Mark Pryor - Cyberian Affair

“No, try another.”

His second choice was also wrong, but when he tried the third one, Vyper responded, “Perfect. Now I will break in and modify the configuration. This might take a while.”

Niko waited. He knew Vyper was working as quickly as she could, but he needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

“I got it,” said Vyper. “Now you can make the connection.” She described the port.

Niko disconnected the umbilical cord from his laptop and plugged it into the location Vyper designated. “Are you in?”

“One minute… That is perfect. Now pack up and leave.”

As he packed up his equipment, Niko smiled. “You were worried—”

“Get out!” Vyper shouted. “Zatan entered the building. He is with another man… No! He is heading to Blue Koala’s door. Hide!”

Niko glanced at the door.

It opened, and two men entered. One was Zatan, dressed in a Bahamian shirt and shorts. He looked physically intimidating—more than he did in his photos. The other man wore a dark blue uniform. He held a weapon in his right hand.

A gun ? That’s crazy .

Niko stood with his tool kit in hand. “Good morning. I’m with Zettabyte. Just finishing—”

“You are not Jalen Sawyer,” said Zatan. “What are you doing here?”

Pointing to his logo, Niko replied, “Like I said, I’m with Zettabyte.”

The guard raised his weapon.

Niko stared at the barrel of the gun. But it wasn’t a gun. Sparks and confetti shot out. He felt a sting in his stomach, and then in his leg.

Taser .

He saw the thin wires a moment before excruciating pain shot up his leg then throughout his body. He shook, and his knees buckled. He collapsed, unable to control the movement of his arms or legs. This was the most pain he ever experienced.

The pain stopped suddenly, and his muscles relaxed. Zatan and his guard stood over him.

The sound of Vyper’s voice in his ear demanded attention. “Get ready.”

Ready ? For what ?

Zatan glared. “Cut the bullshit. Who are you, and why are you here?” He waved at the Taser. “You will answer me sooner or later.”

A whirring sound drew Niko’s attention to a robotic unit on tracks behind the two men, heading toward them.

Zatan and his guard glanced back just as the robot ran into the man with the Taser, knocking him down.

Niko jumped up and kicked the guard in the head with all the force he could muster.

Zatan stepped around the robot and assumed an offensive stance, legs flexed, arms raised. Niko could only hope his Krav Maga lessons were enough to handle this man.

The robot’s arm suddenly extended into the side of Zatan’s head, knocking the man to the floor.

“Get out of there,” said Vyper. “I will lock them in. They will not leave.”

Niko glanced at the small wires connecting him to the Taser. He spotted two small metal cylinders dangling from his uniform—one on his stomach, and one on his thigh. He gripped the one on his stomach and pulled it straight out. It was painful, but nothing like being tased. He removed the one in his leg, grabbed his tool kit, and left.

Warrenton, Virginia

Vyper sat before her laptop, flapping her hands and rocking her head. The stress of the morning had gotten to her, but she managed to stay focused while Niko needed her. She had allowed her anger to get the best of her, too—knocking those horrible men down with the robot, locking them in, and unleashing inert gas inside Blue Koala’s enclosure. If they suffocated, she would not be upset. She notified Smith—those men were his problem now.

When she emerged from her mental safe zone, she got down to business. Niko had set up the access she needed, so she navigated her way into Zatan’s network in Vladivostok. This should be where he kept his most secretive tools and plans.

She remembered the list of Greek gods’ names she found on Sokolov’s computer. Apollo and Hermes were highlighted, so she searched for both of them. One of the results included a list. At the top of the list was:

She browsed the list further and discovered another entry:

Since Calvert Cliffs was the nuclear power plant Smith was worried about, it seemed likely that Indian Point was another plant—a fact she verified with a simple internet search.

It was one thing to identify the targets. It was another to discover what the Russians planned to do. Any truly destructive cyber-attack would likely target an industrial processor. That was Zatan’s approach with the Texas refineries and the LA power systems. All of Zatan’s malicious programs contained a few telltale patterns—unique, like a signature.

Vyper searched through Zatan’s software and discovered two programs intended to infect industrial computers. Further analysis uncovered a nefarious feature—they attacked the monitoring systems to conceal unsafe conditions. If this was used on a nuclear power plant, the operators would not be warned in advance if something dangerous was happening.

She made a secure call to Smith. As soon as he identified himself, she blurted out, “Zatan is targeting two nuclear plants—Calvert Cliffs and Indian Point. You must shut them both down immediately.”

“Calm down, Vyper,” said Smith. “We knew about Calvert Cliffs. You say he’s also targeting Indian Point?”

“Yes, those code names we found on Sokolov’s computer. It identifies both sites.”

“Why do you want us to shut them down? You know how many people will lose power?”

“Zatan has a program that will hide dangerous conditions from the operators. Do you want a power plant to overheat without operators responding?”

“I see your point. Three-Mile Island and Chernobyl have taught us what could happen.”

Vyper’s hand flapped. She made a fist and resisted the urge to zone out. “Will you shut them down?”

“These plants all have physical gauges. We’ll demand that both sites check the status of their gauges instead of relying on the operators’ consoles. If we discover a problem, we’ll shut them down.”

“I guess that will work.”

“It’ll work, Vyper,” said Smith. “You and Niko may well have stopped one or two nuclear meltdowns. Those plants are located near Washington, DC, and New York City. If either site had a meltdown, we’d have a national disaster to deal with. You also stopped Sokolov and Zatan. The world owes you both a debt of gratitude, but they’ll never know what you did for them.”

Dombarovsky, Russia

The alarm surprised Lieutenant Colonel Burov. His partner sat across the small launch center, his eyes wide with anticipation. Burov picked up the phone. “ Da .”

This was not a drill. They just received the command to arm ten missiles.

Burov and his partner independently reviewed the codes in the book against the codes they just received. They matched.

Each man inserted their keys and entered the validated codes. Within seconds, a green light appeared. The weapons were armed.

The next time the alarm went off, they would be given the order to launch.

Uzhur, Russia

Seven hundred kilometers north, in the heart of Siberia, another team received the same orders. They both inserted their keys and entered the valid codes. They watched and waited for the green light but didn’t live to see it.

Warrenton, Virginia

Vyper ended the call with Smith and breathed a sigh of relief. It was just this morning when she told him about Indian Point. Technicians at the site discovered an alarming temperature rise that did not show up on the operators’ consoles. In response, they shut down operations until all systems could be certified free of malicious software. Calvert Cliffs had no such problem, but the situation was being monitored closely. Inspection and mediation were planned for all nuclear power plants across the nation.