Midnight Zone: a Cade Rearden Thriller

by JK Franks

  “Yes…shame about the Hunter. The man was truly gifted. I’m afraid no one man fills his shoes, but I have it taken care of. One wonderful thing about money, there is always someone willing to do anything if the price is right.”

  Richard eyed Thrall for a moment. “Ivan, I don’t think you asked to speak to me over mundane security matters. Come on, my friend, we are the Chaos Kings, don’t leave me guessing,” he bellowed.

  Thrall hated that moniker. The organization had a name—a much more ancient identifier, yet this one had surfaced during The Troubles, and now it looked like it would stick to them like chewing gum on the sole of a shoe. “You realize we are on the cusp of unlocking the greatest secrets humanity has ever known, right?”

  Richard nodded, “If what you have been telling us is even partially true, then yes. Yes, of course.”

  Thrall wasn’t sure his friend did fully understand. How could he…how could any of them wrap their head around something so enormous? Perhaps the bigger question was how could they hold on to the secret even here in the deep ocean? Slowly, he reached into a pocket and removed a small flash drive. “This was his last burst transmission before he…well, you know.”

  Richard’s eyes lit up at once. He leaned forward, reaching out for the device almost reverently. “Wait, this is from Janus? You…you have it? Oh, my. Did you…were you able to find anything useable?”

  Thrall nodded. “Yes, quite a lot, Richard. Quite a lot…it seems we may not be completely alone in our discoveries.”

  14

  The steward carefully placed yet another white china plate in front of each of the guests. Over the course of the day, the remaining associates had arrived on station. They’d met casually to discuss immediate issues but took an early break for the evening meal. The spread looked like a royal feast, fresh seafood and delicacies from all over. Tropical fruits and assorted luxury items lined the tables draped by the crisp, white linen. This course was grilled lamb chops with a cherry reduction and rosemary.

  “Your wine selection is quite good here,” Dakso said, looking across the table at Ivan. “The Chilean grapes make the best, in my opinion, although some New Zealand vintners are proving themselves to be quite capable. I trust you stockpiled enough of this to last us?” He drained the glass as he eyed the now empty bottle.

  “No need,” Thrall said, a look of satisfaction on his face. “We can copy any of the wines on a molecular level. The one you just drank included.”

  The Croatian looked confused. “That was not a vintage blend?”

  “The station has access to nearly every port on the planet, but we have increasingly switched to manufacturing as many items as are feasible with the realization that soon, the day will come when it is our only option. Our molecular food labs have mastered most liquid based and brewed foods already. Fermented items like cheese, beer, and wine have taken a bit longer, but, as you see, the replicated versions are nearly indistinguishable.”

  A steward replaced the empty wine bottle with a full one and quickly extracted the cork. Dakso eyed the dark green bottle suspiciously before grabbing it and pouring another half glass. He’d known about the lab-made foodstuffs but just had not realized they would be part of the menu already. He smacked his lips. “Is very, very good, my friend.”

  “Kalypso has a great many more surprises and currently is 92% self-sustaining,” Ivan said. “That meets our target for this stage, and we can easily take it up to 100% at deployment.” He eyed the others seated around the table. “We will also be able to maintain that indefinitely. Clean power is abundant either from hydrogen, geothermal, or even a biodegradable solar net that can be deployed at the surface. For food, we only need some very basic raw materials. Phytoplankton is abundant and works well, although almost anything can be used since our labs break it down to near the molecular level. Fresh water is simple with the new desalinating membranes we acquired, as is oxygen since we can break down the seawater into hydrogen and good old breathable air.”

  “It seems, as the Americans like to say, you have all the bases covered,” the Chinese member, Pax Ruan, said in a tone that suggested he felt otherwise.

  “No, most certainly not. We build based on probabilities and contingencies. We have stationed caches and maintenance facilities on the seabed at various points around the oceans. Our plans assume we will have problems ̶ ̶ my job is to make sure they do not become critical. Once things start heating up back on the surface, I know we will not want to go back up for any reason.”

  “You may be invisible, Thrall, the rest of us are not,” Dakso said in heavily accented English while slapping a palm down on the table, rattling the dinnerware.

  Ivan studied the man’s glowering face as he nodded. Holding up his hands in a placating gesture, he answered, “I know, my friend, I totally get it. Do try and keep in mind, though, that my…” he sought to choose the proper phrasing, “…my sudden departure was the only way to ensure the anonymity of this lab and, by extension, each of you. We all worked out the plan, just as our next steps have been. Yes, my exposure down here is not quite the same as yours back on the surface, but you don’t have the threat of three miles of ocean pressing down on your office every second of every day do you, Dakso?”

  Reminding the Croatian billionaire of where he was currently sitting was a shitty move on his part, but Thrall wanted the man to sweat. What came next would require all of them to step out of their comfort zone.

  The Chinese man to Ivan’s left spoke in a soft, almost melodic tone that seemed much older than his apparent youth would suggest, “We all knew this was the likely path. It should surprise none of us at this point. Mister Grigorian, you least of all.” The man paused to make eye contact with each of the others seated around the table. “We all knew what we were agreeing to and the price that must be paid. The goals have not changed.” He turned his face up in a way that resembled a predator about to pounce on its prey. “Nor will our commitment to see them through.”

  The words cut through them like an icy blade. While Pax Ruan was just one of the members of the small and very secret cabal, none of the Founders would ever dare go against the man’s wishes. Few other than Thrall knew much of the man’s history, but Pax had brought more capital to the project than all the others combined. Kalypso simply wouldn’t have happened without him. Besides his money, the man simply exuded power and control. Rumors were, he’d traced his lineage back to Genghis Khan, and it seemed he wanted badly to outdo his famous ancestor. Of course, the story was that nearly one in 200 men could trace their lineage back to the great Khan, but the great Pax ignored those facts.

  Thrall knew he had made a deal with the devil that fateful day so many years earlier. The company he had built, all the work he’d put into the project, was slipping away. The innovative AI code he’d developed had been married to a processing chip that finally was showing promise of the elusive goal of artificial general intelligence and, hopefully, the ability to crack the fifty-year-old secret of the artifact.

  Then the government had begun getting greedy. They wanted the AI for themselves. He knew the day would come when he’d regret all those lucrative defense contracts he’d won. While he’d kept most of his work a secret, even from DARPA, someone decided they wanted it all and began to tighten the noose. Investigations began, allegations of impropriety, then accusations of outright fraud. His military access was revoked, so was his top-secret clearance, then those lovely military contracts were defunded. Most of the claims were unfounded; they had lucrative assets and a crack accounting team to ensure compliance, but something had changed. Someone wanted him out of the way.

  Sure, Cryptus had taken some shortcuts along the way, and yes, that had included occasionally borrowing, or even stealing, from competitors. It was a standard practice in tech giants to steal intellectual property by luring away the guys that built it. His million-dollar legal team finally convinced him that the feds had put together a solid case. They weren’t just coming after the c
ompany. They wanted to punish him personally. Ivan always assumed someone had set them up to fail. Then Pax Ruan made an offer, an offer that allowed him to keep some portion of Cryptus and to enjoy a life free of courtroom drama or potential prison time. Even more, it allowed him to keep working on his secret project. “I’ll be your ‘Angel ‘ investor,” Thrall recalled the man saying with that same predatory smile on his lips.

  “Thrall!”

  The sharp sound of his name felt like a verbal slap. “Sorry, yes, we are ready to proceed.” He stood and walked to the front of the room, the black ocean behind him providing an eerie backdrop. “As we discussed, the Janus system achieved much of what we had hoped. His work on the Angel Project was critical in getting it moving forward. Once the NSA’s Cybercommand began monkeying around on the AI, well...they didn’t fully understand the code, much less the chip architecture of his hardware. We had enough back doors in to keep monitoring and modifying, even after they moved it all to the capital. With a little nudge here and there, I think we can agree his exploits went well beyond the initially planned parameters to simply wreak havoc. Ultimately, he was much more…creative than we’d expected.”

  “Yes, yes, but that was a massive waste of resources, and Janus is gone now,” Dakso said impatiently.

  “Yes, Janus is gone,” Thrall continued, “and we still are unsure as to how he was stopped, but he left the U.S. economy in ruins. The dollar is at an unsustainable low as compared to other world currencies. It is getting pounded by every other developed nation, and the purchasing power keeps dropping.” A chart appeared as an overlay to the outside view screen showing a series of jagged peaks and valleys all headed down. “Janus effectively disrupted trade, banking, insurance, and, of course, the commodity and stock exchanges. Some of these may never recover.”

  “And now we are free to pursue the latest decryptions? Will we finally get more of your promised rewards from the project, or are you just going to keep sacrificing your research teams?“ Pax asked with a tone of hostility.

  “Angel Project is nearly back on track. The incident at Site 21 did negatively impact our timeline…”

  A voice cut him off, “Your main researcher was murdered by your project, Thrall. Not sure that qualifies as either an incident or a negative impact. Who the hell is going to do the work?” the Croatian asked.

  Ivan took a sip of wine and raised a palm to signal calm. “We do have that covered ̶ ̶ a rather brilliant scientist has taken over the reins. She has gained all of her predecessor’s knowledge and should be able to coax out the next bit of code without all the, um…drama.” Thrall knew none of the kings had the stomach for the gory details that went on at the testing labs. His earlier report to them had downplayed much of what he’d witnessed through the small window that day. Hopefully, the attractive South American scientist would be a bit more…resilient.

  15

  After another feast for the following day's lunch, the group ordered the wait staff out of the dining room and the doors sealed. A statuesque blonde stood and walked to where Thrall was standing. The look he gave her was something feral, but he caught the same look in her. He nodded and returned to his seat. Growing up in the mountainous regions of the Czech Republic, Ruslana Kilma was destined to be a farmer’s wife, possibly a merchant in the tiny village. Instead, she was one of the most formidable hackers to have ever sat at a keyboard. Along with being beautiful, she was ruthless and had a near eidetic memory. Normal password protocols were as simple as opening a door for her.

  Her past success had paid the way for her to be here. Her skillset, probably even more than her looks, was what had formed the bond between her and Thrall. While he was a programming wizard, he was no hacker. She, on the other hand, was a master. She looked for weakness, reverse engineered everything, and did not care how elegant or efficient the code was that she had to use. Ruslana worked with the bio labs on the decryption. Thankfully, she’d not been at Site 21 that day. Her other key role in the organization was to make sure the money never stopped flowing. As an early adopter of programmed crypto trading, she had that covered easily. Her trading algorithms were the stuff of legend on the dark web and underground hacker networks.

  “Thrall has asked me to bring you up to speed on Project Saraph, or, as we call it, ‘Angel’.” She spoke in English as they all had agreed early on, but her words were heavily accented. “As you know, the artifact which was recovered in 1967 has been challenging. It gives up its clues only with the most ardent and painstaking effort. With each new evolution, we can decrypt additional bits of the code.”

  “Come on, honey,” Freida Spiegel said, obviously ogling the leggy blonde. The stocky heiress from Hamburg was well known for her appetite for food, beer, and women. “We know the history, get the fuck on with it.”

  For her part, Ruslana ignored the German, as she did anyone who thought they were somehow better than everyone else…better than her. “No one has ever attempted anything like this, no one outside this group would likely even think it is possible. After many years, though, we can see and use enough of the artifact’s data to have made some amazing breakthroughs, one of which, of course, is Kalypso.” She gestured to the massive room and its gracefully curving walls.

  “This is only possible because of the new science we have gleaned from the artifact. How to build materials and structures that can withstand immense pressure. How to extract energy from the geothermal vents on the seafloor. How to literally build items we need at a molecular level. It is beyond even my comprehension, but do try and understand that we are the new alchemist. We have a unique gift, and because of that, we will be a target for every nation out there. When Ivan says we must be ready to defend all that we have found, that is not simply paranoia. Let us not forget it was the United States that had Saraph first. They just didn’t understand what it was. When they started to figure it out, it nearly caused them to go to war with their closest ally.”

  Ruslana went on to detail several more amazing breakthroughs she’d managed to decrypt. The code fascinated her, not just for the secrets it held, but because it was such a puzzle. Layer upon layer of encryption. She’d encountered nothing like it. You painstakingly extract the dataset, then spend weeks, or sometimes months, running every cracking algorithm—only for the archive to open and reveal a piece of new and amazing information along with a buried clue on how to construct. Then, you find the next one. It was constantly a process of rinse and repeat, and so far, none of the teams had found a way to shortcut the process. Whoever, or whatever, designed this wanted it revealed in a very particular way.

  “Since we began using the quantum computers, it has sped the decryption process down to just days in most cases,” Ruslana continued. “For that reason, the labs are now working on multiple carrier subjects at the same time, each at different stages. We even have a series four coming out of the creche this week. From the original artifact, we have extracted the building blocks to help unlock the remainder of the data. That much we all have known for some time,” she said cutting off the rude German before she could speak. “What we didn’t know until now, is how far we have gotten, how much more information is locked up inside the storage matrix. By my new estimates, we have unlocked only about eight percent of the total. Not just that, but our speed is increasing exponentially by putting what we already learned to good use.”

  “Like what?” Pax asked cutting right to the heart of the discussion.

  “Like how to develop software on the new computers to automate much of the decryption. This, in turn, has allowed me to perfect predictive analysis, market manipulation, and more. Just bringing on the new quantum trading platforms for cryptocurrency trading will bring us in an extra 1.4 billion dollars this quarter alone. Since the Americans’ banking system has flatlined, more and more of them have switched over to cryptos, bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and several others. We are draining the U.S. economy, and they have no idea. Not only will they no longer be a superpower, they will be
bankrupt. Trust me when I say we are making unprecedented headway.”

  Ruslana spoke for several more minutes before sitting down. Ivan Thrall rose again and thanked her, then looked to his friend, Richard. “Goldman is going to let us in on a little secret now.”

  The large Texan stood up with some effort, smiled, and looked around the room. “We found it! We found the goddamn probe!”

  16

  Florida Everglades

  They exited the silver SUV several miles from the property, giving it instructions to auto-drive in the vicinity until they signaled. His XO, McTee, hung back close by. Lieutenant Bridget Maratelli and a serious looking ex-Navy man, Everett ‘Hammer’ Harrison, took point. The rutted, dirt road was the color of butter. The late afternoon air was thick with nearly invisible flying insects.

  “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Boss.”

  Cade nodded at McTee in agreement. The man Margaret had sent them to meet was supposed to be here. “The director says this was the area,” Cade said. They never had an address, but apparently no one out here bothered with niceties like those. On both sides of the road, the ground fell away into dark and foreboding swampland. A crack of a limb and a splash of water a few hundred yards to their left caused them all to drop to a knee and raise their weapons. “Probably a gator, but fuck it. C’mon, let’s move it,” Cade said.

  Nearly an hour later, Dee informed them they were nearing the target coordinates. Cade looked around, confused. “You sure? There isn’t a damn thing out here.” She confirmed it was the right spot. “Hammer, sweep left,” he whispered. “McTee, take Cochise and go south.” Both men silently parted and began jogging in opposite directions, the dog cautiously leading the way. Cade turned to the lone remaining member of his team. “You ready?” Maratelli nodded.