“Thank you, sir.”
“Before we discuss the command opportunity … there’s something I’d like to hear your thoughts on.”
She realizes this is an interview. “Yes sir?”
“Wendy, I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened on the station. I’ve been working with Admiral Meadows and now Commander Fuze, as well as military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world.” He pauses. “This is very sensitive, so please don’t repeat this outside this room, but so far our investigations have gone nowhere. Frankly, it scares me and I don’t scare easily. There’s an organization out there that’s not only powerful and deadly but sophisticated and stealthy.” He frowns. “So far, they’ve kept one step ahead of us. If you hadn’t uncovered their plot, we probably would have only found out about it after they used it.”
She nods.
“Bear with me for a second.” He pauses. “What if we were to turn the tables and use their plan against them?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not following you, sir.”
“Wendy, I’ve been in the intelligence community and you’re military. The terrorists created the ability to use the laser as a weapon of unprecedented power and precision. What if, in an emergency, and with authorization of the Secretary-General and U.S. Command Authority, we were to use the laser to target the terrorist organization that tried to kill you and Commander Fuze, and probably assassinated the Director of National Intelligence?”
She frowns. “I guess I’m having trouble understanding why we would ever need to use the ISLO as a weapon.”
Turan nods. “As you know, I’ve combated terrorist groups my entire life. One of my greatest frustrations was time. I can’t tell you how many times we would get intelligence about meetings between the top terrorist leaders — intelligence that sometimes cost operatives their lives — but by the time we organized an air or ground strike, they were long gone. Even when the ISLO is parked at L2, it still only takes six seconds for the laser to hit Earth.”
She nods but continues to frown. “I’m an Air Force officer and I certainly have no moral problem incinerating terrorists. My concern is that we violate the international agreement on the peaceful use of space and risk losing universal public support for the ISLO … and the funding that represents.”
“Well spoken. You’re a pragmatic warrior and perceptive about the public ramifications.” He pauses. “So — hypothetically speaking — if U.S. Command Authority and the Secretary-General of the U.N. directed a very limited surgical strike using the laser on a clearly identified terrorist target, you wouldn’t have an objection on moral grounds and would carry out the order?”
“Personally, I think because of the collateral damage to the program and potentially the U.N., using the ISLO as a weapon would be a very bad idea.” She sighs. “With that said, if I were given a joint U.N. and U.S. Command Authority order to target a clearly identified and limited target, I would carry out that order without hesitation.”
Turan nods. “It would have to be an extremely critical and absolutely compelling reason to use it in that capacity.” He stands up. “I believe you and I have the same mindset.” He shakes her hand and looks at his watch. “I’ll see you at the quarterly program status brief this afternoon … where I will have the opportunity to introduce the new ISLO Commander. Congratulations Colonel Crow.”
Sheri pokes her head into the cockpit as they approach Turkey. “Those reclining chairs are awesome for sleeping and even the shower isn’t bad.”
Tim gets out of the copilot seat and says, “I’ll wrestle us up some food.”
The sun is starting to set as Josh makes his approach.
Sheri, sitting in the copilot seat, says, “Wow. Those are beautiful snowcapped peaks and that lake’s huge.” Pointing ahead, she asks, “Is that the city of Van?””
Josh nods. “It sits on the eastern coast of the lake and is surrounded by some pretty rugged terrain. Population’s about a half million.”
Josh makes an uneventful approach to the single runway. After they land, they eat and Josh takes a quick shower. When he comes out, he sees Tim pulling a large, sleek, hex-copter drone from one of the boxes. Jet-black, it has a camera pod and large IR lights mounted underneath.
Josh whistles. “Nice.”
“This model has excellent low lights and IR capability and is exceptionally quiet.”
Josh nods. “CIA?”
Tim shakes his head. “Amazon.”
“Oh.”
Pointing at the tablet in Sheri’s hands, Tim adds, “This’ll allow Sheri and Jen to be our eyes in the sky and see anyone moving on the ground near us.”
Sheri shakes her head. “I can’t fly one of those.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll program it to hover in a position overhead. I’ll show you how to move the camera and zoom in and out. You and Jen can watch the display.” He pauses. “Jen, you can fly one of these if needed can’t you?”
“I’ll have to learn how first.” In less than a second, she says, “Ok, I know how now.”
Sheri shrugs. “Guess us girls got it covered.”
Tim pulls out a small electronic box with wires sticking out. “Jen, I have a device that can be physically connected to most security systems to monitor and spoof them. Can you access it?”
“Sure. Just connect it to a phone.”
Tim and Josh rent a car at the airport, but the facility is only a few minutes from the airport. They wait until dark, then dressed in black, they park a few blocks from the facility.
Putting on the camera glasses and earpiece, he hears Sheri say, “Ok, the drone’s 200 feet above your position. I can see most of the facility.” She pauses. “There’s someone patrolling the grounds just inside the fence. Looks like … it takes him about 15 minutes to make a round. He just passed your position.”
Tim points. “We’ll cut through the bottom of the fence there.”
Jen adds, “The fence has IR cameras with motion detectors at each corner.”
“Jen, fly the drone down in front of the camera closest to us and use the drone’s IR spotlight to blind it. We just need enough time to connect you to the security system.”
“Will do.”
As they watch the drone drop, Tim nods to Josh. They get out of the car and run toward the fence.
The drone hovers right in front of the camera, its IR light pointing at the lens.
Tim cut the bottom of the fence and they slip through. He finds the camera cable and clamps a metal fitting attached to the spoofing box over it.
Jen says, “I’m in. I’ve got control of the security system and I’m feeding bogus video to the camera above you.”
They look up and see the drone climbing back into the sky.
“If you head straight toward the building, there’s an access door just to the right that I’ve unlocked.”
They run toward it.
“From the internal cameras, it doesn’t look like anyone is near the door but I can’t see everywhere, so be careful.”
Tim, with his Taser drawn, carefully opens the door and peeks inside. He nods to Josh. They slip in and find themselves in a hallway.
Jen says, “If you can find a computer connected to their internal network, I should be able to hack it.”
Tim tries the doors in the hall. They’re all locked. They jog to the end of the hall and look around the corner. There’s another hall with large glass windows looking into a well-lit laboratory. The door has a cipher lock. They move quickly toward the door but before they get there, they see someone inside the lab coming toward the door.
Tim grabs the doorknob of the door across the hall from the lab. It opens and they slip inside. It’s someone’s office. The lights are on but it’s empty.
Josh moves around the desk as Tim cracks the door and peeks out. The computer’s on, but it displays a password screen and there’s a security card scanner attached.
Jen sees what Josh’s seeing and says, “
Plug your phone into one of the computer’s ports, and give me a few seconds to crack the card reader.”
They hear someone outside approaching. Tim closes and locks the door just in time.
The doorknob turns slightly. They hear an irritated voice on the other side. Josh is learning Turkish and easily translates the simple statement to Tim, “Crap, left my keys in the lab.”
Jen says, “I’m in and downloading data. There’s a lot of it so it’ll take a minute.”
Tim unlocks the door and peeks out. “He went back into the lab. Jen, is there anything you can do to delay him inside there?”
“The laboratory door is a cipher lock controlled by the security system. I just locked him in.”
“Perfect.”
She adds, “Almost finished.”
Peeking out with Tim, Josh sees the man now trying to get out of the lab. They don’t need a translation. The man angrily picks up a wall phone and calls someone. They can’t leave until he moves away from the door.
While they’re waiting, Jen says, “I’m going through the data I have so far. In addition to manufacturing the nano-drones, they also make two types of RFID tracking chips. The smaller ones are passive or unpowered. They have a maximum detection range of about 100 meters, but they also make a bigger active chip. It allows subjects to be tracked from aircraft and even specially equipped satellites.”
Josh asks, “How can it be strong enough for a satellite to track it?”
“Because it’s also powered by plutonium.”
“Wow. No wonder Boeing didn’t want to mess with this stuff.”
Tim adds, “They probably reserve the active capsules for their high value targets.”
Jen continues, “It looks like they’re all going to NATO Special Forces units or intelligence agencies like MI6.”
Tim nods. “That’s who should be getting them.” He pauses. “Jen, can you access their security records and see if there were any break-ins? Also, check their production schedules for missing or unaccounted for devices.”
A couple seconds later, “No security breaches and there’s nothing that’s missing or unaccounted for.” There’s a short pause. “But here’s something interesting. After the second year of production, the amount of plutonium consumed almost doubled, but the production of new drones and transmitters stayed the same.”
“What about other raw materials?”
“That doubled too and so did the assembly line time.”
Josh raises his eyebrows. “So, they’re working twice as hard and using twice as much material to deliver the same number of drones.”
Tim asks, “Jen, who’s in charge of inventory?”
“Marek Brazda. He’s also in charge of shipping and happens to be the night manager in charge of production.”
Josh nods. “How convenient. Is there any way you can access his phone and see who he’s been calling?”
“I could if it were turned on, but it’s not.”
Tim says, “I thought you could turn phones on.”
“I could before The Great Tech Out. After that, they modified the BOTIC chip on all new phones, but you can turn his phone on.”
“How?”
“You’re in his office.”
Josh goes back to the desk, opens the top drawer and holds up a phone. Smiling, he turns it on.
Jen adds, “Ok, I’ve downloaded everything.”
Tim, still peeking out the door, says, “He’s finally going back into the lab, let’s go!”
“You can leave his phone behind. As soon as it boots up I’ll be able to access it.”
Josh drops it in the drawer and unplugs the cable from the computer.
Tim opens the door, locks it from the inside, and pulls it shut behind them. They run down the hall. They hear the lab door open behind them as they turn the corner. Bolting out the exit door, they hear, “Wait!” in their headset.
They skid to a stop, almost running into each other, and freeze.
Sheri whispers, “The roving patrol is coming around the building to your right.”
They flatten themselves against the building’s exterior wall and remain motionless.
The guard walks into their view but is thankfully looking outward toward the fence.
As he passes, Jen says, “I put a little bug in their security system that will give you 30 seconds after you disconnect the tap before the camera goes live.”
When the guard is out of sight, they quietly run to the fence and slip through.
Tim bends the bottom of the fence back so a close inspection will be required to see the cut.
As they get back in the car, Tim asks, “Jen, were you able to access the contacts on his phone?”
“Yes Tim. I’m pretty good at that.” She gives him a girl laugh. “It was my first career.”
Josh smiles. “So, what did you find?”
“Most of them are personal phones or every day commercial numbers like dry cleaners. However, there’s a pattern of calls over a couple years to the same number. He used an encrypted app for those calls. He also made all them at night and from this facility.”
As they head back to the airport, Tim asks, “Who was he calling?”
“It wasn’t easy to track because the number was redirected through several switchboards to hide the destination, but the number is in an office in a company called Solak.”
Tim frowns. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
Sheri inserts, “Probably because they make high-end watches. I used to have one.”
Jen says, “Yes, they specialize in expensive hybrid watches that combine digital and mechanical movements. They also make high-fashion fitness trackers and smart watches.”
“Where are they located?”
“Their manufacturing facility is in downtown Van, about 15 minutes from the airport.”
Josh asks, “Jen can you find any information about the facility?”
“Construction records show they made a major modification to it three years ago. It was very expensive and they have a license to handle nuclear isotopes.”
Sheri says, “Bingo.”
After they get back to the jet, they study the building blueprints that Jen found.
Tim whistles. “This place is protected like a bank vault.”
Sheri says, “Their watches aren’t that nice.”
31
COMMAND
Elizabeth watches the U.N. conference room as it fills to capacity. There are at least 200 participants covering the dozens of departments, programs and countries needed to build the largest, most complex object ever assembled in space.
Her seat is near the front of the room. Turning around, she sees the entire back wall filling with cameras and reporters. When Meadows originally opened up the quarterly meetings to the media, he assumed it would be similar to the coverage given to congressional hearings. Instead, there was huge media interest, with parts of the meetings broadcast live on major networks. Not since the first moon missions did a space project capture the public’s imagination. What could be more exciting and romantic than defending the planet from humanity’s most distant outpost? Add the waystation to Mars and the press became so active that Meadows once threatened to throw them out for disrupting a meeting.
Meadows takes the podium. “Welcome to the quarterly ISLO program meeting. To make sure all our interpreters are up and running, please give me a wave if you understand me.” Glancing around, he says, “Very good and much better than the response I use to get from my kids.” He continues, “First, I want to congratulate all of you. We are extremely close to full operational capability. Our primary goal at this meeting is to determine the critical path items between us and boosting the ISLO to its new home.”
As the conference progresses, the critical paths become clear.
Finally, Meadows says, “Ok, we’ve been meeting for two hours, covered all the major systems and identified the elephants in the room. Let’s adjourn for 30 minutes and release everyone exc
ept the reactor cooling and TELEMED programs,” Meadows smiles, “so the rest of you can get back to work.” There are good-natured groans. “Before we wrap up, however, Dr. Turan has an important announcement.”
Turan joins him on stage. “Thank you, Admiral. I’d like to thank Colonel Steven Dale for his incredible work commanding the ISLO through its construction. He’s done an outstanding job and as he prepares to move on to new challenges, I understand he’ll be putting on General stars.” There’s a strong round of applause. “I’d also like to take this opportunity to announce the name of the next ISLO commander, who will be taking the station to operational status and moving her out to her new home — Colonel Wendy Crow.”
Elizabeth raises her eyebrows in surprise. She notices that as Wendy stands up and gives a small wave, she glances at Elizabeth.
As they temporarily adjourn, many come over to congratulate the new Commander, including Elizabeth. The press, however, arrives first and mobs Crow. This is big news and having a Commander that looks like a movie star doesn’t hurt.
After 30 minutes, Meadows chases the press away so they can reconvene.
As the room settles down, the engineer in charge of the reactor speaks first. He explains in detail why the cooling system doesn’t have the capacity needed to fire the laser continuously. The fix is simply installing more cooling panels, which are on the way to the station.
As the new head of the ISLO’s TELEMED program, it’s Elizabeth’s turn. She stands and says, “This is cutting edge technology and although the robotic systems have been used operationally, they’ve all been hardwired with fiber optics. We need a lot of bandwidth for the high-definition 3D control and feedback.” She pauses. “We’re running into interference problems from the station and struggling to maintain enough bandwidth.”
Someone asks, “Is this really a critical path item? Can’t we fix it after we go operational?”
“Yes, it’s technically possible but—”
Impossible (Fuzed Trilogy Book 3) Page 15