The Shadow's Code

by Miles Goodson

  “More guests. US embassy staff by the look of the car.”

  Seth snooped through his binoculars whilst the team stared at laptops. All four men then leaned over the open edge of their small room and looked at the car. Two people got out the back of the vehicle and walked inside. The team had no idea that Kioshi was sitting silently watching them. He was positioned five feet back in a top floor room so as not to be spotted. He watched through the scope on his gun whilst fiddling with the optics. All four men were dressed the same and whilst they leaned over he couldn’t tell them apart. Kioshi would have to be patient to get the shot he needed, he would only get one chance.

  “So first look-out duty is by me until 8pm. Then Anthony you got 8-8.30pm. Lindon you’ve got 8.30pm ‘til 9 and then it’s Liam until 9.30, then back to me. We will all do three shifts by my math.”

  Seth read from his notes on ruffled paper. The team had planned to capture Lindon after his first lookout shift. They would tell him to check out a man who looked suspicious on one of the surveillance monitors, and at the same time they would say the system is being hacked. The last thing Lindon would be expecting is his own team to attack him, or so they thought. Five minutes past nine was the agreed time of action.

  “Already got one threat. Some idiot trying to connect to our WIFI” Lindon announced. Liam and Anthony both laughed for a second.

  “Shut that idiot down,” Seth said. Being on lookout meant you assumed leadership and gave the orders. Seth took the duty very seriously but couldn’t help but smile at the thought of a clueless civilian thinking he’d found a WIFI hotspot.

  “Already did,” Lindon answered with a smile.

  The night started quietly, and so far everything seemed normal. Lindon started to relax, maybe he had thought too much about the job because of the money. This was beginning to feel like any other job.

  “Oh I’ve got one as well,” Anthony announced, then began to mumble. “Looks like Malware. Probably a scam email or something.” He tapped buttons on his laptop and the threat was destroyed.

  “Oh yeah, you’ve probably got a million dollars waiting in a Nigerian bank account. They’ll only need a hundred thousand dollars to get the account unlocked,” Seth joked.

  Everyone laughed and the mood became more relaxed by the minute. They all began to feel like a team again, but this just made Anthony, Seth and Liam feel worse about what they were about to do. Tradesmen didn’t make friends, but Lindon was their teammate and about as close to a friend as any of them could have.

  In Room Foxtrot they had gone ‘dark’. This meant no one spoke unless it was about the mission; everyone was quiet. The only sound came from the computers humming softly and the fans cooling them. The drone began circling the location at 2,000 feet in accordance with Simon’s clearance. The pitch-black night helped conceal it from all eyes. It would descend lower when needed. Air traffic control had frozen a vertical corridor for the drone to operate between zero and five thousand feet on Simon’s request. CCTV cameras gave a broad view of the streets below and one showed the building that Lindon was in. However the men were just grainy black dots moving on the second floor. The body cameras gave the best view. Several shots of Lindon had been caught. Warren confirmed it was Lindon in the pictures.

  Roger stepped out of the room to speak to the president and give him the good news. “Lindon is there! We’re gonna bring him home, sir” he said gleefully. Roger walked back to the silent room a few moments later.

  Cars arrived every couple of minutes. The diplomats filled the small square building. Lindon was wrestling with an amateur hacker who was struggling to beat through the first level of encryption.

  “It’s like they just do it for sport,” Lindon said to the room. Anthony was also dealing with a similar attempt to attack the system. “Well they’ve got to practice somewhere,” he said as he laughed at the clumsy attempt by another inept effort.

  Kioshi sat in silence in a dark office; he toyed with two different plans to eliminate Lindon. He could stay in place but would have to kill all four men to be sure he had killed Lindon or he could get closer, but that would mean sneaking around the open square below that was filled with cars and people to enter another building without being noticed. There were now ten to twenty people outside at any one time and at least six guards walked around the square looking for movement in the side streets. Kioshi’s phone buzzed in his pocket

  “Watch closely between eight thirty and nine,” the informant whispered then hung up.

  Kioshi began to think the informant was one of the men who were with Lindon. He sat deep in thought. If he killed all four men he may well kill the informant, and they may still be of use. Kioshi rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb repeatedly. He was conflicted, if he didn’t make a decision on what to do now he may miss his chance. Kioshi looked down at the open space below him again. The cars that had chauffeured people to the event were now stopping along the side streets and the drivers were staying in them. Some drivers were blocking the streets, as there was nowhere to park. Their bright headlights illuminated many of the side roads. Kioshi had no choice, he would stay where he was and kill all four of the men. He hoped the informant would give him a signal or call again before he began to shoot.

  The air was clear but the smell of the city couldn’t be avoided. The beige air conditioner unit in the small office was a horrid old machine in desperate need of replacement. Lindon had walked one floor up to the roof to get away from the air conditioner for a minute or two but the city’s air pollution made it anything but refreshing. In the few minutes Lindon was on the roof, Anthony and Seth verbally abused Liam.

  “Wake up!” were the short but simple words from Seth. Anthony was not so kind.

  “Will you stop acting like a frozen vegetable! You’re going to fuck things up”.

  As Lindon walked to the door he heard the very end of what Anthony said. He wasn’t sure why Liam would compromise their mission. He had been doing a good job so far although he had acted strangely all night.

  “Everything OK, guys?” he asked as he walked in.

  “Yeah, just the same idiots trying to hack us from their bedrooms. I remember when teenagers would be too busy looking at porn and sports to worry about hacking a mainframe. What happened!” Anthony said shaking his head in disapproval at a younger generation. Seth and Liam smiled.

  “Well, it’s big money now. Hack this mainframe then the CIA or MI5 or even the FSB employ you on over a quarter of a million a year. I wish I’d known that when I was fooling around in my bedroom,” Lindon said as he walked over to his laptop.

  “OK Lindon, you’re up,” Anthony said, looking at his watch. “Let me just lock this guy out, he’s still trying to break first level encryption. I’ve let him play around. Time to shut him down.” he hit a few keys and the threat was terminated.

  “You see much on watch?” Lindon asked as he got up from an uncomfortable chair.

  “Nothing. They’ve all gone inside now. Couple of security guys hanging around and a few drivers stood on the east side of the building having a cigarette together. The rest of the drivers are sat in their cars. Nothing much else going on,” Anthony replied and sat on the flimsy office chair. The mission was beginning to feel like nothing more than a regular security detail but Anthony, Seth and Liam knew it was going to change very soon.

  “Hey, I think there’s something flying around out there,” Lindon said, staring upwards and suddenly alert. Anthony hadn’t looked up once during his shift. The drone had descended low to get a better view and the pilot, based in Michigan Air Force base over 3,000 miles away, thought that darkness would conceal him. He was wrong.

  “Pull that fucking drone out of there!” Roger commanded back in Room Foxtrot the second he heard Lindon mention it over the speakers. Bill grabbed his headset and barked orders at the commanders of the Air Base.

  “Let me see. Where?” Anthony looked through his binoculars. Trying not to see the drone he knew w
as there. “I can’t see anything. You still got eyes on it?” Anthony asked Lindon.

  “No, it’s gone, but it was there. Looked quite big as well,” he answered.

  “Sure it wasn’t a plane or a helicopter?” Anthony asked, trying to look skeptical.

  “No, I don’t think so. If I see it again I’ll let you know,” Lindon said as he looked back towards the square building they were supposed to be keeping eyes on.

  “I’m gonna go get some air. Call me if you see it again. I’ll just be a few steps from the door.”

  Anthony desperately wanted to shout down his microphone but even outside the room he knew he couldn’t. Instead he whispered, “Close call, you guys seem like real amateurs.” Anthony didn’t know he was speaking to a Two Star General, a senior member of the CIA and a highly ranked systems analyst.

  Kioshi watched every movement in front of him. The figure he believed was Lindon was in his scope. Kioshi scanned the room; two other men were sitting in clear vision but were too far away from Lindon to be able to kill before they moved. One man stood just beyond Kioshi’s field of vision. He made his last preparations, slight adjustments for the wind. Kioshi took shallow breaths and stared down the barrel of his gun. His patience was being tested, but he knew all he could do was wait for the perfect shot as he lay motionless. The moment all four men grouped close to one another he would kill them all.

  Chapter 27

  Warren sat at his desk like the captain at the helm of a ship. He may have only been there because of his connection to Lindon, but his computing skills were second to none. He scanned cameras and scrolled screens to get the best view of his target. He synced up systems so cameras would follow on from one another. At the same time Warren was creating Malware to pretend to hack the systems that Lindon was guarding to keep the team busy. Warren became more comfortable and confident as time passed. He even asked Bill to get him coffee; something he wouldn’t dream of doing back at base. The drone retuned to base unable to get close enough without being seen.

  “James, can I speak with you outside?” Bill whispered. James looked back blankly and nodded. The two men walked to the corridor, one behind the other.

  “The military commander in charge of the drone pilot has messaged me. They spotted a heat signal in an opposite building just before they turned back to base. Do you think it could be Kioshi?” Bill’s voice was used to shouting, not whispering. James could see he struggled.

  “Could just be cleaners or a late office worker?” James replied.

  Bill stared at the concrete floor as he thought. “Possibly… but the message he sent says there were no lights on.”

  James was now staring at the concrete floor as well, searching his mind for an answer. “How would he even know Lindon is there? Maybe this is a threat to the security meeting rather than a threat to Lindon? Hold on, let me call Langley, see if there’s any known threats,” James said, whipping out his phone.

  Roger was annoyed that Bill and James were talking without him. He looked at the door repeatedly. Warren was oblivious, lost in concentration trying to keep all the cameras pointing in the right areas. Warren was like a hawk hunting its prey.

  “OK, so there are three current threats that are known to the CIA.” James held up three fingers as he spoke, Bill stretching his frame to stand nearly as tall as James.

  “OK, so what next?” he asked.

  “The threats are terror cells. A lone wolf attack is unlikely but possible for this sort of event,” James admitted.

  “So this could be him. Kioshi!” Bill put his hands on his hips.

  “Let’s not make assumptions. Can you get the drone back in the air? Try and take a better look at that building, but keep a good distance.” Bill nodded and immediately turned to his phone. James walked back into Room Foxtrot to Roger, glaring at him.

  Lindon gazed at the night sky as the wind whistled past him. Ten minutes had passed and his watch duty was beginning to feel boring. Noticing a flash in the sky had been the highlight. He stared up at the dark sky. Cloud cover turned it into a vast blackness, not a star in sight. Lindon rubbed his hands against his arms. Everything seemed normal but Lindon felt that something was wrong. His spine tingled as if he were in a jungle and could step on a snake any minute. Lindon’s attention turned to the ground below. The drivers were still on the corner chatting about sports and TV shows. Their voices echoed and cigarette smoke billowed; nothing new.

  The team sat behind Lindon and continued to defend against cyber attackers. Anthony wondered if they were real hackers or just computer algorithms set up to make their job look genuine. Most hacks were so weak that a couple of fifteen year olds could swat them away.

  “I’m gonna take a leak. Be back in a minute,” Liam said as he got up and headed for the door. The room remained silent.

  Kioshi waited patiently to get the perfect shot. His sniper rifle was the same one as that used by the Japanese infantry. Ironically it was manufactured in the USA. The M24 sniper rifle was one of Kioshi’s favorite weapons despite who made it. The suppressor fitted to the end of the barrel was thick and protruded out menacingly. Kioshi saw the fourth man walk back into the room and stand near the other men. All four of them were now close together and in vision. He took a deep breath, held as much air in his lungs as he could and fired several rounds as he exhaled.

  As Kioshi stared through his scope everything became a blur. He tilted his head to the side. The bullets had not made it out of the office he was sat in. They had been stopped by inch thick glass. Kioshi had made an error. He wrongly assumed the glass in the office would not be thick enough to stop his bullets’ path but the building had been a bank years ago and had been fitted with bulletproof glass at huge expense. Kioshi immediately rushed to the roof to take another shot. Time was now against him. His heart raced as he realized that Lindon may well have heard or even seen the glass shatter and crack.

  Lindon had heard several dull bangs. He scanned every inch in front of him as he shouted, “Hey guys, you hear that, some bangs!”

  Lindon pointed towards the buildings adjacent to the square building where the meeting was being held. The three men stood looking forwards.

  “Crap! Is that shattered glass?” one of them called out. Lindon looked through his binoculars. Anthony and Seth both stared forwards. This wasn’t part of the plan, they were sure.

  “Yeah, that’s shattered. Looks like a small central fracture that spread force across the glass,” Anthony said. He was beginning to worry. He knew that the pattern of cracking on the glass meant only one thing. Seth leaned forward.

  “That looks like gunfire to me, guys.” Everyone nodded.

  “I think you’re right,” Lindon said with his hands hovering by his side.

  “OK, let’s get some guns up here and radio the security on the ground.” Anthony and Seth looked at each other. They thought about taking Lindon down right this second but without knowing what was going on in the other building they were stuck.

  “C’mon guys, what are you waiting for?” Lindon said as he retrieved a rifle.

  Warren, Roger, James and Bill could hear every word. “The drone’s back up. We can get eyes on that building,” Bill said frantically. James couldn’t speak. He felt as though he had just been kicked in the stomach. Roger’s face was entirely red as his blood pressure rocketed.

  Lindon radioed the ground security. “This is overwatch, 10-14. I say again 10-14. We have suspicious activity in the building at your nine o’clock. Suspicion of gunfire!”

  On the ground security staff in high visibility jackets could be seen like luminous ants rushing around. Several went inside to secure the diplomats and several others went over to the building. The drone picked up a moving heat signature on the roof whilst staying west of the building so as not to be seen by Lindon.

  “Liam, get your gun, we have a suspected gunmen in another building,” Lindon barked. The four men all stood staring forward. “Two of us need to go to the roof to g
et a better shot,” Lindon growled. No one answered. They were frozen and unsure what to do. This wasn’t the plan. “C’mon. Let’s go!” Lindon headed for the door, Anthony followed. “You two keep eyes down here and make contact with…” he nodded towards the screen instead of finishing his sentence.

  Lindon and Anthony went to the roof and immediately noticed a figure on the roof of the building with the broken glass.

  “ON THE ROOF!” Lindon shouted at Anthony as he lined up to take a shot. The drone hovered above, relaying the images of gunfire as blasts of color. Warren’s hands were frozen, his fingers turned pale. Roger, James and Bill watched with their jaws hanging down. Their perfect plan was becoming a catastrophe.

  Several bullets fired towards the office Lindon had just been in. Seth and Liam fired back. Their un-silenced weapons made loud bangs across the square. Panic ensued on the ground. Drivers ran to their cars and the diplomatic building went into lock down. The gunfire got heavier with each passing second. Lindon fired several rounds which took Kioshi by surprise. He wasn’t expecting there to be anyone on the roof. Where was Lindon? he thought whilst continuing to fire towards the office. Kioshi pulled a handgun out and fired towards the roof. Lindon and Anthony both ducked down. Liam emptied his magazine before sliding to the ground to re-load.