by Marc Elsberg
‘Papa was right!’ cried Georges. ‘The power’s back!’
In the house across the street she saw lights going on and off. She skipped over to the window, the kids followed her, pressed their faces against the glass. The houses were lit up as far as they could see.
She wrapped an arm around each of her children, pressed them tightly to her, felt their arms hugging her waist.
‘Is Papa coming home now?’ asked Bernadette, looking up at her. Marie hugged her even tighter.
‘Yes, he is. I’m sure he’ll call soon.’
‘Then we can finally go and see Grandma and Grandpa in Paris,’ said Georges.
‘Yes, we’ll do that too,’ said Marie, stifling a sob.
Brussels, Belgium
Sophia stood with the others at the window and looked out over the city. Individual lights flickered on in the office towers. Neon advertisements, decorative lights on the façades of office buildings, shimmering against the dark sky. Her colleagues laughed, clapped, hugged one another. Telephones were ringing, but for a few minutes no one picked up.
Then everyone began trying to reach the loved ones they hadn’t heard from. She too wanted to hear from a few people, find out where they were, how they were. Sophia thought of Piero Manzano. She hadn’t heard from him or Shannon since they had left for The Hague. As she walked back into her own office, the telephone rang and she picked up.
‘Hey,’ she heard Piero Manzano’s voice. ‘How’s it going?’
Berlin, Germany
‘And now the big clean-up begins,’ announced State Secretary Rhess. He had the attention of everyone present. ‘Our first priority is to establish the supply of water, food and medicine. Ms Michelsen will take you through what happens next.’
So I get to be the bearer of bad news all over again, she thought.
‘With a relatively stable power supply, we’ve taken care of the basic prerequisites,’ she began.
‘“Relatively”?’ queried the defence minister.
‘Certain facilities were severely damaged due to the power outage. As a result, capacities are diminished.’
She brought up the image of a simple tap, the kind found in millions of households, on the monitor.
‘With no water being pumped through the pipes, air pockets developed, some were left completely dry, others froze in unheated buildings or were damaged by fires and explosions. Those pipes will need to be repaired and decontaminated. This process will take several weeks.’
There had been enough pictures taken of overflowing toilets in the first days of the blackout that she could now bring up one of them. ‘Eeeuugh!’ called out someone in the audience.
‘The outlook isn’t much better for waste disposal,’ Michelsen continued, unfazed. Only by using images like this could she make clear the extent to which ordinary citizens had suffered in the past twelve days.
‘Most toilets stopped flushing on the very first night. After that, the volume of water left in the sewers wasn’t enough to carry the waste away. As a result, blockages formed in individual homes and buildings as well as in the sewers, which have now dried up. The department in charge of re-establishing wastewater treatment are prepared for short-term power cuts, but the duration of this outage has significantly reduced stocks of the bacteria cultures they rely on to purify water. New cultures will have to be introduced to the tanks, and this will take many weeks.’
Photos of deserted supermarkets with empty shelves.
‘Stores of frozen goods have spoiled, practically all fresh produce was sold or looted during the blackout. We have limited quantities of tinned goods and dried foods. Many supermarket chains will re-open in the coming days, but after the necessary clean-up and repair work has been completed, the selection will be very limited.’
Images of a poultry farm.
‘Many companies involved in food production have lost everything. Disregarding the issues of hygiene that continue to assail us with the disposal of millions of carcasses, when it comes to meat, we will be reliant on imports for several years to come. It is vital that we start thinking about the mid- and long-term consequences and find solutions fast. Domestic companies must be supported so that we can re-establish our own production. The same applies for the majority of greenhouse cultivation of fruit and vegetables. Germany is not as severely affected in this area as other countries, like the Netherlands and Spain; nevertheless, significant losses have been sustained.
‘In many instances it would therefore be best if people remained in the shelters until the regular supply in their regions is up and running. This news is liable to dampen the euphoria which has greeted restoration of the power supply; if we are to avoid further unrest, it is vital that we consider carefully how to communicate the setbacks to the population at large.’
The Hague, Netherlands
‘The terrorists have been caught,’ Shannon announced on the screen. ‘No one can yet estimate the extent of the damage done, but one thing is certain: this is the worst terrorist attack in history. The number of casualties in Europe and the United States runs into the millions. Economic damages amount to trillions; the national economies that have been affected will have to bear them for a long time yet.’
Shannon had put them up in one of the best hotels in The Hague, at the network’s expense. They each had their own room. Manzano enjoyed the clean sheets, the bathroom, the moments of calm. Now he lay on the bed, freshly showered, wrapped in a soft bathrobe. He was happy for Shannon. This was her moment. The first journalist in the world who could report on the capture, she had also been able to deliver exclusive background material. Although she had barely slept in days and had worked through the past night, she looked like she’d just returned from a health spa. How did she do that?
‘I’m now on the line with the lead investigator from Europol, who was involved in the capture of the perpetrators.’
In a window on screen, Bollard was patched in from Istanbul.
‘Monsieur Bollard, what kind of people are they? The people who would do something like this?’
‘That’s something that will come out over the course of our investigations in the coming days. Among those in custody are members of both the radical left and the far right. The majority come from middle-class families. All of them appear to be well educated.’
‘Do these profiles show that such a stereotype-focused approach is obsolete and no longer represents social realities?’
‘Perhaps. Among terrorists, there’s one type that is prevalent, independent of worldview: we call this the “righteous” type. They firmly believe that they are in possession of the one legitimate truth, and that they have the right to implement that truth through every conceivable means. For the achievement of their supposedly higher goal, they have no qualms whatsoever about sacrificing innocent people.’
‘Were all the perpetrators captured? How many are there? Where and when will they stand trial?’
‘I am not in a position to answer those questions as yet.’
Istanbul, Turkey
The televisions at the airport told him everything. Only a few hours after the raid on the building the first networks were showing images. To his disappointment, there was footage from Mexico City. And as if that weren’t enough, the power was back in large parts of Europe and the US. A few hours after the end of the blackout, he was on a plane headed from Istanbul to The Hague. The airlines had resumed most of their regular flights to Europe as quickly as possible. This was not the way they had planned it. Europe should have been without power for at least a month after the first outage. And it would have been, had it not been for that fucking Italian. His face had flashed briefly on the television screen – one of the heroes of the hour. They should have taken care of him as soon as he’d gone running to Europol about the Smart Meters. The bastard had denied them the fruits of their years of work, and the world had been robbed of its chance at a new beginning. For this the Italian must pay.
It pained him to admi
t that he was taking this matter more personally than he should; more than would have been professional. He didn’t know who had last sent the block order pushing back their planned second wave. He himself had sent the order yesterday, sometime around midday. There was some time left then. Just enough to wreak vengeance on the Italian.
Ratingen, Germany
‘We’ve traced the origin of the malicious codes in the SCADA systems,’ said Dienhof. ‘Dragenau had built it in as early as the last millennium.’
‘He’d been planning his move for that long?’ asked Hartlandt.
‘That we’ll never know. Maybe it was just an exercise. Or he wanted, even at the time, to have something in his back pocket to one day have his revenge for the takeover of his company.’
‘Why wasn’t the manipulation noticed?’
‘Dragenau picked a good time. Do you remember the Y2K hysteria shortly before the turn of the millennium? Every computer was going to crash on account of the date change. We had our hands full, modifying programs that had been designed with a two-digit year by the original developers. The proofers and the testers were all tied up with work related to the millennium switch. In the end, the predicted disaster didn’t occur. But the IT consultants made a killing. And in the confusion, the few lines were overlooked. And they were never found afterwards either.’
‘He did nothing with them for fifteen years.’
‘And look where his betrayal got him,’ said Dienhof. ‘I can’t help wondering how the terrorists came upon Dragenau. I dare say that’s something you will find out in the course of your investigations. Presumably they would have approached insiders at several companies – a risky undertaking, if you ask me, but clearly it worked.’
Hartlandt wasn’t about to be drawn on what they had learned about Dragenau. He decided it was time to conclude the meeting.
‘We appreciate the help you have given us, Mr Dienhof,’ he said, extending his hand to Dienhof. ‘Particularly in providing the scrubbed versions so quickly.’
He turned to Wickley, who had followed Dienhof’s presentation with a blank expression.
‘And as for you: if I’d had enough to issue an arrest warrant, believe me, I would have. But your attempt to hide the discovery of the malicious code will not go unpunished, you can be certain of that. I’ll see you in court.’ And then he turned on his heel. There was one more phone call to make, something Hartlandt wasn’t too excited about but which he felt he needed to do.
‘Manzano speaking.’
The concierge spoke: ‘A Mr Hartlandt for you.’
Manzano hesitated for a moment before responding, ‘Put him through.’
The German greeted him in English, asked how he was doing.
‘Better now,’ Manzano answered sceptically.
‘You’ve done damn good work,’ said Hartlandt. ‘Without you, we wouldn’t have managed. Or at least, it would have taken us much longer.’
Manzano, surprised, was silent.
‘I’d like to thank you for your help. And to apologize for the way we treated you. Only, at the time …’
‘Apology accepted,’ replied Manzano. He hadn’t expected to hear from Hartlandt ever again. ‘It was an extreme situation. We all behaved irrationally at times, but at least we got there in the end.’
Berlin, Germany
‘We still don’t have an accurate death toll,’ began Torhüsen from the Ministry of Health. ‘However, provisional estimates for Germany assume a high five-figure to low six-figure number for fatalities resulting directly from the blackout.’
Michelsen could sense everyone in the room holding their breath for an instant.
‘Like I said, these are provisional numbers. We can’t rule out the possibility that they might rise substantially. Across Europe, we’re looking at several million. And that’s without taking into account victims of radioactive contamination, or sufferers from chronic conditions – heart disease, diabetes, dialysis patients – that went untreated. For the ten-kilometre radius around the Philippsburg nuclear power plant, with its compromised spent fuel pool, a mortally high level of radiation was measured.’
Torhüsen changed from pictures of power plants to graveyards with large patches of freshly dug earth.
‘One aspect we cannot neglect is the disposal of human remains. In the past few days, out of necessity, the dead have been buried in mass, unmarked graves. Worse still, the identities of some individuals weren’t even known. This is going to be controversial, to say the least. Particularly among relatives of the deceased. Many bodies will likely have to be exhumed and identified, at great cost.’
The photographs of deserted hospitals came from Berlin.
‘Hospitals will be able to resume operations, though not overnight. The supply of water, food and medicine will play an important role here. In the medium term, we have to prepare for shortages of medications. We’re assuming for the moment that in about a week a majority of the population will have adequate access to medical supplies again.’
The Hague, Netherlands
Laughing, Shannon pointed the camera at Manzano. She was only stopping by his room for a moment. She didn’t have that much time.
‘You’re a hero!’ she cried. ‘Now you’ll be famous!’
Manzano held a hand in front of his face. ‘I’d rather not.’
‘But I do get an interview, right?’
‘Why don’t we turn the tables? I’ll ask you the questions. After all, you’re the one who saved the computer we found RESET with.’
Shannon’s mobile phone rang. She exchanged a few words with the caller, put the phone away.
‘I get bothered enough as it is,’ she groused coquettishly.
‘You’re a celebrity,’ he said.
‘I’m just the messenger.’
She dialled back her playfulness a little, sat down on the sofa and gave him a thoughtful look. ‘What’s up?’ she asked.
‘Why should anything be up?’
All at once her voice grew gentle but firm.
‘Look, we’ve gone through so much together – I can’t ignore the fact that something’s obviously bothering you.’
‘Maybe it’s what we went through?’
If my face is as red as it feels, then it doesn’t look good, she thought, embarrassed. She still wasn’t sure what to think about her feelings for Manzano. They had become very close over the course of their odyssey together, in more ways than one. But she had to admit that it wasn’t so much attraction, more that he was the older brother she never had.
He must have noticed her embarrassment.
‘I mean, what we saw and experienced. The consequences of this insane attack, what people suffered.’
A little offended, and yet relieved, she replied, ‘It’s not something any of us will forget in a hurry.’
He nodded, looked out the window. ‘One thing I don’t understand,’ he said. ‘These people, the ones who did this. They devoted so much time and effort to carrying out the attacks … You remember, I discussed it with Bollard after he flew to Istanbul.’
I remember, thought Shannon. Can’t he ever turn off?
‘I ask myself: did they achieve their goal? Was this a victory for them? Their pamphlets and manifestos talk about a more just, more harmonious order, one that could only be achieved by enforcing a completely new start. RESET: bringing the system back to zero. By taking away the foundation of our civilization, they’d see to it that every structure had to be built anew – that was the idea.
‘It’s true we don’t know the long-term consequences yet, but the conditions didn’t last long enough to achieve their goal. In most of the targeted countries, the elected governments are still in power, and they’re re-establishing the traditional structures. Twelve days wasn’t enough. Could they have known that? Did they plan to keep the power off for longer? All this time I’ve been thinking about how I’d have acted in their place … If I’d gone as far as these guys, I’d have put a contingency plan in place, in c
ase I got caught early. I’d have made sure that my goals would be achieved no matter what. Look at the photos from the arrests and from afterwards. They don’t look defeated. If you ask me, they look satisfied. Triumphant even.’
‘They probably just wanted to be famous, like every other mass murderer. They accomplished that much, and they know it, too.’
He shook his head, looked at the floor, as if the answers to his questions were there.
‘I have a bad feeling,’ he said. ‘Like there’s something else coming, something bad.’
‘You know what?’ said Shannon. ‘I’m supposed to go to Brussels, I’ve got a few meetings there with top politicians …’
‘You’re a sought-after woman now.’
‘What I was going to say was, do you feel like coming along for the ride?’
Istanbul, Turkey
‘What would you have done in the attackers’ place?’ asked Bollard. His room even had a window. Outside, the sun, glowing red, descended over the roofs of the city.
‘I don’t know the latest results from the RESET analysis,’ Manzano answered on Bollard’s computer screen. ‘Have the elements of the malicious programs been reconstructed yet?’
‘The first parts.’
‘Do they correspond to the attacks of the past weeks?’
‘We don’t know yet. We’re dealing with thousands of coordinating discussions between software developers and millions of lines of code. What are you getting at?’
‘All the attacks so far seem to have been triggered on the first day. Or are there signs now that the terrorists were continually tampering with the systems?’
‘No.’
‘OK, you want to know what I would have done in the attackers’ place. Well, I’d have made sure that the attacks could continue even if I were no longer free to carry them out myself. I’d have hidden time bombs in the power system, set to go off as soon as the grid was up and running again.’