by S. P. Perone
Shane had finally been nudged out of his stunned state, and he felt he had to speak up. “Senator, I can’t disagree with Nathan’s logic; and I understand the need to protect the project here. But…I know Sarah can not possibly be a suspect…and I want to recommend that we focus on the other possibilities Nathan gave us.”
“So, let me ask this question,” Shane continued. “Do you or Nathan have any information or perspective on this affair that you can share with us? How much do you already know? Do you have any ideas about the ‘person(s) unknown’? Do you know any more about theJournal story than we do?”
Pausing more to catch his breath than because he had run out of questions, Shane was interrupted by Carothers. “Tony, I think we owe it to you all to give you the full briefing,” he said, while glancing quickly over at the Senator to see the look of permission on his face. “This is exactly where we stand. And, what I’m about to say does not go out of this room…understood?”
The three investigators all nodded their agreement to Carothers’ condition for providing further information.
“The Senator and I have already discussed what to do regarding Mason’s news story. The Senator has already reached an agreement with him that will obtain valuable time before the article might be published. And, the Senator will see a copy of the article before it is published…ifit is published. I won’t say any more about this, but…don’t assume that the articlemust be published.”
“Also,” Carothers continued, “you can be assured that there has been friendly surveillance of your operations at the three universities. And we have not observed any reason to suspect a ‘leak’ by any of you or your associates. What this means is that I suspect either Clarkson or person(s) unknown has found a way to access sensitive information. Now, everything but the technical aspects of the classified contract with DOE is publicly available. So, anybody could have gotten that information. Clarkson would certainly have the most convenient access, considering his position on the University Research Committee, and that he was privy to the original negotiations at Daniels. But, the only trulysensitive information is the CIA connection, the accelerated project here at Livermore, and the terrorist threat we know about. So far, thank God, no one seems to know about the terrorist threat. Now…how do you guys think the other information might have been obtained by Clarkson or Andrew Mason?”
Barry Nagle was the first to speak up. “The only way they could get that information at the university would be by getting access to our secure vaults or monitoring scrambled phone calls. Neither one of which is very likely.”
“So,” Sharon picked up the ball, “what that means is that perhaps the ‘leak’ is somewhere else…like Washington.”
“Or,” Carothers interjected, “perhaps our terrorist ‘friends’ have penetrated our security and know much more than we give them credit for.”
“There is one other thing,” Shane said thoughtfully. “What about our e-mail communications? We’ve been sending out lots of messages regarding our arrangements for putting together this project here at Livermore Lab. None of the messages contained anything classified. But, if someone could monitor the messages they would have learned about our ‘California venture’. That might explain how half of the sensitive information got out…wouldn’t it?”
“You’re right, Tony,” Carothers responded. “It is a distinct possibility. And, I might add, it’s perfectly feasible that your e-mails might be monitored…if someone had a reason to suspect your activities in the first place. But, that’s where I get hung up. Someone would first need a reason to monitor e-mails before putting that kind of surveillance in place. So, if that is the source of the ‘leak’, it would imply that someone already knew about the StarSight project, and only incidentally found out about the accelerated effort out here.”
“The next logical question, then,” Carothers continued, thinking out loud at this point, “is who might benefit from the exposure of this project now? Clarkson, if he were the person to fit this profile, would have exposed the CIA connection as soon as he was aware of it in order to satisfy his goals. He would not have to also conduct e-mail surveillance…assuming that he could. On the other hand, someone connected to Ali-Sheikh’s terrorist organization, if they knew of the StarSight project, would have plenty of motivation to set up surveillance of your operations in as many ways as possible.”
Then, pausing for a few moments, Carothers tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling for a while. Slowly returning his gaze to the group, he continued, “what this might mean is that Ali-Sheikh knows what’s going on here…and that he’s beginning to take steps to sabotage this project.”
Now, turning his head to stare blankly at the whiteboard on the long wall next to the conference table, Carothers again appeared deep in thought, with one huge hand raised so he could stroke his chin. Finally, still staring at the wall, Carothers began to talk quietly to himself: “And…he’s really trying to be clever! He’s trying to orchestrate a subtlesabotage operation…with the press and the university…and maybe even Clarkson…as his allies. All of this subterfuge to try and throw us off the scent…so we don’t think Ali-Sheikh’s involved. So we just think it’s petty university politics!”
“Of course…that’s it!” Carothers barked as he finally turned back to face the group, placing hands faced down on the table, erasing the frown from his face. “What do you think, Gerry?”
Gradually, a grim, tight smile emerged on the Senator’s face, as he considered the sobering implications of Carothers’ logic. Without speaking, he slowly nodded his head
The three investigators sat there stunned by Carothers’ logic. Shane didn’t know how to react. On one hand, he was happy to hear that suspicion had been deflected away from Sarah. But, on the other hand, he was deeply disturbed to think that…if Carothers was right…the entire project team could be in terrible danger. If “subtle” sabotage did not work…what would stop Ali-Sheikh from using more drastic measures. As he turned to look at the faces of his colleagues, Shane realized that his thoughts were not unique. He could see the hint of terror beginning to cloud the normally clear, bright eyes of his friends. Hoping desperately that Carothers was wrong, he knew in his gut that he was probably right. He wondered what in the world they would tell their junior colleagues. Most of all, he began to feel once again the horrible burden of guilt for drawing Sarah and Bill into this perilous undertaking.
Before the meeting broke up, Carothers and the Senator advised the three investigators to decline any further phone calls from Mason. They advised Tony to meet with the investigative committee at Daniels on Friday…and to answer all questions truthfully…except that he could not reveal the nature of the classified project or the real motivation for the Livermore effort. He should stick to the story that the Lab project was simply a unique research opportunity involving access to the White supercomputer.
Retrieving his voice-mail message from Windemere, Shane informed everyone that the seven thirty reservations at the Pleasanton Hotel had been OK’d. As everyone drifted out, the Senator and Carothers remained behind, closing the door so that they could be alone with Shane.
After retrieving their seats, the Senator was the first to speak. “Tony, Nathan and I had planned to speak to you about this eventually, but I’m sure Nathan agrees that we should not put this off.”
Glancing over at Carothers, the Senator received the approving slight nod, and returned his attention to Shane. “You heard Nathan refer to ‘friendly surveillance’. Do you understand what that means?”
“I guess it means we’re all being watched by the FBI, or someone, to be sure there’s no security breach,” Shane replied, with a questioning shrug of his shoulders.
“That’s about it,” the Senator responded. “I hope you’re not offended…believe me, we are not suspicious of you or your colleagues in this project. We are only concerned that there could be an attempt to defeat the security arrangements we have in place.”
“Ar
e you monitoring all three schools?” Shane asked. “And, have you found anything that we should be concerned about?”
“Yes, we are. And, no, we haven’t found anything,” the Senator responded. “However, you should be aware that we already knew about your relationship with Sarah.”
Shane said nothing, glancing back and forth between the two faces examining him. Carothers’ impassive expression revealed nothing…there was no apology coming. The Senator’s expression was only one of concern.
“We need for you to know that our surveillance has not stopped, now that you are all out here,” the Senator continued. “The reason we are speaking to you right now is because…if Nathan’s theory is correct…you and/or Sarah may be in particular danger.”
“What? Why us? I don’t understand.”
“Perhaps it would be better if Nathan explained it,” the Senator replied, glancing over at Carothers.
Pausing for a few moments, while Shane focused on him with anticipation, Carothers began to speak. “Tony, in the intelligence business, field agents need to be isolated from personal ties that might provide a weakness should they be discovered. I’m sure you can understand that.”
Shane nodded his understanding.
“Well, you’re not a ‘field agent’…and up until now you were in no more danger than any of thousands of American scientists working on secret, classified projects that would be of interest to foreign governments,” Carothers continued. “Rarely is any one scientist sufficiently knowledgeable about anything to be worth the effort and risk involved in physical intervention. But, in the case of the StarSight project, we’ve now entered a phase that’s critical. There are just a few people involved, who are all sufficiently knowledgeable. And, we’re rapidly approaching a deadline associated with a planned terrorist event.”
Carothers paused, while he slid further back in his chair, crossed his legs, and brought his hands together again in a prayerful posture, the tips of his fingers just in front of his chin. “Now…if this theory is correct…we can assume that the ‘enemy’ knows as much about the progress of this project as we do. That is, they’ve been watching you all. That means they know your weaknesses, and…worst of all…they may be prepared to risk physical intervention to sabotage this project. This puts all of you in danger…but especially you and Sarah.”
“That’s what I don’t understand,” Shane protested. “Barry has a wife and kids. Sharon has a daughter…and boyfriend. Why are we in greater danger?”
“It’s pretty simple, Tony,” Carothers continued. “Either you…or Sarah…could be used against the other. You both have knowledge of value. If they were to abduct Sarah, for example, they could coerce you to help them…or vice-versa. They get a double whammy by physical intervention with either of you. They might even consider working on both of you.”
Shane sat there stunned, his shoulders sagging, speechless.
They all remained silent for several moments, allowing Shane to digest what he had just heard. Finally, resignedly, Shane spoke. “What can we do? I’m sure you have a plan, Nathan.”
“Well, first of all,” Carothers replied, “you’re all in danger…with you and Sarah at the top of the list. So, our plan will be to keep you all under our surveillance. And, I would recommend that, over the next month, each of you be accompanied by a security agent whenever you leave the Lab. Beyond that, we need to wait and see where we are.”
Shaking his head, Shane said, “You can’t be serious. What you’re saying is that none of us will have a moment’s privacy from now on!”
Neither Carothers nor the Senator spoke for a while. They both knew there was nothing much they could say. It was better to just allow the time for Shane to accept the idea. He would then be able to help them persuade the others of the necessity of the close security arrangements.
Getting no response after looking inquiringly at Carothers and then at the Senator, Shane continued, “What about our planned travel? I’m flying back to Chicago tomorrow, with a stop in Albuquerque. Barry’s going to be in San Francisco this weekend; and Sharon is flying back to Boston next weekend.”
Recognizing that Shane’s practical questions reflected the beginning of his inner acceptance of the new security arrangements, Carothers responded with a conciliatory tone. “You know, Tony, we can’t force any of you to accept the tight surveillance. But, it is in your best interests. And, regarding your planned travel…if you and your colleagues need to return to your schools periodically, that’s understandable. We’ll just have to provide security on those trips.”
“Regarding your trip tomorrow,” Carothers added, “we won’t have time to set up the close security by that time…and, I don’t think it will be a problem.”
Observing Shane’s quizzical expression, Carothers explained further. “I don’t think any of you is in dangeryet . If the theory is correct, then you’re being watched carefully…but no action will be taken as long as you remain far away from achieving a working system…as you are now. The real danger will arise if…and when…you reach the brink of a successful StarSight system.”
Astonished, Shane asked, “How would they know the status of our project, for God’s sake? Here we are in a secure facility. We don’t take our work out of here. We don’t talk about it outside. How could they possibly find out anything?”
“Let me try to answer that, Nathan,” the Senator interjected. “We can’t tell you ‘how’, Tony. The simple truth is that ‘they’ apparently already know about the project. That means there is a source of information out there somewhere. We don’t know where it is…and may never know. It could be someone within the CIA or DOE who has access to your classified reports; we suspect someone has been intercepting our unclassified communications, but someone may be able to intercept our scrambled communications; God knows, we may even have foreign agents buried in the Lab infrastructure. Each of these is improbable; but all of these are possible. We need to be prepared for the worst of these.”
“Let me get this straight,” Shane interjected. “Even though we don’t know how they’re getting the information, we’re sure they know what we’re doing.” Turning toward Carothers, he continued, “Couldn’t you tell if someone were monitoring our unclassified phone calls or e-mails?”
“Yes. We’re able to detect any computer intrusions into phone line communications. Even the FBI’s Carnivore system couldn’t fool us.”
But…they don’t want us to know that they know…so they’re using ‘indirect’ sabotage methods? And…when they learn that we’re about to be successful…they’llterminate the project. Is that right?”
“Yes…that’s about it,” the Senator replied.
Taking a few moments to stare off into space, brow furrowed, Shane thought it over. Then, returning his gaze to the Senator, he said, “They know we’re aware of the upcoming terrorist action. What happens if they figure out that we also know they’re monitoring us? That would take away their need to conceal themselves from us…wouldn’t they just go ahead and sabotage the project?”
Carothers chose to reply to this question. “Maybe…maybe not…we expect them to try to spy on us…and they expect us to try to spy on them. Assuming the enemy is successful is just ‘mutual respect’. What theydon’t want us to know is exactly what kind of surveillance they’re using successfully…because then we can take specific countermeasures…or, we can feed them misleading information.”
“So…what are you saying?” Tony demanded.
“I’m saying that…as much as they would like to ‘bury’ this project right now…it’s also important to keep their surveillance capability secret. But…push comes to shove…they will expose themselves, rather than risk failure of the terrorist attack.”
“More to your point though,” Carothers continued, “if they find they have already been exposed…there is no reason not to go ahead and sabotage the StarSight project immediately, regardless of its status.”
“OK,” Tony interjected, “I und
erstand that we can’t let them know we suspect their surveillance…or that we suspect they’re responsible for theJournal or university investigations. But…wouldn’t our adding tight security now tip our hand?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Carothers replied. “Tight security is justified…remember the principle of ‘mutual respect’…because we can assume they’re gathering intelligence on our activities. The only thing that will trigger their premature action is if we do anything that tells them we knowhow they’re getting their information.”
“So, what should we do?” Shane inquired.
“In a word…nothing,” Carothers responded.
Observing the puzzled expression on Shane’s face, the Senator decided to embellish Carothers’ statement. “What Nathan means, Tony, is: we can’t change our M.O. Don’t stop using e-mail; don’t stop using classified data and notebooks; don’t treat any of your co-workers as suspects; and…especially…don’t let on that we suspect that anything but petty academic politics is responsible for theJournal or university investigations.”
“All Right,” Shane said, “I think I’ve got it now. From now on we’re going to have tight personal security; we don’t alter our M.O.; and we don’t let on what we suspect.”
“And,” Shane continued, “if we do all this…we don’t have to worry about being blown away…unless we get close to being successful with StarSight!”
Noting the biting sarcasm in Shane’s voice, the Senator and Carothers opted to remain silent, simply nodding their heads sympathetically.
Dejectedly, Shane simply stared straight ahead. Finally, he asked, “When will you inform the rest of the team?”
“It will have to be tonight,” Carothers replied. “After dinner. We’ll stop back here for a late-night conference with all of the StarSight team.”
