When the Killing Starts (The Blackwell Files Book 8)

by Steven F Freeman

  After winding through the gauntlet of brightly lit structures, the convoy merged onto a wide highway and raced southeast, towards PyeongChang…and an unknown enemy.

  CHAPTER 19

  As he rode shotgun in Nang’s military-modified Hyundai SUV, Alton let his gaze linger on snow-capped, rolling hills in the distance. Lost in thought, his vision blurred.

  Finally, he turned to Nang and spoke. “I looked at a map of the Olympic venues last night. They’re spread out over a huge area. That’s going to make stopping an attack more problematic. Can you think of any particular Olympic location the North might target?”

  “Not a specific one, no.”

  “We need more intel. And once we arrive at PyeongChang, I might know a way to collect it.”

  The joint team’s trio of armored SUVs entered a compound surrounded by a chain-link fence topped by coils of razor wire. Armed soldiers packing submachine guns guarded the fortress. The Olympic hosts took their security seriously.

  A half-dozen ski courses intersected a chain of formidable mountains, providing a striking backdrop to a two-story, ultra-modern edifice of aqua glass and steel. Alton and the rest of the team entered the security fortress and were shown to the command center.

  Nang wasted no time cornering Nino Donati, the Olympic chief of security, for a briefing.

  “Before you ask,” said Donati with a chuckle, “no, I’m not Korean. They subcontracted Olympic security to my company.” Apparently, he didn’t view his thick Italian accent and physical appearance as dead giveaways.

  “So I heard,” said Nang. “You received the U.S. surveillance photos of enemy troops?”

  “Yes. I activated threat level one, our highest alert status, and called in all off-shift guards. I also distributed extra armament—Beretta assault rifles, grenades, flash bangs, and lots of extra ammo. And I stationed four squads of soldiers here in HQ to act as reinforcements in case the North Koreans manage to punch through our security perimeter.”

  “Good,” said Nang. “Have your men sighted enemy troops yet?”

  “No, but we just got word this morning, and if the enemy troops are any good, they will only approach at night.”

  “Do your troops—?”

  “Yes, they all have night-vision goggles.”

  “Mr. Donati,” said Alton, “I might be able to learn more about the North’s specific plans if I can set up this laptop somewhere in the building.” In response to the security’s chief’s raised eyebrows, Alton explained. “I have a thumb drive with a computer virus created by the North Koreans. If I study the virus’s code in more detail, we may learn more about their objective.”

  “You can use this desk here in the back of the room,” said Donati. “That way, you have a question, the men here can answer it for you.”

  Alton limped over to the table. Within a minute, he had the laptop booted up and running. He cracked his knuckles and began to type. “Now let’s see what more we can learn…”

  While Mallory scanned a stream of financial information scrolling up her monitor, David and Camron joined the South Korean agents in a careful review of the security measures Donati had implemented at the Olympics’ many venues. O’Neil and Silva departed for an on-the-ground review of the village’s potential security weaknesses, assessing the village’s perimeter from the perspective of a potential enemy.

  For several hours, Alton poured over the malware’s esoteric code. The world beyond the contaminated laptop faded as he immersed himself in spirals of virus logic designed to thwart any efforts to decipher the program’s true purpose. The fact that the code had to be translated from Korean to English further complicated the effort.

  At last, he sat back and produced a rugged exhale.

  “Learn something?” asked Mallory.

  “Yep.”

  The members of the joint team stopped to listen.

  Alton cleared his throat. “The first step in figuring out the purpose of this virus was determining its immediate instructions. In other words, you work out the virus’s initial actions—what information it’s trying to obtain, who it’s trying to get it from. Once you do that, you can infer its purpose.

  “So I set out to see what was supposed to happen when the virus first loads onto an unsuspecting computer. The virus program contains self-directing code that seeks out particular people and networks.” Alton brought up a list of Korean names that had been translated into English. He scrolled and brought up one table displaying names and another listing a dozen government servers and three private ones. “The table on top shows the targeted people. The bottom list represents the servers the code was trying to penetrate.”

  “Cool,” said David. “So now we should be able to figure out what the virus is supposed to do, right?”

  “That’s the next step. It’s taken me this long just to pull these lists together. I figured it’d make more sense for us to review them together, especially with Captain Nang and his men.”

  Corporal Ru leaned over the laptop and squinted at the black letters. “What are we looking for?”

  “A common theme,” replied Alton. “What ties these disparate servers and people together?”

  “I think I can tell you that,” said Nang with furrowed eyebrows. “They’re all associated with the Olchin nuclear power plant. Two of the men are scientists who work there, and another is a politician who’s been a champion of the site for years. Two of the servers listed are the government’s Energy Commission and Seoul National University’s nuclear physics program.”

  “I thought the North Korea force was heading here…towards the Olympic venues,” said David.

  “Olchin lies just south of here. Kim’s force would have to pass right by PyeongChang to reach it.”

  Alton steepled his fingers. “So we suspect they might be interested in the power plant. If so, we need to determine exactly what they have planned there.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Three hours later, Alton had not yet unraveled the next portion of the virus’s code when a security guard ushered in a shriveled prune of a man with Coke-bottle glasses.

  “Dr. Tam,” announced the guard, who turned on his heel and left.

  Nang rose, bowed to the elderly man, and exchanged a brief greeting in Korean. He turned to Alton. “This is Dr. Tam Ji-tae. He oversees the Olchin plant and is our country’s foremost expert on nuclear reactors.”

  Alton extended a hand, only to experience a twinge of awkwardness as the scientist bowed instead.

  “Thanks for coming, Dr. Tam,” said Alton.

  After introducing the scientist to the rest of the team, Nang recapped the sequence of events since the investigation had begun. He concluded his summary. “The thumb-drive code Agent Blackwell discovered indicates the North is interested in your power plant, Dr. Tam. We’d be interested in your opinion on the reason for their interest.”

  “Pah!” spat the man through clenched teeth. “The answer is obvious. They want enriched uranium.”

  “What uranium?” asked David.

  Tam assumed a patient countenance, a teacher preparing to instruct a young student in the alphabet. “A boiling-water reactor, the kind found in my plant, uses uranium two thirty-five—uranium dioxide—as its fuel. The fuel is assembled into rods housed in a steel vessel that is submerged in water. The nuclear fission inside the rods causes the water to boil, generating steam that powers turbines.”

  “But what about the enriched part?” pressed David.

  Tam frowned. “I’m getting to that. Natural uranium is composed of two isotopes: U two thirty-eight and U two-thirty-five. Over ninety-nine percent of mined uranium comes in the U two thirty-eight variety. Here’s the problem: this type of uranium isn’t suitable for use in a power plant. The enriching process separates out U two thirty-five from the much more common U two thirty-eight. Once we have a sufficient concentration and quantity of U two thirty-five, we can use it as fuel in a nuclear reactor.”

  “So the North Koreans want
to steal U two thirty-five and build a power plant of their own?” asked David.

  “That is their claim,” said Tam. “But that type of uranium is also the material used in nuclear weapons.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Commander Yun’s worry built to the point of nausea as Lieutenant Pi’s unscheduled radio silence stretched to fifteen minutes. He continued his attempts to raise his subordinate on the radio. Time and again, Yun’s hopes rose as his heard a possible reply but sank as the noises revealed themselves to be frigid gusts rattling the Warren’s aluminum structure.

  He breathed a sigh of relief as Pi’s voice crackled over the radio.

  His subordinate’s voice was infused with a metallic timbre as the encryption software on the two radios struggled to remain synchronized. “Lieutenant Pi here. We’ve passed the second milestone.”

  “Why didn’t you answer?” demanded Yun.

  “Sorry, sir. Didn’t hear any transmission but the one you made a few seconds ago. We just emerged from behind Gyebangsan Mountain. It must have blocked the signal.”

  Yun winced. He should have realized that would happen. Was he losing his edge? Becoming too old to stay on top of a mission of this magnitude? “Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Your status?”

  “All variables within mission parameters. No equipment or personnel problems to report. And we’re…let’s see…twenty-one minutes ahead of schedule. Commander…”

  “Yes, Lieutenant? What is it?”

  “Are there any indications we’ve been spotted?”

  “Impossible to say, at least based on intercepted transmissions. The Olympics has driven the South’s volume of chatter too high to be meaningful as an indicator. We’d have to decode an actual message to be sure. My recommendation is to proceed as if they know.”

  “Of course, sir. I was simply wondering.”

  “I see. Next check-in is scheduled for three hours from now. Keep your eyes sharp and your ass down.”

  Under the influence of the encryption software, the lieutenant’s chuckle sounded like a demonic robot. “Yes, sir. Pi out.”

  Yun cut the signal. The howling winds from outside showed no signs of abating. Good—all the better to conceal his teams from enemy ground troops and the watchful eye of U.S. satellites.

  He initiated a new call.

  The other party answered on the first ring. “Dr. Tong speaking.”

  “Commander Yun here, reporting in as promised.”

  “How is the operation proceeding?”

  “Perfectly,” said Yun as a vicious blast of wind shook the entire left side of the Warren. “The second recon team has passed the Olympic Village at PyeongChang. It won’t be long before the main force moves out.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Alton’s shoulders drooped. “Nuclear weapons, huh? That was my fear when Captain Nang first mentioned Olchin.”

  “Same here,” said Camron. “The North has been testing intercontinental ballistic missiles for the last few years and seems to be on the verge of success. They’ve developed a long-range delivery system but lacked the nuclear payload.”

  “Until now, that is,” said Nang. “If they’re able to penetrate Olchin and acquire enough uranium two thirty-five, they won’t be lacking for long.”

  Tam’s nostrils flared. “You can’t let that happen! All available troops must be sent to guard my plant!”

  “All troops that can be spared will be sent,” said Nang. “But we must remain vigilant here at the Olympics, too. The North could be planning two attacks: one here, and one at Olchin.”

  “What troops are you gonna send?” asked Donati, the security chief, from his command chair in the middle of the room. “The ones we have here need to stay here.”

  “Plus, isn’t the plant already guarded?” asked Camron.

  “Yes, but we’re staffed for a civilian attack,” replied Tam. “We can defend against nuclear-power protestors and the like, not a team of Northern soldiers.”

  “I’ll have to round up forces from somewhere,” said Nang, rubbing his chin.

  Alton pondered the next countermove. “While Captain Nang is working to deploy more forces to Olchin, I’ll keep working on the last bit of the thumb-drive’s virus code, the part I haven’t yet figured out. Maybe it will provide more intel about the nature or timing of the attack.”

  “Agreed,” said Nang.

  “I’ll review Kim’s speeches from the last few weeks,” said Camron. “He likes to boast. Maybe he’s tipped his hand, and no one noticed it among his general bluster.”

  “And I’ll have my men bring up the Olchin site’s security camera feed on the monitors here,” said Donati. He nodded towards dozens of screens covering an enormous wall. “Hopefully, the only soldiers we’ll see on them will be ours.”

  By the time Nang returned a few hours later, daylight had begun to fade from PyeongChang’s crisp, blue sky.

  “Our men?” asked David, motioning to signs of activity on two of the feeds from the nuclear site.

  “Yes,” replied Nang, his mouth pulled into a thin line. “But we need more—a lot more. The site is bigger than I realized.” He slumped into a chair. “The North timed their attack perfectly. Our forces are already stretched thin guarding dozens of Olympic venues. We can’t pull men from them without creating new security weaknesses.”

  Donati raised his hands to the ceiling in exasperation. “I kept telling Maeng we needed more men, but he said he didn’t have the money.”

  “What about you?” Nang asked Alton. “Learn anything?”

  “As a matter of fact, I did. Do you remember I talked about learning the North’s attack vector—the specific approach they’re trying to use to penetrate the South’s server firewalls?”

  “Yes.”

  “I think I’ve found it.”

  A murmur passed through the joint team as they gathered around.

  “The virus is using a classic technique, the same one used by the Stuxnet virus.”

  “The what?” asked Camron.

  “Years ago,” said Alton, “the U.S. and Israel teamed up to create the Stuxnet virus. It propagated through as many computer networks as possible in order to infect the servers of an Iranian nuclear power plant. The North Korean virus is attempting to do the same thing. It’s using captured user IDs and passwords to log onto South Korean networks and keep spreading. Its objective is infecting the servers at the Olchin plant.

  “Now here’s where the two viruses are different. Stuxnet’s end game was disabling the Iranian plant by causing a centrifuge to spin at top speed until it disintegrated. The North Korean virus, on the other hand, is trying to infect Olchin servers to disable the plant’s security systems.”

  David nodded. “And they would only do that—”

  “If they were planning to invade the plant,” finished Nang. His wide eyes locked on Alton. “I have to order as many soldiers as possible to make best time to Olchin.”

  “Agreed,” said Alton. “In the meantime, Sergeant Chegal or Corporal Ru should get on the horn with the plant—give them a heads up to change the passwords to their security network and bring all off-shift security guards on-site.”

  Nang nodded and turned to Ru. “Call HQ for the number to Olchin’s threat desk.”

  The corporal pulled a cellphone from his pocket and placed a call.

  “I need direct access to the plant’s systems,” said Alton to Nang. “I need to be able to see if the North Korean virus has already breached their firewalls.”

  “You can sit here,” said one of Donati’s men, a tall, somber Italian with a bushy mustache. “These terminals are pre-authorized for that kind of access.”

  “Thanks,” said Alton, shifting into the black office chair. His fingers began to fly over the keyboard. Only a handful of minutes were needed to uncover the extent of the breach.

  Alton summoned Nang and the rest of the team. “An unidentified source downloaded the plant schematics four days ago. It’s a pretty good bet that was th
e virus. And there are signs—nothing conclusive, but indications—that the security system has been compromised.”

  “Can’t they just change their passwords?” asked Camron.

  “It’s not as simple as that. I think they gained access to the servers’ administrator capabilities. If so, then they can lock out all changes or even worse, allow the Olchin staff to think they’ve made password changes but not actually process the change.”

  “So the Olchin workers think they’ve locked out the attackers but really haven’t?” asked Mallory.

  “Exactly. That’s why it’s hard to assess the extent of the breach: everything looks normal, even when it’s not. I’ve set up a new series of challenges on Olchin’s server, but it may be too late.”

  “Okay,” said David. The team’s physical-security expert stared off into space, mentally running through his safety protocols. “Captain Nang has arranged to put more boots on-site. You’ve juiced up the security program as much as you can. Anything else we can do?”

  “There is one more thing,” said Alton. “Until now, we’ve been on the defensive, always a step behind. I say we take the offensive.”

  “How do we do that?”

  “We create our own attack vector to penetrate Kim’s servers.”

  “I like the idea,” said Nang, “but even if you manage to break into his servers, what do we gain?”

  “Access to their specific plans. For instance, Captain Nang suggested the North Koreans might be planning a two-pronged attack, both here and at Olchin. If we hack into the North’s servers, we might be able to confirm if this is true. There’s no telling what other intel we might learn—troop strength, route plans, armament.”

  “I see.” Nang squinted in concentration. “To be of any use, we’d have to gather this information within the next few hours, before the Northerners reach Olchin. What are the odds you could get it that fast?”

  “I won’t know until I try.”

  “I don’t know,” said Nang, pacing. “We already know the North Koreans’ primary target: the nuclear power plant. Trying to acquire more intel this way seems like a long shot. Is that really the best use of your expertise?”