Chasm Waxing: A Startup, Cyber-Thriller

by B. Michaels

  “On it,” replied Jared.

  “Mr. Adler, how’s El Jefe’s crew going to get into Israel?” asked Becca.

  “They’re all Jews. Their story is that they’re all traveling to celebrate the Hanukah in the Holy Land.”

  *

  At the Fort, intelligence from Tal Azan trickled in throughout the morning. By the afternoon, the scope and size of the victory became clear. Additionally, America was going to the polls for a Presidential election. Despite Dabiq-gate, President Thomas Goodson seemed destined for an easy re-election. While the incident caused embarrassment, the nation blamed Walt Black—not Goodson.

  The POTUS’ quick firing of the DCIA did much to quell the outrage. Black played the part of the good soldier falling on the sword for his Commander and Chief. The Administration also overemphasized the success of the retaliatory air strikes for the contractor’s deaths. And a full-scale ground war in Syria remained extremely unpopular with the electorate.

  America’s priorities in 2020 were continued prosperity and jobs, followed by security from terrorists. After a sluggish start in 2016, the economy improved each year, growing by nearly 3% last quarter. Consumers enjoyed many economic benefits. Inflation and interest rates were capped. Technology—especially driven by advancements in AI—was enhancing productivity and quality of life. Oil prices were low due to US fracking. America was on track to become energy independent within the next few years. In addition, more electric cars were being produced, at reasonable prices. Solar power was also drastically improving.

  Goodson ran on the relatively robust economy and also staked out an attractive immigration position. Harkening his inner JFK, Goodson challenged America to return to the moon by 2025, to prepare the way for Mars by 2029. The ever decreasing cost of space flight also helped advance the goal.

  POTUS didn’t just want to walk on the moon anymore; he wanted America to establish a colony of moon bases to research many items. Foremost on this list was jump starting the process of space solar power—SSP. Using a process similar to how Flashcharge powered the Swarmbots, SSP would convert electricity into microwaves.

  SSP absorbed energy from solar panels on the moon, converted it into microwaves, and then beamed the energy to the US electric grid. Fracking wasn’t a long term solution. And electric power consumption was doing nothing but increasing—especially with the projected growth of the robotics industry. Goodson hoped that SSP could augment US energy production by mid-century.

  The General loved the moon challenge. Unbeknownst to the world, there were ulterior motives. The President wanted to use the moon as an essential component of a sophisticated array of telecommunications and attack satellites.

  The military was looking to space as a new frontier. It could play a vital role in reducing the vulnerability of the US Navy. The Navy, especially its aircraft carriers, was becoming more susceptible to inexpensive and powerful anti-ship missiles.

  Today, General Shields was working from his NSA office suite. He monitored news of the election and reports regarding Rahmati’s victory. Shields was planning tomorrow’s hectic schedule with Lin Liu.

  “If Rahmati uploads a video of that battle to A-Tube, the Ayatollah better watch out. We’re carefully watching Iranian SIGINT '''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' Rahmati’s popularity is incredible. Our assets in Iran confirm the SIGINT. If the Revolutionary Guards does not quell demonstrators, we’re liable to see the Iranian Revolution 2.0.”

  “What do you mean?” replied Lin. “I thought the Revolutionary Guards reported to the Ayatollah.”

  “Well, they do. They do until they don’t. The Revolutionary Guards are like a Wall Street bank, the Pentagon, and the defense industry combined. And they covet the money the mullahs control. Our intel shows that key members of the Revolutionary Guards, including their commanding General—Farhad Javan—are very pro-Rahmati. They look at Rahmati and see dollar signs.” The General laughed. “I mean, Iranian Rials.”

  “Would that be good or bad?”

  “We see it as an improvement. But Rahmati’s popularity scares us. Since World War I, we’ve played Muslims against Muslims. Rahmati is causing some reassessments in the Administration. We all shudder at the thought of what a unified Islamic community could accomplish.”

  “What does Rahmati think?” asked Lin. “Will he betray the Ayatollah?”

  “That’s the billion-dollar question,” said the General, dramatically. “We don’t know what he’s thinking, other than what he says on social media. The Quds Force operates with a lot of autonomy. Revolutionary Guards leadership gives them a wide latitude. That freedom empowers them to use their best judgment to accomplish the mission. They only communicate with Tehran via human couriers. And we haven’t been able to intercept any of their human messengers. Recently, we’ve seen one piece of SIGINT pop up a number of times. It has our Persian analysts buzzing. We think it’s a code word.”

  “What’s the code word?”

  “AVICENNA,” replied Shields

  Lin thought about the word for a moment. “Ahh, the ancient Persian doctor-scientist. Maybe it’s a medical breakthrough? Or, more darkly, perhaps it’s a chemical warfare agent?”

  “How’d you know that? asked the General, amazed at the breadth of Lin’s mind. “Anyway, we’re a little concerned. I don’t buy this peace, prosperity, and daisies act from Rahmati.”

  “I don’t know, I kind of like him, especially his eyes. Changing the subject, how is Defense Innovations going?”

  “Pretty well. I’ve picked up 10 new companies for next year’s class. We can down-select the most promising for funding. I’m done with Prosthetic Thought. Their thought controller for VR is crap. But I renewed everyone else in the Accelerator. Gecko Insurance loves their Gamification software. The Gamer system is reducing costs substantially for network monitoring. Flashcharge is operating flawlessly for the Swarmbots.

  “And, Swarmbot has made all the changes I’ve requested. We’re going to deploy the next 60, 4Gen Swarmbots to Caliphate controlled cities in Iraq and Syria. Chris Fischer is already working on 5Gen.

  “We’ll run a split test and see where we achieve the best results. 30 of the Swarmbots are going to be controlled by Gamers over the Internet. We dumbed down their Fog of War version, so it includes no classified information. CYBERCOM volunteers will control the other 30, in the second-floor SCIF. They’ve already completed the extension of the VR room in the SCIF, to accommodate more CYBERCOM Gamers.

  “Analysts in the SWARM Op Center will play the role of the G-Master. The G-Master will monitor everything, as we go after the Caliphate’s top 50 leaders. Of course, number one on the list is Caliph Abu Mosulaydi. For delicate operations, we can always take complete control of the Swarmbots in the Op Center.

  “CyberAI, Josh’s old company is doing well. Vish has improved the AI for cyber-event recognition a good amount, even without Josh’s code. NSA counsel tells me that it’s an up-hill battle to get him to turn over the code. I don’t feel like waging that legal battle right now. Besides, three of the 10 new companies we approved for the Accelerator class specialize in AI. I’ll pick the best one. They’re all employing deep learning algorithms.”

  “Speaking of Josh,” said Lin, “What are Josh and Becca up to?”

  “I think they’re both moving on. The FBI is no longer tailing them, but we’re monitoring all their comms. They both work for Josh’s dad, applying his AI to the stock market. They recently got engaged.”

  Lin smiled at the revelation.

  “In celebration, they’re making a cross-country trip in a new A-Car, right after Christmas. It’s geeky, but I’m happy for them. It’s a shame how it all went down...but can you imagine the destabilizing effect of the Ark? It’d be like a bomb, dropped in the middle of a Middle Eastern minefield.”


  “No,” replied Lin, “I can’t imagine that.”

  “That’s the problem,” said Shields. “Neither can I.”

  Chapter 27 – Crescent Revolution

  4:30 p.m., Friday, November 13, 2020 - Aleppo, Syria

  Commandeered Home in Syrian Controlled Neighborhood of Aleppo

  The Immersive Media Team uploaded the Tal Azan video eight days ago. Many viewers across the world thought they recognized ghost-like apparitions in the sandstorm. Conspiracy theories and paranormal speculations were viral.

  Shockwaves from the victory, as portrayed in the highly immersive video, reverberated across the Middle East. Rahmati’s status was now almost mythic. Was he a new Khalid Bin Walid, or Saladin, or the Mahdi? The video broke all previous A-Tube records for views. Rahmati’s media team began working on a film chronicling the night’s battles. Their goal was to release the documentary for 2022 Oscar consideration.

  Muhammad Rahmati was now one of the most recognized and admired men in the world. Day after day, an ever increasing number of protestors gathered in the streets. They engaged in sit-ins, occupying the prominent gathering places and squares of Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states. Police forces tried to disperse the crowds without excessive force, but the sit-ins grew larger. The media labeled the demonstrations as the ‘Crescent Revolution.’

  Surprisingly, the Crescent Revolution’s most massive crowds congealed in Iran. Protests spread to ten cities, including Tehran and Isfahan. Marchers also gathered in front of Iranian embassies all over Europe. While all of this took the West by surprise, two aspects of the Iranian protests intrigued the NSA and CIA the most. First, the Internet was still not being censored in Iran. Iranians were receiving unfiltered digital content from all over the world—for the first time in the country’s history.

  Second, Iranian security forces were doing nothing to halt the dissent. They simply watched and maintained order. This could only mean that, at least for the time being, the Revolutionary Guards were standing down. Nobody knew why.

  Muhammad Rahmati gathered around his laptop in the Aleppo comms room with his most trusted Immortals. He browsed to the BBC Persian Services website. The monitor displayed footage from a massive rally in Azadi Square in Tehran. With estimates of over 500,000 protesters, the demonstrations were larger than the marchers against the Shah in 1979. Those protests led to the downfall of the Shah and the ascension of Ayatollah Khomeini.

  The Iranian government’s fortunes had improved markedly after the nuclear deal with the West. The removal of sanctions and release of frozen Iranian assets in early 2016 produced a significant windfall for the Iranian state—and the Revolutionary Guards. However, the prosperity only enriched the ruling elites’ lives.

  And, once the Revolutionary Guards tasted the money, they wanted more. The clerical class’ assets were particularly attractive, especially since the mullahs’ welfare depended on protection from the Guards. The majority of Guards desired a more Westward-oriented government to enable their affluence to increase, in contrast to the mullahs who wanted to keep separate from the Satanic West.

  The Iranian protestors consisted of a broad mix of society—students, merchants, lawyers, doctors—people who wanted the ability to paint a brighter future for their children, increased economic opportunities, and more freedom.

  Today, for the first time, the crowds began angrily shouting “Ayatollah, get out! Ayatollah, get out!” Taking a page out of the 1979 demonstrations, protestors placed flowers in rifles of the security forces.

  A courier met the Commander in the living room. All eyes fell on Muhammad Rahmati. Rahmati read the message. Ayatollah Saatchi—the Supreme Leader of Iran—was ordering his Quds Force Commander to return to Tehran.

  *

  It was evening in Columbia. General Shields, Samantha Powers, Lin Liu, and 12 operator-analysts gathered in the SWARM Op Center. Their eyes were glued to the gigantic video wall. ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''' '''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' Caliph Abu Mosulaydi had fled to his hometown of Mosul, Iraq.

  Mosul was built over the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh. Nineveh played a prominent role in the Hebrew Scriptures. It was the city that God told the Prophet Jonah to visit. Jonah was called to proclaim a message of repentance to Nineveh. Jonah so despised the Assyrians that he attempted to flee his calling by escaping on a ship in the Mediterranean. It took three days in the belly of a great fish to persuade Jonah to change his mind and obey God.

  In 2014, the Caliphate destroyed Jonah’s ancient tomb. This demolition was meant to send a message to Jews, Christians, and apostate Muslims. The Caliphate’s brand of Islam was superior to all other religions.

  Eight Swarmbots, including two Jumbos, entered a three-story building in Mosul. It was a former Iraqi government building. The SIGINT indicated that Mosulaydi was in the building. Many airstrikes had targeted portions of Mosul. However, given the large civilian population, a significant amount of the city remained intact.

  Four other Swarmbots established overwatch on the building’s perimeter. All the Swarmbots had active camouflage and noise suppression engaged. Unless you touched them, you wouldn’t know they were there.

  After clearing the first floor, the Swarmbots stacked up. They created two rows, linked three across. In the last row, the Jumbos were connected, side-by-side. The Swarmbot clusters moved up the stairs. As they cleared the second-floor, they came across six sleeping Caliphate members. There was no sign of Mosulaydi.

  They stealthily proceeded to the third floor. The Swarmbots registered distant speech. The Jumbos positioned themselves securely in the hallway. The six other Swarmbots, now untethered from each other, rotated towards the voices.

  One-by-one, the Swarmbots moved into position in the room. The Caliph was speaking with three of his lieutenants. Samantha noticed the tension in General Shield’s face. This was it. This was the man that ordered the death of his son. The Swarmbots laid in wait, relaying the real-time video and sound.

  “Rahmati’s popularity is drastically affecting our operations,” said Mosulaydi, in Arabic. A SWARM analyst translated the Caliph’s words. The op center also had an AI-based translation system that produced subtitles on the video wall and computer monitors.

  “The world is rallying to him. Our recruiting of foreign fighters has slowed to a trickle. Europeans are entering Syria, through Turkey, and joining him. His popularity among Sunnis is something I can’t even fathom. How can Sunnis be led astray by this Shiite Dajjal? His message is winning more converts than ours. He’s destroying our safe havens in Syria. We need to rapidly procure more funds, ammunition, and weapons from the Saudis and their allies.”

  “Alright,” said General Shields, “let’s take him out. Release the mini-drones.”

  From the hallway, the jumbo Swarmbots launched their mini-drones. Chris Fischer had named these drones, ‘Remora,’ after the fish that attached themselves to sharks and manta rays. Two Remora drones flew through Mosulaydi’s door. The first Remora headed straight for the Caliph’s neck. Its kill dart was exposed.

  The Remora released the dart inches away from Mosulaydi. The projectile penetrated the Caliph’s jugular. The mini-drone peeled off to the right. The other Remora hovered near the ceiling, providing an aerial feed of the action.

  Mosulaydi grabbed his neck and sputtered. His three lieutenants rushed toward the Caliph with their pistols drawn. They couldn’t see anything. They all looked toward the window, thinking a sniper might have shot the Caliph. But the window was closed with the glass intact.

  The three panicked Daesh caught Mosulaydi before he fell to the ground. His mouth foamed. He gasped for air. And then he stopped gasping. The killer Remoras buzzed back to their platform, and were sealed by their hosts.

>   General Shields said in a subdued but victorious tone, “Abu Mosulaydi is the first confirmed kill of the SWARM program. All of you in this room were integral to this mission. This is the first of many successes. Working from the safety of our office in Columbia; we’ve successfully killed the most wanted terrorist in the world—without any risk of collateral damage. From the highest levels of government, I can say thank you.” He ordered the operators to continue to surveil the room for intel and watch the Caliphate lieutenants’ next steps.

  Samantha and Lin congratulated General Shields.

  “General, you’ve avenged your son and made America safer,” said Samantha. “Not one American life was endangered while you executed Charlie’s murderer.” Although I lost my best employee, thought Samantha.

  “Thank you,” replied the General, more somberly than Samantha expected. He then addressed the analysts. “Update me on the Crescent Revolution.” While the SWARM Op Center was dedicated to Swarmbots, their systems had significant reach back to the Fort.

  An analyst rattled off the latest intelligence. “The Egyptian military has moved into Tahir Square to disperse the demonstrators. They appear to be using restraint. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have not been so kind. Many protestors are dead. It looks like the various governments are coordinating their response. We guess their endgame is to halt the rallies and break up the sit-ins, by early next week. In all those countries; the Internet, cell phones, and SMS messaging are largely inoperable.

  “Iran is a different story. The Internet is still wide open. Iranian forces are doing nothing to hinder the agitators. No police. No military. Our Iranian analysts believe this can mean only one thing. The Ayatollah is in trouble.”

  *

  Shields told everyone in the SWARM Op Center that the ‘highest levels of government’ approved of their actions. This was not entirely accurate. The $100M purchase of Swarmbots used black budget funds. It was classified. Only people read into SWARM were aware of the Swarmbots new lethal capabilities. Shields wanted to prove the success of the program before he briefed anyone, including POTUS. His greatest fear was a leak.