Mark Pryor - Cyberian Affair

“No. But there is a restaurant just across the road. Their parking lot is less than one hundred feet from the back of the Cybercade building. Take the first right after the Shell station.”

He pulled off the toll road and spotted his turn. “Can you access their cameras?”

“Their network is secure. All I can tap into is their email.”

Niko turned right and drove toward the restaurant. He turned off his lights and drove toward a dimly lit section of the parking lot. Before he had a chance to park, a spotlight on the Cybercade roof cut through the twilight darkness in the southern part of the sky.

“They spotted a drone.” Vyper grabbed her cell phone and pressed a number. “If your phone responds, no one is jamming. They will be vulnerable.”

The phone in Niko’s pocket vibrated and rang as he pulled to a stop. “Turn on the jammer. Put the antenna on the roof.”

While Vyper reached into the back seat, a drone appeared above Cybercade, dropping rapidly. It hit the roof with a bang, and a fireball erupted from the top of the building.

Vyper barely flinched as she retrieved the antenna and stuck the magnetic mount on the roof of the Prius.

Niko jumped out of the car and searched the sky. The faint sound of an electric drill—or angry hornets—drew his attention to the right, where an octocopter holding a package hovered a hundred yards away.

Vyper rushed over to him. “The jammer is working. It looks like this drone is programmed to stop when it loses its signal. If we turn off the jammer, I believe it will continue its attack.”

A siren wailed at Cybercade, overwhelming the buzzing of the octocopter. Niko peered through the tree line. He saw dozens of people running from the front door. One woman held her cell phone to her ear, then glanced at the screen and put the phone back in her pocket. Two men did the same thing.

Vyper shook her head. “Cell phones, security cameras, nothing will work. Emergency responders will not come.”

“I can shoot it down,” said Niko. “But I’d rather avoid that in this neighborhood. Maybe we should let it hover until it runs out of power. How long do you think it’ll take?”

“Hard to say. Maybe up to fifteen—”

A metallic boom came from the building. The drone broke apart and fell.

Through the tree line, Niko spotted two men in guard uniforms aiming rifles at the sky. A broken drone lay on the parking lot a dozen feet in front of them.

Outside Cybercade, everyone tried to start their cars at once, like the beginning of the Indy 500. Horns blared, and tires squealed, as cars darted to the exit, narrowly avoiding collisions.

Niko searched the sky in the area he believed the other octocopters came from. “They used three drones on the Action Center, but I don’t see another one. We have to get out of here soon. Let’s turn off the jammer and watch.”

He reached into the back seat and flipped the switch. Less than a minute later, a buzzing sound announced the approach of another drone. It stopped the second he turned the jammer back on.

A second gunshot hit the drone, knocking it out of the sky.

Niko turned off the equipment again. They waited one minute, then another. After five minutes with no sign of a drone, Niko pulled the antenna off the roof and tossed it inside the car. He ran to the driver’s side and jumped in behind the wheel. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Hold on,” said Vyper. She opened the back of the Prius and removed a license plate from the spare tire compartment. She attached it magnetically on top of the existing plate before getting in the car.

Niko backed out and drove to the road before turning on his lights.

“Take the parkway back,” said Vyper. “Traffic cameras recorded our arrival. The Prius will look suspicious if it is seen arriving and leaving the area within a short period of time.”

“You changed the plates. Besides, there are a lot of light blue Priuses on the road. Aren’t you being a bit paranoid?”

“I am cautious.”

On the way to the parkway, Niko tried to make sense of the chaotic day. “The Russians weren’t successful in taking out Cybercade. And they’d be nuts to try again.”

“If no one steals any of their money, perhaps they will assume the threat is over.”

A chill shot up Niko’s spine. “Then they’re free to execute their plan. But we don’t know what it is.”

As soon as they arrived home, Niko flipped on cable news and sat on the couch. Funny how he’d come to think of Vyper’s place as home . She insisted he stay until they eliminated Sokolov as a threat.

The TV screen showed a live aerial view of the Cybercade building surrounded by fire engines, police cars, and other emergency vehicles. Below the images, a Breaking News chyron announced:

Vyper sat next to Niko and opened her laptop. “They say the same kind of drones were used in both attacks, but no one mentions Russians.”

The woman at the anchor desk announced the latest:

“…so far, no deaths have been reported. Emergency medical personnel are treating the injured in the parking area. At least five people were transported by ambulance to area hospitals. A Fairfax County Police spokesman said the injuries and damage would have been much higher if not for the heroic efforts of two security guards who shot down the drones. For more—”

Niko stood. “We were lucky. No one died. And it appears no one noticed our car.” He headed toward the garage. “I’ll put the jammer away.”

After moving the equipment to the computer room, Niko flopped on the couch. “I still don’t think we’re safe. If Sokolov ever realizes I’m alive, he’ll come after me. That means you could be in danger, too.”

Vyper nodded. “That is why we must do something to neutralize him.”

“What about his money? Marko threatened to take it all. Let’s take it.”

“Marko was smart, but he was bluffing. I gave him the only information I had on Sokolov’s accounts. I do not know where that murderer keeps the rest of his money.”

That was our ace in the hole. Now it’s gone.

Vyper closed her laptop and turned to face him. “You are surprised. I thought you knew.” She placed her hand on his. “We can stop him—you and me. We agreed. I will use my Prixster tricks, and you will be Trotsky.”

Her touch felt warm. Her eyes, light brown with gold flecks, held his gaze. All the awkwardness between them was gone. Even with all the tension, Niko had the urge to put a move on her. Kiss her.

Too risky. Could spook her. Take it slow.

“Okay, but you found Sokolov’s money before. Can you do it again?”

“It will take some time, but I can do it—thanks to Marko. He did not always follow the rules. We recently performed a vulnerability assessment of the US Treasury systems, and I made an unauthorized copy of suspicious account reports. I also know a back door into the European SWIFT system.”

“Holy crap. You can do that?”

“It is necessary. Marko would understand.”

“If you get caught—stealing data from Treasury and breaking into SWIFT—you could go to prison. Are you sure you want to risk it?”

Vyper removed her hand and straightened her back. “Marko is dead because of Sokolov. I will do anything to destroy that man.”

“I feel the same way.” Niko grabbed his laptop. “I’ll try to trace him through my contacts with Ukrainian hacker groups. I’m sure Sokolov himself never used a computer on the internet—he’d have people take care of those menial tasks for him.”

“I have a database of millions of Facebook users. Would that help? It includes their bio, their friends, and everything they ever typed or clicked on.”