The Sixth Day (A Brit in the FBI #5)(52)
Mike asked, “What’s Duqu? What’s Kaspersky?”
Adam said, “Sorry, Duqu is the code name in the hacker community for a quiet and powerful threat hack that attacked the NSA, as well as some other organizations last year. Major cyberwarfare. Who needs nukes when you can simply open the door and steal all the secrets without anyone realizing it until years later?”
“And we’re on the front lines of our own Duqu?”
“We are. Kaspersky is a Radulov competitor. They had something similar happen last year. And this looks like another big one. Hey, what happened to the defense secretary? Was it another drone attack? More frog poison? I thought I heard there might have been another attack, but I’ve been focused on all of this. Everything okay? Look at this code, Nicholas.”
Mike touched Adam on the arm. “Adam, you didn’t take a single breath, didn’t have a single comma. How much caffeine have you had today?”
“I don’t know, about a case of Red Bull and a few pots of coffee.”
“Well, take a breath.”
He pulled in a deep breath, shut his eyes, and blew it out, putting his hands together in prayer. “Ohmmmmmm. Happy, Mom?”
She rubbed her knuckles against his head. “You amaze me.”
Adam gave her a huge smile. “I’m okay, I promise. I always tank up when I have a big project. Seriously, was there another attack on you guys?”
His eyes were red and glassy from lack of sleep and too much caffeine, but he looked as excited as she’d ever seen him. The crash would come, she knew. She’d seen Nicholas jazzed up the same way, seen him crash.
Nicholas raised his head from an examination of the code Adam had handed him. “Yes, but they missed, and then a falcon came out of nowhere and flew off with the drone.”
“Wicked.”
Nicholas laughed. “That’s what I thought, too. Adam, you go back to the secure comms issue with Gray, then work on the breach. We have a meeting with Roman Ardelean soon. I’m going to brief my father on what we saw at Alexander’s crime scene. Work fast, okay? If you find something, come get me right away.”
“You got it. Tell your dad someone’s been taking a look through the files here, okay? It’s a big hole.”
“I will. Thanks, Adam.”
They watched him go, then Nicholas knocked on his father’s inner office door. “I want my father to know where we stand on everything before Ardelean arrives.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Nicholas was briefing his father, Mike listening with half an ear, when a cryptic text came to her phone from DI Griffith.
Confirmation on what you found, coated with E. HDs on their way.
The drone needle was coated with epibatidine. The victim’s computer hard drives were coming.
Three in three days confirmed. And Nicholas could have easily been the fourth. Whoever they were dealing with wasn’t messing around. So who was next? Or would they try for Nicholas again?
Surely, the White House would cancel the president’s trip once they relayed this information to Savich and Zachery.
She was about to tell Nicholas when Ian appeared in the door.
“Sir? Mr. Ardelean is here to see you.”
Harry stood, nodded to both Nicholas and Mike. “We will finish this when you’re through meeting with Ardelean. Ian, please show Mr. Ardelean in.”
Nicholas looked down and read the text on her mobile from Griffith.
“Want me to go call her?”
“No, wait, Mike. This is more important. Stay for this meeting.”
He watched Roman Ardelean come into the room. His first impression was this man is smart and clever. He looked shrewd, as arrogant as an ancient warrior prince who gave no quarter, who reveled in his own strength, his own power. He was as tall as Nicholas, with dark, wavy hair and a hawk nose. He looked like the Romanian hacker he was, from his Chuck Taylors to his dark, heavy eyebrows. Nicholas hadn’t even seen the man in anything but a black turtleneck and dark jeans—à la Steve Jobs, a personal hero. Did Ardelean believe imitation was the sincerest form of flattery?
Ardelean was smiling, his hand outstretched, all bonhomie. “Mr. Drummond, what a pleasure.” He shook hands with Harry, then turned to Nicholas and Mike. “Roman Ardelean.”
“Nicholas Drummond, and this is my partner, Agent Michaela Caine. It’s good to meet you. I’m a fan.”
A dark brow went up. “You’re a fan of mine? You’re the ones getting all the headlines these days. Saving the American president and vice president, and I heard about that nifty piece of code you pushed into the Air Force One mainframe, Drummond. Rather amazing stuff. Not to mention the work you did helping the Israelis with Stuxnet. Rumor has it the code was of your own design.”
Nicholas stiffened. How in the world did Ardelean know that? Or was he fishing?
But Ardelean waved a hand. “I know what you’re thinking, but never fear, your secrets are safe with me. You know what I do. A number of people were quietly contracted on that job. I couldn’t help but notice your signatures in the code. A beautiful piece of work, that. And if you ever need a job—”
Harry laughed, but Nicholas and Mike merely smiled politely. Then Harry said, “Mr. Ardelean, may I get you anything or shall we begin?”
“No, no. I’m fine. Let’s begin. I’m sorry to be meeting under these circumstances. I know you have a lot to do today, after the horrific news about Alexander. I rather liked the old codger. I can’t imagine why anyone would want him dead.”