Cipher (9 page)

“No, no. That’s okay. I’m just glad to hear from you. I
thought I would never speak to you again,” said Ed.

“It’s good to speak to you as well. I know that I’ve been
such a recluse, but I had to shut everyone out. I hope you understand.”

“Yeah, it’s okay, Jon.
So
what’s
up? What’s on your mind?” I’ve got about an hour before I run into work so
you’re timing isn’t too bad. I would have woken up in a half an hour
regardless.”

“I need to talk to you about something; something major,”
Jonathan said.

“Okay. I’m all ears,” Ed said. His tone had suddenly changed
to a much more serious one.

“You guys recently ran a story about a coordinated hacking
effort. You know the one that affected the Air Traffic Control Systems, banks, water,
and power. You know the one I’m talking about?”

“Yes… Yes, of course I do,” he said.

“I may need some help from you. Look, I have reason to
believe that the person who’s orchestrating those attacks isn’t a group. It
isn’t a bunch of hackers. It’s just one person. One person who’s using a little
black cipher drive developed by a lab out of Arlington, Virginia called
Advanced Biogenics.”

“I’ve heard of them,” Ed said.

Jonathan’s whiskey sour landed in front of him as he chatted
on the phone. He thanked the bartender and returned to his conversation.

“I’m in Istanbul right now with the lead researcher who
created that cipher drive. I don’t want to get too far into it over the phone,
but there’s some intense stuff going on right now. Someone is trying to kill
us.”

“What are you doing involved in that?”

“I was retained to find the cipher drive,” Jonathan said.

“The cipher drive? The thing that’s causing all of these
hacks?” Ed asked, as if he wasn’t entirely following the conversation. Maybe it
was the early hour so Jonathan decided to explain it better.
 

“Okay, so here’s the story. My job was to head out to
Istanbul where the lead researcher presently is, and to find information that
would lead to the cipher drive. I was essentially hired to get it back. Apparently,
this device can crack 2048-bit RSA keys in under 30 minutes.”

“2048-bit RSA keys? Jonathan, that’s way over my head. Speak
in layman’s terms.”

“Okay, I know it sounds confusing.
Basically
that
cipher drive can be used to hack into any known Website over any
secure connection in the world. No matter what it is, this cipher drive can crack
it. It’s a tiny USB stick-sized device. The circuitry has been fused with the
ciphers that can be used to do the hacking. I’ve no idea how it all works, but
this is the information that I’ve been able to piece together,” Jonathan said.

“Okay… you have my attention. What can I help with?”

“I need you to use your weight and your resources to help me
find out who has the cipher drive. Dr. Cobalt… Jennifer, the lead researcher
that I’m here with, said that there was a break-in at the lab not long after
she departed. Someone must have broken in and stole that cipher drive. Is there
any way you can help me to locate who it was?” Jonathan huffed into the phone.
He stepped away from the crowded bar to speak in the corner of the room for a
brief moment.

“I’ll see what I can do. But, I can’t promise you anything.
I can’t absolutely guarantee anything,” said Ed. “However, I will tell you that
this sounds like a story I can run with.”

“Okay, great. I know you can’t guarantee anything, but
whatever
help
you can provide, I would be forever
grateful to you for. And, no stories until I can get this resolved. I don’t
want all of this information leaking out there to the public,” Jonathan said.

“No problem. But, this is big. This is breaking news. I’m
going to work my contacts when I get into the office today. Expect a call back
from me. Can I reach you on this number?”

“Yes, this is my international SIM.”

“Great. I’ll call you this afternoon my time.”

“Okay, thanks a lot,” Jonathan said.

“You got it buddy,” Ed replied.

Jonathan clicked the phone shut and walked back over to the
bar. He sat down and nursed his whiskey sour. He looked down into the glass
filled with that brown elixir that he had cherished so much not too long ago.
Just a week prior he was washing his entire life down the bottom of a bottle.
It had become a replacement for the lost love in his life. Alcohol had become
the replacement for many things that he didn’t have anymore. And, as he stared
at the drink in his glass he thought about how
different
his life had become. He thought about how much different everything had become.

“Can I get you another?” asked the bartender as Jonathan
polished off the first drink.

“Yes, please.” He still couldn’t say no to another drink. As
much as he wanted to get right up and leave that bar, he couldn’t.

“Great. Coming right up,” replied the bartender.

“In town on business?” asked the man seated next to him.

“Yeah, something like that,” Jonathan said. He looked at the
man with suspect. The blonde-haired business-suit-clad man looked harmless
enough, but Jonathan knew he had to be wary.

“I’m sorry… I guess I couldn’t help but overhear some of
your conversation. Are you a writer?” asked the man.

“No, I’m an investigator,” Jonathan replied.

“I’m Adam. Adam Herschowitz,” said the man. He reached out
his hand to shake Jonathan’s.

“Nice to meet you. Grace. Jonathan Grace.”
 

“Sounds more like a secret agent’s name,” he said, chuckling
to himself. “I’m assuming you’re from the states?” he asked.

“Yes. New York. What about you?”

“Florida. I’m here on a company outing. Some merger we have
going on. We’re here to do some due diligence,” he said.

“What do you do exactly?” Jonathan asked.

“I’m an attorney. Here, hang on a moment. Let me give you my
card,” Adam said. He pulled out a small gold business card holder, slipped out
a card, and handed it over. Jonathan looked at it, with its silver-embossed
lettering and expensive paper. Jonathan was impressed.

“That’s some business card,” Jonathan said, as he examined
the card in his hand.

“Thanks,” Adam said.

“You must be a pretty good attorney to have such fancy
cards,” Jonathan remarked, taking another swig of the whiskey sour.

“I’m good at what I do… certainly,” he said modestly.

“What are you drinking?” Jonathan asked. “Let me buy you a
drink. You drinking coffee?”

“It’s an Irish Coffee. Sure, I’ll get another one,” he said.

Jonathan got the attention of the bartender who was busy
running from one end of the bar to the other. “It’s busy in here for a Sunday
isn’t it?” Jonathan asked.

“Sure is. Say, thanks for the drink. I really appreciate
that,” he said, as the Irish
Coffee
landed in front of
him. He took a quick slurp and smiled. “Ah… now that’s good. Have to keep up
impressions and all,” he added.

“Impressions?”

“Oh, yeah… you know, just in case the client shows up. Don’t
want them seeing me drinking at this early hour,” he said.

“It’s never too early to drink,” Jonathan said. “At least,
that’s what I used to think.” He polished off the first whiskey sour and
started on his second one.

“Yeah, no problem. So, do you just handle mergers and
acquisitions?”

“You know, I used to be a civil litigator with my own
practice and the whole nine yards, but I’m now partner in this firm and it’s
been about 10 years and running. I can’t say that I have any complaints.”

“That’s pretty impressive. More so that your job brings you
all the way out here,” Jonathan said.

“I think it’s you that’s the one to envy. You look like you
work for yourself with no one to answer to. Now that’s something to admire. What’s
that like?”

“Well, it’s not as glamorous as it may seem to you. The last
couple of years have been rough, but I’m piecing things back together.”

“But you found yourself on assignment in Istanbul of all
places in the world. It can’t be too bad right now for you, can it?” Adams
asked.

Jonathan realized he was right. He realized that things were
going much better in his life than they had for quite some time. In all the
anxiety and fear that the last 24 hours had brought him, that single
conversation got him to realize just how much he did have to be thankful for.
He looked at his drink as he polished it off and realized that he didn’t need
to have a third. He didn’t need to go back down that rabbit hole again. It was
as if a veil was being lifted off his face. All of the bad the past couple of
years had brought him was finally melting away. He looked around his
environment and his surroundings and realized just how much he had to be
thankful for. He knew that he would get through it. He knew that he would see
things through, no matter what it took.

“You know, you’re right,” Jonathan said. “You’re definitely
right. Sometimes it takes another person to point that out to you I suppose.”

“Of course, anytime,” Adam added. “Look, if you ever need
anything, or you’re ever in need of some legal advice, be sure to keep me in
mind. It never hurts to network when you’re away from the office. At least,
that’s my motto.”

“Yes, absolutely. I’ll do that,” Jonathan remarked. “Be sure
to do the same. Keep me in mind if you ever need any investigative work done
back home in the states.”

“Do you have a card with you?” Adam asked.

“Sure, here you go.” Jonathan slid him a card.

“Great.”

They smiled at one another, Adam left, and bid him goodbye.
They promised they would see each other again at some point in the future, but
regardless of whether they did or not, Jonathan was happy. He left the bar and
headed back to the room to check on Jennifer. He was sure that she would have
had been well rested by then.

Geoff Steiner knocked on Kate Jenkins’s
door at the underground NSA facility. The young analyst had uncovered a theory
that he wanted to run by his colleague. Plus, she was easy on the eyes. He
didn’t mind speaking to her at any opportunity he got, and this was the perfect
opportunity.

“Hey,” he said, knocking lightly as he walked in.

“Hey yourself. What’s up?” she asked, coyly.

“I think I’ve got something.”

“What is it?”

“Okay, I was combing through some intelligence, and I
uncovered some chatter,” he remarked.

“What kind of chatter? Sit down… please…” she motioned him
to sit at one of the two black ergonomically designed chairs in front of her
glass and metal-framed desk.

“About the doctor – the researcher – Jennifer
Cobalt.”

“What did you find?” Jenkins was curious what her fellow
analyst had unearthed so quickly.

“Okay, here it is,” he said, as he took a seat in front of
her desk. “I think there’s a hit out on the doctor, and I think she’s working
with someone else. I have sources in the field that have conveyed information
that the doctor has been shot, and that this man is the one who’s after her,”
he said, spinning his tablet screen to show her an image of the man.

“Who is he?” she asked.

“Viktor Petrekov. Russian. Professional hit man. He’s been
on the NSA’s radar forever.”

“Not so professional is he?” she smiled. She was making
light of a subject she knew she shouldn’t be making light of.

“Well, no… but, that’s not the point,” he said.

“
Who
’s the man the doctor’s working
with?”

“Jonathan Grace,” Steiner said, “He seems to know her, and
we think he’s been aiding her escape the hit.”

“We have to have some information on him. Do we have a
photo?”

“Yes. Here,” he said, touching the screen a few times until
Jonathan’s photo appeared on the tablet. “This is
him
.”

“We need to find him,” Jenkins said. “We need to bring him
in. Is he with her? Can we get a cell phone trace?” she asked.

“Working on that now, but there’s a problem. Both the
doctor’s cell phone and Jonathan’s cell phone went dark 24 hours ago. I’m certain
they’re working off of new SIM cards,” he said.

“We need to find those numbers so that we can trace them.
Access all the Turkish telecoms and comb through to see if we can find any
phone numbers that would link either of them to any current contacts that they
may have been in touch with. I want you to cross-reference every single phone
number you can find. Comb through all the records. They’re going to be calling
contacts from a Turkish cell and when they do, I want those numbers traced,”
Jenkins replied.

“Okay, let’s get them in right away. You know that this is
top priority. You heard what the Director said
right?
”

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “Top priority. I’m on it.”

“Good,” Jenkins said.

“Okay see you later.”

*****

Boris Medviek sat with his brother in the hot tub at the bow
of his superyacht. The Eastern European supermodels graced their presence yet
again. The music was pumping in the background, and they were all nodding their
heads. Boris was about to pull off the job of the century. His brother knew it;
he knew it. But nobody else would know a damn thing. Not a single person would
catch wind of what was going on until it was too late. Not a single person had
the power or the resources to stop him.

They both looked out over the bow of the ship, onto the city
of Istanbul. The mosques could be seen dotting the skyline as the boat cruised
through the Bosporus. The rumbling of the engines was effortlessly masked with
the sound of electronic music playing in the background. The ship’s impeccable
sound system had it wired for precision sound, easily dispersing of any ambient
noise. Speakers lined the decks, the cabins, and were located throughout the
entire yacht. They bobbed their heads to the music as they cruised through the
harbor, sipping on champagne. There was always reason to celebrate for Boris.
He was so close to his goal. The mere thrill of the chase really got him going;
the money was only secondary.

“What do you think, brother? Istanbul is beautiful, isn’t
it?” asked Dmitry.

“Yes, beautiful. Very much like these beauties,” Boris said,
nodding to the four beautiful women enjoying the hot tub with them.

“But we still have one loose end.”

“What?”

“Viktor hasn’t finished his job.”

“I see,” said Boris. “And why is that?”

“There have been some complications.”

“Again?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. This time, we’ll make sure it gets done
properly.”

“Look,” Boris said, “I’m tired of these incompetent fools.
If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

Dmitry looked at his brother, and didn’t want to sour the
mood. The girls were looking on, curious as to their conversation. “Drink up
girls, drink up. There’s plenty more where that came from,” Dmitry said, trying
to lighten the air. He raised his glass again and said cheers to the girls.
They giggled and splashed their feet but Boris wasn’t smiling.

“So, what’s the solution?” asked Boris. “This was your idea
in the first place, and you can’t even manage to pull something this simple
off. It’s a woman damn it. How is this so complicated?” The supermodels looked
on with curiosity, but they tried to remain aloof. They knew better than to
meddle in their affairs.

“She has help.”

“From who?”

“An American.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jonathan Grace or something.”

“
Who
’s he working for?” Boris was
infuriated at this point. No amount of booze or distraction would appease him.
He was about to pull off one of the most complicated jobs of his life, and he
knew that all eyes would be on him. His stupid brother couldn’t even manage to wipe
a doctor clean off the map; he was useless.

“I don’t know,” Dmitry said. “I don’t know who he’s working
for.”

“Then what’s he doing here?”

“We’re trying to find that out now.”

“Shit! This is unacceptable!” Boris yelled, spooking the
girls.

“Girls, run along inside. I’ll call you out in a few
minutes,” Dmitry said to them, shooing them away. The girls quickly got out of
the hot tub and walked to the stern of the superyacht and into the interior.

“Do we have to do this ourselves?” Boris asked.

“No, no.
Of course not.
Let’s give
him one more chance.”

“Where is he right now?”

“He’s on his way to the port to meet with us.”

“I don’t want to meet with him. What’s wrong with you?”
Boris yelled at his brother, this time at the top of his lungs. “You’re
incompetent. You’re no better than the Americans.”

“We’ll fix it. I promise brother,” Dmitry barked back.

“You better fix it. Delivery date for the files is coming
up, and we need to have all of the obstacles out of our way. Do you understand
what this means? Is it getting inside that thick head of yours?”

“Yes, of course brother. Of course I do.”

“Okay, then stop talking and start fixing,” Boris yelled.