aren’t you? Well-obfuscated, for sure. They’re going to have to crack Japan’s largest data center and track all the traffic in and out. But it’s just a matter of time. You need to have your release ready to go.”
“We’re getting close.”
“How close? Can you push something out now?”
“If we really, really have to, we can release at any time. But ideally we need at least another six, eight hours, maybe more.”
Forrest let out a long sigh. “What’s holding things up?”
“We need to decide on a more secure approach to managing the encryption keys needed for updates. The old plan would have made us all the weak links in the chain.”
“Can you put something out now and then update it later? Just in case they narrow it down to our location?”
“Not really,” Igloo said. She was too tired to reiterate all the reasons why. “You think it’s that dire?”
“Maybe.”
“If we release now, before this last bit is ready, I’m afraid they’ll compromise it, and we won’t be able to regain control.”
Forrest stood in deep contemplation.
Igloo waited for a few moments. “Well? Forrest?”
“As you were,” Forrest said, coming out of her fugue.
“Huh?” Igloo said.
“Forget the request I made. Work on your secure key management. I have another plan. It’ll require moving you in two hours, but you won’t lose productivity. Just keep working.”
“Okay,” Igloo said, wondering what was going on.
“Great.” Forrest put one hand on Igloo’s shoulder. “We’re all counting on you.” She turned and marched off, leaving Igloo alone in the corridor.
Igloo headed back into the workroom. What was that all about? She wished Angie was there to clue her in.
Chapter 49
The plane touched down, and Enso was on his feet while the plane was still taxiing. He glanced back at the thirty-odd other personnel he’d brought from various agencies. Half were tech types in ill-fitting suits who looked unsettled at being extracted from their usual sequestered offices.
He walked down a set of mobile stairs. There was a long line of National Guard Hummers. “Where’s my FBI liaison?” he asked the first man on the ground.
“Tied up, sir. He asked us to help out. We’ll get you and your people wherever you need.”
Enso suppressed his annoyance. He’d wanted to be briefed by the FBI lead here. No matter. The Air National Guard might come in handy, and he hadn’t got where he was by needlessly antagonizing people.
“I really appreciate the help. You set a great example for inter-agency cooperation. Please thank your people for me.”
The man warmed up instantly.
“Chapple said you’d want me to bring everyone to the field office. Is that still the plan?”
“Yes, for n
ow,” Enso said. “Although it’d help if you could keep your men on active duty. I’d like to call on you again today.”
“Of course. Can I ask about the nature of the operation? It’d help me understand how to prepare.”
“Major Chinese cyber terrorism operation, right here in Portland. Unfortunately, it’s been leaked, so I suspect it’ll be all over the news momentarily.”
The National Guard commander took a double-glance at Enso. “On the ground here? Not operating out of China?”
“Yes. Turns out Tapestry is a Chinese front. We’re here to shut them down.”
Chapter 50
Forrest leaned against the wall in the empty hallway, out of sight of her team, out of sight of Igloo. Her few team members were in the garage area, Igloo and her people in the interior rooms. Here, in between, she was alone for a few minutes. She turned to face the wall, rested her forehead against the cool concrete. She couldn’t stop the nervous sweating.
She was going to do it. She would help Igloo and defy Nathan9. She couldn’t even say exactly why she was doing it. It wasn’t because it was morally the right thing to do. If that was all it took, she would have done it long ago. It was mostly because she sorely wanted to be her own person one last time, despite what it might mean for her career, her life.
But to see this through, she’d have to kill herself. Her stomach recoiled and she suppressed the urge to vomit.
Nathan’s ultimate leverage against her was hurting the people she cared about. That was the final resort, the tool that ensured her compliance. He’d made it clear that if she betrayed him, it wasn’t just her career and her freedom that she would be sacrificing.
But if she killed herself, there’d be no point to Nathan’s retribution. She had to hope so, anyway.
Her palms were damp with nervous sweat. She pulled out a handkerchief and dried off her hands. She made her way back to the van, her mobile office.
She kept the fact hidden from the Tapestry folks, but only a select few agents on her team were part of this operation to hide the T2 team. The majority were in the field in Portland, and she’d brought only her most loyal operatives with her.
Doug, her number two, was in the van. Even as close as he was, Doug couldn’t stay for this next conversation.
“Doug, I need the van for a few minutes.”
“You got it.” He closed out a few windows.
“We still looking secure?”
“For now,” he said. “But with a major op going down, who knows?”
“Listen, you still have that buddy with the Coast Guard?”
“Sure.”
“They have some kind of surveillance craft, don’t they?”
“Yeah, I think so. Ocean Sentry something or another.”
“Get them to loan us one. I want you to get these civilians on the plane, and make it look like they’re our analysts. Let them fly a search pattern. Coordinate with BRI’s other assets as part of the training program.”
“Jesus,” Doug said. “You sure that’s a good idea? It’s one thing to take the hottest merchandise in America and hide them in an empty building, and another thing entirely to insert them into the midst of an active operation.”
“It’s the last place anyone’s going to look for them, right? With a long-range directional tracking antenna, you should be able make it appear that they’re connecting from one place, and then bam! you shut down and redirect the antenna, and then you’re connecting from someplace else that’s sixty miles away.”
“That trick will work for a couple of hours, max. Sooner or later the NSA will figure out they’re on a plane, correlate that plane with their location, and figure out exactly where they are. And probably shoot them down.”
“They’ll release the software before then. Once the software is out, there’s no reason to shoot you down.”
“Me? Who said anything about me getting on the plane?”
“I need you to go with them, Doug. I need to stay in contact with everyone. If I go missing, that’s suspicious. If you’re missing, well…”
“Yeah, I get it. I’m not important.”
“You’re very important. You’re just not as visible.”
“You sure this is a good idea?”
Forrest barked out a laugh. “A good idea? Hell, no. It’s a terrible idea. But it’s the only option we have left. Now get out of here for a minute. I have to make a call.”
Doug left, and the door shut behind him. It was dead silent in the van. Forrest composed herself, then opened up a text chat connection to Nathan.
“You’re an hour late.”
“I’m trying to keep things secure here.”
“How long until they release?”
“Another few hours.”
“I thought they were shooting for an afternoon release. They should have packaged that up, along with the encryption keys.”
“I know. They ran into a few delays.”
There was a long pause. Forrest wondered what Nathan could possibly be researching in the background. If he could, he’d certainly be fact checking what she said. But in this case, she thought he wouldn’t have any data. They’d prepped this building well.
“Any change in their key management strategy?”
“They haven’t mentioned it.”
Chapter 51
Igloo and the others were forced to pack in a few minutes, despite their protests. They crammed laptops and mobile devices—all previously sanitized—into EMF-proof pouches and carried them with them. Forrest guided them back to the van again.
“It’s only thirty minutes’ downtime,” Forrest said. “Then you can get back online. Doug will be with you, and he’ll take care of you.”
Igloo’s stomach roiled. “I like the underground bunker thing more than being in an airplane.”
“I know, but staying isn’t an option. You can see why.”
“I know. I know. But being up there? In a plane? They’ll shoot us down in a second.”
“They’ll spend longer than that before they’d shoot down a military plane.”
Doug whispered into Forrest’s ear.
Igloo overhead something about Tapestry.
“What’s going on?” Igloo asked. The crushing weight of responsibility made her fearful of anything that might be out of her control. She wished Angie were here to take charge. Of course, Angie would have everything in her control. She’d be the one pulling strings, instead of relying on almost-strangers for everything.
“Get in the van, first. Then I’ll brief you.”
Igloo sighed and climbed in. Forrest and Doug climbed in next, taking the two seats beside Igloo.
The rest of the team followed. Igloo grabbed Essie’s hand as she passed. She pulled Essie down into the seat next to her, making an already cramped situation even worse. But she was going to keep Essie close.
The van pulled out. Once again, Igloo had no idea where they were or were going, surrounded as she was by solid walls.
“This update of yours,” Forrest asked, once the van was underway. “It goes out to the existing Tapestry clients, right? They look for updates and grab yours because it’s signed with the right keys. You don’t need Tapestry servers do you?”
“Umm, yeah, of course we need those servers. The current clients make an API call to find out if there’s an update and where to get it. In the future, we’ll scan IPFS automatically for signed updates, but the current version needs access to those servers. Why?”
“The government shut down Tapestry a few minutes ago,” Doug said. “Press release says the company is a front for Chinese cyber terrorists. A federal judge issued a disconnect order to all ISPs.”
“That’s absurd!” Igloo said. “How can they get away with that?”
Forrest shrugged. “Enso must have fabricated enough corroborating data to convince a judge. Can you release without access to Tapestry?”
Igloo tried to think through the answer, but her brain responded sluggishly, like she was wa
ding through mud. The details of the community-based approval mechanism they were building overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t cram any more thoughts in her head.
Ben leaned forward from the row behind them.
“The client makes an API call to check for the current version, right?”
Igloo nodded.
“IP address or domain name?” Ben asked. “’Cause if it’s the domain name, then we could subvert DNS lookup and map it to our own server.”
Igloo shook her head. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the IP address exactly because of that attack vector. Angie had tools to go after the BGP that would let us subvert IP routing. I don’t know if they’re up to date. She was always resistant to using them. Wanted to save them for an emergency.”
“BGP?” Forrest asked.
“Border Gateway Protocol,” Igloo said. “It’s how the different internet and backbone providers route traffic between each other to get to a given IP address.”
“That won’t be enough,” Carly called from two rows back.
Igloo twisted around to see Carly had her laptop open.
“The updater source code checks the server certificate. It’s not going to trust just any machine responding to the update check call. We’d need the private key certificates.”
“Do we have those?” Igloo asked.
“No,” Mike said. “It’s not part of the source code, for obvious reasons. It would be in the cloud key vault and deployed to the server during provisioning.”
“What parts of Tapestry have been shut down?” Diana asked. “Can we still reach the key vault?”
“We don’t know, because we have no Internet connection in here,” Carly yelled.
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