Mark Pryor - Cyberian Affair

“You could be in danger, Niko. Zatan might come to Nassau.”

“I’ve been thinking about it. If we abort the operation, Zatan will still be out there—a danger to you. Also, Smith is counting on us to stop the Russians. Maybe we can stop this nuclear standoff.”

“So, you intend to go ahead with the plan?”

“Yes. We have one more day to work out the details. Then Saturday, I go in.”

On Friday afternoon, Niko tried on the dark blue coveralls delivered earlier by the CIA. The logo of Zettabyte, a major computer storage vendor, was embroidered below the collar. According to datacenter records, Zettabyte personnel often delivered service to Blue Koala and other datacenter clients late at night and on weekends. Anyone in this familiar uniform would blend into the background.

He reviewed the details of his Blue Koala network diagrams. Most of the details were probably accurate, except for the restricted portion. For that section, he made an informed guess. Tomorrow, when he got inside, he’d have a bit more information to go on. Hopefully, he’d have a cable in his toolkit that could make the connection.

By the time the sun set, he was ready. He made a call to Vyper. “How are you feeling? Are you all moved in?”

“The CIA safe house is a lot more comfortable than the hospital. I got all my computers set up like I like them. When you go in tomorrow, I’ll be right there with you—well, I’ll be there virtually anyway.”

Niko told her about the Zettabyte uniform and his other preparations. “Jalen’s badge will get me inside the datacenter and into Blue Koala, and the uniform will get me past Coral security.”

“And I will use their cameras to watch everything you do,” said Vyper. “Meanwhile you will be a ghost. Wherever you appear on camera, I will override the images for security. Their video will show the room to be the same as it was before you entered.”

“Suppose I do something that sets off an alarm.”

“I have you covered. I can control all automated equipment in the entire center. Alarms will come to me first. I will only send along the ones I want them to see. If anyone tries to enter where you are, I will lock them out.”

“Vyper, you’re amazing. I feel like we can’t fail.” A text message popped up on Niko’s phone. He read it. “Smith just notified me—Zatan arrived at Nassau airport earlier today. Facial recognition picked him out. They aren’t sure where he went.”

“You think he spotted Sokolov’s photo?”

“That’s my guess.” Niko’s heart raced. Would Zatan come to the datacenter? Would he go after Sokolov’s money? “I have to break into Blue Koala tomorrow. We can’t let his arrival stop us.”

“I think you are right. Zatan’s team is up to something, too. The Russian hackers are still probing Calvert Cliffs, but they seem to have stopped work on everything else. It is like all the computer experts are working on some higher priority project.”

“Interesting. Let me check something.” Niko searched several web sites known to be frequented by ex-military. In Kansas City, Missouri, B2 pilots went on alert, keeping half of the bombers in the air at all times. Similar actions were taken in Pensacola, Florida, and Abilene, Texas. “Looks to me like we just went to DEFCON 2. That hasn’t happened since the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Dombarovsky, Russia

Halfway around the world in southern Russia, fifteen miles north of the Kazakhstan border, Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Burov led his comrade down a long, narrow concrete tunnel, fifty meters below the ground. Nineteen years ago, he had earned the honor to serve as a proud roketchiki , responsible for the physical care, security, and operation of ten nuclear missiles.

They approached the steel door to the launch center to begin their shift. He leaned into the retinal scanner, placing his right eye on the eyepiece, not blinking until the red light went out. He and his comrade stood before the camera and waited for the team inside to open the heavy blast door.

Even though they met this team every day, they never spoke to them. Roketchiki teams were trained not to form any personal bonds. Russian leaders didn’t want to risk any coordinated resistance against pressing the button if the order was ever given.

Burov stepped aside to allow the other team to leave before he and his comrade entered. They performed the shift turnover tasks outlined in their check lists, then sat at their stations.

Normally, the next six hours would be uneventful, but four days ago, their commander had ordered them on high alert.

Nassau, Bahamas

Saturday morning, two hours before sunrise, Niko waved the badge he copied from Jalen in front of the reader. A green light appeared next to the door latch, and he entered. An armed guard looked up from his desk, glanced at the tool bag in Niko’s hand and the Zettabyte logo on his uniform, and waved him through.

He entered another door into a large office area, empty cubicles filling the center of the room. The cell phone in Niko’s pocket vibrated and he checked the messages, all from Vyper:

BLUE KOALA’S SERVER SENT A TEXT

DO NOT KNOW WHERE IT WENT

SUSPECT JALEN’S ID WAS DETECTED

MAYBE SATURDAY IS NOT AUTHORIZED

ALERTS STOPPED – I BLOCKED THEM

Niko went to the men’s’ room and sat inside a toilet stall. He placed his Bluetooth earbud in his ear and called Vyper. “I got your message.”

Her voice wavered. “You must leave. Zatan probably received the message. He might decide to pay you a visit.”

That had been Niko’s first thought as well. “We can’t back out now. If I leave, we’ll never stop Zatan.”

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air until Vyper finally spoke. “If you must… then keep this call open so we can communicate. I will follow you on the security cameras, but they do not have sound.”

Niko made his way to the door leading into the datacenter. A wave of his badge granted him entry. The inside looked exactly like the security camera videos he had studied. A line of wire cages stood before him. At the end of the line was a smoked glass enclosure—Blue Koala.

He walked slowly, trying not to draw attention, then he remembered no one was watching. Vyper had frozen the video that security teams viewed.

Standing in front of the Blue Koala badge reader, he hesitated to wave Jalen’s badge. After the text alert, Zatan may have blocked access.

Too late now.

He waved the badge, breathed a sigh of relief when the door unlocked, and entered. The narrow aisles between racks of equipment were exactly what he expected. No one should be here, but he kept looking around anyway. He walked to the section where network connections to the outside world are accessible—this is where Blue Koala must house their telecommunication equipment.

Niko studied the equipment, the ports, and the cables inserted in the ports. When he was convinced he had found the right spot, he described it to Vyper. “Should I plug in?”

Vyper agreed.

He set his tool bag on the floor, pulled out a tablet computer and long cable, and connected it to the Blue Koala network equipment.

“I see it,” said Vyper. “Wait until I configure it… Got it.”

Niko picked up his toolkit “Now I’m going to look at the firewalls.” He walked down the aisle, dragging the cable behind him like an umbilical cord attaching him to Vyper.

He set his tool kit on the floor and pulled out a special blue cable—the type primarily used by field technicians for administrative console access.

Niko plugged one end of the cable into a special console port on his tablet, and the other end into the admin port on one of the firewalls. If all went as planned, Vyper would connect through the long umbilical cord into the tablet and out to the firewall. “Is this the right one?”