Set the reader/transmitter app to run in the background, hunting RFID signals.
Pulled up the camera app. Set it for night mode, which turned off the infrared filter.
Tucked the phone into my left sleeve.
Now I was ready for Rhee.
Reviewed the interior lab layout in my mind. Main entrance foyer facing the street. Security turnstile inside used smart badges.
That process had to be fast, or else the lines of people entering and exiting would quickly bog down.
Primary security office next door, with guards watching the camera systems. Each badge swiped in the turnstile popped a photo up on a guard's computer screen so they could glance out and confirm the picture on file matched a real person passing through the turnstiles.
Administrative area beyond that.
Cubicles and conference rooms, printers, computers, phones, nothing exotic.
Farther on, they secured the entrance into the giant lab facility itself by not only confirming the RFID holder had the proper permission, but also validating them with an iris scanner inside the mantrap.
To prevent tailgating into the lab, a motion sensor enforced the rule that only one person at a time could pass through the mantrap. If the sensor detected additional movement, the entrance locked.
The only way out was forward.
If an intruder failed the iris scan, the mantrap kept them in the little room until security released them.
Once within that mantrap, I'd either catch my wave or get worked by it.
No way to bail.
The back of the lab zones held a secondary security room. Used to monitor the cameras in the lab and control the rear mantrap.
Every building must have emergency exits.
Rather than make the scientists and engineers walk all the way around after a fire drill, security would pass them through the rear mantrap next to the loading dock.
However, without a guard in one of the security offices triggering an unlock of the rear mantrap, that entrance didn't normally admit anyone from the outside.
The back door wasn't an option for me. Too many cameras for a mostly deserted area.
To anyone who watched the security monitors, a single person would attract attention I couldn't afford.
Better to stay with the more populated main entrance.
This mission called for an individual to blend in with the crowds, not a highly visible team raiding the place.
Needed to be more realistic in my planning.
Couldn't count on my opponent to be a moron, even if he usually was one. If Rhee recognized me, my career was over.
Army facilities like the lab would remain vulnerable to our enemies.
How would I ensure he didn't spot me?
Needed to get the reader in my sleeve within a few feet of his card to be sure of triggering the RFID tag inside and acquiring the right number to play back later.
The wind shifted directions. Icy rain splattered against the shop's glass window.
I looked at my umbrella. Smiled.
Suddenly, the Korean winter weather was perfect.
Just in time, too. Rhee staggered up the sidewalk toward the lab.
Probably coming back from dinner.
Dropped a green 10K Won bill on the table to cover my drink. Stepped through the exit.
Opened my umbrella.
Pointed horizontally into the sleet, if I stooped a little to disguise my height, my umbrella made a fine piece of mobile concealment.
Positioned it to hide my face.
Rhee swayed casually up the sidewalk.
About 15 feet away now. No doubt he'd indulged in a little Soju with his meal. He'd have to pass the café before crossing the street to the lab's entrance.
I sauntered back out on the sidewalk.
Kept my umbrella between us.
Slid my smartphone out from my sleeve.
Turned the master volume all the way off. No need for clicking sounds at this point.
Just another city denizen mesmerized by his phone.
Timed Rhee's approach in the windows behind me.
Lifted my phone as he closed in.
Still set to the mode which captured infrared as well as visible light, I held the built-in camera lens just under the edge of my umbrella, as if I looked at directions or something equally innocuous.
Zoomed in on his face. Held the camera icon down. Took a batch of quick photos.
Of the twenty photos before my phone had to stop and dump them to physical storage, hopefully at least one would contain a good view of his eyes.
Rhee halted just past me. So did my heart.
Had he spotted me?
Rather than recognizing me, he pulled out his own phone.
Glanced at a text.
Must've been important, because now he walked rapidly.
A man with more purpose than just checking on the night shift of guards.
I fell in a few feet behind him while he crossed the street.
Stepped with a slouched lean, umbrella facing forward, as if I fought the weather.
Brought up the app on my phone controlling the RFID reader/transmitter.
Verified it remained ready.
Only a few seconds to capture the right data.
Shifted my umbrella to my left hand, my phone jutting out at an angle as I held both of them together.
Merged in with the foot traffic lining up for the main entrance.
Got right behind Rhee.
He didn't even look around. Stood and tapped his foot in the short line.
The other Koreans waiting to enter were dressed as cleaning crew, in light blue janitorial uniforms. Their access cards hung around their necks from black lanyards.
Slid as close as I dared to Rhee.
Fortunately, the standards of personal space in crowded Seoul are tight, so he wasn't likely to consider a stranger edging up behind him as unusual.
Reached out with my right wrist next to his right side. Triggered the RFID reader software with my left.
Nothing.
Tried again. This time right wrist next to left pocket.
Bingo!
The RFID antennae next to my wrist triggered his card by simulating any other RFID reader. Recorded the number from his access card in return.
In a normal RFID system, the reader would take his card's ID number and compare it against a stored list to determine what access he was entitled to.
In my system, it recorded the number to prepare for the next step.
Rhee strode into the foyer. Stayed in line for the turnstile just inside.
This next step was the riskiest part.
Had to count on Rhee not looking back.
Closed my umbrella. Tucked it under my arm.
No excuse to keep it open inside the small foyer, protected from the weather.
Staying behind him, I took a white credit card out of my wallet. Indistinguishable at a distance from the lab's ID cards.
Rhee stepped through the turnstile.
Swiped his card near the sensor.
In the main security room, a guard saw the photo from his badge appear on his screen. Confirmed that yep, the guy in the photo, who happened to be his boss, just walked through the turnstiles.
Following less than a foot behind, I stepped through the turnstile.
Swiped my credit card across the RFID reader with my right hand.
Really, I triggered the app on my phone. The transmitter in my right sleeve sent the card number I'd recorded moments earlier.
The security system received Rhee's badge number again. Again, his photo popped up on a guard's computer.
Had a few things going for me.
First, a card being read multiple times in a short period is normal.
The RFID reader triggers anywhere from one to three feet away. Doesn't know when you take your hand away. Just knows that it's been getting a particular code and now it isn't.
So usually, no one worries too much a
bout duplicates, one right after another.
For proximity sensors, accidental double-swiping is common.
Second, they designed this setup for speed around shift change timings. More than one guard got the picture pop-ups on their screen.
If two different guards saw Rhee's photo, they'd independently see him walking out of the turnstile ahead of me and confirm they knew him.
They didn't watch the turnstiles; they watched their monitors with the habit of glancing up to check the face in the pop-up was present to ensure the wrong person wasn't using someone's badge. If they notice a person whose face didn't show up on their own screen, a different guard probably got that person's picture to check.
Habits and routine can be deadly.
Third, when you see your security boss coming through the doorway, you don't wonder if someone cloned his RFID card.
You naturally start wondering if you look busy enough, if you remembered to file that paperwork he wanted, and so on. The last thing on your mind is that he's a security risk.
Human nature.
The turnstile indicator light turned a beautiful green in response to Rhee's valid card number. I pushed through and entered the less secure administrative portion of the building.
Rhee turned toward the door marked "Security Office" in English and Hangul characters.
According to the blueprints I'd seen, his desk shared a room where the guards sat and watched the security feeds and the turnstile.
Headed into the hallway. Toward the administrative area.
Almost all the regular staff had departed, leaving cleaning folks to take over.
I walked with a purposeful stride, trying to look as if I was on my way somewhere and couldn't be interrupted. As long as you look like you belong, most people won't challenge you, or even notice your presence.
Drop ceilings. Short cubicles. Rolling office chairs.
Plenty of places to hide, not much cover from bullets. Tended to penetrate office partitions and walls.
Most of the administrative space was too open and airy.
Our tax dollars at work.
Just as soon they hadn't sprung for the glass-walled conference rooms. Needed a place I could stop and conceal myself.
Still had to bypass the mantrap to get into the lab itself.
With the place mostly deserted by its regular workers, the guards watching the monitors showing the administrative area would eventually wonder who I was.
Had a few free minutes while they greeted Rhee and talked about whatever they usually did when he arrived to check on their shift, but that would only last so long.
Needed to enlarge and print an eyeball photo to fool the retinal scanner.
Also needed a distraction, to ensure a guard wasn't staring at the security camera monitor which happened to show me using something besides my eye on that same scanner.
Time to go borrow a little office equipment before a guard noticed me and wondered who I was.
* * *
Kwon gripped two sets of old bricks with his frozen fingers.
Peered around the building's corner.
Watched the service alley. Leaned against the outer edge of an alcove for the loading dock.
The alcove behind him led to the steel door of the cargo mantrap entrance. He didn't want his tactical gear to be obvious from the nearby major road.
Stacked up tactically, three on each side of the door, assault rifles pointed forward, but away from each other, the rest of Team Goshawk prepared to enter and execute their individual tasks.
Inside the covered alcove, they'd be invisible from the street.
The shifting breeze chilled his fingers on the bricks. The freezing rain stopped, at least temporarily, but the city noise level remained suppressed by the weather.
He'd hear any intruders in the alley long before they saw him.
Standing next to Stro along the right-hand side of the door, the com sergeant's mobile phone vibrated.
He looked at the number. Answered. "Ready."
Hung up. Gripped his rifle tighter.
The prearranged communication reassured both sides everything was ready.
Clunk.
In response to an internal override, the magnetic bolts holding the door withdrew into the metal door frame.
Stro, leading the stack on the hinge-side of the door, reached out to the steel handle.
Pulled it open.
Kwon moved to behind his last man. "Execute."
This was the most dangerous part of the mission. All seven of his team would be inside the mantrap simultaneously.
If this was an ambush, if the enemy caught them in there, they might as well surrender.
Sometimes there is no choice but to trust others to do their part.
The left-hand stack moved through the doorway. Into the small room.
Stro exhaled and led his stack in behind.
Kwon followed, head on a swivel.
Pistol in hand. His trigger finger and the barrel pointed at the floor.
The room was designed to move cargo in and out of the facility. Fully equipped in bulky vests carrying armor and munitions, the seven of them took up space for ten regular men.
Even with rifles pointed at the wire mesh ceiling, they pressed against each other and the walls. The imperialists had constructed the floor and walls from a thin sheet of steel.
If an enemy fired at them, ricochets became a real danger.
A matching wide steel door to the one they'd entered via was set into the opposite wall.
That door wouldn't open unless the outer door was closed. Even then, after checking the mantrap camera, a guard on the inside had to push a button to electronically unlock it.
This entrance was really only used for scheduled deliveries and fire drills. Both required the approval of the lab's internal security guards for entrance.
Kwon pulled the door closed behind his team.
Ker-chunk. The outer door locked.
The traitor held their lives in his hands.
Chapter Twelve: ... Until Someone Gets Hurt
To prove my platoon's report correct and break into the most secure section of the lab, I needed a high quality color laser printer and to not be disturbed for a few minutes.
Scanning the office area, I strode out between the cubicles. A combo photocopier dominated the corner of a break room.
The crowded break room contained a steel sink embedded in a counter, a cheap microwave, an automatic paper towel wall unit, a stainless steel refrigerator, and a bottleless water dispenser on the floor next to the copier.
A four seat table on the other side and a small drain in the tile floor didn't look like they saw much use.
Most importantly, actual walls and a thin door divided the room from the rest of the office space.
Closed the door behind me.
No one took breaks in Seoul. Hopefully no one would choose late on a Friday night to prove that particular reputation wrong.
Besides, I heard they passed a law against staying late at work.
They'd purchased the deluxe model of scanner/printer/copier, with all the bells and whistles. Only the best and most expensive for the government lab.
Away from suspicious eyes, I unplugged the RFID scanner/transmitter from my USB cable. Tugged my phone to pull the cable out of my left sleeve.
Flipped through the high-resolution photos of Rhee stored on my phone. Selected the one with the best view of his eyes.
With night mode on, the photo included the infrared details of the blood vessels in his iris.
After cropping the best photo, I enlarged it to life size. By itself, that wouldn't fool the iris scanner, but it was a start.
Using my trusty USB cable, plugged my phone into the printer long enough to get a full color high quality print. His life-sized ugly mug was beautiful on the page.
Might pull this off alone after all.
Set the RFID transmitter up again.
Now I needed to figu
re out a distraction for the guards.
Once I entered the lab's main mantrap, I'd no longer be just another figure walking down a hallway for a few seconds before the guard's next camera view flickered onto the screen. Instead, I'd be alone in a room with a camera dedicated to watching who came and went.
Could sort of fake putting my face next to the retinal scanner while trying to use Rhee's face with a contact lens on it, but anyone who paid much attention would spot my unusual behavior and lock the room down.
That way led to disaster.
Instead, needed the guards talking about an unusual event with each other in the security office. Maybe even a few of them responding to an issue in the building.
No longer watching their bank of monitors.
Checked the kitchen portion of the break room. An issue with the fridge, perhaps?
Could probably rig the compressor to start smoking. Even start a fire in the microwave.
Didn't want a fire alarm, though.
The mantrap would lock down for incoming people. Security would expect everyone to exit the building.
That's the opposite direction from where I wanted to go. It'd make me stand out even more like a shark in the bay.
Maybe clog the sink and turn on the water?
That'd overflow pretty quickly. Turned on the water for a moment to test the flow speed.
A flood would work, but I wanted more water than that.
Inspected the water dispenser next to the copier. Had an independent flexible water line from the wall.
A second source would create a reasonable deluge, especially when combined with the sink flow as a base.
The water dispenser had faucets for hot and cold, one with a red plastic lever and a second in blue. Any movement up or down of each released water from the internal reservoir.
Just needed to figure out a timer.
The multi-function copier had a finisher tray, where if you had it staple and collate your copies, they'd land on the tray as it moved down to make room for the next set.
That would be enough.
Put the sink's drain plug into the drain. Grabbed a handful of paper towels from the wall unit.
Dampened them.
Unscrewed the floor drain's catch basin with my multi-tool.
Bunched the damp paper towels up. Pushed them into the little floor drain. Replaced the catch basin.
Should clog it nicely.
Techno Ranger Page 13