The African Diamond Trilogy Box Set

by Christopher Lowery

  ‘Then you think they’ll send the trigger to override ACRE to decrypt all those networks?’

  ‘I don’t think that’s the plan, Julia. ACRE’s not just an encryption algorithm, it also creates a single line of communication from Lee-Win to every device that has their processors. It has to, to maintain encryption in the data flow across all the pieces of equipment.’

  She showed the flow of communication on her diagram. ‘What Leo designed here is brilliant, it’s a totally ubiquitous way to remotely reach all kinds of systems and turn them into mesh networks, intercommunicating with ACRE via their connectivity modules.’

  ‘You can replace “brilliant” with “terrifying”. I’ve designed the most dangerous Internet threat in the world, now we’ve got to un-design it.’

  Abby showed the continuation of the path. ‘I’m sure they’ll use ACRE to reach the cell we’ve been looking at and trigger it. But they’re not going to override the encryption, that would be self-defeating, it would destroy their line of communication.’

  Coetzee looked admiringly at his daughter. ‘What do you think they’ll do?’

  ‘Just what we did. Close the network down, and keep it closed down with the constant trigger commands.’

  ‘I don’t follow.’ Rod looked perplexed. ‘What would be the point of that?’

  ‘Because, the only purpose of hacking at this level, which is probably on the greatest scale we’ve ever witnessed, must be to use it for blackmail.’

  ‘You mean, “Pay and we switch off the trigger, don’t pay and we leave it on”. Simple, but effective.’

  ‘Maybe it’s not paying, Rod. With those stakes, it could be political, or some kind of power grab, who knows.’

  Coetzee said, ‘I assume there’s nothing we can do to change that cell? To somehow prevent it from receiving those instructions?’

  ‘It’s a physical cell, Dad. It acts the way it was built to act. Unless you can actually remove it from the card, it will always do what it’s doing.’

  Leo nodded his agreement. ‘Our only chance is to work out how to override that command it triggers.’

  Abby said, ‘Rod, if we run it again and again for you, can you find where that shutdown function is? Where the handover from the cell goes to?’

  ‘I can sure try, but I don’t know how long it’ll take. If Julia can give me a hand, we’ll need to get back in the lab and set things up. Let’s go, Jules.’

  FORTY-SIX

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Wednesday, 14 July 2017

  Shen Fu Liáng was in his locked office, speaking in Russian on his encrypted mobile. ‘If I get the upgrades deployed by Friday, how long do you need to upload the trigger?’

  He listened for a moment. ‘Sunday, that’s his decision? OK, I’ll be there on Friday evening. I’ll text the flight details once I book the ticket. Send my driver to pick me up, I’ll be shot, two long flights.’

  He finished the call and pressed Elodie’s number. ‘I’ve spoken to Shanghai, but they don’t seem to be in a hurry. I’m going to fly up there to kick their asses, I’m sure I can get them to launch by Friday. I’ll tell Tom I have a Lee-Win board meeting and I can follow up on the deployment of the upgrades while I’m there. He’ll be fine with it.’

  She supressed an ‘I told you so’ remark. ‘That’s a marvellous idea. When will you go?’

  ‘There’s a flight at two-fifty tomorrow morning. It’s a nine-hour flight, so I’ll go first class and get some sleep. With the time difference, I’ll be there by the afternoon to get things moving. I should be back in a couple of days, then we’re off to Dublin. OK with you?’

  ‘I’ll miss you, that’s all,’ she lied. A couple of days without him would feel like a break from prison. The thought reminded her of Leo Stewart, and she wondered what had happened to him, where he was.

  ‘I’ll be home about seven. See you then.’

  Shen went up to Tom’s office and explained his plan. The CEO was all in favour of the trip, ‘Good idea, remind them who’s responsible for the on-time delivery. Nora can make your reservation, give you time to sort things out. I’ve got a few papers you can take up with you, save me the trouble of scanning them.’

  After giving Nora instructions for the Emirates flight to Shanghai, Shen returned to his office and closed the door. He wrote a two-line message, encrypted it and sent it to an email address in China. Then he went online and booked first class on a China East flight from Shanghai to Moscow, leaving on Friday at one p.m., paying from his personal account. It was a ten-hour flight; with the time difference, he would be there by early evening. He texted the details in Russian to the number he’d called earlier.

  Shen checked his watch. It was five-thirty. He went along to chat with Sharif before leaving, just to make sure he could still be relied on.

  London, England

  ‘Well, Ilona my dear, the whole world now knows that the mighty Russian Federation is rattling its sabres. Our leaders are becoming quite concerned at the president’s intentions. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’ll actually do anything about it.’ Dr Hugh Middleton was reading the Daily Telegraph reports of Russian troop and naval movements in Eastern Europe.

  ‘You mean until it’s too late, just like in my country.’

  ‘Precisely. America is carrying out what they always refer to as “military exercises” in several NATO countries, but we are aware of their president’s ambivalent attitude to that organisation, largely funded, as he points out, by the US. He may send out inflammatory tweets and make threatening speeches, but it remains to be seen what action he would actually take, or, more pertinently, be allowed to take. They’ve also announced a meeting of NATO members in Brussels this weekend, but I anticipate an abundance of rhetoric and an absence of decisions.’

  ‘With twenty-eight member states, all with their own vested interests, it’s not surprising. They’re usually too late, too selfish or too disinterested to take a stand on any matter which might cause dissent.’

  ‘Indeed. And even though Billy’s suggestion of convening the UNSC seems to be gaining traction, I’m afraid indecision and vacillation have become the order of the day when faced with resolution and boldness. It has been ever thus since Reagan and Thatcher were no longer the leaders of our western world, alas.’

  ‘And the Lee-Win global deployment is imminent. Do you really think there could be a connection between them?’

  ‘I’m inclined to believe so, except for one peculiar fact. Lee-Win is a Chinese company, and this military threat is a typically Russian strategy. The 2011 Sino-Russian trade agreements were trumpeted as being the start of a long-lasting love story, but it’s a very one-sided affair and I find it difficult to imagine our Chinese friends sticking out their necks to support Moscow in such a potentially damaging scenario. I don’t suppose you’ve received any clarification of the ownership from your South African friend?’

  ‘If you mean Marius Coetzee, he told me he expected news by tomorrow. Do you think that’s the key?’

  ‘Based on my interpretation of Mr Shen Fu Liáng’s actions over the last several years, I’m quite certain the explanation lies in that single fact. I hope Mr Coetzee’s expectations are fulfilled, or we may be facing a rather nasty global crisis which none of us will enjoy.

  ‘By the way,’ he went on, ‘in that same vein, there’s an interesting piece in the business news about cyber-warfare. Apparently, Lloyds of London, the insurance group, has calculated that a global cyber-attack, like the Lee-Win event we are anticipating, would cost the world governments over £50 billion. I’m not sure on what data they can possibly base such a calculation, but it will certainly be a world-shattering event if it is not nipped in the bud.’

  ‘And that’s just the financial cost, apart from the political and human disasters that would ensue.’

  ‘Quite right, my dear. It also happens to be approximately the amount that our UK government threatens to spend to leave our European partners in
first-class comfort.’ He snorted in anger and turned the page of the newspaper, ‘And I’m sure you’re aware that two Republican Congressmen, Brad Sherman and Al Green (they sound like two jazz musicians), are trying to impeach President Trump for obstructing the investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election. The Democrats want to begin the hearings immediately, but the Republicans favour investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Billy Chillicott must be thrilled by these diversions. As the Chinese say, “May you live in interesting times”.’

  Ilona shook her head as she walked out of his office. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that mind of his.

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  ‘He’s going to Shanghai tonight to kick them up the backsides and get the upload deployed asap.’ Elodie Delacroix was speaking on her second mobile phone.

  She listened to the other person. ‘Maybe tomorrow, definitely by Friday. I’ll call you as soon as I get confirmation. Take care, talk soon.’

  Delmas, Mpumalanga, South Africa

  ‘Sharif just told me Shen’s going to Shanghai tonight to follow up the deployment. He wants it done tomorrow.’

  ‘Crap! Time’s starting to get tight.’ It was seven in the evening in Dubai, five in Delmas, and Leo and Coetzee were on the phone with Ed Muir.

  ‘Did you test the network in the lab with that code I sent you?’

  ‘Too bloody right. I’ve never seen anything like it. It would knock over every installation with Lee-Win kit inside. Cause bloody worldwide havoc. Have you made any progress on finding the default command?’

  ‘A couple of the team are setting up a diagnostic programme to find it, but no luck so far. Abby thinks you’re probably right, they’ll send out the trigger after the clean uploads, so we might have more time than we thought. Did you get anything out of Sharif on the hub ID?’

  ‘He’s not very talkative. Shen must have promised him money and glory and he’s fallen for it. He won’t listen when I tell him why you were kicked into touch, says he lost confidence in you when you didn’t come back to XPC. I asked him about the code, where he got it from, but he clammed up. I’ll try again in the morning, but it’s a long shot unless I can find a way to convince him of what’s really going on. I’m still not sure about Daniel, he’s a complicated guy to read. I’ll get to him after Shen’s gone, just to be sure.’

  Coetzee interrupted the conversation. ‘Ed, I’ve got the video of Angela confessing the full story about Shen and Elodie. The long one I showed you that night. If Shen’s gone, you can show it to Tom Connor and Sharif tomorrow. That’ll put the cat amongst the pigeons.’

  ‘OK, great. But you’re sure I should talk to Tom as well?’

  ‘Certain. I didn’t suggest it earlier because no one would have believed it, Shen had everyone under his thumb. Now he’s gone, we can tell them both the truth. Don’t forget, Tom knows you’ve been contacted by Chillicott, he must have suspected something but he didn’t want to admit there’s anything wrong. When he finds out his company’s involved in a major global threat, he’ll be shitting bullets, so will Sharif. If either of them knows the hub address they’re bound to help us.’

  ‘OK. Send the video to my personal email account. I’ll tackle them with it first thing in the morning. See what we can get out of them. And I won’t involve Daniel until we can work out whose side he’s on, OK? Good luck with the diagnostics.’

  Marbella, Spain

  The temperature was now unbearably hot, and Jenny didn’t feel up to going anywhere, or even leaving the cool, air-conditioned house to sit outside. Encarni had gone for the day and though she didn’t have much of an appetite, she prepared a salad then sat in the kitchen to watch the two o’clock news on SKY.

  The theme music came on with the headline:

  NATO CONVENES OVER RUSSIAN TROOP AND FLEET MOVEMENTS.

  The reporter announced that an emergency meeting of NATO members had been convened for Saturday and Sunday in Brussels to discuss unusually high military activity around the Soviet borders. Live footage was shown of soldiers, ships and aircraft on the move, then a map with animated images showed how Russia’s Eastern European neighbours were being surrounded by the relocated military presence.

  A new headline came up:

  US PUTS ON A SHOW OF STRENGTH.

  Similar footage appeared of US aircraft, battleships and troops carrying out exercises in several NATO countries, the North Atlantic and North Sea. A photograph came up of Donald Trump with Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, taken during his visit to that country earlier in the month, followed by a clip of a Polish military parade with tanks, missiles and soldiers marching in front of a US general. The voiceover announced, ‘SKY News has received unconfirmed reports that up to 50,000 troops, equipment, aircraft and other military support are on their way from the US to NATO countries with vulnerable borders adjacent to Russia.’

  The camera panned back to the reporter, who said, ‘After previous forays into Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine, is Russia revealing new territorial ambitions? Or is this just the president flexing his muscles to remind us of his power. Can the US rely on its NATO partners to stand up against any further incursions into their regions? Whatever the reasons for Russia’s power display, it’s an impressive demonstration, and a terrifying one,’ he finished dramatically.

  Jenny poured herself a glass of water, remembering what Leo and Coetzee had told her about a possible XPC connection with GRU. Thank God Patrice is in Hong Kong and Leo’s in Joburg. They’re both a long way from Russia, she reassured herself.

  Delmas, Mpumalanga, South Africa

  ‘It’s impossible to see at the level of a single cell, so we’ve set up a test to measure the electric charge that’s storing up in the processor when the cell gets hit by the trigger code. At a certain level it will trip the command to change the status. When that happens, I’ll try to see what address that command is at. That’s the hard part, it moves so fast I don’t know if I can catch it before it closes down.’ They were all back in the lab, where Rod and Julia had been working on various alternative methods to try to identify the shutdown command.

  ‘Right, I’ll send Sharif’s instructions again. Here goes.’ Leo hit Enter.

  ‘OK, I can see the charge accumulating. Got it, the processor just moved into a different mode.’ The network closed down again. ‘Boy, that was really awesome, sabotage in action, real-time.’ Rod chewed his finger nails nervously.

  ‘Did you find it, the shutdown function?’

  ‘No chance. I got the exact level of the accumulated charge at the change of mode, but I couldn’t follow the path to the command. I’m never going to find it at that speed.’

  ‘Leo, it doesn’t say it has to be continuous, it could be sporadic. Every message creates a tiny charge and it accumulates over time.’ Julia was rereading the UOM article on A2.

  ‘OK, let’s build it up gradually, slow the accumulation down. I’ll send smaller bursts continuously.’ Leo stopped sending the code and changed it to partially trigger the cell every few seconds. He hit Enter again.

  ‘That’s better, the charge is accumulating more slowly. It’s almost there, coming, coming…’ Rod stared intently at his monitor.

  ‘Trigger! Where the hell did it go?’ The system crashed again, and he turned away from his equipment. ‘Sorry guys, I can’t get a handle on it. Even though the charge is coming slower, when it hits the critical level it changes mode so fast I can’t see where the command is sitting.’

  ‘Let’s give it another try,’ Abby said. ‘We have to find a way to prevent this attack. Lives might depend on us finding a way. Come on guys, keep trying.’

  It was eleven that night when Coetzee’s team finally admitted defeat and Leo broke up the session. ‘That’s enough for tonight. Maybe tomorrow will bring a breakthrough. We really need to find that son-of-a-bitch command.’

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  ‘Goodbye, darling, have a safe trip and hurry back
. I’ll miss you.’ Elodie Delacroix kissed Shen and waved as the taxi drove away. It was midnight and cold outside. With a shiver, she closed the door, went into the bedroom and took out her mobile from the wardrobe. ‘He’s just left for Shanghai. Everything’s going according to plan. No changes.’ She listened for a moment. ‘I can’t wait. Talk soon, love you too.’

  Elodie went into the kitchen. There was a bottle of Laurent Perrier in the fridge. She opened it and poured a glass. Switching on the television, she found Marseille, a French political drama series with Gerard Depardieu that she’d recorded from TFI. She put on the first episode and lay back comfortably on the settee. Lifting her drink in a toast, she said to herself, Thank God for small mercies. Santé.

  FORTY-SEVEN

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Thursday, 15 July 2017

  ‘Take a look at this, Lynne.’ Ed had found Coetzee’s video in his Dropbox when he opened his laptop first thing that morning. He’d taken her to the cinema the previous evening and they’d spent the night at his apartment. It was her day off, and since the workload at XPC had suddenly been alleviated, they would have a leisurely breakfast together.

  She sat by him on the couch and he started the clip. It was less than a minute long, but she was in tears when it finished. ‘My God. I can’t believe it. Those bastards blackmailed Angela into putting Leo in jail. What a pair of total shits.’ Then, ‘Where did you get the video? You must have known about this all along. Why didn’t you tell me, don’t you trust me?’

  ‘Sure I do, but I didn’t want you to worry about me after what happened to Leo and probably Scotty. I talked to Leo last night, and now Shen’s gone, we don’t think there’s any danger.’ He told her about Coetzee’s visit, the potential cyber-attack and the mysterious call from Homeland Security.

  ‘You mean this whole XPC business is a fake, and they’ve fooled you into helping to build some kind of secret weapon that the Chinese are going to use to attack the world’s computers? I thought Scousers were smarter than that.’