32 |
32 |Conference Room 212, CIA Headquarters Langley, Virginia
Leroux sat against the wall, only the senior staff sitting at the table, a grid of monitors showing dozens of other faces jacked into the meeting with the senior administration officials, the big man himself absent.
White House Chief of Staff Nelson kicked things off. “For those of you who are unaware, we received this message only minutes ago.”
The displays switched to show the silhouette of a man’s face, superimposed on an image of an underwater scene showing several people doing something to what appeared to be a cable of some sort. A computerized voice spoke.
“This message is for the American President. Over the past week, teams under our employ, have placed explosive charges on over a dozen transatlantic data cables. These charges are large enough to completely sever the connections, and severely inhibit the ability of North America and Europe to communicate electronically. Should you doubt our sincerity, please check the status of the TAT-14 cable. You will find it was destroyed at the same time this message was sent.”
The image paused, and Nelson appeared for a moment on the screen. “We have confirmed that this connection has been severed, though we don’t have confirmation yet that it was physically severed or if this is some sort of digital block.”
The silhouette reappeared, the recording resuming. “I won’t bother explaining all the ramifications, as I’m sure you have experts who can explain them to you. The repair of these cables will take time, and will be quite expensive, however the damage to your economies will be in the billions. Again, you have experts who can explain this to you.” The silhouette moved closer, revealing no additional identifying details. “Our demands are simple, and a mere token compared to the true cost to your economies. You have two hours from the time this message was sent, to transfer one billion American dollars into the account number we have attached to this message. If we do not have the full amount in our account within two hours, we will detonate another cable, and the price will double. Another two hours, and the process repeats, and the price again doubles. We highly suggest you don’t delay, as quite quickly the price will rise to an amount even you can’t hide from the public. Oh, and Mr. President, if you try to disarm any of the bombs, I will know, and the price will again double.”
The message ended, and the display returned to the grid of attendees. Leroux was already firing a message to Randy Child when Morrison leaned back in his chair and turned toward him. “What do you think?”
Leroux’s phone vibrated.
Confirmed.
“I’ve just confirmed the cable is down. I think we have to take him seriously.”
Somebody overheard him. “What if it’s only one cable? And what if it’s just a hack?”
Morrison leaned forward, addressing the room. “How long will it take to determine how the cable was severed?”
“It depends on where the break happened,” replied somebody from the monitors.
Leroux cleared his throat. “We should be able to quickly determine where the break is—that capability is built into the system. Then a visual inspection should confirm the method.”
Somebody guffawed. “You do realize how long that cable is? How deep it is? Who is this idiot?”
Leroux’s cheeks and ears burned. Morrison glared at the monitors. “That idiot is a hell of a lot smarter than you could ever dream of being, Director. I suggest you listen to him, because one day he’s probably going to be sitting in this seat.” Leroux flushed even more. Morrison turned to him. “You were saying?”
Leroux’s mouth was suddenly dry, but he pushed through. “Unless we’re dealing with someone who has access to a military grade submarine, then I doubt we’re talking significant depths here. And if we aren’t, then the device shouldn’t have been placed too far from shore. Once we determine where the break occurred, I’m guessing local authorities could be on site before the deadline.”
Morrison smiled slightly at him then turned back to the display. “Do you want to get real answers, or continue the name-calling?”
There was silence for a moment before Nelson took back the meeting. “We’ll move forward with your suggestion, Leif. In the meantime, we have to assume that this individual is serious, and decide what to do about it.”
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs shook his head. “We can’t pay the money. We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
Morrison grunted. “We all know that’s bullshit. We’re always negotiating with terrorists, we just do it through third parties.”
The head of Homeland responded. “Yes, but who do we use this time? We’ve got two hours before he detonates again.”
The CJCS waved a hand, as if dismissing everything said. “Assuming this wasn’t a one-off. Perhaps we should wait and see if he’s bluffing.”
Morrison frowned. “An expensive bluff. I suggest the money be pulled together so that it can be transferred if that decision is made, pull up our scenarios for this type of situation, as I’m sure someone has thought of this before, and then the President and his team can decide whether or not the economic fallout is worth paying the man. In the meantime, we’ll try to figure out who he is, and stop him before he gets a chance to detonate more of these cables.”
Nelson agreed. “Sounds good. We’ll reconvene in one hour.”
The meeting broke and Leroux followed Morrison out of the room.
“I want your entire team on this.”
Leroux nodded. “Understood.”
Morrison paused, raising a finger. “I’m not sure you do. Your entire team. That means the professors’ problems aren’t even on the back burner.”
Leroux suppressed a frown. “Yes, sir.”