The StarSight Project

by S. P. Perone

  The Senator’s visit to the Lab had been arranged with a minimum of fanfare. However, anytime the Senator visited a National Lab, there was no way he could avoid meeting with some of the Lab’s brass. He would meet with the Lab’s Director, and probably some selected Associate Directors, and would have to subject himself to an interview by the local press. He hoped to have these obligations completed by mid-day on Wednesday, and then he would join the StarSight project team. It was the Senator’s goal to assure himself that the team had been moved in completely, set up, and working productively by that time.

  After receiving their badges and a brief lecture on procedures for the newly cleared members of the team, Windemere had escorted them all into the ASCI White supercomputer facility. Two Lab cars were used to transport them. As they approached the computer facility, Sarah, Bill, and Anna had marveled at the appearance of the Lab’s layout and structures. Bill commented that the layout was like that of a small town, or perhaps a military base. Windemere pointed out that, in fact, the facility had once been a navy base, converted to a nuclear weapons laboratory a few years after the end of World War II. He pointed out some of the major landmarks…buildings housing the Laser Ignition Facility, the Plutonium Facility, and Bio-Medical programs. Bill had asked if he might get a tour of the Laser Facility, as he had heard that it housed the largest and most powerful lasers in the world, designed to initiate controlled thermonuclear fusion events.

  The orientation to the computer facility was handled by two technicians, probably much more knowledgeable about these details than Windemere. The only glitch occurred when Sharon and Barry discovered that the technicians were unprepared for the formatting requirements of the StarSight data files they had transported. Although it would be fixed, at least one person-day would be required. And, they were peeved that Windemere hadn’t acted on the data file information he had requested from them before leaving their universities. They mentioned the problem to Shane, who expressed surprise…knowing Windemere’s reputation for organization. He agreed to look into it.

  Each member of the team was assigned individual office space in the supercomputer facility. Shane’s office was much larger than the rest, and it included a conference table that could accommodate the entire team. Also in his office was a scrambler phone that could be used to communicate with the Senator or anyone else involved with the StarSight project. Each office contained two computer workstations. The main station was connected to the White supercomputer and its internally accessible networks. The second station was a general-purpose unit that could be used for internal or external e-mails, Internet connections, word processing, data management, etc…just like any personal computer system. The internal networks, however, were isolated from outside access. Because the ASCI White supercomputer’s primary function was to provide theoretical simulations of thermonuclear weapons aging and performance, the facility was deemed an “exclusion” area; so the StarSight project could be housed and discussed there.

  Bill, Sarah, and Anna were astonished to learn that the “ASCI” White supercomputer was committed to the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative, and that it had become necessary after the U.S. nuclear test moratorium of 1992. They were too young to remember that the U.S. and Soviet Union had conducted above ground, and then underground tests of nuclear weapons since World War II. When testing was suspended, the U.S. had lost the ability to evaluate the effects of aging on the safety and performance of weapons in its nuclear stockpile. The thermonuclear events and related aging effects were so complex that only the power of a supercomputer capable of at least 100 teraops (100 trillion floating-point operations per second) could resolve these issues within a reasonable time scale. The current Livermore system could achieve only 12 or 13 teraops. Los Alamos Lab was developing the next generation “Q-supercomputer,” with a projected capability of 40 teraops. The goal was to reach 100 teraops within the next few years, a point in time where nearly all of the U.S. nuclear weapon systems would be at least 20 years old…their usual design lifetime. At the same time, most of the scientists and engineers who had personal experience with the nuclear-test era would have retired.

  As sobering as these facts were regarding the mission of the supercomputer facility, the three youngest members of the StarSight team were subsequently reduced to a state of shock when Shane had finished explaining to them the true nature and urgent motivation for the StarSight project. Only the six of them were present in Shane’s new office during this revelation. The three professors remained quiet when Shane had finished, anxiously wondering how their three young associates would respond. Sarah’s eyes had moistened, and she had bowed her head slightly. Anna had also lowered her head, so that no one could see her face. And Bill simply stared blankly straight ahead.

  After several long, quiet moments, Bill was the first to speak up: “Doc…my first reaction…speaking for myself only…is that I don’t know if I can handle the kind of responsibility you’ve just dumped on us.” Then, after a few more moments of thought, he added, “I’m really afraid to think of how we would live with ourselves if we fail…and I’m not as knowledgeable as you all, but…I don’t see how we can solve this problem infour weeks .”

  Shane did not respond immediately, allowing the two young ladies to speak up, if they had something to say. Finally, with no further comments arising, Shane said, “Anna, Sarah…would you like to add anything to what Bill has said?”

  Sarah decided to speak up. “Tony…I have to say that I agree with Bill,” she began. “But I know that you, Sharon and Barry must have felt the same way when you first heard about the terrorist threat and were told that the only hope to stop it would be the StarSight system.” Pausing for a second, she continued, “What convinced you that you should take this on…and how do you feel about the possibility of failure?”

  Before Shane could respond, Sharon interrupted. “Sarah, let me answer that one. I did feel exactly as Bill described, when I was first asked to take on this accelerated project. But…it was something that Tony said that persuaded me that I had to do this.

  “What he said was that ‘we might be terribly depressed if we fail to make this system work in time…but that we would never forgive ourselves if we didn’t take it on…and give it our very best shot’.”

  Barry Nagle said nothing, but simply nodded his head in support of what Sharon had said.

  Without waiting for any of the young associates to respond, Shane added, “What Sharon says is absolutely correct…for the three of us, the official co-investigators. We agreed to do this with our eyes wide open. You guys did not have that luxury. Because of the classified nature of this work and the terrorist crisis, we could not tell you exactly what you were getting into. I apologize for that…we had no choice.

  “However, now that you do know what’s going on, none of us will hold it against you if you should decide that you want out. If you leave now, you will have been exposed very little to classified information. There would be no advantage to any foreign agent trying to obtain that information. This means you would be in no danger of surveillance or, God forbid, physical harm.”

  “If you choose to go on, though,” he added slowly, “you may be placing yourselves in peril.”

  Pausing for several seconds to let his words sink in, Shane then continued. “To be fair, you would probably be in no greater peril than people here at this Lab or Los Alamos or Sandia who are privy to top secret nuclear weapons or intelligence-related secrets…and I haven’t read anything in the newspapers lately regarding threats to these individuals. But, no one can guarantee that.”

  After several seconds of silence, Anna Ling finally raised her bowed head, revealing a stoic expression. “I’m not sure that I can speak for anyone but myself…but…I’ve listened to what everyone has had to say…and I do not see that I have any choice…I very much want to proceed…I want to do what I can to make this project a success.”

  Barry, Sharon and Tony did not speak, but simply nodded
their heads…hoping that Anna’s words had reflected the thinking of all three of the young people. Within a few moments, Bill Campbell added his agreement to Anna’s statement. “Anna is right,” he said. “It was good to hear how you all had thought this through. I’m sorry I was so negative earlier. I’m ready now…I think…to get going.”

  Again, the three professors did not speak. Then, without thinking, their eyes all turned expectantly towards Sarah. Her eyes were downcast, and Shane was afraid of what she might say.

  After a few moments, Sarah lifted her eyes, and looked directly at Tony Shane. “I have to admit that I was in a state of shock for a while after Tony described the whole situation to us. And, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that my initial reaction was that ‘I just can’t do this’.”

  “But,” she continued, “I’ve just been sitting here remembering what I was thinking when I first agreed to get involved in this ‘accelerated project’. What I was thinking was that…if Tony Shane has decided that he must do this…and that he needs my help…how could I possibly refuse?”

  “Well, I didn’t refuse then…and I won’t refuse now. But,now , I go into this with my ‘eyes wide open’…and I know that…like Tony, Sharon and Barry…there is no way that I could have refused had I known all the facts earlier.”

  “The only thing I have left to say,” Sarah added, finally looking around at all of them, “is that I pray to God that we will be successful.”

  Admiring the fortitude of their three young associates, Shane was about to express his feelings, when Bill abruptly stood up and said, “I don’t know about the rest of you…but I think it’s time we get to work!”

  And so they did.

  While the StarSight team was getting the project underway that Monday at Livermore Lab, Max had been very busy. After removing the “bugs” in the Senator’s suite, Max had checked out of the Fairmont. He had to drive his rental car across the Bay to the Livermore Valley, check in to the Residence Inn, generate the magnetic key cards for each of the project team’s rooms, and set up the “bugs” that he would have in place for the duration.

  In addition, he had to establish his CryptaGen connection. This would involve driving down to San Jose, checking in to the Red Baron Hotel near the airport, contacting his office back in Albuquerque, and making business contact(s) in California. This would take about four or five hours round trip, including the time required to pay a cursory visit to one of the Silicon Valley software companies that he had listed in the travel plan submitted before he had left CryptaGen. That meant he had to get to Livermore before noon, and finish planting his “bugs” by about two o’clock. He wasn’t sure he could do it…at least, not with complete confidence in the unobtrusiveness of his “bugs”. So, he resolved that he would have to prioritize the placement of the “bugs”…with Shane’s room at the top of the list.

  Max was now committed to keeping in regular contact with the Bear. He had to let the Bear know what he had learned from the late night meeting last night between the Senator and the three co-investigators. He wasn’t sure that the Bear didn’t already have much of the information, from other sources…but he would not make that assumption. Max worried slightly about the fact that he would not be able to contact the Bear before this evening or early tomorrow morning. But, he told himself, the Bear had no way of knowing that the late-night meeting had occurred; and he wouldn’t be expecting any report before the end of this first working day at Livermore.

  As Max was in the midst of all these activities on Monday, he had some time while driving between locations to reflect on what his future plan of action would be. He now knew that the StarSight team would be working in Livermore for at least another month. He would have to find a way to stay in California for the duration. He knew he could stay away from CryptaGen for a week without problem. He had already provided the reports needed for the SpyraNet project, and he would not be missed for a while. Extending his stay beyond that would be possible only by requesting a “Leave of Absence” for some concocted reason…like a “family emergency.” He had no problem with permanently cutting his ties with CryptaGen, but he did not want to raise any suspicions about his activities for as long as he could possibly avoid it.

  Max’s thoughts then turned to the more immediate questions of how he could continue his surveillance of the StarSight team. In addition to the hotel room “bugs,” he would be able to use the SpyraNet system to monitor the team’s unclassified workstations at Livermore Lab. That software operated on his laptop computer. But, he knew he would need to put additional surveillance tools in place. He wasn’t sure which tools he could use, but he ticked off the various possibilities: 1) he could attempt to “bug” the team’s personal items (clothing, briefcases, etc.) that would accompany them into the “exclusion” area; 2) he could attempt visual or sound surveillance from a vantage point outside the Lab; or, 3) he could appeal to the Bear to utilize any internal “mole” that he may have planted inside the Lab.

  Max knew that the second alternative was essentially impossible, considering that there were no accessible vantagepoints close enough to the Lab, and, even then, this could only be successful if there were a line-of-sight access to the workplace. He knew from examining the Lab’s own web-site that this would not be possible.

  The third alternative might be possible, but Max knew it didn’t make sense to ask the Bear for this assistance. If the “mole” existed, the Bear would already be utilizing that surveillance source.

  The first alternative appeared to be the only option, but it was very risky. Max had no idea whether or not the Lab’s security system included scanning for “bugs” on a regular basis. And, he didn’t know how frequently employee’s briefcases might be searched. Having examined all the newspaper articles he could find on the Internet during the past week regarding Lab security, he had read only articles critical of the perceived laxness. The whole of the structure and policies of DOE Lab security had come under close scrutiny ever since the 1999 case of Wen Ho Lee had been publicized by the press. Lee was the Los Alamos scientist accused of mishandling classified documents and disk cartridges. The suspicion was that he had passed nuclear weapons secrets to the Chinese. Although nearly all the charges against Lee were eventually dropped, the DOE investigations had turned up many glaring gaps in the Weapons Labs’ security procedures. But, Max surmised from his reading, these deficiencies would be repaired very slowly. And, he suspected that his number one alternative would be a risk worth taking.

  Finally, he wondered how he would acquire the software and data files that would comprise the StarSight package, if and whenever it was operating successfully. That was probably the toughest problem of all. When the work was being done at universities, he knew he could find a way to steal the final product. But, he knew he would never be able to acquire the package from the White supercomputer. No one had yet hacked successfully into one of Livermore Lab’s classified weapons computers. And Max had no illusions about performing that feat.

  He knew there were two ways to get the package out of the Lab. One would be a long shot involving SpyraNet and the Lab’s internal network. The other would be to use extortion; and he knew exactly how to accomplish that. His trip to Daniels University this past weekend had opened that door. The trump card he held, though, was his knowledge that the StarSight system would work only with expert human oversight. And, Max would choose the optimum moment to implement that knowledge.

  Ever since learning of the acceleration of the StarSight project, the Bear had been busy covering the bases. Max was undoubtedly the best person to carry the surveillance to the Livermore Valley. Max, however, could only obtain limited intelligence from the Lab. Mentally, the Bear had already gone down all the surveillance options that Max had available. He was sure that Max would “bug” the project team in order to get access to classified discussions. The Bear was convinced that that was unlikely to succeed; and, that a good alternative was to use the “mole” that had been planted a
t Livermore Lab by his associate, Sudhama Ali-Sheikh. The “mole” was a computer technician who had succumbed three years ago to the temptation to enhance his income by $100,000 per year. Ali-Sheikh had not requested anything in return yet, but payback time could be very soon.

  The Bear had contacted Ali-Sheikh to request that the “mole” be put into a favorable position. The “mole” received Ali-Sheikh’s orders at the same time that Director Windemere sent out the urgent request for additional help for the StarSight project. The Lab infrastructure being what it was, the horizontal transfer of personnel from project to project was almost without any energy barrier. Ali-Sheikh’s “mole,” a 28-year old technician by the name of Johnny Treadwell, was one of two who were selected.

  Johnny Treadwell had a wife and two small children. Although his wife was a realtor, their combined income of $175,000 was not adequate for the housing market they had targeted. The Treadwell family had its heart set on qualifying for a Vineyard Estates home, in the hills southwest of Livermore. Entry level homes there cost the better part of one million dollars. The bonus that Ali-Sheikh had promised…which the Bear had volunteered…would convince Treadwell to take the risks that would be necessary.

  The Bear deliberated about sharing the existence of the “mole” with Max. He wanted to keep both operatives in play; and, together they could work very effectively. But, he was certain that, if Max learned about the “mole”, he would quickly protect his interests. He would offer the StarSight system to another bidder. So, the Bear decided to say nothing.

  Eventually, the Bear reflected, Max would have to be told that his client was not interested in stealing the StarSight system. He only needed to know its status…and to sabotage it if the team got too close to success. This would not lower Max’s financial reward. But, it would cause a dramatic change in strategy. And the Bear did not want Max to know about it until the last possible moment. Successful sabotage would involve elimination of the scientists responsible. But, the Bear wanted to avoid overt sabotage if at all possible, because it would reveal the awareness level of the terrorist group. That was why he had set up other options.