Chasm Waxing: A Startup, Cyber-Thriller (56 page)

General Shields felt a tag-team was in
play.

Cain said, “Look, we all
can admit that his popularity and tight relationship with Persia is
somewhat disconcerting. But, between Rahmati and Javan, we’ve got
two leaders in the region that are showing statesman-like interest
in their countries. Failed states are a breeding ground for
extremists. Both of them are pouring money into rebuilding and
modernizing their infrastructures. They’re not stealing the
oil
money; they
’re sharing it with their people.

“
Granted, I don’t like
that Javan is essentially a dictator, but as the people’s level of
income rises, the strongmen will be forced to become more
progressive. The most important thing is that both of them are
extremely pragmatic.

“
They’re not religious
fanatics.
Rahmati is even-handed
in his
policies toward all Iraqis.
Economic growth is going to give their young people opportunities
to become productive citizens. For the first time in over 50 years,
there’s hope for the Middle East. And it doesn’t involve America.
We can pivot our attention to more
strategically important
regions of the
world—like Asia.”

“
Mr. Vice President,” said
the General. “I concur with everything you’ve articulated. I’m not
saying we can’t admire Rahmati. I am saying that the NSA is
collecting no valuable SIGINT on Muhammad Rahmati. We went from
knowing more about the state of affairs in Iraq than Iraqis—to
knowing almost nothing.” Shields looked to the DCIA. He had brought
his own tag-team.

DCIA Tanner added, “Mr.
President, I
want
to highlight General Shields’ main point.
Something is very wrong. The Company has lost almost every asset
inside Persia and Iraq. Some of these assets passed us secrets
about Saddam and the first Ayatollah. They’d been
assets
for 40 years.

“
We have no explanation.
My analysts agree with the NSA. We have
a critical intelligence problem
.
Any assets that we have in the region can’t be trusted. Our HUMINT
in Persia and Iraq is zero.”

“
What options do you
propose?” asked the NSC advisor.

“
First, I’d suggest we
loosen the spigot on cash payouts for
intel
,” responded the DCIA. “We
need new assets in Persia and Iraq, to replace the ones we’ve lost.
Secondly, General Shields and I have planned a multi-pronged
mission to tap the newly laid fiber between Babylon and
Persia.
Hopefully,
that will increase both our HUMINT and
SIGINT.”

Tapping fiber optic
cables
was
not as easy as attaching alligator clips to intercept calls
on old telephone lines; but, the NSA was an expert at collecting
SIGINT from
fiber
. Fiber optic cables worked by
shooting pulses of light coded to represent digital 1’s and 0’s. Up
to 40% of the signal could
be
lost,
without anyone noticing. The NSA
fiber optic taps, deployed by the CIA, would the photons, copy
them, and then forward the information to the NSA.

“
Mr. President,” said
Shields, “I would be remiss if I did not tell you the most
disturbing possibility. Rahmati’s father, Abdullah, built his vast
fortune by working in the Revolutionary Guards and selling
technology in Persia. We’ve uncovered evidence that he was
interested in quantum computers, as far back as the early 80s. It’s
possible that the Rahmatis have built or acquired a quantum
computer.”

Shields then detailed
the
dire
ramifications of that possibility, highlighting the crack of
public-key and AES encryption.

“
If Rahmati has access to
a quantum computer of sufficient muscle, his geopolitical power
would be on-par with the United States. He could use all of our
systems against us. Destroying that computer, before he uses it
against us, would be of utmost priority. It would be just as
important as discovering nuclear capability in Persia. And of
course, he’d selectively share US secrets with the Chinese and
Russians.”

1:25 a.m., Tuesday, May 11, 2021 –
Deserts of Iraq & Persia

DIRNSA’s Residence, 4526
Butler Street

“
All the operatives are
either dead or captured,” said a
heartbroken
DCIA. “It’s our single
greatest loss of life at
CIA
since
Afghanistan…since the seven officers
died in the 2009 suicide bombing. The Iraqi and Persian forces that
attacked were elite, special operations units. They knew when we
were coming, where we were going, and what we were
doing.
They
overwhelmed us.”

“
Roscoe, I’m so
sorry,” said General Shields.
“If it
wasn’t obvious before, it’s obvious now. Rahmati is reading our
mail.”

Three CIA teams had spread
out
at
intervals of roughly 200 miles along the
Babylon-Baghdad-Tehran railway. The evening was completely
moonless. It was a perfect night for an operation. The CIA
operatives’ mission was
to install
taps
clandestinely
on the fiber optic lines.

A small defensive
force supported each CIA contingent. There were three teams for
purposes of
redundancy. One tap was
sufficient to enable the
US
to completely monitor the broadband
communications backbone between Babylon and
Tehran
.

*

On Friday, May 14, Prime Minister
Muhammad Rahmati delivered a nationally televised
speech.

“
My fellow citizens, today
I announce that the state of Iraq has retaken the city of Mosul. We
have also extirpated Daesh from Fallujah. Daesh no longer controls
any
populous city in
Iraq.

“
We’ll continue to pursue
Daesh in their remaining outposts in Iraq. We’ll also increase our
cooperation with Syrian forces to remove Daesh.
In addition
, I can announce
that Iraq is in firm possession
of
all
our nation’s oil fields.

“
Therefore, today, I
pronounce the death of Daesh and its illegitimate, self-proclaimed
Caliphate. It will be left to our Islamic scholars and religious
leaders to determine when an authentic Caliphate arises.

“
Quite
frankly,
the battle with
Daesh took way too long. Over the last decade, there were too many
fits and
starts.
At the end of the day, Iraq accomplished what
only Iraqis could do. We’ve
eliminated
Daesh—ourselves.

“
Nobody is as committed to
their Iraqi homeland, as Iraqi citizens. No doubt, there will be
setbacks here and there, but Daesh will never again rule an Iraqi
town or
city
while I’m Prime Minister. I make that guarantee to
you.

“
When I stepped into this
office, the safety of all Iraqis was my key priority.
This was
followed closely by rebuilding our
war-torn
country. All Iraqis must
have adequate water, food, housing, schools, modern medical
facilities, and of course, dependable electricity. Today, we are
doing all of this—and more.

“
Our wireless networks are
being upgraded to 5G capacity. We’re working to deliver high-speed
fiber access to every village, town, and city in Iraq. My fellow
citizens, make no mistake—Iraq will be an economic powerhouse that
competes in the world market. These are the bright spots that make
us all proud to be Iraqi.

“
However, there are also
some
difficult
things I am compelled to discuss with you—unpleasant things.
While we have many
reliable
allies and faithful friends in the region,
there
are
a few countries that have acted in a manner that runs counter
to our national interests.

“
Over the coming days, I
will release evidence on social media sites housed on our
new .
ISLAM
domain. This information details crimes against the people of Iraq.
The most egregious actions committed against Iraqi citizens
have
been performed by
the
Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia.

“
The documents I’ll
release; prove
—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that Saudi Arabia substantially
funded, trained, and equipped Daesh. They did the same with other
Wahhabi-Jihadists, including Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.
This funding continues to this day.

“
Also
, I have emails and documents from
the highest levels of the Saudi government. They show, in
excruciating detail, unimagined levels of corruption. I predict
that the citizens of Saudi Arabia will not stand for this level of
outright thievery.

“
The Persians did not
stand for it. Neither shall Saudi citizens. Rest assured, Iraq and
our allies will do everything in our power to protect like-minded
Saudis. Islam is a religion of honesty and compassion. We’re to
take care of the
poor
. God did not create Muslims to
steal from the poor to become
rich
.
This is an
anathema to Allah and His
Prophet, Peace Be Upon
Him.

“
Every citizen of the
world can examine this information for themselves. The entire
planet deserves to see this corruption. The Islamic holy sites of
Mecca and Medina belong to honest, hard-working
Muslims—
not corrupt royalty and
their sycophants. The Kaaba, which dates back to the days of Adam
and Eve, is central to Muslims around the world.

“
I regret to inform you
that the United States of America is the
second
nation. While the US has
done good things for Iraq in the past, America has sought to retain
and extend
its
monstrously intrusive surveillance system against Iraq and
Persia.

“
Three days ago,
operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency illegally infiltrated
our sovereign territory. They made an unlawful attempt to tap an
Iraqi-Persian communications line. They
sent heavily
armed CIA agents to
steal our information.

“
A joint special
operations unit, consisting of Iraqis and Persians, coordinated our
defensive response against these hostile invaders. Together,
our
forces
thwarted the CIA’s espionage teams. Every CIA spy was
apprehended or killed.

“
I will post videos of
the
surviving
CIA agent’s interrogations.
Their confessions of illegal activities should enrage all
nations, not just Iraq.
This
unconscionable act is a violation of our national sovereignty. It
will no longer
be
tolerated
.

“
As many of you are aware,
in a speech earlier today, General Javan served noticed that he was
stepping up military patrols in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of
Hormuz. Today, I announce that Iraqi ships will work in conjunction
with the Persians to protect our shipping lanes from American
imperialism.

“
There are many admirable
qualities of the American people. They work hard. They are
entrepreneurial. They love freedom. They don’t want their
government spying on them. Supposedly, the US government must
obtain a warrant
to legally tap
American’s phone calls and Internet traffic
.

“
Why does America
feel—just because we are non-American—they are entitled to
disrespect our borders and listen to every Iraqi phone
call?

“
This is an abomination
to
me personally, and my
government collectively.
We will not
tolerate the United States spying on Iraqis. The days of tapping
our phone calls and monitoring our keystrokes are over. Should the
US continue their cyber-attacks and espionage upon Iraq, Iraq will
be forced to retaliate with methods of our choice, at a time of our
choosing.

“
Finally, I would like to
thank some nations that have significantly helped to rebuild and
retool Iraq. All Iraqis owe a substantial debt of gratitude to the
great nations of China, Russia, and Persia. These
countries
have
sacrificed talent, blood, and treasure to assist the crescent moon
to rise again across this great nation.”

*

The Goodson administration now shifted
to full crises mode. The price of oil doubled after Rahmati and
Javan’s speeches. The Iraqi Prime Minister and Iranian General
hadn’t returned a single call from President Goodson in over three
days. Goodson placed these calls to negotiate the release of the
imprisoned CIA operatives.

General Shields attended an all-hands
meeting called by the President at 2:00 p.m., in the basement of
the West Wing of the White House—the Situation Room.