by Mark Goodwin
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Technical information in the book is included to convey realism. The author shall not have liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or allegedly caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.
All of the characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 Goodwin America Corp.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote short passages in a review.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my Editor in Chief Catherine Goodwin, as well as the rest of my fantastic editing team, Jeff Markland, Frank Shackleford, Stacey Glemboski, Sherrill Hesler, Paul Davison, Carole Pickard, and Claudine Allison.
PROLOGUE
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.
Micah 3:11
In 2010 the NSA’s Operation Olympic Games changed the face of cyberwarfare and cyberespionage forever. In coordination with the Israelis, The National Security Agency’s program developed the most advanced and complex piece of malware code ever created. The weaponized code has come to be known as the Stuxnet virus. Stuxnet attacked Iran’s nuclear-enrichment centrifuges and severely delayed the rogue nation’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon. The Stuxnet virus not only disabled the centrifuges, but by attacking the SCADA systems which controlled the machinery, made them spin out of control causing physical damage to the hardware. The attack permanently disabled the equipment, to the point that the centrifuges were no longer usable.
This event was considered a major win for both the US and Israel. Just as Hiroshima and Nagasaki proved nuclear superiority for America, Stuxnet had established the US as the leader in cyberwarfare and cyberespionage. Yet, just as it didn’t take long for other nations to develop the technology and enter the atomic arms race, mimicking the Stuxnet attack will take even less time.
Unlike the science required to develop a nuclear warhead, Stuxnet left behind the code used to initiate the attack, providing a blueprint for enemy nation states to reverse engineer the virus. By now, it is likely that all of America’s adversaries possess malicious cyber programs similar in complexity to the Stuxnet exploit.
Few news items challenged the preeminence of the Stuxnet virus in the cyber world until 2017. In April of that year, a group known as the Shadow Brokers announced that they had obtained leaked hacking tools developed by the NSA and would be making them available to hackers worldwide. Two of the hijacked exploits were called EternalBlue and DoublePulsar. These two programs were used by hackers to develop the WannaCry ransomware attack, which targeted computers running Windows operating systems in May of 2017.
WannaCry infected some 200 thousand machines in 150 countries. The exploit wreaked havoc across the world, bringing down the National Health Services in England and Scotland. Nissan and Renault both had to cease manufacturing automobiles as a result of the attack. FedEx shipping was disrupted worldwide as was Spain’s telecommunication capabilities and Germany’s transportation system.
The virus disrupted the Russian postal service as well as several Russian banks, which helped to quell the rumors suggesting Russia’s FSB had created the malicious code; but then again, what better way could a nation-state put on a guise of innocence? Such is the nature of cyber-attacks. A smoking gun rarely exists. At the end of the day, conjecture and finger-pointing make poor substitutes for hard evidence.
Before stepping down from her role as Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano warned that a cyber 9/11 was imminent. Former CIA Director James Woolsey has also been very vocal in issuing caveats about the likelihood of a massive cyber-attack; the likes of which could bring down critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, communications, water systems, as well as major banking institutions. Additionally, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned that America faces a coming Cyber Armageddon.
The story in this book is fiction, but the threat is very real. Plan accordingly.
CHAPTER 1
The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Zephaniah 1:14-18
The smell of burning rubber filled the midnight air in the Atlanta suburb of Buckhead. The orange blaze of distant fires reflected from the clouds in the dark sky above the city. Sirens pierced through the crisp atmosphere. Their high-pitched screams seemed to roar out of nowhere then fade to near silence. But the silence never came. By the time the sound of one emergency vehicle had dwindled to a hush, another quickly took its place.
Standing next to her car, Kate McCarthy pulled a box of shotgun shells out of her pack. She put five shells in her left front pocket and placed the rest in the center console of her Mini Countryman. She pulled back her long blonde hair into a ponytail and fished it through the opening of her ball cap. She lowered the bill of the cap, then positioned the pump-action shotgun between the console and the passenger’s seat.
Kate opened the trunk of her vehicle. “Vicky, you and your brother are riding with me. You can put your bags in here.”
Fourteen-year-old Victoria looked stressed as she hoisted her belongings into the back of her Aunt Kate’s car.
Sixteen-year-old Samuel dropped his pack next to his sister’s suitcase. “What about mom? Is she coming?”
Sam’s father, Terry, pressed his lips and closed the back of his Escalade. “I don’t know, son. I begged her, but she’ll have to make that decision for herself. Either way, you guys are coming with us.”
“I don’t want to leave mom here alone.” Sam walked back into the house. “I’m going to talk to her.”
Kate put her hand on her niece’s shoulder. “Let’s go ahead and get in the car.”
Vicky watched her brother go back into the house but did as her aunt asked. “Yeah, okay.”
Terry glanced at his watch then looked back up at his sister.
Kate smiled nervously, hating the situation and disliking the fact that her sister-in-law was putting Terry in such a terrible position.
Minutes later, Sam came out the front door. “Mom’s coming! She’s coming with us.”
Terry gave a sigh of relief. “Good job, son.”
“She just needs to pack a few things.”
Terry shook his head. “No. We’ve gotta go now.”
“Dad, she has to bring clothes. You have to give her some time.”
“Five minutes. No more.”
Vicky sunk low in the back seat of Kate’s car. “I hate this. I don’t care if we stay or go, but I just wish they could get along.”
Kate powered on the walkie-talkies and carried one of the hand-held units up to her brother’s Escalade. “Push to talk. The channels are set. If you accidentally change it, go back to channel three.”
“Got it.” Terry pressed the talk button. “Check, check, check.” His voice came through loud and clear on Kate’s radio.
Five minutes passed yet there was no sign of Terry’s wife, Penny.
“What’s taking her so long?” Terry clenched his jaw.
“She’s a woman. It takes us a little longer.” Kate tried to ease the situation.
“I wish she’d thought of that when I asked her to pack a bag eight hours ago.”
“But you’re glad she decided to come.” Kate rubbed Terry’s shoulder.
He sighed. “I’m glad she decided to come.”
Nearly twenty minutes had passed when Sam reemerged from the house with two of his mother’s suitcases in tow. “She’ll be right out.”
Terry quickly assisted Sam with loading the bags into the Escalade.
“I really don’t understand why we couldn’t wait until morning. This is very absurd, running off in the cover of night.” Penny lugged yet another large bag for Terry to load into the vehicle.
“Get in!” Terry shut the rear of the vehicle and rushed to the driver’s seat.
Kate hurried to her car. She looked in the rearview at her niece and nephew. “Buckle up.”
“Let me know when you’re ready,” Terry’s voice came over the walkie-talkie.
“All set.” Kate placed the radio next to the shotgun shells and put the car in drive.
Terry led the way, driving quickly. He called over the radio. “We’ll take Lake Forest north. It runs parallel to US-19 but will have much less traffic. Once we pass I-285, we’ll be through the worst of it and can get on 19.”
Kate pressed the talk key. “Sounds good.” With each passing block, she felt an increasing sense of relief. Every mile put her small caravan further and further from the chaos erupting in Atlanta. Kate watched the rearview and the ominous scarlet glimmers from the individual fires melt into a solitary halo of ruby over the metropolis.
Vicky leaned forward. “What was that old saying about the weather grandpa used to say? Something about red sky at night, sailors delight?”
Sam corrected her. “Yeah, but it’s 1:30 AM. So, technically, it would be red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.”
“Thanks for reminding me.” Vicky slouched back in her seat.
Half an hour later, the convoy passed through Alpharetta and the landscape became more rural. Kate breathed easier. Few other motorists were on the road.
Sam commented, “Maybe the middle of the night is the best time to get out of Dodge after all.”
Kate shook her head. “I’m not so sure about that. I think we’ve just been lucky.”
“So far,” Vicky added.
“True, but we are out of Atlanta. It should be smooth sailing from here on out.” Kate let herself relax a little more. She followed the red lights of Terry’s Escalade. She glanced at the side-view mirror to see a vehicle coming up from behind. Kate pressed the talk key on the radio. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but this guy is coming up really fast from behind.”
“I see him,” Terry replied.
Kate watched as a heavy-duty Georgia Power work truck zoomed past her. The monster vehicle swerved in front of Terry causing him to veer off the side of the road. Kate slammed her brakes.
Time froze while she witnessed the careening Escalade leave the pavement in slow motion. She watched Terry’s vehicle flip side over side twice. The SUV landed on its tires then rolled into the brush until it came to a complete stop, lodged between two trees.
Vicky shrieked with horror!
Sam yelled out at the top of his lungs. “Mom! Dad!”
Kate stopped on the shoulder of the road and rushed toward the SUV. She arrived at the crash site with her niece and nephew close behind. “Terry? Can you hear me?”
Her brother’s face was bleeding, resting against the airbag. The driver’s side door was wedged against the tree. She could not open it.
Terry looked up with a dazed expression.
“Take it easy, we’ll get you out,” declared Kate.
“They’re coming back,” Vicky screeched.
Terry seemed to come around to the danger at hand. He yelled through the window. “Get the kids and hide in the woods!”
“Maybe they’re coming to help,” suggested Sam.
“Go! Hide now!” Terry screamed through the glass.
Unwillingly, Kate grabbed Vicky’s hand. “Come on. Do as your father asked.” She sprinted to her vehicle and grabbed the shotgun, then pushed her niece and nephew into the cover of the trees.
From the concealment of the woods, Kate watched the work truck come to a complete stop. It was a two-door bucket truck. Two armed men jumped out from each door. Two more had been riding on the back of the truck by the bucket boom. They also had weapons. None of them looked like Georgia Power employees. She figured they’d stolen the vehicle.
The man who came out of the driver’s seat approached the Escalade. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
One who had been riding in the rear examined Kate’s Mini. “Looks like whoever was driving this one ran off. Think we should hunt them down?”
“If you want to tromp through the forest all night chasing someone in the dark, be my guest,” replied the driver. “Besides, that’s a girl’s car. No self-respecting man would drive a thing like that. Probably the driver’s daughter. She ain’t gonna be no problem.”
“Is he still alive?” asked another.
“Who knows. Go ahead and put a couple rounds through the windshield to be sure.”
Kate’s already-racing heart began to beat even faster. She knew she had one chance to save her brother. She motioned for the teen siblings to go farther into the forest. “This is about to get ugly. Get back and lie down,” she whispered.
Reluctantly, they complied.
“The passenger doesn’t look good neither. Go ahead and give her a couple rounds while you’re at it,” said the driver.
Kate raised the shotgun putting the front bead on the man who was about to kill Terry. Her hands shook with terror, her stomach constricted.
BOOOOM!
CHAPTER 2
What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
For a nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He has laid waste My vine, and ruined My fig tree; he has stripped it bare and thrown it away; its branches are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Joel 1:4-8
One week earlier.
Kate hustled across the busy downtown street. She wore a sharp, blue-with-white-pinstriped skirt suit, thick black-rimmed glasses, and her long blonde hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense ponytail. She put her purse on the Oak Wood Café patio table. “Sorry, I’m running late.”
Her brother stood and embraced her. “No worries. I’m just glad you could make it.”
Kate took her seat and Terry pushed her chair in. It was late September and the scorching Atlanta heat had finally subsided enough to eat lunch outside. The restaurant bustled with activity; hostesses, patrons, and servers zoomed by. Oak Wood was a favorite spot for the two siblings who both worked in the towering skyscraper across the street. At 870 feet, Sky National Plaza was the second tallest building in Atlanta.
“What are you goi
ng to have?” Terry looked over the menu.
Kate’s eyes flicked up at the waiter who’d just arrived, pen in hand. “I suppose I’ll have the sea bass. And a double espresso.”
“I’ll take the steelhead trout and a side of mac and cheese.” Terry passed his menu to the server, turning his attention to Kate. “Up all night playing video games again?”
“Good guess, but not this time. I’m in information security. Just because I work at a bank doesn’t mean I get the privilege of working banker’s hours.”
Terry grinned. “I might be in financial services, but I’m pretty sure none of the departments at Sky National are required to work double shifts.”
Kate felt tired and allowed herself to relax in the chair. “I picked up the graveyard shift for Marsha last night. Her grandmother is in the hospital. It might be the last chance she has to say goodbye.”
“That was kind of you. Does her grandmother live around here?”
“No. She’s down in Valdosta.”
“Here’s your espresso, Ma’am.”
Kate took the small cup from the waiter. “Thanks. You can go ahead and bring me another one of these.”
She took a sip of the thick black concoction. “How are Penny and the kids?”
Terry crossed his arms and looked up. “Penny is good. The kids keep her busy. Sam has his learner’s permit. Vicky has some guy calling the house.”
“No way!” Kate scowled. “She’s too young!”
Terry raised his shoulders. “I know, but what am I going to do?”
“Shut it down, that’s what.”
“Then the guy becomes forbidden fruit. She’ll like him that much more. I have to trust that we’ve brought her up right, that she’ll make the right decisions.”
