off-nominal activity indication. He pressed another key. Scrolling text showed what looked like the onset of an induced power outage. It looked like one of the payloads was acting up or acting out.
He was starting to dig deeper into the data dump when he heard it, a faint sound that didn't belong there. He strained to see in the dark and picked up nothing.
Julian rushed to turn off all equipment and lights. Then he sat there, listening.
The sound disappeared before returning again from a different direction. Initially faint, then bouncing off the water and gaining strength, it sounded like a mechanical bee.
“A propeller,” he whispered in the dark. After a few seconds his eyes connected a flickering light with the high pitch whirr, just north of the boat, no more than 20 feet above water.
The sound was clear now, and Julian squinted in vain to use the flickering light to make out the outline of the object.
It stopped moving now. It just hovered there. It floated above the water for what seemed like a long time, as if taking full stock of him.
Then, with an agility that surprised him, both light and sound sped north and disappeared in the night.
Chapter 9
“We're talking about more than Plutonet, then,” Thompson said after listening to Odehl's opening remarks about the Iranian op.
“Plutonet was the chaff,” Beloski said.
“Chaff and entry way,” Odehl added.
As widely reported in news outlets, Plutonet was a computer worm discovered in 2010. Though never officially acknowledged, experts believed it had been created by the United States and Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Plutonet initially spread via Microsoft Windows, with the end goal of targeting Siemens industrial control systems that though embargoed had found their way into Iranian centrifuge installations. Plutonet's discovery signaled the first alleged instance of government sponsored malware that spied on and subverted industrial systems. Though speculation abounded, the full extent of its disruptive capabilities had never been fully divulged or confirmed by either the Iranians or those alleged to have committed the attack.
“There was a follow-up payload,” Ochoa said.
“Yes, the main payload,” Beloski confirmed.
“That was your op,” Ochoa said looking at Beloski.
“It was. Back when we could do ops.”
“Says here Spencer was deployed overseas. How much training did he receive?” Ochoa asked.
Beloski swallowed. He'd been anticipating this line of questioning. “Pretty extensive,” he said. “He didn't seem terribly interested at the time, but I'm sure he picked up a few things.”
“Super,” Thompson said. “We’re looking for a boy genius with enough on-the-field undercover ops training and experience to be dangerous.”
“When Plutonet was detected, how did it affect your op?” Ochoa asked.
“We were ordered to disengage,” Beloski said. “Martin disagreed. He wanted to salvage the op.”
Ochoa looked up from his notes. “I take it Mr. Spencer wasn't happy.”
“He wanted to finish what he started,” Odehl interjected. “We had to physically pull him.”
“A recovery op,” Ochoa said.
Odehl nodded. “Like I said, he wanted to finish what he started.”
“You mean he wanted to clean up the mess he created,” Thompson said.
Odehl shook his head and leaned forward. “The mess that someone else started. Plutonet was not his. He didn't want to use it. He was working on something better, but needed more time. He got overruled by some desk pusher with a tight budget and a make-it-happen yesterday schedule.”
Ochoa turned to Beloski. “Your decision?”
“Aim higher,” Beloski replied. “That call came from on high, with lots of pressure from the Israelis to move out ASAP sprinkled in.”
“I see,” Ochoa said.
“Martin said someone else's crappy hack job had left his code... the payload stranded,” Beloski added.
Thompson sighed. “First they didn't let him go in
He was starting to dig deeper into the data dump when he heard it, a faint sound that didn't belong there. He strained to see in the dark and picked up nothing.
Julian rushed to turn off all equipment and lights. Then he sat there, listening.
The sound disappeared before returning again from a different direction. Initially faint, then bouncing off the water and gaining strength, it sounded like a mechanical bee.
“A propeller,” he whispered in the dark. After a few seconds his eyes connected a flickering light with the high pitch whirr, just north of the boat, no more than 20 feet above water.
The sound was clear now, and Julian squinted in vain to use the flickering light to make out the outline of the object.
It stopped moving now. It just hovered there. It floated above the water for what seemed like a long time, as if taking full stock of him.
Then, with an agility that surprised him, both light and sound sped north and disappeared in the night.
Chapter 9
“We're talking about more than Plutonet, then,” Thompson said after listening to Odehl's opening remarks about the Iranian op.
“Plutonet was the chaff,” Beloski said.
“Chaff and entry way,” Odehl added.
As widely reported in news outlets, Plutonet was a computer worm discovered in 2010. Though never officially acknowledged, experts believed it had been created by the United States and Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Plutonet initially spread via Microsoft Windows, with the end goal of targeting Siemens industrial control systems that though embargoed had found their way into Iranian centrifuge installations. Plutonet's discovery signaled the first alleged instance of government sponsored malware that spied on and subverted industrial systems. Though speculation abounded, the full extent of its disruptive capabilities had never been fully divulged or confirmed by either the Iranians or those alleged to have committed the attack.
“There was a follow-up payload,” Ochoa said.
“Yes, the main payload,” Beloski confirmed.
“That was your op,” Ochoa said looking at Beloski.
“It was. Back when we could do ops.”
“Says here Spencer was deployed overseas. How much training did he receive?” Ochoa asked.
Beloski swallowed. He'd been anticipating this line of questioning. “Pretty extensive,” he said. “He didn't seem terribly interested at the time, but I'm sure he picked up a few things.”
“Super,” Thompson said. “We’re looking for a boy genius with enough on-the-field undercover ops training and experience to be dangerous.”
“When Plutonet was detected, how did it affect your op?” Ochoa asked.
“We were ordered to disengage,” Beloski said. “Martin disagreed. He wanted to salvage the op.”
Ochoa looked up from his notes. “I take it Mr. Spencer wasn't happy.”
“He wanted to finish what he started,” Odehl interjected. “We had to physically pull him.”
“A recovery op,” Ochoa said.
Odehl nodded. “Like I said, he wanted to finish what he started.”
“You mean he wanted to clean up the mess he created,” Thompson said.
Odehl shook his head and leaned forward. “The mess that someone else started. Plutonet was not his. He didn't want to use it. He was working on something better, but needed more time. He got overruled by some desk pusher with a tight budget and a make-it-happen yesterday schedule.”
Ochoa turned to Beloski. “Your decision?”
“Aim higher,” Beloski replied. “That call came from on high, with lots of pressure from the Israelis to move out ASAP sprinkled in.”
“I see,” Ochoa said.
“Martin said someone else's crappy hack job had left his code... the payload stranded,” Beloski added.
Thompson sighed. “First they didn't let him go in
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