Mark Pryor - Cyberian Affair

“You and Niko will have separate apartments on the third floor of Island Village. I know you want to be together but it’s important for you to act as strangers. You’ll each fly into Nassau on different days from different airports. Never go to your rooms at the same time and be sure to leave from your own apartment every morning. Keep in mind, the Russians could be watching you.”

Smith stood. “We have to get moving. You are both scheduled for your first self-defense training session. Follow me.”

Vyper shook her head. “No fighting. I do not like fighting.”

Niko took her hand. “Think about it, Vyper. Sokolov’s still out there. He’s a violent man, and he’s looking for you.”

When she didn’t respond, Smith opened the door. “We’ve got to go. They’re waiting.”

Niko kissed Vyper’s hand. “Come and watch, then. You might learn something you could use if you ever get in trouble.”

Smith led them to a gymnasium with two full-sized training dummies standing on wrestling mats. The only other person in the room was a short, muscular man in a sweat suit.

The man motioned them to sit on a bench. “Good afternoon. I am Mister Jones. I’ll be your self-defense trainer. The methods you’ll learn are from Krav Maga, a combination of martial arts and street fighting.”

“Should we change clothes or anything?” asked Niko.

Jones shook his head. “Today will simply be an introduction. You won’t do anything physical. Starting tomorrow, you’ll need to wear more appropriate clothes.” He spent an hour discussing and demonstrating the basics of the art.

Smith looked at his watch. “We’ve got another appointment.” He turned to the instructor. “Thank you, Mister Jones.”

Niko and Vyper followed Smith back to the conference room where they took their seats.

Smith opened a folder. “When my colleague arrives, she’ll describe some specialized equipment, but she’s not cleared to discuss your mission. She doesn’t even know where you’re going.”

His phone beeped. He glanced at it and stood. “She’s here.”

When he opened the door, a petite, gray-haired woman entered, wheeling a shiny black suitcase behind her. She had a pleasant grandmotherly smile that seemed out of place at a CIA training center.

She took a seat and opened the case on the table. “I’m Miss Quincy, but most people call me ‘Q’… like in the Bond movies.” She laid a cell phone in front of her and slid two more across the table.

“We already have Samsung phones,” said Niko. “Why do we need these?”

Q raised her eyebrows. “They look normal, don’t they?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “If someone snatches your phone, they’ll probably remove the SIM card to disable or clone it. But it’s only a decoy. The card contains no data. The functions found on the SIM have been built into a chip.”

Niko picked one up and turned it in his hand. “Interesting.”

“That’s not all.” Q popped out the card. “When it’s removed, the phone sends an alert to everyone working on the project. It also turns on the camera and mike, streaming everything to a web page. It keeps streaming until it runs out of batteries. Turning it off doesn’t stop it.”

“This doesn’t have a removeable battery,” said Niko. “The only way to stop it would be to destroy the phone.”

Q nodded. “That’s the idea. Anyone who removes the SIM card is potentially hostile.” She removed an ID badge from her case. “These phones have a few more tricks. I understand you’ll be working in a facility that uses this type of proximity card. When a legitimate user needs to prove their identity, they wave this within six inches of a reader to open a locked door or perform some other function. Your phone has an app that will copy the data from one of these badges if you’re close enough.” She held up a small box and some blank ID cards. “Later, you can use this device to create a duplicate badge.”

Niko had worked in a datacenter that used cards like this. He thought about all the ways he could maneuver his phone within six inches of someone’s badge without them realizing what he was doing.

As the briefing continued, Q brought out special eyeglasses with tiny, hidden cameras on the frames. She also explained the RF sniffer function of the phone that would detect and map wireless communication. She demonstrated a tiny camera that recorded video and sound but didn’t transmit.

Right out of James Bond. No wonder they call her Q.

“One final thing.” Q set a device that looked like an old calculator on the table. “Our medical team inserted transponder implants under your scalps. If you’re checked for bugs, these implants won’t give you away since they don’t transmit anything until interrogated by one of these devices.” She pointed to the calculator. “The transmitter in your implants are low power. Their range is only a hundred meters. We have a second transponder for each of you with twice the range, and we’ll conceal them in the lining of a purse or wallet.”

Smith stood. “I’m sorry, but we have to cut this short. You can show them your other gadgets tomorrow.” He led her to the door.

After Q left the room, Smith opened his laptop. “We have one more project to discuss today.” The CIA seal appeared on the screen. Below it appeared the word MKRODENT. “This project has a higher classification level than MKSIGMA. Don’t discuss this with anyone other than me. I’ll limit my briefing to those details you need to know. It’s similar to the project you completed—the Linux implant that crosses over to an industrial control computer.”

Vyper nodded. “The one where I buried “KILROY WAS HERE” in the code.”

“That’s right.” The CIA seal on the screen was replaced by a logic diagram. “This is a simplified version of the firmware that controls the triggering of a weapon.” Smith pointed the red laser dot at one of the inputs. “Before this weapon can trigger, it must be armed.” The dot moved to another spot on the screen. “But arming it is not sufficient to trigger it. That won’t happen until sensors indicate it’s safe and the target is in range.”

Vyper’s eyes widened. “What kind of—”

Smith raised his hand. “I can’t tell you. You don’t have a need to know.”

Niko placed his hand on her arm. He looked at Smith. “I hope you don’t plan to start World War III.”

Silence was the only response.

Niko glanced at Vyper and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, Mister Smith. What do you want us to do?”

“We have copies of the firmware used for these weapons—the one currently in production plus four previous versions. I need you to reverse engineer it and determine how to set all the safety and targeting signals high—authorizing triggering. Don’t make any changes to the arming signals.” Numbers and capital letters filled the screen. “This is a snapshot of the code starting at the load point.”

Vyper studied it briefly. “If this mysterious weapon uses the program you have requested, it will trigger the instant someone arms it. Is that what you want?”

“It is.”

Nassau, Bahamas

Niko opened his eyes. He was in Vyper’s apartment, three doors down the hall from his own. She lay next to him, still asleep, facing away. The ceiling fan turned slowly, blowing fresh ocean air in his face. The sun was still low in the morning sky. No need to turn on the air yet. This is the life .

He arrived here a week ago, filling in as a substitute professor at New Providence University. Vyper arrived the following day. Smith had warned them to act as total strangers in public. If this had been a weekday, Niko would have gotten up before sunrise to sneak back into his room, but today was Sunday and they didn’t have anywhere to go.