Connor felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. ‘Are you saying I was the target?’
‘It looks that way,’ replied Amir. ‘I mean, your operation was the first to be attacked. But, judging by the way they stripped HQ, I’m guessing they were after something else too.’
Connor thought back to Mexico. The assault had been well-planned and executed with the same brutal efficiency, the attackers timing their drive-by to the exact second. As the van had passed, Connor remembered the driver had glanced at him, not Eduardo. And, when the gunman had raised his Glock 17, the pistol had been pointing at his face. It dawned on Connor that the attackers hadn’t been trying to kidnap Eduardo at all – they’d been trying to kill him! Connor’s legs lost their strength once more and he slumped down in the spare chair. Was he really the reason for the attack in Mexico and on HQ? The thought sent a chill through him. He stared aghast at Amir. ‘What do they want with me? What were they looking for?’
Amir shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea. As I said, I didn’t understand a word. But I’m hoping Colonel Black might know.’
Connor sat up straight. ‘He wasn’t captured?’
‘No,’ said Amir with a shake of his head. ‘He was off-site at the time.’
A wave of relief rippled through him. The colonel wasn’t only the head and founder of Buddyguard; he was the closest Connor now had to a father. ‘Where is he then?’
‘Well, I don’t know exactly,’ replied Amir. ‘The colonel got a call from Bugsy last week and left as a matter of urgency.’
‘So Bugsy’s OK too!’
Amir nodded. ‘He’s been away on some pre-mission appraisal – a high-level assignment, judging by the secrecy surrounding it. Bugsy wouldn’t even tell me where he was going and I’m his logistics deputy!’
Knowing that both the colonel and their surveillance tutor hadn’t been captured in the assault, Connor started to feel more hopeful about their situation. ‘Have you tried to contact them?’
‘Of course!’ said Amir. ‘But I’ve had no response … although I think I now know why.’ He pointed at the computer monitor where a line of code flashed red. ‘That is a back door to our entire system, planted without our knowledge. The enemy have had access to our entire security network, communications and all mission databases. They’ve basically been in control!’
Connor gasped. ‘For how long?’
‘Who knows? They’ve hidden their tracks well.’ Amir’s fingers raced over the laser keyboard, his brow a knot of concentration. ‘Multi-rootkits … time-based evasion … internal data obfuscation … stego-malware! The combination of evasion techniques is truly exceptional. I’d be impressed, if only it weren’t directed at us –’
‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, Amir, but is there any way we can track the colonel down?’
‘Give me a minute, then I’ll access his private agenda. Don’t want our friends snooping on us any more.’
Lines of code reeled across the screen. To Connor it was gibberish, but to his friend the hieroglyphic-like fusion of letters, numbers and symbols were as accessible as a picture book.
After several minutes of furious typing, Amir hit enter. ‘There, that should kill it,’ he said, leaning back in the chair with a satisfied smile.
The screen flashed white, then went blank.
‘Is it supposed to do that?’ asked Connor.
Amir’s smile faded. ‘No.’
He tried to reboot the computer. Nothing happened. Amir slapped his palm to his forehead. ‘How could I be so stupid? Of course the malware had a self-destruct command. It’s crashed the entire system. Permanently.’
As Amir tried in vain to get the computer back online, Connor pulled out his mobile. ‘What about my phone? Can we use this to contact the colonel? Or is it compromised too?’
‘Most likely,’ said Amir with a grimace. He waved for Connor to hand it over, then, with a flurry of input commands, accessed the phone’s operating system. ‘Well, there doesn’t appear to be anything obviously suspect. After the Cell-Finity bug issue during Operation Hidden Shield, we upgraded the security on all mobile devices. They’re near impossible to hack, though you can still be tracked via your signal –’
All of a sudden the phone vibrated with a message. Amir did a double-take, then passed it back to Connor. ‘It’s an encrypted text from the colonel.’
With Amir peering over his shoulder, Connor pressed the fingerprint authorization to decrypt the message:
End mission immediately. HQ compromised.
DON’T involve authorities. DON’T communicate.
Lives at stake.
Meet at 31.224484, 121.487966.
1030hrs local time 16/5.
‘He knows about the attack at least,’ said Amir flatly.
‘Let’s check the coordinates –’
‘No!’ cried Amir. But Connor’s thumb had already instinctively hit the hyperlink.
‘Sorry,’ said Connor with a feeble smile. ‘I thought you said there was nothing suspect.’
‘It’s not your phone that’s the problem,’ said Amir. ‘It’s the wireless router it’s automatically connected to. That’s still potentially compromised.’
‘Well, it’s too late to worry about that now,’ said Connor sheepishly as a global map appeared on the phone’s screen, then zoomed in on a sprawling city. He exchanged an astonished look with Amir at the destination. ‘Shanghai, China. They’re on the other side of the world!’
Amir checked his watch. ‘That gives us barely twenty-four hours to reach the rendezvous point.’
Connor rose from his seat. ‘We’d best pack our gear then.’
‘First I need your phone,’ said Amir. After noting down the colonel’s coordinates on a scrap of paper, he took out the SIM card and snapped it in half. Then he dropped the phone on the floor and stamped on it repeatedly, until it was little more than a pile of broken circuitry.
Connor forced a laugh. ‘I was due an upgrade anyway! But how’s the colonel supposed to contact us now?’
‘He can’t. But neither can the enemy track us,’ Amir explained. ‘We have to go dark. New phones. New kit. New everything.’
As they headed out of the office and down the corridor towards the logistics supply room, Connor gazed round at the destruction. It was sad to see their training headquarters in such a sorry state. This had been his home for almost two years. Here he’d learnt the life-saving skills of a bodyguard, made lifelong friends, met Charley. So many good memories were attached to the place. And now it was a wreck, a broken shield that no longer protected anyone.
‘Are you sure we shouldn’t call the police?’ said Amir, noticing the downcast look on his face.
Connor shook his head. ‘You saw the colonel’s orders. We can’t involve the authorities.’
‘But what about Steve? And the others?’
‘I guess … we bury Steve,’ said Connor glumly, ‘and pray for the others.’