“I’m ready to go back now. I’ll meet you there.”
Kim was enjoying the sauna when the admiral joined him.
“I rented a fast boat from a fisherman I know. He’s being paid well, but we might have to subdue him to secure our escape, Kim.”
“How do you plan to do that, Admiral?”
“I obtained an intravenous general anesthetic from my doctor. It should last up to four hours, which will give us enough time. We’re meeting with the fisherman tomorrow evening. He’ll provide directions to a fishing spot less than two miles from the rendezvous point.”
“Good, I’ll bring the night-vision binoculars to detect possible threats.”
That evening they were all finishing dinner at a local restaurant.
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Kim announced to his mother and sister. “Be ready by five in the afternoon, and wear your dark clothes.”
“Let’s all go to the hotel bar,” the admiral said. “We should have a final celebration.”
The admiral ordered soju, a sweet, clear liquor, for everyone, and offered a toast. “To family and freedom.”
“This is really good, Kim. Can I have another?”
“No, Hana. Soju is very potent. I need everyone to be at their best tomorrow.”
The next morning, Kim and his uncle drove to the fleet headquarters and were taken to the office of the fleet commander. Kim saluted the fleet commander, who said, “I finally get to meet you, Commander. Your uncle has told me great things about you. I hope you can help us with any security problems we might have. My adjutant is waiting for you in his office down the hall. He will give you a tour of our data-processing facilities.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Kim said as he saluted.
Kim walked down the hall to the adjutant’s office, who stood and saluted when Kim walked in.
“At ease. Lieutenant, I need you to take me to your data-processing facilities.”
“Yes, sir, they’re in the basement. I’ll show you.”
Kim could see that the facility was much larger than the one in Nampo.
“Can you show me where this facility interfaces with the ships?”
“Yes, sir, it’s in this next room where the application servers, network routers, and switches are located.”
The adjutant explained where everything was and what it did.
“How is mission data transported to the ships and submarines, Lieutenant?”
“The data is loaded from the servers in these two racks. The servers in this first rack are for the ships, and the rack behind it is for the submarines. Each server cabinet within a rack is marked by ship or submarine type. The servers in each cabinet are designated by function, such as navigation, communications, command and control, fire control, and sonar.”
“I’m going to be doing an inspection of the security status of this facility at the fleet commander’s request, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir, I was briefed.”
“I’ll provide you a copy of my report after I’m done, and we can review it before I provide it to the fleet commander. Your presence isn’t needed. My inspection needs to be totally objective.”
“Yes, sir. You know where my office is, and the cafeteria is right down the hall. The food is okay, and they have great tea. I recommend the red ginseng.”
“Thanks, Lieutenant. I’ll meet you later.”
The adjutant saluted and left, and Kim went immediately to the submarine rack and found the servers for the Kilo submarines. Kim inserted the flash drive with the malware into each server’s USB ports. After he was done, he removed the drive and put it in his pocket.
As Kim walked through the facility, he saw several security issues that needed to be addressed. The most obvious was his easy access to the USB ports. He found pieces of paper taped to some of the systems with PINs and passwords, probably left by administrators or maintenance personnel. Kim also observed personnel coming and leaving the processing facilities without signing the log book.
Worst of all was a network access port in a public area. Kim connected his laptop to the port and found that it was active. The security at this facility was poor compared to the one at Nampo. Kim hoped their coastal security was equally as poor.
When Kim described what he’d seen, the adjutant became visibly upset.
“Please, Commander, don’t put that in your report.”
Kim had an idea.
“Don’t worry, Lieutenant. We can discuss this after I get back from lunch.”
Kim told the admiral about his plan and borrowed his car to drive back to the hotel. He found the bottle of the SP-117 and put it in his pocket. He drove back to fleet headquarters and purchased two cups of the red ginseng tea at the cafeteria. It was after lunch and the cafeteria was almost empty, so he found a quiet spot and dosed one of the cups with the SP-117 before taking it to the adjutant’s office.
“Lieutenant, I brought you some tea to calm your nerves before we discuss what I found. Relax for a few minutes before we begin.”
The lieutenant thanked him and began sipping his tea as Kim described the problems he found.
“My staff is very young and incompetent, Commander. The best technicians are grabbed by state security and we get what’s left.”
Kim knew that was probably true. After a few minutes of tea and sympathy, Kim could see that the lieutenant was ready for some questions.
“Do you have any knowledge of the Eastern Fleet coastal defenses, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir, it’s all defined in the Coastal Security Plan for Wonsan.”
“Do you have a copy here?”
“Yes, it’s in my safe.”
“Please show me.”
The lieutenant opened his safe and provided Kim with the latest copy of the plan. Kim looked through it and made detailed notes on the placement of the patrols, the patrol craft being used, and the scheduled routes and times. He realized almost immediately that the mini-sub rendezvous point was directly on the patrol line of one of the patrol craft. Kim also asked questions about the armament on all the patrol craft and their sonar and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
The lieutenant finally dozed off, and Kim looked through his office for additional information. He found a memo about how recent exercises had found holes in the security plan that were in the process of being corrected. The lieutenant showed signs of waking, so Kim quickly shoved the memo in his pocket, returned the security plan to the safe, and locked it.
When the lieutenant awoke, Kim reprimanded him for dozing off.
“I’m sorry, Commander. We’ve been working long hours preparing our Kilos for an important mission.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a break this time, but you need to correct all the deficiencies in the manner we just discussed.”
The lieutenant looked confused, “Could you send me a summary of what we discussed, Commander?”
“Sure, Lieutenant. I’ve got to go.”
Kim quickly walked out of the headquarters building to the admiral’s car. He got in the passenger seat, and made a satellite phone call to Rick.
“Rick, I just saw a copy of Wonsan’s Coastal Security Plan. You need to move the rendezvous point farther in. The eight-mile point from the coast is right on one of the patrol lines. I suggest a new rendezvous point six miles from the coast, between the four-mile and eight-mile lines.”
“That’s good info, Kim. Anything else?”
“Yes, the patrol boats at the twelve-mile point have sonar and might be able to detect the mini-sub.”
“I don’t think that’s a problem. The mini-sub is electric and is very quiet. I doubt they’d hear it, but I’ll inform the navy. I’m more worried about the increased distance that the mini-sub will need to travel based on your new information. The extra distance leaves no margin for error.”
“I know. I’m texting you the times that the patrol boats at the fourmile, eight-mile, and twelve-mile lines will be closest to our route.”
“T
hanks, I’ll inform the navy. By the way, James arrived in Japan yesterday morning. Hopefully, you’ll see him soon.”
Kim returned to the fleet headquarters building just as the admiral completed his meeting with the Eastern Fleet Commander.
“Did everything go well, Admiral?” Kim asked, as they walked to the car.
“Nothing has changed in the plan, but I was briefed on the capabilities of the new Kilos. I’m not certain the Americans will be able to track them. The fleet commander seemed certain they couldn’t, and he explained why. We need to inform the Americans.”
Kim got another call on the satellite phone from Rick.
“I passed that information you gave me to the navy, Kim. You’ll be getting a call in the next twenty minutes from Lieutenant Aiden, the operations officer for the SEAL team. He wants to make sure everything is correct.”
“Thanks, Rick.”
When they got to the hotel, Kim immediately went to his room and waited for the call. His phone rang, and the voice at the other end said, “Is this Kim?”
“Hello, Lieutenant Aiden, what can I help you with?”
“We’ve moved the new rendezvous point two miles closer to the coast. I’ll text you the new coordinates. I’ve also moved the rendezvous time back thirty minutes so that you’ll have sufficient time to stop in each patrol zone to reconnoiter before moving on. It’s my understanding that the patrol boats farthest out have sonar, but it probably has very limited range. I suggest you take a slightly lateral heading to the northeast. When you’re four miles from the shore, take a direct course toward the new coordinates. Is that clear?”
“Yes. Is the mini-sub quiet enough to avoid the sonar?”
“We aren’t certain, we don’t have a lot of experience with the minisub. If they do detect it, we have some noisemakers to distract them and take them away from its location. The team is already traveling and should be there in about eight hours. Good luck.”
Kim saw the text with the new coordinates from Aiden, and looked at his watch. If everything went well, Kim and his family would be free in eight hours.
28
Rick had just completed his last satellite call from Kim when Director Brockner phoned.
“George is missing, Rick. He isn’t at his house, and we have no idea where he is. Can you find out if James heard from him?”
“I doubt he could have, Director. James has been out of the country since yesterday.”
“He was one of the last people to talk to George. Do you know what they talked about?”
“George talked about his involvement in the cybersecurity attack. How did he get away and disable the tracking bracelet?”
“He didn’t disable the bracelet. Instead, he found a way to remove it sometime last night and sneak out of the house. We’re still investigating how he got out without being seen.”
“George is resourceful, but he doesn’t have the skills to remove the bracelet, Director.”
“I’ve been told it’s not that difficult. All you need to do is insert a metal rod between the bracelet and your leg and twist until the rivets pop. It would be hard for him, but a bodyguard could’ve done it. The bigger issue is how he got out of the house and past the guards, and who helped him. Someone must have; all his vehicles are at the house.”
“I know we monitor his phones. Has he had any unusual communications?”
“None, but we don’t monitor his corporate email. That was in his agreement with the government. His lawyer claimed it could provide proprietary information that the government shouldn’t have access to, and we agreed.”
“James left his laptop with me and showed me how to monitor George’s corporate account. I’ll check it if you want, Director.”
“Yes, please do, and let me know if you find anything.”
Rick reviewed George’s recent email and found one from two days ago. The subject line was “Tragedy,” and it was from Chris Hoffman’s account. The email stated that Chris Hoffman was in the sender’s custody.
The email also had a link to a news article and warned that the same fate described in the article would befall Chris if George didn’t follow their instructions. Rick accessed the link and found an article from an English-language Munich newspaper about Klaus Schmidt, whose nude body was found floating in Lake Starnberg. The article said that the deceased had been brutally murdered, and that the police were looking for his roommate, Christopher Hoffman.
Rick found George’s reply email, in which he agreed to follow any instructions. There were no other related emails, so Rick had no way to determine how George received his instructions. He forwarded the emails to the director, who called back an hour later.
“I think we found out how George got his instructions, Rick. He received a letter yesterday that looked like it came from George’s attorney. It was given directly to George without being opened, since it was considered to be privileged communications. Our agents found the envelope in George’s bedroom, but no letter. We determined that law firm letterhead on the envelope was forged. It’s pretty obvious that the missing letter was the instructions.”
“So where do we go from here? Are there any other leads?”
“We’re checking to see if Chris Hoffman re-entered the United States. That’s all we have right now.”
Later that morning the director called Rick again.
“Now Dimitri is missing, Rick. Have you heard from him?”
“No, I haven’t. Do we have any new information on Chris?”
“Yes, we got a facial recognition hit for Chris at Newark Airport. It looks like he arrived from Munich about six thirty yesterday evening. He was traveling under his passport.”
“Was he with anyone?”
“We can’t tell. The camera footage from the airport shows him walking with a limp in a small crowd of about four men and two women. There are also some bruises on his face.”
“We should run facial recognition on the crowd.”
“We’re doing that now, Rick. There’s no record of Chris renting a car at Newark or any footage of him being picked up. It looks like he could’ve gotten into a car in the parking garage out of camera view.”
“Do you think George is also in that area?”
“We don’t know, but we’ve issued BOLOs for both of them. I need you, Rick. Are you done playing with the navy?”
“Yes, Director. I’ll put my FBI hat back on.”
Dimitri knew this would happen. A man like George Solomon isn’t someone you can ever have total control over. He has too many resources to find a way out of his house, if he wanted to. And apparently he did.
Per Director Brockner’s orders, Dimitri monitored George like he was a cheating spouse. It was Dimitri’s responsibility to deliver all letters to George from his attorney unopened. They were privileged communications not to be seen by anyone other than George. In performing this duty, Dimitri became very familiar with the law firm’s letterhead and recognized the forgery on the envelope. He had also delivered the latest letter to George, but not before opening it first.
The escape plan described in the letter was simple. George was to wait until his normal bedtime, and have one of his bodyguards pry off the bracelet. Everyone’s guard would be down, but not Dimitri’s. He’d found the dumbwaiter in the basement when he’d inspected the house after George’s arrest. He knew it was intended for deliveries of alcohol to George’s bedroom, but it was big enough for a person. Even one as big as George.
It was a simple task to stake out the pickup point on the main road near the house, as identified in the instructions. Dimitri waited in his car and watched as George made his way from the basement to the pickup point. A black stretch limousine soon arrived to pick George up. Dimitri had to admit, George definitely had style.
Dimitri followed George all the way to New York City. When the limousine stopped for a restroom break, Dimitri placed a GPS tracker on it, allowing him to track the car during daylight without getting too close. He followed
George all the way to the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
Although Dimitri knew the FBI would go crazy when they found out both he and George were gone, he wanted to determine what George was up to before turning him in. Once he told the FBI, they’d have agents all over the hotel. He knew from recent experience that this approach didn’t always work.
Whatever was going to happen wasn’t going to take place that day, since the limousine remained parked in the garage. Dimitri checked into the hotel and bribed the clerk to find out George’s room number. He checked the tracker app on his phone to see if the limousine moved and then called Rick.
“Dimitri, where the hell are you? Director Brockner is livid that both you and George have disappeared. Is he with you?”
“You might say that. We’re staying at the same hotel in Manhattan. However, we came separately. George in a limousine, and me following all the way up here. Where are you?”
“I’m in my office booking a flight to New York as we speak. Do me a favor and reserve me a room at whatever hotel you’re at.”
“Sure, but this isn’t any hotel. I’m staying at the Plaza in Manhattan. It’s very expensive.”
“The director will approve it. I’ll be there in about four hours.”
“No problem, but I don’t think we need an army of agents. Could you please limit the troops so we don’t spook the locals and draw attention to ourselves?”
“Okay, but we’ll need some technical support from the local FBI office.”
Rick arrived at the Plaza Hotel and took a room two floors below Dimitri’s. He immediately called the FBI office in Manhattan, identified himself, and asked for the agent in charge.
“This is Agent Casella, what can I help you with, Agent Tanner?”
“I need help from your office on a BOLO issued on George Solomon. We’ll need at least two agents and electronic surveillance support. I need them to meet me at the Plaza Hotel in three hours. The director has made this case her highest priority, Agent Casella.”
“Okay, I’ll be there with Agent Miller.”
Rick called Dimitri.
“I need your assistance. Meet me in my room. We’re about to take George into custody.”
Cyber Countdown Page 38