Cyber Apocalypse (Book 1): As Our World Ends

by Hunt, Jack

  “Sounds like they’ve got more than security issues.” He chuckled.

  She wasn’t amused. “Call it what you will.”

  He rose suddenly but she didn’t flinch. A smile flickered. Testing her perhaps? He would have been insane to try something with the guard outside. Ryan stretched out the tension in his neck and legs before taking a seat again. “What makes you think you can trust me?”

  “You might be a hacker, Ryan, but you’re no terrorist.”

  “I don’t know about that. I heard that term thrown around when they sentenced me.” He tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling and breathed in deeply. “You know, it could just be a sixteen-year-old kid on the other side, just like me.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not,” she replied.

  Ryan narrowed his eyes. “So why me?”

  “Besides your other exploits, you entered a computer network run by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. We have reason to believe whoever is responsible for these cyberattacks hacked into DTRA a week prior to the attacks on the cities. No one else has managed to do that except you. And… you were inside at the time the second hack occurred.”

  DTRA was an agency within the United States that worked hand-in-hand with the Department of Defense to combat weapons of mass destruction including chemical, biological, nuclear and special weapons.

  “So what… you think I know who’s behind it?”

  She wrinkled up her nose. “Hackers stick together. It’s a close-knit world.”

  “Close-knit.” He laughed. “If it was, I wouldn’t be in here, now would I? Which reminds me. You wouldn’t have the name of who snitched, would you?”

  “You know we can’t give that out. Confidentiality and all. Besides, what use is it to you now?”

  “I don’t like snitches.”

  She was beginning to lose her patience. “Look, I need a yes or no.”

  He snorted. “What’s the deal?”

  “Complete immunity. You go free.”

  “In exchange for what?”

  “Finding who is behind the hack.”

  “And if I can’t help you?”

  “Then you come right back here.”

  He scoffed. “That’s not exactly a deal, is it?”

  “It’s what’s on the table. Take it or leave it.”

  Ryan looked at the door again and shook his head. “I’ve only got eleven months of my sentence remaining. I’ll leave it unless you can come up with a better deal.”

  “What better deal is there? They’re offering you a Get Out of Jail Free card.”

  “Free?” He laughed. “It relies on me being able to help them. If it was that simple, Homeland would have already found those responsible. These types of guys hide their IP behind layers of security, hacking into other jurisdictions, countries, systems that are poorly monitored. I can’t guarantee anything. Hell, you wouldn’t have caught me if it hadn’t been for a snitch. And I damn well won’t spend hours, maybe days of my time working for the same assholes who put me in here, only to come right back if I don’t deliver. No, you go back and tell your boss to blow me. I want something better. Something secure and in writing before I place one finger on any keys.”

  “Ryan, this isn’t a negotiation.”

  “Oh but it is otherwise you would have marched me out of here by now.”

  Danielle felt like she was playing a game of chess. “Look around you, Ryan. Are you telling me you’d rather stay in here than take a gamble?”

  “I’m not a gambling man, especially when the odds are against me.”

  “I beg to differ, you took a gamble you wouldn’t get caught when you performed those hacks, so don’t give me that.”

  “Different risk. Familiar risk. Like I said, you wouldn’t have caught me had it not been for some asshole flapping his gums. Anyway, you got this offer in writing?”

  “No. But we will get to that after—”

  He shook his head and slumped back on his bed. “No, no, it doesn’t work like that, darling. I want it in writing, upfront, and a much better deal. For now, you guys can go sing for your supper.”

  “Don’t be stupid. You’re throwing away a chance to get out. Full immunity. This will come off your record.”

  He laughed. “You’ve obviously not heard of the internet. It’s never off the record. No, I want a better deal.”

  “Last chance.”

  He chuckled. “If it was my last chance, assistant director, you would already be gone.”

  Danielle clenched her jaw, pursed her lips and knocked on the door to be let out. As soon as she was outside and the door closed, she stood there for a moment, out of sight, hands balled, contemplating. Cocky bastard. He knew he had them by the balls. The guard looked at her, an eyebrow rose. “You done?”

  Danielle raised a finger. “Just give me a second.”

  She sent a text to her superior to let him know he’d turned down the offer. The response was to be expected. They wanted a solution not another problem.

  Truth was, there was too much riding on this. Too much had occurred between Iran and the U.S. over the past year to take anything lightly especially with Iran shooting down one of America’s military drones. Since then tensions had mounted with an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oilfields by the Iran-backed Houthi militia. That led to an exchange of threats on both sides. America’s retaliation came swift and hard only to backfire with protests and an attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. With America’s ties and support to the Saudis hanging in the balance, and threats from Iran, the shooting in Pensacola had only brought into question America’s allies and their own security flaws.

  Danielle looked back at the cell door and clenched her jaw.

  She couldn’t believe they wanted to negotiate with a sixteen-year-old. The government was desperate, and Ryan was right, hackers were notoriously hard to find. Danielle closed her eyes and swallowed her pride as she motioned to the guard to open the door. When she reentered, Ryan was still laying there with a smirk on his face.

  He knew all too well that she’d return.

  “So soon? C’mon, I was thinking you would at least have a cup of coffee — you know, think it over.”

  “What do you want?” she asked folding her arms and trying to get to the point.

  “Now we’re talking.” He sucked air between his lips and swung his short legs off the bed, then wiggled his fingers in front of her. “Fire up that tablet, hand it over, I’ll need to jot this down.” He grinned with pure delight.

  It was the most absurd list of demands she’d ever laid eyes on, and she’d witnessed a few in her career. She might have thought it was a joke, had it not come from a juvenile. After the Department of Homeland Security’s helicopter touched down in Florida, they were quickly ushered into a sedan with black-tinted windows that whisked them away to NAS Pensacola where a team of federal authorities were on standby.

  Danielle scanned the list again.

  Most of it wouldn’t fly.

  “Ten grams of Jack Herer or Purple Haze?”

  Ryan shrugged. “What? It’s legal. It helps me think. You want results. I need clarity of mind.”

  “Maybe you should have smoked some before you made this list,” she replied, shaking her head and continuing. “You’re too young.”

  “And you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. So I guess we’ll have to meet in the middle.” He gazed out the window with a smile as if he was on a country drive.

  She sighed and looked down again. “A five-year supply of Starbucks coffee. Really?”

  “That shit is expensive.”

  “I get that but why five years?”

  “Seemed like a nice round number, not too high, not too low.”

  “Right.” She rolled her eyes. Danielle mumbled under her breath. She couldn’t imagine what her colleagues would say, never mind the director. The list continued with even more outlandish demands — no more taxes, five million into an offshore bank account, a brand-new McLaren 720, a li
fetime subscription to Netflix, a sixty-five inch smart TV, a PS5 and a bountiful supply of vegan food and green smoothies to be delivered while he worked on the matter at hand.

  “Vegan?”

  “What? I like to do my part to support the planet.”

  “Of course you do.” She brought a hand up to her head, feeling the tension headache getting worse as she scanned more strange and bizarre requests for clothing, food and appliances. However, the final request at the bottom of the list made her think there was hope for him. In fact, it seemed a little out of place.

  She turned off the tablet as they got closer to the naval base.

  Danielle inhaled deeply trying to figure out how she was going to break this to him. “About the list.”

  Ryan threw up a hand. “I know what you’re gonna say. The lifetime subscription was a little too much. I’m open to negotiate.”

  She snorted. “No, I’m referring to your final request.”

  “Oh… that.” He dipped his head and for the first time since she’d met him that hard exterior vanished and she could tell he was embarrassed.

  “It’s fine. I’ll make some calls and see what I can do. But uh… why California?”

  Ryan lifted his eyes. “I have my reasons.”

  She nodded and looked out the window as they rolled up to a heavily manned security post. The window lowered and the driver showed a card to naval security before waving them onto the base. “I should give you the heads-up. There will be a lot of top brass in attendance. Try not to be intimidated.”

  He chuckled. “As if.”

  After they parked in front of a huge warehouse, security opened the rear doors.

  Dust and grit swept up in their eyes as they got out and crossed a large parking lot. The roar of jets overhead caught her attention as she led him into a building full of offices. Danielle gave a nod to a few military personnel as they went down a long hallway. She was curious to see what Ryan could find. Some of their best and brightest were involved in the investigation and so far they’d come up empty. Could they eventually find the culprit? Maybe. It was hard to know but time was of the essence. There was far more bubbling below the surface that she hadn’t mentioned. Ryan was right, she had withheld. She hadn’t mentioned the forty-plus municipalities that had been victim to cyberattacks that year, or Baltimore, Albany, Laredo and many more. Millions in ransom demands had already been paid out in Bitcoin. No doubt to youngsters no older than Ryan. Ransomware was becoming more common with over a billion dollars being paid out to cybercriminals on a yearly basis.

  Though troubling, it wasn’t the worst. Homeland Security had been expecting a widespread terrorist attack on America since 9/11. Informants in the Middle East had given them snippets of information but most had led to dead ends and the rest wasn’t concrete enough to follow up on. It wasn’t a matter of if, only when an attack would happen, and with Russia emerging as a weapons supplier to Iran it would have been an understatement to say that they weren’t stressed out. While they weren’t hanging all their hope on Ryan, they knew if anyone was up to the challenge of finding out if Iran was behind it, it was him.

  All they needed was one good lead, a reason to justify retaliation. She hoped to God that never happened.

  Strolling through a maze of corridors and doorways was dizzying. Her heels clicked against the floor. Ryan’s face was stoic, hard to read. Back in civilian clothes, he just looked like any other teenager, and yet he was far from it. She’d read the report on him, his IQ was abnormally high and despite his shaky home life, he’d always scored top of the class at high school. In and out of foster homes, none had seemed to work out. Some were abusive, but most just couldn’t handle his unruly behavior — that’s why his last request to be placed in a foster family out of state caught her off guard.

  Ahead, a smartly dressed dark-skinned man approached.

  “Martin.” Danielle introduced her colleague from the National Cybersecurity Division and told Ryan she would join him in a while.

  “I thought you were staying?” Ryan asked.

  She caught the change of tone. Apprehensive? Gone was the tough exterior he’d shown at the detention center, or the sarcasm on the way over.

  “I am. Martin will take you through and provide you with what you need. I need to make a few calls. Get the ball rolling for you.”

  “I’m not working until you sign a paper, and my lawyer approves.”

  “Trust me, Ryan, no one here is looking to screw you over.”

  He didn’t look like he believed her. Danielle couldn’t blame him, government leaders were notorious for making deals only to get what they needed and leave people high and dry, and… after what he’d done, they were more than happy to see him ride out the rest of his sentence.

  A few hours later, Danielle returned to find Ryan in front of a wall of illuminated screens with his feet up. In one hand was a joint, in the other a large Starbucks coffee. Martin was talking with a couple of FBI agents when she entered. “Martin? What’s going on?”

  He cast a glance over his shoulder at her.

  “What’s it look like? He’s celebrating his achievement.”

  She glanced at her wristwatch. “In two hours?”

  “I’m telling you, they should hire that kid. He put our crew to shame.” He shook his head and sighed. “Youngsters today… something is definitely wrong with their DNA.” He pointed at the large screen. “He managed to locate the source IP. The feds are raiding a location on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico as we speak. Ryan says the culprit won’t be there but it doesn’t matter as he has a name just in case we can’t connect the dots.”

  “Excellent. Who is it?”

  “No idea.” Martin gave a nod toward Ryan. “He won’t give it until we give him the name and address of the one that snitched on him. These hackers are crazy.”

  She looked over and Ryan stared back with a wide grin. Crazy? Nope, that kid was too smart for his own good.

  2

  California

  Success doesn’t happen overnight, nor does failure, but it sure as hell can look that way. Instead it occurs through a series of incremental steps, hardly noticeable, transpiring over the course of hours, days, weeks, even years — more often than not it goes unseen, like a wood carver chipping away — when people finally see the finished product, they stand in awe or disappointment.

  That had been the case with the demise of her marriage.

  “You’ll do fantastic. Trust your gut. Okay? You’ve got this!” Sophie said reaching across the café table and giving her daughter’s hand a reassuring squeeze. Elisha was nineteen, brown eyes, a beauty with curly dark hair that looked like a waterfall when swept to one side. Petite in height but athletic and strong, she was in the last few weeks of training as an Aviation Survival Technician (AST) for the United States Coast Guard.

  Following in her father’s footsteps, she’d already worked her way through eight weeks of boot camp, time in the fleet and a large chunk of the course. It was tough, long and physically and emotionally draining. She remembered showing up in Cape May for Elisha’s graduation. Marching out, Elisha looked a far cry from the timid and shy girl she’d dropped off.

  There was courage, and strength in her eyes.

  How quickly they formed to the mold.

  From there, Elisha went on to complete twenty-four weeks at A-school in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, before returning to Petaluma, California, to complete the remaining seven weeks. Once she made it through EMT training, and the NREMT-B test, she still had another year as a rescue swimmer before achieving full qualification.

  The trouble was, with roughly twenty-five applicants out of a hundred and twenty completing the course, and even fewer making the cut, the challenge and stress to become a certified rescue swimmer was high.

  Still, it was testament to her character, and her ability to make it through the most grueling regime. Although confident about how far Elisha had come, Sophie’s nerves were still getting
the better of her.

  It was to be expected. Sophie remembered what it was like going through four years of college to become a registered nurse — hours of hitting the books, bucketsful of caffeine and sleepless nights worrying. How she managed to graduate was nothing short of a miracle especially with her ADD, lingering doubts that she was good enough, and a looming debt she’d need to pay off upon graduation. Of course it all looked magical when she saw the nursing brochure; the reality was far from it. Almost 60 percent of her class dropped out, which was disheartening. Twenty-five years cleaning up crap in hospitals and doing community nursing had taught her that it was a thankless job with long hours, high stress and overbearing bosses. As for the union, well that was about as useful as a wet match. At least that’s what her experience had been. That’s not to say she didn’t find the career rewarding but it was challenging.

  That evening, Elisha had given Sophie a ride to Sonoma County Airport. She had a red-eye flight to catch to Florida, before taking another to North Carolina the following day. The second part of the trip she wasn’t looking forward to but Alex hadn’t exactly given her much choice.

  “Mom, are you sure about this?” Elisha asked.

  “C’mon, this is not the time to talk about it.”

  “No, I meant fostering.”

  “Oh… that, of course. You know how long I’ve been waiting to hear back from them.”

  “I know, but it seems a little rushed, don’t you think? Surely they want you to meet him before you sign off.”

  “I am. That’s why I’m going.”

  “No, you said you’re going to pick him up.”

  Sophie sighed and drained the remainder of her cup. She glanced up at the airport departure board. Glowing letters and numbers punched out above them and kept changing. The gate hadn’t opened yet but she would need to get moving soon. “Look, I trust Rachel’s instincts. If she says he’s a good kid I believe her. Besides, I looked over the paperwork. He meets all of the criteria that I requested, and it’s only two years before he’ll be out of the system. If he becomes a problem I will call her, but let’s face it, I’ve not had much luck finding the right kid.”