Chasm Waxing: A Startup, Cyber-Thriller

by B. Michaels

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  “Mr. President,” said Shields, “I would be remiss if I did not tell you the most disturbing possibility. Rahmati’s father, Abdullah, built his vast fortune by working in the Revolutionary Guards and selling technology in Persia. We’ve uncovered evidence that he was interested in quantum computers, as far back as the early 80s. It’s possible that the Rahmatis have built or acquired a quantum computer.”

  Shields then detailed the dire ramifications of that possibility, highlighting the crack of public-key and AES encryption.

  “If Rahmati has access to a quantum computer of sufficient muscle, his geopolitical power would be on-par with the United States. He could use all of our systems against us. Destroying that computer, before he uses it against us, would be of utmost priority. It would be just as important as discovering nuclear capability in Persia. And of course, he’d selectively share US secrets with the Chinese and Russians.”

  Chapter 39 – Discovered

  1:25 a.m., Tuesday, May 11, 2021 – Deserts of Iraq & Persia

  DIRNSA’s Residence, 4526 Butler Street

  “All the operatives are either dead or captured,” said a heartbroken DCIA. “It’s our single greatest loss of life at CIA since Afghanistan…since the seven officers died in the 2009 suicide bombing. The Iraqi and Persian forces that attacked were elite, special operations units. They knew when we were coming, where we were going, and what we were doing. They overwhelmed us.”

  “Roscoe, I’m so sorry,” said General Shields. “If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s obvious now. Rahmati is reading our mail.”

  Three CIA teams had spread out at intervals of roughly 200 miles along the Babylon-Baghdad-Tehran railway. The evening was completely moonless. It was a perfect night for an operation. The CIA operatives’ mission was to install taps clandestinely on the fiber optic lines.

  A small defensive force supported each CIA contingent. There were three teams for purposes of redundancy. One tap was sufficient to enable the US to completely monitor the broadband communications backbone between Babylon and Tehran.

  *

  On Friday, May 14, Prime Minister Muhammad Rahmati delivered a nationally televised speech.

  “My fellow citizens, today I announce that the state of Iraq has retaken the city of Mosul. We have also extirpated Daesh from Fallujah. Daesh no longer controls any populous city in Iraq.

  “We’ll continue to pursue Daesh in their remaining outposts in Iraq. We’ll also increase our cooperation with Syrian forces to remove Daesh. In addition, I can announce that Iraq is in firm possession of all our nation’s oil fields.

  “Therefore, today, I pronounce the death of Daesh and its illegitimate, self-proclaimed Caliphate. It will be left to our Islamic scholars and religious leaders to determine when an authentic Caliphate arises.

  “Quite frankly, the battle with Daesh took way too long. Over the last decade, there were too many fits and starts. At the end of the day, Iraq accomplished what only Iraqis could do. We’ve eliminated Daesh—ourselves.

  “Nobody is as committed to their Iraqi homeland, as Iraqi citizens. No doubt, there will be setbacks here and there, but Daesh will never again rule an Iraqi town or city while I’m Prime Minister. I make that guarantee to you.

  “When I stepped into this office, the safety of all Iraqis was my key priority. This was followed closely by rebuilding our war-torn country. All Iraqis must have adequate water, food, housing, schools, modern medical facilities, and of course, dependable electricity. Today, we are doing all of this—and more.

  “Our wireless networks are being upgraded to 5G capacity. We’re working to deliver high-speed fiber access to every village, town, and city in Iraq. My fellow citizens, make no mistake—Iraq will be an economic powerhouse that competes in the world market. These are the bright spots that make us all proud to be Iraqi.

  “However, there are also some difficult things I am compelled to discuss with you—unpleasant things. While we have many reliable allies and faithful friends in the region, there are a few countries that have acted in a manner that runs counter to our national interests.

  “Over the coming days, I will release evidence on social media sites housed on our new .ISLAM domain. This information details crimes against the people of Iraq. The most egregious actions committed against Iraqi citizens have been performed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  “The documents I’ll release; prove—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that Saudi Arabia substantially funded, trained, and equipped Daesh. They did the same with other Wahhabi-Jihadists, including Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. This funding continues to this day.

  “Also, I have emails and documents from the highest levels of the Saudi government. They show, in excruciating detail, unimagined levels of corruption. I predict that the citizens of Saudi Arabia will not stand for this level of outright thievery.

  “The Persians did not stand for it. Neither shall Saudi citizens. Rest assured, Iraq and our allies will do everything in our power to protect like-minded Saudis. Islam is a religion of honesty and compassion. We’re to take care of the poor. God did not create Muslims to steal from the poor to become rich. This is an anathema to Allah and His Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him.

  “Every citizen of the world can examine this information for themselves. The entire planet deserves to see this corruption. The Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina belong to honest, hard-working Muslims—not corrupt royalty and their sycophants. The Kaaba, which dates back to the days of Adam and Eve, is central to Muslims around the world.

  “I regret to inform you that the United States of America is the second nation. While the US has done good things for Iraq in the past, America has sought to retain and extend its monstrously intrusive surveillance system against Iraq and Persia.

  “Three days ago, operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency illegally infiltrated our sovereign territory. They made an unlawful attempt to tap an Iraqi-Persian communications line. They sent heavily armed CIA agents to steal our information.

  “A joint special operations unit, consisting of Iraqis and Persians, coordinated our defensive response against these hostile invaders. Together, our forces thwarted the CIA’s espionage teams. Every CIA spy was apprehended or killed.

  “I will post videos of the surviving CIA agent’s interrogations. Their confessions of illegal activities should enrage all nations, not just Iraq. This unconscionable act is a violation of our national sovereignty. It will no longer be tolerated.

  “As many of you are aware, in a speech earlier today, General Javan served noticed that he was stepping up military patrols in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Today, I announce that Iraqi ships will work in conjunction with the Persians to protect our shipping lanes from American imperialism.

  “There are many admirable qualities of the American people. They work hard. They are entrepreneurial. They love freedom. They don’t want their government spying on them. Supposedly, the US government must obtain a warrant to legally tap American’s phone calls and Internet traffic.

  “Why does America feel—just because we are non-American—they are entitled to disrespect our borders and listen to every Iraqi phone
call?

  “This is an abomination to me personally, and my government collectively. We will not tolerate the United States spying on Iraqis. The days of tapping our phone calls and monitoring our keystrokes are over. Should the US continue their cyber-attacks and espionage upon Iraq, Iraq will be forced to retaliate with methods of our choice, at a time of our choosing.

  “Finally, I would like to thank some nations that have significantly helped to rebuild and retool Iraq. All Iraqis owe a substantial debt of gratitude to the great nations of China, Russia, and Persia. These countries have sacrificed talent, blood, and treasure to assist the crescent moon to rise again across this great nation.”

  *

  The Goodson administration now shifted to full crises mode. The price of oil doubled after Rahmati and Javan’s speeches. The Iraqi Prime Minister and Iranian General hadn’t returned a single call from President Goodson in over three days. Goodson placed these calls to negotiate the release of the imprisoned CIA operatives.

  General Shields attended an all-hands meeting called by the President at 2:00 p.m., in the basement of the West Wing of the White House—the Situation Room.

  Satellite images were displayed on the six flat panel displays, at the opposite end of the President’s chair. POTUS sat at the head of the 13 seat conference table. The pictures showed Persian and Iraqi forces massing along the Persian Gulf, across from Saudi Arabia.

  A Persian fast boat had boarded a Norwegian tanker that was steaming through the Strait of Hormuz. And, the President was pressing the DCIA and General Shields, as to how Rahmati could have possibly known about the CIA’s fiber tapping operation.

  “Mr. President,” said General Shields, “I don’t know. But our leading theories haven’t changed. There’s either a very high-level mole, or Rahmati has cracked our encryption—possibly with a quantum computer. If indeed he’s hacked Saudi documents; that may tell us more. They use different root certificates for their public keys. This would be indicative of a more widespread problem with encryption—worldwide.”

  Each of the Joint Chiefs of Staff detailed how the armed forces were going about mobilization to protect Saudi Arabia from descending into chaos. “The key here is to protect Saudi oil fields from falling into Iraq or Persia’s hands,” said the President. “This has been the strategic linchpin of our Middle East policy since FDR.”

  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—CJCS—highlighted the significant naval assets in the area. “Mr. President, the 5th Fleet has our newest carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, already deployed in the Red Sea.

  “We can move her to the Persian Gulf, and send the 6th Fleet’s, Abraham Lincoln through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. Right now, she’s in the Mediterranean. Then we can steam the George Washington as her replacement. She can be in the Mediterranean in seven days. She’s disembarking from her home port in Norfolk, right now. Three carrier groups is a boatload of firepower.”

  POTUS didn’t appreciate the pun.

  The Secretary of Defense—SECDEF—proceeded to brief recommended troop levels. He advised the President deploy 100,000 to 125,000 soldiers to protect the kingdom and defend the Saudi oil fields. The troops could all be in place in 60 to 90 days.

  The NSC Advisor briefed the situation in Turkey. “It appears that Kurdish activity along the border of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria has dramatically increased. I’d venture to guess, part of Rahmati’s oil deal with the Kurds is to support the Kurds as his proxy in a war against Turkey. That’s what the Quds Force would do. And of course Turkey’s stability was questionable to begin with.”

  General Shields shook his head in disbelief. “How is one man operating with such speed and clarity, while we can’t even collect a single rogue packet of his SIGINT? As you know, Mr. President, TAO has just implemented a new TOP SECRET operation to hack Iraqi and Persian cyber assets. They’ll leverage some of our best stockpiled zero-days. I’ll have CYBERCOM detail all of our offensive cyberwar options. I’ll get that report to you later this evening.”

  The DCIA added, “And Langley will speed up the investigation of the quantum computer thread.”

  Chapter 40 – Blackout

  1:35 p.m. (EDT), Monday, May 31, 2021 – Columbia, MD

  SWARM Op Center, Sixth-Floor SCIF, Defense Innovations Accelerator

  General Shields and Lin Liu watched ElectricMind’s presentation on the video wall in the SWARM Op Center. Three and one-half months had passed since Rahmati commandeered the Swarmbots in Jerusalem. The SWARM program had been grounded since then.

  But the General kept the center staffed. Everybody liked the energy and entrepreneurial environment of the room. Shields’ most trusted digital hackers filled the op center. TAO provided skilled intelligence gatherers. Offensive cyber-warriors came from CYBERCOM.

  May 2021 had been the most difficult month in General Shields’ professional career.

  Rahmati’s .ISLAM social media properties, backed by a powerful Islamic search engine, released a steady barrage of incredibly embarrassing information. Rahmati also established a satellite TV station, called Crescent TV. It spread favorable media coverage. He patterned the station after Al Jazeera and RT, formerly known as Russia Today. Crescent TV maintained studios in Babylon, Tehran, and Washington DC.

  Rahmati’s A-Tube-like website, CrescenTube, released footage of the CIA’s clandestine operation to tap Iraqi-Persian fiber. This was followed by the video interrogations of the incarcerated CIA agents.

  The attack and confessions especially struck a chord in Persia. Iranians had a long history of antipathy for the CIA. In 1953, the CIA led a coup—known as Operation AJAX—to overthrow Iran’s legitimately elected representative, Mohammad Mosaddig. The US reinstalled the Shah to replace Prime Minister Mosaddig.

  Rahmati also launched a WikiLeaks-type site. He released secret political communiques that vividly portrayed the US playing a balance of power strategy in the Middle East, pitting Sunnis against Shias. While diplomatic insiders always knew of the policy; it was troubling for the general populace to see the emails and hand-written documents.

  The biggest bombshells came from disclosures related to Saudi Arabia. The extent of Saudi corruption stunned the world. Most galling were the transfers of state oil money directly into the personal accounts of Saudi government officials.

  And, American’s were shocked at the staggering dollar figures that flowed from Saudi Arabia into the coffers of US politicians, influential Americans, and prominent US institutions. Many Americans asked what exactly was being sold for all this money.

  Rahmati also released documents detailing the extent to which Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf states supported the Caliphate, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The revelations galvanized the people of Iraq, Syria, and Persia. Americans were equally stunned. The extent of the Saudi revelations led eM to increase the likelihood that Rahmati was leveraging a quantum computer to 39%.

  In response to the leaks, once again, massive protests spread across the Middle East. Now, the biggest demonstrations occurred in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi’s client state, the tiny island of Bahrain, also participated in the dissident movement. Given the US base there, the situation was extremely worrisome to the US.

  The House of Saud cracked down hard. However, they came under increasing international condemnation, especially from the UN Secretary General. The authoritarian regime in Egypt was also under fire from students and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Palestinians even marched against their government.

  “I want to make sure we watch the Rahmati address at two o’clock,” said General Shields.

  “No problem,” replied Josh. “We’ll be done by then.”

  Josh continued the briefing. “eM’s been ingesting the Persian geospatial information on JWICS. She guesses that the quantum computer is located in one of the many buildings owned by the Rahmati Technology Conglomerate. Obviously, that’s not too surprisi
ng.”

  “I’ve hacked into the Persian property records database in Tehran,” said Becca. “With the help of your Farsi speaking analysts, we’ve found 12 sites that are owned by the conglomerate. Based on all the parameters we think a quantum computer would need to operate, eM predicts that these four structures are the most likely spot for a quantum computer—if it exists.” Becca displayed a map of Tehran, with the four probable sites highlighted.

  “That’s good work,” said General Shields. “Can’t we just hack those building’s computers in and look for signs of the quantum computer? Once we find it, we can just take it out.”

  “We’ve penetrated some of them,” replied Becca, “but, it’s not been very helpful. So far, there’s been nothing that even hints at the existence of a quantum computer, let alone its location.”

  Shields carefully studied Becca’s map of Tehran. “Well, CYBERCOM has certainly prepared the battlefield in Persia. If POTUS doesn’t want to kinetically bomb those structures, there are other options to take those locations down. We’ve got backdoors into their power grid.”

  It was now 2:00. All eyes turned to the Crescent TV feed in the middle of the video wall. Muhammad Rahmati stepped to a marble podium in Babylon. After a typical Muslim greeting, Rahmati began.

  “Our holy writings talk about a time in which everything hidden will be revealed. The revelations I’ve posted regarding the deceitful actions of the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United States are one fulfillment of this prophecy.

  “Once again, I call upon Saudi Arabia to return the holy lands of Mecca and Medina. And, I promise that Iraq, along with our great ally Persia, stand ready to protect any Muslim in harm’s way. This includes citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf State—including Bahrain.

  “As I stated in my speech on the evening of May 14, cyber-intrusions into the state of Iraq will not be tolerated. I will be releasing information in the next 10 minutes to the CrescentLeaks.ISLAM site. These documents, and accompanying analytics, will detail the number and extent to which the US continues to actively engage in spying and cyber-aggression against the nation of Iraq.