The Sword of Cyrus: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 4)

by JC Ryan

  Mokri’s companions and colleagues from Saudi Arabia and Turkey were to join him en route. One, he knew, the Saudi, was an older man who was deeply distrustful of having a woman from Turkey within their circle. She, in turn, was contemptuous of the man, whose intellect she did not consider equal to her own. These two would spoil the plan if Mokri did not persuade them to vote as a bloc. To his delight, the woman was young, single and not ugly. He would be able to get around her easily. Therefore, he turned his charm on full-force for the man. Before the three reached Denver, he had been elected as their spokesperson in all matters, and they had pledged to back him for the opportunity to share in whatever he could get from the other board members.

  The three were met at Denver International Airport by Daniel and Sarah in person. They were determined to make up for their misgivings by treating the new members of the board as well as they could, and this was the first step. On the way back to Boulder, Sarah attempted to make conversation while Daniel concentrated on driving.

  While Ibrahim was mostly silent, both Reza and Deniz readily answered questions about their homelands and the conditions there. Sarah hesitated to ask what she really wanted to, which was how the ordinary people of the Middle East were faring after the 9th Cycle virus swept through their countries. Since many Middle Easterners were still confused about the origin of the virus, and the Rossler Foundation had played a pivotal role in unintentionally releasing it from its long dormancy, Sarah decided that discretion was the better part of valor and had determined not to bring it up.

  However, Reza, in a surprisingly insouciant manner, brought it up himself, and his words were surprising.

  “You know, that virus your expedition let loose has caused a lot of damage and human suffering but in a certain sense it may also turn out to be as you say, a blessing in disguise. It could very well have been the best thing that could have happened in Iran.” His companions had been warned that he was going to do this, so they betrayed no shock. Not so Sarah, whose first thought was ‘who does he think he’s kidding?’ Her eyes widened perceptibly as Daniel met them in the rear view mirror.

  “What makes you say that?” Daniel asked, his tone as mild as he could make it.

  “It has forced us to change a way of thinking that hasn’t served us well in the last thousand years. My people and even our leaders are now open to modern ideas and technology. We will be too busy bringing ourselves out of this disaster to wage war on our neighbors.”

  Daniel didn’t respond to that. Like Luke, he was glad to hear it. Luke had told him of the conversation with Ahmad Ahmadi, without revealing how he knew him. Now someone else who evidently had the ear of the highest offices in Iran was saying the same thing. He was still wary of these old enemies, but he was beginning to be encouraged.

  A valuable acquisition

  One of Dalir Jahandar’s most valuable acquisitions to his cause, Oleg Zlatovski, was found through one of the twelve Sword of Cyrus directors, a man whose gun-running operation was masked by oil interests. In both enterprises, having a retired KGB/MI6 double agent in his pocket was a valuable resource. As soon as Zlatovski understood the mission that Dalir explained, he agreed to set up the network that the Sword of Cyrus would need for communicating with their agents, as well as to train the agents for their roles. In this, he had no ideological interest. However, the billion dollar payout in technology and cash was of high interest.

  Oleg, who was going by the name Andreas Dimitriou when he met and began offering his consulting services to Jahandar’s man, had retired from the KGB in a time-honored manner. He had faked his own death. Now he was living in Greece with a new appearance and a dwindling bank account, though he had several properties that he could sell if needed. A little plastic surgery, carefully up-kept blond dye for his hair and beard, and not even his brother would recognize him, fortunately.

  Zlatovski’s allegiance was to no one but himself, and in his area of expertise he carried a wealth of knowledge of the weak spots in Russia and the West. Oleg’s personality was deceptively mild, but in truth he had no scruples, was morally bankrupt and cared only for his own desires and comfort. He had no idea how his gun-running contact had learned his true identity, but there was no danger. Their enterprise was illegal, and they had as much to lose as he did.

  Had they believed him alive, Zlatovski would have been wanted by every security agency in Europe, the USA and Israel and a few others besides. If his brother had known he was alive, his life would be worth nothing as well. His options were limited in Europe, but he was very open to financial gain wherever it could be found, no matter who it harmed in the long run. For this reason, he was perfect for what Dalir had in mind.

  Oleg was well-versed in creating blind networks, where each agent was only aware of one other, and not by the other’s real name. His initial brief was to train each of the dozen or so scientist recruits and a handful of recruits who were experienced administrators individually, so that they would not know each other when they met at Rossler Foundation headquarters. Each type of recruit would have similar assignments to the others of their type, and it was hoped that they would be allowed to work on a broad variety of projects, so that they could steal as much as possible across the entire scope of the 10th Cycle library. However, if one was caught, he or she would not be able to bring down the entire network. Their handlers would be employed in ordinary jobs in Boulder, and again, none would know the other. Each scientist would report to his handler, each handler to a single person in Tehran, who in turn would report to the Sword of Cyrus. One weak link would not break the chain - only shorten it.

  Oleg thought it a clever touch to use the method of communication that the Rosslers had made famous while they were hiding their activities from both the now-defunct Orion Society and their own CIA, back when they were trying to crack the Giza Pyramid’s code. What was so clever was that you could actually tell someone you were using that methodology, and as long as you were communicating from anonymous IP addresses, such as those found at internet cafes, that someone would never be able to find your communications. If you further confounded them by using a single text document such as a common paperback book, among several, with a skip sequence for coding the messages, even if they found your communications they would not be able to read them. It was the most secure method he’d ever utilized, and it tickled his well-developed sense of humor that it made use, not only of methods known to the Rossler Foundation, but a mixture of quite primitive and very sophisticated methods.

  The best thing about it was that it was much simpler than it sounded. The method included making use of one or a series of throwaway email accounts, not to email in the clear, but to leave a message in the draft folder. In this way, even the NSA’s broad sweep of metadata, intended to capture every email and every phone call for who contacted whom, would be foiled, since nothing was ever transmitted. Brilliant, really, Oleg mused. Even more brilliant when he asked for a dozen popular Arabic texts that would not raise suspicion if found among the possessions of the scientists. The handler’s security would be even less at risk, since he would not be employed by the Rosslers. Each pair, the researcher and the handler, would be assigned a different text. They would apply a randomly-selected Fibonacci number to create the coded message and break the code. It would only require that one thing be embedded in the message in the clear; the chosen Fibonacci number. Naturally, every scientist would be supplied with several Arabic books, so as not to raise suspicion if rooms were ever searched. Each was required to memorize a selection of Fibonacci numbers - that is, numbers that can be developed by adding the last two numbers in the sequence to form the next.

  In addition to training the recruits on the use of this communication method, each was put through a rigorous regimen of hand-to-hand combat training, memory improvement training, and acculturation training. For the men, this amounted to grooming and sensitivity training. They were instructed to curb their natural male superiority when dealing with Western women
. They were shown films culled from sex therapy libraries that taught them how to please a woman in the bedroom, a concept several found so foreign as to be ludicrous. Whoever heard of a woman’s feelings in the bedroom being important?

  Conversely, the women were sent to European finishing schools, taught how to dress, groom themselves as American women did, converse with men without lowering their eyes, and yes, how to please a man in the bedroom, since American men would expect them to know rather than having to show them. In the case of the women, the concept of muta’a was thoroughly discussed by mullahs, brought in to break down the female recruits’ natural reticence toward lovemaking outside of marriage. After that task had been accomplished, Oleg himself made sure that each had learned her lessons well, instructing a few more than once. It was also his privilege and his entertainment to help the women attain a level of tolerance of alcohol that would allow them to remain fully functional even after the man one was seducing had met his limit. In these matters, Oleg was happy to travel from city to city and stay a week or more in pursuit of perfection.

  By the time the announcement came that their long-awaited hope had been answered, every recruit that was still on board, a few having washed out, was as ready as they could be and eager to get started. Those who were scientific researchers, in particular, were looking forward to making great strides in their own fields while still carrying out their missions. Not everyone’s application was accepted, but more than half a dozen scientists were given their one-year appointments, and three or four administrative professionals were also selected.

  Zlatovski was given his cash payment and returned to his comfortable retirement in a village on the coast of Greece, but told to remain available in case he was needed again. The rest went to their respective homes to await the signal to apply for new positions opening at the Rossler Foundation specifically for Middle Easterners.

  The Rossler Foundation Nanotechnology Program

  By the time the new positions within the translation and research departments had been filled with Middle Eastern candidates, initial efforts made by the translation department and Raj to find references in the 10th Cycle library to nanotechnology had already borne fruit. Of course, the term wasn’t found in direct translation, but with Raj’s thorough understanding of search terminology, enough turned up to warrant a proposal to the Board for a special program to seek it all out, translate it and sort it into lines of inquiry that were ranked by importance.

  Roy had been invited to spend his Christmas and semester breaks helping the latter phase, and was primed to take an early sabbatical if anything of high interest could be found. CalTech wasn’t pleased by the prospect of losing its new recruit so quickly, but the advantage to the university of having one of its best and brightest in the forefront of a new line of inquiry at the prestigious Rossler Foundation made up for it to some extent.

  As Christmas rapidly approached, Daniel and Roy worked feverishly on a proposal to the Board for funding the initial phase of the program; that is, the initial search and translation. With Roy’s expertise on hand, it was a slam-dunk to get the funding. As always, the Board was encouraged to nominate experts from its member countries for carrying out the work. The recruiting process was arduous, particularly once it was decided to allow Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey into the Foundation membership, even for a limited time. The new Middle Eastern members of the Board took full advantage of this perk. After thorough background checks, a team was formed.

  The role of nanotech program lead went to Karsten Adler, a Swiss-born scientist with a PhD in molecular mechanics who had been living and working in the US for several years. He was chosen as much for his proven administrative ability as for his background in CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, working on the Large Hadron Collider. This freed Roy to do what he did best, research. He was given the role of senior researcher. Among the rest of the team were a few scientists from the Middle East and one or two of those were nuclear scientists. However, Luke could find no ties to terrorist organizations among the lot of them.

  ~~~

  Luke had given a great deal of thought to the increased security measures required by the program to investigate nanotechnology. He had the idea that all of it was potentially dangerous, this nanotech stuff. Partly he was influenced by half-remembered warnings of the dangers from thirty or forty years ago. Even though development of the technology hadn’t kept up with the speculation about it, he still had a gut-level distrust of it, particularly after watching Roy’s first presentation. To enhance the regular security they had in place, he decided that the program manager should be instructed to segment the research, even the translation.

  The nanotech program would be set up a little differently from other programs already running at Rossler Foundation headquarters. Each program had a committee that evaluated information coming out of the translation and research for potential danger, consisting of the program manager, one or two Board members, and such other experts as were deemed necessary. In the case of the nanotech program, because of the breadth of scope in fields to which it would pertain, Luke suggested that no one person, except the program manager himself and the evaluation committee, would have the whole picture. In that way, anything with the potential to be used as a weapon would be hidden from the rank and file.

  When it went to the committee charged with allowing it or suppressing it, it would be out of Luke’s hands for the most part. For this particular program, he asked that Daniel himself, Karsten Adler as the program manager, Roy James as the expert in the investigative subject and Sarah if she so desired, be appointed to the committee. In addition, he recommended Raj as the data expert, so that he could recommend ways to keep the data compartmentalized and Sinclair, who had a keen understanding of his translators’ personalities and trustworthiness.

  When it came to the research, Karsten and Roy were found by virtue of their background checks to be 100% trustworthy. As they brought on research assistants, further steps might need to be taken, but this was already going to be a burden on the time and duties of the committee members, so Luke felt it would be best to start this way and go from there as needed. Roy was interested mainly in the theoretical rather than the applied properties of nanotechnology, although he had a boyish delight in playing with ideas for useful gadgets. Karsten came with the highest of recommendations from his former employers. In addition, by birth he was Swiss, long recognized as a neutral nation with no ax to grind with anyone. As such, he was considered above suspicion.

  Luke had a private conversation with Raj and with Sinclair about his security measures, as well as explaining the necessity to Karsten, who agreed. Roy also understood, but didn’t have much to add, since he only cared about his research, not anything that he considered political.

  Roy went home for just a couple of days for Christmas, blissfully unaware that Karsten had planted a bombshell in their office that he would discover on his return - he’d hired a woman as the program administrator. Alica Cindric would be responsible for organizing meetings, taking minutes, keeping all program and project documentation up to date, and keeping the budget on track. Essentially, she would be Karsten’s right hand, freeing him from what was basically housekeeping drudgery. For Roy it meant having to go through Alica to get Karsten’s ear, a distinctly unpleasant hassle for the painfully shy man, who had trouble even speaking in any woman’s presence let alone a beautiful one.

  Alica was perfect for the job, a lovely Croatian widow whose application came through Iranian diplomatic sources. As an ethnic Persian, her plight after her husband, a high-level aide to the Croatian ambassador to Iran, and her son died in the 9th Cycle flu pandemic, was of interest to both Croatia and Iran. That of course would not be found in her documentation. Her cover story was that her husband and child were killed in a car accident. Slipping that into the public record and the real story out of it was not the least of Oleg Zlatovski’s talents.

  Finding her work at the Rossler F
oundation, was easy. She passed the background check with flying colors, had never had any contact under the name on her documents with anyone who had terrorist links. But, unbeknown to the selection committee, she had never been convinced that the virus was naturally occurring. An abiding hatred of America and especially of the Rossler Foundation had led her to answer the recruitment ad placed by Oleg Zlatovski. In matters of seduction, she was his best student ever.

  In fact, all of the new Middle Eastern employees fit into the Foundation staff’s social activities nicely. In spite of quickly-held training on sensitivity to matters of Muslim culture and religious observance, the Foundation staff welcomed them matter-of-factly for the most part. The Middle Easterners were good studies and took their lessons to heart. American and European employees found them to be very easy-going. No one ever noticed one of them asking about the food or turning up their noses at a drink after work. There were even some short-lived hookups between the men and some of the American women, nothing serious occurred, and the liaisons didn’t last long.

  Alica was circumspect at first. She had a very special mission, but it had to wait until the time was right. She would be activated at the right time, and then someone was going to have his world rocked. For now, she amused herself by torturing Roy James as if she were innocent of the knowledge that he was paralyzed in the presence of women.