Mark Pryor - Cyberian Affair

Gotta be a way to set her free.

Bodnar whispered into Niko’s ear. “Time to enter your plea.”

The judge glared down from the bench. “Do I have your attention now?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“How do you plead?”

“Not guilty, Your Honor.”

Sterling, Virginia

Niko paid the Uber driver and walked up to the front of Vyper’s home. The door was new. Someone must have replaced the old door after the FBI smashed it in last night. He pressed the doorbell and waited.

This had been a long day, but Mr. Bodnar had moved things along quickly, posting bail as soon as Niko and Vyper agreed to home confinement.

The door opened. It was Vyper, beautiful as ever, a broad smile on her face. She opened her arms wide.

Niko stepped into her embrace, buried his face in her hair, and inhaled her intoxicating scent. He whispered in Vyper’s ear, “I love you so much. I was afraid I’d never see you again.”

She tightened her grip. “I was afraid, too. We cannot let them separate us again.”

Niko kicked the door behind him, shutting it with a bang. He looked into her eyes and brushed a tear from her cheek. Her lips were inviting, and he met them with his own, as their tongues wrestled playfully.

His leg bumped something hard near her foot, and he spotted the ankle bracelet. “I see they’re monitoring you, too.” He held out his own leg for her to see. “House arrest is much better than jail.”

Vyper stepped back and held a finger to her lips, then pointed to her ankle. “Mister Bodnar is wonderful. He replaced the front door and bought us computers and phones.” She waved her arm toward the open door to the computer room. “The FBI took everything.”

It had not occurred to Niko that these monitors could also be listening devices. On the dining room table lay a pad of paper and two pens. Next to the table was a shredder. He waved toward the table. “Bodnar should be here soon.”

She took a seat, grabbed a pen, and wrote a short message:

Mr. Bodnar swept the house—no bugs—except ankle bracelets

The internet is turned off—police will come here tomorrow and turn it on

Niko took the other pen and wrote on the same pad:

Did you tell the FBI anything?

Vyper scribbled a response:

No—but I told Mr. Bodnar everything—you can trust him

I want to tell the truth—it was Russians—not us

Niko shook his head:

Let’s talk to our lawyer first—we stole money—hacked computers

FBI may not believe us—we could go to jail—prison

The doorbell rang. Vyper ripped off the top sheet of paper and inserted it into the shredder. Then she got up and opened the door. “Good evening, Mister Bodnar. Come in and sit down.”

Niko stood and pulled out a chair. “I can’t thank you enough, Mister Bodnar.”

The lawyer nodded at Vyper, shook Niko’s hand, and took a seat. “Mister Kozel always said great things about both of you. It’s a pleasure to assist you in any way I can.” He opened his briefcase on the table and removed a manila folder. “Please call me Ivan.”

Vyper sat next to Niko so they could face their lawyer across the table. “I want to thank you, too.”

Ivan waved his hand dismissively. “No need for thanks.” He opened the folder. “We have a lot to talk about, but first, we need to discuss your GPS ankle bracelets.”

Vyper pushed a small booklet across the table. “They gave us a user manual.”

With a nod, Ivan continued. “We need to discuss privacy, something they don’t mention in the manual. These bracelets use cell phone communication. As described in the manual, during an emergency you may use them to communicate with the police. When the police need to listen, they are supposed to vibrate the unit to make you aware. The problem is, they can listen without your knowledge. There have been incidents where they were caught listening covertly.”

Niko smiled. “I’m glad you’re as paranoid as I am.”

Ivan reached into his briefcase and removed two bulky socks along with a couple of straps. “Police have no right to listen to communications between a lawyer and client. To ensure our privacy, you’ll need to wear these soundproofing socks during our meetings.” He stood and knelt next to Vyper. “Let me have your ankle.”

She turned her chair and lifted her leg.

He grabbed her foot. “First we have to isolate your leg from the bracelet. Sound travels through your body, you know.” He removed her slipper and wrapped a strap around her ankle, between her skin and the bracelet. “Now put on this sock. It blocks sound.”

“This is heavy.” Vyper pulled the sock up over her calf. “A bit too warm.”

Ivan went back to his seat. “That’s the price of privacy. Feel free to wear them any time, whether I’m here or not.” He handed a strap and sock to Niko. “Put yours on, too.”

As he put it on, Niko asked, “Does this block the signal to the police? Will it set off an alarm?”

“No, no.” Ivan shook his head. “It only blocks sound. Electronic signals are not affected. You could wear these socks all day long if you could get used to them.”

Niko rested his stockinged foot on the floor. “Can we discuss the case now?”

Ivan nodded. “No one else can hear us.”

“So, how much trouble are we in?” Niko placed his hand on Vyper’s. “How do we avoid going to jail?”

The lawyer outlined the charges filed against both of them. They were accused of conspiracy with Sokolov to kill Marko, and to attack both action centers. This meant they were accessories to the murder of everyone who died in the Kozel action center attack. They’d face many years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Vyper shook her head. “They are charging us with everything the Russians did. Why do they believe we helped them? How did they find us?”

“A government task force has been chasing Russian internet activities for a long time. In fact, they’re still chasing the Russians—the attacks haven’t stopped.” Ivan glanced at one of the papers. “They discovered communication between Sokolov’s Russian hackers and this house. When they investigated your home, they discovered an unusual pattern of internet activity—a heavily utilized high-speed connection with network traffic around-the-clock, all encrypted, most of it going to the dark net.”

Niko exchanged a look with Vyper. “That must have been NSA tracking you on the dark net.”

Ivan continued, “After they raided the house and learned Niko’s real name, they used the information as corroborating evidence.” He looked at Niko. “Specifically, evidence that you faked your death right after Marko was killed and the action center was attacked. They claim it proves you were in on everything.”

The circumstantial evidence was piling up, but Niko had an idea. “They must think I’m the bad guy here. Can we convince them Vyper had nothing to do with it? Can we get her off?”

“No!” said Vyper. “I will not let you sacrifice yourself for me. We did not help the Russians! We have to prove it.”

Ivan raised his hand. “Sorry, Niko. Even if you wanted to take all the blame, it wouldn’t work. The FBI has documentation from Marko’s original request to obtain a security clearance for Lydia… uh, Vyper. It includes the reason she needed it. They know she has exceptional computer security skills.”

All the cards were stacked against them. How could the evidence be so damning when they were innocent? Perhaps coming clean was the only solution. It was risky, but Niko was willing to discuss it. “Did Vyper tell you about our Trotsky communication?”

“She did.” Ivan flipped through a few pages from the folder. “You gave anonymous information to media and law enforcement about the Russians. Are you thinking of revealing that to the FBI? Do you believe it will exonerate you?”