by D S Kane
Ann felt betrayal as she realized she had failed to earn the CypherGhost’s trust. No, she’s no friend. If I only had had a weapon. She realized she probably would have murdered Charlette Keegan-Ashbury as soon as she’d read the decrypted message. But, at least, now I know.
Ann called Cassie, whispering into her cell. “Mom, I just found out something I have to tell everyone except for Charlette. Listen, but don’t speak. She isn’t who she appears to be. She’s very dangerous, and right now, she’s just become operational. I’ve just sent a large file to your cell.”
Cassie whispered back at Ann from her and Lee’s bedroom. “Yeah, Ann, I just scanned the file. But I had already suspected she wasn’t what she claimed to be. Please don’t be upset with me but I had bugged the bedroom you and she were using and I’d also placed a keystroke monitor on your computer. Please, don’t do anything until everyone is in the kitchen. Then we’ll have enough concentrated force to deal with your little problem. Give me half an hour to set things up.”
Ann terminated the call. She set an alarm on her cell for thirty minutes, lay on the bed and closed her eyes. Seconds later, as the enormity of the CypherGhost’s deception rolled over her, Ann clasped her hands over her mouth to keep her sobbing from filling the room. Tears drenched her pillow.
* * *
Cassie and Lee spoke briefly, in whispers. She said, “We’ve been deceived by Charlette. We’ll need to restrain her and interrogate her to see just how bad the damage is but, Lee, she may have a weapon. I’ll need to have Jon and Avram consult on a plan to take her down.”
Lee nodded. “Call them.” He pulled his cell from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Jon, it’s Cassie.” She explained the situation.
“Avram and I are in the Swiftshadow offices right now. We’re about to leave. What should we bring?”
It only took another minute for them to agree on a plan and the matériel they’d need.
* * *
Avram jogged alongside Jon. Both wore Liquid Armor–coated shirts under their coats. The shirts could stop a point-blank 9mm shell. They also carried their Beretta Nanos, concealed-carry 9mm handguns with ten shot clips, and with another cartridge rack-loaded into the handgun, giving them a total of eleven rounds apiece. More than enough for a single target. But both men had been trained by the Mossad to know that no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.
The plan was simple. They’d need to approach their target from opposite sides, and when about fifteen feet away, draw their weapons and demand she raise her arms over her head.
When the elevator doors opened, Avram called Lee’s cell. “Where is she?”
Avram listened to Lee’s sitrep.
Avram said, “Good. We’re outside the elevator at the safe house apartment’s floor right now, about to enter.”
Avram turned to Jon and said, “The CypherGhost is awake at the kitchen table, keying on her notebook computer.”
The two men walked quietly to the door to the safe house apartment and opened the door. They moved quickly and silently, entered through and closed the front door. Avram pointed to the left. Jon nodded and stepped into the galley kitchen, keeping low until he was behind the doorway.
Avram moved toward the living room, then through the doorway into the dining area where the kitchen table was, with CypherGhost sitting, facing toward him. He took a deep breath and then walked toward where she sat.
She looked up from the notebook and smiled, one of her hands falling beneath the table.
Jon emerged directly behind her. He said, “Kindly remove your hands from under the table and place them above your head. I am armed and ready to kill you if you don’t follow my orders.”
The CypherGhost pulled her hands from under the table. Her right hand held a handgun, pointed directly in front of her, toward Avram’s head. “If I’m going to die, why should I disarm myself first?”
“Follow orders and you might live a while longer. Want to live?” Jon jammed the barrel of his Nano into her neck. “Decide. Now!”
The CypherGhost flinched. Then she lowered her weapon toward Avram’s chest, a center mass shot. Jon responded by shooting her in the arm holding the weapon. The gun went off, a shell hitting Avram’s chest as the gun fell from her hand.
Avram went down, but in a few seconds he was back on his feet. “That hurt. Bitch.”
The CypherGhost’s face fell, and whether it was from the wound to her arm or the shock of not having hurt him, it was impossible to tell.
Jon offered, “Liquid Armor.” He placed plasticuffs on her hands, behind her back. Then he took a tube of plastic Bond-Aid from his pocket and coated the gaping wound in her crippled arm to stop the bleeding. He whipped her chair around. “I’m not as good at interrogations as Cassandra. I’m told she tortured and crucified two terrorist brothers in Riyadh some years back. But let me warn you. She tore pieces of their bodies off during the interrogation. So if you let her start the process, you will die, and it will be a very slow and painful process.”
The CypherGhost remained silent, her expression blank.
Cassie and Lee emerged from their bedroom where they’d hidden. Cassie knocked on the bedroom door where Ann was. “Ann, it’s safe. Come out, please.”
Ann’s expression when she looked at her lover was overflowing with rage. “Mom, kill her. Please kill her. Or, let me do it.”
Cassie went to the kitchen and opened a drawer. She pulled a knife from the drawer and then pulled up a chair. She sat at the CypherGhost’s back and spoke softly into the girl’s ear. “Decide now. Answer our questions or I will chemically encourage you. And be sure of this: I will butcher you, piece by little piece. What’s it to be?”
“Fuck you.”
“Actually not. But I will fuck you. With a broom handle, its forward end sharpened to a point. Not yet, though. I will start by cutting off your nipples and then carving out your eyes. Guys, strip off her clothing. Get a plastic tablecloth and place it underneath her.”
Ann said, “No. I brought her to us, so let me prep her.” Her smile was pure malevolence.
Cassie whispered into the CypherGhost’s ear. “This was mine when I travelled to Riyadh to end the Houmaz brothers. It’s so sharp I could use it to carve paper.” She handed Ann the chef’s knife she was holding.
Ann slipped the knife between the CypherGhost’s neck and the top of her tee-shirt. In seconds the tee was lying on the floor. She slipped the knife through the top of the other woman’s jeans and sliced them from her, this time nicking the skin of her target. Now, the CypherGhost wore only a bra and panties. Ann sliced again and the panties fell away. Then the bra hit the floor.
Naked where she sat, the CypherGhost shrugged. “Big deal. Was this supposed to scare me?”
Cassie pointed to the bedroom where the CypherGhost and Ann had slept together. She spoke to Ann. “Put the plastic tablecloth on your bed, then we’ll carry her there together, so we can pack her up and dispose of her corpse when I’m finished. Avram, please help Ann.”
On the bed, the CypherGhost’s hands and feet were cuffed to the bed’s legs so that she was tightly spread-eagled. For the first time, she showed fear, her eyes darting back and forth.
Cassie smiled. “Death can be painful, or even excruciating. I can make yours so much worse. I’m an artist. First, your left nipple. I’m sure Ann sucked on it last night. But you’ll no longer have it as a body part.” She reached over, flashed the knife, and grabbed the CypherGhost’s nipple, pulled it away as hard as she could. “Here goes.” She placed the chef’s knife against the nipple and prepared for a swift, clean slice.
“Stop! Oh, shit. Please. I’ll tell you what you want to know. Don’t.”
Cassie shrugged. “Too bad. I was ready to dismember you. But if you fail to be honest, I’ll get back to business. Lie once and you’re done. You get one chance to tell the truth.”
The CypherGhost’s expression was filled with shock and disorientation.
<
br /> Cassie said, “First, what are phases three and four?”
CHAPTER 37
December 10, 8:02 a.m.
Swiftshadow safe house, Washington DC
“I don’t know if I believe her.” Cassie sipped her cup of coffee, pacing the room in her bathrobe.
Ann nodded. “Me either. She’s claiming that she’s from another group, hackers that oppose the coup. But if a group of hackers knew the coup was about to happen, wouldn’t they tell every hacker?” She sipped the coffee in her own cup.
Cassie shrugged. “Yeah. And if they know and haven’t told the others, my guess is their own plans are even worse for our country.”
Ann said, “The key, I think, is in the version of Bug-Lok you guys were fed. I’ve no reason to believe this, but my gut tells me that we’ll need the system specs for the model you guys were administered when you were held in the prison. I could be wrong, but that’s my guess where we should begin looking.”
Avram nodded. “You may be correct. If so, we’ll need to contact Michael Drapoff, with the Ness Ziona at the main office in Herzliyya.”
Cassie said, “I’ll make the call. After all, he used to be one of my bodyguards.” She pulled her cell from her bathrobe pocket and punched in a number. “Michael Drapoff, please. I’m Cassandra Sashakovich, and Michael used to work for me.” She listened to the person on the other end. “Okay, then can you tell me how to get in touch with him?” She pulled the stylus from her cell and wrote the phone number down. “Thank you.”
Cassie said, “He’s at home now. I’ll call his number in Beersheba.” She entered the number. “Hello, Michael. It’s Sashakovich. Yes, a long time. Listen, I have a tech problem, and you are the only person I can talk to about it who might have the knowledge to help me.” She listened for a few seconds. “Yes, I know. But this is serious. Just give me a few seconds to describe the conundrum.” She paced while he complained. “Yes. But this is bigger than Ben-Levy’s death, okay?”
And this time, Cassie smiled. “Right. Remember the hacker roundup in the United States a few weeks ago? Well, while we were incarcerated, the two and a half million of us were administered some version of Bug-Lok. I need to see the hardware and software specifications to determine what horrors we’ve been exposed to.”
Drapoff’s response had her frowning. “Michael, can I put you on speaker?”
She punched a softkey on the cell and Michael’s voice filled the room. “Cassie, after the mission that destroyed China’s DeathByte production facilities, Samuel Morse replaced Yigdal Ben-Levy as the assistant director of the Mossad. When Morse was promoted to director, he ordered the plans classified at the highest rank, and all electronic copies destroyed. What you’re asking will make me a traitor if I don’t first request permission from Morse. Are you sure you want me to open this can of worms?”
Cassie sighed. “It’s why I called you. Please, please, speak with Morse. Then call me back. This is urgent.”
She terminated the call and sat down, expressionless. “I hate waiting.”
* * *
Nearly an hour passed with nothing to show for it. The sun had set and Avram and Jon returned from the office, bringing Chinese takeout. After dinner, Jon washed the dishes and Avram dried them. They all gave mini-progress updates, and watched the Weather Channel report of an incoming storm, before Cassie’s cell finally buzzed.
“Michael? Oh, good. So you spoke with Morse? Good. Let me put you on speaker. What did he say?”
Drapoff said, “He said he can offer a redacted version of the hardware and software specs. You won’t be pleased. But I think that most of what you need will be there. It’s a list of functions and features, and it includes the programming codes. Have you tried hacking the operating system of the device?”
Cassie frowned. “No. I didn’t even know that was possible. So, just how would we do that?”
“If one is lodged in your medulla oblongata, you can see the compiled code if you can hack the user ID and password. You do know how to do that, right?”
“No. I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“If you’ve had one embedded within you, you can access it by thinking, ‘show me the user ID and password.’ If you have a hacking tool, you can simply read its user manual and focus intently on each line of illustrated code to activate the hack. Got it?”
“What if I no longer have the Bug-Lok inside me? What if I had it surgically removed?”
Drapoff’s voice dropped off a bit while he thought aloud. “Then, then, hmmm. Okay, assuming you have it in a container, then you’d have to take the Bug-Lok from where it now sits and place it into a saline solution. Wait about an hour, then hit it with ultraviolet light and try to connect with it using your thoughts. Might work, according to what I now know. If not, you’re on your own. Good luck.” He terminated the call.
Ann and Cassie conferenced for a few minutes on how to proceed. Ann said, “It should be me. My project.”
Cassie shook her head. “Why you?”
“Mom, you were incarcerated. You’ve been through so many episodes of torture. Let me take this one on for you.”
Cassie sighed. She was silent for nearly a minute. Then, “This could damage you. Are you sure?”
Ann nodded. “Yup.”
Cassie shrugged. “Okay, sweetie.”
Ann took a pillow from the couch and placed it on the carpet in a corner of the living room. She sat cross-legged on the pillow and with her back straight, she closed her eyes and concentrated on something within her head. “Nope. Nothing is happening.”
Cassie frowned. “Take your time. Try focusing on the device, not on what you want to do.”
Ann nodded, then closed her eyes again and tried. “Mom, please leave. I can’t think with you so close. You’re putting pressure on me to do something.”
With her eyes still closed, Ann heard the clunk of the shutting door. She was now alone. She took a deep breath and concentrated on the fifty-micron-wide device embedded within her head. It took nearly an hour before she could feel something. It was vague at first, but slowly took on the form of a very hard, tangible thing. The Bug-Lok was there and she could feel it. But as soon as she noted her success, the entire image in her head crashed and she had to start over.
During the third attempt, Ann was able to “touch” the edges of the device with her mind. She reveled in its smooth roundness, and suddenly the Bug-Lok files were there for her, inside her mind.
Ann visualized a password-cracking tool she’d written and used many times before, while the Bug-Lok code floated in her visual field behind the tool. She called out, “Mom. Come back! I made it work.” She kept her eyes closed.
She heard Cassie open the door. “I’m here with you.”
“Good. Remember the device I swallowed when we were trying to free you, William, and Betsy? That Bug-Lok is open. I’m working on it with the password cracker I wrote. It’s cycling through password letter and number combos. One hundred and fifty-four fails, now two hundred and eighty-two, now four hundred and sixty-eight fails, and wait. I think it worked. I’m able to see the Bug-Lok’s code, line by line.”
Cassie pulled a chair close to Ann and sat across from her. She remained silent, but Ann could feel her near.
“I’ve got it, Mom. Line three hundred and ninety-two through four hundred and seventy-three. A list of features and functions, each with their description in grammatically incorrect English. Oh, and here’s something interesting. There’s a function called XOFF. Apparently, this one turns off the Bug-Lok and unhooks it from all the neural clusters it’s embedded into, if it’s compromised. That’s the one we need to use. Mom, there are initials coded at the end of this feature: YBL. Do you know who that is?”
Cassie whispered, “Yigdal Ben-Levy. He encoded a safety valve in case the Bug-Lok was going to be used to assassinate one of Israel’s Mossad or their allies.”
Ann nodded. “Here’s another interesting function. Called VIBE. It causes
the Bug-Lok to overclock, causing extreme damage not just to the Bug-Lok but also to the brain of the person it sits within. It uses all the stored-up energy in the Bug-Lok’s battery, and then it takes a while for the Bug-Lok to recharge and begin to deliver more damage. The documentation I’m reading in the code’s comment section states the Bug-Lok can take three or four rounds of this before it burns a hole through the neural cluster in the medulla oblongata where the Bug-Lok is nested. Apparently, complete recharge takes between three and four hours. Wow. Didn’t know this function was even possible.”
Cassie asked, “Does VIBE accomplish any useful function for the host?”
Ann examined lines of adjacent code. “Dunno. But I’ll try it. Just, not now.”
Over the next ten minutes, Ann discovered three more features, but these were less useful to Cassie and her team.
Ann reached the end of the long list. “Mom, I found a note here that states every time one of the Bug-Loks is used on a person, it scars the brain tissue of the brainstem. If a user doses more than five times, the probability grows incrementally that the scarring will become so great that the user may develop paralysis, or breathing problems, stroke, or heart failure. Shit, Mom. I didn’t know how dangerous these things are. Look, there’s a procedure here to activate one of the documented features. ‘User ID and password to log into the target using wireless access, and key the code.’ So I guess the question is: does this work? Give it a try on me, Mom. Use the notebook computer in the kitchen. Log on and try the XOFF function.”
Cassie left the bedroom, returning moments later with Ann’s notebook. Ann gave her the hacked user ID and password, and Cassie keyed them into the notebook. She entered the keystrokes XOFF and then logged off. “Okay, Sweetie, I did as you asked.”
Ann sat in the corner on the pillow, her expression a register of pain. Her hands reached for her head. “Mom, I don’t feel well. Oh, shit, it feels like a wall of pain. I hear sirens.” She fell from the pillow onto the carpet and her body twisted in convulsions, her mouth foaming.
