“I don’t know. I’ll be talking to her. Would you like me to ask her?”
“Really? Could you? That would be awesome. If she’s on a team, I could tell our Blue team to look out for her.”
“Yes. Speaking of which, I noticed you haven’t been online as much lately, but haven’t you been staying out late? Or at Justin’s? What time did you come in last night?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. About midnight.”
Elizabeth frowned. “No it wasn’t. I’m sure you locked the door after one.”
He looked down at his plate. “Uh, maybe.”
“What are you doing out so late?” his father asked.
“Just hangin’ with Justin and some friends. Usually at Justin’s house. No big deal.”
“And who brings you home?”
“Most of our other friends are sixteen, and they drive me home.”
The parents exchanged glances. “Rob, we don’t want you out after midnight, being driven home by sixteen year olds. Either be home on time—without speeding—or call home, and one of us will come get you. And don’t do anything crazy.”
Rob kept his head down. “I won’t.”
Late that night David went outside on their patio and dialed the number in Estonia with one of the new cell phones that his colleague in IT had secured for him. He had not heard from Omid since their conversation about Goli, which worried him.
“Omid, how are you?” he asked, when the second connection was made.
“Cousin David. We are here. Goli is just starting to be better, thanks to our doctor friends, but she says almost nothing. She just sits at our window and looks out at the city. I cry a thousand tears inside, but I’m trying to be strong for her.”
“Omid, what can I do?”
“I may be close to a plan. If we can visit family in Turkey, can you help her?”
“I’ll do my best. But you must come together.”
Omid paused. “I must stay and try to change this madness. These crazy people are not Iran. They are thugs, clinging to personal power in the name of Islam. We must change our country, and if people like me leave, who will do it?”
“Tell me how I can help.”
“Just be there when we need you. It may be soon. A plane ticket and some money for Goli”
“For both of you. I will, but don’t call on my old phone. At least not your phone. Have a friend call me, and I’ll call you back on another one.”
“OK, cousin. I’ll be back to you soon.”
“Elizabeth and I will be waiting to help”
“Thank you.”
Knox was alone, seated at his desk in his top floor office early the next morning when he received a video call from Mustafin and Kamali.
“Is everything ready to go?” Knox immediately asked, laying aside the report he had been reading on their operations in Brazil.
Mustafin spoke. “Yes. The Russians at NovySvet are able to track the micro-GPS repeaters virtually anywhere on the globe.”
“And what about the missile?”
“We went over that in detail this morning,” Kamali answered. “The team is ready, and they’ve found a suitable site in the area we designated.”
“And these men can do the launch?”
“Certainly. Actually, once the physical cover is removed from the transport, which resembles a large lorry, and the missile is prepared, we can give the command to launch it from here, or even from your plane, for that matter. We just need them to get it ready.”
“Yes. So you think anyone who later traces the flight path will think Chechnya?”
“In Russia, the Chechnyans are an easy way to explain anything unpleasant. The missile will launch from inside Russia and fly well below the floor of their domestic air surveillance radar. But in case anyone on the ground happens to notice the missile and remembers it the next day, the launch will be on a line from Chechnya to Moscow, so the implication will be clear.”
Knox thought for a few moments. “It sounds plausible. Keep working on the details, and let’s review them next week at our regular meeting. And signal Salim to prepare for the Stinger martyrs in Los Angeles and New York, right after we take out the leadership of the two countries that persecute us the most. Besides the political chaos, the U.S. will have to shut down all air travel—maybe for months or years. Imagine the economic impact. We’ll have to think well about what to buy and sell in anticipation. What a great day for the faith it will be! We’re about to set the events in motion by making our announcement in support of President Harper.”
“When?” Mustafin asked.
“Burke and I are holding a press conference in our auditorium at ten this morning. And David Sawyer will be there as well—since he’s an integral part of the public part, we want him to be very enthusiastic. Watch us on TV if you can. We’re great supporters of the President now.”
The two men chuckled. Kamali said, “I can’t wait to see the transformation.”
“It’ll be good,” Knox assured them. “Academy Award material.”
After the press conference and lunch, David welcomed Akbar Kamali to his office. Over the years the two had never been close, but they had worked on several cross-department projects together. And they had talked occasionally about events in Iran, Kamali’s home, though usually just to regret the demonstrations and violence.
“Thanks for coming by,” David said, as he rose and motioned the Persian to a chair at his small conference table.
“Sure. Any time. How may I help?”
David took the seat across. “Of course I know that we have extensive special security on our servers and our databases, but I was wondering whether you think that our USNet emails and cell phone calls are secure. Could someone, somehow, be listening or gathering information, without us knowing?”
Kamali did not answer immediately, but looked intently at David. Finally he said, “Why do you ask?”
David took his smartphone out of the holster on his belt and put it on the table in front of him. He glanced down at it. “I don’t know. I’m not a technical guy. But I’ve read stories over the years about the possibility—even that the government is doing it—and now that we depend so much on these for so much of our communication, I wonder whether some supercomputer couldn’t be monitoring and stealing information from what we say and write.”
Kamali paused again. “Do you have any indication that your calls or emails have been compromised?”
David leaned slightly forward. “No. But I would think that anyone doing it would be careful to keep it secret. But I did get this report.” He held up Todd’s letter, ostensibly from a Midwestern security company.
“May I see it?”
“Sure.” David handed the document to Kamali, who quickly scanned it. “May I have a copy?”
“Of course,” David said, as he reached to get it back. “I’ll ask Julie to scan a copy and send it to you.”
“Thanks. I’ll look into it. Right now I’m not sure, but I’ll get back to you.”
“Good. I appreciate it. You, know, I’ve been trying to help two family members in Tehran, and I worry that maybe their government is monitoring every call.”
Kamali shifted slightly in his chair. “In Tehran? How have you been helping?”
“Mostly with encouragement, I’m afraid. But I’ve also sent my cousin Omid and his wife phones and SIM cards. They have a group that is trying to expose the excesses of the thugs who are running the country.”
“Really? Good for you. How do you get the phones there?”
“Through another cousin who makes business trips to Turkey. We’re also hoping to get Omid and Goli out of Iran soon. She was beaten and raped by the police.”
“Terrible. It sounds like your cousins are very brave. I hope that you continue your help.”
“We plan to. It’s just very difficult.”
“Yes, of course. I have family there as well, of course, so I know.”
“Well”—David glanced at his watch—�
��thank you again, Akbar. I’ve got another meeting now, but I look forward to hearing what you find out.”
The two men rose. “Hopefully it will not take long, and, if necessary, we’ll think about some extra measures.”
David nodded. “Good. I’m just trying to help.” As Kamali walked through the door, David put the security report on his desk.
RobSaw: Whatzup?
Calliente: Studying.
RobSaw: It’s summer
Calliente: Doing summer school to get thru
RobSaw: Acting?
Calliente: And history. U?
RobSaw: MailDrop job.
Calliente: Is it good?
RobSaw: It’s OK. Did u know Dad met the President?
Calliente: When?
RobSaw: Yesterday in Wash.
Calliente: Why?
RobSaw: Big meeting in Moscow soon.
Calliente: Pretty cool.
RobSaw: Yeah.
Late that Friday afternoon David was finishing up the final invitee list for the Moscow reception. With Julie’s help he had applied for his Russian visa and had reservations on several flights to Moscow, waiting word from Tanya Prescott on how early he should arrive. The phone rang, and he could see on the readout that it was Kristen’s cell phone.
David picked it up and then returned it to its cradle, cutting the connection. The phone rang again. Same number. David frowned and repeated the hang up. Ninety minutes later he was driving home and dialed Kristen’s apartment with one of his new phones.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Kristen. It’s David. How are you?”
“Fine. Hey, is something wrong with your phones? I tried twice today to get you, and each time it was like the phone answered and then hung up.”
“Actually it was me.”
“Why?”
“It’s complicated. I want to talk with you, but I prefer to use this new cell phone.”
“Why? It sounds like a spy movie.”
“Yeah. It’s not that. I just think that it’s too easy for people to listen, and our conversations now are not strictly business.”
“David, are you serious? That sounds paranoid.”
He nodded to himself. “Maybe. My cousins in Iran have taught me to be much more cautious. The same with emails. Please just humor me, OK? Call me like you did; I’ll see the readout and call you back, just like I’m doing.”
“Where are you?”
“Driving home.”
“David, are you in some sort of trouble?”
“No, actually, just the opposite. Things are getting better.”
“But I can’t call you or use email? That doesn’t sound better.”
“Hey, why did you call?”
“A couple of reasons.” Her tone brightened. “First, I think I got the job with the Ohio pension fund to open their office here.”
“That’s great!”
“Yes. They’re doing background checks, and assuming I pass those, they want me to start July 5th.”
“I’m really pleased for you.”
“There’s still time for you to quit USNet and for us to open our own corporate service firm.”
He smiled. “I wish. Maybe, some day.”
“If it’s the money, David, I know we’ll make a lot.”
“We’ve been through this, Kristen. There are too many reasons why I can’t leave.”
“Is one of them why you can’t talk to me on an office phone?”
“You said there were a couple of reasons why you called me today.”
She paused. “Yes. Did you see Knox’s news conference this morning about the Media and Entertainment Reform Law?”
“I was there.”
“Do you think he’s real?”
“Yes. Of course. Why?”
“I don’t know. I just had a bad feeling watching him. I couldn’t match what he was saying to what I was seeing.”
“Burke says that he means it.”
“I know. I hope so. I just…” She was silent.
“I’m counting on it being right, because I think I’m going to L.A. before Moscow, and I want to tell Callie that this means she and her wonderful boyfriend can’t do any more of their videos until she’s twenty-one, in a year. Hopefully by then she’ll have seen the light and moved on.”
“That would be great.”
“I know. That’s one of the reasons I said that things are actually looking up. Maybe she’ll dump Alex and focus on finishing school.”
“I hope. She and I talk several times a week, now.”
“Really? About what?”
Kristen laughed. “Just stuff. She calls me or I call her. She’s actually very good with fashions. She’s helped me a lot.”
“What about the movies?”
“She knows how I feel. But I don’t push her and I don’t lecture her. I’m just there.”
“I hope you can make a difference. By the way, Elizabeth may go to L.A. with me, and I hope she won’t find out about all of that.”
“Can I tell Callie you’re coming?”
“No, not yet. I have to set it up. But I’ll let you know. Maybe you can help reinforce not hurting her mother.”
“Sure. I think she actually understands that. I think she just wants to get back at you when she can.”
“For what?”
“Well, the trigger of course is your disapproval of Alex, and cutting her off. But she told me once that you always criticized her and never congratulated her, even as a little girl. That if she made B’s, you’d ask her why not A’s. And why wasn’t she the fastest, or the best. And then you were usually not at home. David, I’m not trying to be a dime-store psychologist, but you asked me, and I don’t know what really happened. But she has a precocious personality, and I think she’s been trying to get your attention and your approval all her life, but now you’ve disowned her. So with Alex and these movies, she’s finally got your attention.”
“She certainly has,” he added softly.
“Well, but now all of that should change, thanks to President Harper’s new law.”
“And Knox dropping the lawsuits.”
“Yes. I’m glad you think he’s genuine. I feel better.”
“Kristen, he has to be. There’s way too much riding on it.”
“All right. I just felt like he wasn’t for real.”
“Congratulations again on your new job.”
“It’s not quite official yet. So keep it quiet ‘til I tell you.”
“OK, but they’re getting the best.”
“Only because you trained me. Say hello to Elizabeth for me, and call me sometime on a pair of tin cans.”
He laughed. “Will do. Talk to you soon.”
Knox was finally able to respond to an earlier encrypted email from Akbar Kamali, asking for a videoconference with him and Victor Mustafin. With his office door locked and the late afternoon sun flooding his penthouse office, he dialed both of his lieutenants on their secure video network.
After their initial greetings, Kamali related his conversation earlier that day with David Sawyer, including the security report David had given him to read.
Knox listened attentively, then sat back for a few moments before speaking. “First things first. Do you think there is any connection between David’s sudden concern for security, and that Phelps man who works for David joining us in RTI?”
From the right half of the split screen, Kamali replied, “It’s hard to say. When I can get into the report, we should know whether it’s an issue, but I doubt it. People have been speculating for years. And I think all of it may have been some sort of cover for his real concern: his cousins, whom he’s helping to work against Allah and the Revolution.”
“Yes. That’s the second thing: his help for Allah’s enemies. Why didn’t we know about this sooner?”
Mustafin said, “Because our system is focused to find business intelligence, not Iranian security issues. David has been calling his family for years, so it didn�
�t rise to an intercept.”
“Well, then Allah be praised that he confided in Akbar.” Knox again paused, looking out at the setting sun. “David is another tragic loss, like my cousin. Sold out to the lie of America.” He sighed. “Praise Allah that there are other, better men—believers—coming along to take his place.”
Both men on the video screens nodded.
“But David is very good at real estate for USNet, and we need him right now with the President in Moscow. So we’ll leave him there—doing his American job, and we’ll also let him keep calling his cousins in Tehran. We’ll flag all his calls and use him to take us straight to his cousins and their entire organization. He will help us silence more voices that are opposed to Allah’s truth.” Trevor smiled.
26
FRIDAY, JUNE 17TH
Todd had a lot on his mind as he pulled into the RTI Control Center at seven on Friday morning a week later. First time in the control room itself. And we’re signing the contract on Capital Tower at eleven.
He parked and went inside. He was greeted by Victor Mustafin. They shook hands, and Mustafin held up a new ID card. “Here’s your new, and final, card. It gives you access to the control room itself. Let me have your old one.”
Todd still had it in his hand from swiping the entrance and gave it to his mentor, taking the new one in return.
They used Todd’s card and his handprint to go through the airlock and into the control room. As their eyes adjusted to the dimmed lighting, Todd put the new card in his wallet. He looked around and couldn’t help a small smile. This is it. Seemed like I’d never learn enough, but I actually feel pretty well prepared. So much opportunity. So much money.
Mustafin said, “I’ll be taking over as duty officer in a few minutes, and you will sit next to me.”
“Fine.” In a few minutes both he and Mustafin were online.
With no active message in front of them, Todd heard Mustafin through his earphones. “Just like at the lower level, there are archives here that you should review, catalogued by day and by subject. It’s always a good idea to arrive twenty minutes early and scroll through the chronological file for the days since you were last on. At least you’ll be aware of how the issues were handled, in case more of the same comes up on your watch. Here are the icons. And these can only be read from consoles in this room.”
Enemy In the Room Page 29
