Daniel Suarez - Freedom (TM)

“No!”

The Nazi removed his trench coat and hung it on the extended blade of a nearby bike. Then he rolled up his sleeves. He moved toward Strickland along with the second motorcycle. “I do so enjoy my vork. . . .”

Gold:$4.189USD/oz.

Unleaded Gasoline:$18.87USD/gallon

Unemployment:32.3%

USD/Darknet Credit:202.4

The heads of America’s intelligence services sat around a circular boardroom table in Building OPS-2B of National Security Agency headquarters. Now outnumbering them at the table was a wide array of private intelligence and military analysts, led by familiar executives from Computer Systems Corporation (CSC), its subsidiaries—EndoCorp and Korr Military Solutions—and the lobbying firm, Byers, Carroll, and Marquist (BCM).

The atmosphere was tense. On a bank of flat-screen televisions behind them, a dozen news channels were silently chronicling the meltdown of the American economy in animated graphics. But the real headlines were reserved for the fate of the U.S. dollar. All the graphs were heading down at a precipitous angle.

Their host opened the meeting.

NSA: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re facing a grave situation. As we sit here, the United States government has lost control of portions of its communications and air defense assets. At the same time, civil disorder is spreading throughout the Midwest, and the dollar is plummeting on foreign markets. I’m hearing calls for martial law coming from lobbyists on Capitol Hill. More worrisome is the talk I’ve heard about implementing Army Regulation 500-3.”

BCM: “It’s being brought up with good reason.”

NSA: “What reason?”

CSC: “Army Regulation 500-3 was intended to preserve civil order in the event government communications are severed due to nuclear attack, natural disaster—”

BCM: “Or technological emergency . I think the Daemon qualifies.”

CSC: “Make no mistake: this is a full-scale attack by the Daemon. Its forces are launching a violent revolution. Regulation 500-3 is called for. Civilian leadership is unable to maintain secure communications.”

NSA: “What I want to know is why our systems degraded so suddenly and completely.”

EndoCorp: “The Daemon is conducting a broad denial of service attack against government domains and communications. It’s also undermining the confidence of capital markets. It’s part of Sobol’s overall strategy.”

DARPA: “Bullshit.”

All eyes turned to him.

EndoCorp: “Excuse me?”

DARPA: “You heard me.”

BCM: “There’s no reason to abandon decorum, gentlemen.”

NSA (holding up his hands to calm the situation): “However, my colleague’s succinct critique stands: we may have outsourced a large portion of our raw intelligence-gathering capability to private industry, but we’re not completely blind. There’s no indication that the systems operated under contract for us have been compromised.”

CSC: “That’s ridiculous. We can show you the proof.”

NSA: “I’m not interested in your digital proof. We’re monitoring network and electromagnetic activity in real time. There’s no evidence our national defense assets have been degraded.”

BCM: “That’s a bold and reckless statement. You’re accusing trusted national security partners of gross negligence, Mr. Director.”

NSA (pointing to the TV monitors): “This so-called domestic uprising related to the economy—Mexican drug gangs running loose, raping and pillaging in the countryside. Panicking the populace.”

BCM: “This is what happens when economies collapse. Order needs to be restored before the chaos spreads. Private security forces are available and more palatable to the public than a government military force.”

FBI: “These gangs—we’ve arrested heavily armed suspects all across the Midwest. They’ve murdered policemen and civil authorities—and more than a few of them have turned out to be professional mercenaries tied to defunct military regimes in Central America and Eastern Europe.”

CIA: “Trained operators whose fingerprints we have on file.”

BCM (raising an eyebrow): “Then you’ve worked with them before?”

CIA: “My question is: who brought them here ?”

EndoCorp: “Most likely drug cartels, taking advantage of general lawlessness to make money.”

CIA: “That defies logic.”

NSA: “And what about money?” (Opens up a folder and tosses out reports like a blackjack dealer in Vegas.) “Financial houses controlled by your clients have been selling Treasury bills like crazy—you’re precipitating a run on the dollar.”

BCM: “Our clients have a fiduciary responsibility to their investors, and quite frankly the monetary policies of the U.S. government haven’t—”

DIA: “As if the U.S. government controls the creation of money! It seems the same private institutions entrusted with setting monetary policy were the ones who profited from debasing the dollar. No wonder the public is flocking to the Daemon network. The darknet credit is still worth a damn!”

CSC: “That’s treasonous talk.”

DIA: “Don’t lecture me about treason!”

BCM: “Everybody calm down. Let’s stop throwing the T-word around. One man’s treason is another man’s patriotism.”

FBI: “How do you figure that? ”

BCM: “The nation is under attack, and here we are arguing. We need to put our heads together.”

NSA (glaring at him): “Yes. The United States is under attack. The question is by whom ?”

They all sat in bristling silence for several moments.

BCM: “Certainly you don’t intend to stop us from defending our property? Or from maintaining public order?”

FBI: “Who is behind the covert terror operations in the Midwest?”

BCM: “Does it really matter?”

DIA (looking to NSA director): “We need to declare a national emergency and mobilize whatever National Guard troops and equipment not already deployed overseas.”

BCM: “You have a serious problem, gentlemen. Without immediate financial support, the U.S. dollar will collapse—precipitating the complete insolvency of the U.S. government. Picture Russia. Argentina.”

NSA: “This is treason.”

BCM: “A multinational corporation can’t commit treason. My clients have no obligation to America. Risk must be hedged.”

NSA: “Get the treasury secretary on—”

BCM: “Your government can create all the money it wants, but it will be worthless here and abroad. Without outside intervention the U.S. government will soon be a hollow shell.”