The End of the Beginning

by Eichholz, Zachary

  The professor nodded in approval to proceed and gestured to his computer console. Rescue Officer Croft enthusiastically nodded his head as well.

  “UNIRO’s missions may be peaceful,” said Hernandez, walking over to the computer console, “but that doesn't mean we are defenseless in the face of threats, my friends. Each base has billions of dollars’ worth of assets. On any given day, there are up to 20,000 people here, some of which are high-profile targets. Politicians. UN officials. Military personnel. Scientists. Our security systems were designed using history as a guide, taking into account previous attack styles used by both terrorist and various state militaries. Let’s start from the outside in.”

  After logging in and with few clicks and taps, a 3D rendering of the base appeared on the whiteboard via the projector. The rendering turned several times then narrowed in on the base's main entrance to the northwest of Umoja Tower. An exit off of the nearest highway, Interstate 95, led to the base through a predominantly marshy-forested area just south of Oak Hill to where the base had been built at the coast. Its north end bordered the Turner Flats and its southern the Mosquito Lagoon.

  Part of the base had to be built on reclaimed land to make way for its eight-mile diameter and that extended out to a ten-mile diameter once the seawall started offshore. The Port Section, which was basically an elliptical semi-circle placed around the main bases ocean facing side, enclosed by the seawall, jutted out two miles from land. Even though from the air it had looked like a peace sign, its true shape, including the enclosed harbor, actually looked more like a bloated mushroom with its circular stem on land and its semi-circular head out at sea.

  After the marshy area, the road soon came to the diverted Indian River over a box girder bridge and then to woodland that ended with the base perimeter wall. There were no other structures around for a few miles. In the rendering, an area that was marked to be 900 feet in front of the first perimeter wall was highlighted and zoomed in on. Hernandez walked over to the board and slapped it.

  “Six lanes of traffic pass under these large white unassuming arches that span the road. Decorative as they may be they are actually high-energy pass through X-ray scanning systems that can easily see through cars, trucks, and containers as they drive underneath. The image generated goes through the base’s supercomputer and if something is noticed, the suspicious vehicle will be diverted into standby areas located next to the road’s automatic security booths by a system of smart traffic lights and movable gates where they are screened again and hand checked by ISAF personnel. Vehicles going through the automatic security booths will be catalogued into the base’s computer with their make, color, and license plate on file in the database. After they are tagged, their whereabouts will always be known by my security personnel whenever they are on base.”

  Alongside the road were a number of camera and sensor towers, giving the front entrance the feel of a border crossing. Large flower beds and small trees had been placed about the roads leading from the automatic security booths into the base to give it a more welcoming appearance. Moving to the outer perimeter wall, the rendering was adjusted to zoom in on the top of the wall near the base of one of the wind turbines. Hernandez slapped the board again.

  “Next, two forty-foot-high smart perimeter walls. Both walls are made from precast concrete sections that are reinforced with carbon fiber mesh that give it exceptional strength and make it lighter, non-corrosive, and more eco-friendly. Twenty-eight feet thick, the walls can survive multiple bomb blast and even take multiple direct missile hits. At each of their centers is an access tunnel for interior maintenance and monitoring sensor rooms. Their exterior sides are angled at fifty degrees and hold embedded cameras, infrared sensors, trip lasers, and flood lights. A hundred-foot clear zone extends around the front of the wall, separating it from the tree line.”

  A photo came up that showed a wind turbine with what looked to be a small gray skirt halfway up its tower.

  “Every four-wind turbine towers have border patrol sensor housings that scan their surroundings with radar and cameras to look for intruders that can relay their data to ISAF upon determining an intrusion is occurring. All of these systems work together with the base computer to act within milliseconds so no one is getting through, no one. Twenty-four hour drone surveillance in our skies, on our grounds, and in our waters finishes the job.”

  William listened rapturously. “Excuse me, Chief,” he said.

  Hernandez turned and saw that it was William that had spoken. “Ah!” he started. “Captain Emerson. A man, ladies and gentleman, who knows the importance of proper and up to date security, the failure of which during the war’s darkest hour almost cost him his life. Captain, please, what troubles you? Your input to our system could be invaluable.”

  “Well, sir, umm,” William said, “if these systems are all run by computer, couldn't one just do something to the base supercomputer and disable all of them? I mean, I know computers are great and I love technology but they're not infallible. Anyone can program them, good or bad.”

  Hernandez shook his head.

  “A valid point. Cyber security is just as important. UNIRO has firewalls that are at the level of the Pentagon. One would simply not have the computing power to infiltrate our systems without amassing great attention to themselves prior to their attack. The only way to gain direct access to our computer networks is through our server farm under Umoja Tower. Someone would have to be working on the inside with high levels of authorization to get even close to the command center and into our database. Should this hypothetical traitor somehow make it that far, they would soon have to contend with a legion of my armed ISAF guardsmen. Someone wouldn't even be able to steal guns inside the base because all weapons have biomodules that have fingerprint activation unique to their holder. My point is, Captain, the bad guys would have to be in UNIRO itself to make little, if any, headway towards an attack.”

  William suddenly remembered Hammond and her warehouse conversation. Dismissing what he had seen at the time, he now remembered one of the words she had said. Toronto.

  “And what if they are, Chief?” he asked uneasily.

  “Then God help them, Captain,” Hernandez smiled.

  CHAPTER 29: Purpose Amongst Those Who Have None

  “…so that tomorrow we can finally begin talking about solitary waves in Greenland. Now, you’re dismissed. See you tomorrow.”

  William packed up his things and walked out the door, Seong close behind.

  “Captain!” a voice called out.

  William spun around. To his surprise, Hernandez had been waiting for him after class in the hallway, leaning casually against the wall. “Yes, Chief?”

  “Lieutenant Jeon, do you mind?” Hernandez politely asked. Seong bowed and left for lunch. Once alone, Hernandez grabbed William’s shoulder and looked into his eyes searchingly.

  “That question you asked. You know something. What is it?”

  “Sir, I don’t know if - ”

  “Captain,” Hernandez said sternly, “if you know something, you need to tell me, for everyone’s safety. What is wrong?”

  “I’d like to take that invitation to your office now if that’s okay?”

  Deep in the domed ISAF headquarters, Hernandez took William through their central control room on the way to his office. It wasn’t nearly as large as UNIRO’s. William and Hernandez entered through the back of the rectangular room. To the men’s left were four stepped rows of monitoring stations, each row having one long singular white desk with continuous computer displays. ISAF personnel sat in black rolling chairs answering calls and scanning the displays. A ramp was behind each stepped row that led up to its level. Each ramp was bordered by black handrails up the sides and continued around the elevated seating areas. In front of the rows was a large OLED display the size of the room’s front wall.

  To the men’s right was a large 3D model of the base that was overlaid with a holographic projection of real time data. Vehicles, ma
glev trains, aircraft, drones; even individual people were shown walking around the model as dots, their location being given by their glass tags. It was incredible. Hernandez radiated with satisfaction of his operation.

  Shortly after walking through the control room, they reached the chief’s office. It looked out over Umoja Tower to the west. Unlike Hammond’s office, it wasn’t filled with collectables. There were no pictures of friends or family, no potted plants, or antiques. It was bare bones modern design, white and black, like the rest of ISAF’s facilities and gear. A small clear plastic pyramid that served as an ant farm was the only exciting piece of anything in the office. The ants moved about inside minding their own business, digging tunnels and collecting food.

  William sat in the guest chair in front of Hernandez’s desk. Hernandez never sat down; he just looked out the curving windowpanes of the dome.

  “Now, Captain, what is wrong?”

  “Sir, I don’t know if I’m looking into this too much…”

  “Captain, please.”

  “Three weeks ago, I saw Hammond in one of the warehouses.”

  Hernandez looked at William feverishly, squinting his eyes.

  “Colonel John Morrison was giving me a tour. He left to take a phone call so I was alone. I heard her speaking from somewhere inside the shelves - in an area that no one was supposed to be. I was curious…”

  “As you should have been,” Hernandez encouraged.

  “So, I went inside the shelving units to find her. When I did, I saw her talking on a landline hooked up to a shipping container. She sounded angry and was trying to get information from someone. She never said a name for the person on the other end, in fact she didn’t even know their name I think, but… she said people were starting to get suspicious in UNIRO and that she could only hold off their suspicions for so long. She said she needed to finish something.”

  “Suspicions of what?”

  “I don’t know. But she said the attack in India was just the start. Then she said… Toronto.”

  “In what context?”

  “The person on the other end told her something about Toronto. And now that the city was attacked last night. It only leads me to believe that she - ”

  “Knew,” Hernandez finished.

  “Yes.”

  “Did she ever see you?”

  “No.”

  “Did anyone else see her?”

  “Not that I know of, no. When Colonel Morrison returned from his call, I told him about what I saw and how weird it was. He called ISAF and asked for her current position and her glass tag showed her in her office no less than five minutes after I saw her. She couldn’t have gotten back to her office that quickly.”

  Hernandez laughed. “That’s not the first time Morrison has done that. Always breaking my security rules.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that. It was a heat of the moment thing.”

  “You made the right decision to check, Captain. This is something I will have to look in to. And no, you’re right, it would have been impossible for her to make it back to her office from any of the warehouses in under five minutes, even with a car. Did Colonel Morrison not believe you?”

  “Well, after seeing her supposedly in her office I didn’t really believe myself.”

  “You witnessed the exchange firsthand. Always trust yourself, especially when you have facts to back you. Too often, emotion and belief override any factual bases. Logic should always supersede ones feelings, especially in our work. We are a team, one unit, a system. You should have come to me sooner about this, Captain. Colonel Morrison too.”

  William knew Hernandez was right. He now felt partly responsible for what happened last night, thinking he maybe could have stopped it somehow by talking. Even if Hammond’s conversation had been a misunderstanding, he should have brought it up sooner.

  “I’m sorry, Chief.”

  “It is okay, amigo. We’ll learn from this, hmm.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Muy bueno. This information will be very useful.”

  “Is this all because something is different about this latest attack, sir?” William ventured.

  Hernandez looked confused. “Excuse me?”

  “With all due respect,” William said with a smirk, “you aren’t the only one who can tell when something is wrong behind the scenes, sir. I talked to others. You never gave that speech to classes after the India refinery attack, asking to be vigilant. Why did you this time?”

  Hernandez knew he was busted and didn’t try and hide it. He sat down and put both hands on his desk and leaned over it.

  “Things are different this time, Captain. This attack came with something else, a warning.”

  “A warning?”

  “Yes. Less than an hour after the attack in Toronto Terra Nova not only claimed responsibility but also released the names of every base commander and the director-general as targets for assassinations within the next two weeks… All except one, that is.”

  “Hammond…”

  “Sí, amigo,” sighed Hernandez. “She was not on the list. This is why the information you just gave me could be extremely valuable.”

  “Has this been made public yet? I haven’t heard anything about this yet in the news.”

  “It has not. The message seems to only have been sent to UNIRO. The secretary general of the UN was going to announce the threat later today.”

  “Chief,” said William with a grave look, “how bad is Terra Nova? Really. What kind of threat do they pose? What are their goals?”

  “They are what are known as ‘ecoterrorists’,” explained Hernandez, “terrorists that commit acts of violence in defense of so-called ecological and social justices. Which, truthfully, scares me even more than some senseless zealot fighting for some skewed religious cause like ISIS or Al-Qaeda.”

  “Why is that?” asked William, moving his chair closer to the desk.

  “Because, on a human level day after day, we can’t see ourselves destroying God, but we can see ourselves destroying the planet, giving them and their followers renewable justification every single day. What they destroy causes visible change to the world instantly. They have immediate satisfaction of cause. Blowing up some mosque or random office building just for casualties doesn’t send the world economy spiraling. Blowing up our energy systems does. Just look how much gas jumped after their attack in India. The destruction of the Jamnagar Refinery has resulted in a near global oil panic. Fires are still burning at the refinery. Another such attack could be devastating for the fossil fuel industry, and the world economy.”

  “Whoa,” William breathed. “Explains why they blew up an oil train last night then. I heard the train was carrying tar sands.”

  Hernandez nodded. “Their anger and dissidence stem from years of government and business greed, where the elite in our society have written and pushed their own selfish agendas, ruining the truly needy below them. They believe the world is run for the few, not the many. As such, masses of people are left in darkness, hunger, and environmental poverty. They believe that if they can stop civilizations current leadership, leadership that has neglected climate change, disease, and even basic science for so long, they can create a more perfect society that runs for the many and not the few.”

  “UNIRO is meant to fix all those concerns though. Wouldn’t they like UNIRO, instead of threatening and attacking it?”

  “One would think, but UNIRO was still designed by the old world.”

  “Old world?”

  “The elite, who they believe have brought us to our current predicaments. Under current global leadership, Terra Nova believes UNIRO will never succeed in saving this planet and its people. Under them though, they think it will. As one, they believe UNIRO and Terra Nova can make real change… At least, that’s what the analysts all believe. This is all theory, of course, derived from persistent social media posts, back chatter, and the few Terra Novans taken prisoner.”

  “When did they arise? Because be
fore I left for Canada, I had never heard of them.”

  “Many believe they arose because of the war. It was the final straw. They have been hitting targets all over the world for about the last five years, especially in the Middle East and Canada. Pipelines. Company headquarters. Tankers. Railways. Gas fields. Mines. Some reports claim they originated from somewhere in North America. Some Africa. And others Asia. Regardless of where they originated they now have active cells all over the world. Their rapid expansion into the world has been, disturbing, outpacing all previous terror groups before them. Surveillance indicates a large uptick in their recruitment over the last two years, mostly in people between the ages of twenty and forty, those who feel they are losing their future to the old and out of touch.”

  “I guess I can see where an appeal could come from for a group like them.”

  “Bastardos. They are mysterious as a ghost and as traceable as evaporating fog. No one even knows who their leader is or how they are being financed.”

  “Crap.”

  “As the young man in class pointed out, Terra Nova is increasingly becoming a real pain in UNIRO’s side. A few weeks before you came to the base, Will, a UNIRO vessel, the UNS Kofi Annan, had an attempted hijacking by Terra Novan terrorist in the Caribbean while on sea trials. They failed to take the ship but they had never tried something so bold before with UNIRO.”

  “Have they ever killed UNIRO personnel?” William asked, certain of the answer before he even finished speaking.

  Hernandez tucked his lips in and looked down.

  “Yes,” he admitted. “Eighteen total. Six ISAF guardsmen as well, trying to protect them. It happened during their first attack on UNIRO. They bombed the opening of a water filtration project in Ghana because it was in cooperation with Shell, an oil giant.”

  William clenched his fist. “What’s being done to stop them?”

  “Not much. They fight from no focal point such as ISIS. They appear, attack, then disappear. We are two steps behind all the time. Government agencies have been data mining, combing through surveillance footage. Security checkpoints have been established around all UNIRO projects and facilities, and threat levels have been raised. That’s it.”