The Dark Web: The stunning new thriller from the author of The Angolan Clan (African Diamonds Book 3)

by Christopher Lowery

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Elodie Delacroix took a mobile from a handbag in her wardrobe, and pressed a WhatsApp number. ‘Hello darling, latest update. Shen convinced everyone at XPC that the Leo Stewart thing was a red herring and the heat’s off.’ She laughed. ‘I know, even Shen gets it right once in a while. Anyway, they’re sending the package today and expect Shanghai to turn it around within a week.’

  She listened again. ‘OK, I’ll try to get it speeded up. Maybe I can get him to go up there and move things along at Lee-Win. I’ll keep you up-to-date. I can’t wait to be in your arms again, not long now. Au revoir mon amour.’

  Malaga, Spain

  ‘Hola, buenos dias, Juan.’ Jenny shook hands with her gardener-chauffeur, and he mumbled a gruff ‘Buenos dias, Jenny’. Due to the hour time difference, it was now one-fifteen and the sun was beating down mercilessly as they walked to the car park. The drive took forty minutes, and she was in time for her meeting with Patrice at the Banco de Iberia. The bank closed at two o’clock and he’d arranged to go for lunch at Da Bruno Sul Mare, near the beach. Jenny was starving, having had nothing since her early morning tea and biscuit.

  Patrice was waiting for her in the banking hall and they walked along the busy streets to the restaurant. Her previously difficult relationship with him had improved since she’d set up Bishop Private Equity, and he had steered several opportunities in her direction. He was very enthusiastic in his praise for her business intuition.

  ‘The deal you did with Lady Knick Knack was incredibly daring. I would never have been able to negotiate that, nor to sell it to the bank.’ He spoke perfect English with an attractive French accent, which Jenny always assumed he put on to impress.

  ‘One of the best, as it turned out. You can’t fight people’s inner desires, so you might as well cater to them. Especially if you can make money while you’re at it.’ She didn’t reveal that his wife, Leticia, was one of their most regular customers.

  At the restaurant, the banker ordered two glasses of chilled Rueda, from the north of Spain. ‘Salud.’ They savoured the hint of apple and lemon flavours on their palettes and he said, ‘I know you don’t like wasting time on social visits, Jenny, so to what do I owe the honour?’

  ‘Thanks, Patrice. I’m sure you’re incredibly busy, but this is an urgent matter which came up just a few days ago and I think you might be able to help me.’

  He nodded for her to continue, and she launched into the story of Leo and the XPC conspiracy. He was very quick on the uptake and asked a lot more questions than Bill had done, seeming more and more impressed by her obvious conviction and the detailed background to the events she described.

  They had finished their first course when she finally stopped talking. ‘Mon Dieu!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s quite a story. You and Emma must have been out of your minds with worry when he was arrested.’

  Patrice was unaware of Leo’s abduction in 2010, and she replied, ‘Fortunately, Marius Coetzee is a close friend and a very resourceful man, and we never had any doubt he’d get Leo out. After he talked to Angela, the pieces of the jigsaw suddenly came together, and the picture is pretty frightening.’

  Unknowingly, he echoed Karen Coetzee’s question. ‘Do you really think Leo and Coetzee can do anything from Johannesburg? It seems to me that once the software package arrives in Shanghai, it’s too late to stop whatever it is they’re going to do. I mean, if Homeland Security can’t do anything, what chance do they have?’

  ‘Quite honestly, I have no idea, but General Chillicott and the people in London think the ownership of Lee-Win Micro-Technology might be the key to putting a spanner in the works. Without that, they say they can’t take any action until it might be too late.’

  ‘And Lee-Win’s in Shanghai? I don’t have any contacts there, Jenny. If that’s what you were hoping, I’m afraid I can’t be of any help.’

  ‘What about Hong Kong? I remember you told me you went there to set up their private equity operations.’

  ‘That’s a different matter entirely, I go there two or three times a year to discuss cross-marketing and partnership deals with them. But I don’t see how it helps you.’

  Jenny explained what they were looking for, praying that he wouldn’t react in the same way as Bill Redman.

  Patrice laughed, ‘Why don’t you ask me to burgle the bank while I’m busy.’

  ‘To quote General Chillicott, Homeland Security is conducting a “national security investigation” into Lee-Win and XPC. Surely that gives you the authority to make a simple enquiry?’

  ‘I can’t ask them to send me information of that kind, it creates a paper trail and will cause a scandal with the compliance people. Let me think for a moment.’

  They continued with their meal, chatting about family and friends, then when their coffee arrived, he said, ‘I got an email a week ago from Ho Au Yeung, the PE MD in Hong Kong. He wants me to go over sometime, to talk about one of our European clients expanding in the Far East. How soon do you need this information?’

  ‘Leo told me the new software will be sent to Lee-Win in Shanghai tomorrow, and it could be distributed within a few days.’

  ‘The deadline is this weekend? That’s a bit tight. Even if I leave tomorrow, with the time difference, the earliest I can find anything out will be Thursday. What do you think?’

  ‘You’ll do it for me?’ Jenny almost shouted with relief.

  To her surprise, he took her hand in his. ‘Jenny, I know we haven’t always hit it off, but I have a very long memory. If it wasn’t for your bravery and refusal to admit defeat, I wouldn’t have Leticia and Emilio today, so I owe you much more than a quick trip to Hong Kong. Right, I’d better get back and sort out my schedule. I’ll call you as soon as I’ve made all the arrangements.’

  FORTY-TWO

  London, England

  Tuesday, 13 July 2017

  ‘Back again so soon, General?’

  ‘I wish I wasn’t, Ilona.’

  ‘You look tired.’

  ‘I’m a bit beat up, you’re right.’ Chillicott dumped himself in a chair and she went to fetch him some coffee.

  Middleton came into the hall. ‘Welcome back, Billy. Official business again?’

  ‘Unfortunately, Hugh. I wish it was a social visit, but I’m with the MoD guys this afternoon.’

  They went into Middleton’s office. ‘Brexit seems to be infecting everyone with a case of mass hysteria. Is that what is causing even more concern, or is it your new president’s apparent schizophrenia?’

  ‘Neither, this time. It’s NATO business, problems with our Russkie friends.’

  ‘What has Comrade Vladimir been up to this time? Or is it ultra-confidential?’

  ‘It’s going to be common knowledge when the media spies get hold of it, so I don’t think I’d be talking out of turn.’

  ‘Is it my country again?’ Ilona put a mug of coffee and a tumbler of whisky in front of him. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, car bombings and assassinations had become almost commonplace, and she lived in dread that the Russians would extend their occupation and effectively take over the country.

  ‘Thanks, you read my mind.’ He poured the whisky into the mug and took a swig. ‘It’s been going on for over a week now in just about every neighbouring country. Large troop movements carrying out “exercises”, or “war games”, like they always say. They’re amassing more troops in Crimea, probably to move against Ukraine again, or as a launching point into the Balkans, so I guess you’re right to be worried. And Russian troops are carrying out manoeuvres in the north on the borders of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, down around Georgia and Azerbaijan in the south and Kazakhstan in the east.’

  ‘Any estimate of numbers?’

  ‘The analysts say over half a million troops on the move.’

  ‘That sounds quite ominous.’

  ‘It gets worse, there’s fleet movements off the coast as well. The Admi
ral Grigorovich is leading a group of six warships sailing down the North Sea off the Norwegian coast. Those ships carry Kalibr cruise missiles. Looks like they could be headed for the Baltic, so they’d have some of those countries in a pincer, back and front. Even Poland and Sweden would be vulnerable.’

  ‘Aircraft carriers, submarines?’

  ‘The Kuznetsov and Gorshkov are on manoeuvres in the north Atlantic. We’ve had an unconfirmed report of a nuclear sub leaving Murmansk. And there’s two destroyers set off from Crimea across the Black Sea, towards the Balkans; maybe Romania and Bulgaria. The whole shebang. It looks like a blatant attempt to reassemble the USSR, maybe even more.’

  Ilona frowned. ‘I haven’t seen or heard anything about this.’

  ‘It’ll be front page news tomorrow. You know how fast bad news travels.’

  ‘Hmm. With the lack of stability and confidence in a constantly changing US government, and the EU-Brexit row just starting to heat up, the timing couldn’t be worse – or better, depending on your point of view.’

  ‘You bet. The US is almost in a state of suspended animation, wondering what Trump’s gonna say or do next. While he’s tweeting and spouting warnings about annihilating Iran and North Korea, the Russians will run rings around him until there’s nothing left to tweet about. They know NATO is under threat, since he says it’s obsolete, but nobody knows what he’ll do about it. While everyone is posturing and parleying, they could grab back their old territories, just like they’ve always wanted.’

  He took another swallow of coffee. ‘I was invited to a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday. The Defence Secretary was there, that’s how serious we’re taking it.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘Well, between us guys, we’re sending in 20,000 troops to beef up NATO forces in Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey. Air force overflights of the vulnerable borders and a few battleships in the North Sea and Baltic. It’s nothing but a token response, but it’s all DefSec’s authorised to do. I think I’ve persuaded him to convene a meeting of the UN Security Council, but with the Russian veto power it’s a total waste of time.’

  ‘I’m surprised I’ve heard nothing from my friends in Kiev. They’re usually the first to spot anything going on.’ Ilona looked perplexed. ‘It can’t be on the airwaves or they’d be rebroadcasting it all over. This must come from very high up, to have been kept under wraps until now.’ She went to the door. ‘I’ll call Ilya now, see what he knows.’

  ‘What are you talking to the MoD about?’ Middleton asked.

  ‘It’s more of a courtesy call than anything else. The truth is, you Brits have no teeth left in your bite. The military budget has been decimated over the last few years until you need four signatures to buy a paper clip. If all these Soviet movements are serious, we’re in deep shit. You might muster a battalion or two to give a show of solidarity with the northern NATO countries, but it wouldn’t be a meaningful show of force. The fact is, apart from us, nobody can show any credible reaction at all.’

  ‘I’m unfortunately obliged to agree with you, although your president might not be inclined to react as we might hope. And, of course, Russia’s attempts to dissuade their Baltic and Balkan neighbours to enter into the NATO alliance is not improving the situation.’

  ‘It sure doesn’t look like a coincidence. We’ve got proof positive the Russians were trying to manipulate the elections in Montenegro, they were doing everything possible to stop them joining NATO.’

  Middleton gave a cynical smile. ‘I’m afraid that Montenegro isn’t the only election where we should be concerned about Soviet interference. Your people could start by looking closer to home.’

  Chillicott took another swig. ‘I know, Hugh, but I’m not allowed to interfere in that. I’m just a soldier, not a politician or a special investigator. Anyway, the other reason I called in is to ask if you found out anything further about Lee-Win?’

  ‘So far, nothing, I’m afraid. However, Ilona’s new South African gentleman friend, Marius Coetzee, is confident he can uncover something about the transaction.’ Middleton paused. He found it strange to be talking in the present tense about a man he’d been convinced had been assassinated seven years previously. He took a sip of coffee. ‘As you know, he managed to arrange Leo Stewart’s release, so he’s obviously a very resourceful man. But we’ve heard nothing from him yet except a message saying the software package will be sent to Shanghai, probably tomorrow.’

  ‘The global upload is going ahead?’

  ‘So it seems. Apparently, Leo perfected the software before he was imprisoned. That probably means they’ll add the virus when they send it out from Shanghai, which will be very soon, I don’t imagine they’ll delay too long. Coetzee has taken Leo down to Johannesburg to try to work out what they can do to mitigate whatever’s going to happen, but unfortunately they don’t yet know what that is. It seems to be one of those annoying cases of the cart and the horse.’

  Ilona came back into the room. ‘They started to see the movements last weekend, without any previous warning. He’s worried, this definitely comes from a very high level, they were taken completely off guard.’

  ‘I just had a random thought. May I throw out a speculative suggestion?’ When no one answered, Middleton said, ‘I don’t suppose these events could be more than just coincidental?’

  ‘You mean the cyber-attack, if that’s what it is, and the troop movements?’ Ilona looked dubious.

  ‘What I’m talking about is what could be described as “the perfect storm”. In Europe, we are involved in what will inevitably become a bitter and protracted Brexit argument between the UK, the buffoons in Brussels and twenty-seven countries. This is in addition to recent and upcoming elections in France, Germany, Austria, Holland and Italy, which could destabilise the EU even further. On your side of the pond, Billy, you have uncertainty and paralysis caused by dissension at the very highest level of government, which as we know, may involve NATO. In the Middle East we have several pots of boiling oil which can spill over in any direction, inciting intervention from East and West, and in Asia we have a young, narcissistic, ambitious and ruthless ruler who is determined to show off his explosive toys to the world at any cost.’

  ‘And you throw the Internet into the mix with a cyber-attack that brings down government and business infrastructure, so there’s a temporary void in communications. Bingo, World War III!’ Chillicott banged his fist on the table.

  ‘Do you recollect what young Leo Stewart told you in San Diego?’

  ‘You mean about crying wolf ? I sure do. He said it would need a really devastating event before anyone took notice of our preaching for more control and security of the Internet. Maybe that’s what we’re looking at here. What’s worse is that it seems like the cyber-attack will come from China, and the military threat is from Russia. Very strange bedfellows.’

  ‘Quite, Billy. Very strange.’

  FORTY-THREE

  Delmas, Mpumalanga, South Africa

  Tuesday, 13 July 2017

  ‘Right, I’m ready to go.’ Leo had showered and changed and was feeling wide awake. Abby had introduced him to their team of programmers and specialists, and they were now sitting with Rod and Julia, two ex-hackers, in an office repurposed as a lab. ‘Did you find some Lee-Win kit to create a mini mesh network?’

  ‘It’s actually amazing how many of our machines have got them. We’ve brought six of them in here. What do you want us to do?’

  Leo opened his laptop. ‘I’ve got the software upload here that’s going to be deployed from Lee-Win in Shanghai to their billions of microprocessors. We’re going to do a test run on this equipment via a wireless hub.’

  ‘How do you know all the processors have got connectivity modules?’ Rod, a short, red-haired reformed hacker from Cape Town, looked sceptical. Leo noticed he chewed his nails a lot, his finger ends were red and looked sore.

  ‘OK. You’re right. Only the Mark IV to VI models have got those modules built in, they st
arted to incorporate them four years ago. But you only need to have one in any machine for the upload to permeate through a whole mesh network. And don’t forget there’s also millions of processors in IoT equipment that’s already sitting on mobile networks.’

  ‘Wow, that must be hundreds of millions of machines out there that could be infected.’ Now Rod looked impressed.

  ‘What’s in the upload?’ Abby cut to the chase.

  ‘Upgrades to Mark VII firmware and the new version of ACRE encryption-transmission.’ Leo explained the background to the upgrades that had been perfected. ‘After downloading, the whole network will switch automatically to the new transmission system.’

  ‘And there’s a worm, or something you don’t like, in the firmware or ACRE?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so.’ Over the last few days, Leo had had time to think deeply about the tests he’d run in the XPC lab. He explained to the team what had happened, the additional code addressed to the cell he’d discovered. ‘It closed down the system, but it started up again afterwards with the clean coding.’

  Abby said, ‘It sounds to me like the worm is already in the processors. What that instruction is doing is waking it up.’

  ‘That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll show you the test I did in Dubai. Let’s get the network built.’

  An hour later, they had created a mini mesh network, linked together and to a wireless router, exactly as he’d built at XPC. Leo’s laptop display was projected onto a large screen to let everyone see what he was doing.

  ‘OK, I’m going to upload the clean version of the upgrades via the router. Watch this.’

  The screen showed a flurry of commands and a moment later, all the equipment was running with ACRE encrypted transmission. Leo ran some data through the network and showed how the old key-based algorithms and Mark VI encryption version had been replaced.

  ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’ Rod was biting his nails and examining the ACRE algorithms on an analytics programme. ‘It just keeps calculating and recalculating the encryption parameters so fast you can never catch a status for long enough to hack in. Impressive.’