Chasm Waxing: A Startup, Cyber-Thriller (45 page)

“
We’re going to do great
things together. I’m so glad you accepted my offer. You’re the
right man for the job.”

Hadi Hadari, former
Immortal Deputy Commander, had just been named the
head
of
Rahmati’s newly re-formed Iraqi Intelligence Service—IIS. Rahmati
wanted to shape the IIS as an organization that mimicked the Quds
Force. Rahmati was going to persuade Javan to allow more former
Immortals to enter Iraq.

“
Mr. Prime Minister, it’s
a pleasure to serve you. I’d follow you anywhere…and I have,”
laughed Hadi.

The Prime Minister walked
to the map of the world in his temporary office. He placed his
index finger on Babylon, and then
swept
his open palm to the left, all
the way to the
Mediterranean
Ocean.
“
Can you see it?
Can you see a new Islamic empire growing and spreading—with its
heart in Babylon?”

Hadi nodded his head. “I can. Allah
created you for this job, Muhammad.”

Hundreds of applications
for amnesty from Baathists
were
stacked
in a tall pile on his desk.
Rahmati felt that getting the Baathists, even Baathists that were
key members of the Caliphate, was necessary to stabilize the Iraqi
government. At the same
time,
this would destabilize
Daesh.

The Baathist’s were
exceptionally
important
to ruling Iraq. They were the only individuals
that had governed Iraq since the
mid-1960
’s. Rahmati felt that
de-Baathification was the single dumbest thing the Americans ever
did in the Iraq War. It was as if a foreign country invaded America
and outlawed Republicans, Democrats, and the US Army—while still
expecting the
country
to function smoothly.

“
Hadi, I’m going to count
on you to rein in the Baathists. It’s
a complicated
issue. Baathists
under Hussein
certai
nly weren’t choirboys. They
excluded and
pe
rsecuted Shiites. There was massive corruption. But, the Bush
Administration’s disbandment of the Baathists was idiotic. What a
cowboy. Once
kicked
out of the government, the Baathists had nowhere
else to turn but to Sunni insurgents.

“
They’ve supported Al
Qaeda, ISIS, and now…the Caliphate. You really can’t blame them. If
they couldn’t get their government jobs back, they’d
just
create a
Sunni portion of Iraq. At least they’d have something to
rule.”

Rahmati knew that Baathists,
especially the Baathist military leaders, were responsible for much
of the Caliphate’s success. If he could drive a wedge between
Baathists and the Caliphate, Rahmati reasoned he could get rid of
the Caliphate in Iraq for good. Suleiman was the ace up his sleeve.
He could use the quantum computer to monitor the Baathists, once
they were in the government. And he could also unleash Hadi’s IIS
on them.

“
Hadi, have your team
review all of these applications for amnesty. I need you
to watch these guys
carefully
. Take anyone that gets out of
line to Abu Ghirab.”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
One thing I can tell you,
we can’t let our internment of Wahhabis create Jihadi University’s,
like the stupid Americans. Baghdadi, the first Caliph of
ISIS,
was created at
Camp Bucca. During his
imprisonment
from 2005 to 2009, he
built his network and radicalized many future Daesh.”

Hadi concurred. “I won’t let that
happen.”

Once Rahmati destabilized
the
Caliphate,
he could work jointly with the Persians and Syrians to
completely annihilate the Caliphate. At the very least, his goal
was to drive the Caliphate from the Middle
East
to Africa. Iraq, Syria, and
Persia would be stable. Rahmati would have a firm platform upon
which to expand his Islamic empire.

10:00 a.m. (EST), Tuesday, December
29, 2020 – Greenwich, CT

A-Car Showroom

“
Have you downloaded the
A-Car App to your phone?” asked the A-Car
salesman
.

“
Yes,” replied
Josh.

“
Go ahead. Open the App
and summon your A-Car. You can do the same with this keyless fob.”
The sales rep handed Becca the fob. It resembled a miniature
version of the A-Car. Two minutes later, Josh’s A-9000
pulled
up
and stopped within three feet of the couple.

The first thing that Becca
noticed was the empty driver’s seat and the presence of a steering
wheel. Spotting a car driving on the road without a driver still
turned Becca’s head. Seeing the A-9000’s steering wheel made her
realize that her attempt
to
dissuade
Josh had failed. Even though
insurance for a 100% autonomous car—a vehicle without a steering
wheel—was cheaper; Josh ordered the optional steering
wheel.

The A-9000 model was
a
four-door,
crossover SUV. The SUV comfortably
seated
five
passengers
. It sported an
exceptionally large trunk. The pearl-white car’s sleek,
modern
lines
shimmered in the sun.

“
This car reminds me of a
moon buggy I built with Legos as a kid,” said Josh.

“
Hello,
Josh. Hello
Becca,
” said the A-Car’s IVR System.
The IVR’s voice came from a small,
roof-mounted
speaker
. Multiple embedded
sensors—
camera
, laser, radar, and sonar—allowed the A-Car to see 360
degrees,
to a distance of
1000 feet.

Not moved by Becca’s desire for
frugality, Josh ordered every bell and whistle available for the
A-9000. Becca only pushed for one option, the hybrid gas-electric
powertrain. The A-Car’s range was 475 miles on a single electric
charge. Becca wanted the additional security of a gas engine to
give her disinformation campaign more options.

Becca reminded Josh that
the purpose of the A-Car was to add realism to their cover story.
The autonomous automobile played a
vital
role in conveying continuity to
their pattern of life
operations,
after they fled the
country. Once back home, they weren’t going
to drive the A-Car themselves
. The A-Car was to
be
assigned
to the A-Grid.

The A-rep continued, “You
can interact with the car in three ways. Voice—the car’s IVR system
works both inside and outside.
It
recognizes the
voices you add to its
access list. Also, you can use the fob Becca is holding. Or, you
can use the Internet—your phone, tablet, laptop, or
A-Watch.”

Affixed to the A-Car’s
driver and passenger side doors were configurable, non-glare
signs.
Currently,
they read, ‘Josh and Becca just bought me!’ While
Nucleus Corporation could deliver A-Cars to their customers, Becca
and Josh wanted the full purchase experience from the
showroom
. A-Cars
were the hottest selling vehicle in America. Their sales floors
were drawing substantial crowds. Today’s line to get a glance at
the A-Car snaked around the building.

“
That’s so cool,” said
Becca. “Show me the drone.”

“
On the fob, tap the back
hatch three times, and then swipe,” said the A-rep. A hatch opened
on the back of the A-Car’s roof, revealing a
small
drone. Immediately,
the drone took off.

“
You can deploy the drone
at speeds of less than 5 miles per hour. It’s perfect for when you
want to investigate why traffic
is
stopped
. Or, maybe you
wish
to check the area
around your A-Car in a dark parking lot. You can watch the video
feed
on
your phone or the car’s interior touchscreens. Once you start
moving faster than 9 miles per hour, the drone automatically
returns.”

A-Cars were the only fully autonomous
vehicle certified by 49 of the 50 states. New York was the last
holdout, due to aggressive lobbying by the taxicab and limousine
industry. Robot cars sent shivers down the spines of a diverse
array of interests.

“
Let’s look inside,” said
Josh, depressing all the doors on his A-Car App.

Driver and passenger
scissor doors
somersaulted
forward. They revealed black, leather bucket
seats for the passenger and driver. The front seats could swivel
180 degrees. The gull-wing doors
in
the rear also spread wide
open.

Josh and Becca got into
the A-Car. “This is like a tablet with wheels,” exclaimed Becca.
The A-Car utilized the Nucleus operating system, A-OS, as its
computing platform. A-OS Apps ran on video panels in the A-Car’s
doors and dashboard. Currently, the
panels
displayed the live drone
feed.

Eye movements, hand
gestures, voice, and touch were all ways to control apps—depending
upon the apps design. The A-Car’s windshield and side windows could
display information as well,
similar to
a fighter jet’s
heads-up-display.

“
There’s a way to make
sure the voice recognition system is disabled, right?” asked Becca,
thinking about the upcoming mission’s operational
security.

The rep nodded his head.

“
Let’s
show
it to your dad.” Becca
thanked the rep and typed in Mr. Adler’s address into A-Map App,
via the A-Car’s touchscreen. She turned the music all the way up.
The couple rotated their seats. With their backs towards on-coming
traffic, the A-Car took off.

There were
many
motivations
for the purchase. First, the A-Car was a
critical component
of their cover
story. Also, Nucleus Corporation was touting A-Car financing
to increase Blockchain trust ratings
rapidly
. The trust ratings worked similar
to a credit score. Nucleus thought the Blockchain offered them a
unique opportunity to move into the financial services
industry.

Josh’s loan agreement and
payments were encapsulated in
a
smart
contract, enforced
by
software. The
software automatically interacted with the Blockchain and the
A-Car. If Josh missed a payment, Blockchain trust points would be
deducted. If Josh failed to pay after the grace period, the
smart
contract
would remotely disable the A-Car. If Josh defaulted on payment,
Nucleus could
simply
repossess the car, autonomously driving it to the
nearest A-Car
showroom
or A-Station.

There was one
last
motivation.
Once all the subterfuge ended, Josh wanted to add the A-Car as a
node on A-Grid. A-Grid was Nucleus Corporation’s ride-hailing
network. For any fare within the network, Nucleus received 25% of
the revenue—75% went to Josh. If the ride-share passengers opted-in
to receive to in-car advertisements, Nucleus and Josh split the ad
revenue in half.

Given Nucleus’ domination
of the on-line advertising business, they were strategically
positioned for ads in the new auto platform. In fact,
auto
was a word
with as much buzz as
mobile
, nearly
10
years earlier.

Nucleus
worked extremely hard to link their
auto
platform
with finely detailed A-Maps. Upon entering the route, advertisers
paid premiums for ride-sharers that fit their demographic
profile
and were
within a targeted
geolocation
. Advertisers often
subsidized the entire ride for opt-ins.

A-Car fully indemnified
the A-Car owner for accidents in which their software defined car
was at fault. So far, this occurred
in
only a handful of occasions.
Autonomous cars were safer than human drivers. Self-driving
vehicles were transforming many industries, from public
transportation
to
shipping
.

From its roots in the Atom
search engine, Nucleus Corporation was a
stunning success
. Its
vast
product
line included; A-Mail, A-Tube, A-Maps, A-HoloGlasses, A-Glasses,
A-Tunes, A-Car, A-Scope, A-Grid, and A-Watch. All of them ran A-OS,
a Linux-based operating system. The company was
indeed
living up to its
tagline. Nucleus was the ‘the center of your life.’