by Bob Blink
"Mr. Rosen has been looking into the phones used by our unidentified suspects and has uncovered some things that might be important. The Director of the NSA thought he should provide us a summary of what he has found." It was fairly obvious that much of what would be presented had already been communicated to the Assistant Director.
Gary Rosen wasn't the same individual that Kevin Martini had reached out for unofficial information a few days ago. Mr. Rosen was considerably younger, a very talented computer technician, and extremely knowledgeable about the various systems employed by the NSA in its cellular monitor system.
"I understand that you haven't learned anything that would help us locate the individuals that own these phones," the Assistant Director said.
"Unfortunately not," Rosen replied. "The phones have seen very little use, and none of the messages passed between the users met any of the requirements that would have resulted in the archival of the audio that you hoped to listen too. There has been no further use of any of the devices beyond what I believe you are aware of. The only significant change is that the device formerly located in El Paso has dropped off the network."
"You are saying that you have no record of the conversations previously passed between the phones?" one of the agents asked. Karl had suspected that would be the case from the beginning.
"That is correct," Rosen replied.
"And you have no idea what happened to the phone in El Paso? The phones wasn't relocated?"
Rosen nodded. "It has either been intentionally shut off, shut down from a lack of power, or been damaged somehow so that it can no longer communicate with any towers. We would detect the movement between towers, and if it were still on the system, it would show the modified location. For those of you that haven't been informed, the phone located in Fort Worth also appears to be a dead end. It was located late last night. The actual phone has been replaced by an elaborate replacement, hidden high on an electrical power pole in line with a convenient cellular tower. The replacement unit acts as the phone, receiving calls and allowing messages to be stored, but cannot be answered directly. A detailed look by on-site technicians confirms that the owner can call the unit, and when prompted for a message, enter a numeric code which activates a special sequence to play back any stored messages. The phone has been accessed over the past weeks, but by a variety of local public pay phones, scattered around the city. There is no way to trace who is checking for messages. Our guess is that further interfacing with this unit will cease, and the owner will simply leave it unrecovered where he mounted it. We have actually recovered the unit while leaving it functional, and are examining it for any leads to the builder."
"From the urgency expressed by your Director, I thought you would have something more for us. This is simply a recap of what I was told this morning."
Rosen nodded. The burner phones are almost certainly a dead end, but there is something else much more interesting that we have uncovered."
The Assistant Director perked up. This was something that hadn't been forwarded to him earlier. "More?" he asked eagerly.
"I started wondering if there might be other phones in use by the group to support their activities," Rosen explained. "There is nothing that would suggest these were the only throwaway phones at their disposal. I initiated a system check, focusing on the same towers in use by the phones we know about, to see if there might by another group of phones that could be being used by these individuals. I wasn't overly surprised when I found none. But I found something I consider a bit odd. It's that anomaly that my Director wishes me to discuss with you."
"I found a device being used via the same tower in El Paso. It wasn't communicating with any of the other towers we know these people are using, so I might have overlooked it, but it was such an unlikely device to spot in that area that I was immediately curious. The phone was tagged, our system does that, as one of the very special, super encrypted phones that many of the government's covert agencies use. The messages on these phones are protected with a complex algorithm that even the NSA would have considerable difficulty breaking. Without the key it could take weeks to break the code, depending on the amount of data recovered. I wondered why such a device would be in use in the same time frame, using the same tower. The odds seemed astronomical."
"Where was the phone that this one was talking to," Karl asked.
"That was the other thing that caught my attention. It was connected to another device of the same type somewhere here in Washington, D.C. The tower in use covers much of the government offices complex."
"You don't think that what you found might be an normal use by one of the agencies authorized to have such phones?" the Assistant Director asked.
"It certainly could be, but for some reason it didn't feel right. Anyway, I ran a historical file, and I initially found that these two devices had a very short history of use; only a few days. So I altered my search, and I found that over the last several months, there have been a number of device pairs operating for short periods, using the same set of towers. All the exchanges were encrypted, of course, so there is no easy way to discover who and what the subject of their conversations might have been."
"For a while I wondered if Homeland Security might be using the phones. El Paso is on the border, and they have a large contingent of agents monitoring the border, but their traffic really isn't the kind of thing that would typically be using such a secure system. A brief enquiry as to whether there might be some use came back negative."
"Curious, I agree, but I'm not sure how this relates to our situation," the Assistant Director said.
"Neither did I, but then I discovered that the device normally located in El Paso was sometimes mobile, and infrequent calls would be made to the Washington based device from other locations. Focusing on the Washington location, I found a similar pattern where different units would communicate exactly like the El Paso unit. I believe the individual in El Paso is the same one who recently disabled his throwaway device."
"And the person on the Washington end?" Karl asked.
"I have no idea," Rosen admitted.
"I'm not certain I'm getting the significance of what you are trying to communicate," the Assistant Director said.
"Okay. I believe, based on the way these unexpected signals are appearing, that someone has a pair of these phones and is using them to pass messages they want secure, even if the transmissions are noted, something extremely unlikely given the rarity and the fact they are jumping frequencies. They are being especially tricky as well. Periodically, perhaps if they suspect their transmission might have been noticed, they switch the internal SIMs, like you would do in a normal device if you wished to change the phone number it operated with, so that the units appear to be different devices. They might even be altering the algorithm used for the encryption at the same time. All of this makes their conversations infinitely harder to recover."
"And you say you suspect these might be the same people who have the unlisted phones we are interested in? Why would they need both?"
"The burner phones are for open communication with devices you simply don't want to be noticed. They can be found on the network in the millions, and there is no reason for anyone to pay attention to a particular unit unless, like we have in this case, learned the numbers are associated with actions we want to know about. Normally the users can count of being anonymous and safe for that reason, especially if any communications are carefully worded to avoid words that might trigger NSA or other listeners to tag them. The special devices are for communication between individuals who fear their contacts might be discovered, but want to be very certain what is discussed cannot be overheard."
"And these phones are controlled?"
"Oh yes. Very much so. They are highly restricted and for government use only. If someone else has somehow acquired them, it has to be for some reason that we should know about, even if I'm wrong about it being the very people we are seeking."
"Can't we simply ask t
he agencies that are authorized to have these phones whether they have people in the noted locations?" one of the agents asked.
Rosen smiled. "That only sort of works. If one of the agencies openly reveals they have agents making those communications, we could eliminate these findings from our investigations. Unfortunately, the agencies have reasons not to reveal how the devices are being used, and it is very possible they would tell us they have no people in these locations using devices, when in fact they do. The covert organizations have proven less than forthcoming regarding such inquiries in the past."
"How does any of this help us?" Kevin asked.
"Out of necessity driven by the desire to use the immense infrastructure of the commercial cellular network, the phones are bound by some of the same rules as the normal phones. While their messages are encrypted, and to an average user at one of the phone companies nothing identifies these phones as unique even though we have means of spotting them, they must ping, or log into, the cellular towers in order to use the network. "That's how I was able to find them. That means our locating techniques will be able to focus on these devices and define much more precisely where the users are located."
"Why aren't we doing that already?" Karl asked.
"I have requested it be done, but as always, there is one more complication that causes us difficulty. "This is a characteristic of the devices and not the network. Unlike your typical phone that pings the towers at regular intervals, these government devices only ping when they are in use. It takes them a moment longer to connect, but they effectively are invisible the rest of the time."
"So we wait for them to call." Kevin suggested.
"Exactly," Rosen replied, "However this is complicated by the fact they might have changed SIMs and therefore won't appear as a device we recognized. There could be a delay spotting them, then trying to get a fix on them. If their conversation is short, we might not be successful before they drop off again."
"You have put this in motion already?" the Assistant Director asked.
"I have, but I believe it is best I am in the lab while this is happening. Having scouting the way these people operate, I have a better chance than the average technician of making it work."
"You should go work that," the Assistant Director suggested. "We don't know when they might use these phones again. Meanwhile, I want a couple of people assigned to finding out where they might have gotten the phones, either from the manufacturer or from one of the organizations that has these things. Finally, and I hate to say this, but I want you two, she pointed at Agent Martini and Karl, to get back on that plane and find this elusive Mr. Campbell. This special phone is once again linked to his area, and the other is here in Washington where he has a son. Yet another coincidence. I want him detained so we can discuss this with him. We might be off base, but my instincts say he has some part in all this."
Chapter 34
Los Angeles, CA
The two agents tasked with investigating the possibility that units had disappeared from the manufacturer's facility sat uncomfortably under the gaze of the man who not only designed the hardware, but owned the company as well. Others had made official enquiries of the various organizations that used the devices and would continue to pursue the possibilities of losses there. Frankly, both were convinced the Director believed that Secret service agent Campbell had in some manner stolen a pair of the devices.
"So, you had to have this meeting," the man said clearly hostile to the presence. It's important you say. It's also classified. You can't talk about it over the phone. You can't send me an email, even though we have encrypted system good enough for state secrets. It must be in person, here in my facility. My schedule and the fact I'm a little bit busy doesn't matter shit to you. Okay. So you're here. Now what the hell do you want?"
Phil Grossman was in his mid seventies, the owner and primary engineer for the company he had founded after leaving the military. He was skinny, animated, and beyond brilliant. His hair was reminiscent of Albert Einstein's in the more classic pictures of the famous scientist. Grossman was also notoriously impatient with idiots.
"We want to talk about phones," the older of the two Special Agents from the FBI said uncomfortably.
"Phones?" Mr. Grossman asked.
"Yes, phones. The ones you make for certain organizations in the government," the other agent added helpfully.
"I assumed you weren't referring to something ATT produced," the industrialist said sarcastically. He sat and starred at the two agents hostilely.
After several minutes, one of the agents ventured to say, "Well?"
"You wanted to talk, so talk," Grossman suggested. "But do it soon. It would be nice to finish this before dinner."
The agent sighed and pressed onward. No one warned him he was going to be dealing with someone as difficult as this guy.
"We believe a couple of your special phones are missing. Maybe more than a couple?"
For a moment he thought the older man wasn't going to respond, but finally Grossman spoke up.
""You don't know how many? So which of your super secret, highly efficient, and extraordinarily security conscious organizations misplaced them?"
"You don't understand," the agent said. "We believe that the phones had to come from here. From your factory. As near as we can tell, all of the ones that have been delivered are accounted for."
"As near as you can tell?" Grossman asked. "That's certainly confidence building. "Why would you believe I might have lost one of your phones?"
"We can't think of where else they might have come from."
"What makes you believe some phones are missing at all, since you can almost certainly guarantee that all of them are accounted for?"
"Someone seems to be using phones in an unauthorized and uncontrolled manner," the younger of the two agents explained.
"Has it occurred to you that someone might have designed their own, and you are picking up their broadcasts?"
"The signals and function is too much like your units," one of the agents suggested.
"Well, that clinches it," Grossman agreed. "But you see, there is a bit of a problem."
"Problem?"
"Yes. You might recall that all of the phones are carefully constructed under the auditing watch of people from a government oversight organization to procedures that you people specifically said must be used. Procedures designed to insure that no phones went missing or no unauthorized phones could be manufactured."
"Yes, but . . ."
"Have you checked with those people on the status of the stock we have on hand?"
"We have."
"And?"
"Every unit, every serial number is in place where it should be. There are no gaps in expected hardware."
"Ah ha. And, all the units shipped to various organizations arrived as expected, with absolutely no shortages?'
"That's true," the agent squirmed.
"Why are you here?" Grossman asked.
"We need to find those phones," the older agent explained. "We needed to ask if you have any idea where they came from or how they could be in use without our knowing who has them."
"I do not. And, no I didn't."
"You didn't what?" the agent asked confused.
"Whatever you are going to ask me if I did. Whatever it is, I didn't do it."
"You didn't provide anyone with a couple of your phones?"
"I just answered that I think," Grossman snarled.
"Would you be willing to answer that question while connected to a lie detector?"
"No!"
"No?" the agent asked surprised by the response. Innocent people were usually eager to cooperate to clear themselves.
"Listen up. I started this company to produce certain gear I thought would be useful to the government. After my time in the military I had a good idea where certain weaknesses were. You may think that I make a lot of money with the devices I sell to your organizations. I don't. I sell them to you at cost, sometime
s less than that, because I believe they are important. I make lots of money on other stuff that I sell to industry that I should be spending my time on. That stuff is profitable."
"I love and honor my country. I expect a certain amount of respect in return. I am not trying to get rich. I answered your questions. You want me to take a lie detector test, then get a legal court order demanding the same. Then I'll take your stupid test. And that will be the last time the government ever gets another device of any kind from me. I will destroy the on-hand stock, and all documentation for the devices. They are my creation, and no one here can duplicate the core code and operation."
Grossman glared at the two interlopers.
"My raised finger salutes you. Now get the hell out of my office and don't ever bother me again!"
Phil Grossman stood and walked out. The two agents looked at each other in shock, wondering just how they were going to report this back to the Director. It was clear that they weren't going to get anyone to admit to loss of any units. The agents wondered how the Director was going to explain this to the President.
Chapter 35
El Paso, Texas
Game over, Earl thought as he stripped the battery and SIM out of the specialized phone that had betrayed them in the end. His actions were probably too late to matter, and if the phone worked the way Mark had been briefed, it wouldn't be broadcasting anything that would help his adversaries at the moment. He wanted it neutered just the same. Then he'd be damn sure. He'd lose the parts as he made his way into the mountains later in the day. He didn't know if the NSA nerds that were attempting to track the phone had had time to get an accurate fix on his location during the call he'd just finished. It didn't matter. From what he'd just learned from Mark they had a pretty good idea it had been him and a crew he'd put together that was responsible for the killings.
It bothered him that they thought CC was a participant and his contact in the DC area. He'd put his son in an awkward situation, and he was going to have a rough spell for a bit because of that, for multiple reasons. He'd like to believe that CC would come out of this alright, but it would depend on his actions to a considerable degree. Being fair, CC hadn't known what the phone was when he'd been asked to delivered it to Mark, but he'd had to know that they were bending the law in one way or another, and the phone had to be part of that. One didn't charter an airplane for just any old phone. By now he had to know what the phones were, and be pretty damn certain just what was going on. Earl wasn't sure what the boy would do. Would he keep his silence protecting the President and his father, and thereby be a party to the crimes, or would he come forth and expose the conspiracy? Earl was torn as to what he wished. Exposing the President would be the right thing, and be best for CC. It was also something Mark had known from the beginning he was risking. On the other hand, if CC were to remain silent, he would be protecting the last acts that Earl had sacrificed everything for.
