Cyber Countdown

by Terence Flynn

  George could see that the stick wasn’t going to work, so he decided to use the carrot with this jackass.

  “What if I could improve your state’s economic condition by moving some of my businesses into your state? That would help your constituents in a more substantive and immediate manner.”

  “That would always be appreciated, George. But my daddy always told me never to change horses when you’re ahead, and I’m definitely ahead.”

  George could see there was nothing he could offer, so he resorted to one final ploy.

  “Senator, if you don’t remove your bill, I’ll have no choice but to use my resources to work against your re-election. I’ll make your life miserable and see how bulletproof you really are.”

  The senator smiled. “I knew it might come down to that, and I’m prepared to respond to your threat with one of my own. If you go after me or my family in any way, I’ll let the world know about your gay illegitimate son and how his mother died in a highly suspicious manner, to say the least.”

  George was rarely flustered or at a loss for words, especially during a negotiation, but he was totally stunned by the senator’s threat. “How—who told you about that? It’s not true! You’ll regret it if any word of this leaves this room or becomes public!”

  The senator leaned toward George and said quietly, “Please, George, calm down. This will go no further as long as neither you nor the president take any action against my interests.”

  George composed himself and said, “It’s clear that you have your goals and I have mine, so goodbye, Senator,” George said, as he headed for the door.

  “Good luck to you as well, George. Give my regards to your son when you see him.”

  George was furious. As he left the hotel he made a quick phone call.

  “I need to meet with you in my office as soon as possible.”

  Barbara Chang had just finished briefing the president in the Oval Office on her meetings earlier that day with George Solomon and the Chinese ambassador. She had tried to determine what the president was thinking, but she knew from experience that trying to read his reaction was a fool’s errand. He was well known for being able to hide his feelings.

  President Joseph Meredith was forty-six years old, tall and athletic, and had movie-star looks with blond curly hair, blue eyes, a square chin, and a wonderful smile. He’d been a very successful attorney and Maryland state senator before running for the senate on a business growth and tax reduction platform. While in the senate, he sponsored cybersecurity insurance legislation for American businesses. When he ran for the presidency, Joseph Meredith included protection against foreign cybersecurity attacks on American businesses as part of his platform. After getting elected, he made foreign cyber-attack legislation one of his highest priorities.

  The president asked one question after Barbara had finished her briefing. “Does George understand that my administration cannot take any part in his efforts to persuade the majority leader?”

  “Yes, Joe, I made that very clear. He agreed that he was on his own, and he wanted it that way.”

  “Yes, that’s pretty typical of George. He loves the role of the lone gunfighter. Okay, let me know if he was successful. Now let’s discuss your meeting with the Chinese ambassador.”

  Barbara frowned. “It didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Ambassador Yang was very upset about the legislation in the senate. He believes that it’ll lead to a trade war and possibly worse. The ambassador made a strong claim that the Chinese government has eliminated cyber attacks by their military and intelligence organizations against US government agencies.”

  “That’s not entirely true, Barbara. We still see them probing our government information systems to find weaknesses for future attacks. They only stopped their attacks after we identified and indicted a number of their military hackers for attacks on our key industries. They weren’t aware that we could do that, so they backed off.”

  “Those were their military hackers, Joe. Ambassador Yang made it very clear that the Chinese government doesn’t have control over civilian hackers and that Chinese companies do it against each other. He also stated that it’s on such a large scale that they don’t have the resources to control it, just as we can’t control our civilian hackers.”

  “Well, there’s an element of truth in that, since the Chinese don’t even try to curtail civilian hackers. We try, but, unfortunately, aren’t very successful. In addition, their businesses get direct support from the government in implementing defenses against foreign hackers, while our laws don’t permit us to do the same.”

  “It’s also clear that our businesses are less cybersecurity conscious than theirs, Joe. Some would rather rely on cyber insurance to correct for their laziness, carelessness, and outright malfeasance.”

  “I know that, Barbara. That’s why I worked hard when I was in the senate to implement a cyber insurance program that encouraged lower insurance rates for companies that implemented better cybersecurity practices. So based on your analysis, what do you think the Chinese will do after the proposed foreign cyber-attack legislation becomes law?”

  “It depends on how severe the penalties will be on Chinese companies. If the legislation looks more like the senate bill than the house bill, we could have some real trouble with the Chinese leadership. They or their North Korean surrogate could start flexing their military muscle against Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, which could lead to severe consequences. If the legislation looks more like the house bill, it’ll be painful, but not catastrophic. They could retaliate with some trade measures of their own; but since the trade deficit is so heavily weighted for them and against us, they’d suffer much more than we would. My hope—excuse me, our hope—is that it could trigger some needed attitude changes by the Chinese. It might even encourage more cooperation that would bring in some new and younger leaders who are more willing to provide fairer trade practices. That would be good for the US and the world. But there’s no guarantee that will happen, so we must be prepared for something worse.”

  President Meredith was so glad that Barbara was his closest advisor. She had no problem telling him what others were afraid to.

  “I understand, Barbara. But I believe we have to do something. This legislation is necessary to change an untenable situation with the Chinese that’s been going on far too long. I promised the American public I’d do what my predecessors were afraid to do. Our embargo against North Korea slowed China down a bit, but North Korea has not gone away. China has been increasingly helping North Korea to become a very competent cyber threat, even if it has derailed their nuclear program. I have no doubt that North Korea will be their cyber-attack surrogate, just as they were their nuclear weapons surrogate.”

  “I know, Joe, and I agree that something has to change. I just hope we get a bill with the right balance so the Chinese leadership doesn’t overreact. We have the upcoming combined naval-training exercise with the Japanese, Taiwanese, and South Koreans at the Senkaku Islands that could provide them that opportunity. The Chinese ambassador has been very vocal about their leadership’s objection to the exercise. I’m certain they’ll have their ships monitoring our ships, and I’m worried that something bad might happen. With that many ships in one area, anything is possible.”

  “We can’t cancel the exercise, Barbara. The Chinese would see it as an act of weakness, and the Japanese would look at it as a violation of our Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. Both countries have had recent confrontations over those islands. If we pulled out, our allies in that region could start militarizing. With Japan’s technology base they could have a nuclear weapons program very quickly, followed by South Korea and Taiwan. That could destabilize the whole region.”

  “I agree, Mr. President. I just hope the Chinese also understand the danger. I’m sorry, Mr. President, but I have to leave to meet my fiancé for dinner. I’m already late.”

  The president knew that Barbara never called him Mr. President unless the First
Lady was nearby, which was the case. He knew that Barbara believed such informality in front of the president’s wife wasn’t proper. The First Lady walked in just as Barbara was leaving. “Goodnight, Barbara,” Sarah Meredith said.

  “Goodnight, Mrs. Meredith. Please make sure he gets some rest. We have a big week ahead of us,” she said as she left.

  “What’d she mean by that, Joe?”

  “Oh, she’s just worried that we could soon be in a war with the Chinese.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I don’t think it’ll get that serious, but she’s very worried, Sarah.”

  “It’s that bill in the senate, isn’t it?”

  The president closed his eyes and nodded. “You know, honey, the president of the United States is supposed to have more power than anyone in the world. I’ve discovered that isn’t the case at all. I’m often in the middle of situations I have no control over. I actually feel powerless more often than powerful. I can’t even control some corrupt politician in my own party who can’t keep his fly zipped and may trigger a war just to get re-elected.”

  “You can’t control evil, Joe. You can only try to keep it at bay.”

  “I’m so glad you married me. You could’ve probably done a lot better, had the career you deserved, and a normal life with someone who worked a forty-hour week and was home for dinner every night.”

  “I wouldn’t change a thing. I have two wonderful children and a husband that the columnist from the Washington Post says any woman would kill for.”

  The president laughed. “Let’s take Barbara’s advice and go to bed.”

  “Great idea. I have that new negligee you bought me in France,” she said, as she smiled coyly. “We can have some fun before the world ends.”

  5

  Dimitri Vasin wasn’t a religious man. His mother made him and his sister go to St. Michael’s, the only Russian Orthodox church in Grozny, every Sunday for the divine liturgy, but any religious beliefs he might’ve had were destroyed by his experiences during the war. He’d witnessed the atrocities that were often done in the name of religion, including the destruction of St. Michael’s and the massacre of his mother and sister.

  He wasn’t a man of habit since habits made one predictable, which wasn’t a good trait for someone in his line of work. Nevertheless, Dimitri always attended services at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn whenever he was home. It was not because he was trying to regain the faith he had lost. He simply found the services soothing and a way of remembering the times that were once so joyful with a family that no longer existed.

  Today, however, it was more than that. He’d been contacted by one of the Big Man’s representatives for a meeting early the next day. That was unprecedented in the years he had worked for the Big Man. He was never contacted and asked to provide services so soon after a previous job. It was done that way to allow the dust to settle and make sure that there were no mistakes in the last assignment that could be traced to Dimitri before assigning him to his next job.

  Dimitri was worried that the Big Man had discovered his error about the safe and that his life could be in jeopardy. Although he didn’t believe that praying would really help, it couldn’t hurt, and the church helped to calm him and focus.

  After the services ended, Dimitri followed the normal process he used to prepare for an important assignment. He went home and worked out for several hours. Dimitri then took a long hot shower, ate dinner, and went to bed.

  The next morning, Dimitri dressed, ate a light breakfast, and took his briefcase with a notepad and pencil. It was one of the first really cold days of the season, so he wore an overcoat with a concealed and sharpened plastic knife in an inside pocket. Dimitri had used the knife on previous assignments that required him to go through a metal detector. It was made of hard plastic and was disguised as the easily removable handle of a hard plastic comb that he could carry in a pocket or briefcase.

  Dimitri took a taxi to the building where the meeting would take place. After going through security without incident, he was met by an escort who took him to a conference room on the tenth floor. A single individual was sitting on the opposite side of a large conference room table. He was rather small, overweight, probably over fifty, and definitely didn’t look like an assassin. Regardless, Dimitri didn’t relax. He kept his eyes glued to the man’s every move.

  “Did you have any problem finding the office, Mr. Vasin?”

  “No, I’ve been to Manhattan before, but never to this building.”

  “Fine. I have a very high-priority contract for you that needs to be completed as soon as possible, no later than this time next week. I’m also authorized to inform you that your fee will be tripled for this particular assignment. The assignment is described on the encrypted USB flash drive I’ll give you. To decrypt the drive use your eight digit date of birth, which I believe is 07231977. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, that’s correct.”

  “The file has an embedded script on it, Mr. Vasin. It’ll only allow you to access the read-only file one time. The file and everything else on the drive will erase thirty minutes after the file is opened, or if you log off before then. It also can’t be copied. Any attempt to copy it will destroy the file. Be prepared to take and then destroy any written notes you might need and the drive as well. Please be aware that you only have thirty minutes after the file is opened.”

  “I understand. And I don’t need notes, I have an excellent memory.”

  “So I hear. In fact, I was told it was eidetic, what they used to call a photographic memory. Here’s the flash drive. It has all the information on the target and a contact number if you need anything more. Good day, Mr. Vasin. I think we’re through, unless you have any questions.”

  “No questions. Thank you,” Dimitri said, as he followed a young woman who escorted him back down to the lobby. He flagged a taxi, but didn’t relax until he arrived at his house in Brighton Beach. Dimitri knew that letting one’s guard down, believing you’re no longer in danger, is the worst thing you can do. He had often relied on creating a false sense of security to make a target more vulnerable.

  As he walked into his apartment, he was greeted by Putin, his African grey parrot.

  “No final act today, Dimitri.”

  It was a greeting Dimitri had taught Putin, but it still made him laugh. “Yes, Putin, no final act today.”

  Putin was a gift from a colleague whose life Dimitri saved while working for the American government in Afghanistan. He wasn’t thrilled at first, but after he saw how smart it was and how quickly it learned to talk, it became his companion and confidant.

  “I have work to do, Putin.”

  “Dimitri works too much.”

  “Eat your food, Putin.”

  “Food tastes like crap.”

  Dimitri turned on his laptop and switched off the wireless network connection to eliminate any possibility of hackers. He inserted the flash drive in his computer’s USB port and opened the file while he monitored the time displayed on his computer. He began reading the files describing the target who was to be eliminated.

  “This is going to be the most difficult assignment I’ve ever implemented. Do you know why, Putin?”

  “Why, Dimitri?”

  “Because of the microscopic scrutiny it will undergo after it’s done. Do you know why, Putin?”

  “Why, Dimitri?”

  “Because the target is a very important and well-known politician. I’ll need to set up the attack so that it is absolutely deadly and can never be traced back to me. What do you think, Putin?”

  “Putin thinks Dimitri is smart.”

  Dimitri read through the file carefully. It stated that his target was a severe diabetic who was badly overweight and a heavy drinker. He also had a young mistress who appeared to be in very good shape in more ways than one. It was obvious to Dimitri that the target, Senator Lee Thompson, was a dead man walking who could die of natural causes at any time.


  Hell, Dimitri thought, I could probably just show up at his house and scare him to death. As he read through the file further he saw that the senator was no friend of the Chinese. Dimitri realized that could be used to his advantage in implementing his assignment. He knew the optimal outcome would be for it to appear as if the senator died from the effects of his diabetes and overall poor health.

  Dimitri also knew that if that failed and the actual causes became known, he would need an alternate suspect. He knew that the Chinese government’s harsh criticism of the senator and his bill could make them a possible suspect. If Dimitri’s primary plan failed and the senator’s death was found to be a murder, he would need to make the Chinese look like the prime suspect. He thought that’s why the information about the Chinese was included in the file.

  Dimitri read from Senator Thompson’s files that he used insulin shots from Humalog mix 75/25 insulin pens to control his Type II diabetes. He apparently wasn’t very serious about testing his blood sugar levels, since his recent tests showed levels well above normal. His blood pressure was equally as bad, and he was taking statins for high cholesterol. Dimitri knew the senator’s behavior was a menu for death, and that he just needed to select the correct dish.

  As a medical student, Dimitri had learned that excess insulin can lead to a coma and death in rapid succession. He also knew that, if administered correctly, it wouldn’t be detectable in even a normal person. In a severe diabetic such as Senator Thompson, accidental overdoses weren’t uncommon. He’s using insulin to compensate for his excess eating and drinking. The possibility of taking an overdose if he was drinking is likely, Dimitri thought.