‘You OK?’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll make it. We’ve still got a job to finish.’
Coetzee said to Bohai, ‘No reason to start a panic. Call down again and tell Junjie everything’s OK up here. We won’t be too long.’
Moscow, Russian Federation
Shen Fu Liáng said, ‘It’s ready. Do you authorise me to send it?’
‘Don’t be fucking stupid. Just get on with it.’
Shen pressed Send and his A2 trigger and handover codes were transmitted to the Lee-Win hub address.
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Bohai put the phone down then came over to Han, shaking his fist in his face. ‘Why have you betrayed me and your friends and colleagues in this despicable way? You have brought shame on Lee-Win and everyone involved in our business, here and in Dubai. You and Shen and this man,’ he gestured at Hoi Wei, now sitting on the floor, holding his head, ‘working together to destroy everything we have done to ensure our place in history.’
Han turned his head away and said nothing. ‘Money, of course,’ Coetzee answered. ‘Don’t look for any other motivation, Bohai, it’s always about money.’
Leo said, ‘I’m not following. If Wei was paid by Shen, who was paying Han?’
‘The Russians, of course,’ Coetzee said. ‘The truth is they were both being paid by the Russians, but neither of them knew it. It’s over, Han. You realise that, don’t you? Whatever happens from now on, it’s me and Leo who’ll be directing the traffic, not you or Hoi. You failed in your task, and I don’t think Leo wants to get the local authorities involved about a minor shooting accident,’ he paused and Leo shook his head. ‘Right, so if Bohai agrees, when we finish here, you and that creep over there can go and be thankful for small mercies.’
‘You don’t understand. The Russians will find us and kill us, both of us, perhaps our families and all of you as well. You’ve seen who’s behind this, they’re powerful men and we can’t hide from them.’ Han was up on his feet. ‘They promised me $2 million. Two million! More than I could save in my entire lifetime. Enough to take my family away and enjoy life, instead of wasting my days and years creating brilliant inventions that other people took credit for.’
‘And that’s why you conspired in the death of our founder, Chongkun, the man who befriended you and treated you like a brother for so many years. You repulse me, you ungrateful, conniving murderer. You must not let him go free, Mr Coetzee, he deserves to pay for his crimes.’ Cheong turned his head away, his face twisted with disgust.
‘It’s not true! I had nothing to do with Chongkun’s death. I swear on my children’s heads. Until tonight I believed he had been killed in an accident, but I see now I was naïve and stupid. When the new owners asked me to stay, I thought I would be treated with the respect I had earned, in the top job, with a proper salary, a fine car, share options and bonuses, in return for everything I had done for Lee-Win. But I was wrong. Shen Fu Liáng was appointed and replaced me as their key man, and then set up XPC, the real centre of development, out of my control.’
‘It was me who invented ACRE!’ he shouted at Leo. ‘It took me years to develop the concept and then, before I could introduce it, the project was taken away to Dubai and you got the credit. I created the A2 cell and introduced it into the imprint. Then I wrote the trigger programme and it was kept safe in Moscow, so no one could discover it. And it was me who programmed the hub handover code to manage the shutdown from Moscow. It’s all incredible technology and I invented it, me, no one else. I’ve been the real brain behind Lee-Win Micro-Technology for the last twenty years.’
Leo was trying to cope with these revelations. ‘So, both you and Hoi were Shen’s accomplices in the conspiracy?’
Han gave a derisive laugh. ‘I was not Shen Fu Liáng’s accomplice. I was working under the orders of General Piotr Gavrikov at the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate in Moscow. He contacted me after Shen was appointed and he told me the whole plan. He needed someone who could guarantee it would work, and I am the only person who could do that. He paid me $50,000 a year and promised me $2 million when the job was executed. Shen knew nothing about it. He was too stupid to realise it was me behind all this brilliant technology, he thought it was the work of one of their Russian cyber specialists and that man, Hoi Lei, who is not fit to tie my shoelaces. Although I was surrounded by fools, I fulfilled my task and I deserve the $2 million I was promised for it.’
He pointed his finger at Bohai. ‘Do you know how much I earn? Even you are paid more than me, with your shares and bonuses. I’m the chief executive and I get $10,000 a month. $2 million was worth working for five years.’ He wiped his eyes. ‘But you’re right, it’s over now. It’s all over.’ He sat back on the chair, his head in his hands, a broken man.
There was silence for a long moment, then Coetzee said, ‘Shen’s upload might have arrived, Leo. Are you OK to check it?’
‘Sure, I’m fine.’ He limped over to the PC and entered the password. ‘It’s arrived, just two minutes ago.’
‘Great, time for you to show us how smart you and Abby can be.’
Moscow, Russian Federation
‘It’s ten minutes since you sent it. What the fuck’s he doing?’ Shen Fu Liáng was waiting in General Piotr Gavrikov’s office, and they had received no news from Hoi Lei.
‘He’s checking the upload, converting it into a Lee-Win envelope and entering the hub addresses. It can’t be done in a minute. You want him to screw it up by hurrying things at this stage?’ Shen answered confidently, but his heart was in his mouth. It’s now or never, please God, don’t let it go wrong.
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
‘Right, it’s going. I just hope he doesn’t hang around.’ Leo pressed Send and a copy of the upload received from Shen went flying off through the ether to General William R. Chillicott in Washington. It was accompanied by a summary of Leo’s solution and Coetzee’s recordings of Hoi Wei’s and Han’s confessions. They were sitting in silence next to Bohai Cheong, who had them covered with the pistol.
‘I can’t believe such greed and corruption. And from people whom I’ve known and trusted for so many years.’ Bohai shook his head. ‘That upload could have started a global conflict with millions of deaths, and Lee-Win would be held responsible. And all you were concerned about is money. Do you people have no shame, no morals, no respect for mankind?’
Han put his hand over his eyes while Hoi ignored the old man. ‘Can I go now?’ he asked Coetzee.
‘Wait until we send the upload. If it’s successful, and you’d better pray it is, we won’t detain you.’
Leo looked at the time. ‘Where’s Billy? What’s he doing?’
Washington DC, USA
General Chillicott was in West Potomac Park at twelve noon, watching his grandson’s Sunday softball game, when his mobile pinged. He found a quiet corner and read Leo’s message, looked at the upload file, then listened to Coetzee’s recording. Now he had the final proof of the Russians’ intentions, it was time to teach them a lesson. He typed, Well done. Go ahead. WRC.
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
‘We have lift-off. Billy says go ahead. Do I send?’
‘That’s the stupidest question you’ve ever asked.’
Leo pressed Send, and his modified A2 trigger and handover codes were sent to the address he’d specified.
A minute later, an email came in from Moscow: Confirm upload sent?
Leo replied: Confirm sent a moment ago. Coetzee found the response amusing.
SIXTY
GRU Headquarters, Moscow, Russian Federation
Sunday, 18 July 2017
‘What the hell’s happened to the networks?’ Andrei Ivanov, the Deputy IT Director, shouted down the phone.
‘It’s another system crash. We’re investigating it now. You’ll get a report in an hour.’ Evgeny Ilyin, Head of Network Maintenance, shoved the phone in his pocket and ran down the corridor to
the main network centre. The lock sensor wouldn’t work with his pass card and he banged on the door until someone came and opened the dead lock. He walked into the room, an unpleasant smile on his face.
‘Congratulations, Vasili, that’s the third failure in a month. I suppose you have a really good explanation for me to give to the boss.’
‘It’s not a really good explanation, but it’s the only one that makes sense. We’ve been hacked. The entire system, all the networks, shut down five minutes ago and nothing’s working. It has to be a cyber-attack, there’s no other explanation.’
‘What do you mean, the entire system? That’s impossible, there must be some parts of some networks working. Has there been any unusual traffic through tonight?’
‘We got a minor upgrade from Lee-Win for a bug they found in their new software. But that’s nothing unusual.’
‘And it was downloaded without question?’
‘Of course, we always do. Without Lee-Win we wouldn’t have a system. And that new ACRE software is incredible. If they want to fix a bug, it’s in our interests and we should be happy.’
All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Moscow
‘We’re getting calls about a cyber-attack, from GRU headquarters. Seems all their networks are down.’
‘Sounds like a newsworthy event. Shall I write it up for the morning show?’
‘That’s not funny, Igor, they’ll just deny it. You know they don’t permit publicity, especially about their fuck-ups.’
‘So, we’ve got over two hundred TV, radio and Internet channels, and we can’t broadcast a warning about a probable cyber-attack, because GRU will say it hasn’t happened. I think that’s pretty funny.’
GRU Headquarters, Moscow
‘What do you mean it’s coming and going?’ General Anatole Lukyanenko, Deputy Director of the Main Intelligence Directorate, asked.
‘Everything closed down for exactly two hours, then it started up again for fifteen minutes, and it’s happened three times since then. At the moment it’s down.’ IT Director Sergei Golovkin had been called out of bed at midnight, and he wasn’t feeling very happy.
‘Can’t our specialists discover where it’s coming from and override it?’
‘I’ve never seen anything like it. When the networks are down, nothing’s working, nothing at all, so they can’t even get into the system to look for the problem.’
‘And when it comes up again?’
‘Everything runs like a dream on the new Lee-Win transmission-encryption software. Then it just falls over again, no warnings, no errors, nothing suspicious, nothing to see. It just shuts down, as if someone flicked a switch. Somebody’s in charge of our networks, and it’s not us.’
‘Have you informed General Gavrikov?’
‘I can’t find him. He’s not answering any of his numbers, nor texts.’
Lukyanenko’s mind went into overdrive. For the last few weeks he’d heard rumours of a cyber-attack being prepared. Nothing official, just the occasional word here and there, but it didn’t appear on any of the events schedules and his boss, Gavrikov, had said nothing to him about it. It sounded like it was a clandestine plan and he didn’t know who was involved. It must be that plan, something’s gone wrong and Gavrikov’s gone missing.
‘Let me have a full report within the hour. I’ll have to give the minister an explanation.’ He was already working out how he could turn the problem to his own advantage. ‘Send it to me by email.’ It was easier to edit reports on the computer. This could be a defining moment in his career, he was determined to make the most of it.
Washington DC, USA
Monday, 19 July 2017
‘Two days in a row. Welcome back, Viktor. Take a seat.’ Mel Ritterbrand, US State Secretary, showed the ambassador to the same couch he’d vacated the previous day. ‘What’s so urgent you need to come here to see me so soon?’ He paraphrased the Russian’s question of their last meeting.
Kopeykin cleared his throat uncomfortably and sat forward on the edge of the seat. Ritterbrand noticed one of his knees trembling nervously. ‘It’s about our earlier discussion. I reported your comments to my superiors and they understand your concerns. This morning, instructions were given to terminate the exercises and return all troops and vessels to their homeland bases. We have no desire for our security practice sessions to be misinterpreted as belligerent activity. You can monitor these movements over the next few days to confirm my words.’
Ritterbrand said nothing. General Chillicott had called him an hour before to tell him to expect this news.
After waiting vainly for a response, the ambassador went on. ‘I also checked on your reports of a cyber-attack supposedly being prepared by our Intelligence Directorate. I can confirm there’s no truth in this rumour, we don’t have the resources to engineer such an attack and we have no intention of trying to build such a capability. We have more important objectives to achieve, many of them working together with our international partners like yourselves.’
He sat back, trying to look more comfortable. ‘As a matter of fact, my country is experiencing a wave of hacking right at this moment. The attacks are aimed at the Main Intelligence Directorate itself. Virtually every computer network in the department is affected by some kind of stop-start interference, and we can’t identify the cause. Frankly, it’s a national emergency which could damage the fragile stability of our global relationships. Can you interrogate your intelligence channels to assist us in our endeavours to find the cause? It would be greatly appreciated and a sign of our continually improving entente.’
‘Stop-start interference, eh? Sounds tricky. I’ll do what I can, Viktor. If I find anything out, I’ll get straight back to you.’
‘Thank you, Mel. I’ll relay that encouraging news to General Lukyanenko, the new Director of the Intelligence Directorate.’
Ritterbrand’s ears pricked up. ‘General Gavrikov’s been replaced?’
‘So I was informed. It seems he suffered a fatal injury in a car accident last night. I understand he was being driven by a friend and they were both killed in the crash. Most regrettable, he was a highly capable officer.’
‘That’s too bad, coming on top of General Belinsky’s resignation.’
‘You already heard about that?’
Ritterbrand was enjoying the moment. ‘Modern communications, Viktor. Shame, I hear he was a clever guy. I guess he was ready for retirement, making way for the next generation.’
London, England
It was Monday evening, and Dr Hugh Middleton was still in his office. Ilona had gone home to her flat in Bayswater. They both lived alone, he by choice and her because after being in England for almost six years, she was still looking for the right partner.
Middleton was in a melancholy mood. He was looking at the image of the woman, Tsunami, on his screen. He hadn’t seen Esther Rousseau since July 2010, seven years ago. She was still just as beautiful as in his memory and he was still as much in love with her. In retrospect, he considered her last acts, to steal from him and try to blackmail him, to have been perfectly justifiable behaviour. She had expected him to deliver a result, namely a large ransom, and he had failed. Naturally, she had needed to compensate herself, and he was the obvious source of compensation; he would likely have done exactly that in similar circumstances.
But that was all water under the bridge. Since then, he had suffered the indignity of paying his debt to society, he had reorganised his life, reinvented himself and had created a successful, useful and profitable business, with an honest and dedicated partner. And now, due to a series of unpredictable and unimaginable events, everything he had rebuilt could suddenly be in jeopardy. First, Leo Stewart and Jenny Bishop, then Marius Coetzee, and now Esther had reappeared in his life. It was beyond a joke.
Fortunately, he convinced himself, Ilona doesn’t suspect anything. When this Lee-Win business settles down, it will all fade into insignificance and we can get on with our normal,
banal, uneventful lives. Patience is all that’s required.
He closed his computer, switched off the lights and locked the front door. It was still bright and warm, and he decided to walk through Hyde Park on the way back to his apartment. In the darkened offices behind him, Ilona Tymoshenko’s laptop received a message from Chief Inspector Lucas Meyer, head of the Antwerp SICAD.
SIXTY-ONE
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Tuesday, 20 July 2017
Leo’s mobile woke him at four on Tuesday morning. He and Coetzee were sleeping on camp beds in the hub room, having been alternately switching the A2 trigger programme on and off since Sunday evening. Patrice and Junjie were now comfortably ensconced in a nearby hotel. Han Wang Tāng and Hoi Lei had been expelled from the premises by the security officers under Bohai Cheong’s instructions. They’d convinced the chairman that involving the police would be massively complicated and wouldn’t serve any purpose. The two traitors could take their chances out in the cold. And Leo now had an interesting scar where a half-dozen stitches had closed up the wounds on his thigh.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and pressed the speaker button. ‘Morning, Billy.’
‘It’s four in the afternoon here, a beautiful day, in more ways than one,’ General Chillicott replied. ‘How’re you feeling?’
‘Knackered, actually. It’s been a pretty eventful couple of days.’
The Dark Web: The stunning new thriller from the author of The Angolan Clan (African Diamonds Book 3) Page 42