CypherGhost

by D S Kane

  He terminated the call.

  CHAPTER 25

  December 4, 2:11 p.m.

  Jon Sommers’ apartment,

  450 K Street NW, Washington DC

  The snowstorm was letting up when Jon and Avram opened Jon’s apartment door. Sitting at the kitchen table, they found Ann with a woman they’d never seen before, sitting in front of Ann’s open notebook computers.

  Ann smiled at Avram and Jon. “Hey guys, this is Charlette Keegan-Ashbury. She’s the one who started the problem for us. But now, with her and me working together, we can try to end it.”

  Jon nodded. “Right, then. So, you’re the CypherGhost. Well, I’ll leave you both to it.”

  Avram pulled out a chair and sat at the table with them. “Sitrep?”

  Ann said, “Mom, Betsy and William have reconnected using the modified version of the Bug-Lok. We now know their exact GPS coordinates. Each of them is in a different camp. William is in a camp in Wyoming and Betsy is in a camp located close to his, near Provo, Utah. Mom is in a camp in Nevada near the desert in Arizona. We have about fifty-six hours before their thumb drives power down. So, Charlette and I are ready to help you make a plan to get them out.”

  When he heard what Ann said, Jon rejoined them at the table. “Ah. Then the ball is in my court. First, let’s figure out our resource requirements. Then we’ll draft a tactical evaluation.”

  The four of them sat for over an hour, and when they were finished, Jon stared at the draft. “Low probability for freeing all three. The two near Provo, not so hard, probably a sixty-percent probability of success. But three at once splits our force, so not good. Any comments?”

  Ann frowned. “But if we can’t free Mom, what do we do for her?”

  Charlette touched Ann’s hand. “That one’s up to us. Let the mercs do their job with William and Betsy. We can hack your mom out.”

  Jon shrugged. “Better to wait until we have the first op completed, freeing William and Betsy, and then concentrate our forces again on the final op to free Cassandra. Well?”

  Ann stared into Charlette’s eyes. “What do you think? Should we wait?”

  Charlette shook her head. “No way. Let the boys play with their toys. We’ll need some time to plan our own moves.”

  Ann nodded. “Okay.”

  Jon said, “So be it.”

  * * *

  Another day had passed. William sat in the dark cell, watching the latest Cy Gordon thriller movie play on HBO within his mind’s eye, courtesy of Bug-Lok. He was sure Avram and Jon would run their exfiltration mission soon. According to the message he’d read in the Drafts folder, they should be en route now, set to arrive within an hour.

  The plan called for the mercs to get Betsy out first, send her on her way back to Washington DC, and then come for him. It might take them several hours to finish the mission to retrieve her. He might just get to the end of the movie before being drawn back into reality.

  He saw a text message emerge through the scene he’d been watching, so he paused the movie:

  Jon: Exfiltration mission starting now.

  William: Sitrep?

  Jon: We’re in Betsy’s neighborhood now. I can see the camp.

  William: Welcome to the party.

  Betsy: Ready now. What’s your tactical plan?

  Jon: We have a burrower. Mercs set it in operation about two hours before we arrived. It has created a tunnel of about two miles length to right underneath your cell, underground by about eighty feet. Now burrowing up. Expect us at your cell in twelve minutes.

  William could hear no sound except his own heartbeat. Thirteen minutes later, he saw another text:

  Betsy: That’s a pretty deep hole.

  Jon: Hook the rope ladder to something rock solid within your cell.

  Betsy: And that would be? There isn’t anything in the cell that would make a good hook except for the tray slot, and that’s closed right now, so nothing there to hook it on.

  Jon: I assume the tray slot opens during meal delivery?

  Betsy: Yeah. So?

  Jon: Wait for it. I’m signaling the slot to open now.

  Betsy: Wow. That worked to spec. Okay. Ladder hooked and I’m coming down now.

  Jon: Betsy is out and with us now. William, we’ll be under your cell in about three hours more.

  William unpaused the movie. About eight minutes remained in his movie. He smiled at the happy endings he would watch on screen first, and then experience for real.

  * * *

  Cassie had read all the messages. She would need to be patient. She followed the progress of William’s exfiltration.

  Jon: Cassie, we’ll be at your location in about sixteen hours.

  Cassie: I’ll be ready.

  * * *

  Ann and Charlette watched the messages fly across their notebook computer screens.

  Charlette asked Ann, “What about the rest of the hackers?”

  Ann shrugged. “Dunno.”

  “Well, they are our comrades.”

  Ann thought for a second. “Some of them are. But some are black hats. Criminals. How do we treat them?”

  Charlette frowned. “Including me, right? So? First of all, there’s no way to tell who’s who. They’ve all been imprisoned without dockets, without proof. All we can tell is that they’re alleged hackers. Alleged, never charged with any crime, to say nothing of being convicted. We need to free all of them, and then let someone else sort it all out. There’s no other way.”

  Ann remained silent, thinking.

  Charlette said, “You and I can do this. We can remotely open all the cell doors and let the hackers try to fend off the guards. Some won’t make it. Many will.”

  Ann didn’t move, still unsure if this was their best move.

  Charlette grasped Ann’s hand. “Come on. Let’s do it.”

  Ann thought for a bit, then nodded.

  * * *

  Cassie’s cell door popped open.

  Cassie: Jon, did you just open my cell door?

  Jon: No. We’re still en route. About fifteen minutes out. Then another twenty until we’ve got the tunnel started. About five hours until we’re right under your cell. Don’t know what happened to your cell, but, don’t leave the cell. Wait for us.

  Cassie: You’re sure that my leaving now isn’t a better idea?

  Jon: We don’t know who opened the cell doors. And we don’t know what the guards will do when the prisoners try to leave. So, stay in place!

  Cassie thought for a second.

  She texted Jon: “Okay. I’ll wait.”

  Several hours later, the ground underneath Cassie’s cell began to shake. A hole about four feet across appeared in the center of her cell. Jon and his team, about twenty mercs, had completed Cassie’s tunnel.

  Cassie moved from the far wall to the edge of the hole. Jon’s head popped up. He nodded and pointed down, then used his hand to signal silence.

  Cassie followed Jon down the hole, about five feet to its base, all the while thinking about the story of Alice in Wonderland. At the bottom of the hole was a tunnel. Jon handed her a flashlight and pointed out their direction. It was a long crawl.

  Two hours later, Cassie was riding in a yellow school bus that Avram had rented, heading south, toward McCarran Airport, along with twenty mercs and Jon Sommers.

  A few hundred miles away, the other bus, containing William, Betsy, Avram, and another twenty mercs, had reached the Salt Lake City airport.

  CHAPTER 26

  December 4, 5:26 p.m.

  Freedom Center Prison, Building 7,

  50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, NV

  Until a few days ago, Bob Powers had been a senior security consultant for Orange Quilt Security. But now, he sat on the cold floor of his cell, his legs crossed, in a meditation pose. When his cell door popped open, he opened his eyes. “Wowza! I was just thinking about how, when one door closes, another opens.”

  Out of shape, he waddled out into the hallway. Other prisoners had
also left their cells. Most wandered aimlessly, but a very angry few were yelling, ripping the lights off the walls, and manufacturing makeshift weapons from the broken light sconces and bulbs. He found the odor of so many unwashed bodies overpowering, and fought against the urge to retch.

  Bob wondered if their cages springing open was a trick. If they continued toward the exit, would the guards just shoot them? Pick them off, one at a time? And where was he? How far was it to get to an airport or a railway station?

  He could hear the guards now, running through the hallway, toward them. Bob reentered his cell and closed its door partway, while he waited for the next act to play out. He peeked out from his doorway.

  He could hear a skirmish. Several shots, followed by screams, followed by more shots, and then silence.

  Bob popped his head out through the cell door and looked toward the sound of the screams. Only silence, and some dead bodies. He left his cell again, and found corpses of some of the guards, all strangled or with their skulls cracked open. He smiled. “Turnabout is fair play.”

  He saw a crowd of other prisoners, all running in the same direction. Were they headed toward an exit? He hoped so, and followed them.

  * * *

  The young female behind the desk in the television news studio smiled into the camera. “Good evening. I’m Rachel Wright. Welcome to the KLOE six o’clock news. Our top story tonight is the appearance of over ten thousand people suddenly walking into Provo from the desert about fourteen minutes ago. They all seem not to know where they are.”

  The screen showed one person wearing shredded clothing, being interviewed by a reporter. “No idea where I am. We were transported here a few days ago, and then suddenly released.”

  The reporter said, “it appears that some kind of government experiment was run in the badlands, and then suddenly ended. When we have more on this story, we’ll let you know. This is our top domestic news of the hour. Moving on to the international scene…”

  PART III

  The diverse threats we face are increasingly cyber-based. Much of America’s most sensitive data is stored on computers. We are losing data, money, and ideas through cyber intrusions. This threatens innovation and, as citizens, we are also increasingly vulnerable to losing our personal information.

  James Comey, FBI Director

  The illegal we can do right away. The unconstitutional takes a bit longer.

  Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State

  CHAPTER 27

  December 4, 10:43 p.m.

  Jon Sommers’ apartment,

  450 K Street NW, Washington DC

  Ann and Charlette clapped their hands against each other’s then did a fist-bump. Ann smiled. “Well, okay. All the hackers are free. How cool!” But, though it didn’t show on her face, Ann wasn’t convinced what they had just done was the right thing. Are our interests really aligned? But she knew she had to gain the CypherGhost’s trust, in order to discover whether they were really working together.

  Charlette smiled back. She moved her head closer to Ann’s. And then closer still.

  Neither moved again for several seconds, but they stared dead-center into each other’s eyes. Ann’s lips formed the unasked question she found impossible to dismiss. Then she wondered, does it even matter? And more important, what am I becoming?

  Charlette made the first, final move, her lips gently brushing Ann’s.

  In another second their bodies were twisting together, their lips locked. Ann pulled away. She cocked her head. “What? Why?”

  Charlette’s eyes drifted to the floor. “You don’t feel it?”

  “Maybe. But still, why?”

  Charlette frowned. “Too long without. Just sex. Nothing more. Okay?”

  Ann thought for several seconds. “Not sure what I feel. And I don’t really know who you are.” She thought for a second about what she might learn about Charlette in the future. Was it worth getting intimate with the woman who had once been her enemy? Was Charlette trustworthy? She would need to find out. Maybe this could be the first step in that process. She forced a smile. “But for me as well, it’s been too long.” Ann looked at Charlette, then nodded. “Okay. The bedroom. Now.”

  She dragged Charlette behind her. Charlette unbuttoned Ann’s blouse, while Ann tugged Charlette’s tee shirt over her head. They faced each other in their underwear and jeans. Silent and perfectly still. Ann unbuttoned and tugged off her jeans while Charlette did the same. Now, inches separated them.

  Ann gulped. She feared what she was about to do, and stood motionless. Would this, could this become a commitment? What if she decided that this wasn’t what she wanted?

  Charlette took a deep breath. “Your first time?”

  “No, Charles and I. Many times.”

  “Your first with a girl?”

  “We’re both adults. My first time with a woman.” Some-thing clicked in her mind as she decided and reached out, pulled Charlette closer, reached behind her and unbuckled her bra. It fell open. She stared at Charlette’s nipples, dark brown, small and erect.

  Charlette pulled Ann close and unbuckled Ann’s bra. “Okay. Now we dance.” She pushed her face under Ann’s dangling bra and her mouth found a nipple.

  Ann sighed. “Ohmigod. That feels like heaven.”

  “Then pray for an orgasm.” Charlette pulled Ann’s face to her own breast. “My turn.”

  Ann’s lips found the dusky-colored coin of flesh mounted dead center on Charlette’s breast. She suckled gently at first, then harder, and used her teeth to brush its tip.

  Charlette moaned. “The bed. Now.”

  Their hands moved everywhere, touching, rubbing, and pinching each other.

  Ann felt herself crest again and again. She heard herself moan, then yell. She smiled like a Cheshire cat as the tension melted away.

  When they were finished with each other, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  * * *

  Avram sat in one of the five rented Cessnas, so exhausted he couldn’t sleep. Cassie, William, and Betsy were at the back of the same aircraft, still too close to the others in the aircraft, given the offensive odor of days-old dried perspiration that wafted from their unclean bodies. Avram whispered into his cellphone, “Can’t wait until they install showers in airplanes. Gott im Himmel! They stink to high hell.”

  In Washington, Jon replied back. “Still, good to have them back. Now, the question is, how do we keep them safe?”

  Avram said, “The UN gave me a small budget for ‘miscellaneous support activities.’ I used it to rent a four-bedroom apartment in the building adjoining yours. We can place them there for a while. Until we can come up with a plan to end this preposterous situation.”

  Jon took a few seconds to reply. Avram had not told him this before. He had no need to know this until now. Over the cell, he heard the landing gear drop and lock. “You’ll be on the ground in a few minutes. Time for me to call the buses. He ended his conversation with Avram and made another call.

  In under ten minutes, Avram and Jon were seated next to each other on one of the buses. Avram turned in his seat and faced Jon. “Good to be home, following a successful mission.”

  But Jon wasn’t thinking about how well the mission had gone. He was thinking about what might go wrong. No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.

  * * *

  In the middle of the night, the front door to Jon’s apartment clicked open and Jon and Avram whispered, walking in silently. They hoped not to wake Ann and Charlette, who they assumed were asleep in their separate rooms. Jon turned on the light in the living room and as he turned away, he saw the two women asleep together in the guest room. The door was open and the cover had been pushed off the bed. They were naked. He tried to forget what he’d seen and closed the door without making a sound. What do I tell Cassie?

  Avram said, “I’m hungry. Anything in the fridge?”

  Jon wondered what Avram would have said if he’d seen the two women, their bod
ies twisted into each other. “Got some leftover pizza. That is, if the girls didn’t finish it off.” And he thought, as they must have finished off each other.

  He would need to wake them soon, and take them to the nearby safe house.

  But first, Jon needed to rest a bit to recover his strength from the mission now over.

  Avram handed Jon a piece of paper with the address of the safe house apartment on it. Then he nodded to Jon and left the apartment.

  Jon opened the door to his own bedroom and entered. He found Lily asleep in his bed. He undressed and climbed in, tiredness aching in his bones.

  As he tried to fall asleep, Jon kept wondering how the women’s affection for each other might complicate any plans the group made to fix the damage that had turned them all into outlaws.

  * * *

  The safe house was nearly two thousand square feet. There were four bedrooms. Cassie had taken the smallest one. She was first into the shower, scrubbing off four days of body odor and grime. As she toweled off, Betsy knocked on the bathroom door. “I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Cassie called.

  Over the next hour, they all cleaned up. As for fresh clothing, Jon and Avram had, as the first step in the mission, bought clothing that they assumed might fit their friends. Cassie’s was too large, William’s too small, and Betsy said, “This fits me like a circus tent.”

  Jon arrived two hours later, with Ann and the CypherGhost in tow. The sun was just breaking into dawn. He closed the shades and said, “Keep the blinds closed on all the windows so no one’s curiosity is piqued about us. Now, let’s set a few more rules to prevent law enforcement from finding you. You aren’t to leave. It’s too dangerous. If you’re ID’ed by Washington’s many vidcams with facial recognition, we’ll have a ton of trouble. And no use of cellphones.” Betsy, Cassie, and William nodded. Ann and the CypherGhost both seemed to be disappointed, faces frowning.

  Cassie hugged Ann. “Glad you didn’t have to go through this, sweetie.”