by James Rosone
“Sorry for interrupting, Tony,” said the President, “but it occurred to me that the group may need some context. When you say Deepfakes, you’re referencing the videos being created of Marshall Tate pleading for peace and calm and then the videos of me looking like a raving maniac demanding the blood of my political enemies, correct?”
Tony Wildes nodded. “Yes, Mr. President. Exactly. But it’s worse than that, sir. They are also generating these same types of videos of various congressional members, celebrities, sports figures, musicians, etcetera—all pushing or promoting a specific agenda. It’s gotten so bad, no one knows what’s real and what isn’t.”
“Can’t people tell these are fake videos being generated?” asked the President’s Chief of Staff, a confused look on his face.
Wildes shook his head. “No, they can’t. The technology has gotten so good you can’t tell that these are just computer-generated videos.”
“How the hell is this even possible?” barked the President. He’d seen a number of these videos of him saying some truly outlandish things, and it incensed him to no end.
Tony sighed. “Deepfake is a technique of human image synthesis based on artificial intelligence. They’re using something called a generative adversarial network, which basically has one computer using AI creating a video and audio of whatever it is they created, and then a second computer doing whatever it can to detect the falsehoods in the fake video. The two computers essentially wargame this against each other until the Deepfake is so accurate even the AI computer can’t detect it. Once they’ve generated the message they want, they pump it out into the various social media channels and plaster it all over the internet.
“For example, if they want to target women in a certain age range, they may create a message that’ll resonate with them and then propagate that message on Pinterest or Instagram to reach that specific audience. Using Facebook and Google data, these groups essentially know exactly what people in a specific neighborhood or congressional district are talking about, researching on the internet, or watching on YouTube, so they can socially engineer a message that will resonate with them. As that message takes root and gets shared, commented on, liked or hated, they integrate that user feedback into new messages they create.”
Tony paused for a second as he shook his head and then looked up at the President. “Sir, these outside actors have completely and utterly weaponized social media and the internet against us. Our own message can’t even get out or resonate because it’s being completely distorted by what these other groups are able to do. I mean, it’s not even just China—the Russians are hammering us with this, the Germans—and anyone else that has a laptop and the internet.”
The President pounded his fist on the table. “Damn it, Tony! There has to be something we can do to stop this—something we can do to keep this from spreading further and tearing our country apart!”
Tony winced at the outburst. “Mr. President, there is only so much we can do. We don’t own or control Facebook, Google, or any of the other tech companies involved in the spread of this.”
Jumping in before the President could say anything, Patty Hogan asked, “Is there some sort of executive order or action the executive branch can take to give you the powers your agency needs to deal with this?”
The President nodded as he looked at Tony, waiting for him to tell them something.
Tony took a deep breath. “You could sign an EO giving the NSA inside access to the tech companies and these social media platforms’ infrastructure. We could then put in place a delay to review all videos and images being posted to these sites unless they come from an approved source. This could help us try to regain control of the situation.”
The President agreed. “We’ll get with the AG and craft this up. However, I’m going to have him put a time limit on this EO, Tony. We’re not going to allow the NSA to have this kind of access permanently. This is only until the conflict is over. After that, we’ll work with Congress to create some new legislation that’ll address this problem, and hopefully, we won’t have to deal with this kind of crap happening again in the future.”
The meeting then continued on with the other agenda items. Truthfully, it all seemed rather mundane to Sachs after the discussion with the NSA.
Chapter 19
Connecting the Dots
April 6, 2021
Camp Perry, Virginia
Director Nolan Polanski sat in the small briefing room, dumbfounded by what he was hearing. Turning to look at Director Ryerson, then-Secretary Hogan, and the National Security Advisor, Robert Grey, he could tell they were equally surprised and angered. They were nearly done watching the interrogation of Roberto Lamy, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization. What he’d said during his questioning was nothing short of crazy and fantastical.
When the video ended, Major General Lancaster looked at them. “We’re still verifying much of what he said; however, we’ve already been able to corroborate a lot of what he’s told us thus far.”
“What are the major loose ends?” asked Secretary Hogan.
“We need to tie up the connection between Lance Solomon, Marshall Tate, and Peng An.”
“OK. Different angle. What are the major pieces you’ve been able to corroborate thus far?” asked Polanski.
“Now that we knew where to look and roughly when, we’ve been able to trace a lot of the dark money that went to the SuperPAC Global First and how it was used. This was definitely the primary vehicle that facilitated the majority of the election shenanigans that took place. More importantly, we were able to cross-reference the donors to that PAC to more than a dozen other SuperPACs that were aligned with Marshall Tate’s campaign or election efforts. As a matter of fact, two of the PACs were being used to pay protesters to cause problems at President Sachs’s political rallies and nearly every public event he attended. One of the PACs is currently being used to pay for Marshall Tate’s personal security detail in Ottawa.”
Secretary Hogan leaned forward in her chair. “What about that Russian PMC, the Wagner Group? They’ve recently started showing up in New York, Washington State, and I heard even down in Mexico in large numbers.”
General Lancaster nodded. “We found evidence of them being funded by the SuperPAC as well. Global First, which currently has about two hundred and thirty million dollars, recently wire transferred eighty million to Wagner. They also transferred about sixty million to seven state CDF groups as well. We’re not sure what they’re doing with the money, but our best guess is they’re using it to pay their militia members so they can keep them ready to fight.”
Attorney General Malcolm Wright, who was sitting in the back of the room, cleared his throat to gather the group’s attention. “I think we all need to sit and watch this again. This time, we should all take some notes and figure out exactly what crimes have been committed, by whom, and what additional evidence we need to make this an airtight prosecution. Then we need to synthesize this information down into manageable chunks that we can release to the public. If we’re going to reunite this country and put an end to this civil war before it tears us apart, then we need to get this information disseminated promptly.”
Everyone in the room expressed agreement with the AG. The group broke briefly to take a bio break, grab some coffee, and had some sandwiches brought in. Once they were ready, they resumed watching the video a second time. They observed both the initial interrogation of Mr. Lamy, the one where he was heavily drugged, and then the second interrogation, where Mr. Lamy was clearly distraught over his involvement in the greatest scam ever perpetrated on the world.
When they finished watching the video for a second time, AG Wright asked, “Where is Mr. Lamy now?”
“He’s currently being held at one of our safe houses in Brazil,” replied General Lancaster. “We weren’t sure where we should take him just yet. I was hoping you might be able to tell me if you’d like him brought back to the US to stand trial, or if you have som
e other thoughts on what we should do with him.”
“I think we need to bring him back to the US,” the AG responded. “He’s the star witness in all of this. He places Marshall Tate at that fundraiser in Seattle with all the other players at the table. If he’s willing to go on the record and repeat all of this publicly in court, I’m pretty sure I can get the President to agree to an immunity deal. We can place him in the witness protection program and make sure he disappears, but he’ll have to testify. The public needs to hear what he has to say, and we need him to testify against the other co-conspirators.”
*******
Seth looked at Smith with a raised eyebrow, as if to say, Are you serious?
“Really?” he asked aloud.
“Yeah.”
Seth blew the air out of his mouth swiftly, as if trying to blow a smoke ring. “This is going to be tricky,” he said.
“I know.”
“So, how do we do it?”
Now it was Smith’s turn to sigh. “If they wanted us to get him out of Brazil, they should’ve told us that a week ago before his wife became hysterical about his disappearance. She’s been raving in the media about him being missing. His face is all over the media. The Brazilian president has made it a national priority to find him. Hell—as soon as his co-conspirators learned he was gone, they ponied up a multimillion-dollar reward for information leading to his recovery. Moving him is going to be difficult, to say the least.”
“What about smuggling him to the hangar and putting him on our jet?” asked Seth.
Smith shook his head. “I already looked into that. The state police are checking all vehicles coming to and going from the airports. I even looked at the smaller regional airports and the private airports out in the countryside—they have those locked down as well. I think our best bet at this point is to either sit tight with him here or try to smuggle him out on a boat.”
The mention of a boat got Seth thinking about an old mission he’d been a part of when he first joined Special Forces. His team had gotten into some trouble in an Asian country, and they had to be extracted by the Navy. A Naval Special Warfare Boat Team picked them up with a rigid inflatable boat and then linked up with a mother ship further out at sea.
Looking up at Smith, Seth proclaimed, “I have an idea.”
Smith smiled mischievously. “See, I knew you’d figure this out for us.”
From the Authors
Miranda and I hope you’ve enjoyed this book. The next book in our Falling Empires Series, Vengeance, is already available for preorder. Simply click on the link here to reserve your copy.
While you are waiting for the next book to be released, you may wish to enjoy one of our books in audio format. All six books of the Red Storm Series are now available for your listening pleasure, as well as our entire World War III series. We’ve also had Traitors Within and Interview with a Terrorist recorded on audio as well.
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We have really valued connecting with our readers via social media, especially on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RosoneandWatson/. Sometimes we ask for help from our readers as we write future books—we love to draw upon all your different areas of expertise. We also have a group of beta readers who get to look at the books before they are officially published and help us fine-tune last-minute adjustments. If you would like to be a part of this team, please go to our author website: http://www.author-james-rosone.com, and send us a message through the “Contact” tab. You can also follow us on Twitter: @jamesrosone and @AuthorMirandaW. We look forward to hearing from you.
You may also enjoy some of our other works. A full list can be found below:
Nonfiction:
Iraq Memoir 2006–2007 Troop Surge
Interview with a Terrorist (link for audiobook here)
Fiction:
World War III Series
Prelude to World War III: The Rise of the Islamic Republic and the Rebirth of America (link to audiobook here)
Operation Red Dragon and the Unthinkable (link to audiobook here)
Operation Red Dawn and the Invasion of America (link to audiobook here)
Cyber Warfare and the New World Order (link to audiobook here)
Michael Stone Series
Traitors Within (link to audiobook here)
The Red Storm Series
Battlefield Ukraine (link to audiobook here)
Battlefield Korea (link to audiobook here)
Battlefield Taiwan (link to audiobook here)
Battlefield Pacific (link to audiobook here)
Battlefield Russia (link to audiobook here)
Battlefield China (link to audiobook here)
Second American Civil War Series
Rigged (link to audiobook here)
Peacekeepers (audiobook in production—join our mailing list to be notified when it arrives)
Invasion (will go into production as soon as Peacekeepers is finished)
Vengeance, available for preorder
Retribution, release date TBD
Children’s Books:
My Daddy has PTSD
My Mommy has PTSD
For the Veterans
I have been pretty open with our fans about the fact that PTSD has had a tremendous direct impact on our lives; it affected my relationship with my wife, job opportunities, finances, parenting—everything. It is also no secret that for me, the help from the VA was not the most ideal form of treatment. Although I am still on this journey, I did find one organization that did assist the healing process for me, and I would like to share that information.
Welcome Home Initiative is a ministry of By His Wounds Ministry, and they run seminars for veterans and their spouses for free. The weekends are a combination of prayer and more traditional counseling and left us with resources to aid in moving forward. The entire cost of the retreat—hotel costs, food, and sessions, are completely free from the moment the veteran and their spouse arrive at the location.
If you feel that you or someone you love might benefit from one of Welcome Home Initiative’s sessions, please visit their website to learn more: https://welcomehomeinitiative.org/
We have decided to donate a portion of our profits to this organization because it made such an impact in our lives, and we believe in what they are doing. If you would also like to donate to Welcome Home Initiative and help to keep these weekend retreats going, you can do so by following this link: https://welcomehomeinitiative.org/donate/
Abbreviation Key
AAVAmphibious Assault Vehicle
ACUArmy Combat Uniform
ADArmored Division
AOArea of Operations
APCArmored Personnel Carrier
ATGMAntitank Guided Missile
BNDBundesnachrichtendienst (German intelligence)
BTRBronetransportyor (Russian armored transporter)
CDFCivilian Defense Force
CMCCentral Military Commission
COCommanding Officer
CPCommand Post
D.C.District of Columbia
DHSDepartment of Homeland Security
DRDominican Republic
EAMEmergency Action Message
EMPElectromagnetic Pulse
EODExplosive Ordnance Disposal
FDRFranklin Delano Roosevelt
FEMAFederal Emergency Management Agency
FLETCFederal Law Enforcement Training Centers
FN MAGBelgian machine gun in 7.62 mm, originally manufactured by FN Herstal
&nbs
p; FPSFederal Protection Service
FRAGOFragmentary Order
HEATHigh-Explosive Anti-Tank
HETHeavy Equipment Transports
HIMARSHigh Mobility Artillery Rocket System
IBAIndividual Body Armor
IDInfantry Division
IEDImprovised Explosive Device
IFVInfantry Fighting Vehicle
ISRIntelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance
IRInfrared
JBCJoint Battle Center
JDAMJoint Direct Attack Munition
JLTVJoint Light Tactical Vehicle
JSOCJoint Special Operations Command
JWICSJoint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System
KBRCompany, formerly Kellogg, Brown, and Root (American engineering, construction, and private military contracting entity)
LALos Angeles
LAVLight Armored Vehicle
LNGLiquid Natural Gas
LNOLiaison Officer
LTLieutenant
MANPADsMan-Portable Air-Defense Systems
MEUMarine Expeditionary Unit
MIMilitary Intelligence
MIRVMultiple Independent Reentry Vehicle
MODMinistry of Defence
MOLLEModular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment
MPMilitary Police
MREMeals Ready to Eat
NCONoncommissioned Officer
NIPRNonclassified Internet Protocol
NORTHCOMNorthern Command
NSANational Security Advisor OR National Security Agency
NVGNight Vision Goggles
OPObservational Post
OPECOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
PACPolitical Action Committee
PLAPeople’s Liberation Army (Chinese army)
PMPrime Minister
PMCPrivate Military Contractor
POLPetroleum, Oil, Lubricants
POWPrisoner of War
