Nano Surveillance (Dave Henson Series Book 1) (4 page)

Chapter 10 (March 1, 8:00am Mountain Standard Time)

              Early Saturday morning Ron walked into the 2nd floor lab of NSurv and greeted Dan and Dr. Gillian. Dr. Gillian was in charge of NSurv’s Material Science Research Department. It was Dr. Gillian’s team that developed the exotic nanotechnology materials that were at the heart of NSurv’s science and products. At the molecular level of one billionth of a meter in diameter, his team developed bio nano structures that Dr. Gillian affectionately referred to as nanops. The nanops were chemically engineered with unique properties that enabled them to be measured, controlled and shaped into various materials for a wide range of applications. For example, the nano-fly’s onboard optical camera sensor was fabricated out of nanocrystal film that Dr. Gillian’s team had developed. The nanops were also capable of being integrated into many other types of materials including fabrics, food, fluids, medical products, and even dust particles. These nanop products could then be delivered into host targets and controlled to do a wide variety of tasks. The tasks that they could perform ranged from monitoring and tracking for surveillance applications, to locating and destroying cancer cells in human tissue. 

              However, it was a new surveillance application that Ron was most interested in seeing today. Dr. Gillian’s team had spent the last eighteen months perfecting a new dust material laced with nanops that once ingested could allow a person to be tracked and monitored from anywhere in the world. The nano-dust could be controlled to identify the person’s DNA, which could then be matched up with a national database to identify the person. With the person identified, he or she could be tracked at all times, with NSurv knowing where the person was, and what they ate, saw, or heard. The nano-dust material could even detect if the person was running a fever or had a cold. It was the ultimate in surveillance technology. At any time NSurv wanted to expunge the nano-dust from the host person, it could send a self-destruct sequence of commands to it that would cause the nano-dust to decompose and be evacuated from the target human’s body via its normal digestive process.

              “So how are you doing this morning Dr. Gillian,” said Ron. “Is your nano-dust ready for deployment?”

              Dr. Gillian was seated on a lab stool, bent over rubbing his dog’s ears. “Yes, we are all set for next week and Rufus here is going to demonstrate it for you,” as he looked down affectionately at his dog, a yellow Labrador Retriever.

              “I just need to prepare Rufus’s special morning breakfast, and if I know Rufus, we should be ready in about two minutes after I feed it to him,” said Dr. Gillian.

              Dr. Gillian went over to one of the lab refrigerators and pulled out Rufus’s favorite can of dog food. He scooped out several large tablespoons of dog food and broke it up in the dog bowl. He then pulled out of a glass cabinet a small vial of the nano-dust material and sprinkled it on the dog food as if he was salting a steak. Again, he mixed up the dog food with the nano-dust and placed the bowl on the floor in front of Rufus. As anticipated, Rufus attacked the food as if it was his last meal. Within just a couple of minutes Rufus was licking the sides of the bowl to ensure he got every last morsel of it.

              As Rufus ate, Dr. Gillian guided Ron over to a computer screen. “As you can see Ron we have several windows displayed on the screen for managing, monitoring and controlling the nano-dust that Rufus here has so voraciously just consumed.”

              Rufus walked over to Dr. Gillian and Ron, and sat right next to them looking very contented after just finishing his morning breakfast.

              “If you look here at the top left of the computer screen you’ll see a signature code,” said Dr. Gillian. “This signature code identifies the DNA associated with Rufus. Now that we have identified Rufus by his DNA, I will configure some of the nano-dust he has ingested into two cameras, one for each of his eyes. Effectively I am controlling some of the nano-dust to work its way behind the optical nerves of Rufus’s eyes and have it function as cameras. Normally the optic nerve transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. The nano-dust will “snoop” this optical transmission and transmit it back to this computer, where it will be displayed on the screen. The end result, we’ll be able to watch what Rufus is seeing.”

              Dr. Gillian moved the computer mouse and clicked on a couple of soft graphical user interface buttons on the screen. Instantly an image appeared on one of the computer’s window panes showing the legs and backs of Dr. Gillian and Ron. It was the view from Rufus’s eyes as he stood behind them and looked up at their rear torsos.

              “Fantastic,” whispered Ron. “It’s incredible how clear the image is.”

              Dr. Gillian picked up a tennis ball on the lab bench and showed it to Rufus before tossing it down the lab floor. Immediately Rufus chased after it, and as he did Dr. Gillian and Ron stared at the computer screen as Rufus ran. Watching the computer screen image was akin to sitting on a running horse as Rufus ran after the ball.

              “We can also configure the nano-dust to function as microphone pickups, if you will, to listen in on what Rufus is hearing,” said Dr. Gillian. “Moreover, we can adjust the video clarity and the audio volume by directing more nano-dust to the particular nano-dust sensor. In addition, we can have the nano-dust report chemical signatures in the host’s blood stream. As a result, we can know what the host has consumed, and even where they’ve been.”

              “Can the nano-dust be detected in the bloodstream?” asked Ron.

              “No,” responded Dr. Gillian. “There are currently no medical methods today capable of detecting the nano-dust material. And even if one is eventually developed, it doesn’t really matter.” We have complete control of having the nano-dust self-destruct in the host. Within twenty-four hours the nano-dust is completely flushed from the host’s body. ”

              “Would a person notice any side effects of carrying the nano-dust in the body?” asked Dan. “For example would they feel some pressure on their eye or would their vision be blurred in anyway.”

              “No, they wouldn’t feel any significant pressure on the optic nerve, nor would their vision be blurred. Although, it might be possible that they feel some eye fatigue by late in the day, as the video sensor is in effect a form of a parasite on the eye. However the fatigue would be very minimal and would have no long term negative impact on the eye.”

              “How is information transmitted and received to and from the nano-dust sensors to NSurv?” asked Ron.

              “Very simply,” responded Dr. Gillian. Communication with the nano-dust sensors occurs via any Wi-Fi connection within a two hundred meter radius of the sensors, regardless of whether or not the Wi-Fi unit has security enabled, or is a mobile unit. As long as there is a Wi-Fi device within this range we can transmit instructions and receive uploads to and from the nano-dust particles.”

              “Dr. Gillian, you and your team have outdone yourselves yet again,” said Ron as he slapped Dr. Gillian on the back. “This technology will allow us to conduct the surveillance we need to fully unravel the sorted connections and inter-workings between the administration and its allies.”

              “Thank you Ron. My team has worked very hard on bringing this technology to fruition.”

              “One final question though Dr. Gillian. I see you had Rufus ingest the nano-dust by eating it. Next weekend’s private meeting with the Secretary of Commerce and business leaders in San Francisco will involve several dozen people. How do you plan on having us deploy the nano-dust at this event?”

              “The nano-dust can also be ingested into a human body via inhalation,” responded Dr. Gillian. “Consequently, we will provide you and your team with several aerosol containers filled with nano-dust. You’ll just need to inject the contents of the aerosol containers into the hotel conference room’s air conditioning system.”

              “Initially you’ll be able to observe anyone, or anything, that has inhaled the nano-dust. For those that inhaled the nano-dust that do not have a DNA signature that you’re interested in, you’ll deactivate their nano-dust immediately. Thus, only the targets you want to keep tabs on will have their nano-dust activated, controlled and monitored.”

Chapter 11 (March 1, 7:00pm Eastern Standard Time)

              Following his meeting with Joe Stevens in the morning, Dave had flown the Citation M2 from Boston down to New York City and had checked into the Waldorf Astoria hotel. He was having dinner this evening with Dana Cogswell, a reporter with the American Broadcasting Organization (ABO). They had gone to Stanford together, where Dana had majored in Journalism. Dana had worked at a couple of ABO local television news affiliates, including one out in the San Jose area, before working her way up as an investigative reporter at ABO headquarters in New York City. They had dated both at Stanford and when she was working in the San Jose ABO affiliate, however their careers had kept them from making a long term commitment with one another. Both, however, still very much cared for one another as they were cut from the same cloth. They each had what seemed to be unlimited drive and ambition, yet both were humble and altruistic when it came to dealing with other people and their endeavors. Both had a philosophy of self-reliance gained from their modest childhood upbringings and their resultant hard work ethics.

              Consequently, unlike the typical journalist of today, Dana Cogswell was no politically correct lemming. When she reported news, she made every attempt to show the entire story and let the viewers come to their own conclusion, rather than draw one for them. Unfortunately however, in recent years she had found herself frequently at odds with her boss and senior management at ABO. ABO increasingly toed the line to the current left leaning President and his administration, and often prevented her from running her reports without first major edits to them.

              She knew in part the main reason behind ABO management’s actions. Since the purchase of a 51% stake in ABO stock by Greek billionaire Dimitris Barbas five years ago, ABO’s programming, and particularly its news content, had swung dramatically to the political left. For anyone who was even moderately objective it was not too hard to understand. Mr. Barbas was a self-professed progressive-liberal proponent that was intent on reshaping the thinking of the American public, a population that he had deep resentment for. In Barbas’s view, as well as with several other wealthy international billionaires, the United States needed to be reined in so that other countries could have an opportunity to raise themselves up in economic power and influence, equal to that of the U.S. Anyone at ABO that did not get on board with Mr. Barbas’s philosophy was quickly shown the front door, including several long time ABO executives shortly after his effective takeover of the company.

              Dave walked into the restaurant lobby at the hotel at 7pm sharp.  As usual Dana was always punctual and was already waiting for him when he arrived. She greeted him with her gorgeous smile and beautiful green eyes. Dana was stunning to say the least with a slim athletic figure and long wavy brunette hair. Though she was now in her early 40’s she still commanded the presence of any man when she walked into a room. Though she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, she knew it was her looks that partially allowed her to still have her way with ABO’s editors on political stories that were not necessarily in full alignment with Mr. Barbas. She got ABO viewer ratings, and like many very wealthy businessman, Mr. Barbas liked seeing his financial accounts grow more than anything else, including accomplishing his own personal political agenda.

              “You look as beautiful as ever,” Dave said, as he greeted Dana with a warm embrace and a kiss on the cheek.

              “You’re looking well too,” responded Dana, as she wistfully thought of their romantic times together years ago.

              “I’m glad you could meet with me on such short notice. We’ve been extremely busy at NSurv and uncovered some information in recent days that I wanted to talk to you about.”

              The restaurant hostess came up to Dave and Dana and welcomed them to the restaurant. After showing them to the coat room she escorted the two to their table. Dave had specifically asked, when making the reservation, for a table in the back of the restaurant where it would be somewhat isolated from the other dining tables. He had wanted a little more privacy to enable him to discretely discuss with Dana the story of the Vice President down in Buenos Aires the previous week.

              After selecting a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from the wine list and ordering an appetizer plate of bruschetta, Dave explained to Dana what his team down in Buenos Aires had uncovered at the International Summit on Global Climate Change. Though Dana had already been aware of NSurv’s nanotechnology and clandestine objectives, she was shocked to hear about the incident with the Vice President and the young girl.

              “Have they identified the young girl’s body and returned it to her family?” asked Dana.

              “Unfortunately not,” responded Dave. “Apparently she had no identification on her when they found her body, and from what we’ve been able to learn since my team’s return, is that the local Buenos Aires police have been quietly asked by our administration to close the case. So far it appears the Buenos Aires police are honoring the administration’s request.”

              “It’s a pathetic shame and a despicable act,” said Dana.

              “It’s just another example of the administration’s brazenness to do what it wants and when it wants to anyone who it sees fit,” replied Dave. “It is one more instance of their arrogance and disrespect for the individual and innocent. They truly only care and work for their own self-interests. They need to be stopped and I am hoping you can help Dana.”

              “What would you like me to do?” asked Dana.

              “I’d like to provide you with an edited copy of the video feed of the Vice President’s act and run with it,” responded Dave. “I want the citizens of this country and the world to see what our Vice President is all about.”

              Dana stared back at Dave in deep thought debating in her mind if the ABO executives would allow this information to be released to the public. “I can talk to Jeff Kolosky,” replied Dana in a whisper. “He’s the Vice President of the ABO news division. I doubt he will run it, but I’ll give it a shot. I know he’s not always lock-step with ABO’s CEO and Board of Director’s political leanings on news programming, however, he values his position so I am not too optimistic. When can you send me the video?”

              “I’ll have it shipped to you overnight. You should have the tape first thing Monday morning.”

              “Okay, I’ll try to meet with Jeff Monday afternoon and discuss it with him.”

              For the rest of the evening Dave and Dana enjoyed each other’s company over excellent wine and food, and reminisced about their old times together back at Stanford. Both tried to forget about the damning Vice President video for the rest of the night, as they each knew if it were to go public that their personal lives would change dramatically. It would surely stir up a political bee hive in Washington D.C., and most likely put their careers and lives at risk. Each left the restaurant that night with mixed emotions. Morally, Dana knew she had to make every attempt to expose the Vice President for what he was, an egomaniac monster and murderer. However, she knew in the process she’d put her career in jeopardy. Dave, on the other hand, feared the risk he was putting Dana in, and in some ways regretted having to do so. He knew that the administration would stop at nothing to protect its power base, and eliminating another political gadfly was just another day in the life of this corrupt group. But he also knew that Dana felt just as compelled as he was to expose this administration for what it was, and more importantly return the country back to its golden years.