Cipher (10 page)

Jennifer was sobbing when Jonathan
returned to the room. The uncontrollable tears were streaming from her face as
she sat at the edge of the bed. He could hear her crying from just outside the
door. He could hear her gasping for breath as she tried to fight back the
tears. He knocked the secret knock, inserted his key, walked in, and sat down
next to her, putting his arm around her. He allowed her to just sit there and
cry. He didn’t know what to say. It was a woman that he barely knew, but there
he was trying to console her. Something about it just seemed right; something
about it just seemed so normal to him.

“Hey. Please don’t cry. You know it’s all going to be okay,”
he said.

“You don’t know that,” she said, sniffling between words.

“Come on. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“How can you be so sure? How can you be so certain that someone
isn’t going to storm into this room any moment and try to off us again? I can’t
even call my mother or anyone that I know. This is crazy. I don’t know what to
do. I barely slept while you were gone. All I could do was toss and turn around
in this bed while my imagination got away from me.”

Jonathan looked at her sitting next to him. Even in her
worst hour, she was beautiful. Even with tears streaming down her face, she was
the most beautiful woman he had ever met. He was such a sucker for a beautiful
face. “Look, I know this is stressful. Believe me, I feel the same way. But, we
need to formulate a plan. We need to be on the offense, not on the defense. All
we’ve been doing is running. We need to plan.”

“What plan? I can’t deal with this pressure. I can’t deal
with the stress of someone trying to kill me; to kill us,” she said, still
sniffling between every few words. “I just want my life back. I just want things
to go back to normal again. That’s why I came back here. I just wanted to relax
and not have all the stress and pressures of life back in the states.”

“This has hardly anything to do with normal stresses and
pressures, Jen. There is someone after you and me now because you have
something they want,” Jonathan said, pointing to her head. “They want what’s in
there. That’s
pretty clear
at this point in time. Why
else would they be after you? Do you think it’s a coincidence that all of this
happened at once? I showed up and someone tried to kill you at the same time?
The series of events that led us to where we are right now all started with
that cipher drive. Whoever has that cipher drive wants to ensure that no one
else can get their hands on that information.”

She had finally stopped crying. “But, that doesn’t make any
sense,” she said. “Why would they let me leave the lab? What would this have to
do with that?”

“Don’t you get it? Whoever broke into the lab is the person
who has the cipher drive, not the people who hired you and let you leave. The
person that has it now is the same person that wants you dead. You need to call
your friend at that lab. You need to call…”

“Paul?”

“Yes, you need to call him,” Jonathan still had his arm
around her as they spoke, and he pulled her near. He was expecting her to
resist him, but she came closer to him, resting her head in the crevice of his
neck and he felt electricity running up and down his body. He wanted so badly
to kiss her, but he knew it wasn’t the right time. He knew he couldn’t take
advantage of the moment, but before he could think about it again, she raised
her head to meet his lips and gave him a gentle kiss that didn’t last nearly as
long as Jonathan would have liked.

“You’re right,” she said. “I have to stop being afraid, and
pull myself together.”

“That’s the spirit,” he said. He was still reeling from the
gentle kiss but he tried to play it off. He tried to play it cool but was
having a hard time. He didn’t know if he should lean back in and give her
another one. Before he could do anything, the moment had passed. She got up,
grabbed her cell phone, and started searching for the number.

“What time is it on the east coast right now?”

“Early in the morning.”

“Perfect,” she said. She touched the screen on her phone and
dialed the number, placing the headset to her ear.

*****

Kate Jenkins and Geoff Steiner exited the plane at
Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport and made their way through customs and immigration. They
collected their bags and climbed into the rental car. They were on assignment
from the NSA to find the doctor and secure the cipher drive. They needed to act
fast before something else went wrong. Kate Jenkins navigated the rental car
through the busy mid-week traffic of Istanbul. The late morning congestion gave
them a stark reminder of just how delimiting travel by car was in the city.

“This traffic is crazy,” she said.

“I know.”

“So what’s first on the agenda?”

“We need to find the doctor,” Steiner said.

“And Jonathan Grace?” she asked, rhetorically.

“Yeah. They’re most likely together. We have a last known
location at Istanbul’s Le Hotel in Beşiktaş.”

“Let’s hit the hotel then,” Jenkins cooed.

“That was two days ago,” Steiner said. They could be long
gone by now for all we know.”

“Still, it’s where we should start,” she said. “At least
we’ve got something. And, Medviek’s superyacht is still in the harbor, so we
need to get a pinpoint on his location.”

“Okay, so we hit the hotel, then the harbor?” he asked.

“The hotel first and foremost. Not the harbor right now. We
don’t want to spook them. We have no authority to do anything here right now.
We still need to go through the proper channels,” Jenkins said.

“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, it’s a plan. We should get setup
at the hotel, then take it from there,” Steiner said.

“Sounds good.”
 

They fought their way through the traffic, and finally arrived
at the hotel. They checked in and met with Erol, the manager of the hotel who
allowed them access to the hotel’s records.

“Can you tell me if Jonathan Grace is still checked in?”
asked Jenkins, as they both stood over the hotel manager’s shoulders watching
him surf through the records. They knew the answer was no, but they decided to
ask the question anyhow.

“No. Mr. Grace checked out two days ago,” said Erol.

“Was there anyone else staying with him? Was he alone?”
barked Steiner from behind him.

“He was with a woman. She was a tall blonde woman. Here, I
can pull up the security footage,” said the manager. He clicked around a few
times and navigated to a black and white video feed of the doctor and Jonathan
Grace checking out of the hotel. It had been over 48 hours and they could have
been long gone by then.

“Do you have any information on where they may have been
going?” Jenkins asked.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t collect that kind of information.
As you can imagine, there’s not much else that I can do for you.” As expected
from a luxury hotel in an international destination such as Istanbul, the hotel
manager’s English was nearly perfect.

“That’s understandable. But, can you search the hotel
records and see if you can locate a phone number for us? Possibly a local
number?” asked Steiner.

“The only phone number we have is a New York based cellphone
number. You can have the number. It’s 212-555-7520,” said the hotel manager.

“Okay,” Jenkins said,” We already have that number and it
just goes to voicemail, but thank you anyways.”

“No problem. Anything else I can do for you two?”

“No, that’s about it.”

Jenkins and Steiner left the hotel manager’s office and
headed for the rooftop terrace where they sat down to strategize on their next
moves. The rooftop terrace had a sweeping view of the Bosporus, and they got
lost in the beauty of it for a moment.

“Look at that view,” Jenkins said.

“Yeah,
pretty beautiful
,” Steiner
replied.

“So, we need to track down every single lead we can in the
city. This is Istanbul right? Doctor Cobalt has all sorts of family and friends
in town. We should start there.”

“Okay, I guess we’re going to have our work cut out for us
then. It couldn’t have been easier could it? They couldn’t have just still been
in the hotel,” he said.

“When is it ever that easy Geoff?”

“I guess just once I wish it could be. Just once I wish
things could just go according to plan and not have to work our butts off so
hard.”

“It’s really not that much hard work,” Jenkins said. “Just
think about it and look where we are. We’re in Istanbul. It’s such a beautiful
city,” she added.

“Yeah, but we’re not going to get to enjoy any of this beautiful
city,” Steiner said. He was being
really sour
.

“That’s not true. Stop being so childish.”

“We should probably contact Jennifer’s family and friends.”

“Agreed,” she said. “Let’s start on that just as soon as we
enjoy a quick, but quiet lunch. I’m starving? Aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s eat.”

Boris Medviek took his place at
another café in the heart of the city, just minutes away from his docked
superyacht in Istanbul’s harbor. His new disguise featured long blonde hair,
green contacts, and hippie sunglasses. He was clad in board shorts, a tee
shirt
and a pair of low-cut sneakers with no socks. He was
about as casual looking as he could be, and a stark contrast from his previous
businesslike disguise. He had to be prepared for anything. He was certain that
this much time in the city was going to garner attention, but he had no choice.

The moment had arrived where he would snake his wake into
the NSA, FBI, MI6, and CIA databases. He was after those names. He wanted those
names so badly he could just feel them in his grip. He was so close to finally
getting that list; a list he would undoubtedly keep a copy of after it was
passed on to the Saudi Sheik. He slipped open his laptop and the machine
whirred to life. The metallic screaming machine was a top-of-the-line desktop
replacement that had the computing power to handle any enterprise application.
That computing power was necessary to help hurl the advanced ciphers located on
the cipher drive he had now come to cherish so dearly. That one small piece of
equipment meant absolute power, without it, he couldn’t accomplish his goals.

He looked around from beneath his sunglasses, as he parted
his faux blonde hair to the side. He was clean-shaven this time with an
entirely different prosthetic nose, which was joined by a prosthetic chin. His
appearance was completely different than it was before. He truly was a master
of disguise. His ability to slip in and out undetected in the physical world
was rivaled only by what he could accomplish in the digital world. His fingers
found their way flying across the keyboard as he launched his first UNIX browser
and sent the commands hurling forward. His proxy servers provided him the
anonymity he needed to complete the job. He was a ghost for all anyone knew; he
was a completely undetectable ghost.

He launched separate UNIX browsers for the NSA, FBI, MI6,
and CIA lists he was after. He was going for thousands of names; it would
compromise the security of two of the world’s superpowers. With those names, he
would put all agents in the field at risk. With those names, he no longer had
to fear the unknown. They would all be exposed. He would sell the names for a
huge windfall, but he would also have the comfort of knowing where his enemies
were. They couldn’t hide anymore. They wouldn’t be able to reek as much havoc
on his life and make him question his
each and every
move. He would be free to move about for a limited time by lifting their veil
of anonymity. His mind raced at a million-miles-a-minute as his fingers
continued flying across the keys.

He slipped the black USB cipher drive into his laptop and
watched the orange and green LED lights begin to whir to life. He pictured it
in his mind as the ciphers were sent like missiles with the most powerful
nuclear warheads at their targets. That’s what it felt like to him. He felt
like he was at war, and he possessed the most powerful weapon in existence.
That’s what he had. That’s what he was holding onto. He looked around the
streets outside the café to ensure no one was trailing him. He had to make sure
that no one was the wiser. He was a ghost, but he had to ensure he was a ghost.
He couldn’t rely on anyone else. He was on his own. He was on the streets
alone, vulnerable, and exposed to people.

The anxiety fluttered through his mind like a hummingbird
hovering over a flower. It was fleeting. The anxious thoughts passed, and he
went back to hurling UNIX code at the screen. The four UNIX browsers were hard
at work, each one of them sending through the brute-force ciphers to attack the
systems. He knew it was risky attacking all four at once, so he had to roam his
IP address. The changing proxies slowed things down but he had to be extra
careful. His fingers continued to cruise across the keyboard as if he was
playing his most precious concerto. A lifelong pursuit towards an inherent
understanding of technology and the power of a single advanced piece of
equipment was finally paying off. Those algorithms danced around in his mind as
they danced around on the screen.

He was infiltrating their databases. He was in. One by one,
he began searching for the information that he needed. One by one he began
generating his lists of data, he would then purge through the infinite abyss
and into his hands. One by one, each of those men and women in the field were
becoming exposed. The names shot down the screen, each one of them appearing in
long collated lists. Thousands of names were being generated. Thousands of poor
men and women were having their identities exposed. The world wouldn’t have to
lie in wait anymore. That list was priceless.

As the information was downloaded and stored on his local
laptop, he looked around again. Like always, he was expecting a sea of SWAT to
show up with guns pointed at his head. But, like always, he was alone. He was
secretly stealing treasure troves of data and no one was the wiser. He looked
around again as he was wrapping up his heist and almost couldn’t believe it. He
couldn’t believe he had gotten away with it. But, then again, he always got
away with it. He was smarter than them, and at that moment, he felt the
most maniacal
wave of ecstasy that he had had in recent
years. He smiled to himself as he shut his laptop screen and walked towards his
awaiting car on a nearby street.

He inconspicuously checked his surroundings as he made his
way through the busy streets. And as he slipped into the car, he directed the
driver back to the docks where he would review his bounty, and celebrate with
his brother. The car meandered its way through the streets as the busy foot
traffic increased the closer they got to the docs. But, that’s when Boris heard
the sirens. He could hear the siren of a local police car not far behind them.
He looked out through the dark tinted windows to see the police car approaching
quickly.

“Step on the gas!” he yelled at the driver.

The driver looked at him through the rearview mirror and
could see that he was visibly upset. He punched the throttle down on the car
and it lurched forward on the busy streets, nearly missing a group of
pedestrians that were running across to the other side.

“Go faster! Faster!” Boris yelled. He looked back to see two
more police vehicles approaching from the rear, just behind the first one.
Three vehicles now made their way towards the bulletproof Mercedes. “How the
hell did they find me? How the hell did they know?”

“I’m sorry sir, I’m going as fast as I can without killing
anyone,” the driver said sheepishly.

“I don’t care who you kill. If you don’t go faster I’m going
to kill you,” he said. He pulled out a gun and held it to the driver’s head.
“If you don’t think I’m serious, then try me.”

The driver’s knuckles turned white as he slammed on the gas
and threw the car violently forward through the traffic. He weaved in and out
of the street, narrowly missing nearly every car along the way. Boris looked
back to see the vehicles gaining, and was in a panic. He whipped out his phone
and dialed his brother, Dmitry.

“They’re following me!” he barked into the phone as Dmitry
answered.

“Who? Who?” Dmitry asked.

“The police! What the hell went wrong?”

“I don’t know. Did you get the list?”

“Yes! Of
course
I got the list, but
they’re on me now.
I’ve got
to lose these people.
Secure the yacht.”

“Da. Okay, brother. Don’t worry. We’ll be ready over here,”
Dmitry said.

“Okay, I’m going now. Get the yacht out of the dock now.”

“Will do, brother.
Be safe. Hurry,”
he said.

Boris clicked the phone off, and looked back again. He was
panicking. He was so confident he hadn’t been spotted.
But
how?
How could they have found him? How could they have gotten wind of
him? He was completely disguised. He thought he was a ghost. No matter, he
thought, he had to lose the tail.

“Faster!” he yelled again at the driver. “Through here, cut
through here,” he yelled pointing to a side street.

“But I can’t… the sidewalk… the people…”

Boris pointed the gun at the driver again. “Do it, now!”

The driver didn’t need any more motivation than the gun in
his face again. He dropped down a gear and the luxury sedan lurched forward and
onto the sidewalk narrowly missing droves of people in the process. They sped
along the sidewalk, doing their best to avoid the various obstacles along the
way. In the process, they slammed into food vendors, smashed newspaper stands,
and crashed into stopped bikes along the path. It was reckless, but Boris
didn’t care. He was only concerned with self-preservation. That was it. He
didn’t care about anything else. He had to get out of there with that list.

“Turn here! Here! Now!” he yelled again at the driver.

They made a sudden screeching right turn up a
partially-crowded
side street, and Boris yelled at him again
to pop the curve and avoid the congestion. He looked back at the cop cars that
had stopped in the busy crowding as they made their getaway. He could see them
back up in an attempt to hop the curb up the hill like they had done, but they
were blocked by a large truck that had turned into the street behind them.
Boris watched as the cops as they backtracked and turned down the street in an
attempt to double around and block him in.

“Here! Here! Now, turn this way!” he yelled again, directing
the driver as they continued to evade. All the while, Boris was watching his
smartphone’s navigational maps as they made their twists and turns. They meandered
through more streets and his nerves grew
more and more
frayed by the minute. He could still hear the sirens as they whipped around another
bend, nearly crashing into a building on the narrow corner, and they shot up
the hill and into the city. He was safe for now. He sat back and breathed a
sigh of relief.

“Keep driving.” Don’t stop! Let me out at the top of the
hill by the taxi stand. Don’t slow down. I want you to keep speeding. I’m going
to open the door as you round the bend. Don’t stop!” He was barking the orders
at the driver who looked at him with cautious eyes as if to not upset him. He
knew that one mistake could cost him his life. As they reached the top of the
hill, the car screeched around the bend just as the police cars were finally
seen coming up the hill.

As the car spun around the edge, Boris hopped out of the
car, tumbling on the sidewalk. The car door slammed and continued speeding off.
Boris held his green backpack containing the spoils of his heist, his trusted
laptop, and the cipher drive, and he slowly walked across the street and into a
busy crowd of pedestrians. As the group of police cars came up the street, four
of them were seen screeching around the corner close on the tail of the
Mercedes that he was no longer a passenger in.

He wiped the perspiration off his forehead as he climbed
into an awaiting taxi. He was safe for now. He barely made it
by the skin of his teeth
. He picked up his phone and dialed
Dmitry.

“Brother?” said the voice on the other end.

“I’m safe,” said Boris.

“Thank God,” Dmitry said, exhaling a huge sigh of relief.

“Have you left the docks?”

“Yes.”

“Police?”

“None.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you on the other side of the Bosporus at
the Grand Bazaar.”

We’ll steam in that direction,” Dmitry said.

“Okay. I’ll see you there.”