

Chasm Waxing –

A Startup, Cyber-Thriller

by B. Michaels
A member organization of the US Intelligence Community's Publication Review Board reviewed the manuscript for this book to assist the author in eliminating classified information. It poses no security objection to its publication. However, this review should not be construed as an official release of information, confirmation of its accuracy, or an endorsement of the author's views.

The author has chosen to indicate parts of the book censored by the Review Board by blacking out paragraphs, sentences, and in some cases individual words. The redactions do not materially alter the overall narrative.

Copyright © 2016-7 B. Michaels

The right of B. Michaels to be identified as the author of the Work has asserted him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patent Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

Contents

Chasm Waxing Part I – Becca, Josh, & the Accelerator

Chapter 1 – Castle Gecko

Chapter 2 – Becca Roberts

Chapter 3 – General Shields

Chapter 4 – The Gecko Explanation

Chapter 5 – The Accelerator

Chapter 6 – Josh Adler

Chapter 7 – No Demo

Chapter 8 – No Pain

Chapter 9 – Samantha Powers

Chapter 10 – The Board Meeting

Chapter 11 – Becca Meets Josh

Chapter 12 – Becca's Story

Chapter 13 – TextWorld

Chapter 14 – Sunday Meetings

Chapter 15 – Abu Omar

Chapter 16 – Swarmbot Demo 1

Chapter 17 – Swarmbot Demo 2

Chapter 18 – Separation

Chapter 19 – Replaced

Chasm Waxing Part II – Muhammad Rahmati

Chapter 20 – The Commander

Chapter 21 – The Demise of Abu Omar

Chapter 22 – Abu Mosulaydi

Chapter 23 – The Marker

Chapter 24 – Disinformation

Chapter 25 – Tal Azan

Chapter 26 – AVICENNA

Chapter 27 – Crescent Revolution

Chapter 28 – The Ayatollah

Chapter 29 – The Prime Minister

Chapter 30 – Persia

Chasm Waxing Part III – The First Confrontation

Chapter 31 – The A-Car

Chapter 32 – International Travelers

Chapter 33 – The Dig

Chapter 34 – A Copper Scroll

Chapter 35 – The Golden Cave

Chapter 36 – Immunity

Chapter 37 – eM

Chapter 38 – Quantum Probabilities

Chapter 39 – Discovered

Chapter 40 – Blackout

Chapter 41 – The Offer

Chapter 42 – Awaking the Sleeping Bear

Chapter 43 – Reconciliation

Chapter 44 – The Last Visit

Chapter 45 – Trumpet Blasts

About the Author

# Chasm Waxing: Part I – Becca, Josh, & the Accelerator

## Chapter 1 – Castle Gecko

4:50 p.m. (EDT), Friday, July 24, 2020 \- Columbia, MD

666 fiery missiles rained down upon Castle Gecko. The thud of the assault was deafening, as medieval bombs slammed into the walls of the massive castle. The projectiles were stone boulders coated with pitch, tar, and sulfur.  Trebuchets—catapults on steroids—launched the blitz. The trebuchets completely encircled Cattle Gecko's vast moat.

The stone castle was more like a gothic mall. Its gatehouses, buildings, towers, turrets, and spires spanned three million square feet—a little under 70 acres. Two fortified towers, known as keeps, stood as the highest points on the north and south ends of the castle. No earthly fortress was ever this enormous.

Fire giants, standing 18 feet tall, prepared the boulders and placed them in the trebuchet's sling. Zombies, with flesh draping from their limbs, then ignited the bombs and discharged the trigger. Upon release, a 10-ton counterweight fell and hurled the flaming payload at Castle Gecko. All of this occurred in a robotic manner, over and over. The scene was apocalyptic.

For the last five hours, Team Bravo had explored the deep underground passageways and hidden chambers of Castle Gecko. They gathered treasure and weapons along the way. As long as the interior of the castle—the servants, attendants, and townspeople—could do their jobs, Team Bravo could hunt for riches.

Today marked the culmination of a five-day campaign for Team Bravo. Until now, the Gamers had never experienced a coordinated, colossal attack of this nature. Sure, they slew the occasional dragon, but the feudal heroes never encountered danger of this size or scope.

rAzorWire_007 was an eighth level, human Paladin. He possessed Team Bravo's highest Social Ranking—93. Paladins were a very religious class of Fighters, with a strict moral code. "We've got to defend the castle by counter-attacking from the north and south keeps. SoCal, we need your Teleportation Spell!"

SoCalSheMerlin was a diminutive, nineteenth-level, elf Sorcerer. She had a Social Ranking of 79—and a sharp tongue. "RazorWire, not even Spock could teleport to more than one place at a time."

"Alright, teleport all of us to the north keep.  Then teleport yourself and the Cleric to the south keep." The dwarf Cleric's Gamer tag was, 'OrderMeMyself&I.'

"Nice problem-solving skills RazorWire," said SoCalSheMerlin, "You're going to go so far in life." Over the deafening crash of the stone rockets, she immediately began the incantation for the Teleportation Spell.

"Hurry!"

Whoosh.

Team Bravo stood atop the north keep of Castle Gecko. A new volley of missiles struck. The drubbing of the castle caused the vibration motors in SoCalSheMerlin's virtual reality—VR—headset to violently shake. Workers in the courtyard screamed as they scurried to and fro. For the first time in the campaign, the workers were unable to work.

Instinctively, Krusk.0571 grabbed a silver-tipped arrow from the quill on his back. Krusk was a sixth level, half-orc Fighter. "It's times like these; I wish I were a full-size orc."

SoCalSheMerlin laughed. "Yeah, but without that human mother of yours, you'd be even dumber."

"Funny," said Krusk.0571, not really meaning it. He inserted the arrow on the bowstring of his diamond long bow. Utilizing two wireless touch controllers that communicated with his VR headset; he aimed the bow. The silver tipped arrow flew and struck a zombie. The zombie shrieked and melted away. But another one ran to take his place.

OrderMeMyself&I surveyed the land. Clerics derived their power from the religious order they served. Like Sorcerers, they cast spells. But unlike Sorcerers, their spells were more defensive in nature than offensive.

OrderMeMyself&I gasped at the sight. The marauders' aim was improving. Now, they specifically targeted Gecko's windows. "It's no use. We can't split up. We need some attack magic! SoCal what do you have?"

"Do I look like the savior of the world?" said SoCalSheMerlin, with a sigh. She raised her wand to cast the attack spell and began the invocation. Just then, projectile shrapnel hit rAzorWire_007 doing six points of damage.

"SoCal, cast the damn spell!" yelled rAzorWire_007. "If we lose Castle Gecko, all the Bitcoins we've earned disappear. I've got a family to feed."

"Shut-up RazorWire!" said SoCalSheMerlin. "All you've got to feed is a neurotic poodle and that AI girlfriend of yours." AI was short for artificial intelligence.

With that, she finished the incantation, thrust her wand, and discharged a Meteor Swarm Spell. Fireballs fell from the sky crushing every trebuchet. The impact of the meteors swallowed up the stone giants and zombies, covering them in earthen tombs. Smacking her gum, SoCalSheMerlin said, "That's how it's done, boys. It's a good thing I'm a nineteenth-level Sorcerer!"

Team Bravo breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Then, streaking out of the woods, they appeared: 666 well-armored mercenaries galloped toward the moat on pale horses. As they came closer, they aimed their longbows into the sky. The attackers targeted Castle Gecko's courtyard.

The swarm of arrows flew over Team Bravo. The bolts hit nobody. Each arrow transformed into a gold coin, just before they struck the earth.

SoCalSheMerlin shouted to the Cleric, "Those coins are dangerous. You'd better neutralize them. What do you have?"

"The arrows must be anointed with black magic. That's the only way they could have transmuted like that. I think an Anti-magic Field will stop the coins from luring the castle workers." OrderMeMyself&I released the spell.

Nothing happened. Two workers grabbed coins.

Becca cursed under her breath.

## Chapter 2 – Becca Roberts

5:30 p.m. (EDT), Friday, July 24, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Rebecca, 'Becca' Roberts occupied one side of a mahogany conference table. She watched the entire assault on Castle Gecko from her high-backed, leather chair. A 125-inch flat screen monitor depicted the video game war.

The high-tech conference room contained a number of smaller, flat panel monitors that surrounded the mammoth 125-incher. Each screen displayed the Gamer's point of view they experienced through their VR headset. Becca watched SoCalSheMerlin's screen most carefully, as most of the action flowed through the female Sorcerer.

Becca Roberts liked SoCalSheMerlin. Although she had no idea of SoCalSheMerlin's age, she thought they could be friends in the real world. They were so similar, sarcasm and all.

The glare from the polished conference table made Becca readjust the black eyeglasses that hid her pretty face. The petite 25-year-old, dressed up for the demo. She wore a black cardigan sweater and black slacks.

Becca couldn't wait to get back into her standard dark blue overalls and flannel. Her closet was full of flannels. The software programmer and hacker had mousy brown hair that she always wore in a ponytail. Appearances were of little concern to Becca. Her passions were hacking, programming—and lately, VR video game development.

Becca interacted with Team Bravo through a microphone in her wireless headset. She managed the Castle Gecko demo from two, 17-inch Dell laptops. Wireshark, a software tool for packet analysis, ran on one laptop. Metasploit operated on the other. Metasploit was a software program hackers used for penetration testing. Becca employed Metasploit to launch the simulated network attacks on Castle Gecko. She monitored the attacks with Wireshark.

Both laptops ran the Kali Linux operating system, a Linux variant with hacking tools pre-installed. At least seven terminal windows were open on her laptops. Becca was a consummate multi-tasker. She preferred the certainty of typing commands in the terminal window. It was more precise than dragging a mouse all over the screen.

"Ali, I thought you fixed the code that dealt with spear phishing?"

Spear phishing occurred when hackers sent emails with nefarious attachments to selectively targeted individuals. Most hacking attacks started with spear phishing emails. Once the victim clicked the attachment, bad things happened. For example, a virus might be unleashed onto the target's computer. Or the victim could be tricked into entering personal information into a bogus website. An infamous spear phishing attack targeted celebrities. A hacker sent illegitimate emails to female stars. The phishing emails looked like they were sent by Apple, duping the luminaries into revealing their iCloud passwords. This allowed the hacker to gain access to the starlets' personal information, including nude photos.

"I thought I did too," replied Ali, anxiously.

Becca tried hard to hide her frustration, but a poker face wasn't one of her strengths. "Team Bravo, you guys are done." Within the VR gaming world of Castle Gecko, Becca's presence was indicated by a flashing 'G-Master' icon.

"G-Master, do we get our money?" asked rAzorWire_007.

"Yes, I'll release your Bitcoins by close of business today. Out."

"Wait," said SoCalSheMerlin, "will you raise our Social Rankings?"

"Yes," Becca replied, with exasperation.

Team Bravo logged out of the game. Beep, Beep, Beep. The Gamers were gone.

Becca Roberts and Ali Asir were the first two employees of Gamification Systems, Inc. Like Becca, Ali was young. His family originated from Turkey, but the software engineer was born in the US. Gamification Systems could only hire US citizens.

The company's 35-year-old CEO, Samantha Powers, was seated across the table from Becca. Samantha wore a fitted, crisp white blouse, and black pencil skirt. The CEO had a sleek, blonde bob. She wore small diamond earrings and a diamond tennis bracelet. No rings encumbered her fingers. At five foot seven, her black high-heels accentuated her shapely legs.

Gamification Systems was conducting its monthly demo for General Shields, Director of the National Security Administration. Shields was one of the most powerful men in the world. He sat at the head of the shiny table.

Within the Intelligence Community and among his employees, General Shields was known as 'DIRNSA,' pronounced 'durnza.' Shields had served as DIRNSA for three years. The President of the United States, Thomas Goodson, approved Shields as DIRNSA in 2017. POTUS' re-election was coming in November.

Gamification Systems marketed software that applied elements of the video game experience—points, badges, and contests—to corporate environments. Gamification's product transformed mundane business tasks into something more interesting and engaging.

The purpose of this demo was to gamify cybersecurity for Fortune 1000 companies. The software world used the word, 'enterprise,' to refer to these organizations. Large corporations and government agencies bought enterprise software.

Samantha gazed intently into the General's commanding eyes. "We'll get this fixed."

Becca studied the General's expression. Her peripheral vision always noticed the five stars on both of his shoulders. Today, the stars were attached to his zip-up, blue jacket. The jacket was emblazoned with his name and numerous Air Force patches.

"I know you will. It's important that you get this right," said General Shields, sternly. "However, I will say that your team has made real progress in the last month." The tension on his face faded.

"Thank you, General." Samantha flashed a coy smile at her lead investor.

General Shields exited his chair and peered out the top floor window of Defense Innovations Accelerator. Defense Innovations Accelerator was the first NSA funded, VC and startup accelerator firm.

Venture capital firms provided money to young companies in return for stock in the startup. Startup accelerators offered training, provided mentors, allowed access to cutting edge technology, and furnished office space to competitively selected startups.

A tall chain link fence, topped with rolls of barbed wire, protected Defense Innovations' six-story building. The sprawling structure didn't have many windows. NSA police officers armed with MP5 submachine guns, M4 assault rifles, and bomb-sniffing dogs protected the one entry way. It was like a real world version of the Castle Gecko virtual world. Other NSA police were stationed strategically on the campus. The Accelerator was just one mile from NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland.

The General continued, "You guys are delivering the exact type of innovation that I expected when I testified before Congress to obtain approval for the Accelerator. Becca, give me a Hotwash Report." Shields chuckled. "Check that, I forgot. I'm across the highway, and this isn't a military organization. What I meant to say was please tell me what we just saw on the big screen. Act like you're explaining it to your grandma."

Excitement and anxiety pumped through Becca's veins. Just two years out of college, she already possessed a TS/SCI clearance and was debriefing a 5-star general—a man who regularly met with the President. TS/SCI stood for TOP SECRET/ Sensitive Compartmented Information. It was among the hardest military clearance for contractors to obtain and involved two types of polygraphs.

As General Shields returned to his chair, Becca cleared her throat. "This demo ran on the test network of Gecko Insurance Company."

Samantha interrupted. "General Shields, thank you so much for making that introduction."

The General dipped his head. "Yep, that's one purpose of the Accelerator, to bring people together."

Despite her pushiness, Becca loved her boss. CEO's had to be pushy. When Becca's passion for Gamification waned, she would remember Samantha's work ethic. Samantha aggressively recruited Becca to join Gamification from their previous company. Becca had never felt so needed.

She continued, "There are no real customers on the test network. Gecko uses their test network to evaluate software, hardware, and networking gear. Even though it's just a test network, it's the first time we've run Gamification's software outside our firewall—on a network we don't own or control.

"We put a Gamification software agent on every network element on the test network. We call this software, 'G-Agent.' When I say network element, I mean every firewall, web server, database server, computer, router, switch, Wi-Fi access point—everything. We even put a G-Agent on an A-Stat thermostat. You know the thermostat you can program over the Internet?"

The General shook his head yes.

The wildly successful, Nucleus Corporation, marketed the A-Stat. Nucleus owned the top search engine in the world, the Atom search engine.

"We also linked the G-Agents to log files on the devices. For example, the G-Agent on the Gecko firewall incorporated information from the firewall's log. This file records everything that occurs on the firewall, second-by-second." Firewalls attempted to monitor and control the type of digital traffic on a computer network. "The software operates like any other security software in that respect. It's always listening, trying to detect malicious activities and prevent bad stuff from happening."

Becca walked to the whiteboard. She reached for a black whiteboard marker. "I want to draw a simple architectural diagram of the Gamification Software."

First, she drew a large, black rectangle standing on its short end. It looked like one bar of a bar chart. Within the black rectangle, Becca wrote, 'REALSPACE.' Moving from left to right, Becca etched a fatter, green rectangle. It was longer at both ends than the REALSPACE rectangle.

Becca stamped this green rectangle as, 'G-Bridge,' short for the Gamification Bridge. Finally, to the right of G-Bridge, Becca sketched a blue rectangle. It was the exact same proportion as the black, REALSPACE rectangle. Inside of the blue rectangle, Becca wrote, 'GAMESPACE.'

To Becca, the entire architectural diagram looked like a standing stick with two stubby arms. Samantha chided Becca to quit calling it a 'stick,' and always refer to it as an 'angel,' during company presentations.

Becca continued, "We call this whole architecture, the Gamification Angel." Samantha's eyes gleamed with approval.

Becca moved back to the original rectangle. "The black wing of the angel is REALSPACE. In the demo, REALSPACE is the world of cybersecurity I just described." She grabbed a purple marker and penned a bunch of small squares within REALSPACE. "The purple squares within REALSPACE are all the network elements; the firewalls, the routers, and the like."

Reaching for a red marker, she drew a small circle in each purple square. "These red circles in the purple boxes are the G-Agents. The G-Agents sit on the network devices within REALSPACE and talk to G-Bridge. So the red circles—the G-Agents—talk to the green G-Bridge. G-Bridge is Gamification System's secret sauce. It's the crown jewels of the company. That's why we always draw it using money green."

"The blue GAMESPACE wing of the angel is the virtual gaming world. In this demo, it's the virtual world of Castle Gecko." Within GAMESPACE, Becca traced an orange square she named, 'Game Engine.'

"I programmed the Castle Gecko game. I used the Unreal Engine. A game engine is a software framework that enables the more rapid creation of video games. With a game engine, you don't have to start from scratch every time you write a game. The Unreal Engine works well with VR. It's the game engine's job to interact with G-Bridge and adequately render what's occurring in REALSPACE. In other words, G-Bridge translates REALSPACE to GAMESPACE. That's why G-Bridge is the key intellectual property of our company."

"Do you support any other gaming engines?" asked Shields.

"Not yet. We focused on the Unreal Engine. But your question highlights what's cool about our architecture. Our entire architecture is pluggable and extensible. The key to our flexibility is that we created G-Bridge to expose a very robust API."

API stood for Application Programming Interface. API's were used to help one piece of software communicate with another piece of software code. APIs were critical in the software world. They allowed programmers to talk to a software component, like G-Bridge, without knowing how G-Bridge worked internally. People used APIs every day. Typing 'http://www.cnn.com' was an API call. The web browser sent the API call over the Internet to CNN's webserver.

"Through this API, G-Bridge can talk to any gaming engine that makes up GAMESPACE. My colleague—Saul Abrams—did amazing work with the API. And on the other end, in REALSPACE, G-Bridge talks to our G-Agents. We have G-Agents for Linux, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and even embedded systems. Ali leads the team that codes the REALSPACE software."

Ali Asir still wore a disappointed expression. His software code had broken the demo. While Becca wrote on the whiteboard, he was frantically searching through his source code to find the bug.

The General paused in thought for a moment. "What I hear you saying is that REALSPACE can be anything upon which I can deploy a G-Agent. And REALSPACE could be more than just cybersecurity?"

"Yes!" replied Becca. She was excited that Shields was clearly following her presentation.

"For example," said the General, "a G-Agent could be put on a drone and talk to G-Bridge. And GAMESPACE can be any game, although right now, all you support is the Unreal Engine. Do I have that right?"

Becca grinned broadly, "Rig—"

"That's exactly right, sir," said Samantha. "We're a gamification company. We want to support all types of games in GAMESPACE, and varied scenarios in REALSPACE."

"Outstanding," replied the General. "So Becca, tell me more about GAMESPACE. Walk me through the demo I saw of Castle Gecko."

"Ok," said Becca, as she left the whiteboard and returned to the conference table. "Castle Gecko in GAMESPACE represents the Gecko test network in REALSPACE." Becca's pace of speech increased and her face brightened. Becca loved the world of Castle Gecko.

The beautiful castle, the trebuchets, the swords, the armor, the orc faces; Becca enjoyed creating everything. The detail—the sheer number of pixels she had to render in VR—boggled her mind. Her job was to use the game depicted in the VR headset to completely block out reality. A VR game was successful when the Gamer felt like they were more present in the VR world, than they were in the physical world.

Becca started hacking when she was 10. Hacking offered her a way to escape the pain of her mom's death from ovarian cancer. Over time, she moved from a hacker that ran someone else's software for attacks, to writing her own programs.

Becca liked the concreteness of writing software. Unlike the real world, she could always find the answer. While other girls were playing house and dressing up dolls, Becca was infiltrating computer networks. But, after 15 years, hacking and programming were becoming rote.

Something happened to Becca when she created Castle Gecko. The process of imagining a world and filling it with characters was cathartic. Or, maybe it was the romance of the castle and envisioning a prince charming? Something that was dead in Becca was coming back to life.

Becca continued, "As Team Bravo moved about Castle Gecko, their top priority was to make sure everyone on the test network could do their work. When a network threat—like a virus—is identified, a couple of big things happen. The G-Agent talks to G-Bridge. And G-Bridge communicates to the game engine to spawn the appropriate monster or situation for the attack vector.

"That's the epitome of gamification software; it makes a game out of standard tasks. Like when you check in at a restaurant to earn a badge on A-Friend or Foursquare. We've just taken gamification to a whole new level. Typically, all the cybersecurity tasks would be performed by a human security administrator. Those administrators have to watch the network around the clock. That costs a lot of money.

"Once the threat is neutralized on the network in REALSPACE, and the monster is killed in GAMESPACE, Team Bravo can go back to collecting treasure in GAMESPACE. The treasure they find during the campaign is part of the Bitcoins they earn.

"They also get Bitcoins as a daily wage, for achieving objectives, and for completing the campaign. There are lots of rewards to motivate them to stay engaged. We switch teams every eight hours. To ensure they keep coming back, we pay the teams at the end of the week."

"First, tell your grandma what Bitcoins are?" said the General, with a wry smile.

Becca rolled her eyes and smirked. "Bitcoins are digital money. You can email the money to anyone in the world."

"How do I get Bitcoins?"

"There are two ways. You can convert currency into Bitcoins, or someone gives you their Bitcoins. You don't need any personal information to send the Bitcoins. All you need is their Bitcoin address. And they don't have any of your personal information. The transactions are completely anonymous; well, pseudo-anonymous. Something called, the 'Blockchain,' allows every transaction to be viewed by anyone in the world. There's just no personally identifiable information associated with the transaction."

The General frowned. He stared at Samantha menacingly. "So who is Team Bravo? How much are they making? Are they Gamification employees...and what about taxes? Geez, I can see the headline now, 'NSA Director serves on board of company that thwarts US tax laws.'"

Samantha gulped. "Like with a lot of new technology, there are some gray areas here. Remember when ride-hailing companies—Uber, Lyft, and Didi—first launched? Or driver-less cars? Or house and apartment sharing through Airbnb? Laws always have to catch up with the technology.

"I've spoken at length with our lawyers and they believe that it's the responsibility of the Bitcoin recipient to declare the income and pay the income taxes. Our lawyers also believe that Gamers are not our employees. I'll call them again and see if they can suggest any alternatives.

"Just to use this demo as an example, the most anyone made was the level 19 Sorcerer. And she made under $800. You can see that paying a Gamer is much cheaper than paying a security administrator."

Becca admired how quickly Samantha thought on her feet. She wanted to emulate that trait in her mentor. They were close, and like Becca, Samantha lost her mom at a young age.

"Do you know the Gamers?" asked the General.

"No," replied Samantha. "They need to remain completely anonymous to us—and us to them. Gecko Insurance Company will never buy our software, if the Gamers are aware they're traipsing around the Gecko network fighting monsters and rogue routers.

"Going forward, this is a huge issue for our business model. We have human Gamers playing games in GAMESPACE. At the same time, these Gamers are also performing work in REALSPACE. But they don't know they're working in REALSPACE. And, we're not paying them for work in REALSPACE. We're just rewarding them for playing the game in GAMESPACE."

"Maybe we just need robots to perform the job," said the General, in half-jest. "I want to talk to your attorneys. You're using Loreal & Hammer, right?"

Samantha nodded. Loreal & Hammer was a shadowy law firm. General Shields recommended the firm to all the Accelerator's portfolio companies.

"Please schedule a secure teleconference with them during next week's board meeting."

"Yes, sir," replied Samantha.

General Shields' cell phone buzzed. "Excuse me. I've got to respond to this text."

## Chapter 3 – General Shields

6:05 p.m. (EDT), Friday, July 24, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Suite 601, General Shields' Office, Defense Innovations Accelerator

General Bernard F. Shields stood an even six foot, with broad shoulders and a square jaw. He was in his early fifties, very young for such a high-ranking General. Shields sat at the same English Oak desk his father had used as an Air Force General during Viet Nam.

Most Generals who commanded cyber-forces were "nerdy." General Shields was not. He saw himself as a digital Patton. He didn't walk; he sauntered. Shields leaned back in his chair and rested his feet on the desk. Numerous photos of the General with famous people adorned the paneled walls. A special section was dedicated to his family, including his wife of 31 years, Lisa Shields.

Pictures of his son, Charlie Shields, filled his office. The largest photo was General Shields' favorite. The blown-up snapshot depicted Charlie's Navy SEAL graduation in 2014. Navy SEALs were widely regarded as the most elite special operations unit in the world. SEALs conducted extremely dangerous missions, like killing Osama Bin Laden.

In the photo, General Shields was in full Air Force blue uniform, covered with medals and numerous brightly colored insignias. Lisa snapped the picture. Of course, Lisa wasn't in the image, but the General could still feel her joy. At the time of the photo, Shields was merely a three-star.

Charlie wore a gleaming white Navy uniform. He was hugging his dad and pointing to his golden SEAL Trident. His badge signified that Charlie was now a member of that elite community of special operations warriors. Both men's faces beamed with love and patriotic pride.

General Shields returned his wife's text with a call.

"Bernie, I've been sleeping all day. I just wanted to apologize for last night. I think it was the combination of Prozac and alcohol. You've told me I shouldn't mix them, and I keep doing it. I'm going to try to get back into church. I'm sorry I yelled at you, I—"

"Lisa, I know. I keep telling myself the pain will end. Yet, every day it's back. It's like a rain soaked coat hanging in a steam room. It won't dry. And we can't take it off. We just got to keep pressing forward."

"I know you're busy," said Lisa. "I know you're working your tail off to kill those bastards. Get them Bernie."

"I'm trying."

"Thank you for understanding."

As the General ended the call, he could hear the relief in Lisa's voice. He didn't share Lisa's passion for church. He felt God was for the weak of mind. But, he was in favor of anything that helped her constructively deal with the pain.

Shields gaze was drawn back towards Charlie's picture.

Tears streamed down his face. The General slogged to the wet bar in his office. DIRNSA did two quick shots of **Tovaritch! Premium Russian Vodka**. It was the only Russian he liked. He dried his eyes with a cocktail napkin.

In February 2016, a year before General Shields accepted the position as DIRNSA, Charlie Shields was beheaded by the Caliphate, while it was still known as ISIS. The Caliphate was a group of radical Sunni-Islamists. They initially emerged from Al Qaeda in Iraq—AQI.

Under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, AQI led the Sunni-Iraqi insurgency, baiting Shia-Iraqis into civil war. In 2006, Zarqawi was killed by a 500-pound bomb. Ultimately, AQI was decimated by General David Petraeus' Iraq War Surge. AQI went underground until the Americans left in 2011.

Then they reconstituted themselves, filling the vacuum created by the absence of US forces in the region and the Syrian civil war. The ISIS backstory surprised many. ISIS had seemed to appear out of nowhere in 2014, capturing vast tracts of Syria and Iraq. This included Iraq's second largest city of Mosul. In early 2017—the organization known at various times as AQI, ISIL, ISIS, and the Islamic State—rebranded itself as the Caliphate.

Special Warfare Operator, 1st Class, Charlie Shields was abducted while advising 'moderate' Sunni rebels attempting to overthrow the Shia-led, Syrian government.

The moderates weren't really moderate.

The very same anti-Syrian-government Sunnis the SEALs had trained, betrayed them. The rebels seized five SEALs and handed them over to ISIS. One-by-one, ISIS chopped off the warriors' heads and posted the heinous videos to A-Tube.

The public outcry for retribution after the February 2016 executions of US servicemen was reminiscent of 9/11. Already stoked by ISIS sympathizer's terror attacks in the US, Europe, and Turkey; the public demanded retribution. There were an increasing number of protests against radical Islam and Sharia law.

However, the US response in the wake of the decapitations was tepid. It was a difficult situation. Completely destroying ISIS would work to the benefit of America's enemies—Syria and their benefactor, Iran. It would also help Russia. Russia went so far as to call ISIS an American creation.

General Shields vacillated between gut-wrenching heartbreak and white-hot rage, although he knew he was functioning much better than Lisa. At least, I'm doing something positive with my pain and not popping pills, he thought. General Shields personally wanted to destroy the radical Islamists, one-by-one. He was upset with the hamstrung US response to his son's death.

Americans went to the polls in November 2016 to elect a new President. Terrorism and ISIS were important issues in the 2016 election. During the campaign, Thomas Goodson used extremely harsh rhetoric against Islamic terrorism in general, and ISIS specifically. However, once in office, he became more cautious. No one—except Shields—wanted to commit large numbers of ground troops to Iraq or Syria.

Goodson announced stepped up air strikes against ISIS in Iraq. He continued his predecessor's strategy of relocating most special operations units from Syria to Iraq, to avoid further debacles like Charlie's death. America was unable to identify friend from foe in a complicated civil war.

Because he wanted to avoid air combat operations in the same airspace as the Russians, and civilian casualties, the new POTUS refrained from air strikes in Syria. He preferred drones. Goodson bickered with NATO allies about who should bear the brunt of operations in the ancient country. No-fly zones were imposed to protect Syrian civilians and stem the tide of refugees that were drowning Europe and causing upheaval in the EU and Turkey. In contrast to the decisive actions of the Russians, who began bombing ISIS in Syria in the fall of 2015, the US looked weak.

While the average American didn't distinguish between Iraq and Syria, General Shields was incensed. The only response to Charlie's killing was airstrikes in a neighboring country, reduction of the US special operations units in Syria, and no-fly zones. And drones. Lots of drones.

If the President wouldn't do the right thing, General Shields would.

In the four years since the election, by the spring of 2020, the Caliphate was weakened in Syria due to continued airstrikes from Russia and NATO. Iran also had ground forces in Syria that attacked the Caliphate. However, Russia and Iran were more concerned with supporting the current Syrian government, than defeating the Caliphate. The Syrian government even bought discounted oil from the Caliphate.

Air strikes in Iraq also sapped the Caliphate. But many members of the Caliphate simply fled to Libya, the Sinai, Europe, or faded into the civilian populations. They would return when the attacks stopped.

But Iraq wanted the US to do much more. The Caliphate's vast propaganda machine continued to draw recruits from all over the world, especially after they changed their name.

In 2019, due to the limited US campaign against the Caliphate, the Iraqi government's frustration boiled over. Iraq expelled all American forces in the country. Then, they turned to the Russians and Iranians to lead future air strikes and ground operations against the Caliphate.

The US' strategy of timidity towards the Caliphate played havoc with General Shields' psyche. He inhaled another shot. There was a knock at the door. The General grabbed a piece of gum and opened the door.

Lin Liu entered the room.

Lin was in her late twenties. She wore nude pumps and a tight white dress. Her eyes were jade green. The second-generation Chinese-American was gorgeous. "I'm sorry I'm late General. Everybody at the Fort was jockeying for an invite, even this late on a Friday night. I had to fend them off with a stick."

"Are you sure they were only interested in the Accelerator?" he chuckled. "Well, good job. I don't need them here. The last thing these entrepreneurs and startup kids need is for a bunch of govies to get in their way."

On the job for only two weeks, Lin had never been to the offices of Defense Innovations Accelerator. As often happened in the military, the General's previous assistant was reassigned. General Shields requested Lin because she was non-military. He hoped to keep her as his personal aide for longer than two years. It totally discombobulated him to switch personal assistants. And she wasn't bad on the eyes.

"We're just finishing up. I came in here to return a call. Let's go across the hallway. Then, you can see how this place works. By the way, there's a much better way to get here from the Fort. I'll show it to you next time."

## Chapter 4 – The Gecko Explanation

6:20 p.m. (EDT), Friday, July 24, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Suite 602, Conference Room, Defense Innovations Accelerator

General Shields re-entered the conference room. This time, he was accompanied by Lin Lu. Ali completely forgot about the bug he was tracking. Samantha uneasily shifted in her chair, as the General introduced his new personal aide.

"Ok, back to the demo," said Shields. "Please explain the monsters and catapults. Why were there so many of them? Remember, Lin is new to the Accelerator; and I'm still looking for grandma-level explanations."

"Catapults? Actually, they're supposed to be trebuchets," said Becca. "Did they look like catapults? Were they too small?"

Samantha gasped. "Becca, we'll worry about the artwork later. Tell the General why there were so many."

"Oh, sorry," replied Becca. "During that part of the demo, I fired up our botnet and simulated a DDOS—a Distributed Denial of Service Attack—in REALSPACE. The botnet attack sent a massive amount of IP packets to the servers on the test network. When the servers receive all those packets from the Internet, they freak out. The servers can't handle all the packets. In REALSPACE, the result of a DDOS attack is that no customer can connect to Gecko's website."

"IP, botnets?" said the General. "Grandma is having a tough time understanding this."

Becca smiled and shook her head.

She had never met a general, let alone a five-star general. Shields was the first five-star general since Omar N. Bradley, in 1950. The muscular Shields only looked like a movie star General. He didn't fit the stereotypical persona of a general. He didn't seem authoritarian, strict, or curt. However, Becca had a sense that the General could be all these things—and more—if needed.

As a hacker, Becca kept close tabs on the NSA. The NSA was the best hacking organization in the world. Just before Becca graduated from high school, Edward Snowden took over two million classified documents, while working as a contractor for the NSA. Snowden gave a portion of the material to selected members of the press. They, in turn, slowly leaked the information. The disclosures allowed Becca to study NSA capabilities carefully.

Becca also knew her technology history; her dad made sure of that. The General's massive fiefdom at the NSA was due to IP and the growth of packet switched technologies. Packet switching was more efficient and resilient than dedicating an entire circuit to a communications channel. Becca recognized the irony in talking to General Shields about IP.

"Internet Protocol is how computers talk to each other over the network—whether it's a wired network or a Wi-Fi network. For example, pretend I write an email to Grandma. When I send her the email, the email destination is translated into an address, just like your postal address.

"Only it's not Grandma's street address; it's the IP address of her email provider. Let's say the address is 192.168.1.1. The email travels in pieces called packets. In the real world, it's like I tore a letter to Grandma into numerous strips.

"On each piece, I put my IP address as the sender, and Grandma's IP address as the recipient. I'd also number the strips in such a way, that it wouldn't matter when Grandma received the individual pieces. Grandma would be able to reconstruct the letter without worrying about when she received each strip. IP is the rules the network agrees to follow. It adheres to this protocol as it sends the individual pieces—the packets—over the network."

"You're assuming that the letter is not encrypted, right?" asked Lin.

"That's a great question." Becca saw Samantha roll her eyes. "It doesn't matter. IP works the same for an encrypted letter, as it does for the un-encrypted message. If I sent Grandma an un-encrypted email, all the packets would be forwarded in plaintext. Anyone that understood English could read it. It's just clear text. Now, if the email is encrypted, the plaintext would look like gibberish. That's called ciphertext. Grandma would only be able to read the message if she used her encryption key."

General Shields interjected, "Or anyone else in possession of Grandma's encryption key." He smiled smugly, "Hypothetically, of course."

Becca let his words hang in the air before she proceeded. She wasn't sure everyone understood what Shields meant. People's eyes seemed to glaze over at the mere mention of encryption. "Our botnet was just a bunch of servers in the Amazon cloud that we rented. We configured them to flood the Gecko test network with packets. In the real world, botnets are infected computers that hackers use to perform attacks and mask their identity. Grandma's computer could be a part of a botnet and she wouldn't even know it.

"Skilled hackers can hide the origin of the attacks, making it look like Grandma was the hacker. Companies usually don't prioritize figuring out the identity of the attacker; they just want the attacks to stop. But, if you're a nation fighting a cyberwar, attribution is a huge issue. You don't want to nuke Grandma by mistake.

"Back to the DDOS attack. As we flooded the Gecko network with an enormous number of packets, the network couldn't do anything else. It was stuck in a loop, trying to figure out how to route all the packets. That's why there were so many arrows flying in the air. The good news is that we mitigated the threat. SoCalSheMerlin cast a spell in GAMESPACE that defeated the DDOS attack in REALSPACE.

"In REALSPACE, the G-Agent recognized the DDOS attack, and communicated via the REALSPACE API to G-Bridge. Then, G-Bridge talked the GAMESPACE API. This caused the Unreal Engine to appropriately render the consequences in GAMESPACE—the meteors destroyed the giants and zombies.

"In REALSPACE, the DDOS attack consisted of a specific type of packet, called SYN packets, sent from the botnet. To mitigate the threat, REALSPACE filtered the SYN packets, and launched virtual load balancers. So the mitigation stopped the offending packets and surged to improve the amount of traffic the network could accept. That's the good part.

"After that, the wheels came off," said Becca, with disappointment. "The arrows that flew over the castle, and landed in the courtyard, represented a spear phishing attack. The malicious attachments on the spear phishing email were rendered as gold coins in GAMESPACE. I'm encouraged that the G-Agents recognized the attack. That's why we saw arrows in GAMESPACE in the first place.

"But the Cleric's spell should've thwarted the spear phishing attack. It didn't. The Gecko customer service agents clicked on the attachment. That's when the demo broke down, and the workers could no longer do their job. There's a bug in the code somewhere. Ali will track it down."

The General looked at the clock. "Becca, Grandma thanks you for your explanations. The ability to succinctly communicate complex topics is one of the most critical skills in the technology world. Only then, do you actually know that you know something—when you can explain it to your grandma. Just last night, President Goodson called and asked me to explain encryption."

Becca giggled. Her eyes widened behind her black, wire-rim glasses.

"It's about time to start our Friday evening," said the General. "But before we break, Samantha, how's the AI coming?"

Artificial Intelligence was a broad and complex term with a long history in computing. Generally speaking, it referred to the enablement of computers to mimic human thinking and display human-like intelligence.

Samantha replied, "Right now, we use AI to recognize cyber-attacks in REALSPACE. But, I think you're asking about AI to replace the necessity of the G-Master, right?"

"Yes."

"We haven't progressed as far as I'd hoped. As you know, we don't want the dependency of a Gamification Systems' employee monitoring every game. So we're working hard on it."

"Roger that," said the General. "Show me what you have at next month's demo. You guys should talk to CyberAI about the AI. Artificial intelligence is their core competency."

"Yes, sir."

"Samantha, this looks good. Keep at it. Spear phishing is a very hard problem. 90% of all data breaches begin with spear phishing. It's complex and involves social engineering. It doesn't surprise me that you're struggling with it. Now, I've kept all of you here too long. Thanks for accommodating my schedule." Lin and the General left the room.

Samantha surveyed Becca and Ali. "Well, that went pretty well. Good job guys. Ali, how long do you think it'll take to locate that bug?"

"I'll work on it this weekend. I remember fixing it. Maybe I checked in the wrong source code into GitHub." GitHub was software that managed files and took care of file versioning. Software source code—whatever the programming language—boiled down to digital files, composed of text.

Different software engineers at Gamification worked with different files. The entire process of creating, checking out, and updating source code files, was the lifeblood of a software company. A finished software product was simply a number of files, spliced together, written in a particular programming language. When executed, the files worked to perform the requested task.

Ali was telling Samantha that he could have mistakenly uploaded the wrong version of his source code file to GitHub.

"Ok, great," replied Samantha.

"You know Samantha; I think I'd work much faster with a personal aide like Lin." Ali snickered.

"Stop. I wasn't impressed. I didn't think she was that pretty or smart," Samantha said. "Also, Becca, you can't call this Castle Gecko. I thought we talked about that? Gecko Insurance Company won't appreciate it. We don't want the Gamers to have any idea of what's actually occurring in REALSPACE."

"Right" replied a crestfallen Becca. "I didn't have enough time to change everything for the demo. I was thinking of another name. Do you like Castle Chevaliers?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"Aren't you a little skittish about working with CyberAI? Don't they do what we do?" asked Becca.

Small startup companies were always deeply concerned about competition. Samantha replied, "I've always thought so too. So let's be careful."

While Samantha checked her phone, Becca and Ali packed up their laptops. Once finished, they both waited for Samantha.

"Oh, don't wait for me, guys. I've got something I need to discuss with General Shields. Have a great weekend."

## Chapter 5 – The Accelerator

4:15 p.m. (EDT), Monday, July 27, 2020 – Fort Meade, MD

Eighth Floor, Director's Suite, Ops 2B, NSA Headquarters

General Shields slammed the phone down. The violent smash abruptly ended the conversation with his counterpart at the CIA. Shields' office at NSA headquarters was twice as large as his Accelerator office. Behind his desk, stood a wooden credenza with ceiling-high bookshelves. The room contained an eight-seat conference table and a separate casual seating area. Like the Accelerator office, Charlie Shields' picture was displayed most prominently.

The Intelligence Community called CIA Director, Walt Black, the DCIA. The Intelligence Community—abbreviated 'IC'—was a federation of over 17 agencies in the US government. The organizations with the biggest budgets in the IC were the CIA, NSA, and National Reconnaissance Office—NRO. The NRO's job was day-to-day management of spy satellites. DIRNSA got along famously with the Director of the NRO. The two agencies effectively cooperated with one another. On the other hand, General Shields despised Walt Black.

Lin Liu arrived in DIRNSA's office. "Good afternoon sir, are you ready to go over to the Accelerator? Josh Adler, of CyberAI, is scheduled to give us a demo at 1700. Sir?"

General Shields looked into Lin's jade eyes. A revealing, dark green blouse intensified her eyes, making them sparkle like two emeralds.

"Walt Black is a complete moron. President Goodson must have selected him based on the reputation of the DCIA's father. All the DCIA does is build his drone fleet, at the expense of what the CIA should be doing—HUMINT." HUMINT stood for human intelligence; information derived from human sources—spies.

"The CIA was founded to use secret agents to spy on the Russians after World War II. The DCIAs in the Cold War knew what they were doing with HUMINT. The Iraq/ Afghanistan War Directors knew what they were doing. But Walt Black offers his intelligence customers virtually no HUMINT on the Caliphate. I give him NSA SIGINT. Rather than use SIGINT to develop his HUMINT, all he does is order drone strikes—based on my SIGINT."

SIGINT stood for intelligence derived from signals. The NSA's mission was collection of foreign SIGINT and protection of US military SIGINT.

SIGINT consisted of wired and wireless phone calls, text messages, email, and other Internet traffic; like '''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''. SIGINT also included signals from satellites, weapons systems, radars, telemetry from space launches, and ballistic missile launches. In 2020—every day—the NSA scooped up more SIGINT than 20-times the entire collection of the Library of Congress.

"If Walt Black wanted to join the Air Force, he should have done so. Now he operates his private air force from Langley." Langley, Virginia was the headquarters of the CIA. It was about a one hour drive from Fort Meade.

The General took a deep breath and recomposed himself. "Alright, I'm ready. Let me show you the Accelerator Line of what we call the, 'Underground Railroad.'" Yesterday, Shields had read Lin into the special access program that contained details about the clandestine NSA tunnel complex.

"It's a lot faster than driving. In the basement of this building, there's a mile and a half tunnel. It runs under Highway 32, straight to Defense Innovations."

"That's incredible! No wonder you get there so quickly," said Lin.

They left his office and walked towards DIRNSA's private elevator.

The NSA was a component of the US Department of Defense—DoD. In 1952, President Truman initiated the NSA, in response to the escalating Cold War. After 9/11, the NSA became the most powerful spy agency in the world. It employed over 40,000 military and civilian workers. Also, an even larger cadre of government contractors worked to support the NSA.

General Shields could have chosen to house Defense Innovations Accelerator at NSA headquarters, within the confines of Fort Meade. It wasn't like the Fort lacked space.

Fort George G. Meade was a US Army base spread over eight square miles. The 660-acre campus of the NSA sat on the western side of the base. Located 25 miles northeast of Washington DC, it was a gargantuan complex. The Fort also housed US Cyber Command—CYBERCOM—headquarters and the Defense Information Systems Agency. DISA acted like the DoD's phone company and Internet service provider.

Not including the Underground Railroad, the Fort contained more than 32 miles of roads, its own fire department, post office, police force, and a SWAT team. Before CYBERCOM and DISA arrived, the NSA had two golf courses. Fort Meade housed more than 50 offices buildings totaling over seven million square feet. And that was just the Fort. The NSA maintained facilities all over the world.

Shields didn't want to house the Accelerator on base. He wanted to keep the government-types away from the entrepreneurs. He knew that many govies would pour energy into throwing rocks at unproven technologies.

In addition, it took time to get into and out of the Fort. Traffic jams during rush hour were standard. Also, if the General wanted to house the Accelerator within one of the buildings at Headquarters, no cell phones were allowed. General Shields knew that mobile phones were the lifeblood of entrepreneurial companies trying to quickly ramp up revenue.

Shields pushed the basement floor button.

*

General Shields and Lin hopped into the back seat of a golf-cart sized, hovercraft. From their position in the hovercraft, tunnels extended in many different directions. A heavily armed NSA police officer drove the vehicle. They sped towards the Accelerator. "I love this thing," squealed Lin in delight. "I want one!"

Shields laughed. "They're fun. If the Fort still had golf courses, they'd be perfect. They glide right over water and don't leave any tracks on the greens."

"How far does the Underground Railroad go? These tunnels are huge. You could drive two semi-trucks in either direction, and still not hit pedestrians."

"That, I can't tell you, Lin. Your clearance only covers the Accelerator tunnel. But I could use the word, far."

"General, before this meeting, I was hoping you could tell me more about how the Accelerator works? It's still a little fuzzy to me."

"Sure," he replied, as they passed another guard station in the tunnel.

"Defense Innovations Accelerator is a combination of a VC firm and a startup accelerator. VC firms provide money—capital—to promising early stage, high-growth potential companies. Lots of famous companies you've heard of—Facebook, Twitter, Tesla Motors, Uber—were started with VC capital. I wanted the NSA to have its own VC firm, like the CIA. They have In-Q-Tel. I desired a VC that the NSA Director could more easily influence.

"Now the entire IC has benefited from In-Q-Tel. For example, they were an early investor in Palantir Technologies. We've used their software to track terrorist money laundering."

"Don't you have DARPA?"

DARPA stood for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA was initiated after the shock of the Russian's launch of Sputnik in 1957. DARPA used to be an agency that looked 10 to 20 years ahead of the curve. Now, their timeframe was much more compact. DARPA's programs helped create the Internet, stealth aircraft, the global positioning systems (GPS), and Apple's Siri.

"Not only do we have DARPA, but we also have Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency—IARPA. And the NSA has its own research and engineering labs. They all have their place, but they can't match the passion, creativity, and innovation of startups.

"I'm convinced that America's greatest strength is its innovators. God wired entrepreneurs differently. Most government leadership plays not to lose. Entrepreneurs must play to win—or they starve."

"Ok, so I understand the VC aspect. Why did you combine the VC with an accelerator? What exactly does a startup accelerator do?"

"The fundamental idea is to find the best companies for your accelerator, provide them with a curriculum, mentors, office space, and technology to help them to succeed quickly. Accelerators give their portfolio companies a template—a recipe—for success. And they facilitate access to business leaders that have gone through similar startup challenges.

"A typical startup accelerator runs two classes every year. The classes last for about four months. During that four month period, business mentors provide intensive instruction—like a mini MBA course—on all aspects of startups; from sales, to product development, to finance.

"The selection process is intense and competitive. The accelerator typically receives a small portion of equity in exchange for a small amount of cash, usually around $25,000 to $50,000. After the four months, the startups graduate from the accelerator.

"Now, I wanted Defense Innovations Accelerator to operate a bit differently than that standard model. We conduct an eight-week introductory course for 12 competitively selected startups. After the introductory course, the 12 startups go through a down-selection process.

"The down-selected startups receive funding from the VC. The startups remain a part of our Accelerator for at least one year. If needed, I can offer to extend this period. I can also negotiate with the startups to provide additional funding. They almost always need more money.

"In our first Accelerator class, we down-selected five companies. This includes Gamification Systems, who you met yesterday; and CyberAI, who you'll meet shortly. A strength of our Accelerator is that we help our portfolio companies with the intricacies of government contracts. The NSA also works to expedite clearances for each startup. Clearances are a huge benefit. TS/SCI clearances are difficult to acquire. And, our Defense Innovations' office complex contains two SCIFs."

SCIF—pronounced, 'skiff'—stood for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities. The SCIFs were secure rooms on the second and sixth floors of the building. Both SCIFs allowed for TS/SCI communications.

Lin asked, "So, who are the other companies in the Accelerator?"

"In addition to Gamification Systems and CyberAI; Flashcharge and Prosthetic Thought went through the introductory course. Flashcharge markets a sophisticated, wireless charging system. Prosthetic Thought makes neural VR controllers. The idea is to use thoughts to control video game movement.

"Defense Innovations invested in another company, Swarmbot Corporation. They didn't go through the introductory course. I worked with the Co-Founders of Swarmbot before the NSA, when I was Commander of the 24th Air Force. So these five companies—Gamification, CyberAI, Flashcharge, Prosthetic Thought, and Swarmbot are the current portfolio companies of the Accelerator. I'm confident that they'll be able to sell technology to the NSA in the next year."

The 24th Air Force was located in San Antonio, Texas. The 24th provided defensive and offensive cyberwar capabilities to the Air Force. In San Antonio, General Shields got very familiar with the NSA because the 24th contributed the Airman for CYBERCOM.

CYBERCOM was led by the NSA, but comprised of servicemen and women from all the armed forces. In other words, CYBERCOM was composed of cyber-warriors from all four services: Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy.

"You're going like the kid who founded CyberAI, Josh Adler. He's a genius with AI, and he comes from good stock. His dad is the billionaire hedge fund manager, Jared Adler."

## Chapter 6 – Josh Adler

4:50 p.m. (EDT), Monday, July 27, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Suite 602, Conference Room, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Josh Adler, the Founder and CEO of CyberAI Defense, Inc., shot up from the conference room table. Josh removed his navy blue, Hugo Boss blazer and draped it over the chair. He wore a blue dress shirt with no tie.

Then he noticed his armpits. Colossal sweat stains transformed his shirt into a blue Rorschach test. The CEO recognized stress in the Rorschach blot. He quickly reapplied his coat. Josh took a series of deep breaths, attempting to reduce his heart rate. He didn't bother to bring a laptop. All the flat screens were black. He had no presentation. He had no demo. This meeting was going to disappoint General Shields.

Josh was an athletic looking, five foot ten, 23-year-old. He had an olive complexion, with curly brown hair and hazel eyes. On any day except today, Adler exuded a quiet confidence that naturally attracted followers. His enthusiasm for AI was as contagious, as his dimpled smile. Josh won the gene-pool lottery. He inherited his mother's good looks and his father's analytical mind. The stereotypical bookish AI expert looked nothing like Josh.

In order to start CyberAI, Josh dropped out of MIT during his junior year. In response, Jared Adler broke all contact with his son. Josh's greatest regret about quitting school was leaving the varsity MIT Crew team.

The CEO recognized opportunity when he saw it. He knew that automating cybersecurity with AI would lessen the need for human cybersecurity administrators. This would save money, while at the same time improving an enterprise's security posture.

With the growth of connected devices—phones, tablets, wearables, home automation products, sensors, and the like—hooking up to the 'Internet of Things,' the need for security administrators was skyrocketing. There was so much more Internet traffic to watch. Reducing companies' need for human cybersecurity engineers was a game changer.

Josh also felt that AI applied to cyber was just the beginning. His grand strategy was to use narrow AI for cybersecurity as a beachhead. In time, he could expand to a stronger form of AI. With this more general purpose AI, Josh could pivot to other markets, especially discovery.

The genesis of CyberAI Defense was a class assignment for a machine learning course at MIT. Some Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies gave MIT access to their large datasets. The goal was to see if the students could derive innovative insights from the data.

Josh choose to work with three petabytes of cybersecurity data supplied by the DHS and FBI. The data consisted of text-based, log files from hacked systems. Josh tuned his machine learning algorithms to perform natural language processing—NLP—on files from servers, hosts, intrusion detection systems, e-mail scanners, malware filters, and other enterprise infrastructure. In this manner, he trained the computer to reliably recognize patterns left by cyber-intruders.

Josh astutely perceived that he could use his algorithm to perform a job that took many human beings. Securing enterprise infrastructure was a labor intensive task that caused burgeoning payrolls for IT departments. And good security administrators were in short supply. They commanded high salaries. Josh felt if he could improve enterprise cybersecurity by 10 times, or 10X, CyberAI would be an incredibly valuable company.

Within the discipline of computer science, AI had a long history. First coined as a term in 1956 by Dartmouth professor John McCarthy, the goal of AI was to get computers to think like human beings.

To accomplish this task, over the years, AI developed a number of sub-disciplines that touched upon what it meant to be human. How does a computer learn? How does a computer process language? How does a computer see?

Due to the low processing power of computers, progress in these areas was painstakingly slow. A noteworthy milestone occurred in 1997, when the Deep Blue chess computer made by IBM, beat world champion chess player, Garry Kasparov.

After that event, many observers stated that it was merely an example of weak AI. Weak AI taught a computer a given task, like chess. Naysayers rightly said that there was a significant gap between playing chess and truly thinking like a human being. Strong AI was defined as human level thought.

The year 2010 was a watershed in AI. IBM's Watson supercomputer beat a group of former champions on the TV game show, Jeopardy. This feat was more impressive than winning a game of chess. Watson had to listen to Alex Trebek's questions and then process the language to find the answer. Watson married speech recognition with NLP, performed on vast libraries of information, like Wikipedia.

At the age of 13, Josh watched the Jeopardy contest. Watson completely mesmerized him. From that day forward, Josh wanted to make machines think. Josh envisioned AI algorithms that changed the world.

Algorithms dictated the sequential steps computers followed to perform a task. Step-by-step, the algorithm told the computer what to do. Algorithms worked no differently than a recipe to bake a cake. Line-by-line, the computer was told what step to execute next.

In a little over ten years, AI had progressed from beating the best chess player in the world, to beating the best Jeopardy players in the world. AI was moving closer and closer towards strong AI—towards thinking like a human.

But, many pundits remained skeptical as to whether computers would ever match the intelligence of human beings. They said there'd never be a genuinely strong AI. In these prognosticator's eyes, computer and human intelligence would never achieve parity.

Josh marveled at these doubters. AI was deployed so widely that if it disappeared, the world economy would cease to function. Without AI, no one could use a search engine, trade stocks online, or ask Apple's Siri a question. Planes would fall out of the sky. War would be fought as it was during World War II.

While it was true that AI did not match the intelligence of human beings in 2020, Josh reasoned that technology was progressing exponentially. Even if AI technology progressed more linearly, Josh thought strong AI would occur well within his lifetime.

Dystopian predictions for AI were at the other end of the spectrum. With this mindset, once strong AI happened, the next logical step was a Terminator-like, apocalyptic world. Computers and robots would enslave humanity to work for the good of the machines, plugged into the Matrix. Josh felt that while strong AI had downside risks, the more logical progression was that AI would augment human capability.

For example, think how much smarter a search engine on a smartphone made everyone. In fact, were Josh made king for a day, he would change the name of AI to extended intelligence. Josh viewed this scenario as the most likely. He wasn't naïve. AI would drastically hurt some forms of employment like taxi cab drivers, delivery men, and long-haul truckers. The pain would be real. And he did worry about the consequences to the economy. But, he felt that humanity would benefit from AI offerings that collectively improved the human experience. Josh expected the Bionic Man instead of Skynet. At least that was his hope.

Machine learning and NLP were the fields within AI that intrigued Josh the most.

Machine learning algorithms statistically sliced and diced data by classifying, clustering, and making recommendations. Movie recommendation engines and online shopping carts that suggested what you might like, based on past purchases, often used machine learning algorithms.

NLP attempted to understand text—characters, words, sentences, paragraphs, and the like. The lines often blurred between these fields. For example, CyberAI employed machine learning algorithms to improve the NLP capabilities of Josh's AI.

In the early 2010's some trends mingled to rapidly increase the effectiveness of AI. There was an explosion of large data sets created by the likes Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This was dubbed, 'Big Data,' by the press. In the history of humanity, data of this size and variety had never been created so fast.

Larger datasets gave machine learning more information from which to learn. Computers could learn to recognize cats, from the millions of cat photos people posted on social media. Also, as predicted by Moore's Law, computer processing power kept increasing exponentially. And now, you could cheaply rent supercomputers over the Internet cloud from Amazon and Microsoft.

Josh felt like he was born at the right time, selected for just this moment in history. He was excited to be down-selected to receive NSA funding. The nine months that Josh had been a part of Defense Innovations Accelerator were the best months of his life.

General Shields was like a dad to Josh. He was demanding, imaginative, determined, and wise. Most of all, Josh felt the General genuinely cared about his success. He trusted that Shields would move mountains to help CyberAI succeed.

For the past week, thinking of this demo was like carrying a backpack full of bricks. Josh knew he was not making sufficient progress since last month's demo. Without advancement, CyberAI would not improve enterprise cybersecurity by 10X. And the company would fail.

Also, the agreement that Josh signed with the Accelerator provided office space and access to mentors for a year. Only three months remained. Josh wanted to impress the General, so he'd exercise the option to extend CyberAI's time in the Accelerator.

Finally, the company had burned through $490,000 of the $750,000 of the Accelerators' initial investment—the seed round—in the last nine months. The money went primarily for salaries. The 'seed round,' was the term used to denote the first time outside capital was received. Other funding rounds that followed were called, 'Series A,' 'Series B,' and so on.

Josh had six employees, including himself, and his Chief Technology Officer—Vishnu, 'Vish' Kumar. In return for the capital, Defense Innovations received 21% of the equity. Josh took a minimal salary—enough to pay rent for his apartment and buy the ramen he ate every night.

CyberAI did have two ongoing paid pilot projects, providing a total revenue stream of $175,000, although he'd only received kickoff payments and milestone payments. Pilots were a 'try-before-you-buy' approach to selling enterprise software. Often enterprises expected pilot programs for free. Josh persuaded the companies to pay.

Selling enterprise software, especially as a startup like CyberAI, was extremely challenging. Most enterprises did not want to be guinea pigs and try something new from an unproven startup. And yet, the single greatest goal of an enterprise software company was to land their first referenceable clients. One benefit to selling enterprise cybersecurity software was that many organizations, especially government organizations, eschewed cloud delivery models for security concerns. Josh knew that over time, he'd have to develop a cloud-subscription offering to complement on-premise software delivery.

Running CyberAI was much more than developing advanced AI algorithms. CyberAI had to make more money than it spent. Or, it had to find more investment dollars. These pressures seeped into Josh's consciousness. They were always there. On one end of the balance scale, were Josh's hopes and dreams. On the other side, was the real-time dollar value of CyberAI's checking account. Josh had a recurring nightmare in which he told his employees that he could no longer pay them.

Today's balance in the checking account was $373,598.13. With his monthly burn rate of $55,000, Josh had six more months of funding. Before the money ran out, Josh either needed more investment capital, or to secure revenue from an enterprise software deal. Or, he'd be forced to declare bankruptcy.

## Chapter 7 – No Demo

5:00 p.m. (EDT), Monday, July 27, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Suite 602, Conference Room, Defense Innovations Accelerator

"Hi, Josh," said the General. "I can't wait to see what you have for me today!"

General Shields followed his hearty greeting by introducing Lin Liu. Josh did a double take. Then he remembered his crisis. His dimples uncharacteristically faded.

"Josh, before you show me your demo, why don't you give Lin your elevator pitch?"

"Yes, sir. Lin, CyberAI provides enterprise cybersecurity software to Fortune 1000 firms. What differentiates CyberAI from other cybersecurity offerings is our AI. Once you deploy CyberAI in your business, you have a world class AI engine to augment your cybersecurity team. CyberAI works 24/7, 365 days a year—to protect and defend your IT infrastructure.

"When it recognizes bad things—viruses, Trojan horses, botnet attacks—it either alerts your security administrators or automatically deals with the problem. In one of our pilot deployments, we were able to reduce their security department from over 100 engineers to 10 engineers. So you can see that the cost savings are massive."

Lin grinned. "Impressive. How does it differ from Gamification Systems' software that I saw last Friday?"

"I've never seen a Gamification demo, and I don't know their exact architecture, but my understanding is that they don't specialize in AI like we do." Josh's bravado masked the fact that the same question plagued him.

The General added, "It's the best AI I've seen for cybersecurity. Now, wait until you see his demo."

Josh stammered. "General, we've hit a roadblock with improvements in the NLP. I can't show you anything new. Our level of detection of cyber-threats is nearly the same as it was last time. The AI is recognizing 83% of the security events we're testing it against."

Josh believed the company would only be successful if the AI discovered upwards of 95% of nefarious cyber-events. He thought that performing above the 95% threshold would constitute his 10X improvement.

The General's granite jaw tightened. Clasping both hands to cover his mouth, he fixed his searing stare on the Founder. Time stopped for Josh. The bricks in his stress backpack fell, one-by-one, into the pit of his stomach.

CyberAI was his life. Josh couldn't even entertain the thought of failure.

"Son, I'm a five-star General, the first five-star since the Korean War." Josh's heart quivered. "I run the most powerful spy organization in the history of man. And right now, you have my undivided attention. I could be at the Fort, receiving analysis to the latest SIGINT on terrorists that want to destroy our country. Or, I could be briefing the President of the United States. Instead, I've chosen to invest my time—and NSA capital—in you. Do you know how many AI and cybersecurity companies want to be a part of this Accelerator? And you have nothing to show me?"

If the General's voice were a machine gun, Josh's body would've been riddled with holes. Josh cleared his throat to speak, but the General interrupted—mid-gulp.

"Charl—I mean Josh, CyberAI was the first company we down-selected for the Accelerator. You were picked first, because I believe in you most. This nation depends on its entrepreneurs to care for the protection and prosperity of its next generation. It's your job to provide cutting-edge cybersecurity software to the US taxpayer. Every minute, hackers launch an exponentially growing number of sophisticated cyber-attacks against DoD networks. I can't hire enough people to deal with it all. I need you to make your shit work!" The General slammed his right palm on the conference table.

"General Shields, I want you to know, I appreciate everything you've done for me. We're going to get orders of magnitude improvement for the next demo. I promise you that."

The General continued to glower at Josh. Then the intensity in his face began to wane. "Ok, I believe you. You've never let me down before. Every demo before this has shown spectacular improvement. And that's the right answer. 99 times out of 100, I would never get such a succinct briefing and honest assessment from either a govie or a contractor. They would have given me a 90-minute presentation on why, despite the apparent lack of success, they were indeed succeeding.

"It's why I believe the Accelerator is so important. You are essentially betting your life trying to hit a grand slam. If you don't hit a grand slam, you're going to fail. Most people are trying not to fail. They're bunting for singles. When they reach base on the bunt, they give themselves high-fives and re-name it a home run. It's not true of everyone, but it's true of the vast majority of people I've come across in government.

"I've implemented monthly demos for every member of the Accelerator. I know that the four-week sprints are challenging, but they allow me to consistently monitor progress. I intend to purchase technology from all the Accelerator's companies. I know you'll move heaven and earth to make the improvements."

Nobody ever went to a US government job fearing that the government would run out of money. Every day, employees of small startups were cognizant that today, could be their last day. This meant that successful startups had to focus on things that mattered. Quickly.

Slowly, the General's demeanor had returned to normal. "Maybe by looking at the problem from a different angle, you'll get a new perspective. Why don't you meet with Gamification and see if you can apply your AI to their software use cases? I think there are a couple of scenarios where you could help them."

"Alright," said Josh. His heart was now beating more like a marathon runner than a sprinter.

"You guys are not head-to-head competitors. You go about cybersecurity from complimentary angles. Talk to Samantha Powers and set something up. They have great stuff, but Gamification doesn't specialize in AI. However, I do think they're close to revenue. And, I believe I can push some your way...if everything goes well."

"Yes sir," said Josh, finally able to take in a deep breath. "I'll schedule it as soon as possible. I love revenue."

Josh left the room.

Josh felt as though he'd just been in the lion's den He'd survived. Not only had he survived, but he actually felt re-energized, in spite of the one hour of sleep last night. He couldn't explain it, but the General was inspiring. If only his father were like that.

When Josh made the decision to drop out of MIT, Jared Adler was filled with rage.

The elder Adler was the billionaire founder of the hedge fund, Adler Capital, located in Greenwich, Connecticut. He warned Josh that he was no Mark Zuckerberg. Why couldn't he get his undergraduate degree from one of the most prestigious universities in the country—especially for computer science majors? Once Josh graduated with his CS degree, he could do all the startups he wanted.

Josh was relieved to have a break from dealing with his dad. But, even though Jared Adler had always been a non-supportive, workaholic parent, Josh hated to disappoint him. He surely didn't want to let the General down.

## Chapter 8 – No Pain

5:35 p.m. (EDT), Monday, July 27, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Suite 601, General Shields' Office, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Lin Liu trailed Shields into his office. "That took a lot less time than I scheduled. You don't have your board meeting with Samantha until 6:30. Do you want me to attend?"

The General didn't respond.

"Sir, are you ok?"

"Yes, thanks for your concern. I'm just exhausted. You don't need to stay for the meeting. Go home and enjoy your night." After Lin had departed, General Shields locked the door to his office. He entered his personal bathroom and again locked the door. Shields looked at himself in the mirror and wept.

The main reason that the General chose CyberAI was that he completely believed in Josh. He was also impressed by the experience of Josh's CTO, Vish Kumar. Kumar's previous cybersecurity startup had sold for north of $300M.

But, there had also been an intensely personal reason for his selection. Josh Adler reminded him of his son. Though Charlie's murder occurred over five years ago, Shield's had to admit that he was not over it. He splashed water on his face, walked to his bar, and poured a drink. Then another. His pain slipped quietly into the shadows.

Josh and Charlie's personalities were so much alike. Can do. Confident. Bold ideas. The General missed Charlie in a way metaphors couldn't even articulate.

It was my fault he died, thought the General. Why did I glorify the military? Charlie could've done anything in life. Why did I force him to follow in my footsteps?

Shields was only internalizing what his wife said aloud when they fought. Thursday evening's argument with Lisa echoed through his mind.

"Wasn't it enough that I've given my life to be a General's wife—decades and decades of moving all over the country and never feeling at home? Then, I had to sacrifice my son? For what?" she demanded.

Charlie's public beheading live over the Internet ran on a loop inside Shield's head. It enraged the General. After five years, the US had yet to bring the killers to justice. He had watched the video 1000's of times, searching for clues. If POTUS and CIA weren't going to do their jobs—he would.

The General poured another shot.

## Chapter 9 – Samantha Powers

6:15 p.m. (EDT), Monday, July 27, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Suite 201, Gamification Systems' Offices, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Samantha printed the most up-to-date financials for her 6:30 board meeting with General Shields. She swiveled in her desk chair and grabbed the statements from the laser printer on her silver-mirrored credenza.

The most important report in a small startup was the statement of cash flows. This financial summary detailed money coming in, and money going out. There was not good news in the report. All the money at Gamification Systems was going out.

Gamification Systems had yet to make a sale. After nine months, there was no revenue. Samantha took no salary. She lived off savings. Even so—with nine employees—Gamification was burning $115,000 a month. There was about $275,000 cash in the bank. With that burn rate, the company could operate for less than two and one-half months. While the lack of revenue was not uncommon, especially for an enterprise software company like Gamification Systems, it was nonetheless very nerve-wracking for Samantha.

Additionally, like Josh, Samantha was coming to the end of the first year period with the Accelerator. Worst case, this gave the CEO three months. Then, not only would Samantha be out of money, but she would also need to lease new office space—and pay rent. Additionally, she would lose the ability to use the Accelerator's two SCIFs. Access to SCIFs came in handy for certain DoD contracts that required clearances.

SCIFs came in all types of configurations, ranging from multi-story office complexes to portions of planes, ships, and buildings. One of the SCIFs was across the hallway from Samantha, on the second-floor. A much larger SCIF occupied the sixth-floor, down the hall from General Shields' office.

There were a number DoD regulations regarding doors, walls, windows, and the like, that went into certifying a SCIF. SCIFs were also required to meet sophisticated specifications from a classified project code named, TEMPEST. Complying with TEMPEST ensured that no electromagnetic radiation could escape and be gathered by spies. Personal cell phones and other electronic gadgets, including laptops, were generally not allowed inside a SCIF.

Samantha also printed another financial statement—the balance sheet. Gamification's balance sheet recorded the VC deal. Nine months ago, General Shields and the Accelerator's investment committee voted to contribute $1M.

In return, Defense Innovations Accelerator received equity totaling 18%. Other terms of the deal included Samantha assigning 20% of the stock to an employee option pool. From this pool, Samantha offered Becca three percent. Becca's options vested, one percent per year. It was options like these that made multi-millionaires of former Microsoft secretaries. Samantha collated and stapled two copies of the financial statements.

All of Gamification Systems' employees worked in glass offices. From her desk, Samantha could see Becca sitting in the office next to her. She watched Ali and Saul banging out code on their laptops. At least, she hoped they were banging out code.

Samantha always mentioned the transparent workspaces in her new employee orientation: "Our offices are representative of the type of company culture we want to create at Gamification Systems; honest, open, and elegant. Walls don't exist in this company. Communication is the key to our success. My door is always open. If it's not open, at least you can look in and see why."

Today, however, she regretted her glass office. She picked up a mirror and reapplied her lipstick. Looking at her face she thought, I've aged five years in nine months. That's worse than dog years. Samantha worked 18 hour days.

Even though she was incredibly tired, in the last few months, she did more tossing and turning than sleeping. If she wasn't worried about making payroll or finding investors, she was thinking about the upcoming demo with Gecko Insurance. This was the gritty nature of startups that the media typically glossed over when they cherry-picked their favorite entrepreneurial success stories.

Becca wrapped her knuckle on the open glass door. She stuck her torso into Samantha's office. "Sam, you look beautiful."

"Ugh. You're just being sweet. I look haggard. But thanks. Are you trying to win employee of the month or something?"

Becca smiled. "Hey, we're all going to get a bite to eat at 7:30. We can nosh on some wings and catch a little of the Nats' game. Do you want to join us?" 'Nats' was the area nickname for the Washington Nationals baseball team.

"Oh, thanks for asking. But I've got my board meeting tonight. Maybe Friday?"

"I forget. Yeah, that sounds excellent. Good luck tonight, you'll do great."

Becca was Samantha's favorite employee. She spotted Becca's talent when they worked together at a government systems integrator. Becca was hardworking and bright. She reminded Samantha of a younger version of herself.

The CEO looked over the financial statements one last time.

Another term of the deal gave Defense Innovations the right to elect one board member. When the financing closed, General Shields was appointed to serve as that member. Boards were designed to provide strategic leadership and governance to their companies. CEOs usually worked at the behest of the board. This meant that the board could fire CEOs. Three to five members was the most typical configuration of the board for a startup of 100 employees or less.

The two person, Gamification Systems' board was a bit non-standard. However, there had only been a Series A round of investment. The board would grow in subsequent funding rounds, as investors typically requested a board seat.

Samantha had pitched Gamification to numerous other VCs. There was a high level of interest, but investors had yet to offer a term sheet. Samantha was not comfortable relying entirely on the Accelerator for the Series B round.

Defense Innovations was not committed to providing any further funding to Gamification. Locating investment capital would be much easier if Gamification just had one referenceable client. Samantha hoped that a successful demo to Gecko Insurance would lead to this outcome. But that was a long shot. Samantha perceived that Gecko was just kicking the tires. She didn't feel there was any urgency on their part. They weren't in a hurry to close a deal. She needed money quickly.

Samantha ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed her skirt.

## Chapter 10 – The Board Meeting

6:30 p.m. (EDT), Monday, July 27, 2020 - Columbia, MD

Suite 601, General Shields' Office, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Samantha Powers and General Shields sat close to each other at a cozy side table. In the middle of the table was a new, Universal Secure Phone. A bottle of Macallan 1928 single malt scotch rested next to the phone.

Samantha raised her glass to toast the General and declared: "I officially commence this board meeting." The two snickered.

"Oh, this is good," said Samantha, elatedly.

The General cackled. "It should be. That's a $50,000 bottle of scotch. I get all sorts of gifts in this job." A devious smile swept across his face.

"Josh Adler emailed me today and said that you told us to meet?" asked Samantha, nonchalantly. "I forwarded the email on to Becca. I knew you wanted us to talk. I just didn't realize it was so urgent."

"After his demo, it jumped up in priority. I know you're still a little apprehensive. Don't be. You want Gamification to be about gamifying and monetizing standard enterprise functions—cybersecurity is just one of them, right? I remember from your earliest presentations the idea that you wanted to expand to other business opportunities; like, human resources, call centers, and physical security?"

"Yes, General."

"CyberAI is better than you at recognizing sophisticated attacks. I think if you replace your current AI with CyberAI, you can quit devoting resources to developing software to identify cyber-threats. So if the conversation goes well with Becca, I'd like you to consider licensing his technology."

Samantha took a sip of her scotch to mask her frown. "I see. We're going to review the financials later, but you know that with nine people on the payroll, we're burning through our cash quickly. Unless I lay people off, there won't be any money for licensing."

"I know. I'm going to help you land Gecko Insurance as your first source of revenue. I think that deal can provide close to $1.2M. From that money, you can take about $250,000 to pay CyberAI for licensing."

Samantha's frown transformed quickly. "Landing our first paying customer would be so exciting! We're scheduled to conduct a demo and presentation to Gecko in two weeks. I just don't think they're ready to buy that fast."

"I believe I can get them to move quickly, if everything goes well on your end. Especially, if you can recognize spear phishing. Tim and I go way back. And, I have some inside information. Recently, hackers viciously attacked Gecko. The cyber-thieves sent spear phishing emails, with bogus .pdf insurance attachments, to Gecko customer service agents.

"When the Gecko agents clicked on the .pdf files, malware was downloaded to their system and spread everywhere. Then, the thieves snuck into Gecko databases and stole personal financial information, including credit card data and lists of insured assets. This hasn't been announced to the public yet. The FBI called us. It appears the hackers have some ties to the Caliphate. The whole situation gives me some leverage with Tim."

Samantha could barely contain herself. Landing the first paying client for an enterprise software firm was like scaling Mount Everest. Samantha batted her eyes at the General. "You're my hero," she said, using her cheesiest voice.

The General smiled broadly. "Of course I am. Now, let's make sure your hero isn't called to testify before Congress."

"Alright, the law firm is expecting our call on their secure line." Loreal & Hammer was a boutique law firm located 10 minutes away, in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. The General recommended the firm to all members of the Accelerator because Jim Loreal was a former NSA attorney.

Jim answered the secure phone. A secure phone ensured that voice communications over the regular public telephone network were encrypted, and not subject to eavesdropping. Voice and email were not the only forms of communication that could be encrypted. All types of communications—voice, satellite, radio, web, text, chat, and the like—could be encrypted. When 'https:' was visible in a browser, it signified that encrypted IP messages were being sent from the browser to the web server, and vice versa. Encryption made online shopping and banking safe.

Numerous algorithms existed to perform encryption. Over the years, NSA cryptographers developed many of these algorithms. In fact, with their chief mission to steal foreign SIGINT, and protect US military SIGINT; the NSA's staff consisted of the best collection of mathematicians and cryptographers in the world. The NSA was the lead DoD agency on encryption. It told the DoD what encryption algorithms were suitable for various levels of information exchange, including SECRET and TOP SECRET.

Due to leaks of classified information from Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, SIGNIT gathered from all over the world was increasingly encrypted. To read this information, the NSA had to break the codes, bypass the encryption, or persuade enterprises to volunteer their encryption keys. ''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''

Samantha greeted Loreal and told him that General Shields was present. She pushed the Hands-Free button. Shields and Loreal exchanged pleasantries.

Loreal asked, "If it's ok with you guys, I'd like to have our resident Bitcoin-Blockchain expert join our call? I've gone over our earlier conversations. He's got some recommendations."

The General and Samantha concurred. Loreal introduced Larry Watkins. Watkins possessed broad experience with Bitcoin and Blockchain startups. "As I understand it, you want to make sure that your Gamers can't claim they're Gamification employees?"

"Affirmative, Larry," said the General. "We want to maintain a clear line of separation between the Gamers and Gamification Systems. We don't want there to be any ties whatsoever. Gamers need to play games and earn rewards, without knowing anything about the gamified environment, or knowing that Gamification Systems' software is handling the game."

Samantha added, "Currently, we're paying the Gamers in Bitcoin. Our concern is that Gamers could be considered employees by the IRS and state employment agencies. Of course, that would mean we'd need to withhold and match payroll taxes."

"Right," said Watkins. "First, I'll give you some background on your employment issue; then, I want to review Bitcoin and the Blockchain. After that, I'll detail what I think is your best option. Ok?"

"Yes, that sounds good," replied Samantha.

"In our connected age, the boundaries between employer and employee gets fuzzier every day." Watkins spoke with a distinctive New York accent. "This issue has really come to the forefront, with the dawn of the sharing economy—the Ubers, the Lyfts, the Airbnbs of the world.

"Every state has different laws regarding drivers that receive payment for ride-sharing—and it's a big headache. Of course, that's why Uber and Lyft are aggressively moving towards self-driving cars, as are others. I think Nucleus Corporation's, A-Car, comes out late this year.

"You can make the argument that Gamers are independent contractors and are therefore responsible for their payroll taxes. And at first, that's what the ride-hailing companies did. But many lawsuits were filed to challenge this argument. Given the high profile nature of the NSA's investment in Gamification; I don't recommend this route."

"Good, we agree with you so far," said the General, with a chuckle.

Watkins laughed. "Anytime I talk about Bitcoin and Blockchain; I do a level-set. I know you have experience with Bitcoin as a digital currency, but are you familiar with the underlying concept of the Blockchain?"

The General replied, "I think we are, but go ahead and give us your spiel."

"Act like you're talking to your grandma," Samantha said. She smiled at the General like a school girl.

"Ok...so, the core idea that makes Bitcoin disruptive is that it doesn't require its users to trust one another," Watkins said, emphasizing the word, 'trust.'

"Let's say I run a dry cleaner. You come to pick up your clothes, and I charge you $75. You pull out your credit card, or the pay-app on your phone. This connects you to your payment processor, like Visa or Apple Pay. Now, what's important about this transaction is that I, as the dry cleaner, don't trust you to pay me.

"I trust your payment processor—the Visa, or MasterCard, or PayPal, or Apple Pay—whatever payment processor you use. Once they allow the transaction, I don't worry if you're going to pay your bill. And you don't have to trust me with your financial details. You trust the payment processor and authorize the transaction.

"Bitcoin gives you the ability to ditch the payment processor. You can cut out—completely disintermediate—the middle man. This is possible because the Blockchain allows for decentralized trust.

"The Blockchain is a shared ledger—think of a spreadsheet—that everyone in the world can simultaneously view. The Blockchain contains all the records, of all the transactions, ever conducted with Bitcoin. It's completely transparent.

"Everyone can see the record of the transactions—two Bitcoins went to this address, 1000 Bitcoins went to that address. It's important to understand that the addresses are not personally identifiable. Once the transactions are agreed upon, and entered onto the Blockchain, they can't be changed. Everyone owns the Blockchain; no one controls it.

"This is a big concept, so I want to make sure I highlight it. The right person can only add the right amounts. Once it's recorded, the transaction can't be modified. Cryptography and encryption make the transaction tamper-proof. This ensures that the Blockchain is trustworthy. No company has to guarantee that it's trustworthy. I'm concentrating on the business aspects of Bitcoin and the Blockchain. I mean, the underlying technology is sophisticated—but I want you to get Blockchain from a business perspective.

"This is the critical point. When the dry cleaner accepts Bitcoin, they trust the Blockchain. They don't have to trust a payment processor. More importantly—they don't have to pay a transaction fee to a payment processor.

"As the dry cleaner, I trust that you own the Bitcoins that you are giving me, and that you haven't spent them anywhere else. Then, your Bitcoins become mine. Now, only I can use them. Or anyone else that has access to my passcode—but that's a separate issue. The Blockchain records all of this. And again, encryption and cryptography allow you to trust it."

Watkins stopped to take a breath. "Are you following me?"

"Yes," said Samantha, "enough at least. But we're not so concerned with Bitcoin; we're using it ourselves to pay the Gamers. We want to make sure that these Gamers can't claim that Gamification Systems is their employer. We not only want to avoid tax issues, but we don't want to be liable if the Gamers injure themselves, like if they trip and fall during a VR session. The Pokemon Go lawsuits raised a lot of eyebrows."

"Right," replied Watkins. "So hang on just a little longer. What I've just described is what's been going on for the last 10 years—let's call it Blockchain 1.0—Blockchain only related to Bitcoin.

"Most of the companies' recently going public—BitSa, BitMents, the Bitcoin wallet providers—those type of businesses are focused on Blockchain 1.0. BitSa processes payments for less than 1%. Credit card companies typically charge a 3-5% per transaction fee. So that's pretty disruptive. The big banks are also heavily employing the Blockchain to clear transactions.

"Arguably, you can call Bitcoin the first killer app that uses the Blockchain. I mean, Bitcoin has had its ups and downs over the years. It had a massive run up in value, and then it crashed. Now that the price of Bitcoin has stabilized, it's on a nice growth curve.

"But, let's talk about Blockchain 2.0. This is the Blockchain applied to other ideas than Bitcoin. And now, I'll directly address your employment issue. Have you guys heard of BlockHR?"

"A little," replied Samantha. "I read a blurb about them in Fortune. They're something like a national employment agency?"

"Samantha, when do you find time to read?" teased the General.

Samantha replied coyly, "I find time to do a lot of things."

Even over the phone, Watkins was uncomfortable. He returned to the Blockchain as quickly as possible. "So, BlockHR is a like an employment agency and payroll processing company. But, they're completely based on Blockchain 2.0 technology. They use the Blockchain to record smart contracts. Unless both parties agree, the digital contracts are unalterable. The smart contracts function just like an executed legal agreement. In fact, I think you'll see a lot fewer lawyers in the future."

General Shields howled. "Insert lawyer joke here."

Watkins laughed, but only because Shields was paying for his time. "BlockHR's smart contracts are agreements among the company, their employees, and their clients. The software-based, smart contracts enforce those agreements—all with minimal human intervention. Legally, BlockHR is a Distributed Autonomous Company—almost like a robot company. They do have a small management team, IT staff, and a sales force.

"Samantha, as you know, BlockHR is one of the fastest growing startups in the world. Their initial growth was due to revenue from all the sharing companies. Now, many other companies are using them. I think they just closed another round of VC funding, for something crazy like over $1B.

"Back to Blockchain 2.0. Anything that necessitates a middleman can either be made more efficient, or eradicated by Blockchain 2.0. In my opinion, Blockchain will be on par with the Internet as a force of disruption. It's going to change everything.

"For example, I just bought a new BMW. I didn't talk to a single person. The dealership bound the car title to me on the Blockchain. They did that with a cryptographic hashing algorithm. When a hashing algorithm runs against a block of data, like the car title, it returns a result. This result is a series of characters called the hash. The hash is like a digital fingerprint that uniquely identifies the document.

"If the hash ever changes, you know that something on the title has changed, even if it was just a punctuation mark. So no one can steal the title of my car. No modifications to the title can proceed without my approval." Watkins was so excited about Blockchain that he forgot who was on the other end of the phone. He was explaining cryptography to the boss of the best cryptographers in the world.

"Oh, I'm sorry General. I didn't mean to talk down to you." Certifying hashing algorithms for the DoD also fell under the purview of the NSA.

"Not a problem, Mr. Watkins," said Shields. "I'm sure they use a hashing algorithm from the SHA-2 or SHA-3 family. By the way, did you know that hashing is the best way to store passwords? When you create your password, the hash should be stored, not the password. Later, when you log-on and enter your password, the hashes are compared. Storing actual passwords is a terrible security practice. Hackers can easily steal them. If you ever call a company because you can't remember your password, and they give it to you, they didn't hash the passwords. They're storing your password in plaintext."

General Shields winked at Samantha.

"That's fascinating General. Thank you," said Watkins, sounding embarrassed. "So continuing, I can use the Blockchain to prove my ownership of the BMW to anyone in the world. The BMW's title history will be on the Blockchain for everyone to see—forever. Because it reduces the cost of so many types of transactions, Blockchain usage is growing rapidly. It's cheap because it's transparent, efficient, and there's no middleman to pay. Or, at the very least, the middleman's fees can be reduced.

"Back to BlockHR. Let's say; you use an employment agency to pay your Gamers. Typical employment agencies charge a hefty markup on the employees, sometimes as much as 40-100%—or more. Because software-based smart contracts and the Blockchain automate everything, BlockHR takes a much smaller cut. BlockHR pays the employees via Bitcoin, which is visible on the Blockchain. The IRS is going to start processing tax returns and payroll taxes via the Blockchain soon.

"I see BlockHR as the solution to your problem. There's one more alternative. It's a step beyond BlockHR. It's 100% automated. No humans are involved. It's a true robot company. Legally, it's known as a Distributed Autonomous Trust. But it's newer and unproven. I'm concerned with who you'd sue in a dispute. And, unlike BlockHR, they're not indemnifying their clients yet. So, I'd stick with BlockHR."

Samantha was pleased. "Wow! You could have just said call BlockHR. But, thanks for the background information and your counsel. I agree with you. Blockchain is going to be huge. My mind is struggling to grasp all the ramifications." Samantha politely ended the call.

"General," said Samantha, flirtatiously, "we're way ahead of schedule. I expected some serious work to solve this problem. All I have to do is phone BlockHR; so...we have some time to kill."

Shields devilish smile returned. "Before we kill that time, let's go over your financials." The General glanced quickly at the cash flow statement.

Samantha let him digest the report. "You can see why I'm so excited about Gecko. I've got 75 days of cash. All of my staff is critical. I don't want to lay off anyone. So, I'm a little stressed out right now."

"I know. I feel good about Gecko. If they're a no-go, or you can't get the money from them in time, then we'll work on closing a new round of financing. I'll urge the investment team to value Gamification at a higher valuation, so that you don't have to give up as much equity as last time."

Pressure released from points all over Samantha's body. She took her first satisfying breath in months.

The General continued, "One last item before we start killing that time. Becca said the Gamification Systems' API can work with other games; games you didn't design. Right?"

"Yes, that's the idea. Just like I don't want us to be an AI company, I also don't to be in the business of developing video games. Becca did a great job with Castle Gecko, but I'd rather have the company focus on improving the core gamification software—G-Bridge. It's just a matter of meeting with the game manufacturer and determining what gaming engine they've used."

"Outstanding," replied General Shields. "I'm going to introduce you to Velocity Game Studios, the makers of Fog of War. It's a blockbuster first-person shooter, video game. Velocity has a contract with the US Special Operations Command—SOCOM—to port Fog of War."

"Port it for what?"

"Velocity created a version of the game that incorporates classified information. Special forces operators use if it for close-quarters combat training. The Velocity team has programmers with TS/SCI clearances. Your work with Velocity is a TOP SECRET project code named, FOGGY. I need you to pick one of your most trusted employees with a TS/SCI clearance. This employee needs to make Fog of War work in GAMESPACE. I suspect that's Saul?"

"Yes, it's definitely going to be Saul. G-Bridge was my idea, but Saul was the brains behind the architecture."

"Fine. Then, I'm going to read you, Saul, and some Velocity employees into project FOGGY, as well as Lin. The only SCIF accredited for FOGGY will be on your floor. Also, I want you to expedite the integration with Prosthetic Thought."

"Ok," said Samantha. "We're close to being integrated. Their stuff is a little buggy. Thought-based control of VR is cool, but it doesn't work all the time."

The General agreed. "They're improving their algorithms that understand brain waves. I've been told that all the kinks will be gone soon. Of course, you can't discuss anything related to FOGGY with anyone at Gamification, but Saul. Also, there's a project that I can't discuss yet. But, I'm going to need your top REALSPACE talent."

"General, you're so mysterious. That's going to be Ali Asir and Saul—"

"Do you absolutely need Saul? I'd rather compartmentalize FOGGY from the other project."

"I'm sorry General. You know how I hate to disappoint you," said Samantha, seductively. "But first off, you're not telling me anything about the project. Secondly, Saul is also the key to doing anything in REALSPACE. He knows G-Bridge backwards and forwards. Ali is very sharp, but he takes his lead from Saul."

"Ok," said the General, with a tone of resignation in his voice. "But, I need you to keep everything very compartmentalized. There can be no leaks of this classified information. Only those read into FOGGY, can know about FOGGY.

"Even details about information that's not classified; like the integration you're doing with Prosthetic Thought, you need to keep on a need-to-know basis. And, I want you to keep Becca Roberts in the dark about these classified projects. She can't work any of them."

Samantha was irritated by the directive to cut Becca out of the loop. "Let me get this straight. You want GAMESPACE to incorporate a first-person shooter that gamifies something secret in REALSPACE, using brain waves for virtual reality control? And, you're limiting the resources I can employ? You don't want my second best software engineer to work on it? Is that all you want?"

"That's all you need to know for now. But that's not all I want," said the General. He poured them both another scotch. "I want you—now."

Shields' words didn't register with Samantha. "Why don't you like Becca?"

"I like Becca a lot. I agree. She's one of your best. I know Saul is a better coder, but Becca is both a great software engineer and an outstanding communicator. She's probably more valuable to Gamification Systems than Saul. You can put her in front of a client. It's great that you have her working with Josh. But I've read her SF-86."

SF-86's were the form that individuals seeking to work with classified information submitted to the government. It was the document used to formally request a clearance. The Office of Personnel and Management—OPM—was the government agency ultimately in charge of SF-86's.

SF-86's not only contained extremely personal information, like financial records and health data, but also included data on known associates of the person seeking the clearance. This included neighbors, co-workers, parents, spouse, ex-spouses, and children. In 2015, the OPM database was hacked, yielding a massive amount of personal information—including fingerprint data.

The General continued, "Her dad is a fundamentalist pastor. She strikes me as a bit naïve. Becca is a straight arrow. Straight arrows get bent when you have to fight radical Islamic terrorists, like the Caliphate."

A flash of hot anger shot through Samantha. Who the hell was he, to tell me, how to run Gamification Systems? She quickly suppressed the emotion.

Then, the General's words of boardroom foreplay finally hit her. She was appreciative of him for the Gecko opportunity and funding offer. She didn't want to ruin the moment. "Ok. I understand." She'd employ the art of persuasion in upcoming days.

Samantha rose from her chair and straddled the General with her taut thighs.

As the two began to kiss, the General fondled Samantha's voluptuousness.

"General," she said, oozing lust, "I don't know anything about a straight arrow; but, there's something else that's very straight in this room."

Samantha grabbed the General's hand. She led him over to his English oak desk. In one fell swoop, Samantha dumped the entire contents of the desk to the floor. Papers and file folders scattered everywhere. Then, she sprawled on the desk and beckoned the General to join her.

The two pleasured each other with passionate sex for hours.

## Chapter 11 – Becca Meets Josh

9:05 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, July 28, 2020 – Columbia, MD

Suite 201, Gamification Systems' Offices, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Josh exited the elevator and set foot into the offices of Gamification Systems, for the first time. He smiled at the receptionist, asking if Becca Roberts was available. "My name is—"

"Josh Adler," interrupted the receptionist, reciprocating Josh's smile. "Let me see if Becca is available."

Becca said she'd be right out. She reached into her purse, grabbed a mirror, and fixed her shoulder-length hair. There was no ponytail today. Eye makeup replaced her glasses. Like the receptionist, Becca knew of Josh Adler.

Over the past nine months, they had on occasion, seen one another in the Accelerator's cafeteria. They exchanged niceties—but nothing more than that. They were competitors.

Becca entered the reception area. "Hi, Josh!"

"Hey, Becca. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice."

"Sure, what the General wants; the General gets. Let's go back to my office to talk about integration options. Do you need anything to drink?"

"I'll have a shot of tequila," he answered, sarcastically.

Becca laughed. "So early in the morning? Yesterday's demo went that well, huh? How about coffee? Then, let's see if we're still talking by happy hour."

"Deal."

After stopping by Gamification's kitchen, Becca walked Josh back to her glass office. All the see-through offices overlooked a room that contained a conference table and wall-to-wall whiteboards.

"Cool offices," said Josh. "Wouldn't I love to see what my employees were up to, every minute of the day?" Next door, Samantha was on the phone with her door shut. She waved at Josh. Becca's workspace was manageably messy, with lots of technology books and magazines strewn about. She must have owned every edition of 2600 Magazine.

Josh examined Becca's degree in computer science. "How'd you like Carnegie Mellon?"

"It was an excellent education, but I hated the Pittsburgh weather and stinkbugs. I wish Andrew Carnegie had started the steel industry by a beach."

"Ha!" bellowed Josh. Next, he focused on a picture of a much younger Becca. She stood, arm-in-arm, with a man that looked to be her father. They were dressed in fall season, camouflaged hunting gear. A black boar lay dead at the tip of their hunting boots. He's kind of nosy, thought Becca.

"You're a hunter?" asked Josh, with a surprised inflection.

"Yeah. My dad taught me to hunt, while growing up in Texas. That picture was taken at a family friend's ranch. We'd go there to kill wild pigs. Farrell hogs are nasty. They're all over Texas ranches. If you don't kill them, they'll eat all the crops and make huge mud pits in the fields. They love corn."

"I'm impressed. You've got to be brilliant to get into Carnegie's computer science program. And you can handle a gun."

Becca giggled. She hoped she wasn't blushing.

Josh grabbed the chair in front of Becca's desk and got down to business. "During my demo, General Shields suggested that I meet you, to see if we could help each other with AI. AI is the heart of my company. I've hit a roadblock in my machine learning and NLP algorithms. Right now, our AI is narrowly applied to recognizing cybersecurity events—scans, botnet attacks, deployment of malware—things like that.

"CyberAI also matches these cyber-events against threats we gather from crawling the web and social media. So for example, if a hacker starts maligning your company in a Tweet, we'll be on elevated alert. The General thought we might be able to help you recognize these cyber-events. He also suggested that you had a more general purpose need for AI. I'm not sure what he meant by that."

Becca gazed into Josh's face—and dimples—intently. Luckily, her multi-tasking mind could listen at the same time. "I think there are a couple of possibilities for integration."

She picked up a coffee mug full of whiteboard markers and spied an empty section of her office wall. On the glass, she drew the same architectural diagram she sketched for the General—REALSPACE, G-Bridge, and GAMESPACE.

"We turn cybersecurity into a game. But that's just one use case. We want to be able to gamify a lot of things. So, I see some synergies here. Quite frankly, we've spent a lot of time programming our system to recognize cyber-attacks and events. If you could do that for us, it would allow us to focus on G-Bridge. G-Bridge has a robust API. So we might be able to rip out our AI, and replace it with yours. What language did you use?"

"The architecture of the CyberAI engine is pretty sophisticated. It's got packages written in C++, Java, CUDA, Python, and even some Assembly Language. Some modules have to run like lightning. But the CyberAI engine exposes a number of APIs, so to you, it's like a black box. We have APIs for C++, Java, Python, and REST."

C++, Java, CUDA, Python, and Assembly Language were all computer programming languages. Each language had strengths and weaknesses. CUDA was a language that you'd use to interact with NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units—GPUs. GPUs were special purpose chips that offloaded certain types of tasks from a computer's CPU. The first market for GPUs was gaming machines. Recently, car and truck manufacturers were rapidly integrating GPUs into their autonomous vehicles for their AI incorporating deep learning algorithms. GPUs were also critical components within VR and AR gear.

Assembly Language was a low-level language that talked directly to CPUs. It was complicated to write, but ran very quickly. C++, Java, and Python were all higher level languages. They were easier to write than Assembly, but executed more slowly. The REST API spoke the same language as an Internet browser. Companies, like Facebook and Twitter, exposed REST APIs to enable computer programs to interact with their websites—without the use of a browser.

Josh continued, "I'd recommend either the C++ API or the Java API. Those will work best for you."

Becca was encouraged. "That's awesome! Are you guys able to handle spear phishing?"

"Yes, sometimes we throw a false positive. But at least you're made aware of the danger. The spear phishing engine detects spoofing and homographs. It also incorporates DNS heuristics and can see if emails comply with an enterprise's content compliance policies."

"Great," replied Becca. "If you're better than us at recognizing cyber-events in REALSPACE, especially things like spear phishing, then we'll just use your AI engine. I think the second place will be more of a stretch for you. It's beyond the weak AI of merely recognizing cyber-events. It's related to GAMESPACE.

"I'd like to investigate how your AI could replace or, at least lessen the need for our G-Master. This requirement should help you move your engine towards stronger AI, because you'd be replacing a human being.

"Right now, a G-Master has to watch every moment, of every game. The G-Master has to ensure the Gamers don't get stuck, and that the cyber-events in REALSPACE are appropriately represented in GAMESPACE. For example, what if the Gamers collectively decided to seek treasure instead of thwarting a virus in REALSPACE? Instead of fighting a monster in GAMESPACE, they'd be filling their pockets with gold."

"Who could blame them?" said Josh, sardonically.

"That's the problem. In our game we call Castle Gecko...I mean Castle Chevaliers, we try to handle this with Bitcoin rewards. But, Gamers aren't forced to do anything. It's an open-world game. As G-Master, I might have to intervene by spawning a non-player character or verbally chastising them to get back into the fight."

"I see," said Josh, "so your client is Gecko Insurance?"

Becca went flush. "No, our client builds castles," she replied, with a deadpan voice. "The point is, I could see using your AI to replace our G-Master."

"I understand. I agree that we can definitely take over the AI for REALSPACE when you're dealing with cybersecurity. And we can work further on your G-Master replacement requirement. It does fit with my vision of developing stronger artificial intelligence. Let me tell you a little more about CyberAI."

Josh stood up and moved towards Becca. "May I?"

"Sure." Becca handed Josh her coffee mug full of whiteboard markers, and the red pen in her grasp. In the exchange, Becca and Josh's hand touched—just for an instant. Becca's stomach tingled. All she could see were dimples. She thought their touch might have passed a static electric charge.

Becca struggled to get back to her seat without drawing attention to herself. "You can erase all of that." Phew, I'm glad my voice didn't squeak, she thought.

Josh penned his own architectural diagram. "It sounds like you're very familiar with AI. CyberAI is a comprehensive cybersecurity suite that touches network security, application security, server security, monitoring, smart availability throttling, and automated incident response."

Becca laughed. "How in the world do you remember everything you do?"

Josh grinned. "I don't. The AI does. Anyway, one of my special focus areas was mitigating insider threats—rogue system administrators and hackers that game the system to get elevated privileges. If a system administrator—like Edward Snowden—starts reviewing a lot of files or searching in directories where he's never been; CyberAI raises alarms.

"I'm trying to enhance the AI. I want it to predict when someone will be a threat. The General really likes that part. And of course, we integrate with virus and malware detection software. I've already told you about how we ingest data from the web and social media sites. I'm also trying to create an AI-bot that crawls the Deep Web. So that's a broad overview." The Deep Web was the portion of the Internet that was not indexed by search engines.

"Our AI Kernel is at the heart of all of this. We developed it to work with various AI algorithms. Until last month, the AI Kernel focused on text—you know with NLP—and machine learning. The algorithms operated on both the log files and the web data. Of course, the perfect NLP would read a book, and understand it as well as a human reader. My NLP is far from perfect."

Josh told Becca about his MIT coursework and the genesis of CyberAI.

"I used one-third of the security log data to train my NLP machine learning algorithms. Then, I used the other two-thirds of the data to see if I could detect the attacks. I repeated this process of training and testing, training and testing, until I was achieving good results. My CTO, Vish Kumar, focused—"

"Vish Kumar from Graphica Intelligence? He's a rock star!"

"Yeah," replied Josh, "He came to us after Graphica's acquisition. Vish's team is superb at packet inspection and employing graph analytic algorithms to identify threats. His stuff is slick. It proactively identifies suspicious packets from compromised hosts."

Graph analysis used graph theory to find meaningful relationships in social networks and other graph data. Graph analysis of your Facebook friends or Twitter followers could lead to discovering unexpected connections and relationships.

"So why are you in my office?" said Becca, semi-sarcastically. "It sounds like you got this all figured out."

Josh huffed. "Hardly, CyberAI only recognizes 83% of cyber-threats. That's too low. It doesn't do enough to minimize the need for human security administrators. Now Vish's stuff is killing it, but my software isn't improving in its recognition capabilities. And that's just recognition. I'm not moving any closer to where I really want CyberAI to go—prediction. And beyond that, I want to enable discovery. I think the future of AI is extending human intelligence, not replacing it.

"I've gotten the last drop of blood from improvements to NLP using standard machine learning techniques. Last month, I decided to add another group of algorithms to our AI kernel—deep learning. Do you know anything about deep learning?"

"Yes, but act like I don't," she replied, channeling her inner General Shields. Becca did draw a line. She wouldn't instruct Josh to pretend she was his grandma.

"Deep learning is a particular type of machine learning. Deep learning algorithms break problems up into many different layers. Statistical calculations are performed on the data at each layer. The information can be images, sound, text, graphs, and so on. These calculations determine the essential similarities, or features, for each layer.

"Deep learning is inspired by learning in the human brain. The multiple layers of a deep learning algorithm are called a, 'neural network.' Powerful neural networks, trained by deep learning, are behind some of the biggest breakthroughs in AI in the last decade."

"Breakthroughs like what?" asked Becca.

"Breakthroughs like self-driving cars. Autonomous vehicles must recognize and react to obstacles and road conditions. Breakthroughs like speech recognition in digital personal assistants. Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, and Amazon's Echo have to understand speech to answer questions and process commands. Breakthroughs like Facebook's software that automatically tags and categorizes images without human help."

"That's interesting. I didn't realize that deep learning was so pervasive."

"Who knew, right?" said Josh. "Deep learning is becoming a new computing model. It's going to impact every industry. Not only is it going to allow voice commands to be a new input for computing, but visual computing will take off. Kids will play chess against the computer with a real chess board.

"Despite all its promise, I'm struggling to get any meaningful impact from my neural network that understands English. I've crawled the Internet with spiders, just like the Atom search engine. I've assembled an enormous amount of text to use as a training set. While my hardware certainly can't compare with Nucleus' server farm, my dad was a big investor in NVIDIA. He gave me two, first-generation NVIDIA DGX-1 deep learning supercomputers.

"I used this data to train the neural network to understand the text. Then, I applied the neural network to the log files I've used in the past. When I combined my old machine learning stuff, with new deep learning algorithms; the AI's inference results only improved .08%. That's why my demo for General Shields went so poorly."

Becca carefully examined CyberAI's architecture. After some long moments in thought, she said, "I believe you need a better training set. You need a purer corpus of text that serves as your ground truth. My guess is that there are too many semantic differences in your Internet text. Your neural network isn't understanding the English well enough."

Josh looked impressed. "I've got a pretty sophisticated annotation layer that allows me to add nuances and labels to the corpora. But I agree; that's where I need to focus."

"Why not use the Bible?" suggested Becca. "The Bible has a vast amount of text and many different versions. They all carry the same ideas using different words. That can help you with the semantics. If you ever want to move beyond English, there's a Bible for every language. Plus, you have a massive amount of commentaries written in different time periods. There's a shared meaning between all of this corpora to help you with semantics and labels. It's like a built-in annotation layer. It'll give you many more reliable hooks."

With a droll smile, Josh replied, "The Bible? Are you some kind of Holy Roller? Hacker, computer programmer, hunter, and Bible thumper?"

Becca scowled at Josh.

"What? I'm just having fun."

She maintained her stare. "No, I'm not a Bible-thumper. Far from it. I just happen to know a lot about the Bible. My dad was a Pentecostal preacher in Texas. He fed me the Bible for breakfast. He has a vast library of Bibles, Bible dictionaries, Bible handbooks, Bible commentaries; he's really smart about Scripture."

"What's a Pentecostal?"

"Pentecostals are non-Catholics. Think Billy Graham, not the Pope. By that, I mean they are Protestants. Pentecostals emphasize a more active role for the Holy Spirit in their faith. So to them, God still speaks, God still heals—things like that. A lot of TV preachers are Pentecostals."

"Hmm," replied Josh. "What does your mom do?"

His question threw Becca off. "My mom died of ovarian cancer when I was 10." Then God disappeared, she thought.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Josh. "My mom and dad divorced when I was starting high school, but it's nothing like losing your mom. I run the Jewish race—not the religion—if you know what I mean."

Becca didn't catch Josh's humor. She didn't want to talk any more about her mom, dad, or religion. "With all the variations of text, I think you can use the Bible as a Rosetta stone to train your neural network."

"I believe you're right. I think employing different translations of the Bible and the commentaries as training data for my recurrent neural network makes a lot of sense. I'd hypothesize that the text will be of higher fidelity. It should really help improve my word vectors. I'm going to start architecting and training the software tonight.

"Once I get it trained, I can see if the neural network improves the recognition of cyber-events. Then, I can start thinking about replacing the G-Master. I'm excited about that use case. I do want to head in the area of stronger AI. I've been trying to expand Vish's vision beyond cybersecurity. In time, I want to out-do the Atom search engine. I'd like to perform discovery—not search. And I'd like to make it social discovery in a VR world."

Josh had long believed that a significant proportion of Atom search engine traffic could be displaced by an AI that discovered things for its users. Users would no longer have to type explicit search terms. Nucleus wouldn't like it, but maybe they'd buy his company.

Josh didn't view discovery and search as mutually exclusive, but he felt that if he implemented discovery in a compelling manner, the Atom search engine would not be the only game in town. He believed that discovery could be especially compelling if coupled with VR or Augmented Reality—AR.

VR and AR were similar. The primary difference was that the VR head-mounts completely shut out the real world. VR was total immersion. AR superimposed digital content, like words or graphics, over the physical world. It wasn't fully immersive; you could still interact with your physical environment. In the same way that the computing experience on a phone differed from a PC; VR and AR were distinct computing platforms.

Becca re-engaged in the conversation. "Wow, that's exciting! I want my computer to discover things for me. Then, I can quit searching. I get it. So, to summarize our meeting, we're not in love with our current AI—it's just an open source engine we've trained for cyber-events. Our entire architecture is modular; all of our intellectual property centers on G-Bridge. My co-worker, Ali, will welcome focusing on other things rather than recognizing cyber-events. You just have to talk to Samantha about how all this happens from a business perspective. That's above my paygrade. I suppose you can work out a licensing agreement or something."

"Right," said Josh, "I'll shoot her an email later tonight and copy you on it. When I'm done, maybe we could get together? I'll show you what I've got. By the way, is it happy hour yet?"

"Hardly," laughed Becca. "That sounds like a plan."

Becca's mind wandered. "I've been thinking. You're a smart guy. Maybe you know the answer. I understand how Gamification Systems, CyberAI, and the thought-based VR controller company—Prosthetic Thought—were down-selected for the Accelerator.

"And now, I get what the General was thinking when he suggested we're more complimentary than competitive. But why do you think Shields also funded a drone company and a wireless power company? It doesn't make any sense to me."

Josh paused. "I guess I haven't ever thought about it. I think Flashcharge will wirelessly power the drones. I've talked to the Swarmbot guys. Their focus is on cheap drones and robots that provide swarm intelligence—link ants or bees. But, I don't know what the NSA needs with swarming robots. Their expertise is in signals intelligence and encryption."

## Chapter 12 – Becca's Story

12:20 p.m. (EDT), Thursday, July 30, 2020 – Baltimore, MD

National Aquarium, 501 East Pratt St.

Becca nearly choked on her sandwich. She gasped loudly at the uncomfortable question from her father, Elisha Roberts.

Earlier in the morning, she Ubered the 20-plus mile drive from Columbia to the National Aquarium. Becca and her dad spent the morning touring the huge complex. The Dolphin Discovery Exhibit, which housed eight Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, consumed a good portion of their morning together. She loved the dolphin's intelligence and grace.

The father and daughter were on the top floor of the aquarium. They'd just strolled through the Sea Cliffs Exhibit and grabbed a box lunch from the Harbor Market Counter. They sat at a table overlooking Baltimore's historic, Inner Harbor. Watching this same harbor during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Elisha Roberts was in town to be a guest pastor at a Charismatic church, just outside downtown Baltimore. Other than some doctrinal beliefs related to the Holy Spirit, little separated Charismatics from Pentecostals. They were both significant constituents of Evangelicals—the group Becca felt only received their news from Fox and the Drudge Report.

"Dad, I haven't found a church that I like. I've been working almost 24/7 for Gamification," said Becca, with a snarky tone.

Becca was telling a half-truth. She hadn't found a church. But, she also wasn't looking. Becca's heart hurt when she thought about church. There were so many fond memories. Memories of her mom and dad attending church and church activities, like picnics and campouts. Texas was a lifetime ago.

The brow-beating question irritated her. She loved her father. But Becca maintained a slowly simmering bitterness—or maybe it was disappointment—with her dad. She was definitely angry at God, if He existed.

Pastor's kids didn't just go to church on Sundays. They lived church daily. Elisha preached at two services on Sunday. After that, there was the Wednesday night service. Church members were always dropping by the house. Despite the busyness, those were the happiest days of Becca's life.

Then her mom died. Elisha Roberts, an up-and-coming healing preacher, could get other people healed—but not her mom. Susan Roberts was in the prime of her life, when the cancer attacked the very ovaries that gave Becca breath. Becca stopped believing in her dad and God.

After Susan's death, Elisha had to leave Texas. There were too many memories for him to process every day. Elisha suffered a protracted season of depression. A friend in Tennessee hired Elisha to be an associate pastor of his Memphis church.

This was a huge demotion, but Elisha didn't feel right about pastoring other people. He was struggling to pastor himself. Recently, when his friend retired from the ministry, Elisha was elected senior pastor.

Her mom's death and the subsequent move, robbed Becca of her very identity. She took up hacking as a coping mechanism to escape the pain. Hacking, and later programming, had a certainty to it. It was simple cause and effect. Do this. Don't do that. Learning the rules was all consuming. But, at least there were rules. If something broke, Becca could fix it. And, she didn't have to think about her mom.

In her early years, Becca wasn't covering her hacking tracks very well. At the age of 14, the Memphis FBI paid a visit to Elisha. Becca got off with a warning. A motherly FBI agent took an interest in Becca. They remained close. She helped Becca land a job as a part-time hacker for the FBI. Becca moved out of her dad's house when she was 18.

Elisha smiled, "Alright, Alright. No more church attendance quizzes. Have you shot any wild pigs recently?"

Becca was relieved to change the subject. "No, but I've found something I really enjoy. I became the chief game designer for a project we're doing at Gamification. I love it! I got to create an entire world—monsters, castles, weapons. I hope to do more of it."

"That's wonderful. Why'd you like it so much?"

"I'm bored with hacking, programming, and security. Making a game is like nothing I've ever done. I love being able to author an entire world. It helps me see everything differently."

"Do you think that you can keep creating games for the company?"

"I don't know. Samantha has told me repeatedly that our goal is to integrate with games made by other firms. The game I designed is only a prototype. I understand. We'll see."

"That's great honey. It's nice to see you happy. Are you dating anyone?"

Becca scrunched her nose, elevating the glasses on her face. "No. There's not much time for dating. I just met someone, but I don't know..."

Becca's phone buzzed.

It was a text from Josh. 'This new AI is rocken! TTL.' Becca's eyes danced. She quickly put the phone down.

"How are you, Dad? How was your prayer meeting last night?"

"Awesome! We had a great time of prayer and fellowship at the Refuge Bible Church. It's just down the street. My sermon was on Daniel 12:4. An angel told Daniel to seal his book 'until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase.' Isn't that a perfect description of our Big Data era?"

In addition to studying the Bible; Elisha loved science, technology, and history. The latest high-tech advances always permeated his churches. Recently, he initiated a Bitcoin donation program and was excited to launch a fleet of driver-less cars. The autonomous vehicles would gather and distribute donated food. He called the food ministry, 'Elisha's Chariots.' It was a play on words. Chariots only raptured Elijah, not Elisha. Elisha had to carry on the ministry, while his boss rode away to heaven in a fiery chariot driven by my ophanim.

Ever since she could remember, Elisha told Becca that the Bible and science were in complete harmony. Becca did love the fact that her dad could talk about science—from particle physics to astronomy. However, she thought there were a lot of contradictions in the Bible. Most of all, Becca couldn't get over the inability of the healing pastor to save his own wife.

It made the numerous reports of Elisha's healings seem fake. Some people get better just by taking placebos, thought Becca. Becca had witnessed his healings. They seemed real. But, he must have been curing people of psychosomatic disorders.

"My message was that time Daniel was prophesying about, some 2500 years ago, is at hand. Now is the season of the End Times. Our remaining time is short. Daniel wrote his book from captivity in Babylon. Babylon is 50 miles from Baghdad, Iraq's capital.

"I talked about how many brainy men like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Bill Gates were deeply concerned about AI causing the end of time for human beings—a time in which strong AI overtakes the human race. Then it can squash us like bugs.

"I talked about Ray Kurzweil's notion of the singularity. You know. The idea that accelerating returns from exponential increases in all fields of technology—AI, robots, nanotechnology, and genetics—inexorably lead us to an instant of time in which everything changes. They think everything changes when computers become as intelligent as man."

Becca was used to this. This was her dad. "Geez Dad, that's a hell of a sermon. I'm sure people were streaming to the altar after that."

Elisha chuckled. "No, that was just the intro. My point was that everyone sees the results of these exponential advances. But we live linearly. We live day-to-day. The pace of change is accelerating faster and faster. We aren't progressing so quickly. God has His own concept of a singularity. Time is moving faster, because we're getting closer to the end. That's the real singularity—in my opinion.

"In the first maps, the Middle East was drawn as the center of the world. And Jerusalem was the center of the Middle East. Isn't it amazing, after all this time, that the Middle East is still the center of the world? Sure, for a period of time, other places seemed like they were the center. Places like the Soviet Union or China. Over time, they fade in importance. In the 1950s, we were worried about the Communist century. In the 1990s, we worried about the Japanese century. Today, many fret about the Chinese century.

"Mark my words; this century is not going to be the Asian century. The Middle East will be the focal point of the next 100 years. Our time will revolve around the fate of Israel, and the future of Jerusalem. Look how often the Caliphate talks about Jerusalem."

"Ok, Dad," said Becca, treading carefully. She didn't want to get into an argument. "I don't understand how that's a sermon?"

"I'm getting carried away. I drank too much coffee," he said, with a hearty chuckle. "The meat of my sermon was to contrast Peter and Judas. Both men saw Jesus. Both men were Jesus' disciples. Both men sinned. Peter denied Jesus three times. Judas betrayed Jesus. Both men knew they sinned. The difference was their actions after the pain set in.

"Peter repented. Peter reached a personal singularity. After that, his life was never the same. Judas didn't repent. His pain led him to hang himself in a potter's field. So be like Peter. Give your pain to God. And live. That's the only way to get on the right side of history. Your personal singularity will prepare you for the coming historical singularity—the day that everyone, even unbelievers, see coming."

"How was it received?" asked Becca.

"Well, that's the best part. For the last year or so, I've really felt this nation is undergoing a profound spiritual revival. Other colleagues in the States and around the world have noticed the same thing. I had eleven people give their lives to God. Then, I asked if anybody wanted to come to the altar for an extended time of prayer. Many did. I felt God's Spirit impart a word of wisdom to me. It pertained to a woman who was standing on crutches around the altar. God impressed upon me to tell her to forgive her mother, who hurt her so long ago. Unforgiveness was blocking her from receiving her healing.

"I approached the traumatized woman. I told her what the Spirit related to me. It was clear that this woman had experienced a lot of suffering. The deep lines etched on her face told that story. I have no idea what her mom did. But, I knew that she'd been carrying the pain for years, maybe decades. She fell to her knees and began to weep. Then she stood straight up, without her crutches, and hugged me."

During the story, Becca got angrier and angrier. Everything in her wanted to shake her father and say, If God could lead you to heal a perfect stranger, why didn't He—why didn't you, heal mom? I refuse to believe your fables.

Elisha continued, "The woman said, 'I know this is from God. That's exactly what God's still small voice whispered to me during your sermon. I've never gotten past what she did to me. It's like an open, festering wound I've had for 35 years. I've tried to bandage the pain with men, and whiskey, and cocaine. I've hurt so many people. I became my mom. I need to be forgiven. But, I'll start by forgiving my mother.'

"After she said that, her face changed. She looked 10 years younger. I told her, 'Sister, forgiveness is a process. Make sure you continually bring this before God until you feel released from the burden of unforgiveness.'"

Becca smiled crookedly. "That's great Dad. I've got to get back to work. It was good to see you." I need to get out of here before he drones on about Smith Wigglesworth or John G. Lake. If I hear those names again, I'm going to lose it.

"Becca, one last thing...I've started writing a book. I'm calling it, Quantum Faith. I want to examine quantum mechanics and string theory in light of Scripture. My book will discuss what the quantum world tells us about God, Creation, and faith."

"That's interesting Dad. I've got to go."

*

Becca was thankful to be done with that. She could only take so much of her father.

She used the Uber app to request a ride back to the Accelerator. Maryland was one of the first states to allow fully autonomous, driver-less cars—automobiles that could drive the road without any human driver.

Within five minutes, an Uber-owned, robot car arrived. If the taxi cab companies hated Uber and Lyft drivers, they really hated autonomous cars. There were numerous reports of taxi cab drivers deliberately hitting self-driving cars and falsifying accident reports. However, in states that allowed autonomous vehicles, ride-hailing was much cheaper than owning a car. For the average person, car ownership was their second biggest expense, after housing.

Becca stepped into a driver-less, Tesla Roadster 2. In the last few years, battery prices for electric vehicles had declined significantly. Electric cars were more affordable than they'd ever been before. Becca began the 35-minute drive back to Defense Innovations Accelerator. Along the way, she dialed Josh. In the past five days, Josh and Becca had exchanged texts and talked via phone a number of times.

"That was good news in your text," said Becca.

"Yeah, it's awesome. I'm getting some insanely good results with this new deep learning algorithm. I think I'll be ready to leverage your API next week."

"That's great! I'm on my way to the office from lunch; I'll be there in about 30 minutes."

"Oh, alright..." said Josh, sounding somewhat deflated.

Becca perceived the difference in the pitch of his voice. Yes, she thought. He's a little jealous. "I had lunch with my dad in Baltimore."

"How was that? I feel like I owe him a royalty for the idea of using Bibles to train the deep learning algorithm." Josh's tone was noticeably rosier.

"You don't owe him a royalty, silly. He didn't do anything. You owe me a royalty; it was my idea to use them for your ground truth." She giggled. "He's great. But a little of my dad goes a long way. Somebody always ends up healed, except my mom..." Becca's voice trailed off.

"What?" asked Josh.

"Never mind."

Becca and Josh continued chatting for a good portion of Becca's trip. She got back to the office it was a little before 3:00 p.m. It was odd that Samantha, Ali, and Saul were all gone. Nobody left early from Gamification Systems. Especially, since everyone was preparing for next week's Gecko demo.

Becca sat in her chair, opened up her Mac laptop, and began to work on a section of source code that dealt with non-player characters. Source code was the actual collection of instructions written in a distinct programming language. Because Becca's code interacted with the Unreal Engine, her source code was written in C++. She wanted to make sure this section of code was rock solid, just in case the need arose for the G-Master to spawn a character in the Gecko demo.

To perform her work, Becca needed to inspect some of Saul's G-Bridge code. Her code sent messages to Saul's code. Becca browsed to Gamification's GitHub repository. She located the right module of Saul's code. Unexpectedly, she saw many changes in the various files that comprised the module. Saul updated the files—just five minutes ago. Becca carefully examined the modified files. She ran a diff command to see the exact changes. The only thing different about the code was newly added comments.

In source code, comments were only meant to make the code more understandable to humans. The computer completely overlooked the comments when it compiled or executed the code. The same comment was attached to a number of method declarations—'Make sure works with Velocity.' An odd feeling enveloped Becca.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ali. As Ali moved past her open office door, she greeted him. Ali looked as if he'd just met the President. "Did you see the guys from Velocity Games? They're here to meet with Samantha and Saul. I shook their hands in the reception area, when I was running to my car. John Vincent and Corey Lawson! Those guys are the gods of gaming."

Vincent and Lawson were the two Co-Founders of Velocity Gaming Studios, located in Bethesda, Maryland. Velocity was the first gaming company to fully incorporate all aspects of virtual reality gaming. Other companies simply ported over prior games to VR worlds. Velocity built VR-optimized games—from the ground up. Fog of War had broken all the video game sales records and won numerous awards.

"No," replied Becca. "Where are they meeting? Why aren't they meeting in our conference room?"

"I don't know, when I got back, they were gone. Obviously, they're meeting somewhere in this building. I do know that I want to play me some Fog of War tonight." Ali entered his office. As he took his seat, he looked at Becca. Then, he pretended to shoot at her, with the rat-a-tat-tat of an imagined machine gun.

"Great," said Becca, loudly. "A software engineer went postal today after he met the Co-Founders of Velocity Studios. No one knows if the two incidents are related. By the way, let's run through the demo tomorrow morning. I want to double-check that your code for spear phishing is working."

"Ok." A few minutes later, Ali cursed loudly.

"What's the matter?" yelled Becca.

"None of my music works in A-Tunes. Nucleus' last update applied the music Blockchain to all of my songs. It broke everything."

Becca chortled and walked to Ali. "Is it possible that you own pirated music?"

"Whatever," said Ali, in a snit.

"Music labels and movie studios are using the Blockchain to stop piracy," Becca said. "They love the Blockchain because it allows them to control music distribution and royalties with smart contracts.

"You can't play your music unless A-Tunes locates a record of your purchase on the Blockchain. You can still use streaming services, like A-Radio, but now the hottest music is only available for purchase via the Blockchain. After they're old, the albums move to the streaming services."

"Thanks for the tech update, Professor Buzzkill."

Becca continued, "I just read an article detailing how artists love the Blockchain too. Not only do they thwart pirates, but they can also control who listens to their intellectual property. And they can more easily pay creators and producers. If the song changes by one note—with remixes for example—it's a new creation on the Blockchain. Everything starts over for that song."

Ali made a face. "You're full of good news. Becca, you're a hacker. Hack A-Tunes and make my music work."

Becca laughed, "I've already spent plenty of time with the FBI." She returned to her office. 90 minutes later, Becca saw Samantha Powers and Saul Abrams.

Samantha stopped outside of Becca's office. "How's it going?"

"Good," said Becca. "I feel excellent about next week's demo for Gecko. I've got to talk to Saul about a couple of things, but everything is working. And Ali tells he's 100% sure of his code changes. We're going to run through the demo tomorrow morning."

"Ok," replied Samantha. "Why don't you and Ali run through the demo with me tomorrow afternoon. I want to see it work for myself. Will you also look at Lou's PowerPoint for Gecko? I want you to do a sanity check on the technical details. We're going to start with the PowerPoint, you're going to do the demo, and then finish back up with the PowerPoint." Lou Skaist was Gamification's Vice President of Sales.

"Sure," replied Becca.

"How's the CyberAI stuff coming?"

"Josh just told me it's going well. Once we get this demo done, I can start to work with him more closely. I'm going to have to get Saul more involved."

Samantha nodded her approval and began to unlock her office door.

"Why was Velocity here?" asked Becca. Becca was sure Samantha heard her. The CEO breezed into her office and shut the door. A few moments later, Becca's phone buzzed with a text from Josh.

'Are you available tonight???' Becca replied, 'tnite not best...who about 2moro?' Then, noticing the misspelling, she texted, 'grrr—how, not who! '

## Chapter 13 – TextWorld

6:15 p.m. (EDT), Friday, July 31, 2020 – North Laurel, MD

Josh Adler's Apartment

Becca thanked her Uber driver and knocked on Josh's door. She imagined the Founder and CEO of CyberAI lived in something bigger. Maybe the startup life was not as glamorous as she thought.

"How are you," said Josh. "Wow, you should wear a sundress more often!"

"It's better than a flannel?"

"Much," Josh replied, with a broad smile and a wink.

"Thanks for being so understanding and stopping by to see the progress I'm making. I haven't left this apartment since Tuesday. I want to knock this out as quickly as possible, so I can show you a proper first date."

Josh Adler's three bedroom apartment was more like a computer lab, with a kitchen and couch. Flashing green, blue, and red lights flickered everywhere among the line of rackmount servers. Wires ran from all angles. Whiteboards, chock-full of diagrams and mathematical equations, adorned every wall. There wasn't a personal picture or memento to be found.

"Why isn't all this stuff at your office?"

"My dad gave me most of this equipment—when we were still talking—and I didn't want to make it a part of the company. Sometimes, when I'm in a zone, I need to be in my own place, with my own stuff."

Josh brought Becca to his central work area. Becca scooted a chair next to him. "Look at this. Becca, the computer is learning! I've trained the neural network on Bibles and commentaries. I've also included some ancient texts, like Philo and Josephus."

Josh pointed to the two NVIDIA DGX-1s in the server rack. "These boxes processed the text and created the neural network, using my deep learning algorithm. Because the math of deep learning is relatively straightforward, GPUs are much faster at creating neural networks than CPUs. My neural network is still a work in progress. It's not perfect. I want to ask General Shields if I can get time on NSA supercomputers. But the results are still astonishing." Josh maximized a window on his computer screen. The monitor displayed a bar chart.

"I've gone from 83% recognition of cyber-events to 91.5%. And I've only been working on this for a week! My last demo for General Shields was such a disaster, because month-over-month, the results improved less than one percent. Now I can show him substantial progress. And it's all due to you."

Becca smiled. "Josh, you did this. Not me. These results are epic. You're getting close to your 10X metric of 95%."

"Yep. Thanks, Becca. I meant that without you, I would never have selected the training material that I used. I might have picked Shakespeare or Plato, but definitely not the Bible. Anyway, this is only the half of it. Look at this—actually, it's cooler in VR. Hold on."

Josh grabbed two VR head-mounts and four hand-held wireless controllers. They both put on the VR goggles and gripped their controllers. Josh properly positioned themselves among the room's external VR cameras and sensors. "You remember that the CyberAI software scans the web and social media for cyber-threats? Then it incorporates that information into our predictive modeling?"

"Yes," replied Becca.

"The bar chart you just saw included the data from the Internet."

"Ok, I think I'm following you. Go on."

"I was curious to see if the neural network could determine meaning beyond cybersecurity. So I relaxed the parameters of the search, and told my query engine to ingest everything—no parameters."

Josh clicked a button on his VR controller. Becca and Josh's immersive VR world sprang to life. The VR headset completely blocked out the real world. In front of them, a large word cloud of variably sized and differently colored words appeared. Some words included, '#,' to denote that they were hashtags.

"Welcome to TextWorld," said Josh. "In TextWorld, these are the most important English words and categories for the last 24 hours. My neural network produced this list."

"You mean these are the trending words?" asked Becca.

"Exactly."

In the virtual reality space of TextWorld, Josh stepped forward and grabbed the word, 'Sports.' Becca watched the virtual Josh move in front of her. Her eyes traced the whole of his virtual body. As Josh reached out for Sports, the old word cloud dissolved, and a new word cloud appeared. It contained a list of sports related words and topics. "Let's see what the computer predicts about—"

Becca burst forward and grasped, 'Football.' "I love football!"

The word cloud now entirely consisted of American football terms. Becca selected, 'Cowboys.'

"Eww!" said Josh, a diehard New York Giants fan.

Now, a three column grid appeared in front of Becca and Josh. From left to right, each column contained the labels of; 'Past,' 'Present,' and 'Future.' Under the labels, in each column, were minimized but readable web pages—individual articles.

As Becca looked further left, in the Past column, she could see older articles related to the Dallas Cowboys. In the center, Present column, she saw current posts. Most covered the Cowboys training camp. It was occurring this month in Oxnard, California.

"So, you've created a Virtual Search application?" asked Becca.

"Sort of. But look in the Future column." The Future column resembled the first word cloud. It was much less content rich; there were no pictures or videos. The Future column only contained words and text files with bold-type headings.

Josh clutched the word, 'Predicted Record,' from the Future column. Everything dissolved. Future predictions related to the Dallas Cowboys appeared. "Based on information available right now, my AI is predicting that the Cowboys will finish with 11 wins and five losses. It also sees them winning the division title. Dang it! The Giants need to get rid of that stinking coach.

"TextWorld, display current Vegas odds for 2020-2021 NFL season," ordered Josh. A web page from the Washington Post appeared in TextWorld. "Look, according to today's Vegas odds; the Cowboys are not favored to win the NFL Eastern Division. So, if I trusted the predictive analytics of my deep learning algorithm, I'd make this bet. Vegas odd's makers are not bullish enough on the Cowboys. I can make money."

"Wow, go Cowboys!" said Becca. Josh groaned. "The question is, do you trust your deep learning algorithm?"

Josh smiled from ear to ear. Those dimples, thought Becca, even in VR.

"That's where this gets mind-boggling," said Josh, excitedly. "TextWorld, display file backtest."

Becca now saw a massive grid. It looked like an enormous spreadsheet. Her eyes first focused on the multiple different colored numbers—there were black, green, and red numerals. Then she widened the focus of her perspective. With her larger point of view, Becca noticed that everything fit within three large rows, spread across her entire field of vision.

To their far left, each row began with a year-to-date price chart. From top to bottom, the labels were, 'DXY,' 'WTI,' and 'FB.'

Josh explained, "You're looking at the results of a backtest I ran last night. These charts here..." He stepped closer to the three, price-time charts. The DXY chart was in the row closest to his head, the WTI chart was close to his chest, and the FB chart was in the row near his knees. Becca followed.

Josh continued, "These charts record the closing prices of the US dollar index, West Texas Intermediate crude oil, and Facebook. All of them begin on January 1, 2020, and run through today. Looking at the charts; you can see that the dollar has gone up, oil has fallen, and Facebook's stock price has been up and down. Recently, you can see that it hit new, year-to-date highs."

Becca examined the charts meticulously. Each price-time chart contained a line that touched the closing price for every day. There were other lines as well. She could make out the 50 and 200-day moving averages and key Fibonacci levels.

"I backtested my deep learning algorithm on these three financial instruments—a currency, a commodity, and a stock. A backtest calculates what the algorithm would've predicted. Then it compares the prediction to what actually happened. If the predictions are right, you know the algorithm is working. Or, at least you know the algorithm would've worked in the past."

Josh placed his hand on the FB row. He started walking to the right. There were tons of numbers. "Every trading day has a meta-column. Josh shuffled to February 14, 2020.

Becca followed. "Aww, you walked right into Valentine's day with me."

Josh flashed his virtual smile again. "My VR-self is smooth like that," he snickered. "The February 14 meta-column has three different numbers. In this sub-column, are the actual closing prices. This sub-column contains the price that the AI would have predicted. And this sub-column records the daily variance number.

"Now, what you'd like to see is as little variance as possible. Ideally, you wouldn't see any green or red differences. Everything would be a black, 'zero.' If there were no variances, you'd be a god. All your predictions would be coming exactly true. Now, come down here."

They moved to the meta-column dated with today's date, July 31, 2020. After that, the meta-column only recorded predicted values. "My backtest shows that the deep learning algorithm would have been very useful in predicting closing prices for the next day, especially as time advanced."

Becca looked to her left. She noticed that while there were more red and green variances in January; each month, more black zeros were visible. July contained the most black zeroes. "This month was the best month so far. Even where there are red or green numbers, the variances are decreasing."

"That's precisely right. The algorithm is learning. It's getting better and better at predicting the closing prices. My dad would kill for this software."

"I guess I should invest in Facebook stock," said Becca.

"Yes. Not only could you invest in the stock, but you could make a fortune in options. The algorithm gives you a high degree of confidence in tomorrow's closing price."

"So, you are going to quit your job as CEO and trade on Wall Street?" asked Becca—half serious.

"No, my dad has done that forever. I admire him. He's a billionaire. That's awesome. But I want to change the world. This is exactly what I want my algorithms to enable—discovery. I don't want to watch closing prices and charts for a living. I want to create ever more valuable closing prices for my publicly traded AI corporation.

"I want my company to predict your future interests. It could be something like a movie, a pair of shoes, your future husband—anything. Your discovery service will run in the background and be an extension of you—your extended intelligence.

"It could do your chores. It could execute smart contracts for you on the Blockchain. It could purchase your groceries, because it talks to your refrigerator and knows you're low on eggs. The possibilities are endless. But the bottom line is that you would do a lot less searching and a lot more discovering. The more the AI knows about you, the better predictions your discovery service would render. Advertisers would love it. Some would even just target ads to the discovery service."

"I don't understand how it's predicting the future with such a high degree of accuracy?" asked Becca. "It only has information that is available to us. I mean, you didn't program it to figure out tomorrow's closing price of Facebook."

"That's just it, Becca. I don't know how it's doing it either. I didn't program an algorithm to bet on football or determine closing prices. I just used a deep learning algorithm to create a neural network. That neural network was designed to understand and learn from English text. I can't predict what the AI is going to learn. Deep learning offers a new way to program computers. My only job is to make the deep learning algorithms understand text better."

"How do you do that?" asked Becca.

"I tell the algorithm it's doing a good job or bad job with supervised learning. Then, I'll turn it loose and see what it learns without my feedback. That's called unsupervised learning. Also, I want to improve each layer of the neural network that processes the text...characters, prefixes, suffixes, grammatical relationships, word vectors, sentences—all the way to semantics, ontologies, concepts, and themes.

"There are some other things I want to tweak. I want to make it multi-modal. Then the AI could learn from text and pictures, for example. I also want to see how much the neural network creation improves with faster computers. I'm sure General Shields is going to love this, and he'll get me some time on the NSA supercomputers."

"I know he'll love it," said Becca. "Now let me try. TextWorld, display something I don't know."

Josh looked chagrined. "Becca, that's not going to—"

Before Josh could finish his statement, they were immersed in a number of words and images. These included: Area 51, Aliens, Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, Hillary Clinton pictured with the King of Saudi Arabia, and an old Harrison Ford picture. It was snapped from the set of the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Becca selected the image of Indiana Jones. "My dad and I loved that movie." She expected to see little-known movie trivia, or obscure facts about Harrison Ford.

A word cloud did appear. And there were topics that Becca expected. "Look at everything I don't know," huffed Becca. "And you were just about to tell me that my question wouldn't work. I can't believe you'd do that on Valentine's Day."

Josh laughed.

Upon closer examination, Becca saw a topic she didn't anticipate—an unknown unknown. She reached out and picked the 'Location of the Ark of the Covenant' topic.

The Past/ Present/ Future Grid appeared.

The Ark had fascinated Becca since she watched the movie. "Dad told me that this was not just a movie mystery. This is a real historical enigma. No one knows what actually happened to the Ark. It disappeared."

"Yeah, it was lost from history in 587 BC," said Josh, reading from the Present column. Both of their eyes immediately gravitated to the Future column. On the far right side of the Future column stood a glistening white and gold building.

The building reminded Becca of the Acropolis, but it was more rectangular and tall. Two colossal pillars, probably three or four stories high, guarded the entrance to the building. There was a large stone structure in front of the building, surrounded by a number of courtyards.

Closer to Becca than that structure, but still in the Future column, was an A-Map of the Middle East. The map was labeled in a typical manner. It had roads, highways, the Jordan and Nile Rivers, and nation-state names. The designated countries included portions of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the northern part of Saudi Arabia. The entirety of Israel and Egypt was also portrayed.

The two ambled closer to the A-Map. "Woah," said Becca, "is this showing us the hiding place of the Ark of the Covenant?"

"I don't know," replied Josh. "It's a big area. Maybe, as I improve the algorithm and run it on faster computers, it'll get more detailed. It's interesting, though. And, at least you know your Cowboys are going to have a good year. Let's get out of the Middle East. I don't want to get run over by a camel."

Becca laughed. "Alright, I'm hungry."

*

Josh drove Becca to Georgetown for dinner. Georgetown was a historic neighborhood of Washington, DC. It was an extremely pleasant drive in Josh's white, Faraday 777 GTS Convertible. Josh's dad had bought him the car before he quit MIT. Faraday Motors was an upstart car company, based in the UK. They specialized in luxury, electric sports cars.

Josh thought it was cool that Flashcharge, another member of the Accelerator, was piloting their microwave power charging technology with Faraday. The trip was normally about 45 minutes, but Josh had a lead foot. All the Faraday's cool apps enthralled Becca. The Faraday was truly a software defined car.

Becca asked Josh if he'd like to get on the speakerphone with her dad. They could ask him about the Ark of the Covenant. Josh agreed.

She introduced Josh as, 'her friend.' "Dad, what can you tell us about the Ark of the Covenant?"

"What?" asked Elisha. "It's 8:45 on a Friday night, and you want to talk about the Bible? Have you guys been drinking?"

"No, not for at least another 20 minutes," chuckled Becca. "Seriously Dad, Josh was showing me something related to a project he's working on. And the Ark of the Covenant came up. Neither one of us knows too much about it. I know you do."

"Alright," said Elisha. "The Ark is first mentioned in Exodus, the second book of the Hebrew Bible after Genesis. Just about a year after the Exodus—you know, the parting of the Red Sea and all; God told Moses to build a gold-plated, rectangular box, made of acacia wood. He commanded the exact dimensions, something like four and one-half feet long, by two and one-half feet high, by two and one-half feet wide.

"The lid of the Ark was also to be covered with pure gold. Additionally, this lid was to include two large golden statues of cherubim angels, hammered from pure gold. God called this golden top of the Ark, the Mercy Seat. The Bible says that God's presence—His glory—would dwell on the Mercy Seat, between the cherubim. God told Moses to place the Ten Commandments into the Ark.

"On the outside of the Ark, in the four corners, were placed four hooks. Through these hooks, two long poles could be inserted. Selected individuals from the tribe of Levi carried the Ark by holding the poles. You never wanted to touch the Ark directly.

"The Ark was to travel with the Hebrews. It signified that God was present with His people. God also directed Moses to build the Tabernacle and to put the Ark in its most prominent room—the Holy of Holies. For its day, the Tabernacle was a sophisticated tent. It could be torn down and set up quickly, as the Israelites traveled in the desert. 500 years later Solomon built the first Temple. Solomon was King David's favored son. God said He didn't want to dwell in a movable tent anymore. He wanted a permanent house."

"That must have been the temple we saw in TextWorld?" asked Josh.

"But it was in the Future column?" said Becca.

"What?" asked Elisha.

"Never mind Dad. Keep going."

"Just like in the Tabernacle, the Ark was housed the holiest place in the Temple, behind a curtain."

"What do people think happened to the Ark?" asked Becca.

"Of course, no human alive knows for sure. The Ark disappeared from the Bible after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Solomon's Temple in 587 BC. Many people say Nebuchadnezzar demolished it in the siege. Other people think that he took it to Babylon—present day Iraq. Persia conquered Babylon. Persia is present day Iran. So, some people say it's there.

"Others think that brave Israelites, like Jeremiah, went in before the destruction of the Temple and hid the Ark. Maybe he buried it in a desert cave or underneath the Temple. There's also a very persistent story about the Ark being in Ethiopia.

"Since the science of archeology started in the late 1800's, archeologists have searched for the Ark. If you think the greatest artifacts ever discovered were the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Pompeii, or Tutankhamun; unearthing the Ark is far bigger than all of those combined. But the most significant ramifications would be geopolitical."

"What do you mean?" asked Josh.

"I don't exactly know for sure. I think the majority of people would be happy to put the Ark in a museum. But there would be a significant segment of Conservative and Orthodox Jews who would want to re-build their Temple, and restart their sacrificial system. The problem is that the Dome of the Rock—the third most holy site in Islam—sits on the place they'd want to erect their Temple. To this day, Jews call that place the, 'Temple Mount.'

"A lot of Christians would support the construction as well. So it could potentially be very destabilizing to a region that is already very unstable. The Temple and the Dome couldn't exist on the same piece of land. I imagine the US government and Israeli government would be upset about the discovery of the Ark. It could cause World War III, if not handled properly."

Becca, Josh, and Elisha chatted for a few minutes more before saying their goodbyes. Josh drove past Georgetown University on Canal Street and arrived in Georgetown. The picturesque Potomac River was off to their right.

They got a table on the patio of Fiola Mare, an upscale seafood restaurant overlooking the river. Josh had made a reservation. The evening was stunning. Becca and Josh sat next to each other, breathing it all in.

The Key Bridge was to their right. Directly facing them were the many high-rise offices of Arlington, Virginia. Josh recognized the building where he tried to pitch In-Q-Tel, before General Shields selected him for the Accelerator. Further up the river, to their left, was the Watergate building and the Kennedy Center.

Becca was glad that it wasn't humid—somewhat rare for DC this late in the summer. But she knew August would be here tomorrow. Josh ordered a Grey Goose vodka, mixed with sugar-free Red Bull. Becca drank a lemon-drop martini. Both welcomed the release, as the alcohol began to enter their bloodstream.

"I guess I should've asked you if you liked seafood," said Josh, sheepishly.

"Oh, I love it," she fibbed.

"You're not a very good liar. Do you want to go someplace else?"

"No way. I'm going to get a fillet and salad."

Josh ordered lobster ravioli and a side of fried shrimp. They both wanted two more drinks. "How about a Moscow Mule?"

"Yum, perfect."

The frosty Moscow Mule cups arrived. The couple clanked their copper mugs, with a blueish patina.

"Here's to our future," said Josh.

"Are you thinking about the Future column?" Becca smiled.

After dinner, the couple strolled past the bars, shops, and other restaurants on M Street. Josh reached for Becca's hand, then twirled her in like a ballerina—closer to him. Both of their hearts were pounding.

Josh leaned in, and placed his lips on hers.

There were plenty of revelers in the street this evening, although not as many as when Georgetown was in fall semester. Josh and Becca played a game of darts in one bar. Becca won. As evening fast approached morning, Josh drove Becca back to her apartment.

With the Faraday's top-of-the-line Bang & Olufesn's audio system blaring, Josh and Becca karaoked all the way to Columbia. It was as if they'd never not known each other.

Josh walked Becca to her front door and kissed her goodnight.

*

Josh was smitten. He'd never felt this way. He'd never experienced the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He could imagine Becca as the one. She had all the qualities he was looking for. Smart. Beautiful. Funny. He came back to smart...really smart.

Josh was thankful his Faraday had auto-pilot. He couldn't concentrate on driving.

## Chapter 14 – Sunday Meetings

11:45 a.m. (EDT), Sunday, August 2, 2020 – Columbia, MD

Second-Floor, Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, Defense Innovations Accelerator

General Shields hunched around a beat up wooden conference table in the second-floor SCIF. The SCIF was composed of three connected rooms, including the meeting room. In addition to the table, there was a secure telephone, a whiteboard, and an in-ceiling mounted projector.

The General called for a series of rare Sunday meetings. He wanted to spur integration of Gamification Systems' software with other firms. The first session was wrapping up.

"In summary," said the General, "you guys have made a lot of progress in getting Fog of War to work in GAMESPACE. You think in the next four to six weeks; you'll have it completely integrated."

During the previous 45 minutes, the General listened to presentations detailing the steps Gamification and Velocity Games Studios were taking to enable Gamification to use Fog of War as a game within GAMESPACE.

Fog of War was an open world game. Open world video games allowed players to explore anywhere on the game map, as opposed to linear games, which forced the action to progress within a scripted storyline.

The General began the meeting by reminding everyone that the discussion would be conducted at TS//FOGGY. FOGGY was a special compartment that the General created to contain information regarding the Velocity and Gamification integration. In reaction to the highly publicized leaks of classified information, one of the DoD's responses was to create more classified compartments.

"Yes, that's right," said Saul Abrams. "Fog of War uses the Unreal Engine, just like Castle Gecko. We're going to be able to reuse a lot of our code."

"You mean Castle Chevaliers," interjected Samantha.

General Shields looked to Velocity's Co-Founder. "What say you John, do you agree with Saul?"

John Vincent nodded his head in agreement. John was tall, rugged, and rich. "Yep," he said, with a heavy Australian accent. "G-Bridge is deadly. I wouldn't have thought it possible to do what they are doing. It's a totally dardy piece of software. On our end, all we have to do is make Saul aware of how Fog of War works in the abstract."

"What'd you say?" asked the General.

"Let me translate for you," said Lin, with a sparkle in her eye. "I speak Australian. He says he likes it."

"Yep, Darl, I do like it," Vincent replied. He looked at Lin from head to toe, making love to her with his smoky eyes. Lin blushed. Samantha made a face.

"Outstanding," said the General. He looked at his calendar. "So, by the week of September 14, you think you'll be done?"

Samantha, John, and Saul collectively assented.

"Very well," said the General, standing up from the table. "John I want to thank you for making the early morning trip from Bethesda on a Sunday."

John nodded and replied, "Sure, General, ta."

"Alright, this meeting is adjourned."

"Our next meeting is in 10 minutes," said Lin. "It's in the sixth-floor SCIF."

"How do I get an invite," asked John. Lin stammered.

Samantha exited the conference room as quickly as possible. John and Lin's flirting was on her last nerve. She peered through the doorway, directly across the small corridor. The long, rectangular room contained a row of 12 high-performance gaming PCs. It was the biggest room in the SCIF. Each workstation had its own VR gear. External VR Cameras and sensors lined its walls. Samantha could tell that the PCs and VR equipment were high-end.

She proceeded down the small corridor to the entry room. Two desks, housing much older computers, sat in the far left corner of the room. Affixed to the computer monitors were placards that read, 'JWICS' and 'SIPRNet.' The machines were powered off.

JWICS and SIPRNet were separate computer networks maintained by the DoD. To use a JWICS terminal, the user needed to possess a TOP SECRET clearance. Only documents marked TOP SECRET were available on JWICS. Accessing a SIPRNet system required a SECRET clearance. The NIPRNet was the DoD's non-classified network. The theory was that the separation of networks and the compartmentalization hierarchy protected the nation's secrets. The networks were not allowed to talk to one another.

The entry room also held a large file cabinet that looked like a safe. The file cabinet was approved to store TS//FOGGY documents. Samantha opened the metal door to exit the SCIF. The door was thick and sturdy. The entire SCIF reminded Samantha of a bank vault.

She walked across the second-floor hallway, and entered Gamification Systems. Samantha saw Ali Asir programming at his desk.

"Hi, Ali." Samantha poked her head into his office. "Thanks for coming in on a Sunday."

Ali returned the greeting and asked, "What's this meeting about? I thought Friday's Gecko Insurance demo went without a hitch?"

"It did. The demo looked terrific. I feel confident about our presentation next week. The meeting that begins in five minutes, concerns a classified project that the General is going to read us into. We're gathering in the sixth-floor SCIF. I think Saul is already up there."

"Hmm, I've not had any meetings in that SCIF before?" said Ali. "What about Becca?"

"She's not going to be read into this program. Not yet, at least. I'm working to change that. By the way, I've never been in the sixth-floor SCIF either. But I can tell you, the second-floor SCIF isn't that impressive."

*

Samantha, Ali, and Saul chatted outside the locked SCIF door. Soon, Shields and Lin arrived from his office down the hallway.

Samantha glared at Lin. She didn't think anything was going on between the General and Lin, but she didn't know for sure. General Shields was cheating on his wife. Samantha didn't like being the other woman, but Lisa was so mean to her husband. And Samantha was stressed. The relationship was an escape. Now, there were consequences. She didn't want to say anything about Lin or be too pushy about Becca. She couldn't rock the boat now; she needed the Gecko Insurance deal to close.

Lin made sure everyone rid themselves of any cell phone and electronic gadgets, storing the items outside the SCIF. They could be placed in either lockers or cubby holes. Shields left his phone in a cubby hole. Lin unlocked the SCIF door. Everyone had to sign-in, using pencil and paper to record their entry and exit. The anteroom of the sixth-floor SCIF was similar in appearance to the second-floor SCIF, complete with its SIPRNet and JWICS drops and a safe. Aside from this entry room, the configuration was much different. There were two locked doors, on the north and west sides of the anteroom. The locks looked sophisticated to Samantha.

General Shields led Lin, Samantha, Ali, and Saul to the western door. Shields placed his palm on the scanner attached to the wall. After a brief moment, he typed in a numeric code. The door opened, and they all walked into an exquisite conference room. It was much more ornate, elaborate, and advanced than its counterpart on the second-floor. The shiny conference table looked brand new. Every item, from the whiteboard to the projector, was nicer—and more expensive.

As the Gamification team made their way into their brown leather chairs, there was a knock on the SCIF's metal entry door. "Excuse me," said the General, "that must be Swarmbot."

"Swarmbot?" blurted Samantha. Samantha had met the Swarmbot executives only one time before. They hadn't attended the eight-week introductory course for the Accelerator.

*

General Shields opened the front door and exited the SCIF.

"Good afternoon, Gentlemen," said Shields. "Please make sure to leave your phones and electronics outside."

Swarmbot Corporation's key executives were Ken Sazuki, Hideki Sato, and Chris Fischer. All three held TS/SCI clearances. Ken and Hideki were both short, geeky men, of Japanese origin. Ken was loquacious and jovial. Hideki spoke so softly; he was hard to hear. Chris was five foot eleven. He wore khakis and a white dress shirt that hid his runner's frame. His sleeves were rolled up.

The General glanced at his phone in the cubby hole. There were two text messages. One was from his wife; the other was from Josh Adler. He read Josh's text. 'General, I want to meet with you ASAP to discuss big progress. Can I call Lin to get on your schedule?'

General Shields replied, 'Great news! If able, I'm at the Accelerator now. I can meet in about 90 minutes. Or, schedule later with Lin.'

*

Everyone now assembled in the conference room. The General led the round of introductions, briefly highlighting why the Accelerator chose to invest in Swarmbot and Gamification Systems.

Ken Sazuki was CEO and Co-Founder of Swarmbot, while Hideki Sato was CTO and Swarmbot's other Co-Founder. Chris Fischer introduced himself as the Chief Engineer of Robotics.

General Shields described Swarmbot as an incredibly innovative startup. "Swarmbot markets a line of advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance—ISR—drones. Right now, the Swarmbots are remotely controlled. Over time, we expect that they'll become fully autonomous robots, with a human override capability. They'll also get smaller, and their Swarm intelligence will improve. The drones operate in clusters to accomplish tactical objectives. We're going to use Swarmbots to stealthily track the Caliphate."

Ken met General Shields when he was Commander of the 24th Air Force in San Antonio, Texas. Ken recognized that the 24th was a natural stepping stone to DIRNSA for Shields. Sazuki went out of his way to maintain contact with the General. The foresight paid off.

DIRNSA wore more than one hat. Shields was also the Commander of CYBERCOM. CYBERCOM was a relatively young organization, officially only reaching full operational capability in late 2010. Establishment of CYBERCOM was a significant moment for the DoD. It memorialized the fact that the Department of Defense formally recognized cyber as an official war-fighting domain—on par with land, sea, air, and space.

Many critics questioned the wisdom vesting so much power in one man. But separating the organizational leadership for such a nebulous concept as 'cyber,' was sure to cause destructive turf battles.

NSA's mandate was to spy on foreign communications and protect the DoD's networks from foreign adversaries. In a word, the NSA provided defense. The NSA had no mandate to destroy foreign countries' systems or engage in offensive cyberwar on enemies. CYBERCOM was the offense. They were authorized to wage war in the cyber-domain. The first publicly disclosed instance of US cyberwar was the Stuxnet virus, discovered in 2010.

The Stuxnet virus hampered the Iranian nuclear program by infiltrating programmable logic controllers in Iranian nuclear facilities. The PLC hacks caused centrifuges, which were used to enrich uranium, to spin too fast and break. CYBERCOM, ''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''''' jointly developed Stuxnet.

When Ken first met the General, DARPA was funding Swarmbot. While at the 24th, Shields told Ken that he loved the Swarmbot concept. But the General didn't think Swarmbots were ready for primetime. And Shields didn't have any research and development money available.

When the Accelerator was green-lighted by Congress, Ken was pleased that he received one of the General's first calls. As they spoke of the capabilities and cost-effectiveness of Swarmbot, General Shields told Ken that he thought Swarmbots were a game changer for ISR.

Over time, Ken's team had significantly improved the Swarmbot technology. The company also wooed Chris Fischer from a high-level position at Marvel Defense Systems, a major aerial drone manufacturer.

Shields first offered Swarmbot a $5M investment for 25% equity. Ken and Hideki had more room to negotiate than either Gamification or CyberAI. They actually had a growing revenue stream. Municipal police forces provided the bulk of Swarmbot's sales. They used the drones to augment their SWAT teams.

Swarmbot had trouble landing DoD contracts, despite the DARPA funding. The US Army and Air Force seemed much more interested in purchasing from established suppliers. They were also more inclined to buy large, ruggedized robot or missile-equipped drones. More expensive systems ultimately required bigger budgets. Washington DC talked about budgets in the same way that Silicon Valley spoke of valuations. It was how everyone kept score.

Sazuki also approached the CIA. They too, were more interested in ever larger, lethal aerial drones. Even when Ken demonstrated the new Swarmbot mini-drone configuration, the company couldn't land a DoD or Intelligence Community contract.

Ken felt that if Swarmbots were more expensive, he might have gained more traction. The average cost of an aerial drone was $20M, without missiles. The average cost of a Swarmbot was under $2M. And the cost would come down with volume.

Sazuki couldn't put his finger on it, but he sensed that expensive drones were selected to make sure that the purchaser's budget wasn't slashed next year, not because they were the best product available.

With the investment from Defense Innovations Accelerator, Ken and Hideki hoped that the five-star General would champion Swarmbot within DoD. Swarmbot countered Shields' original offer with $5M for 10%. They settled on $6.75M for 15%, and a board seat. The General had another, more electronics-oriented member of the Accelerator, take the board seat.

After introductions, the General began: "What I'm about to describe is a TS/SCI project that I've code named, SWARM. I would like SWARM to involve both of your companies. You're going to need to collaborate closely with one another.

"If you choose to be read into this program, I believe you'll make the United States safer. Of course, I can't make any guarantees. But if everything proceeds smoothly, you may both be rewarded with lucrative contracts. As a mentor to you both, I strongly suggest that you each elect to be read into SWARM. Lin, please disseminate the NDAs."

An NDA was a legal document that precluded the signer from talking about information—in this case, anything related to SWARM. "Please read and sign this, if you agree to the terms. The General and I have already executed our NDAs," said Lin.

The representatives from Swarmbot and Gamification Systems each completed their NDAs. The Swarmbot team took much longer than Gamification. The General looked gratified. As Lin collected the documents, General Shields said, "Welcome to Project SWARM." Introductory talks discussing capabilities and integration issues proceeded.

*

After a little over 90 minutes, General Shields was in his office with Lin and Samantha. The ladies were seated in the two chairs in front of his desk. Josh had texted that he'd work in his CyberAI office, until the General was available to meet. Shields directed Josh to come up in 15 minutes.

The General was smiling broadly. "That went great, don't you guys think?"

"Yes, I believe that it went very well," said Lin. "I tracked all the milestones and deliverables that came up today. If we achieve them all, we'll meet your eight-week demo deadline."

"That's terrific Lin," snarled Samantha, "you're such a good secretary."

"I'm the Director of the NSA's personal aide." Lin glowered at Gamification's CEO.

Samantha continued, "General, I think the real key is the API that allows communication between the drones. If it's as easy as Swarmbot says, then we essentially emulate their controller with G-Bridge. That's the REALSPACE side. On the GAMESPACE side, we then need to translate all the mappings—"

"Excuse me General?" interrupted Lin. "Shouldn't this discussion be conducted in a SCIF—Samantha just referenced two TOP SECRET projects: SWARM and FOGGY."

Samantha seethed.

"Lin, you're right. I'm sorry. That was my fault," said the General, trying to diffuse the situation. "I can say that I'm extremely pleased with the progress we made today. I believe that the demo deadlines are very doable. Now, if you all will excuse me, I've got a meeting with Josh Adler in a few minutes."

Samantha and Lin began to gather their notebooks and purses.

Lin asked, "General, are you sure I shouldn't attend this meeting?"

"I'm sure."

Samantha then said, "General, I'd just like a second of your time to talk about Becca. It's going to be hard to meet all of our deadlines without—"

General Shields pounded his fist on the table. "Rebecca Roberts is not to work on any of the classified projects. Any further discussion of this topic is closed."

Samantha glared, steely-eyed at the General.

"You know Lin, on second thought, why don't you stay and take notes."

Irritation radiated through every limb of Samantha's body. Lin flashed a toothy smile in Samantha's direction. The door to the foyer, leading to General Shields' office, opened. Josh Adler rapped on the General's door.

"Come on in, Josh."

*

Josh felt the thick tension in the room. Samantha darted past him without saying a word.

"Hi, General. Hi, Lin," he said, in his typically cheerful manner.

"Take a seat. Tell me what's going on," said Shields.

"Since my last demo, I've been working on an approach that incorporates a new type of AI algorithm—deep learning. It doesn't replace the other algorithms; I'm just adding deep learning to the AI Kernel. General Shields, the improvements are astonishingly good! I now recognize 91.5% of the cyber-events on my test set."

"Outstanding Josh! You've gone from a little over 80%, to 90%—in a week. What does Vish say?"

"Actually, I've been so busy with this over the past week; I haven't briefed Vish yet."

"Ok, what are your next steps?"

"I'd like to get some time on the NSA supercomputers that incorporate a GPU fabric. The numerous layers of the deep learning algorithm are the key. I want to employ genetic algorithms to enhance each layer of the neural network. If I use that strategy, I feel we can get close to our 95% goal."

Genetic algorithms mimicked the process of natural selection in evolution. Josh was telling the General; that for each layer, he would rapidly move through many possibilities, until he found the best design. This approach optimized each layer of the neural network.

"I think I can make that happen. Lin, can you get with the senior leadership of the Supercomputing Center at the Fort and schedule some time for Josh?"

"Sure," replied Lin. "Josh, how much time do you think you'll need?"

"I don't know exactly. Probably about two weeks? But I can do it in off-hours."

The General laughed. "There are no off-hours at the NSA. Josh, I'm very proud of you. Once again, you've impressed me. The minute I laid eyes on you; I knew you were a winner."

Josh beamed with pride. He'd never received such meaningful words of encouragement before. CyberAI's CEO couldn't remember when; or if, his father ever complimented him. Come to think of it; Josh did remember his father's only compliment. Jared Adler had congratulated him on getting accepted into MIT.

"Thank you, sir."

After 30 more minutes of conversation, the General asked, "Are your algorithms narrowly defined—is it weak AI? I mean, are they only applicable to cybersecurity, or are they more general?"

Josh's expansive smile grew even larger. His dimples looked as big as his eyes. "I've designed the neural network to process natural language. It's English in this case, but I think the overall approach will work for any language. The AI is very broad; it's much closer to strong AI than narrow. One of the most interesting things is that the AI can render predictions from the information the neural network ingests."

"What kind of predictions?" asked General Shields, sounding intrigued.

"Predictions about sports, markets, and even the Ark of the Covenant—I think. The AI predicts the Ark is somewhere in the Middle East."

"What?" yelled the General, angrily.

Josh didn't know how to process the General's reaction. He'd never before heard that sharpness in his voice.

Shields continued, "I don't care if you make a few bucks for yourself playing the market. But the last thing I need from you is to create an international incident. Drop the Ark predictions. It's off-limits for you. Do you understand? Focus on your job as CEO." The ebullient atmosphere in the room instantaneously morphed into something dark and ominous. Josh felt like a storm cloud had just moved into Shield's office—and lighting struck.

"General, it doesn't work like that," said Josh, awkwardly. "I have no control over what the computer learns and predicts; it's—"

"Bullshit," said the General. "I've programmed computers before. You're in complete control. You are to shut down the computer's ability to process information about the Ark. I don't want you to discuss this with anyone else. Consider discussions about the Ark as a TOP SECRET program you weren't read into. You have a company to run. You don't have time for this. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," replied Josh, meekly.

The General abruptly ended the meeting. Lin walked the shell-shocked executive out the door.

General Shields sat back in his chair. He reached for his cell phone and texted Samantha.

"General, I think Josh was very shaken up," said Lin.

"Good," replied the General, calmly. "I need him focused on CyberAI and not engaged in some digital goose-chase. The Accelerator does not invest taxpayer funds in companies that dabble in things that can disrupt geopolitics, especially in a region with as many fanatics as the Middle East."

Again, the General and Lin heard the front door to the foyer open. Samantha sauntered into the General's office, completely ignoring Lin. By now, Samantha had regained her composure.

"What's the agenda for this meeting?" asked Lin. "I don't have it scheduled."

"I don't need you to attend this meeting," said Shields. "Why don't you go home and enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Very well, sir." Lin quickly glanced past Samantha's smug face and left.

Samantha poured two scotches. "General, what did you want to discuss?"

## Chapter 15 – Abu Omar

3:05 a.m. (EDT), Thursday, August 20, 2020 – Fort Meade, MD

DIRNSA's Residence, 4526 Butler Street

General Shields was sound asleep in the official DIRNSA's modest residence. It was a multi-story, red brick house. On-base, government provided housing was one of the perks of being DIRNSA.

The General's phone vibrated. Lisa heard it first. She poked her husband's side. Shields grabbed the phone and opened one eye. He'd found if he opened only one eye; he could get back to sleep, if the buzzing were unimportant. This buzz was urgent.

It was a text message from Phil Callahan, the Senior Operations Officer of the National Security Operations Center—NSOC. NSOC was pronounced, 'N-sock.' The text read, 'Need to communicate securely, ASAP.' While General Shields was asleep, Phil Callahan was the acting DIRNSA.

NSOC was the beating heart of US SIGINT—the SIGINT command center and situation room for the United States of America. It was manned 24/7, 365 days a year. General Shields rose from his bed and blearily walked to his upstairs SCIF. He shut the metal door and reached for the secure telephone. "What is it, Phil?"

"Good morning, General Shields. Sir, the ''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' '''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''' '''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''' '''' '''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''' ''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' It's 10:00 a.m. '''' '''''''''''''' right now."

A CRITIC was a Critical Intelligence message. The CRITIC system was designed to distribute CRITICs to the President and other senior leaders; including the CIA Director, in under ten minutes.

Dabiq was a small farm town six miles south of the Turkish border. It was an hour's drive north of Aleppo, Syria. There were only 3000 residents in the city. Strategically, the town was unimportant. But the Caliphate believed in the veracity of a specific Islamic Hadith that read, 'the last hour will not come until Muslims vanquish the Romans at Dabiq.' After this defeat, another prophecy foretold of the Muslim armies advancing to sack Constantinople—present-day, Istanbul, Turkey.

Hadith meant 'report' or 'account' in Arabic. When originally written, Rome was seen as the city of the Catholic Pope and his army of Crusaders. Over the course of time, Rome had come to mean all Christians, or simply the West.

The Hadith was second only to the Koran in terms of authoritative Islamic texts. Hadiths clarified some of the sayings and doings from Muhammad's life that were unclear or absent from the Koran. These details were important because Muhammad was the exemplary man in Islam—all Muslims' behavior was measured by Muhammad's standard, as portrayed in the Koran and Hadith. While Muslims revered figures like Moses and Jesus, Islam now superseded Judaism and Christianity.

Different branches of Islam, like the Sunni and Shia, believed different collections of Hadiths. The Caliphate was in Dabiq to quicken their End Time, Islamic version of Armageddon. Dabiq was also the site of Charlie Shields' decapitation. Its landscape, spattered with his son's blood, was seared into General Shields' consciousness.

While increased air strikes were the initial response after the Navy SEAL beheadings in 2016, by the election season of 2020, the US was at a stalemate with the Caliphate. Killing Omar was a chance to break the deadlock.

'''''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''

'''''''''''''''''''''''

''''''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''' '''''' '''''''''''' '''' '''''''' '''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''' ''''''''''' ''''' ''''''''' '''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''

'''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''' ''''''' '''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Roger that, sir," said Phil. "I'll see you soon."

General Shields exited the SCIF and walked downstairs into his bedroom. He threw on his NSA sweats and Nike tennis shoes. Shields moved like a mouse to avoid awakening his wife. Any other day, he'd be arising in two and one-half hours to throw on the same clothes, and complete his morning jog. Now he went downstairs, snatched a 5 Hour Energy mini-drink, and hurriedly walked to his vehicle.

He jumped in his 2020 Ford Bronco. A quick left, right, left, right, and the General was on Cooper Avenue, heading towards the four buildings that constituted the NSA's main headquarters complex. All four buildings were connected. No one ever had to go outside.

Cooper Road conjured up memories of Charlie. Charlie's favorite mentor was named Coach Cooper. If he weren't in such a rush, he would have driven the long way, staying on Mapes Road, avoiding Cooper altogether.

Charlie's decapitation now flooded his thoughts. The A-Tube video ran continuously in his mind. Nucleus quickly removed the video. But it had been viewed by millions. It was still available all over the web, if you knew where to look.

Now, Shields was pursuing a lead on the very man that paid the Caliphate fighters to behead his son. Abu Omar probably wired the money that paid for the knife—the knife that sawed through Charlie's neck. Rage welled up in the General. He wanted to kill every one of those Islamic Jihadists.

The only thing better than SIGNIT on Omar, would have been SIGINT on the leader of the Caliphate—Caliph Abu Bakr al-Mosulaydi. American Intelligence shortened his name to Abu Mosulaydi. Shields' heart raced. He broke into a sweat in the muggy August morning.

Typically, Shields would park in his reserved spot outside the eight-floor glass building—Ops 2B. If pressed for time, he could take his private elevator to the Director's Suite on the top floor of Ops 2B. Everyone called that the 'Top Deck.'

On ordinary days, the General by-passed his private elevator. He liked to mingle with his silent, SIGINT warriors, as he made his way to the Top Deck.

The Ops 2A Building was next the General's building. Its exterior looked exactly like Ops 2B. At 11 stories, it was taller and squarer. Somebody once described the building as a giant Rubik's cube. Shields felt that was an apt moniker. One of the many NSA nicknames was the 'Puzzle Palace.' This name was due to the encryption puzzles the NSA cracked.

While these smoky glass structures looked like any other building, they were covered in copper mesh. No SIGINT could leak from the building and be scooped up by adversaries. In actuality, the two buildings were massive SCIFs. Ronald Reagan dedicated Ops 2A and 2B in 1986.

Today was not an ordinary day.

The General rushed to the Ops 1 Building, the very first NSA building. It was constructed in 1954. The three-story, A-shaped building was home to the SIGINT Directorate—the NSA's largest Directorate.

Shields dashed up the stairs ''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''' ''''''''' '''' The automatic sliding glass doors hissed as they opened, sounding the Enterprise's doors in Star Trek. The General briskly walked over the inlaid NSOC logo on the floor and met Phil. Seconds later, they both peered over the shoulders of the Caliphate analyst. It was 3:19 a.m. There were six minutes left in which to issue verification of the CRITIC.

Tonight, NSOC was staffed with nearly 40 analysts. Each was tasked with specific areas of responsibility. Waist-high cubicles separated the various work cells. Fluorescent overhead lights, arranged in concentric circles, gave the room a blue tint. The analysts worked around their curved desks to process SIGINT from around the world. Their computer equipment was state of the art, just like the video walls that encircled the massive room.

''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''' ''' '''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''' ''''''' '''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' ''''' ''''''''''''' '''''' '''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''' '' ''''''' ''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''' ''''''''''' '''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '' '''''''''''''''''''''''' ''' '''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''

Puzzled, the General asked, "How old is the A-Mail account?"

"She created it yesterday."

"Has anyone else in Omar's network used A-Mail?"

"Not to our knowledge," replied the analyst. "They mostly use TorMail2." TorMail2 was an encrypted email service provider available on the Darknet. The Darknet was the portion of the Deep Web that was only accessible with Tor software. "All the other emails we've purloined from Nafisa were TorMail2's. We were able to read them because we '''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''

The General frowned. "So Nafisa goes and registers a brand new A-Mail account from Dabiq, even though she's demonstrated previous knowledge of encryption by the use of TorMail2? Then she emails her father in Falluja? I'm assuming we intercepted it at ''''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''' Something isn't right. No one in the Caliphate uses A-Mail. It's totally out of character for Omar, or anyone in Omar's circle, to make an error of this magnitude."

"Maybe she just made a mistake," said Phil. "Or, she could think that we can't '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' PRISM was a TOP SECRET program leaked to the press by Snowden's disclosures. PRISM detailed how the NSA cooperated with nine major Internet companies to gather SIGINT, even encrypted SIGINT.

Phil continued, "The CEO of Nucleus made a big deal about their end-to-end, A-Mail encryption in the press. He assured his users that their privacy was secure." Nucleus' CEO either didn't know or didn't want to admit, that the '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''' ''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' US-only A-Mail traffic could be read with a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance—FISA—court. The FISA court granted warrants to the NSA over 97% of the time.

"I don't know why she sent an A-Mail," said the Caliphate analyst. "But, I do know that the '''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''' '''''' '''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''

"Look, here's ''''''''' ''''' ''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''' '''''''' '''''''' '''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' You can see the same structure, even in Arabic. Now, look at it translated. She uses the same word for her dad, 'abee,' which means, 'my dad.' She writes it again and again, in both emails. She employs the exact same vocabulary, sentence structure, indentation, and punctuation. Her description of Dabiq is dead on."

Another analyst in the Caliphate cell spoke up. "Sir, while he's been trying to validate the message, I've been looking at what it tells us. As you know, Dabiq is a tiny town. '' '''''''' ''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''' ''''''' ''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''' Right in this house..."—the analyst pointed at the satellite image on his screen—"is ''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''

An embedded CIA analyst spoke next. "General, I've got a Marauder over the area. Here's the house." The analyst pointed to his monitor with the Marauder feed. "You can also see that there's a small cluster of other homes, right here." Marauders were stealth, turbofan aerial drones that replaced Predators and Reapers. Although they were called drones, each drone was manned by two people—a drone pilot and a sensor operator.

"Alright," said the General. "I'm sure this SIGINT is valid. Send out confirmation of the CRITIC." It was 3:23 a.m.

Now the question was, what was POTUS going to do about this validated CRITIC?

*

Within 30 minutes, General Shields was on a secure teleconference with POTUS, the DCIA, and other senior military leaders. The top military brass included the Admiral in command of the Joint Special Operations Command—JSOC. JSOC was pronounced, 'J-Sock.'

JSOC tracked and eliminated terrorist cells worldwide. JSOC, at the behest of the CIA, was the lead organization in charge of the kill/ capture mission for Osama Bin Laden. Like the NSA, JSOC and the CIA were involved in significant turf battles. The Admiral told the President that he had a Delta Force on standby to kill/ capture Omar. However, he recommended waiting for at least 48 hours. He wanted to gather more intelligence.

The DCIA, Walt Black, was much more aggressive. He wanted to act now. He tried to convince POTUS to approve a night-time, kill or capture raid on the house. He emphasized the word capture.

"Mr. President, I've got a CIA strike team that can snatch Omar, tonight. The moon is waning, so we're dealing with low levels of ambient light. The weather is perfect for air operations; there's not a cloud in the sky. After Omar is secured, the assault team can gather computers, laptops, and cell phones. Then, we can whisk him to a black site and interrogate the son-of-a-bitch. Omar is full of vital information. Look, these guys are the junior varsity of terrorists. They're untrained, unsophisticated, religious thugs. This won't be a difficult mission."

General Shields completely disagreed with the DCIA's assessment of the Caliphate and his recommendation of a human strike team. The JSOC Commander voiced support for the General's position.

"Walt, you guys just don't get the Caliphate. You can't explain why this JV team has been growing so fast, for over eight years. You can't explain why they continue to attract foreign fighters from all over the world, even after our bombs and missile strikes. You've got almost no one inside the organization."

"Walt, they've controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq for nearly a decade. That's because they're the police, military, and government for disenfranchised Sunnis. Given a choice between the Shia-led, Iraqi government in Baghdad, or the Caliphate; the Sunnis choose the Caliphate. Think how messed up that is! Sunnis would rather have the Caliphate, than their own government?

"The Syrian government won't take care of the Sunnis. The Iraqi government won't take care of the Sunnis. But the Caliphate will. They provide services and protection. They build schools, mosques, and hospitals. They don't round up Sunnis and throw them into prisons without charges.

"That's more than the Shiite governments of Iran and Syria were doing for the Sunnis. Now don't get me wrong, these guys are diabolical murderers and gangsters. But you have to understand why the Sunnis protect them.

"Moreover, their social media propaganda machine is incredibly efficient at attracting recruits from all over the world. To their volunteers, the Caliphate offers a seventh-century utopia. 'Come, join the Caliphate. Get paid to serve God. Find a sex slave. We have them from nine years on up. Kill infidels. Be a part of history.'

"Money, sex, and power offered to a generation of pissed off young men? We can't kill them fast enough. For every Jihadi we kill, another foreign fighter sneaks across the border and enlists. That's not just in Syria and Iraq. As you know, the Caliphate views itself as a state without borders. It has members fighting in Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and throughout Africa. You'd better take them a lot more seriously.

The DCIA told Shield's he didn't need a lecture on the Caliphate from DIRNSA.

"Walt, you know me well. And you know how much it pains me to say this. If ever there was a mission designed for a drone strike—this is it. We can do it immediately. What's to say that Omar doesn't leave the house today, and go someplace else before your nighttime raid? We all know that this is not Omar's primary headquarters. He won't be here long."

Omar was on the kill list approved by POTUS. ''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''' '''''' '''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' Drone strikes only required two pieces of intelligence, if the subject was on the approved list. Ideally, one piece of information would be HUMINT—information from spies or informants.

But the CIA had almost no HUMINT on the Caliphate. '''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''

Advocating a drone strike was particularly hard for General Shields. If there was anything stronger than the General's hatred of CIA Director Black, it was the CIA with a bevy of lethally armed drones.

As a member of the Air Force, the General could never understand why the CIA was allowed to operate their own private air force. And today's drones were becoming ever more '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''' SIGINT was clearly the NSA's job. Intelligence collection was also the main reason for the CIA's turf battles with JSOC. The General argued with anyone who would listen. The CIA's job was human intelligence—HUMINT, not SIGINT. Under his breath, the General said, "This is exactly why I need SWARM."

For his part, President Goodson was facing a complex dilemma.

Syria was not a country. Syria was an unmitigated disaster. It had been a disaster since the Arab Spring demonstrations and subsequent government crackdown in 2011. Nine years later, Syria was still a disaster. The vacuum of leadership in Syria led directly to the growth of ISIS, and later the Caliphate.

Iran, Russia, and Iran's proxy—Hezbollah, assisted the Syrian government. Iran provided forces from their Revolutionary Guards, money, weapons, and intelligence. Russia provided intelligence, air support, and a small group of soldiers. Hezbollah provided many fighters, especially experienced soldiers from Lebanon. And all of these forces augmented Syria's National Defense Force composed of Alawites, Shiites, and some Christians. These forces coordinated to defend essential government assets.

In late 2015, Russia and Iran stepped up support after the Syrian regime's future became dicey. The assistance helped. Over the past five years, the Syrian government held onto the important eastern areas of Syria—Aleppo, Homs, and Damascus.

The rest of the country, including Dabiq, was a petri-dish for moderate Sunnis and extremist Wahhabi-Salafi-Jihadists, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Nusra, and the Caliphate. The only tie that bound these disparate groups was their desire to see the Syrian government fall. Then, Syria could be led by a Sunni government. This was also the goal of Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent, Turkey.

Wahhabism was a strain of puritanical Islam birthed in Saudi Arabia. The Salafi movement was often used synonymously with Wahhabism, but Salafists felt being called, "Wahhabi," was derogatory. Irrespective of the terms, the broad idea was the same. Both ideologies were a fundamentalist form of Islam that called for a strict, literal interpretation of the Koran.

While the US wanted a new Syrian government, they did not want the Syrian government to fall into the hands of the Caliphate or other Islamic extremists. Also, it was nearly impossible, as evidenced by the beheading of Charlie Shields, to determine who was a moderate and who was an extremist. Weapons meant for the moderates often ended up in the hands of the Caliphate.

There were numerous peace talks over the last five years to discuss Syria. No-fly zones were implemented. Ceasefires would be announced and then broken. Territory would be lost, retaken, and lost again. It was a stalemate.

It would remain a stalemate until new, more inclusive governments were installed in Syria and Iraq—governments that protected Sunni and Shia alike. The only other alternative was to divide Syria and Iraq into pieces, administered by the various factions. Or, start a major ground war in the region.

So the President punted for four years.

Aside from the stepped up bombing of Iraq, movement of special operations units from Syria to Iraq, and the establishment of some hard-to-police safe zones; the most meaningful action the President took was giving General Shields his fifth star. POTUS bestowed this honor when he approved Shields for DIRNSA.

This hugely symbolic act was meant to signify that the nation was on war-footing. The symbolism was not matched with concrete actions. This was a very different war than WWII or Korea. This was an asymmetric intelligence war. The bad guys didn't wear uniforms.

However, there was an election in four months. Punting was now hurting the President. POTUS' opponent was lambasting the Administration's Caliphate strategy as weak and ineffective. He continually reminded the American public of POTUS' campaign promises. The most damaging issue for POTUS was the 2019 rebuke of the US by Iraq. Iraq's replacement of US forces with Russians and Iranians embarrassed America.

His challenger said there had been no retribution for the humiliating deaths of the SEALs. He argued that the Caliphate was strengthening, not getting weaker. Also, Caliphate sympathizers continued to plan and carry out an increasing number of attacks in Europe and the US.

Additionally, while General Shields had received tremendous accolades over the last three years for minimizing terror attacks and keeping the NSA out of the news; the DCIA had become a lightning rod. There was a significant public outcry regarding collateral damage from drone strikes.

The Caliphate ingeniously posted pictures of civilian carnage from remotely controlled attacks. Whistleblowers were also lambasting the drone program, claiming that '''''''''' ''''''''''' were not sufficient evidence for state execution. The IC referred to the lethal drone strikes as, 'targeted killing.' They testified that collateral damage from targeted killing was the lowest in the history of warfare. Luckily for POTUS, terrorism wasn't the only issue of the 2020 election. In particular, voters were happy with Goodson's handling of the economy.

POTUS told the teleconference, "While I see the risks of going into Dabiq with a strike team to get Omar, I'm leaning towards Walt's option. Bernie, you of all people should support this decision. You've been on my ass for four years to step-up attacks on the Caliphate."

The President detailed how the US would achieve a significant victory against the Caliphate. He was also sure that Omar would talk. The US would get needed intelligence from the house, especially since Omar was the financial brain for the Caliphate.

POTUS noted that firing a Hellfire missile into a neighborhood would probably kill some innocent civilians. Most likely, they wouldn't be sure that Omar was dead. Finally, if something happened to the team, there was sufficient deniability.

The DCIA's strike team consisted of mercenaries—hired contractors with signed NDAs. They were all heavily decorated, ex-members of the US special operations community. They were paid to look like Kurdish fighters. All of their families had also signed NDAs.

General Shields' blood was near the boiling point. He thought, How wantonly does the DCIA and POTUS risk American lives? Where are the DCIAs that broke the back of the Russians with HUMINT? And the President chooses to look tough now, just in time for the debates?

General Shields made one final attempt to dissuade POTUS from the nighttime raid. "Mr. President, what if this is a trap? No one from the Caliphate has ever used A-Mail. Omar has dozens of ''''''''' '''''''''''''. We haven't associated this SIM card with him in over 10 months?"

It was no use. POTUS had selected his option.

"Bernie, if Omar steps foot out of that house before the strike, we'll take him out with a Hellfire—irrespective of the consequences. We've got eyes on. Otherwise, there's too much upside for this mission. God forbid, if our team suffers losses, our stance will be that these were Kurdish fighters with American air support. We'll only need to say that if the story gets out. There's no CNN in Dabiq."

*

The raid was to commence at 7:00 p.m. EDT—2:00 a.m. Dabiq time. After the General's conversation with POTUS, the Marauder did chronicle video of a woman exiting the house and later returning. The women looked like Nafisa, although facial recognition was inconclusive.

General Shields and his senior leadership gathered in the NSA Director's Conference Room, near the General's office suite, in Ops 2B. It's gargantuan, circular conference table looked like Stanley Kubrick forwarded it from the set of his movie, Dr. Strangelove. Top leaders present included; Deputy DIRNSA, Director-SIGINT Directorate, and Director-NSOC.

Oversized, flat-screen monitors surrounded the room. The real-time Marauder feed directly faced the General. The drone was switching between its night-vision and thermal cameras. The Marauder was flying in a surveillance pattern over Omar's Dabiq house.

The General thought the situation was surreal.

A pilot, working for the CIA on an Air Force base 20 minutes from the Las Vegas strip, was using a joystick to remotely fly the Marauder. The joystick sent flight control information for the plane from Nevada, over a fiber optic line buried underneath the Atlantic Ocean to Ramstein Air Force base. Ramstein was located in Germany.

From Ramstein, the control information was radioed into space. Finally, a satellite relayed the data to the circling Marauder. Without the fiber optic cable, there would be too much delay to fly the drone adequately.

Soon the Marauder picked up the Black Hawk helicopter flown by two US Army pilots. The Black Hawk contained the 12 CIA contractors in Kurdish separatist garb. This was war in the twenty-first century.

Distributed. Deniable. Secret. Undeclared.

The Black Hawk appeared on the flat-screen monitor from the left. It slowed and hovered near Omar's house. Soldiers emerged from both sides of the helicopter. They began to fast rope to the ground.

Then all hell broke loose.

Two rocket-propelled grenades struck the Black Hawk. It was an ambush. The Black Hawk began to swivel and dip. The pilots lost control. The rotors cut into the ground and snapped, as the helicopter rolled and flipped numerous times before it came to a mangled rest.

Heavily armed Caliphate forces exited the residences near Omar's house, to the north and south. They rushed toward the Black Hawk wreckage.

When it was over, two Army pilots and eight of the contractors were dead. The Caliphate apprehended four contractors. General Shields was beside himself with rage. He drowned his fury with a bottle of scotch.

*

The next day, the Caliphate paraded the four mercenaries before TV cameras and posted videos to A-Tube. A White House spokesman claimed that, while the pilots were American, the captured and killed soldiers were Kurdish rebels.

A few days later, the Caliphate exposed the lie when it posted a video that graphically illustrated the match between the soldier's fingerprints, and prints they accessed from the OPM database hack. At some point in their careers, to obtain a clearance, the ex-US Special Operations warriors had trusted their government with extremely private information—including their fingerprints. Now those fingerprints betrayed them.

The Caliphate proved to the world that the soldiers were Americans. It was a debacle for President Goodman. The press referred to the ensuing scandal as 'Dabiq-gate.' Every night, a new beheading video was posted to the web.

With each execution, General Shields and Lisa were forced to relive Charlie's death.

Unbeknownst to the world, Omar was never in the targeted house. The Caliphate filled the home with human slaves and placed the SIM card in the dwelling. They found a Yazidi slave girl of the same height and build of Nafisa, and made her wear a wig. The email was a trap to either lure the Americans into an ambush or a drone strike. In the event of a US drone strike, the Caliphate would rush to film the attack. Then they'd post videos of the dead women and children as collateral damage carnage.

## Chapter 16 – Swarmbot Demo 1

7:05 a.m. (EDT), Wednesday, September 30, 2020 – Columbia, MD

Suite 201, Gamification Systems' Offices, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Becca culled the emails in her inbox. Today was Gamification's Demo Day for General Shields. Unlike all the other monthly demos, Becca was not invited. Just yesterday, Samantha told Becca she was 'not needed' for the demo. Ali would attend instead. Becca was incredibly upset. How could Samantha not trust me? The thought echoed through the canyons of her mind.

Over the last two months, two good things happened. First, her relationship with Josh was advancing. Becca was at the point where she thought she might be in love. She admired Josh's passion, can-do optimism, and vision for possibilities. She could overlook his obsession with AI, as long as she was a part of the obsession.

At least for now, Josh did that. They were like hikers on an adventure. His dimples and rower's back didn't hurt either. She continued to work with him closely, integrating CyberAI's AI Kernel with G-Bridge. He could be romantic, at least when he put his mind to it. Maybe he could develop an AI-romantic app to help him?

Secondly, Gecko Insurance executed a paid pilot agreement. Samantha named Becca as Gecko's principal contact. Becca's job was to ensure the engagement proceeded successfully. This was the first sale for Gamification Systems. It was a big moment for everyone at the company.

But beyond Josh and the Gecko pilot, the pressure and professional disappointment of the last few months weighed heavily on Becca. Like the drip-drip-drip of a faucet, Becca felt that Samantha was slowly cutting her out of the loop.

She couldn't understand why.

Samantha told Becca to quit being paranoid. There was no effort to firewall her from projects. The CEO only wanted Becca focused on making sure the pilot with Gecko Insurance was successful, and led to the purchase of an enterprise license.

"You're working on the most important project for the whole company. You're essential to Gamification Systems," Samantha told her.

Becca wasn't buying it.

The VP of Sales, Lou Skaist, arrived for an early web presentation and greeted Becca. "Aren't you going to Demo Day this morning?"

Becca looked at Lou. Big tears welled up in her eyes. "No," she replied, trying to hide her face. She ran to the bathroom. On her way to the ladies room, through the tears, Becca saw Saul Abrams and a number of young servicemen. They represented all branches of the military; Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy. Saul led the servicemen into the second-floor SCIF.

This had become so familiar over the last two months. She had no idea what Ali, Saul, or Samantha were doing. She felt like a second-class citizen. She couldn't fathom the reason for the slights. How could Samantha not trust me?

Granted, Gamification was funded by the NSA. Becca expected some skullduggery and compartmentalization. But she held a TS/SCI clearance, just like Ali and Saul. After gathering herself, Becca lumbered back into Gamification. She walked into Ali's office, the site of so many laughs in the past. Becca wasn't sure what she was looking for. She just hoped to make sense of the situation.

She spied numerous technical manuals from Swarmbot, semi-hidden under file folders. They were scattered all over Ali's desk.

*

Samantha, Ali, and the Swarmbot team congregated outside the sixth-floor SCIF. The Swarmbot executives wore elaborate backpacks. They were constructed from a material Samantha had never encountered. The packs were ready for rugged hiking. General Shields and Lin Liu joined the SWARM team.

"Good morning," said the General brusquely.

Samantha felt the pressure of the last six weeks. Since the Dabiq fiasco, General Shields was mercilessly focused and humorless. He was furious with POTUS and the CIA. More than ever, Samantha felt that the General's sole purpose in life was to annihilate the Caliphate.

For her part, despite her continued efforts, she failed to talk Shields into allowing Becca to work on either FOGGY or SWARM. She knew Becca was upset. Samantha was disappointed. She never expected an investor to be able to dictate personnel decisions. Sleeping with him only complicated matters. It was no longer an escape. It was a prison. She felt caged and manipulated.

After everyone removed and stowed their cell phones, General Shields moved to unlock the SCIF door. Ken Sazuki of Swarmbot said, "General, you know we have the Swarmbots and tablets in the in the backpack, right?"

The General replied curtly, "Yes, of course. That's why we're here. Bring them in."

Once inside the SCIF, Shields moved past the conference room. He stopped at the north door. The General extended his palm on the scanner. An interactive voice response unit asked him his name. Then, he entered a code on the keypad. The north door opened.

Everyone walked into a voluminous, half-moon shaped room. It reminded Samantha of an amphitheater. They followed Shields down the steps, passing rows and rows of analyst workstations, housed on semi-circular desks.

This was a high-tech war room. None of the equipment was powered. All eyes were drawn to the curved, 50-foot-high video wall. The situation room also contained numerous flat-screen monitors and television sets. Digital clocks flashed the time in Berlin, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Tehran, and Kabul. Like the NSOC, a blue hue tinted the room.

"With a great deal of pride, I'm pleased to present to you...the SWARM Operations Center," said the General, theatrically. "The SWARM Op Center will be command central for Project SWARM, once we get started."

After allowing everyone an opportunity to absorb the moment, the General continued to walk the perimeter of the op center, at the bottom of the video wall. He opened a door to lead everyone into another room.

"And this is the Maze," said Lin, in a spirit of triumph.

The room was one-third the size of a football field. General Shields led the SWARM team up a small set of stairs onto a metal viewing platform. The platform overlooked the Maze. It resembled something you'd stand on to watch a middle school football game. Aside from the portion of the room containing the viewing platform, the Swarmbot labyrinth filled the entirety of the room. The plywood walls were only knee-high. Most of the Maze was white, although sections had different landscapes painted on them.

Samantha could see one area of the Maze that resembled a desert. Another depicted a forest floor. The Maze contained rocks and other barriers, like blocks of wood and half-sized logs. Two, large lights were attached to the far wall. They directly faced the viewing platform. One was red; the other was green. The red light was illuminated.

Ken Sazuki, Hideki Sato, and Chris Fischer removed their backpacks. They walked to various spots in the Maze. The team pulled out translucent orbs. Each orb was the size of a softball. Ken, although socially awkward, was the showman of the group. He lifted a Swarmbot high over his head and said, "Ladies and gentlemen of Defense Innovations Accelerator, I give you the fourth generation Swarmbot."

Everyone clapped. Samantha counted 11 of the spheroid robots. Actually, upon closer examination of each orb, two were bigger than the others. The outliers were about the size of a little kid's soccer ball, the kind that five-year-olds use to fit the kick of their tiny feet.

Samantha eyed the orb closest to her. Its construction was of a composition that was entirely foreign; it looked like foggy glass or opaque crystal. General Shields asked Samantha if she'd ever seen a Swarmbot.

"No. Ali has—he went to the Swarmbot lab many times, but I've never seen them. They don't look like much."

As Ken, Hideki, and Chris were walking back up the stairs of the reviewing stand; Hideki overheard Samantha. "You know, that's the problem. We can't figure out why were not billionaires right now. Swarmbots are a key to the future of warfare. But no one in the DoD will buy them. I've had a General tell me, 'What the hell are those? We don't need any robot balls—I've got all the balls I need.'"

Knowing she'd struck a nerve, Samantha apologized.

"Take heart boys," said the General. "Since I first saw them at the 24th, your Swarmbots have gotten better every year. Generals can be some of the most unimaginative buffoons you'll ever come across. They get paid to not make mistakes. Taking a chance is akin to career suicide. Then, when they retire, they won't land as lucrative of a consulting job.

"The first unarmed drones flew in Viet Nam. The Air Force laughed at them for nearly 40 years. Why would anyone want a pilotless aircraft? Drones could have played an enormous role in the 1991 invasion of Iraq. Surely, if deployed in 1991, the drones would have been quickly armed.

"But no! Why would you need a drone, when you had cruise missiles? Those were the same cruise missiles we used in our numerous attempts to kill Bin Laden. They failed every time. Then came 9/11. Finally, ten years after they could have been deployed, armed drones saw action. Imagine if a drone had killed Osama during the Clinton Administration. No imagination leads to unnecessary deaths!

"Boys, you've stuck with your dreams. Your tenacity is a huge reason the Accelerator invested in you. I can see Swarmbots changing the face of warfare, especially wars against terrorism and counter-insurgency."

Ken gave an appreciative nod to the General. He removed a tablet from his backpack. "We're ready when you are."

General Shields reached for a green button on the platform.

*

Since 7:30, Saul had been briefing the 11 junior members of US CYBERCOM. They worked at CYBERCOM headquarters on the Fort. All of them were young hackers, who should excel at video games. The all-male group consisted of four Airmen, three Sailors, three Soldiers, and a Marine.

Saul began the briefing by reminding the men that this discussion was classified at TOP SECRET//FOGGY. Saul told the servicemen that they were testers for a new video game. The video game was fielded to teach SOCOM close quarters combat techniques.

The Marine asked why the NSA was interested in video games for SOCOM. Saul told the Marine that he wasn't at liberty to disclose that information. Saul explained that too many questions, beyond the game mechanics, would trigger their replacement. He reminded them that there were plenty of DoD personnel that would love to be paid to test virtual reality video games.

The Gamers put on the VR Headsets, equipped with neural controllers from Prosthetic Thought. This made the headset look more like a helmet, than oversized goggles. The Prosthetic Thought controllers were supposed to scan the brainwaves of the Gamers, and translate their brain patterns into motion and action in the game. This allowed for a much more realistic VR experience, as Gamers wouldn't have to move as much to influence their VR characters.

Each Gamer also held two wireless controllers. They were for backup, in case the thought controllers failed. The Prosthetic Thought equipment was still erratic. Saul was interested to see how everything would come together in GAMESPACE and REALSPACE.

Gamification Systems' Chief Architect gave the team time to practice moving around. This Fog of War version was not tied to the Swarmbots in REALSPACE. After 20 minutes, the team looked good. Saul could watch the Gamers' point of view on the flat screens attached to the SCIF's wall.

"Alright," said Saul. "When the green light goes on, all of you have a very simple task. Guide your VR avatar through the Maze. Exit the other side. Walk in a single-file line."

Saul was a bit nervous. The last two months were a whirlwind. He'd lost ten pounds and not slept for more than three hours. How else was he supposed to respond when General Shields told him that the fate of the nation was riding on his technical skills?

Only Saul and Samantha knew the full scope of the task. Saul was in charge of integrating Fog of War and the Swarmbots, with G-Bridge. Ali assisted Saul by working the Swarmbot side, in REALSPACE. But Ali didn't know what was on the other end in GAMESPACE. Saul knew Ali's first assumption was that GAMESPACE was Castle Chevaliers. But over time, the light seemed to click. Ali kept mentioning meeting Velocity Studios' key management.

Saul felt sorry for Becca. He couldn't figure out why Samantha had not read her into FOGGY or SWARM. Saul thought Samantha was underutilizing Becca. He really could have used her help. She was very bright and determined.

"Gentlemen, are you ready?" yelled Saul.

*

General Shields depressed the green button. "Here we go."

Immediately, the red light in the distance flipped off, and the green light flashed on. A swipe of Ken Sazuki's tablet animated the Swarmbots. The spheroid drones looked alive.

They rolled slowly across the room, from right to left. In a single-file line, they headed towards the Maze exit, on the far left side of the room. The first thing Samantha noticed was the deathly silence of the Swarmbots. Even when they nudged a rock or log, there was no sound. "This is like watching TV with no volume. How are they so quiet?" she asked, in disbelief.

The second thing that struck her was the Swarmbot's tremendous agility. They could start, stop, and rotate on a dime. In an instant, they could move in any one of 360 directions. Each Swarmbot moved methodically and independently. Yet, as they wheeled towards the end of the Maze, they seemed to communicate with one another. "They're like a colony of ants, working for their queen," exclaimed Samantha.

"I've been called worse things than a queen," laughed the General.

It was the first smile Samantha had seen on General Shields' face in weeks. Within two minutes, all the Swarmbots completed the Maze. They assembled at the exit.

"How fast do they go?" asked Samantha.

Ken looked at the General inquisitively. The General slightly shook his head no. "I can't disclose that precisely. I can tell you that they'd outrun you."

"I don't know, Ken. I'm pretty fast, even in heels." Ken lost himself for a second as he gawked at Samantha's toned legs. Lin wasn't the only one who could work it, thought Samantha. Of course, Ken wasn't tall, dark, or Australian.

"It's as if each one is looking at me. It's eerie," said Lin.

General Shields chuckled. "I don't want them looking at you. I want them to look straight into the eyes of Abu Mosulaydi."

The Swarmbot executives were all smiles, even though the demonstration seemed incredibly simple to them. All Ken knew was that someone was remotely controlling the Swarmbots. Ken wasn't read into FOGGY; he didn't know anything about GAMESPACE.

Over the past five years, Swarmbot's CEO had seen this sight many times. First, was the wild excitement and promises. This was followed by the disappointment of unanswered calls and unreturned emails. The sales cycle for Swarmbot in the DoD and IC was brutal. If it weren't for the law enforcement market, Swarmbot would have gone bankrupt.

"General," Ali said, "it went perfectly. I don't know how it worked on the other end, but in REALSPACE, everything performed smoothly."

General Shields pushed the red button.

Ken, Hideki, and Chris moved from the viewing platform, back into the Maze. Each reconfigured a different segment of the Swarmbot labyrinth. The new Maze pattern allowed the 11 Swarmbots to traverse the Maze, not in single-file, but as a team. Looking at the larger Swarmbots, Samantha asked, "Why are those bigger?"

"Oh, you'll see," answered Shields, with a twinkle in his eye.

Within 10 minutes, the Maze was reconfigured. The Swarmbot team was back standing on the viewing platform. As Samantha's eyes traveled the path of the Maze, she spotted a dead end. A wall stopped progress in the middle of the Maze.

"How are the Swarmbots going to get over that?" she asked, pointing to the obstacle.

*

In GAMESPACE, the scenario had gone just as well, although the Marine was grating on Saul. The Leatherneck asked, "What's the big deal was about a first-person VR shooter, in which we warriors, simply walk in a single-file line through a maze?"

Saul informed the Marine that he could leave whenever he wanted.

When the Marine asked when he got to shoot something, Saul went ballistic. Saul told him to leave. The Marine begged for forgiveness and asked to stay, saying, "If that's what it takes to keep America safe from terrorists, I'll walk through a maze all day long. Hoorah!"

I'd never make it as a Marine, thought Saul.

He told the Gamers that the second scenario was more collaborative. The Gamers were to work as a team to collectively navigate the maze. "One team member's failure is everyone's failure," bellowed Saul. He tried to parrot General Shields as much as he could.

*

Back in REALSPACE, the General was close to hitting the green button again.

"Ken, are you guys ready?" asked the General. "We're going to see some magic on this run, right?"

"Yes, sir." Ken gave his command tablet to Chris Fischer.

## Chapter 17 – Swarmbot Demo 2

9:20 a.m. (EDT), Wednesday, September 30, 2020 – Columbia, MD

The Maze, Sixth-Floor SCIF, Defense Innovations Accelerator

The General hit the button to initiate the second demo. Chris Fischer swiped his tablet.

In the next instant, the Swarmbots were imbued with fluorescent coloring. The nine softball size Swarmbots glowed neon red. One of the soccer ball size Swarmbots was green; the other was yellow.

"For this portion of the demo," said Chris, "we've configured the adaptive camouflage of the Swarmbots for different colors. It'll help you follow the action better."

The red Swarmbots stacked up in three rows, of three across. The jumbo-sized green and yellow Swarmbots completed a rear row. The Swarmbot collections spun forward. Rocks impeded the some of the drone's paths. These Swarmbots spaced themselves appropriately. As they moved through the Maze, they easily worked their way around the barriers.

"We call that the Rushing Water Move. It reminds me of water, flowing by a submerged branch in a stream," said Chris. Chris knew that the demo got more exciting as it progressed. Fischer joined Swarmbot after their jump in revenue from law enforcement. Chris resigned from Marvel Defense Systems to join Swarmbot. At Marvel, Chris was Chief Engineer for the Marauder line of remotely piloted aircraft.

The Marauder was a cash cow for Marvel. Chris spent his free time working on mini-drones. But Marvel was more interested in ever-larger, more powerful, more lethal, and more expensive drones. The mini-drones Chris pursued were biologically inspired—the size of birds initially. Chris kept engineering smaller and smaller drones. His ultimate vision was to build robots based on nanotechnology.

Ken and Hideki convinced Chris to jump ship. They told him he'd be in complete control of the fourth generation—4Gen—Swarmbot platform. Ken and Hideki said they'd continue to market 3Gen to SWAT teams. Chris was tasked to make 4Gen more compelling to the DoD and IC markets.

This promise of total control over 4Gen was important to Chris. He knew that Ken and Hideki had a profound aversion to weaponizing the Swarmbots. They wanted the drones to work just as an advanced ISR platform.

Chris knew this was naïve. Though he had complete control, many arguments still ensued about enabling the Swarmbots to prosecute kill missions. Despite the disagreements, Chris fashioned 4Gen to include lethality modules. Chris sounded like a broken record, as he told Ken and Hideki, "Drone sales only took off when we made them capable of launching missiles."

The lethality modules were only one of the many modifications that Chris made to the 4Gen Swarmbot platform. At the General's urging, Chris met with Flashcharge. They had a standing meeting at the Accelerator twice a week. Shields directed Chris to incorporate Flashcharge's wireless charging capabilities into the 4Gen's batteries.

One of the conditions of the Accelerator's $6.75M investment was that Swarmbot promised to market 4Gen only to the United States' DoD and IC, for a period of five years—no sales to non-US entities.

Ken negotiated a provision to nullify the agreement if sales from the US DoD or IC didn't materialize within two years from the time that 4Gen was 'commercially available.' He also haggled hard with the General to allow Swarmbot to sell to Australia. Ken had high-placed contacts in that country.

But, the General was adamant. He was investing a substantial amount of US taxpayer dollars. No foreign country, even if they were a member of the Five Eyes, was going to benefit from the investment.

In fact, any TOP SECRET//FOGGY or TOP SECRET//SWARM document was always marked NOFORN. This meant that only properly cleared United States citizens could access FOGGY or SWARM information.

The three red Swarmbots on point, that is the three Swarmbots in the very front, came to the wooden obstacle in the Maze. All red Swarmbots stacked up. They looked like eggs, in a three-rowed egg carton.

The green and yellow Swarmbots rolled over their smaller brethren, with the green Swarmbot on the right leading the way. As the green Swarmbot hit the barrier, it started to roll up the wall. At the same time, the yellow Swarmbot came from behind and nudged the green Swarmbot. It fell over the wall onto the other side. All of this occurred in absolute silence. Even when the green Swarmbot dropped to the other end of the barrier, there was no noise.

In GAMESPACE, Saul watched the Marine help an Airman over a brick wall.

The smaller Swarmbots rotated to form a single-file line, which seemed linked together. The yellow Swarmbot moved to the back of this connected line.

Samantha asked, "How do they become one like that? Is it magnets?" Chris smiled. He shook his head no.

There was a single red Swarmbot, now on point. It rolled back from the barrier and on top of the Swarmbot behind him. Now, he was no longer making contact with the ground. The lead, red orb completely supported itself on the Swarmbot underneath him. This process repeated itself, until the Swarmbots looked like a dancing piece of rope.

"That's our Cobra Move," said Chris, building his excitement up for the crescendo.

Now, five red Swarmbots were stacked on top of each other. They stood straight in the air. The other four remained on the ground, in a single-file line. They were anchored by the larger, yellow Swarmbot. It surprised Samantha that, apart from the different coloring, the 10 Swarmbots moved as one. It was as if the individual Swarmbots had melted together.

The cobra Swarmbot moved forward. It began crawling over the barrier. The head of the Cobra then linked to green Swarmbot, which had climbed over the wall earlier. Now, he was the head. The green Swarmbot drove aggressively forward, pulling all the other Swarmbots over the wall. The snake with a green head, red body, and yellow tail finished the Maze.

In GAMESPACE, the Gamers were all ascending a long ladder.

"Wow!" exclaimed Samantha. "How'd they do that, Chris?"

Chris laughed and said reservedly, "They did that because that's what your system led them to do."

"Now, we're moving to the finale," shouted Ken.

"So obviously," said Chris "you've heard—or should I say, not heard—our sound suppression technology. When sound suppression is active, Swarmbots are nearly silent. I'm going to show you the ISR capabilities of the green Swarmbot." He swiped his tablet and passed it around. The thin computer displayed the video feed, from the green Swarmbots' point of view.

"That's creepy," said Lin.

"I can't wait to use these things on the Caliphate," crowed the General. The tablet screen also contained a dashboard with numerous graphs and charts. This included real-time air pressure, temperature, and soil composition.

Chris continued, "We completely redesigned the innards of the 4Gen Swarmbots to be much more modular. We can outfit them with a configurable array of surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, including thermal imaging and 360-degree facial recognition.

"It can also house a bevy of hacking tools. Or, you could use it to laser-paint targets for fire support. Paint the target and then boom, here comes the artillery or missile. Another option is to use its acoustics package to geo-locate gun fire. And remember, you don't need to endanger any serviceman or woman to perform any of these tasks.

"But, my favorite feature is this." Chris swiped the tablet again. "Watch the green and yellow Swarmbots." Chris depressed a virtual button on the tablet. The larger, green and yellow Swarmbots unlinked, and spun ahead of the red Swarmbots. Then they stopped. Their sides seemed to cave in on themselves, until the orb was now a half-circle. This action revealed a platform on each Swarmbot. There was something on the platform, but it was hard to make out. Immediately, that something rose from the platform. It started flying across the room.

Chris looked directly at Shields, "Here's your mini-drone, General."

Lin gasped. Both of the mini-drones flew over to the viewing platform and hovered. The mini-drones were the size of a large insect. The beating of the Swarmbot's wings sounded exactly like a dragon-fly.

Chris looked at the flying Swarmbot's with satisfaction.

"They can fly for 90 minutes, before they need a charge from their mother Swarmbot. My next big goal is to outfit them with a Flashcharge battery. Then the mini-drone Swarmbots will be charged by microwaves, just like the other Swarmbots."

The flying Swarmbots darted across the room for several minutes. They returned to the platform on their host Swarmbot. The two jumbo Swarmbots' sides raised. Now, they were full-orbs again.

In GAMESPACE, two of the Airman released backpack-sized drones. The drones hovered in front of their target, before returning to the Airmen's hands.

"And now, for the grand finale," yelled Ken, enthusiastically. All the Swarmbots moved forward for a few seconds. With another swipe of Chris' tablet, they completely disappeared.

Lin shrieked, "Where'd they go?"

"They're still there," beamed Chris.

Samantha and Lin completely freaked out. Lin started swatting imagined buzzing insects from her face. After about a minute, all the Swarmbots reappeared on the other end of the Maze. "Holy...," said Samantha. "How'd you do that?"

"It's magic," replied Chris, "the magic of adaptive camouflage. It makes them nearly invisible."

General Shields punched the red button.

*

General Shields asked the Swarmbot team to meet him in the SCIF conference room. He nodded to Samantha. Samantha thanked Ali for his hard work, and told him that he wasn't needed for the follow-on meeting. After Ali had left, the General instructed Lin to be on the lookout for Saul.

Once in the conference room, General Shields told everyone that he was pleased with the results. He praised the efforts of the Swarmbot and Gamification team. Saul and Lin strode into the conference room. Both Samantha and General Shields surveyed Saul's facial expression. He smiled and bobbed his head. It was clear that everything had, at the very least, gone satisfactorily in GAMESPACE.

General Shields stared intently at the two Co-Founders of Swarmbot. "Gentlemen, I've known you for a long time. I think you're well on the way to being very wealthy men. In fact, I want to help you do that. I'd like to order 75 Swarmbots for $100M. I want to spread that payment over a two-year period." The total budget of the ''''''''''' ''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''' the second largest in the IC, behind the ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''''

Samantha's jaw dropped. "What about Gamification Systems?" she blurted out.

The General smiled. "Samantha, I'll place my order later." Samantha just shook her head in disbelief.

The General turned his attention back to Ken and Hideki. "I know you've both made great personal sacrifices to launch your company and build your dream. It's going to change the face of warfare. I think Swarmbots are going to have a key military role, just like remotely piloted aircraft. But I need something from you to proceed."

Chris Fischer already knew what the General was going to say.

"I need," said the General, slowly, "...no—your country needs—you to weaponize the Swarmbots."

Ken didn't look surprised. He'd had these conversations on many occasions with Chris. But he tried to push back. "General Shields, Swarmbots are the most sophisticated ISR platforms on the planet. They can provide you with facial recognition. They can hack Wi-Fi. They don't make a noise. They can hide in plain sight. Chris is working on a DNA processing option. You have everything you need. With 4Gen, you have all we've ever promised to you—even a mini-drone."

Chris exploded. "Ken, how do you see through those rose colored glasses of yours? I've told you from the get-go, if you want to sell to the DoD, you need to weaponize the Swarmbots. What's the difference between these two scenarios? Swarmbots provide ISR regarding the location of a terrorist. That ISR leads to a lethal drone strike. Or, Swarmbots kill or incapacitate a terrorist.

"By the way, let me tell you a dirty little secret about Hellfire missiles from a Marauder. They cause a lot of collateral damage. '''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''' ''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''

"Swarmbots can prosecute night raids, targeting only one person. Hell, they don't even need the cover of night. Soldiers stay safely behind the lines. If Swarmbots need to kill, they can. If they need to listen, they can. If they need to incapacitate, they can do that too. Our company's biggest market is the DoD and IC. If you want any sales to these markets, you must weaponize Swarmbots."

Tears spilled down Ken's cheeks. "Chris, my great-grandmother was irradiated to death at Hiroshima. My great-grandfather was a kamikaze pilot. My grandfather nearly starved to death in post-World War II Japan. I understand war. I understand technology. I'm a second-generation American. I want to protect, and not kill. Weaponizing these drones is a point of no return.

"Do I have to go down in history as that guy? You and I both know—someday soon—you aren't going to need a tablet or joystick to control Swarmbots. Can I live with the fact that I'm the father of autonomous...silent...invisible...killer robots?"

The room remained hushed for a few moments.

Then, the very shy Hideki spoke up. The room got even quieter, so everyone could hear his hushed voice. "If you're the father, then I'm the mother. You can't protect, if you refuse to kill. We've both given our lives for Swarmbot. You're divorced. I'm getting a divorce. I don't know my kids. I could go on and on. If we don't do this, someone else will. That's something I can't live with—that all of our sacrifices were a waste."

For his part, General Shields was respectful. He let the drama play out. Then he said, "Ken, I understand your position. But war has caused loss all over the world. My family has experienced profound sorrow. Can you imagine if a lethal Swarmbot was available when the Caliphate took my son? Before his head was separated from his body and broadcast to the entire world; your Swarmbots could've eradicated Charlie's murderers. If you guys need time, that's fine. But my purchase is contingent upon you demonstrating kill and incapacitate features in the 4Gen Swarmbots."

## Chapter 18 – Separation

9:50 a.m. (EDT), Wednesday, September 30, 2020 – Columbia, MD

Suite 201, Gamification Systems' Offices, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Ali tried to casually sneak into his office. If only he were a Swarmbot. He'd be in full active camouflage mode. But nothing could hide him from Becca. She scowled at Ali. Just months ago, they were good friends. Now, Becca felt forsaken by someone she went out of her way to help. Ali's coding skills were sub-par, until Becca coached him up. Becca felt she'd trained her replacement.

Ali understood why Becca was upset. He just couldn't do anything about it. He tried to convince Samantha to read Becca into SWARM, but to no avail.

Becca confronted Ali. "I think you guys are using drones in REALSPACE, and you're using a different game in GAMESPACE. My guess is that these drones are going to be used to kill people. Am I right?"

Ali looked at Becca with compassion. "You know I can't tell you what I'm doing. I like you Becca, but I'm not going to wear an orange jumpsuit for 10 years. Besides, I have no idea what's going on in GAMESPACE."

"Well," countered Becca, "let's just think out loud. You saw the two Co-Founders of Velocity meet with Saul and Samantha. Saul's got comments in his code about Velocity. This morning, I watched Saul and a bunch of soldiers go into the SCIF on this floor. You've got Swarmbot manuals all over your office. So it's pretty clear. Our company is moving from gamification of cybersecurity to gamification of killer robots. And Samantha doesn't trust me enough to tell me."

"Becca, I shouldn't have left the manuals out. I was trying to meet a deadline. Go to the Swarmbot website. All they do is manufacture surveillance drones."

"Ali, if the drones aren't weaponized yet, they will be soon."

Becca stormed back to her workspace. She grabbed her phone, hoping to see a text from Josh. 'Good morning, LoveBug. Can I see you tday?'

Becca texted back, 'Sure. Lunch in the cafeteria?'

Becca reviewed her inbox. There were two emails from Gecko Insurance. Everything else was unimportant. Becca didn't want to read them. She opened Eclipse, the program she used to author source code. Becca looked at some Python code for the next hour. Then, she closed the Eclipse application. She was done.

Samantha walked into her glass enclosure. She didn't look in Becca's direction. Becca shut her MacBook and followed her boss.

*

"We need to talk," said Becca, austerely.

Samantha asked Becca to sit down and close the door. This was another one of those times that Samantha wished that Gamification's offices weren't see-through.

"Samantha, I'd like to give you my two weeks' notice. I'm not happy here. Gamification Systems is moving in directions that I'm not comfortable with. I started working for you because I thought you'd mentor me. You're a successful and talented woman. I wanted to learn from you. But, you haven't been honest with me. I wasn't imagining things. You didn't even talk to me about our most important project. You told me this was an open, transparent environment—remember your glass office speech?

"I'm grateful for this opportunity, but I'm going to move on. Over the next two weeks, I'll help you transition the Gecko relationship to someone else. I know I'm losing all my stock options. I don't care."

There wasn't anything for Samantha to say. She wasn't shocked. She was sorry. She was upset with the General. And Samantha was mad at herself. Rebecca Roberts was her second best coder. She was her best employee in front of customers, even better than her VP of Sales. Samantha had tried in vain to convince Shields to assign Becca, at least to FOGGY. What would it hurt if she only worked in GAMESPACE?

The General believed that Becca had the profile of someone who would disclose classified information. She'd either go to the press or upload it to a website, like WikiLeaks. Becca would call herself a whistleblower. General Shields would call her a traitor.

*

At 12:55 p.m., Josh arrived at the Accelerator's sixth-floor conference room. This was CyberAI's Demo Day for September.

Josh unpacked his laptop and set up his PowerPoint. The General wouldn't want to see a demo. There was only one slide that mattered. He hoped that the results would improve his relationship with the General. Since his fiery Sunday meeting in August, it hadn't been the same.

The General and Lin took a seat. After terse mutual greetings, Josh began his very upbeat presentation. He provided some technical background explaining his deep learning approach. He briefed the General on his success in using the NSA supercomputers. They helped to rapidly develop genetic algorithms for each layer of the neural network.

As Josh approached his most significant slide, CyberAI's CTO—Vish Kumar—joined the meeting. Josh was bewildered. While Josh, Vish, and the General always met for Board meetings; Josh conducted his monthly demo sessions solo.

"Thanks for coming, Vish," said the General. "Josh, I took the liberty of inviting Vish. I'd like him to attend all the demos going forward."

"Ok," said Josh reservedly. He continued with the presentation. "General, I know this is the slide you care about." Josh clicked his prompter to advance to the next slide. "We now recognize 92.7% of the cyber-events. Two months ago that number was 83%."

"Outstanding," said the General. Lin also looked impressed.

"Vish, what's your reaction to that metric?" asked Shields.

"Obviously, I think it's wonderful," said Vish, with his deep voice and Indian accent. "But, I'd like to take a look at the source code. Josh, I haven't seen a commit from you since you started the deep learning stuff, about three months ago."

"Right, I forked the repository. I didn't want any namespace collisions or other problems that might set us back. But, I'm going to merge the code soon." This was a technical excuse that meant that Josh hadn't put the source code in the CyberAI repository. The code was only available to him.

Vish looked annoyed. "So, the code that has improved cyber-event recognition is on a forked source code repository on your laptop?"

"Yea Vish," said Josh, irritated. "Just like you, I do a lot of development from home. I back it up on a server in my apartment. Sometimes, it's more convenient for me to do coding at home, where I'm not disturbed by the day-to-day issues of being a CEO."

General Shields jumped in. In a stern manner he asked, "Josh, you've been solely concentrating on using your new algorithms for cyber-events, right?"

"Uh, yes." Josh sensed that his answer was not definitive enough, so he added, "Can't you tell by looking at the performance improvement?"

After working through the rest of the presentation, General Shields adjourned the meeting.

Josh was punctured. And on edge.

*

General Shields waited until Josh and Vish had cleared the room. He looked at Lin with a serious expression.

"Lin, I think we have an issue with Josh. I'm going to need your help. The General shut the conference room door, and picked up the secure telephone. He placed a call to Phil Callahan at NSOC. General Shields told Phil he was dealing with an urgent matter.

"Phil, I think one of the CEO's at the Accelerator is going rogue. I want to know what Josh Adler is doing now, and what he's done over the past three months. Assign only intel analysts that you completely trust to this tasking.

"First, I want to examine the log files of the NSA supercomputers. Lin can give you the details regarding the dates and times of Josh's usage. I think that'll give us the clearest picture of what he's up to. You should get some good selectors by examining the logs.

'''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' '''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '' ''''''''''' ''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' '''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Make sure you also include the selectors you get from the supercomputer logs. I want to know every social media post: his likes, new friends, comments—everything. Give me all his call records, text messages, and credit card transactions.

'''''''''''''' '' '''''''''''' '''''''' '''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''' I need this report and the CyberAI software by the close of your shift tomorrow morning. Call me tonight and give me an update." TAO stood for Tailored Access Operations. It was the NSA's name for its clandestine hacking operations.

Phil said, "Yes, sir." He added gingerly, "General, don't we need a warrant?"

"Dammit Phil," barked Shields, "I've got a potential traitor here. I'm not trying to prosecute him; I'm attempting to protect the information. At this very moment, he might be giving away source code to China, Russia, or Israel.

"Any one of those countries might use the information to start World War III. I don't have time to get a warrant. Besides that, he's got a clearance. I believe he's an insider threat. That fact alone is sufficient justification for NSA counsel. Just get this done."

"Yes, sir."

General Shields terminated the call. "Lin, I want you to kick off our plan to staff the SWARM Op Center 24/7 with our most talented analysts."

"Got it."

"Also, I need you to call Loreal & Hammer. Get them to draft a notice for a Board of Directors meeting for CyberAI. The bylaws allow for a board meeting to be called with a 24-hour notice. I want the documentation prepared. I want to be able to send the notice out tonight, if Phil's update confirms my suspicions. That way, we can conduct the board meeting on Friday. And before I leave today, I need you to schedule a face-to-face meeting with Vish. Don't invite Josh."

Lin inspected Shields. "General Shields, you're sure about all this? You've been going Mach 1 since Dabiq-gate. You're moving past the point of no return on this."

"Lin, I'm not in the mood for psychoanalysis. Just do what I've asked."

*

It was early evening when Becca arrived at Josh's apartment.

"I'm sorry I had to cancel lunch," said Josh. He looked discombobulated. "I don't think you want to be seen with me. You still haven't told anyone at work about us, right?"

Becca laughed. "None of that matters anymore."

Josh looked confused. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No silly. I wanted to tell you in person, and not by text. I gave my notice today."

"What?" yelled Josh.

Becca glanced at the apartment. Every time she came over, the place was messier. The book stacks were taller, and there were more empty pizza boxes. The books weren't about programming or AI. There were piles for ancient Israel, the Bible, and the Ark. Middle East travel books were strewn across the coffee table.

Since her last visit, Josh had thumbtacked a map of the Middle East to the kitchen wall, along with drawings of the Ark of the Covenant. Another stack sat tall on the dining room table. It contained books on learning Hebrew and Judaism. Judaism thought Becca, is Josh becoming Jewish? Since Josh was Jewish, she filed the thought in her illogical box.

"Josh, you're not going all Beautiful Mind on me here, are you?" Becca and Josh had recently watched the movie about the mathematician and cryptographer, John Nash.

"I hope not," replied Josh, emotionless. The imagery of the question caught him by surprise, elevating him above the situation for a moment. He looked around his apartment and seemed a bit shocked by the scene himself. He sighed deeply.

"Becca, what did you mean? Notice for what?"

"I quit my job so I could be your maid." Becca laughed. "I'm kidding, but this place does look terrible. Anyway, you know how I've told you that weird things have been occurring at Gamification—that I've sensed that Gamification and the NSA were up to some crazy stuff? And, how Samantha has cut me out of the loop for the past few months? For the first time ever, I wasn't even invited to Demo Day! Ali stood in for me. Today, it all came to a head.

"I think Samantha is replacing Castle Chevaliers with Fog of War in GAMESPACE. In REALSPACE, I believe that the Gamers will control Swarmbots. If the Swarmbots aren't lethal yet, I'm sure they will be soon. I don't want any part of it. I was hired to create software for a gamification company, specializing in cybersecurity."

"They're gamifying death?" asked Josh. What makes you think they are going to arm them? All of Swarmbot's marketing indicates that they just sell surveillance drones."

"Josh, have you ever played Fog of War? It's a first-person shooter. The goal of the game is to kill."

"You're right." He considered the situation for a moment. "Do you have a problem with the Swarmbots or the fact that Samantha didn't trust you with the information?"

"I don't know," replied Becca, laconically. "Probably both. It's just so disappointing," she stammered. "I took the job because I looked up to Samantha. We had a ton in common. I thought she could teach me so much. I worked really hard for her. I wanted to make Gamification a success. But she stopped trusting me. When I approached her to express my concerns, she tried to make me think I was going nuts."

"Becca, I'm sorry. I know how stressed out you've been. I haven't been there for you. I've been in my own little world." He hugged Becca, tightly.

"Thanks, Josh. I can find a coding job wherever I want. I've got some savings. After my two weeks, I think I'll just take some time. Maybe I'll visit my dad. On second thought, forget that. I'll find something to do. So...that was my day. What's up with you? Why do you look so anxious?"

"I also have a terrible feeling. Things at CyberAI aren't right. Nothing about the place feels kosher. I've never been a CEO before, but I've been getting bizarre vibes from General Shields. Ever since I offhandedly mentioned the Ark with him, he's been an entirely different man. I should never have brought it up. The Ark has changed everything.

"Today, he invited Vish to our monthly meeting. Vish has never attended our Demo Day before. My own CTO then proceeded to rake me over the coals about the location of the source code for the deep learning software."

"What are you worried about? Aren't you the CEO?"

"Yes, but the combined equity of Vish and the Accelerator is more than mine. We all have an equal vote on the board. I think they can get rid of me with a simple vote."

Josh's phone buzzed.

Becca watched Josh's face implode.

"What's wrong?"

He stood in silence. He read, and re-read the email.

"It's an email serving me notice of a board meeting on Friday. The agenda calls for a discussion of general business items. It demands that I bring the source code to the meeting. Crap. This is bad. I need to call my lawyer, now."

Josh left a distressed voicemail for his attorney.

"I'm sorry, Josh. That place is insane. I think General Shields has flipped his lid. The stuff he's doing has to be illegal. What's the deal with the source code? They don't have your deep learning software?"

"No, I didn't want to commit the code. The General's demeanor has been so baffling. You've seen the improvements from the deep learning algorithm. The genetic algorithms that the supercomputer selected made the neural network perform even better than I anticipated.

"Everything improved—they cyber-recognition, the market predictions; and I know it's early, but the Cowboys are undefeated. Most of all...Becca, I've got to show you this. Do you remember where the AI placed the Ark last time?"

"Yes, it was a broad region of the Middle East."

"Right, now look at this." Josh handed Becca her VR gear. In an instant, they were both back in TextWorld.

"TextWorld, show me the current location of the Ark of the Covenant," said Josh. This time, the map depicted a much smaller area. It only included portions of Israel and Jordan. Whereas it used to contain parts of six countries, now it included only slivers of two. Specifically, the map depicted the West Bank, Jerusalem, the northern part of the Dead Sea, the Jordanian desert to the west of the Dead Sea, and the area around Amman, Jordan.

"It's getting better and better," said Josh. "My AI is learning. At the NSA supercomputer center, not only did I find the best genetic algorithms, but I started training the neural network on different languages. I began with Hebrew, ancient Greek, and Russian. I got help from NSA linguists on the Hebrew and Russian. I just finished the code to add ancient Aramaic, Arabic, and Farsi. But I haven't compiled it yet. I know I'll have to work through some bugs before it works."

"This is incredible," said Becca. "Every day, you're getting closer to finding something that evaporated from the face of the earth over 2500 years. I understand why you don't want the General or Vish to have this code."

Josh nodded in agreement. "Yep, now that I think about it, his plan has probably always been to integrate my AI with the Swarmbots. Then, he wouldn't even need GAMESPACE. He'd have fully autonomous robots."

Becca was troubled. "You're probably right. Josh, this is scary. You can't give them this source code. They're going to hack you and steal it, if they haven't already."

"I know. The source code repository is on this blade." Josh pointed to the server in the rack closest to his desk. "It's not connected to the Internet. However, I did have to take my code on the laptop to connect to the supercomputers. They could have pilfered the source code there, but I made sure I was only working on certain modules. Not everything was on my laptop at the same time. Also, I was running a software firewall. I think the bigger problem is the log files on the supercomputers. I'm sure they recorded all my activity.

"Can you erase the logs?" asked Josh, semi-hopefully. "I know you're a great hacker."

Becca laughed. "No. Even if I could access the log server, I'm sure they use a hashing algorithm on the logs. The minute I deleted your queries from the log, the system would recognize that the file changed, because the hash changed.

"We've got a little over 24 hours to get the code to a safe place, if we can find one. Then you're going to have to destroy all these servers and laptops. It's not enough just to break the hard drives. We'll need to drive nails through them. Absolutely every electronic component—including your laptop keyboards and touchpads—need to be destroyed."

"Damn. I hate to lose those DGX-1s. But why the keyboards?" asked Josh.

"In some laptops, there's a buffer that captures data. You're trying to hide information from the most sophisticated hacking and computer forensics organization in the world. The NSA is even better than the FBI. Our first step is to encrypt the source code. Then, we need to figure out how to get the source code out of this apartment. After that, we need to destroy your hardware.

"What about those?" asked Becca, pointing to two other flat screen monitors with open browser windows. One of the browsers displayed Wikipedia articles regarding the Temple and the Ark. The other contained the results from an Atom search of, 'Dome of the Rock.'

"I haven't done any coding on those computers. They're just for research."

"Alright," said Becca. "But, they're able to review everything you've done online. I'm going to use a vacation day tomorrow and help you. By the time you go to the board meeting, we'll know the source code is safe. Or at least, safer."

Becca and Josh spent the rest of the evening executing their plan. He bought a burner phone and called Jared Adler. Josh told his dad he was in trouble. It was the first time they had spoken in over two years. Surprisingly, Jared was warm. He assured Josh that he'd do anything to help. Jared sounded happy to hear Josh's voice.

Josh also reached his attorney. The lawyer was not as encouraging as his father. "That's not good," said his counsel.

"How much is that deep legal insight going to cost me?" Josh asked Becca, sarcastically.

Encryption of the source code ran well into Thursday morning. No physical medium was large enough to hold all of the encrypted source code. It was too big for USBs, flash drives, or DVDs. Josh didn't have a Blu-ray burner.

Kishore Reddy, the CTO of Adler Capital, provided Josh with an encrypted VPN connection, so that he could send the information to the company intranet. Josh told Kishore to disconnect the server from the Internet when the upload finished. Luckily, Josh had opted for the fastest broadband package available from his Internet service provider to outfit his apartment.

Josh was afraid that the source code might get corrupted in the VPN transfer, so he bought a laptop. They copied the encrypted source code over to the new computer. They wanted to take the laptop and store it in a safe deposit box. But they ran out of time.

It was Friday.

## Chapter 19 – Replaced

9:00 a.m. (EDT), Friday, October 2, 2020 – Columbia, MD

Suite 602, Conference Room, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Josh sat with his hands clasped near his face. 11 months ago, this very room had been the location of his greatest personal triumph. Josh was so proud to sign the document that welcomed CyberAI into Defense Innovations Accelerator's very first class. Josh accomplished the selection without a single conversation with his father.

Over the course of the last nine months, Josh grew to admire—even love—General Shields. He longed for his praise and acceptance. In fact, it was the quest for the General's approval that led Josh down this path. The AI was not improving quickly enough. Now it was. Why wasn't General Shields pleased?

Josh was sick to his stomach. If he'd eaten yesterday, he'd have vomited all over the table.

Vish Kumar was seated directly opposite him. Neither one said a word. Vish became a multi-millionaire when Graphica Intelligence was acquired. Up until two months ago, Vish was Josh's most trusted confidant. Then, Josh began noticing Vish sucking up to the General during board meetings. Josh also discerned that Vish was saying derogatory things behind his back in the office.

General Shields and Lin Liu entered and seated themselves on Vish's side of the table. All three of them faced Josh. The cold atmosphere in the room got even icier.

"Alright," said the General, "let's convene this meeting of the Board of Directors of CyberAI Defense, Inc. Josh, we'd like to inspect the deep learning source code from the past three months."

"General, I didn't bring the source code. As you both know, I negotiated for the right to maintain ownership of independently developed intellectual property."

"Independent?" Vish fumed. "You used NSA supercomputers and linguists to perfect the algorithms!"

"My attorney and I believe that the source code belongs to me. At this time, I choose not to give it to you," said Josh, coolly.

General Shields was livid. "That's bullshit. You know a judge will order you to produce the code. That's strike one. Here's the next pitch. And it's going to be strike two. You told me that you were solely concentrating on cybersecurity within your deep learning code." General Shields slid a heavy manila folder across the table.

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General Shields observed Josh intently. "Yeah, no one here knew you were dating Becca—Becca who resigned from Gamification Systems yesterday. Do you know anything about that?"

Josh didn't answer the question. Lin squirmed in her seat. Josh thought he recognized empathy in her eyes. ''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' '''''' '''''''''''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''

Josh put the folder down and looked at the General. Josh's hardened glance masked deep hurt.

"Josh, you lied to me, and you lied to Vish," said General Shields, gravely. "It's obvious that you were engaged in something I directed you to stop. You're not authorized to seek the location of the Ark. I told you, for the sake of your own welfare and the security of the United States, to stop work on the Ark. You disobeyed me—"

"I'm not one of your Airmen, General Shields. I'm an entrepreneur that wants to change the world with AI. We're partners; you're not my boss. And you don't just turn off this type of AI. Don't you get it? We're approaching strong, general AI. I could have asked the AI anything. It doesn't just learn about cybersecurity. For example, I could have asked the AI if you were having an affair. You can't make it stop learning.

"I created the neural network. But, even as the creator, I don't know what the AI will learn. I didn't write a program to find the Ark. I wrote a deep learning algorithm, composed of a neural network of over 1000 layers. Digital natural selection chose each layer. The algorithm processes text. It learns. You ask the AI questions. Based on what it's learned, it makes inferences and predictions.

"It can make predictions about cyber-events. May I remind you that the current metric has increased to 92.7% accuracy? It can make predictions about financial markets. It can make predictions about the Cowboy's Super Bowl chances. And it can make predictions about the location of the Ark. It's all the same neural network. It's like trying to program your child's thoughts. But the child has to become an adult."

And then Josh said it.

"Did you cram thoughts into your son's head? Did you force Charlie to be a SEAL?"

Were there not other people in the room, General Shields looked like he would have thrown punches. His square jaw tensed, ferociously. Josh could see the vein on the right side of the General's head, pulsating. Moments past while the General struggled to maintain his poise.

No one uttered a word. Breaths spoke volumes.

"My son died in the service of his country," Shields said slowly. "Charlie might not have agreed with everything he was asked to do, but he realized that senior leaders had a broader perspective than him. He subjugated his personal desires for something greater than himself. And Josh, that's strike three.

"Discovery of the Ark of the Covenant has unknown geopolitical ramifications. You're not authorized to ask this question. I told you to stop. You didn't. You lied to Vish, Lin, and me—your lead investor. You also haven't produced the source code requested by the CyberAI Board. For these reasons, I'd like to call a vote. This vote is to remove you from the Board, remove you from being CEO, and to terminate your employment with CyberAI.

"I vote yes," said Shields.

"I vote yes," said Vish.

Josh didn't bother to vote.

General Shields continued, "Alright, you're the new CEO, Vish."

The words cut through Josh's heart. CyberAI was his dream. It was the reason he left MIT. It was the cause of the rupture in his relationship with his father.

The former CyberAI CEO stared at the table. He struggled to process the betrayal. And he was angry. "Gentlemen, I do regret lying to you. But, who are you General Shields to deny an entire race the right to see a relic from their ancient heritage? I don't even know if the AI is accurate. You're claiming US sovereignty over a piece of history that belongs to the Jewish people. God never gave you that right."

Josh could hardly believe that word came from his mouth. He parents didn't practice Judaism. But, Josh was becoming interested in God. And, Josh was becoming thoroughly disappointed in man.

"God, really?" replied the General. "Here's the truth, son. If you continue to search for the Ark, the United States will designate you as a terrorist. I've already added Becca and you to the TSA No-Fly-List. I'll know if you guys attempt to leave the country. '''''''' ''''''' ''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''' '''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''' ''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' We're going to recover our source code. We'll carefully monitor everything you do, until you quit searching for something that imperils the lives of so many.

"Now, if you abandon your pursuit of the Ark, and give us the copies of the source code in your possession; Vish and I will try to make sure that your equity position stays roughly the same. Otherwise, you can expect to be diluted.

"Security will escort you to your office to pack your things. Then, they'll walk you to your car. I'm going to meet with Becca now. Good day, Josh. Be careful."

Two NSA police officers led Josh out of the sixth-floor conference room. One of the officers carried an assault rifle. Josh frantically reached for his phone in an attempt to warn Becca. The phone was useless. Someone was jamming the signal.

*

"Becca, I want to thank you for meeting so quickly. It's my understanding that you've given your two weeks' notice to Gamification?" asked the General.

"Yes, sir," replied Becca.

"Becca, you're a very talented software engineer. May I ask why you're leaving?"

"I'm just not happy here anymore. I'd like to move on."

The General pressed, "Becca, I know you might not understand everything we do here at the Accelerator, but we're trying to make America safe—"

"General Shields, you're building robots to kill people. You have human beings in GAMESPACE that are executing other human beings in REALSPACE; only they think they are playing a game. Are you going to pay your hitmen in Bitcoin?"

"Becca, Swarmbots are ISR platforms. They don't kill."

"Save it General. You picked Fog of War for a reason. I don't want to be a part of it. I understand that despicable men beheaded your son. I'm sorry. I'm sure you think America isn't doing enough. But, breaking laws so you can seek your revenge is not the answer. That won't get your son back."

The General's face went flush red.

Lin inserted herself into the conversation. "Becca, do you have someone you love?"

"Yes."

Lin continued, "Now imagine your significant other is in Syria. He's been assigned a kill or capture mission for a high-ranking member of the Caliphate. Think about him hard. He's all decked out in special operator's gear. He's scared. His adrenaline is pumping. Then, he's given the order. He blows the door off its hinges and rushes into a dark room.

"If we owned the technology to not put your loved one in danger; wouldn't it be immoral not to use it? Think of how many lives drones have saved. Swarmbots are just a logical extension of remotely piloted aircraft."

Becca examined Lin. Then the General. "Listen, I understand what you are saying. I just don't want to work for a company that does these things. I want to make. I want to create. I don't want to destroy life for a living. I'm not in the military. And on the topic of drones, you know better than I, that we're not always killing the right people.

"When you scratch one Caliphate member from your kills list, you add 10 more. Your kill lists don't ever decrease. They only get bigger. Look, I don't know the answer. I do know that this is something I don't want to be associated with. And, I think our country should have a national conversation about this. Do we want to be a country that assigns robots to kill people?"

General Shields spoke in measured tones. "Becca, when you're young, things look black and white. As you gain experience, I can assure you that the entire world is just gray. You're right about the drone program. We are killing too many innocents. I think we need to reign drones in. That's why Swarmbots are so important. They will target one person, and one person only. ''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''' ''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''' ''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''

"Not only that, but the nation cannot continue to send its men and women to fight an enemy that grows larger every day. Our national debt is over $25 trillion, well over 100% of our Gross Domestic Product. Historically, that's when bond defaults occur. We can't afford to fight terrorists all over the world with human soldiers—not if we want to remain a prosperous nation. Compared to American lives, Swarmbots are cheap. They'll get less expensive as we expand the program. It's a type of war that allows us to scale with an asymmetric enemy."

Becca remained stone-faced. "General, what happens when they get robots?"

General Shields looked at Becca dismissively. "Rebecca Roberts, I appreciate your work. You did a good job with Gecko Insurance. Your castle was a real work of art. Your trebuchets were exquisite. I need to remind you that everything we just discussed is TOP SECRET."

"You don't need to worry, General Shields. I'm not a whistleblower. I don't want to end up hiding in Russia, or Ecuador, or Hong Kong. I want to see my loved ones. But someone will be braver than me. Someone will leak this."

"That may be the case," replied Shields, "but if you disclose any of the information we've just talked about, you will be arrested for treason. And, I imagine your father will have some problems with the IRS regarding his church finances. Also, I suggest that you convince your boyfriend to cease all activities regarding his search for the Ark. That'll be in everyone's best interest. It's too dangerous for either one of you, and it's too dangerous for our country."

Becca was stunned speechless.

"Now, these NSA police officers will escort you out. Your last day is today. Thank you for your work at Gamification Systems and for Defense Innovations Accelerator."

It took every ounce of Becca's strength not to cry. She didn't want to give the General the satisfaction of her tears.

*

The General knew Becca had a solid point regarding his legal jeopardy. He was skating on the thinnest of ice. He could face indictment if FOGGY or SWARM ever leaked.

After Dabiq-gate, the President fired Walt Black as DCIA. But, POTUS' nominee for replacement was stuck in a filibuster until questions were answered about Dabiq, specifically, and collateral damage from drone strikes, more generally. With the election looming, the President didn't want to deal with those issues.

POTUS signed a letter for the General. Shields kept it in his safe. The letter authorized Shields to take 'extraordinary measures' to ensure the defense of the nation. If FOGGY or SWARM ever leaked, General Shields would argue that the letter made his actions legal. But, he wasn't sure how he'd fare if indicted, especially if President Goodson lost the election.

The good news was that the chance of the President's defeat looked remote. Dabiq-gate was not hindering the President in the polls. The nation didn't respond to the CIA contractor's murders like they had the SEAL's deaths, five years earlier.

Despite the legal risk, avenging Charlie Shields' beheading by destroying the Caliphate's senior leadership was what mattered most to General Shields. So little was being done to punish the Caliphate.

*

Josh was out of control. Literally. His Faraday 777 GTS Convertible was driving itself. Josh lost the ability to turn the steering wheel. Nothing happened when he pressed the gas pedal or brakes. The doors were locked. The windows wouldn't move. Nor could Josh budge the convertible top. His cell phone was still jammed.

The car—or rather a hacker—was driving safely. At least for now. Josh was on Jessup Road, heading southeast. Then, the car made a quick right onto Brock Bridge Road. "Where am I going?" asked Josh, aloud. He knew the hacker would be monitoring car's speech recognition system.

After a few minutes, it became apparent. Josh's car was led to a dead stop at the entrance to the Maryland Correctional Institution, a prison just a few miles from the NSA.

The prison guards waved at Josh. The onboard computer screen in the Faraday displayed a message: 'MOVE ON JOSH.'

After a few moments, Josh regained control of his car. His phone rang. It was Becca. She was crying inconsolably.

"Where are you?"

Between sobs, Becca said, "I'm in the Starbuck's parking lot."

"Alright, I'll be right there." Josh was surprisingly resolute.

# Chasm Waxing: Part II – Muhammad Rahmati

## Chapter 20 – The Commander

1:30 a.m., Tuesday, October 20, 2020 - Dabiq, Syria

Muhammad Rahmati scaled a small hill. He slithered on his belly to a point overlooking Abu Omar's temporary hideout. This was the same Abu Omar that tricked the CIA and POTUS into Dabiq-gate, nearly two months earlier. Omar had returned to Dabiq after the beheadings of the four American contractors on the CIA payroll.

The lair was a single-story, white, stucco house. It was 250 yards away from Rahmati. The residence couldn't have been more than 1800 square feet. Located on the outskirts of Dabiq, the dwelling rested in the middle of a barley field. The grain was sown earlier in the month. In daylight, bright green sprigs were newly visible, popping their heads out of the soil. Omar was once again in Dabiq to bait the West into military action.

Once Western troops were deployed, the Caliphate could begin their Viet Nam style, death-by-a-thousand-cut assault. The Crusaders' defeat would fulfill Islamic prophecy and initiate the Day of Judgement. This End of Days triumph would see Sunni-Islam reign victorious over all other religions and worldviews, including Shia-Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. At least, that was the Caliphate version of Islamic Armageddon. Shiites, many of them living in Iran, had their own interpretation.

The Caliphate was more radical than Al Qaeda. While Osama Bin Laden wholeheartedly disagreed with Shiite doctrine, he didn't believe that Shia-Muslims deserved death. He said that Muslims should not kill fellow Muslims. However, the Caliphate regarded Shia-Muslims as 'kafir,' or infidels in English. By Islamic definition, infidels were non-believers—any non-Muslim. Therefore, Shiites were worthy of death; as were Jews, Christians, or anyone else that did not convert to their version of Sunni-Islam.

Muhammad Rahmati was 42 years old. He resided in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Rahmati was a Commander in the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, otherwise known as the Revolutionary Guards. All Guards pledged an allegiance to protect Iran's Shiite Ayatollah, who bore the moniker of 'Supreme Leader.' Ayatollah Khomeini started the Revolutionary Guards in the dicey first days of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In exchange for their loyalty, the Ayatollah gave the Revolutionary Guards an ever increasing series of perks.

The Quds Force was the elite special operations and intelligence branch of the Revolutionary Guards; similar to a combination of the Green Berets and the CIA. 'Quds' was Arabic for Jerusalem. The name highlighted the fact that Iran believed that Islam would once again reign over Jerusalem in the days ahead.

The Quds Force operated all over the Middle East, spreading Iranian influence. They closely watched political and military developments in the region. They were also in charge of Iran's proxy strategy. This proxy strategy involved training local forces, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, to serve Iranian geopolitical goals surreptitiously. Iran supplied arms to its proxies. That was the main reason that the US labeled Iran as a significant terrorist state.

The power vacuum created in 2011 by the withdrawal of US troops, and the Iraqi-Shia crackdown on Iraqi-Sunnis, helped prepare the womb in which the Caliphate gestated. When the US left Iraq, Iran was jubilant. The Americans had knocked out all of the threats on their borders. This included the Baathist-led, Sunni government of Saddam Hussein, and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now, the US was gone. Iran had a free hand in their sphere of influence for the first time in nearly a decade. They quickly moved to consolidate Shia power in the region, especially in Iraq.

Iran didn't count on the Arab Spring in 2011. More specifically, protests in Damascus led to a Syrian civil war by 2012. Syria was a long-time ally of Iran. While the US invasion and withdraw from Iraq planted the seeds, the Syrian civil war birthed the Caliphate.

The ascension of the Caliphate was a concern of Iran. It was not as important to them as stabilizing the government in Syria. But, Iran sought to stop the Caliphate in Syria and to contain their growth in Iraq.

Iran's greatest fear regarding the Caliphate was the popularity of its radical apocalyptic, Wahhabi-Salafi-Jihadi message. This mouthful of terms encompassed two core ideas. The first notion was that over the centuries, Islam had been corrupted, especially by Western society. Through the prism of a literal reading of the Koran, Muslims needed to return to their seventh-century roots. They needed to go back to the pure days of Muhammad. The Prophet Muhammad was the best example of righteous Islamic living and total submission to Allah.

The second concept was that Islam was the last religion. As the last revealed religion, it was a superior religion to Judaism, Christianity, or any other worldview. Hebrew and Christian Scriptures had been corrupted through the ages by inaccurate translations and worldliness. Therefore, in order to promote Islam to its rightful place as a theocracy that ruled the world through Sharia law, violent struggle—Jihad—had to be waged against any infidel that threatened Islam.

The Caliphate augmented these central tenets with an emphasis on the End Times, ultra-modern branding, and fear-inducing savagery—especially against Shiites. The spread of the Caliphate's puritanical ideology meant death to Shias and therefore, many Iranians. Increasingly, the Caliphate was moving beyond Iraq and Syria; to Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf States. All of this was territory in which Iran wanted to increase its influence.

The Caliphate's sophisticated social media posts and videos attracted disaffected Muslims, typically angry young men. These followers were influenced to believe that they could join a prophetic movement and serve God. They could fight infidels and establish a new Islamic state in which Sharia Law would produce utopia and expedite the End of Days. Sex, wages, and power would be theirs after they joined. The Caliphate's social media strategy was brutal, persuasive, and cutting-edge.

Iran sought to counter the Caliphate's social media popularity and recruitment strategy. It was Muhammad Rahmati's job to articulate an alternative message that was more appealing than the Caliphate's propaganda.

Rahmati correctly diagnosed the problem. The war against the Caliphate was not solely a military battle. Rahmati knew that the actual destruction of the Caliphate, and for that matter all the Sunni-Jihadists, was an ideological battle, first and foremost

Rahmati did not answer to the General of the Quds Force. He reported directly to Major General, Farhad Javan—the Commander of the Revolutionary Guards. And Javan's boss was the Ayatollah, Alireza Saatchi. General Javan and the Ayatollah empowered Rahmati with complete autonomy in crafting an alternative message. His only directive was to 'make it work.'

Javan hand-selected Rahmati's 19 man unit, including its Deputy Commander, Hadi Hadari. Rahmati named the platoon the, 'Immortals.' This was a reference to the elite troops that fought for the ancient Persian Empire. 15 of the 19 men were top special forces warriors in the Revolutionary Guards. The significance of the number 19 was drawn from an enigmatic passage in the Koran, Sura 74:30. It simply read, 'Over it are nineteen.' There was little context provided.

The other four were extremely tech savvy Guards. Their skills included expertise with various aspects of media like virtual and augmented reality, photography, video drone operation, movie editing, and social media techniques. Rahmati labeled this element of the Immortals as his 'Immersive Media Team.'

Rahmati's goal was to target senior leaders of the Caliphate and eliminate them. During these battles, the Immersive Media Team would gather footage and produce innovative social media. Rahmati would leverage these encounters to voice a new, superior Islamic ideology. Over the next few months, Commander Rahmati achieved a cult-like status. Video after video, Tweet after Tweet, and SnapStorm after SnapStorm detailed the Immortal's victories over the Caliphate's senior leadership.

Rahmati's Immersive Media Team shot videos with sophisticated cameras and drones that recorded high-resolution VR and AR footage. They edited their videos to include scenes from the Immortal's body and helmet cameras. Then, the team uploaded the videos to A-Tube. Viewers could watch the videos in standard mode, with VR head-mounts, or through AR glasses.

Millions of people worldwide viewed the immersive videos. They featured an eloquent and charismatic Rahmati, as he led the Immortals in battle against the Caliphate. Social media pages dedicated to the Commander spread all over the Internet. Rahmati gained an ever expanding number of views, likes, and comments.

The Immersive Media Team also countered Caliphate social media messages and literature. They operated parody accounts spoofing of the lunacy of a return to the seventh century. They also published an e-magazine to compete with the Caliphate's, Dabiq.

One effective campaign labeled the Caliphate as sexual perverts for taking nine-year-old sex slaves as wives. Interviews with Caliphate recruits' moms and dads were posted. The announcer asked the parents if God was pleased with their son's kidnapping, rape, and child molestation. Rahmati's messaging mocked the Caliphate recruits as a band of socially awkward, un-Islamic pedophiles.

From the top of the hill, Rahmati scanned Abu Omar's small hideout through his night-vision binoculars. The Commander was six foot two. Aside from his good looks, the Commander's most prominent feature was his ice-blue eyes. Rahmati was a physical specimen, with salt and pepper colored hair, beard, and mustache. He had a distinctive Romanesque nose.

Rahmati's muscles popped out of the sleeves of his olive-drab T-shirt. He wore camouflaged battle trousers and dessert-colored combat boots. Over his t-shirt, Rahmati was cloaked in specially configured body armor.

The armor had numerous pockets on the outside to carry ammunition. At face value, it looked like a vest with a lot of compartments. However, this jacket contained body armor plates. The nano titanium and ceramic plates could stop the standard issue US ammunition. Attached to the back of the body armor, between Rahmati's shoulder blades, was a pouch. The quick release pouch housed Rahmati's sole weapon.

Rahmati's vest also contained four high-resolution cameras, looking forward and backward. The cameras could toggle between different modes, including night and thermal vision. A greenish hue imbued night-vision video, as it magnified ambient light. Thermal imagery contrasted blacks, grays, and whites. Hotter objects, like faces, appeared whiter. There were also colored implementations of the technology.

Clipped to Rahmati's collar was a wireless radio. It allowed him to communicate with the other Immortals without hand signals. Rahmati also wore an earpiece to listen to his team and receive tactical intelligence from headquarters.

"I see two Daesh sitting in chairs on the front porch," whispered Rahmati. He spoke in Persian, also called Farsi. "It looks like they are carrying AK-47's without scopes. I'd guess there couldn't be more than four or five in the house, including Omar." AK stood for Automatic Kalashnikov. AKs were Russian-designed assault rifles. They were extremely durable and easy to use. AKs jammed a lot less than American weapons.

Rahmati descended the hill. He gathered the Immortals. Rahmati's platoon was outfitted similarly to Rahmati, except they each wore the tactical combat helmets, equipped with night-vision goggles and A-pro helmet-cameras. Black bandannas completely covered the lower portion of every member's face. The bandannas were painted to look like the bottom of the Immortal's mask from the movie, 300. The force also carried a wide variety of weapons, including AK-74 assault rifles with scopes and silencers, VSS Vintorez sniper rifles, and PKP Pecheneg machine guns.

Rahmati addressed his Immersive Media Team. "Once we're in position, send the drones up on my command. Fly one over the house using night-vision, and the other with the thermal camera active. Look carefully. Tell me if you see any other guards." The drones used by the Immortals were military-grade quadcopters. They could stay aloft for almost three hours on a single charge. Above 20 feet, they were silent.

"I think Allah is with us tonight. Omar has so few soldiers with him. I want two snipers positioned on the hill. Take out the guards on my command. After that, provide security and overwatch. Keep an eye out for any reinforcements."

Rahmati pointed to two Immortals. "I want you to flank the house from a distance of 100 yards. Provide overwatch with your machine guns. The rest of us are going to wait in position on the ATVs. Let's do two men to each quad. Hadi and I will be the lead vehicle." Rahmati's ATV looked like a two-seat, militarized dune buggy. Communications gear filled the back seat. The other ATVs were ruggedized four-wheelers, used by Russian Spetsnaz.

"Once we're at the house, I want you two to guard the perimeter of the house. Make sure no one escapes through tunnels or crawls out windows—eliminate all squirters. Remember, we're trying to take Omar alive so that I can interrogate him. Gentlemen, Allah has prepared you for this very night. Be strong Immortals. Be bold like His Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him. Let's move."

Rahmati wore no tactical helmet. He did nothing to hide his face.

The Immortals lined their ATVs in a single row and waited for overwatch to get into position. While the Immersive Media Team were trained soldiers and carried assault rifles, they stayed behind at the staging era. Commander Rahmati radioed to deploy the drones.

Rahmati examined Hadi. His Deputy Commander's hands tightly gripped the steering wheel of the ATV. Hadari's knuckles were white. "You ready?"

"I'm more ready every day, Muhammad. I believe in what we're doing here. I don't want any of my children to have to pick up a rifle."

"Me neither," said the unmarried Rahmati. "These Caliphate assassinations are simply a means to an end. No amount of bullets are ever going to defeat an ideology as pervasive as Wahhabi-Salafi-Jihadism, especially as long as Saudi Arabia and their Gulf allies bankroll Jihadis."

Whereas the West saw radical Islam as a security and military threat; Rahmati saw radical Sunni Islam as an intellectual threat. The first battle that Rahmati needed to win was the war of ideas. It was true that the West thought Iran was full of radical Shia-Islamists. America didn't differentiate between radical Sunnis or Shias. This confused the Commander.

No Iranians committed 9/11. Every hijacker was a radical Sunni. 15 of the 19 terrorists were Saudi citizens. Osama Bin Laden was a Saudi, Sunni, Wahhabi-Salafi-Jihadist. No Shia's had conducted direct terrorist attacks in Europe or America in decades. There were radical Shia-Islamists in Iran, but Muhammad Rahmati had a plan to deal with that minority.

After seven minutes, the drone operators stated it was clear. There were only the two guards outside the house. Rahmati raised his night-vision binoculars and gave the go-ahead to the snipers. Seconds later, Rahmati saw the green-tinted, blood-mist waft through the air. The kill-shots knocked the guards off their chairs.

"Go!" ordered Rahmati.

The Immortals raced toward the house at top speed. Each quad carried two men. One Immortal drove, while the second crouched on one knee, with a firm grasp around the driver's waist.

The ATV's raced over the barley field and arrived in front of the house. The Immortals on back rapidly leaped off and stacked up on the front door. Rahmati and his Deputy Commander jumped out of their covered ATV. Hadari had his AK-74 drawn. Rahmati's hands were empty.

The Immortal on point opened the unlocked door. He stepped aside, leaving the second Immortal now on point. The new point man tossed in a flash-bang grenade. Now the Immortals infiltrated the house like the highly trained professionals they were. Off the living area, there were three other rooms. The Immortals split up to clear the house.

Within seconds, three Caliphate fighters were secured, hand-and-foot with plastic zip ties. This all occurred without firing a shot or any raised voices. But there was no Omar. Commander Rahmati called for his media team to enter the house and start filming. Rahmati lined up the three members of the Caliphate, side-by-side. They were blindfolded.

"Where are you, Omar? I am Commander Muhammad Rahmati of the Immortals. Tonight you are going to answer to Allah for your sins against Islam. You are a murderer of Shias, and Sunnis, and innocents. The Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him, founded a peaceful religion. You have twisted Islam for your own purposes. You're nothing but a murderer—with a lot of Twitter followers."

## Chapter 21 – The Demise of Abu Omar

6:50 p.m., Monday, October 19, 2020 – Columbia, MD

SWARM Op Center, Sixth-Floor SCIF, Defense Innovations Accelerator

General Shields observed Rahmati's every move on the SWARM Op Center's video wall. Unbeknownst to everyone in the Dabiq house, four actively camouflaged Swarmbots witnessed the assault. Swarmbots penetrated the home earlier, but could not find Omar. So they patiently waited, tucked in corners—cloaked in plain sight.

"Where the hell did Rahmati get his intel?" snapped the General.

Samantha Powers sat at the General's side. "Why don't you kill them both?"

Because of the significance of the operation to kill Omar, the SWARM Op Center was in command of the Swarmbots, not Gamers. Seven days ago, a CIA team deployed the first eight Swarmbots on the outskirts of Dabiq.

NSA logistics told the CIA that the Swarmbots were a prototype surveillance platform. After deployment, the Swarmbots rolled through the small town. The drones stealthily performed facial and voice recognition, searching for Caliphate terrorists on the kill list.

General Shields was particularly pleased with how fast Chris Fischer implemented the kill-incapacitate features. He was also impressed with how well the Swarmbots were wirelessly charging from the Flashcharge system. The Swarmbots used four times as much power when active camouflage and sound suppression was operational. But they didn't miss a beat. Flashcharge provided a steady stream of wireless power.

Shields' biggest disappointment was that the neural VR controllers from Prosthetic Thought were still unreliable. The Swarmbot analysts in the Op Center liked controlling the Swarmbots by watching a hi-definition video monitor and manipulating a joystick, similar to how pilots controlled aerial drones. Unlike remotely piloted aircraft, Swarmbots did not require a separate human operator to monitor sensors. It was bitter-sweet for the General to watch the Swarmbots clandestinely wheel through Dabiq. The sickening reality was that they were searching the very same streets Charlie once patrolled.

"We can't kill Rahmati," said General Shields, in response to Samantha's question. "He isn't on POTUS' kill list. Besides, he may be Iranian, but he's on our side in fighting the Caliphate. It's ironic. Have you seen this guy on A-Tube?"

Samantha shook her head in disgust. "When do you think I have time to watch videos on A-Tube? I work non-stop for Gamification Systems, now more than ever with Becca gone."

A SWARM analyst broke into the conversation. "Well, you should watch a video or two. This guy is incredible. He's going to make history."

*

Once the primary sweep was complete, the Immortals performed their secondary sweep. Upon closer examination, Rahmati spotted what looked to be a three-foot long, by two-foot wide trapdoor. It was in the far corner, on the living room floor.

The Commander motioned for his team to follow. He silently moved near the trapdoor. He told an Immortal to open the hidden entrance. The soldier pushed down on the lengthwise end of the trapdoor. This smoothly elevated the other side of the escape hatch into the air. Rahmati stood to the side of the opening.

Abu Omar rushed up the stairway from a hidden bunker, firing his AK-47 in bursts. Commander Rahmati dropped to one knee and slipped the rifle fire, like a boxer slips a punch. He was close enough to parry the hot muzzle of the assault rifle with his left hand. He pushed the gun to shoot in the air. Bullets sprayed the ceiling. Omar was clearly better at crunching numbers than he was with an AK.

Rahmati reached over his shoulder with his right hand and reached for the handle of a 16-inch, tactical tomahawk. The tomahawk detached from its quick release sheath, between his shoulder blades. The Commander viciously swung the hatchet into Omar's left side, slightly below his rib cage. Omar squealed and dropped the AK. He clutched his side. Blood spurted between his fingers.

Rahmati threw the rifle down and head-kicked Omar, driving his shin into Omar's temple. As Omar fell to the ground, members of the Immortals grabbed him and bound his legs to a wooden chair. They lifted Omar's four-legged prison, setting it in front of the dining room table.

Making sure the cameras were filming, Rahmati began to interrogate Omar. Rahmati spoke in Arabic. "Abu Omar, once again the forces of the real Islamic Revolution have eliminated a high-ranking member of the so-called, Caliphate. This is further proof that Allah did not ordain your Caliphate.

"You're nothing but a bunch of murderers and imposters. You malign His name. You're an embarrassment to His Prophet with your illegal, bloodthirsty Jihad. Jihad should be an internal struggle for Islamic piety. You hijack basic tenets of Islam for your own selfish purposes. I've succeeded in capturing you, a feat that not even the CIA could achieve. Yours is not a Caliphate or an Islamic State; you are Daesh."

"You Shia ape," said Omar, wincing through his pain. Blood pooled under his chair. "Your Zionist and Roman allies shall die in this very city. Then we'll defeat Constantinople in fulfillment of prophecy. After that, the Mahdi will come. Rahmati, you can kill me. But you can't destroy this final, End of Days' Caliphate. And you can't stop the Mahdi."

In Islamic apocalyptic thought and eschatology, the Mahdi was a Jesus-like, Islamic redeemer. In fact, many Muslims believed that Jesus Christ would join the Mahdi, ruling seven years before the Day of Judgement—also called the End of Days.

Rahmati retorted, "Well, the Mahdi will indeed come. Perhaps he's already here. But your Caliphate is null and void. You rape nine-year-olds and force them to be your sex slaves. You murder anyone who disagrees with you. You are savage tyrants who want to turn the calendar back to life in 622. Your Caliph, Abu Mosulaydi, is Caliph of the dustbin of history; a Caliph of sectarianism, murder, rape, slavery, and destruction.

"Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, was a builder. He looked to the future. His Caliphate reigned for nearly 1300 years, longer than the Roman Empire. He architected the greatest civilization ever known to man."

The term 'Caliphate,' had deep historic, religious, and prophetic implications. But in simplest terms, a Caliphate was an Islamic government. There was an Islamic Caliphate from 632 AD—just after the death of Muhammad—to 1923. The Caliphate ended with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Western-centric history books typically glossed over this period of 1300 years, concentrating on the Greek or Roman Empires. But the Islamic Caliphate was an empire to be reckoned with. They nearly conquered Europe.

Rahmati continued, "The House of Islam created Arabic numbers, the scientific method, medicine, hospitals, and eye glasses. Long before the Internet and mobile phones; Islam invented the most viral product ever—paper! All of this occurred while the West prayed to the bones of their dead saints.

"600 years before the Magna Carta, Muhammad wrote the first document that guaranteed civil liberties for citizens of all faiths, the Constitution of Medina. That Constitution ensured civil rights for Muslims, Jews, and Christians creating a multi-faith ummah."

The Commander nodded to an Immortal behind Omar. The soldier forced Omar's right hand to lay flush on the table. Rahmati questioned Omar. Omar quickly spilled all he knew. He stated that the Caliph was in Raqqa, Syria—moving from house to house.

"Abu Omar, I pronounce judgment upon you this morning for the crime of stealing Islam's future." With a massive swing of his tactical tomahawk, Rahmati sliced off Omar's right hand. Omar shrieked like a nine-year-old girl. Immortals led Omar and the other Caliphate forces outside. They made each man dig his own grave. Omar struggled to handle the shovel with one hand. No Immortal did anything to alleviate his burden. The special forces operators executed Omar and his team with headshots.

Rahmati held the bloody tomahawk next to his face. He looked into one of the TV cameras. "Brothers and sisters, very shortly Islam will be the largest religion in the world. We have a significant presence in three of the world's seven continents. And we're expanding all over the globe. But look at us. We shed blood over petty sectarian differences and feud like jealous teenage brothers.

"Why is America home to all the great entrepreneurial companies? Why does Europe make all the new discoveries in particle physics? Why does the Middle East, with the largest concentration of the most valuable commodity on earth, languish behind? When will we stop blaming the West? When will we stop blaming the Jews? Of course, they've wronged us. But we've let ourselves down. We must hold our dictators and their oppressive regimes accountable.

"How long must we see one another as victims? When will we see ourselves as the champions that Allah created? My fellow Muslims, followers of the Prophet Muhammad, it's time to move past puberty and mature into adulthood. We must quit fighting amongst ourselves. We're all descendants of Abraham's son, Ishmael. Our blood feud between Shia and Sunni must come to an end. When will the lives of our children be more important than the status of our tribes?"

The division in Islam between Shia and Sunni occurred soon after the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD. A dispute arose over the Prophet's successor. The impact upon Islam was comparable to the division of Orthodox Church from the Catholic Church, although the analogy was imperfect.

Rahmati dropped his bloody tomahawk. It landed with a thud. His ice-blue eyes glistened. His voiced quivered with passion. "Brothers and sisters, we're destined to return to greatness and build a superior empire, an empire in which all citizens participate and prosper. This empire will be full of good jobs, affordable housing, high-quality education, and innovation.

"Remember why Khadijah, a prosperous woman 15 years older than Muhammad, asked the Prophet to marry her? Muhammad's ingenuity as a trader attracted Khadijah. Muhammad had superlative ideas and a strong work ethic, even in a violent clan society. Muhammad labored to end the sectarian, tribal violence between the Quraysh and Islam."

The Quraysh was the most powerful tribe in Mecca, leading to conflict with Muhammad's new religion.

"If the Prophet were alive today, he'd be engaged in science and business. He'd be contributing to the world of ideas. Our Koran and Hadith tells us that Islam is destined to rule the world, but we must cooperate with Allah to compete in the marketplace of ideas. We must allow our collective ummah to prosper, thrive, and flourish." Ummah was Arabic for community.

"I call upon the people of Iraq and Syria, under the occupation of the Caliphate, to arise. I call upon able-bodied men to join me in Syria and fight for our future. Indeed, an End Time Caliphate is coming, but this is not that Caliphate. This Caliphate is illegal, as judged by our own Islamic scholars. This is no Caliphate; it's just Daesh. They're nothing more than a barbarous band of infidels.

"If you serve Daesh, your children will die before you die. And for no good reason; surely not as martyrs. Murder, slavery, and rape are no way to build a society. Join me. Let's architect a new future for you and your children. A future in which everybody partakes and everyone prospers. Working together, we can change the world. A crescent moon, shining as bright as the sun, will wax again over the entire world. The future is now."

*

"Wow, he makes me want to join him in Syria," said Samantha. "Who is he?"

General Shields looked a Samantha with disdain. Then he softened. "Actually, I've got mixed emotions about this guy. It's the first time I ever remember rooting for an Iranian. I'm ecstatic to see Abu Omar dead."

Rahmati just killed the man who financed Charlie Shields' death. Samantha knew this fact wasn't far from the General's heart.

"Commander Muhammad Rahmati," said Shields, "was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1978. Rahmati's father, Abdullah Rahmati, served as the Minister of Economics during Iraq's most prosperous time. That was the late 1970's, under the leadership of the then Iraqi President, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr.

"Abdullah's father—Muhammad's grandfather—was a famous Grand Ayatollah in the Shiite branch of Islam. Early in his life, he moved from Iran to southern Iraq. So Rahmati's paternal lineage is very Persian and very Shiite."

"I don't understand," said Samantha. "Why is Muhammad Rahmati an Iranian Commander, if he was born in Iraq?"

"Because, when it became apparent that Saddam Hussein was going to succeed Al-Bakr in 1979, Abdullah took his family and fled to Iran. Abdullah knew that Saddam was a ruthless butcher. Once in power, Abdullah was sure Hussein would purge all the Shiites in the Baathist party. And that's exactly what he did. Saddam had Abdullah's father murdered."

Samantha processed the soap opera. "So Saddam was Sunni?"

"Yes, but he wasn't very religious. His biggest concern was a coup. In Iraq, there are more Shiites than Sunnis. The north of the country, where Saddam was born, was Sunni. The south of the country was Shia. And there are way more Shiites in Iran. Iran is over 90% Shiite.

"In moving from Iraq to Iran, Abdullah went from one fire to another. Iran was in the midst of revolution in 1979. The Ayatollah Khomeini came to power and established the Revolutionary Guards to protect the revolution. Abdullah worked himself into a senior position in the Revolutionary Guards.

"His career took off when Saddam attacked Iran in 1980. Abdullah provided valuable intelligence on the military assets of Iraq to Ayatollah Khomeini. That war lasted over eight years. It was absolutely brutal. One million men died, and probably just as many civilians. It was trench warfare, just like World War I.

"While the Revolutionary Guards is a military organization, over time it became much more. Now, the Guards operate like a sovereign country within a country. They own almost all the valuable assets of Iran that the mullahs don't control. Abdullah used his connections to build the high-tech industry in Iran. Over many years, he became very wealthy and influential.

"After religious studies, Muhammad Rahmati followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Revolutionary Guards. He's a warrior's warrior. He's also maintained close ties to his father's companies. He knows technology. I think we'd better start tracking him more comprehensively, and we'd better add more Persian speakers to the SWARM team.

"From what I remember about Rahmati's profile, a defining moment in his life was the death of his mother. While Rahmati's father was Persian, his mother was a Sunni-Arab. The family lived in Tehran. Saddam Hussein tried to bomb Tehran into submission during the Iran-Iraq war. During air raids, Iranians would run to the mountains to escape the bombings. In the midst of one attack, Rahmati's mom was killed. At the age of seven, Rahmati watched her die."

"How sad," said Samantha. "I can understand why, with both Sunni and Shia ties, he wants to end all the sectarian violence." She sighed. "General, my brain is fried. Islam and the Middle East completely confuse me. It's so complicated."

"All you need to remember is that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, with nearly 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide. By 2045, there will be an equal number of Muslims and Christians. Over 85% of Muslims in the world are Sunni. But Shia-Islam, spearheaded by Iran, is growing in influence."

"All I think I'll remember is Muhammad Rahmati's blue eyes. If they ever resurrect the most interesting man in the world advertising campaign, I'd pick him."

Shields crinkled his face. Then he whispered in Samantha's ear, "Do you want to get a drink?"

Samantha shook her head no.

The General looked surprised. "Come on, just one."

*

45 minutes later, Samantha and General Shields lay in bed in the General's office. Shields had recently purchased a couch with a pull-out bed. A tipsy Samantha was angry at herself. She promised she was going to stop sleeping with him. "What's going on with Becca and Josh?" Her tone was sharp.

"Well, they're on a no-fly list. They can't get out of the country. Both of them have moved to live with Josh's dad in Connecticut. I'm sure they're both just moving on. Josh will probably go back to MIT or work for his father."

"If I were you, I wouldn't underestimate Becca or Josh. Becca is an expert hacker. I'm not sure a no-fly list will contain her. And Josh's dad is a multi-billionaire."

"I hear you. They're under surveillance." Shields appeared confused by Samantha's mood swings.

"I've really missed Becca at Gamification. I didn't realize how much I relied on her. Gecko Insurance asks me about her, nearly every day. I've had to be much more involved than I wanted. I mean, it's great that they are going to purchase an enterprise license. That thrills me. And I thank you for your help in landing that deal. But my plate was already full, before you fired Becca."

Shields abruptly raised his torso in bed. He glared at Samantha. "I didn't fire her. She quit, remember?"

Samantha turned on her side. She looked the General directly in the eye. "Becca resigned because she felt like I didn't trust her. I did trust her. You didn't. You didn't even invite me to the meeting in which you, had my employee escorted out of the Accelerator—at gunpoint."

*

After extensive editing and graphics work, Rahmati's media team posted the video of Abu Omar's takedown to A-Tube. They also released magazine-quality photos. The New York Times and CNN syndicated the photos. Drudge prominently highlighted a picture of Rahmati on his website.

The piece created by the Immersive Media Team was over 25 minutes long. It included Rahmati kneeling in prayer with his forehead pressed to the ground. He asked Allah to bless his mission and protect the Immortals, inshallah. Inshallah was Arabic for, 'if God wills.'

The video interspersed inspirational music and high-resolution drone feeds, with elaborate, on-the-ground footage. The post looked every bit like an interactive, immersive TV show. It could've come straight from a big movie studio in Hollywood or China.

Rahmati's propaganda spread like wildfire across the Middle East. Then it ignited in the West. Whether viewed normally, through VR headgear, or with AR glasses; the world felt absorbed into the action. The footage was of such high quality and realism; the viewer felt like they were an Immortal.

American talk shows, from the left and right, cheered Muhammad Rahmati. Here was a Muslim that was finally demonstrating pan-sectarian, nation-building, Islamic leadership. Voices in the Middle East elatedly praised Rahmati for capturing and executing Omar. Omar was an enemy that had baffled and embarrassed the CIA. Tactical tomahawks became a best seller on Amazon. Memes of Rahmati hacking Omar's hand went viral across social media platforms, incorporating a range of messages—from religious to comic.

The talking heads and columnists questioned whether Rahmati was attempting to lead a cultural renaissance in the Middle East. Was he trying to reform Islam, like Martin Luther reformed Christianity? Other pundits debated whether Rahmati was talking about implementing Islamic Sharia law or Western style democracy. They wondered aloud what the Ayatollah thought of his dashing Quds Force Commander.

In the Middle East, pro-Rahmati demonstrators took to the streets in many of the same countries as the Arab Spring. This included; Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Though Bahrain was a tiny island, it was strategically important to the US because it contained the Navy's 5th Fleet base. The 5th Fleet's area of operation was the waters of the Middle East. The Fleet was designed to serve as the tip of the spear in any military action against Iran or other Middle Eastern country.

Rahmati supporters carried placards of the Commander's face and waxing crescent moons. They also held signs that called for an end to sectarian violence and advocated more economic opportunity. Chants of, 'the future is now,' rang out through the crowds. A few dozen demonstrators called for an end to their oppressive regimes.

The #FutureIsNow hashtag spread in waves throughout social media platforms. Social media was also used to organize the peaceful demonstrations in the Middle Eastern countries that did not block the Internet or SMS messaging. Demonstrators posted thousands of pictures and videos from the rallies. Social media sites published results from online polls. Rahmati was more popular than any current Middle Eastern ruler, including the Ayatollah.

Some compared Rahmati to Suleiman the Magnificent or Saladin. A small but vocal group, began referring to Muhammad Rahmati as the Mahdi. In Iran, the Ayatollah had always censored the Internet. However, technically literate Iranians still saw the videos using proxy servers. Subtitles translated Rahmati's Arabic and English into Farsi.

A handful of students met at Azadi Square in Tehran. Azadi Square was the scene of the massive protests in 2009, known as the Green Revolution. It was also the location for the even larger 1979 protests. Those demonstrations led to the overthrow of the Shah and replacement by the first Ayatollah.

From their headquarters at Raqqa, the Caliphate raged. Caliph Abu Mosulaydi plotted the elimination of Muhammad Rahmati.

## Chapter 22 – Abu Mosulaydi

11:45 a.m., Saturday, October 24, 2020 - Raqqa, Syria

Abu Mosulaydi sat with his legs crisscrossed on a threadbare rug. The carpet covered the dirt floor of his makeshift residence. Mosulaydi had a long, dark-brown beard, with flecks of gray. He was dressed from head to toe in black. To avoid drone strikes and air bombardments, Mosulaydi moved locations every night.

Like the previous Caliph, Mosulaydi held a doctorate in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad. In addition to the Koran and various collections of Hadiths, Mosulaydi was surrounded by literature on Mao Tse-tung, Genghis Khan, the Viet Nam war, and driver-less vehicles.

The Caliphate's new Minister of Finance—the man who replaced Abu Omar—and the Minister of Social Media & Recruitment entered the dusty room. They proceeded to update the Caliph.

At various times over the years, Abu Mosulaydi had been forced to flee from the city of Raqqa due to American, French, British, and Russian harassment. Sometimes, he would dissolve into Raqqa's population of over 200,000. Other times, he would flee to alternative regions of Syria or Iraq. Once, Mosulaydi was secreted to Libya.

He was always able to return when the tempo of the attacks slowed. Despite the Caliphate's wishes, no country wanted to involve themselves in a full-scale ground war. No nation wanted to repeat the commitment of George W. Bush's surge in troop levels to fight in a civil war.

Raqqa was a key city for the Caliphate. It was situated in northern Syria, located on the bank of the Euphrates River. It was roughly 100 west of Aleppo. Since early 2014, Raqqa served as the headquarters of the Caliphate. After numerous battles and air bombardments, the city was still the de facto capital of the Caliphate.

This was an amorphous concept because the Caliphate could move its headquarters to any of the municipalities that it still influenced; including, Mosul, Fallujah, Tikrit, or smaller towns in Iraq or Syria.

The Caliphate was an extremely decentralized organization. Caliphate leadership supplied its commanders with specific goals, but allowed wide latitude in which to accomplish those objectives. This made the Caliphate's SIGINT signature extremely narrow. Almost all command and control communications were couriered or forwarded by a network of disposable cell phones.

One key to the effectiveness of the Caliphate was its inclusion of former Iraqi Baath party members; the party of Saddam Hussein. When American troops left Iraq in late 2011, Sunni-Shia violence ratcheted up. With no US troops on the ground, the Shia-led Iraqi government—heavily influenced by Iran—began to imprison Sunni politicians.

These politicians congealed with former Baathists and sought protection. This led them to assist ISIS, and later the Caliphate. They shared knowledge of sophisticated military tactics—like how to use tanks and properly position artillery. They also contributed their experience on governing Iraq. Mosulaydi had no prior military or leadership know-how.

Over the course of its 14-year history, the Caliphate had changed its name many times. The group initially called themselves Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and then in 2004, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). The name changes reflected the growing territorial and religious aspirations of the group. Its success in Syria, during the civil war, led them to refer progressively to themselves as ISIL, ISIS, and then finally, the Islamic State. Opposition derogatorily referred to them as Daesh.

In 2017, the Islamic State changed its name to the Caliphate, formalizing the concept first declared in 2014. Western media outlets had continued to use the word, 'ISIS,' instead of the Islamic State. Also, Islamic State leadership wanted to reinvigorate a brand that was suffering setbacks from air strikes and ground attacks by various nations. These setbacks included the death of their first Caliph. Just naming themselves a Caliphate would attract followers. Many Muslims believed it was their religious duty to protect a Caliphate—once declared.

Mosulaydi first turned his attention to the Minister of Finance.

"How are we coming on acquiring the fleet of self-driving vehicles? I want to load those cars down with explosives and mustard gas. We can use them to inflict casualties across Iraq and Syria."

"Caliph," responded the new Finance Minister, "they've been harder to get than I first anticipated. I'm still working on it. My most promising deal involves trading 20,000 barrels of oil for 15 autonomous vehicles. But we're still negotiating. I've also been looking into acquiring a self-driving kit for our Toyota HiLuxes. The package makes them driver-less. But it's still much cheaper to use suicide bombers, provided that recruits keep streaming in."

"That's the problem," said the Caliph. "Our foreign fighters from the West have slowed, due to Rahmati's propaganda."

Mosulaydi next turned his attention to his Minister of Social Media & Recruitment, Syed Abdulkarim Olyan al-Dhafiri. The Intelligence Community nicknamed him, 'Hollywood.' Hollywood was born in Kuwait. His family immigrated to Southern California in 1989, settling in Corona.

"Syed, we need a robust strategy to counter Rahmati. He's winning our volunteers to his cause. And the Sunni populations in the cities we maintain are beginning to turn against us. We're filtering the Internet, but his message is still seeping in. We need to highlight the fact that Rahmati is a Shiite puppet of Iran. He's an infidel. He's not a Muslim. I want you to start referring to him the Dajjal."

"Yes, Caliph," replied Hollywood.

While Sunnis and Shias lived peaceably for extended periods of time, violent confrontations occurred periodically. For example, Sunni-Shia conflict was a key to extending the US war in Iraq, which began in 2003 and didn't end until 2011.

In Islamic apocalyptic thought, the Dajjal was the deceiving Messiah, roughly equivalent to the Christian notion of the Antichrist. The Dajjal was supposed to arise out of Iran. He was to war against the Mahdi and Jesus Christ during the End of Days. Strikingly, Christian and Muslim eschatology were nearly mirror images of one another.

Mosulaydi continued, "If we brand Rahmati as the Dajjal, we can claim that this is proof that the Mahdi now walks the earth. The End Times are here. On the military side, I can tell you that we're implementing a plan to execute Rahmati. If we can't kill him, maybe we can maim him and cut out one of those blue eyes." One Hadith said that the Dajjal would possess only one eye.

"Also, I don't want to let up on baiting the Americans and Europeans. We want them to send their troops. I can't believe the pathetic American response to the deaths of the CIA operatives. I'm shocked that Dabiq-gate didn't topple your President. Keep mentioning those contractors in posts. Remind the world of the US fabrications. Play the CIA confessions against a backdrop of the lying comments from the Goodson Administration, immediately after we seized the operatives."

Hollywood carefully listened to his Caliph. "He's not my President. You're the only rightful ruler of the world. We'll continue to threaten the US and Europe with more sophisticated terrorist attacks on their soil. I'm especially trying to inspire lone-wolf attacks. They give us so much bang for our buck! We'll ratchet up the shock and awe of the images. The bloodier they are, the more viral they'll become.

"We'll tell the Crusaders that they'll only be safe when they convert to Islam. All of the earth is for Muslims; ours is a new empire. We're ushering in the final Caliphate, to be ruled by the Mahdi. We're not going to even give infidels the chance to pay the Jizya. Become a Muslim or die." The Jizya was a tax introduced in the Koran that gathered revenue from non-Muslims.

"Yes, that's good," said Mosulaydi. "Don't forget to disparage their cowardly drone attacks and bombings. Highlight the deaths of our women and children. Only when the Crusaders send troops, can we engage in our strategy of guerrilla warfare. That's how Mao and the Viet Cong did it. Then we can obtain victory in Dabiq and initiate the End of Days."

Hollywood was slightly under 30. He earned a degree in computer science from the University of California at Riverside. After graduation, Syed job-hopped through various IT positions. He ended up as a webmaster for a Los Angeles-based media startup. The company shut its doors and laid him off in 2016. The experience left Syed disillusioned and embittered. He moved back to live with his parents in Corona. He began attending a local mosque and was radicalized.

Hollywood sneered. "Victory, indeed! I'll work to remind our recruits continually that they'll play a central role in Islamic history when they join the Caliphate. Whether they go to Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, or anywhere else; not only will they be doing God's will, but they'll get a good wage, wives, and the power to carry out the Caliphate's will on the population. What adolescent Muslim from London, to Brussels, to Corona—most of whom have never kissed a girl—won't be receptive to that message? I know I was."

"You'd never kissed a girl?" asked Mosulaydi.

## Chapter 23 – The Marker

9:45 a.m. (EDT), Monday, October 26 – Greenwich, CT

Adler Capital's Offices, 112 Greenwich Plaza

"Becca, look at this. I found it!" yelled Josh.

Becca rushed over to Josh's workstation in the server room of Adler Capital. She looked over his shoulder. His computer monitor displayed a red geo-marker on a map. The map conveyed detail down to street names and bus stops. The geo-marker resembled an upside-down tear, with the sharp point of the tear placed in a precise position. Josh hovered over the geo-marker with his mouse. This produced a balloon pop-up window. It read, 'Ark of the Covenant.'

"This is it!" crowed Josh. "The AI is using the mapping API to pinpoint this site as the location of the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant is one-third of a mile south of the Temple Mount—you know the Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It's just west of the Gihon Spring, in something the map denotes as the 'City of David.' The AI gives me no sense of the depth of the Ark. But we've found it!"

Becca hugged Josh through the chair and continued peering over his shoulder. Then, she kissed him on the cheek. "What's there now?"

Josh switched to the satellite view of A-Maps. "There's the City of David National Park—it's an archeological site—and a number of terraced dwellings; they look like houses and apartments."

After a little more web research, he continued, "This area is hotly contested. It's an Arab neighborhood. That will complicate things. The Israeli's would like to turn the entire City of David into an archeological park. Arabs oppose this. They won't want to sell their property to Jews. Luckily, as a Jewish billionaire, my dad has a lot of high-level Israeli contacts."

To avoid the prying eyes of the NSA, Becca configured Josh's workstation to run the latest version of the Tails Linux operating system from within three layers of virtual machines—VMs. VMs were software-based computers that mimicked physical machines.

In other words, a VM was a fake computer that operated within a real computer. Becca daisy-chained all the network traffic through the VM's. This was one step Becca took to afford herself a higher degree of confidence that the NSA or FBI wasn't hacking Josh's box, and deploying malware or keylogger software. If Becca discovered a compromise, she could delete the VM and start over with a pristine operating system.

Becca worked with Adler Capital's CTO, Kishore Reddy, to establish a brand new fiber optic network connection in the server room. It was entirely separate from the hedge fund's existing Internet infrastructure.

They leased the link from a boutique network service provider that catered to the financial services industry. The firm claimed that their Internet connections were opaque to monitoring by the government or hackers.

Despite their assurances, Becca said that she didn't trust any American company when faced with a National Security Letter, or NSL. NSLs were subpoenas issued by the NSA to compel telecom and software companies to provide access to their subscriber records. Or, the NSA could just get a warrant from a FISA court. And everything could be hacked.

For this reason, Becca made sure that all communications over the line were encrypted. Becca was positive that the NSA would be spying on Adler Capital's network. So, Becca and Josh used the Adler corporate network for routine tasks, unrelated to the Ark search. They wanted to establish a pattern of life that made it appear that they were both moving on, and not pursuing the ancient relic's discovery.

To anonymously and privately navigate the Internet, Josh used the Tor Browser, bundled within Tails. He also used a Virtual Private Network connection from a German VPN firm. The Tor Browser automatically contacted the Internet via Tor. Tor stood for, 'the Onion Router.' Tor sent encrypted Internet packets through many different servers or relays.

This made Tor an excellent mechanism to ensure anonymity and circumvent NSA eavesdropping. Political dissidents, journalists, hackers, and criminals used Tor. In addition, Becca made sure all the Tor traffic was initiated through the VPN connection, and that Josh only used the DuckDuckGo search engine. DuckDuckGo did not record searchers' data or filter search results.

With all of these precautions—the VMs, secure operating systems, VPN, Tor, DuckDuckGo—Josh still felt like the FBI could rush through the door at any second. Everyone shared this fear.

"Josh, you did it! I'm so proud of you. My man is making history." She squeezed him even more tightly. Since leaving Maryland nearly a month ago, Becca and Josh moved in with Jared Adler. They slept in separate rooms. Like his office, Jared's estate was also located in Greenwich. Week-by-week, Josh and Jared worked to patch their relationship.

They were all extremely careful to limit discussions and work related to the Ark solely to the server room. They considered it their private SCIF. Outside the server room; Josh, Becca, and Jared communicated about the Ark only with handwritten notes.

For the first few weeks, FBI agents followed Becca and Josh wherever they went. But the couple went out of their way to be boring. Becca's experience told her that unless they did something stupid, the FBI would reassign the agents soon—especially with the ramped up Caliphate threats.

Sure enough, the FBI tail disappeared. As de facto deputy of operational security, Becca was adamant. She constantly told Josh and Jared that anything on the Internet was hackable. The only safe computer was a computer that was turned off. This wasn't true for phones. '''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''' '''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''

The server room of Adler Capital was windowless. It was located two stories underground for security reasons and to reduce cooling costs. The server room remained off limits to everyone except Becca, Josh, Jared, and Kishore.

While Josh worked on refining his deep learning algorithm to narrow-in on the Ark, Becca continued to monitor operational security. She also began writing a Python program to assist in creating a disinformation campaign. It was imperative that the campaign be consistent with their current pattern of life operations.

Becca would implement this campaign, once it was decided to leave the country in search of the Ark. Her previous work with Josh's API allowed her to incorporate AI features into the disinformation software.

Becca also worked with Kishore. She assisted him in architecting a trading platform that leveraged Josh's AI. Jared Adler was ecstatic about the preliminary results. The platform was making remarkable predictions. They were getting more precise by the day.

Jared breathlessly ran into the server room. "Josh, your trading algorithm is cleaning up. We just made $5M on the open. I'm going to allocate more capital to the platform. I'm shocked. I've been doing algorithmic trading since 1993. I've never seen anything like this!"

Born in Israel in the early 1970s, Jared Adler immigrated to the US when his father died in 1989. Eschewing his acceptance into MIT to support his mother; Jared clawed his way up Wall Street. As a stockbroker, he began to see the benefit of working with computers for stock, bond, and currency analysis. He also foresaw the potential of automated trading. This was well before 'quants' became mainstream on Wall Street. After working at a number of brokerage firms, Adler started his own hedge fund with $575,000.

Adler Capital's proprietary computer models produced returns that consistently out-performed his peers, even in the wild bull market of the 1990s. More importantly, Jared Adler's computerized analysis got him out of equities in time to miss the dot.com crash in the early 2000s.

In 2007, Adler's models led him to massively short residential mortgage stocks and high-risk-averse currencies, like the New Zealand Kiwi, Mexican Peso, and Turkish Lira. Adler profited from their collective decline to the tune of over $1 billion. Jared continued to prosper over the coming years.

"That's awesome, Dad," replied Josh, not matching the excitement of his father.

"What's that?" asked Jared, looking over Josh's other shoulder.

"Dad, it's the Ark of the Covenant. It's in Jerusalem, about 1800 feet south of the Temple Mount."

"Oh my—," said Jared.

He was going to say 'God,' but even a secular Jew like Jared knew not to verbalize that name at a time like this. "Well, I wouldn't believe it without seeing your AI's trading results for myself. That's amazing Josh. I'm proud of you."

Josh looked at his beaming dad. Josh couldn't remember the last time he saw a smiling, proud father. Then the thought crossed his mind; It must be because of the money I just made him. "The AI places the Ark right here." Josh pointed at the geo-marker. "It looks like this is an Arab neighborhood they call, 'Wadi Hilweh.' I don't think they're going to be open to selling property to Jews."

Jared Adler thought for a moment. "Let me make some calls. I know a lot of people. With enough money, there's a way to make this work."

"Be careful Mr. Adler," said Becca. "I know I sound like a broken record, but the ''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''' '''''' '''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' And Unit 8200 is not far behind them in capabilities." Unit 8200 was responsible for SIGINT in Israel. '''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Yes, thanks for the reminder. Since all the revelations about the NSA came out a few years back, I invested in a system of secure telephones and email. I'll make sure to communicate using encryption.

"Fortunately, all my associates in Israel are pretty well versed in technology. They don't want Israel, Russia, or the Americans to monitor them either. I've also got an extensive network of clients that I can tap for this mission. Do you have any indication as to why the AI selected this location? The research I've done said the highest probability site was directly underneath the Temple Mount."

Josh replied, "It's difficult to determine why the AI predicts certain outcomes. It's a black box. The system ingests information, and the neural network makes sense of it. But it looks like it's heavily weighting the works of Josephus, especially his description of Jerusalem in, Wars of the Jews. That manuscript was written in 75 AD.

"Who was Josephus?" Jared asked.

"Josephus was a famous Jewish historian who was eyewitness to the Roman destruction of the second Temple in 70 AD. There's a quote from Wars stating that the Acra, also known as the City of David, contained the lower city. It says it was located on a ridge shaped like a horned moon. I'm not exactly sure why that's so important to my AI, but look at this satellite image. You can clearly see that the geography around the geo-marker is crescent-shaped."

"Maybe Josephus hid the Ark?" asked Becca.

"No," replied Josh. "You have to remember that there were two Temples. King David's son, Solomon, constructed the first Temple. The Babylonians destroyed it in 587 BC. That's when the Ark disappeared from history.

"The second Temple was started when the Jews returned from their Babylonian exile, after 70 years. Then, around 500 years later, Herod the Great extended the entire Temple complex. That was the Temple that existed during Jesus' lifetime."

Becca scrunched her nose in confusion.

"What I mean is, the Ark disappeared almost 600 years before the birth of Jesus. Josephus wrote about 50 years after Jesus' death. He wasn't describing the Babylonian destruction of the first Temple; he was describing the Roman destruction of the second Temple."

"Ok, I get it."

With the location finally pinpointed; Josh, Becca, and Jared could now implement further steps of their plan. The most contentious issue thus far involved the travel of Josh and Becca. Josh was immovable. He wanted to be physically present to find the Ark. Becca was equally unequivocal. She would follow Josh wherever that took her. They were in this together; this was their adventure.

Jared adamantly opposed the idea. His argument was that Josh and Becca were already something short of fugitives. General Shields said that they were both on the no-fly list. This meant that air travel with their passports was out of the question. Jared wanted to hire an experienced archeological team to lead the excavation. Becca and Josh could watch remotely, from the safety of the United States.

Josh vehemently argued that he needed to follow this through. The disagreements were tense. Jared didn't want to see his son in prison for espionage. And digging underground was extremely dangerous. The excavation could collapse at any moment or ground water could flood the dig.

With the location pinpointed to Israel, Jared's concern boiled over. "Josh, if you get out of the US, how are you going to get into Israel? Even if you get into Israel, there are the surveillance drones, soldiers, and police everywhere. Then, if you get to Jerusalem, you've got to work within an area less than a mile from the Temple Mount.

"That's the most contentious 35 acres of real estate on the planet. There are eyes on every square foot of that place. ''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''' ''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''' ''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''' Then, they'll deport you to the US for prosecution." Shin Bet was Israel's FBI.

"Dad, I understand your concern. This is just something I have to do. Someone hid the Ark over 2500 years ago. They hid the Ark so it could be found. Maybe it's the latent Jew in me, but I feel like I've been selected to find it. I was made to find the Ark. Its discovery would be a remarkable contribution by AI to humanity."

This was the exact passion and tone of their arguments when he was thinking about quitting MIT. However, this time, Josh needed his dad's help.

Jared's eyes pierced Josh's soul. Josh didn't know what was going to come out of his father's mouth next.

"Alright, Josh. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. I'll support you with every resource at my disposal." With his best Yiddish accent, Jared said, "Who knew Indiana Jones was a Hebrew?" The father and son laughed together. Jared hugged Josh awkwardly.

"Now you're another story, Becca," said Josh. "My dad is right. This trip is too dangerous for the both of us. We can't both rot in jail."

Becca smiled and shook her head. "There's no way I'm staying behind. If you're going to be Clyde; then I'm your Bonnie."

After a long lunch, the three reconvened. Kishore also joined them. Josh configured the augmented reality system. With the AR interface to the AI system functioning, everyone put on their A-HoloGlasses. Nucleus had two AR platforms: A-HoloGlasses and A-Glasses. A-HoloGlasses were more immersive than the A-Glasses.

When looking through the A-HoloGlasses, holograms were visible and could be manipulated. Josh created TextWorld to function in both VR and AR environments. The AR experience was more collaborative than VR, because wearers could still freely interact with their colleagues and the physical world. The VR experience was like going into a dark cave to shut out the world. Then, an interactive movie played.

"TextWorld, create 3D A-Map showing the location of the Ark of the Covenant." The A-Holo environment projected a 3D map complete with the Temple Mount, the Ophel, and the City of David outlined. The geo-marker hovered just to the west of the Gihon Spring.

"TextWorld, show satellite imagery of this location." The terraced dwellings, overlaid by the geo-marker, were now visible.

"TextWorld, show historical pictures of the City of David." Josh swiped through a number of images, mostly hand-drawn renditions of how the city looked during the life of King David. Then, he stopped on a photograph of particular interest.

An aerial picture from 1936 displayed the hilly region, with the geo-marker superimposed. The image more clearly highlighted the crescent moon shape of area's topography. The map labeled the overall area as the 'City of David' and the 'Acra.' It was totally free of any structures. All that existed on the City of David site, south of the Temple Mount, was terraced agricultural fields.

A quote from the book of Micah displayed under the photo, 'Zion shall be plowed like a field. Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountains of the temple like the bare hills of the forest...'

Josh saw a look of amazement sweep across Jared's face. "Wow," said Jared. "It sure would have been easier to dig for the Ark in 1936. Can you make a time machine?"

Josh chuckled. "TextWorld, go back." The present-day satellite image reappeared, along with the geo-marker. "This is the area where we have to excavate. Again, I don't know the precision of the geo-marker. But, I think it's as close as I can get. Let's talk through our plan, now that we've zeroed in on the location."

Jared spoke first. "We have to acquire a property, buy archeological gear, stealthily get the equipment to the site, pretend we're remodeling the property to hide our excavation, and surreptitiously remove dirt. We can't have the authorities or neighbors asking questions. I'm sure I'll need to grease the skids in Jerusalem to expedite the permitting process. The key is to conceal our excavation, by acting like we're remodeling the property.

"I'll use my Israeli real estate connections to see what I can do about purchasing a property as close to the geo-marker as possible. I'll use a bunch of shell companies and off-shore accounts to hide the transaction from the FBI and NSA. I must appear to be an Arab buyer. I also have some associates in the Israeli building industry. I'll find someone that will cooperate with our pretense of remodeling. I'm not going to mention the Ark to anyone. But they'll need to know that secrecy is paramount.

"I thought about a couple of things during lunch. One is getting you guys out of the country. The other concerns the dig. I have a client in Mexico City that I think will be very useful. He owes me some favors. He's a Jew by the way. I'm not sure if you're aware, but Mexico City has a thriving Jewish community.

"My client's name is Juan Elias. Or at least, that's what he tells me. But everyone calls him, 'El Jefe.' El Jefe owns a construction company. He digs very elaborate underground tunnels complete with ventilation, power, and transport systems—via minecarts. He has a number of architects and mining engineers on staff. If adequately rewarded, I think he'd allow us to borrow some of his team. His tunnels run right under the US border; from Matamoros, Mexico to Brownsville, Texas. If they've remained hidden, they might be a viable way for you to sneak out of the country."

"I don't understand," said Josh, dumbfounded. "Why is someone in the Mexican construction industry digging elaborate tunnels under the border?"

Becca sighed. "Geez Josh, for someone so smart, sometimes you make me wonder. Mr. Adler, I don't know what your client in Mexico City does but, TextWorld, display images of Joaquin Guzman drug tunnels." The A-HoloGlasses showed numerous pictures of tunnels that the Mexican drug lord used to smuggle drugs into the US. Becca swiped through the photos.

"Oh, now I understand," said Josh. "I can't help it, Becca. I wasn't on a first-name basis with the FBI before I hit puberty." Josh winked at her. Some of the tunnels were as much as 100 feet deep. Ingenious mechanisms were used to conceal the entrances. Guzman himself used a tunnel to escape a maximum security prison. Other images displayed tools they'd need to acquire: shovels, picks, generators, electrical wire, emergency oxygen tanks, a ventilation system, and minecarts.

"What are the minecarts for?" asked Josh.

Jared replied, "I think he used them to quickly transport items through the tunnel. They'd be terrific for us to help expedite dirt removal and move the Ark—when you find it. I made some calls during lunch. I think the best way for you to get into Israel is to travel from Mexico City to Amman, Jordan. Then you can cross the border, just north of the Red Sea. That's the location of the Rabin crossing point—in the port city of Eilat. My contact said it's one of the more lightly traveled border crossings.

"I'm stuck on an archeologist. I do know some academics at Hebrew University, but I don't trust them with such a sensitive issue. Kishore, I know you've got some interest in archeology. What do you think?"

"Yeah," replied Kishore, "I took a course in Indian archeology at Berkley. We went on a dig at the Lothal site. Lothal was a Harappan port town in India, about 4000 years ago. I also try to stay current on the subject.

"I have a couple of thoughts. First, some sophisticated archeological drones have hit the market. They can help with excavation and exploration. They're expensive, but they'd be a lot faster than digging with picks, shovels, and air hammers. You want to find the Ark and get out of Jerusalem—ASAP. Also, depending upon how close the property is to the Ark, I think you'll want to start the tunnel at least four stories down, if not more. Otherwise, nearby residents will hear your equipment.

"The Hebrews would've had to dig tunnels to hide the Ark. Hopefully, you can connect with their ancient tunnel systems and follow them to the Ark. Sonar systems can be added to the robots to help locate those old tunnels."

"I think the robots are a great idea, if we can afford them," said Becca.

Jared laughed. "Well, Josh just made $5M this morning. And that was after only two hours. I think we can work something out."

"Great!" replied Becca. "I've been thinking about the archeologist. I was talking to my dad earlier this morning on encrypted chat. He told me that one of his church members was a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Memphis. He said the professor was very knowledgeable about biblical archeology.

"I think, while we're taking the time to implement this plan, we should go to Memphis. We can visit with my dad and meet the professor. We can see in person if the Professor will be willing to work within our constraints and lead the excavation. We can also use the trip to advance our pattern of life operation."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Jared. "While you are doing that, I'll work on acquiring real-estate close to the geo-marker. The whole plan is contingent upon us securing a property—no property; no excavation. And, I'm going to get you guys some passports."

## Chapter 24 – Disinformation

11:05 p.m. (EDT), Thursday, October 29, 2020 – Blacksburg, VA

Top of the Stairs, 217 College Ave

"Top of the Stairs" was Becca's favorite college bar. It was just outside of Virginia Tech University. "Y'all, we have huge news. Josh and I are engaged!" She held out her hand to display a three-karat, emerald cut, diamond ring."

Becca's friends gasped, followed by a raucous cheer. "Congratulations! Let's toast."

The three coeds, Josh, and Becca all clanked their shot glasses and downed the Don Julio '42 tequila.

"Wow," said Josh. "I usually hate tequila, but that was smooth. Maybe it has something to do with the price of the shots?" He laughed. "If you'll excuse me, we've been driving all day, and I need to make a pit stop."

"He's hot," said Natalia. "Cute dimples. But as your best friend, I'm a little hurt I didn't meet him sooner."

"I'm sorry. It's just all moved so fast, and we've both been slammed at work. But you are the first to know."

"Oh, alright," Natalia replied. "How could I stay mad on such an important night? When's the date?"

"We don't know yet. We're going to take it slow, but I think sometime next summer."

"Can I wear the ring?" asked Natalia. "It's absolutely stunning." Becca knew the younger Natalia from high school in Texas. From periodic trips to Blacksburg, Becca got acquainted with Natalia's roommates. The youth of her friends allowed Becca to live life vicariously through their simpler perspective. The work world was so different from college life.

Once Josh returned, Becca said, "So in celebration, right after Christmas, we're taking a road trip across the country in a new A-Car. Josh just placed our order with Nucleus. We're going to start in Connecticut, and drive clear across the country. We'll stop to see my dad in Memphis, hit the Grand Canyon, Vegas, and then finally end up in L.A. Then we'll drive up the West Coast."

The group toasted again. "To road trips!"

After a few more hours of fun, Becca and Josh left. Becca promised Natalia that she'd keep in touch with more details.

*

Becca directed the rental car's navigation system to drive to the SuperNight Motel, just off I-81. She turned the radio all the way up. The music would drown out the NSA's prying ears. They could be listening through the car's speech recognition system or either one of their cell phones. Becca did nothing to hide the purchase of the rental car.

With the rental car in autonomous mode, Josh whispered into Becca's ear, "Why do you want to go to a SuperNight Motel? We could stay at a nicer place, especially on such a special evening?"

Becca chuckled. "We need to stay at a SuperNight to establish a pattern," she whispered back.

After checking in at the lobby, Josh parked the car in front of the SuperNight motel room. They were careful to leave all electronic devices, including mobile phones, in the car. Josh stored the luggage in the hall closet. He looked back at Becca. "Do you want me to carry you over the threshold?"

Becca giggled. Once inside the motel room, Becca closed the blinds and stuffed towels against the bottom of the front door. "Do you think they believed it?" she whispered.

"I hope so." He glanced at the motel room's two twin beds. "What's this, I thought this was going to be a super night?"

"Stop," replied Becca, "we're not married yet. I've made mistakes in the past. This time around, I want to do it right."

"Do you think that Natalia is going to take the bait?" said Josh, softly.

"She already took a picture of the ring and posted our engagement to Facebook, Instagram, and her Snapchat Story. She's my best friend and a total gossip. You can bet that the NSA or FBI is tracking our location—every minute, of every hour—through our phones."

Becca didn't know the identity of the lead organization, although she suspected the NSA. Technically, the FBI should've been in charge of US citizens deemed to be terrorists. But the General didn't play by rules. He could always hide behind the veil of national security.

Becca continued, "Once we gathered at the bar, whoever was listening, moved to determine who we were meeting. They looked at the geo-locations of everyone's Internet-connected devices. Phones, watches, tablets—you name it. They built a list of all the bar's patrons. Then, they started sifting through that list to discover our known and unknown associates.

"Natalia is in my contact list. I talk to her all the time. So they probably knew who she was instantaneously. Now, they'll put her and her roommates under surveillance. She'll forgive me once she finds out why I did it. I'm sure they'll mention that we're taking a road trip. We're just implementing the first phase of the plan. Memphis is where we start phase two."

"There's only one item on my plan for tonight. I hope they hear this." Josh kissed Becca's neck. Becca melted into Josh's arms.

*

After driving all day, Becca and Josh pulled up to Elisha Robert's house in Memphis.

A nerve-racking aspect of the journey was making sure that neither one said anything suspicious. When they needed to speak about any of the issues regarding the Ark, the escape to Mexico, or the dig; they did it the old fashioned way. They wrote letters to one another.

The couple was constantly looking over their shoulders to spot pursuers. If any were present, they didn't see them. It's possible that satellites or aerial drones were tracking them, but Becca doubted it. "Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," replied Josh.

Becca wrote a note. 'I hope Dad followed my instructions.' The two got out of the car and rang the doorbell.

"Hi, Dad. I'd like you to finally meet Josh Adler, in the flesh."

Josh and Elisha greeted one another with a handshake and then a hug. The couple followed Elisha into the kitchen. Becca gathered everyone's phone and turned them off. She found a gallon-sized, Ziploc bag. Becca sealed the phones. Then the hacker wrapped the Ziploc bag with aluminum foil and placed it in the freezer.

She whispered to her dad, "Did you make the safe room?"

After nodding affirmatively, Elisha led them to the basement. As they descended the basement stairs, Elisha locked the door behind him.

"Dad, you're sure there are no electronics down here?"

"Yes. I'm positive," replied Elisa, no longer whispering. "They can't hear a thing down here. The only electric thing in this cellar is that light bulb. How are you guys holding up?"

"Your daughter is amazing," said Josh. "I wouldn't be able to do this without her. Her knowledge of hacking, programming, and the capabilities of the NSA are allowing us to go forward. She's an operational security goddess."

Becca rolled her eyes. "Oh, Josh. You have such a way with words. Why don't you just call me, 'Dorcas the Magnificent.'"

Josh laughed. "Dorcas, I like that. I was going to say, 'She-Geek,' but Dorcas is better."

Becca ignored him. "Dad, I'm energized right now. I'm especially appreciative of Jared and you. I was depressed when I quit Gamification Systems. Even though it's been stressful, Josh and I are in the midst of a real adventure. During all of the adversity, some stuff you've said in the past has come back to me."

"That makes me happy. I'm proud of you both. You've been called to do an extraordinary thing. I've been praying and fasting about this. I've given my concerns about your safety to the Lord. He's given me peace about your situation. I believe that this is of Him, and He's going to protect y'all." Elisha's voice quivered.

"Thank you, Daddy."

After an emotional interlude, Becca continued. "I don't want to ruin the moment, but we're in the process of creating a plan to confuse the NSA analysts. And one of those fibs is that Josh and I just got engaged."

Elisha laughed. "Well, congratulations Josh!"

"Thanks! If they think we're getting married, maybe it'll take some of the heat off us. So, if you could send some emails and post the news to your social media accounts, that would be helpful."

Elisha nodded.

"Dad, I didn't write this in any of our encrypted chats, but we wanted to ask you about the Ark. Josh's AI predicts that the Ark is located on a crescent-shaped ridge, known as the Acra or the City of David. Does that mean anything to you?

"How far from the Temple Mount is the Ark?"

Josh pulled out a printed A-Map from his pocket. He showed Elisha the geo-marker. "It's about one-third of a mile south of the Temple Mount, by the Gihon Spring."

Elisha reviewed the map. While he was not an archeologist, he had researched the Temple Mount quite extensively. The area played a prominent role in Bible prophecy regarding the End Times. "Right now, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are a fundamental source of consternation for both Jews and Muslims. Muslims want Jerusalem, which they call Al-Quds, to be the capital of Palestine.

"This is a non-starter for almost all the Israelis. Then, there is the Temple Mount itself. Muslims call the Temple Mount, the Noble Sanctuary. In Arabic, it's called the Haram al-Sharif. The golden Dome of the Rock sits on the site, as does the al-Aqsa Mosque. It's the third most holy site in Islam—after Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia.

"Jews claim that the Temple Mount was the site of the first and second Temples. Babylonians destroyed the first. Rome obliterated the second Temple, in 70 AD, nearly 500 years later. The Jews were rioting in the Temple complex. Roman troops quelled the unrest. A military base, overlooking the Temple Mount, housed the Roman soldiers. The base was called, 'Fortress Antonia.' When the riots got out of hand, General Vespasian ordered the destruction of the Temple. Vespasian later became the ninth Emperor of Rome.

"Prophesying about that moment nearly 40 years earlier, Jesus looked at the second Temple and said, 'Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.' Most every Jew and Christian believes that the current Temple Mount was the site of the first and second Temples. Many Muslims deny this claim. The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf administers the site. They forbid any excavation.

"The reason this impacts the Ark is that a fair number of people believe that the Ark was hidden in tunnels or caves under the Temple, before the Babylonians destroyed it. Archeologists can't test this theory because the Waqf won't allow exploration under the Noble Sanctuary.

"So...here's the first thing that races across my mind in response to your map: the location of your geo-marker might indicate that the Temple was located, not on the Temple Mount, but in the old City of David. If that were the case, it would mean that the Jews could rebuild their Temple without destroying the Muslim Noble Sanctuary.

"I do believe I've read about a theory to that effect, but I'd defer to Professor McMillan. From what I remember about the theory, Gihon Spring was indispensable. To this day, it's the only natural freshwater supply for the city of Jerusalem. In fact, the Gihon Spring was the reason the Jebusites first established the city in that location."

"Why was the Gihon Spring so important for the Temple?" asked Becca.

"Because it was critical to keep the Temple platform hygienically clean. There were numerous animal sacrifices at the Temple every day. Three times a year, Jews were supposed to come to Jerusalem. Josephus writes, on one Passover, there were close to 300,000 animal sacrifices. You can imagine how much blood needed to be removed to keep the place sanitary.

"Also, there's another fascinating aspect about the location of your geo-marker. David's men used the Gihon Spring water system to climb into Jerusalem and take the city from the Jebusites. That story is depicted in the book of 2 Samuel of the Hebrew Bible.

"In any case, your geo-marker is precisely positioned in a location steeped in thousands of years of history. I'm sure Professor McMillan will be able to tell you more." Professor Harold McMillan was head of the Classical Archaeology Department at the University of Memphis. He attended Elisa's church and taught a men's Sunday school class. Elisha had told Becca that McMillan was one of his best friends at the church.

"I talked to him at the Wednesday night prayer service. I scheduled a meeting for you tomorrow. I told him the issue was very sensitive and to ditch all electronics."

*

Becca and Josh took a cab from Elisha's house to downtown Memphis. Aside from their work done in the server room of Adler Capital, this was the first time that they wanted to be invisible to the NSA. Becca used one of her numerous prepaid cell phones—a burner phone—to place the call to order the taxi. It was difficult to Uber anonymously.

She used cash to buy the prepaid cell phone. A prepaid cell phone allowed the user a certain number of minutes and imposed no contract. Josh paid cash for the cab. Once on the street, Becca tossed the phone in the trash. The couple walked to the Mud Island River Park Monorail.

The monorail took them to a peninsula in the middle of the Mississippi River, overlooking downtown Memphis. The two then walked to the Riverwalk on Mud Island. The Riverwalk was an exact scale model of the Mississippi River, the most vital river in the US.

Becca recognized the Professor from a picture Elisha showed to her last night. He was standing in the Gulf of Mexico. "Hiya," said a tall man, with a thick British accent and tanned skin. He looked to be in his mid-to-late forties. He bore a resemblance to a young Sean Connery.

"Did you leave all your electronics at home?" asked Becca.

"Yup, I listened to your father's directions very carefully. I'm pretty sure that no one followed me from the car park. I changed direction many times before boarding the monorail. You know, that's how Indiana Jones would've done it."

They grabbed a bench overlooking the Riverwalk.

"So what's a Brit like you doing in Memphis, Tennessee?" asked Josh.

"Well mate, that's very straightforward." The Professor smiled in reflection. "Years ago, my daughter wanted to be a country music star. We left our manor on the Island. I couldn't find an archeology job in Nashville—so here I am in Memphis." Everybody chuckled.

"Becca, I trust your father greatly. He's brilliant. I consider him among my closest friends," said the Professor. "He told me that you guys believe that you've found something very significant, and I might be able to help."

Josh looked around to see if anyone was listening. His countenance turned solemn. "Professor McMillan, the minute that I tell you what we hope we've found, and where we believe it is; your life is in jeopardy. Are you sure you want to know?"

McMillan's eyes darted over the Memphis skyline, and then rested on the robustly flowing river.

"God is my protection. If it's my time to go, I win. If I stay, I win. I can't lose either way. God is truth. Truth is like water. And I'm very thirsty."

"Alright. We believe that we've discovered the Ark of the Covenant's location," said Josh.

Professor McMillan sat still. Astonished. After a long pause, he said, "Crikey, so my Indiana Jones comment was more appropriate than I thought. Where is it?" Josh pulled out the crinkled A-Map. He reviewed the location. Then the coupled filled McMillan in on their history with the NSA.

The Professor seemed excited, but dubious. "I'm not aware of anyone ever looking in that spot for Ark. Very near that area, closer to the Temple Mount, there is an excavation in the City of David. It's only within the last 100 years that we've come to refer to this area as David's city.

"We used to place David's city much further away. Just a few yards north, right outside of the Temple Mount is another archeological site—the Ophel. I guess I'm finding it hard to believe that a computer program, a neural network as you call it, can predict the location of an artifact that's been missing for thousands of years."

Josh said he understood the Professor's feelings. He described some of the correct predictions the AI was rendering, including detailing the success of the trading platform. While he couldn't tell the Professor how the computer came to its conclusions, he could tell him that the works of Josephus seemed to be inordinately weighted in importance.

"Professor, I don't need you to believe the AI. I need you to help us dig to this geo-marker. My only archeology experience comes from playing Minecraft. We don't know the first thing about excavation. We need your expertise."

After briefly pondering the situation, the Professor said, "I might be barmy, but count me in."

Josh told McMillan that all expenses would be paid. They ran through the specifics of the plan, including the excavation details and the help from El Jefe. The Professor especially liked the inclusion of the archeological robots, fitted with sonar probes.

"I've never had to excavate in secret, so this will be a new experience. And this is a non-standard dig. We're in a big hurry. Hopefully, as we tunnel, it'll become clear what we're looking for. If we come across any notable artifacts along the way, we'll catalog them.

"I've been to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan before. It shouldn't be a problem getting into the country. I'll sneak to the site after it's prepared." If the FBI or Shin Bet arrested Josh or Becca before joining the Professor, Josh made McMillan promise to proceed with the dig. Becca also showed the Professor the list of equipment they'd already procured. She noted other items he requested.

"Professor, I'm making a lot of money for my dad with this AI. And he's backing this. We'll get you whatever you need."

After some further details, McMillan said, "What I see here are two very bright people that are willing to sacrifice their freedom for something they believe in. That's something I respect. As we've been talking, I've been thinking about the works of Josephus.

"He wrote two primary works, the Wars of the Jews and the Antiquities of the Jews. There've been some theories that make extensive use of Josephus. They place the first and second Temple at about the spot your AI pinpoints. The ideas are considered fringe by the majority of archaeologists.

"A lot of scholars don't consider Josephus to be a reliable eyewitness. They say he was prone to exaggeration. They also argue that he was too beholden to Rome to write an accurate history—Rome paid him.

"Dr. Ernest Martin was a scholar who wrote a book in the year 2000 that best lays out the theory. From the outset, you should know that it's almost sacrilegious to say that the Temple was located in any other place than on the Temple Mount. The Wailing Wall is the most sacred site in Judaism. So, a lot of people savagely attacked Martin.

"His theory was that the Western Wall—'Kotel' in Hebrew—was not the retaining wall for the ancient Temple. Rather, it's the remnants of the Fortress Antonia. Martin places the Temple, on the Acra, south of Fortress Antonia—around the spot of your geo-marker.

"At the same time, it could just mean that the Ark was moved to that location and buried. I mean, it might not say anything about the site of the Temple. Hopefully, we'll get some guidance during the excavation.

"In any case, your geo-marker is located in a historically significant place. Not only did David first seize the city from the Jebusites near that marker, but 300 years later, King Hezekiah dug a tunnel to protect the water supply from a siege by the Assyrian King, Sennacherib. That tunnel was 1800 feet. We'll continue in the long line of people that have made use of that limestone to accomplish great things.

"I just want to make it clear that there are ramifications beyond finding the Ark. If we find any indication that the Temple resided on this spot, it could change the world. Your boss, the General, was simply worried about the Ark's discovery. Redefining the location of the Temple impacts the entire world. I can't say how it'll turn out. I can tell you, just like the Bible predicted the restoration of the nation of Israel—which happened in 1948; the Bible says that in the Last Days, a third Temple is coming."

## Chapter 25 – Tal Azan

1:30 a.m., Tuesday, November 3, 2020 - Aleppo, Syria

Commandeered House in Syrian Controlled Neighborhood of Aleppo

The Immortals' base of operations was a group of homes in a quiet neighborhood of Aleppo. On average, there were five Immortals per house. An entire residence was dedicated to the Immersive Media Team.

A gigantic steel barn, the size of a small airplane hangar, stored the Immortals' numerous tactical vehicles. The Immortals' support and logistics team lodged in two other homes. They took care of provisioning, communications equipment, and vehicle maintenance.

Rahmati's two-story residence was the largest in the cluster. All the bedrooms in the dwelling were upstairs. The Commander's home contained sophisticated communications equipment that turned the downstairs living room into the Immortals' comms hub. It was capable of receiving tactical information from radio, satellite, and the Internet. Comms was short for communications.

Rahmati could have used any number of Syrian bases near Aleppo, but he liked to keep the Immortals separate from the other forces. He felt the comradery lent itself to successful military operations.

At little after 8:00 p.m., a courier entered Rahmati's house and handed him an envelope. The Quds Force in Syria and the Revolutionary Guards leadership in Iran, communicated exclusively by trusted couriers. It was the only way to evade the West's electronic espionage.

Rahmati opened the sturdy envelope. He was surprised to see two letters. The first was from General Javan, Rahmati's boss. It was short. It read in Persian, 'THUNDERCLAP progressing as planned.' Rahmati exhaled in relief.

The second dispatch was from Hamid Gilani. Hamid was the CEO of Abdullah Rahmati's high-tech, holding company. Hamid wrote that tests of AVICENNA were complete. AVICENNA was performing beyond everyone's wildest expectations. Rahmati clinched his fist. He looked like a soccer forward scoring the game-winning goal to win the World Cup. He then torched both documents in the flame of a candle.

After watching some European football with his housemates; Rahmati, Hadi Hadari, and three other Immortals finished evening prayers. They knelt and buried their foreheads into prayer mats facing the Kaaba in Mecca.

The Commander had been sleeping soundly for two hours. In an instant, he sat straight up in bed. Across the room, Deputy Commander Hadari was snoring, loudly. Rahmati quickly dressed and attached his body armor. He turned on the armor's embedded cameras and shook Hadari. "Wake up Hadi. I believe we're going to have company soon. Get ready for battle."

A woozy Hadari rubbed his eyes and followed orders. Rahmati proceeded to rouse the other Immortals in the house. During all of Rahmati's tour in Syria, the Immortals had never been attacked at their Aleppo base. Over the years, Russian heavy armaments and air support, aided by a number of Iranian and Hezbollah soldiers; stabilized Aleppo, Homs, and Damascus for forces loyal to the Syrian government.

Rahmati went to the comms room and pressed a button to alert the other nearby Immortals. The comms room contained radio communications equipment and many laptops. He sat down at the comms deck and initiated his laptop's video camera. Then, the Commander browsed to Nucleus Corporation's live streaming video app, A-Scope.

A-Scope worked very similar to Twitter's Periscope or Meerkat. As soon as Rahmati logged on and pushed the record button, comments started flying across the screen. "My brothers and sisters, in a few short minutes, I believe that the Immortals will fight a great battle. Daesh thinks that they can attack us at our home base. Maybe they tracked us down by carefully parsing our social media interactions. Who knows? Getting my message out to you is more important than operational security. We will handle Daesh. Perhaps they are listening right now.

"Know this: There's one thing that I believe with all my heart. God is gracious and merciful. His purposes will be accomplished. If I am to die a martyr tonight, so be it, inshallah. If I am to live; then I will live in victory, inshallah.

"War is not something I want. We should be building—not destroying. At this hour, moms and dads should be in peaceful homes, slumbering under the same roof as their children. They should be exhausted from laboring at well-paying, intellectually stimulating jobs. They should wake up to tables overflowing with hearty breakfasts and laughter.

"Their children should be resting their supple minds, preparing for another day of exciting school lessons; lessons that train them not just to exist, but to thrive and prosper in our new globally interconnected economy. The Middle East should be a leader in this global economy, not a follower. We should not be a mere supplier of natural resources. Our universities should be paving the way in researching new discoveries in quantum physics, medicine, and other sciences.

"But, this can only happen when war ceases. This can only happen when we join the ranks of developed nations. We must defeat this enemy who looks back—back to the seventh century—and not forward. Brothers and sisters, join me. The crescent moon is rising. The future is now." Rahmati ended the A-Scope session. He'd also recorded a portion of his dialogue to his Snapchat Story and posted a picture to Twitter and Instagram.

He tuned the radio to the specific frequency used for command and control. The chatter was confusing, but Rahmati surmised that the forward operating base at Tal Azan was under attack. The Tal Azan FOB was 12 miles south of Aleppo. If the reports were correct, this would be the first attack on a Syrian FOB in over two years.

Rahmati reached over his shoulder and grabbed his tomahawk. He quickly scooted under the comms desk. The next sound that Rahmati heard was the living room's glass window shatter. The Commander covered his ears, shut his eyes, and opened his mouth. He prayed that a stun grenade was coming next, instead of a fragmentation grenade.

A second later, Rahmati heard the sound of two metal canisters roll on the floor. Then, the front door exploded off its hinges, followed closely by the boom of the two flash-bang grenades. The Commander's evasive action, and the thick oak sides of the comms desk kept the stun grenades from incapacitating Rahmati for more than a few seconds.

A team of four men silently crept into the living room. Rahmati was surprised that the attackers didn't cut the power. The lights and comms equipment were still operational. The assault team wore black ski masks, with turquoise-blue bandanas tied around their foreheads.

This was a special operations unit of the Caliphate. In Arabic, they were called, 'Inghemasiyoun,' which roughly translated to, 'those who immerse themselves,' or the Immersives. The Immersives wore bullet-proof vests, thick belts, and carried AKs.

Rahmati choose his house wisely, at least if anyone ever decided to come through the front door. The residence's stairwell looked directly down on the entry way. Peering around the corner of the stairs, Hadi Hadari crouched low. Another Immortal went high. They opened fire. The first two Immersives were quickly taken down with shots to the heart. The other two Immersives retreated outside.

The Immortal, standing above Hadi, threw a fragmentation grenade. It flew through the front door and landed on the porch. After the blast, Rahmati heard screaming. He also recognized the sound of a firefight outside. The other Immortals must be counter-attacking, he thought.

Hadi and three Immortals rushed down the stairs, calling for Rahmati.

"I'm all right. Let's get them. Watch their belts." As Rahmati and his team moved to support the other Immortals in battle, another living room window smashed. A flash of bright blue landed near his feet yelling, "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for 'God is the greatest.'

The dazed Immersive lay on the ground, bleeding from cuts caused by jumping through the window. He reached for the detonation switch on his suicide belt. When depressed; steel ball bearings, sharp screws, nails, and dynamite would immediately permeate the room.

Rahmati's tomahawk quickly severed the Immersive's hand, before he could activate the detonator. The next blow of the battle-ax hacked the writhing Immersive's neck. His head was now halfway separated from his body. A third blow severed the Immersive's other hand. Hadi then put two bullets through the Immersive's temple.

"That ought to do it," said Rahmati. Hadi laughed. Outside, the Immortals had killed seven Immersives, and pinned three behind an American Humvee the Caliphate stole from Iraqi forces when they conquered Mosul.

"Give me your gun," Rahmati said to Hadi.

Rahmati grabbed the matte-black AK-74 and lay prone. Using the night-vision equipped scope, he aimed the sight underneath the car. He briefly caught a glimpse of what he sought. Rahmati held his breath and squeezed the trigger.

"Boom! A massive explosion took out all three of the Immersives hiding behind the car. A severed head rolled to the front of the car.

"Gentlemen, that's why Immortals don't wear suicide belts." Rahmati looked to his right and smiled, as he saw one of the media team's TV camera rolling. "That's going to be quite a video. Alright Immortals, gather round. Is anybody hurt?" Nobody was.

"Good. Allah was on our side tonight. It's not over yet. In fact, our evening has just begun." Rahmati surveyed his team. Most of the Immortals were in full battle gear. This impressed the Commander, given how little warning they'd been given by the alarm.

"Before we got hit, I heard over the radio that Tal Azan was under siege. We need to get there in a hurry. I can't imagine that Daesh is going to want to occupy that base for very long in the face of Russian air power, but who knows? If they do take over Tal Azan, they can dominate all of southern Aleppo. We have to stop them.

"I need everyone in full, night battle gear. This isn't going to be as easy as Dabiq. Like most spec op missions, we're probably outnumbered. That's no matter. This is why we're Immortals. Concentrated relative strength can overcome absolute strength, every time. But only if we're disciplined.

"All of you can see that we're on the third night out from a full moon. So there's a lot of ambient light. Make sure your face doesn't shine. Paint it out. Reverse your Immortal's bandana, so the white doesn't show. Anything white is going to reflect like a spotlight. I want everyone to examine his teammate and conceal anything that will flash. At least God has provided some rolling cloud cover.

"We leave in 15 minutes. Let's take two quads. I want the rest of you in fast-attack vehicles. Most likely, the enemy will be in HiLuxes, mounted with .50-cals." A round from a .50-caliber machine gun could explode a person like a grape. American .50-cals could split human beings in two, from a mile away.

"Our attack vehicles already have their standard loadout provisioned. As you guys dress out, I'm going to radio headquarters and see if we might get some air support." Russian air support in Syria was extensive. They were using Syria to test out their newest and most advanced weapons. Russian air bases housed Mi24 Helicopter Gunships; also known as Hinds, Sukhoi (SU) 30s, and the new SU 50 stealth fighters. The Russians were also experimenting with a new stealth attack helicopter.

Rahmati liked the Russian fast-attack vehicles. They were speedier and more maneuverable than the Caliphate's pickups and SUVs. They looked less like Rahmati's dune buggy, and more like a four seat, covered ATV. There were two bucket seats in the front. In the backseat, on a raised platform, was the gunner's seat and a turret mounted .50-cal. The machine gun had a 360-degree arc of fire.

*

The Immortals pulled off the road 45 minutes later. Rahmati studied the Tal Azan FOB in the distance. It was the highest point around. Thick billows of black smoke, illuminated by the moonlight, rose from the FOB.

Rahmati exited his ATV and walked to the Immersive Media Team. Their fast-attack vehicle housed a TV camera in place of the .50-cal. He ordered a drone operator to launch a quadcopter and make sure it wasn't spotted. In less than 10 minutes, the drone was hovering over the FOB. Rahmati looked at the real-time video feed and switched between night and thermal vision.

"Bokun," he said, under his breath. Bokun was Farsi for the f-word.

The Syrians, Russians, and Iranians had been building and maintaining FOBs since late 2015. Some were more elaborate than others. They improved reaction times for military maneuvers, allowing troops to be closer to the action, without having to go all the way back to the main base.

The Tal Azan FOB had 10-foot walls and strategically placed observation towers. The FOB was designed to protect all of southern Aleppo. It had room for up to 250 troops. Dug into the hillside, just outside the base, were a number of defensive positions. These positions contained Armata T-14 Tanks and 2S35 Koalitsiyas. The Koalitsiyas were self-propelled Howitzer guns, built on the Armata platform.

That platform was Russia's next-generation, self-propelled artillery configuration. It allowed for the use of interchangeable parts. This drastically lowered operating costs. The T-14's assigned to Tal Azan were completely unmanned and remotely controlled. Inside the walls of the base was an artillery battery of four, 2A65 Msta-B towed Howitzers and a 9A52-4 Tornado multiple rocket launcher.

Rahmati surveyed each of the Russian heavy armaments. Everything except the towed Howitzers were in flames. The Immortals grouped around Rahmati to listen as he described the drone footage.

"The Russians are going to be so pissed. I don't know how they did it. Daesh blew up the tanks and the tracked Howitzers." Tracked vehicles, like tanks and bulldozers, used thick treads instead of wheels.

"It looks like they've killed all the Syrian forces. I see about 125 men lying face down. Three Immersives are walking around, checking to make sure everyone is dead. The rest of Daesh looks like their loading their pickups with ammunition and provisions. They're trying to jerry-rig a way to tow the Howitzers. It looks like they're trying to shoot a publicity video, too. I'm sure Daesh is going to take all that booty back to Raqqa. It's a little over 100 miles from here."

Hadi was counting the Caliphate spec op forces he could make out. "There's about 30 Daesh. And I count eight pick-ups. I can't believe a force of 30 men took out 125."

"The fight was over before it began," said Rahmati. "Whatever the Immersives did to take out all that armor scared the Syrians—literally to death. They should've known that the Daesh doesn't take prisoners. Rapid, concentrated firepower almost always defeats absolute strength. That was the secret to Hitler's blitzkrieg.

"Here's what we're going to do Immortals. Let's quietly pass Tal Azan and go about 15 miles down the dirt road. There's an excellent line of trees we can use to set a trap. As Daesh absconds with our equipment to Raqqa, we're going to ambush them." The road from Tal Azan ran east-west to Raqqa.

"Let's lay all the anti-tank mines we have. We're going to try to take out as many pickups as we can. Make sure you place the mines in the pattern we've practiced for Daesh's vehicles. Try to anticipate the dispersal pattern of the pickups after the first HiLux is hit. And let's stagger our fast-attack vehicles. Remember our training. Space yourselves accordingly.

"Your arcs of fire are the key to this mission—this battle will be hot. Don't shoot each other! Our .50-cals will have to take out their .50-cals. It's eight against five, but you're better than Daesh. Every other fast-attack vehicle is equipped with a portable, anti-tank missile launcher. Make sure you have those ready in case they happen to move any of the tracked vehicles. They all look unusable, but you never know."

Rahmati addressed the drone operator. "Keep the drone up. I know its signal can't go any farther than about three miles. So maintain radio contact and update me when they leave. Then hide. We'll pick you up after our successful operation, inshallah."

An hour later, the Immortals had accomplished all of Rahmati's orders. The mines were laid and buried. The vehicles were all concealed in the tree lines. Camouflage netting further obfuscated the lines of the fast-attack vehicles looking down on the road. The media team's machine was stationed 30 yards behind Rahmati's position. Rahmati ordered them to launch another drone.

Rahmati was second furthest east of the direction from where he expected the mine detonations. Rahmati's group consisted of Hadi, one of the quad riders, and a media team member holding a portable TV camera.

The drone operator watching Tal Azan radioed Rahmati. "They've finished loading up, and I think they are getting ready to move out. They've stripped all the weapons and ammunition they can carry. It looks like all the pickups have running boards and handrails. That will allow them to fit more plunder in the truck beds. They've hitched four howitzers to the Toyotas. They're also taking two, fully-loaded KamAZ Mustangs." KamAZ Mustangs were Russian heavy cargo trucks—military semi-trucks.

"Roger," replied Rahmati. "At least, they're going to be weighed down by all our equipment." Rahmati radioed his Immortals. He relayed all the information. "Let's try to take out the Mustang drivers with headshots. I'd rather not blow up our side's weapons and provisions."

"They're moving out—7 Toyotas and 2 Mustangs. No armor," radioed the drone operator.

Rahmati told the Immortals to be ready for action in the next 20 to 30 minutes. He had assigned the other quad rider to a western-most position, about a mile in front of the first, fast-attack vehicle hiding in the tree line. His job was to recon the convoy and indicate when he spied the first Daesh vehicle.

Then came the radio call that changed everything.

"Commander Rahmati, we've got a problem."

It was from the Immortal crew furthest east, closest to the direction of Raqqa. "There's a huge dust cloud approaching rapidly. From its speed, I'd say it's more Caliphate in a bunch of pickups. It looks like 15-20 SUVs. They're barreling in on our position. I'd guess they're traveling at 70-80 miles per hour."

"Roger," replied Rahmati, turning his head towards Raqqa. He also saw the swelling dust cloud. Rahmati tried to remain calm and keep his wits. The numbers were the first things that raced through his mind.

There were 30 Immersives, the Caliphate's most elite fighters, closing in on his position from the west. From the east, another group of Caliphate—probably numbering 75 to 100 men—was rapidly approaching. At a minimum, they'd have to deal with well over a dozen .50-cals and perhaps over 120 men, armed with assault rifles.

Rahmati called headquarters. "Any update on that air support?"

After a reply that seemed to take forever, the Russian speaker answered, "Nyet."

"Damn Russians!" exploded Rahmati.

"Muhammad, we'd better get out of here," pleaded Hadi. "We can regroup in Aleppo and come back with a stronger force, complete with armor and air support."

Rahmati contemplated the situation. He looked over his shoulder at the TV camera. "No. Immortals, tonight we either obtain victory or become martyrs. If we become martyrs, I pray that God will accept each and every one of us into paradise, based upon our actions in this battle. But, I'm not planning on any of us being martyrs, inshallah. Remember the odds against the Prophet at the Battle of Badr!

"I'm sending a quad down the line to pick up the anti-tank weapons. He can probably carry two at a time, if one of you rides with him. He's going to drop off the missiles with the Immortals closest to Raqqa. Go!"

The anti-tank missile system was a man-portable variant of the Kornet-EM. Each fire-and-forget rocket weighed 35 pounds. Rahmati hoped the four missiles could at least take out four of the vehicles driving from Raqqa. If they got lucky, each blast could disable more than one SUV.

The quad rider completed the task quickly. Rahmati was glad that Daesh coming from Tal Azan were moving so slowly. Greedy pigs get slaughtered, he thought. The dust-cloud from Raqqa was much closer. They looked to be about seven miles out. That was just outside of the five-mile range of the Kornet rockets.

The quad rider on recon radioed. "I see them. The first HiLux will pass me in the next 30 seconds."

A few minutes later, the Immortals closest to Tal Azan, radioed that they had eyes on the convoy. "Get ready Immortals," whispered Rahmati into his radio. "Make sure you wait until the entire convoy is within our arcs of fire."

The Immortal operating the hand-held TV camera happened to look up at the sky. Thick clouds had moved in. One cloud formation caught the cameraman's eye. He pointed the camera skyward. A cloud impeccably draped the moon, making it appear as a sliver of a crescent moon.

The first mine exploded. Then another.

The Immortals opened fire on the Tal Azan convoy with their assault rifles and 50-cals. Snipers took out both KamAZ Mustang drivers. Rahmati thought he heard the blast of the first Kornet anti-tank missile fired at the Raqqa convoy. The dust cloud from that direction now looked to be three miles out. Many Daesh released the SUV handrails, dropping to the ground to form defensive lines. The fighting was fierce. But Rahmati felt he was getting the better of Caliphate column, so long as the Raqqa reinforcements didn't arrive.

At that moment—from out of nowhere—a fierce wind blew from the northeast. A blinding, blood-red sandstorm rose up from the dirt road. Sandstorms, known as shammals, were more frequent in the summer. But they weren't unheard of in the winter.

This shammal was unusual because it seemed only to kick up dirt from the road, completely enveloping it. It appeared to be living, and breathing, and feeding on the Caliphate. The Daesh convoy swerved to exit the tempest. But the red sandstorm grew and followed them. Rahmati and Hadi looked at one another in disbelief. The same storm blanketed the other Raqqa procession, now about a mile away.

Rahmati ordered the Immortals to switch to thermal vision. They continued the barrage of .50-cals, raining bullets down upon both convoys. With the sandstorm swallowing and blinding Daesh, the thermal vision enabled the Immortals to shoot the Caliphate, like hyenas in a cage.

Rahmati could see the confused Caliphate shooting at one another. The imagery from Rahmati's thermal vision goggles was recorded. The cameraman behind Rahmati pointed his camera back to the moon. Now the clouds made the moon look like a much fatter sliver, a little over one-fourth of a full moon.

The cameraman yelled at Rahmati and pointed to the sky. "Commander, the crescent moon is waxing."

*

This was a total victory for Commander Muhammad Rahmati and his Immortals. All of it was depicted from numerous angles, in different formats. The drone feed was nearly supernatural. Commentators would later say the sandstorm looked like a red dragon, consuming its prey.

All the Caliphate spec ops that assaulted Tal Azan were dead. The Immortals drove the Mustangs back to the FOB. Seven Toyota HiLuxes from the Raqqa convoy lay in ashes. Rahmati assumed any remaining Caliphate retreated.

Upon arriving at Tal Azan, Rahmati found one living Syrian soldier. He said that Daesh sent in two waves of quadcopter drones. The first wave fried all the FOBs electrical systems. The second wave was composed of suicide drones, equipped with extremely powerful explosives. The blasts ate through the Russian armor.

"Now, the Russians are going to be really pissed. Those T-14 Armatas are supposed to be equipped with smart, explosive-resistant armor. And there won't be a drop of vodka left in Syria, when they find out that their next-generation tanks were fried by a back-pack sized, drone operated, EMP devices. So much for their robot tanks. Siberia can expect to receive some new residents shortly. I'm sure the former Armata engineers will love their new gulag." EMP devices emitted a burst of electromagnetic radiation that destroyed electronics.

Against the greatest odds, Muhammad Rahmati and his Immortals, were victorious over a force of superior numbers. The Immersive Media Team worked feverishly to produce a polished video. They spliced together film from the captured Daesh video equipment, vividly capturing their deaths with up-close footage. They kicked off the video by harkening back to Muhammad's triumphant victory against superior odds at the Battle of Badr.

Rahmati posted the video two days later.

## Chapter 26 – AVICENNA

8:00 a.m. (EST), Tuesday, November 3, 2020 – Greenwich, CT

Adler Capital's Offices, 112 Greenwich Plaza

As Tuesday morning dawned in the US, Josh and Becca arrived at Adler Capital. This was the first time the couple had been able to speak securely with Jared, since they returned from Memphis. All of them met in the server room. In the midst of the whirling fans and flashing lights of the racks of computers, they filled each other in.

Jared was excited to show Josh the newest results from the AI trading algorithm. "Josh, your AI is particularly useful in trading oil and currencies."

"That's awesome, Dad. How's the property acquisition going?"

"It's been a real challenge. I'm working anonymously, through a real estate agent recommended by a friend. My agent is representing that the buyers are Arab. He's made me promise that someone in my shell companies be Arab.

"We've identified a couple of sellers, but the price is exorbitant. They're about one-fourth to one-third of a mile from your geo-marker. So, there'd be a lot of digging. There're many bidders for property in the neighborhood. And of course, the Arabs want to keep the real estate under their control."

Josh sighed in frustration. "Don't worry," said Jared, "for the right price, someone will always sell."

"Mr. Adler," said Becca, "this is the list of items Professor McMillan wanted."

"How was the Professor?" asked Jared, reviewing the inventory.

Josh replied, "He'll be able to go to Jerusalem right after the holidays. He won't tell anyone that he's looking for the Ark. It's bad enough that he'll be conducting a non-sanctioned archeological dig in Israel. It's highly illegal."

"The Professor is on sabbatical all next semester, so he'll have time," added Becca. "Our archeological expert seems dubious about the location, but he did educate us about the site. The Professor doesn't have a problem working with El Jefe's crew, as long as he's in charge of locating the Ark. We're planning on leaving the country a few days after Christmas. Did you talk to El Jefe?"

"Yes, he's all on board," replied Jared. "For his assistance, I waived his hedge fund management fee of 2% of the balance and 30% of the profits. I comped it for a year. He's thrilled. It's going to save him millions of dollars. El Jefe will supply his best mining engineer, and four of his most trusted workers to help with the tunnel construction. I didn't tell him what we're looking for, and he didn't ask.

"So with you two, the Professor, and the Mexicans; the total team number will be eight. There should be enough people that you can keep digging 24 hours a day. I'm still working on lining up the remodeling crew. The Mexicans are planning on arriving in early December, provided I close on the property quickly enough."

"As you know, El Jefe has some experience with digging secret tunnels. He said the first goal would be to dig the excavation shaft down to 40 or 50 feet. Then, they'll build and reinforce a staging area. He advised you guys to stay underground as much as possible. He says his mining engineer is extremely skilled at hiding the entry for the tunnel."

"Eww!" screeched Becca. "That makes me so claustrophobic!"

"Yeah," said Josh. "That ventilation system better be rock solid, and we'll need to dig a proper latrine."

Jared said, "I've set up a warehouse in Jerusalem to serve as storage for all the equipment. Oh, and I got you these." Jared handed Josh and Becca over-sized envelopes, sealed by a drawstring. Both of them untied the pouch and emptied its contents.

Out popped extremely high-end, fake Canadian passports and a manila folder. The folder contained pictures and their individual back stories. The pictures were of Josh and Becca. But, they were professionally Photoshopped to include Canadian landmarks. The passport photos were also theirs, but looked slightly distorted. The passport names were wholly different. Written on Josh's passport was the moniker, Abraham Benjamin. He was a Canadian Jew. Becca was named, Sarah Boucher.

"These are CIA quality passports and back stories. Everything will check out as long, as you correctly recite the details. Memorize them," he said, lingering on the word, memorize.

Josh looked at Becca's passport. "Really Dad...Abraham and Sarah?"

Jared laughed. "How could the Israelis not let you into the country?"

"Ok," said Josh, "that gives us eight weeks to keep working our plan. Becca will continue to improve her disinformation campaign software. We planted seeds that we're engaged and celebrating with a cross country trip in a new A-Car, after Christmas. I'll try to add some deep learning features to Becca's disinformation program. And I can try to help you make more money, while you lock down the property and the equipment."

"On it," replied Jared.

"Mr. Adler, how's El Jefe's crew going to get into Israel?" asked Becca.

"They're all Jews. Their story is that they're all traveling to celebrate the Hanukah in the Holy Land."

*

At the Fort, intelligence from Tal Azan trickled in throughout the morning. By the afternoon, the scope and size of the victory became clear. Additionally, America was going to the polls for a Presidential election. Despite Dabiq-gate, President Thomas Goodson seemed destined for an easy re-election. While the incident caused embarrassment, the nation blamed Walt Black—not Goodson.

The POTUS' quick firing of the DCIA did much to quell the outrage. Black played the part of the good soldier falling on the sword for his Commander and Chief. The Administration also overemphasized the success of the retaliatory air strikes for the contractor's deaths. And a full-scale ground war in Syria remained extremely unpopular with the electorate.

America's priorities in 2020 were continued prosperity and jobs, followed by security from terrorists. After a sluggish start in 2016, the economy improved each year, growing by nearly 3% last quarter. Consumers enjoyed many economic benefits. Inflation and interest rates were capped. Technology—especially driven by advancements in AI—was enhancing productivity and quality of life. Oil prices were low due to US fracking. America was on track to become energy independent within the next few years. In addition, more electric cars were being produced, at reasonable prices. Solar power was also drastically improving.

Goodson ran on the relatively robust economy and also staked out an attractive immigration position. Harkening his inner JFK, Goodson challenged America to return to the moon by 2025, to prepare the way for Mars by 2029. The ever decreasing cost of space flight also helped advance the goal.

POTUS didn't just want to walk on the moon anymore; he wanted America to establish a colony of moon bases to research many items. Foremost on this list was jump starting the process of space solar power—SSP. Using a process similar to how Flashcharge powered the Swarmbots, SSP would convert electricity into microwaves.

SSP absorbed energy from solar panels on the moon, converted it into microwaves, and then beamed the energy to the US electric grid. Fracking wasn't a long term solution. And electric power consumption was doing nothing but increasing—especially with the projected growth of the robotics industry. Goodson hoped that SSP could augment US energy production by mid-century.

The General loved the moon challenge. Unbeknownst to the world, there were ulterior motives. The President wanted to use the moon as an essential component of a sophisticated array of telecommunications and attack satellites.

The military was looking to space as a new frontier. It could play a vital role in reducing the vulnerability of the US Navy. The Navy, especially its aircraft carriers, was becoming more susceptible to inexpensive and powerful anti-ship missiles.

Today, General Shields was working from his NSA office suite. He monitored news of the election and reports regarding Rahmati's victory. Shields was planning tomorrow's hectic schedule with Lin Liu.

"If Rahmati uploads a video of that battle to A-Tube, the Ayatollah better watch out. We're carefully watching Iranian SIGINT '''''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''' Rahmati's popularity is incredible. Our assets in Iran confirm the SIGINT. If the Revolutionary Guards does not quell demonstrators, we're liable to see the Iranian Revolution 2.0."

"What do you mean?" replied Lin. "I thought the Revolutionary Guards reported to the Ayatollah."

"Well, they do. They do until they don't. The Revolutionary Guards are like a Wall Street bank, the Pentagon, and the defense industry combined. And they covet the money the mullahs control. Our intel shows that key members of the Revolutionary Guards, including their commanding General—Farhad Javan—are very pro-Rahmati. They look at Rahmati and see dollar signs." The General laughed. "I mean, Iranian Rials."

"Would that be good or bad?"

"We see it as an improvement. But Rahmati's popularity scares us. Since World War I, we've played Muslims against Muslims. Rahmati is causing some reassessments in the Administration. We all shudder at the thought of what a unified Islamic community could accomplish."

"What does Rahmati think?" asked Lin. "Will he betray the Ayatollah?"

"That's the billion-dollar question," said the General, dramatically. "We don't know what he's thinking, other than what he says on social media. The Quds Force operates with a lot of autonomy. Revolutionary Guards leadership gives them a wide latitude. That freedom empowers them to use their best judgment to accomplish the mission. They only communicate with Tehran via human couriers. And we haven't been able to intercept any of their human messengers. Recently, we've seen one piece of SIGINT pop up a number of times. It has our Persian analysts buzzing. We think it's a code word."

"What's the code word?"

"AVICENNA," replied Shields

Lin thought about the word for a moment. "Ahh, the ancient Persian doctor-scientist. Maybe it's a medical breakthrough? Or, more darkly, perhaps it's a chemical warfare agent?"

"How'd you know that? asked the General, amazed at the breadth of Lin's mind. "Anyway, we're a little concerned. I don't buy this peace, prosperity, and daisies act from Rahmati."

"I don't know, I kind of like him, especially his eyes. Changing the subject, how is Defense Innovations going?"

"Pretty well. I've picked up 10 new companies for next year's class. We can down-select the most promising for funding. I'm done with Prosthetic Thought. Their thought controller for VR is crap. But I renewed everyone else in the Accelerator. Gecko Insurance loves their Gamification software. The Gamer system is reducing costs substantially for network monitoring. Flashcharge is operating flawlessly for the Swarmbots.

"And, Swarmbot has made all the changes I've requested. We're going to deploy the next 60, 4Gen Swarmbots to Caliphate controlled cities in Iraq and Syria. Chris Fischer is already working on 5Gen.

"We'll run a split test and see where we achieve the best results. 30 of the Swarmbots are going to be controlled by Gamers over the Internet. We dumbed down their Fog of War version, so it includes no classified information. CYBERCOM volunteers will control the other 30, in the second-floor SCIF. They've already completed the extension of the VR room in the SCIF, to accommodate more CYBERCOM Gamers.

"Analysts in the SWARM Op Center will play the role of the G-Master. The G-Master will monitor everything, as we go after the Caliphate's top 50 leaders. Of course, number one on the list is Caliph Abu Mosulaydi. For delicate operations, we can always take complete control of the Swarmbots in the Op Center.

"CyberAI, Josh's old company is doing well. Vish has improved the AI for cyber-event recognition a good amount, even without Josh's code. NSA counsel tells me that it's an up-hill battle to get him to turn over the code. I don't feel like waging that legal battle right now. Besides, three of the 10 new companies we approved for the Accelerator class specialize in AI. I'll pick the best one. They're all employing deep learning algorithms."

"Speaking of Josh," said Lin, "What are Josh and Becca up to?"

"I think they're both moving on. The FBI is no longer tailing them, but we're monitoring all their comms. They both work for Josh's dad, applying his AI to the stock market. They recently got engaged."

Lin smiled at the revelation.

"In celebration, they're making a cross-country trip in a new A-Car, right after Christmas. It's geeky, but I'm happy for them. It's a shame how it all went down...but can you imagine the destabilizing effect of the Ark? It'd be like a bomb, dropped in the middle of a Middle Eastern minefield."

"No," replied Lin, "I can't imagine that."

"That's the problem," said Shields. "Neither can I."

## Chapter 27 – Crescent Revolution

4:30 p.m., Friday, November 13, 2020 - Aleppo, Syria

Commandeered Home in Syrian Controlled Neighborhood of Aleppo

The Immersive Media Team uploaded the Tal Azan video eight days ago. Many viewers across the world thought they recognized ghost-like apparitions in the sandstorm. Conspiracy theories and paranormal speculations were viral.

Shockwaves from the victory, as portrayed in the highly immersive video, reverberated across the Middle East. Rahmati's status was now almost mythic. Was he a new Khalid Bin Walid, or Saladin, or the Mahdi? The video broke all previous A-Tube records for views. Rahmati's media team began working on a film chronicling the night's battles. Their goal was to release the documentary for 2022 Oscar consideration.

Muhammad Rahmati was now one of the most recognized and admired men in the world. Day after day, an ever increasing number of protestors gathered in the streets. They engaged in sit-ins, occupying the prominent gathering places and squares of Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states. Police forces tried to disperse the crowds without excessive force, but the sit-ins grew larger. The media labeled the demonstrations as the 'Crescent Revolution.'

Surprisingly, the Crescent Revolution's most massive crowds congealed in Iran. Protests spread to ten cities, including Tehran and Isfahan. Marchers also gathered in front of Iranian embassies all over Europe. While all of this took the West by surprise, two aspects of the Iranian protests intrigued the NSA and CIA the most. First, the Internet was still not being censored in Iran. Iranians were receiving unfiltered digital content from all over the world—for the first time in the country's history.

Second, Iranian security forces were doing nothing to halt the dissent. They simply watched and maintained order. This could only mean that, at least for the time being, the Revolutionary Guards were standing down. Nobody knew why.

Muhammad Rahmati gathered around his laptop in the Aleppo comms room with his most trusted Immortals. He browsed to the BBC Persian Services website. The monitor displayed footage from a massive rally in Azadi Square in Tehran. With estimates of over 500,000 protesters, the demonstrations were larger than the marchers against the Shah in 1979. Those protests led to the downfall of the Shah and the ascension of Ayatollah Khomeini.

The Iranian government's fortunes had improved markedly after the nuclear deal with the West. The removal of sanctions and release of frozen Iranian assets in early 2016 produced a significant windfall for the Iranian state—and the Revolutionary Guards. However, the prosperity only enriched the ruling elites' lives.

And, once the Revolutionary Guards tasted the money, they wanted more. The clerical class' assets were particularly attractive, especially since the mullahs' welfare depended on protection from the Guards. The majority of Guards desired a more Westward-oriented government to enable their affluence to increase, in contrast to the mullahs who wanted to keep separate from the Satanic West.

The Iranian protestors consisted of a broad mix of society—students, merchants, lawyers, doctors—people who wanted the ability to paint a brighter future for their children, increased economic opportunities, and more freedom.

Today, for the first time, the crowds began angrily shouting "Ayatollah, get out! Ayatollah, get out!" Taking a page out of the 1979 demonstrations, protestors placed flowers in rifles of the security forces.

A courier met the Commander in the living room. All eyes fell on Muhammad Rahmati. Rahmati read the message. Ayatollah Saatchi—the Supreme Leader of Iran—was ordering his Quds Force Commander to return to Tehran.

*

It was evening in Columbia. General Shields, Samantha Powers, Lin Liu, and 12 operator-analysts gathered in the SWARM Op Center. Their eyes were glued to the gigantic video wall. ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''' '''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''' Caliph Abu Mosulaydi had fled to his hometown of Mosul, Iraq.

Mosul was built over the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh. Nineveh played a prominent role in the Hebrew Scriptures. It was the city that God told the Prophet Jonah to visit. Jonah was called to proclaim a message of repentance to Nineveh. Jonah so despised the Assyrians that he attempted to flee his calling by escaping on a ship in the Mediterranean. It took three days in the belly of a great fish to persuade Jonah to change his mind and obey God.

In 2014, the Caliphate destroyed Jonah's ancient tomb. This demolition was meant to send a message to Jews, Christians, and apostate Muslims. The Caliphate's brand of Islam was superior to all other religions.

Eight Swarmbots, including two Jumbos, entered a three-story building in Mosul. It was a former Iraqi government building. The SIGINT indicated that Mosulaydi was in the building. Many airstrikes had targeted portions of Mosul. However, given the large civilian population, a significant amount of the city remained intact.

Four other Swarmbots established overwatch on the building's perimeter. All the Swarmbots had active camouflage and noise suppression engaged. Unless you touched them, you wouldn't know they were there.

After clearing the first floor, the Swarmbots stacked up. They created two rows, linked three across. In the last row, the Jumbos were connected, side-by-side. The Swarmbot clusters moved up the stairs. As they cleared the second-floor, they came across six sleeping Caliphate members. There was no sign of Mosulaydi.

They stealthily proceeded to the third floor. The Swarmbots registered distant speech. The Jumbos positioned themselves securely in the hallway. The six other Swarmbots, now untethered from each other, rotated towards the voices.

One-by-one, the Swarmbots moved into position in the room. The Caliph was speaking with three of his lieutenants. Samantha noticed the tension in General Shield's face. This was it. This was the man that ordered the death of his son. The Swarmbots laid in wait, relaying the real-time video and sound.

"Rahmati's popularity is drastically affecting our operations," said Mosulaydi, in Arabic. A SWARM analyst translated the Caliph's words. The op center also had an AI-based translation system that produced subtitles on the video wall and computer monitors.

"The world is rallying to him. Our recruiting of foreign fighters has slowed to a trickle. Europeans are entering Syria, through Turkey, and joining him. His popularity among Sunnis is something I can't even fathom. How can Sunnis be led astray by this Shiite Dajjal? His message is winning more converts than ours. He's destroying our safe havens in Syria. We need to rapidly procure more funds, ammunition, and weapons from the Saudis and their allies."

"Alright," said General Shields, "let's take him out. Release the mini-drones."

From the hallway, the jumbo Swarmbots launched their mini-drones. Chris Fischer had named these drones, 'Remora,' after the fish that attached themselves to sharks and manta rays. Two Remora drones flew through Mosulaydi's door. The first Remora headed straight for the Caliph's neck. Its kill dart was exposed.

The Remora released the dart inches away from Mosulaydi. The projectile penetrated the Caliph's jugular. The mini-drone peeled off to the right. The other Remora hovered near the ceiling, providing an aerial feed of the action.

Mosulaydi grabbed his neck and sputtered. His three lieutenants rushed toward the Caliph with their pistols drawn. They couldn't see anything. They all looked toward the window, thinking a sniper might have shot the Caliph. But the window was closed with the glass intact.

The three panicked Daesh caught Mosulaydi before he fell to the ground. His mouth foamed. He gasped for air. And then he stopped gasping. The killer Remoras buzzed back to their platform, and were sealed by their hosts.

General Shields said in a subdued but victorious tone, "Abu Mosulaydi is the first confirmed kill of the SWARM program. All of you in this room were integral to this mission. This is the first of many successes. Working from the safety of our office in Columbia; we've successfully killed the most wanted terrorist in the world—without any risk of collateral damage. From the highest levels of government, I can say thank you." He ordered the operators to continue to surveil the room for intel and watch the Caliphate lieutenants' next steps.

Samantha and Lin congratulated General Shields.

"General, you've avenged your son and made America safer," said Samantha. "Not one American life was endangered while you executed Charlie's murderer." Although I lost my best employee, thought Samantha.

"Thank you," replied the General, more somberly than Samantha expected. He then addressed the analysts. "Update me on the Crescent Revolution." While the SWARM Op Center was dedicated to Swarmbots, their systems had significant reach back to the Fort.

An analyst rattled off the latest intelligence. "The Egyptian military has moved into Tahir Square to disperse the demonstrators. They appear to be using restraint. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have not been so kind. Many protestors are dead. It looks like the various governments are coordinating their response. We guess their endgame is to halt the rallies and break up the sit-ins, by early next week. In all those countries; the Internet, cell phones, and SMS messaging are largely inoperable.

"Iran is a different story. The Internet is still wide open. Iranian forces are doing nothing to hinder the agitators. No police. No military. Our Iranian analysts believe this can mean only one thing. The Ayatollah is in trouble."

*

Shields told everyone in the SWARM Op Center that the 'highest levels of government' approved of their actions. This was not entirely accurate. The $100M purchase of Swarmbots used black budget funds. It was classified. Only people read into SWARM were aware of the Swarmbots new lethal capabilities. Shields wanted to prove the success of the program before he briefed anyone, including POTUS. His greatest fear was a leak.

Patton didn't follow every order, but he achieved results that saved lives. He was one of the best Generals in American history. Such was Shields' inner dialogue. Hitler did refer to Patton as the 'crazy cowboy.'

## Chapter 28 – The Ayatollah

9:00 a.m., Monday, November 16, 2020 - Tehran, Iran

Supreme Leader's Office

Commander Muhammad Rahmati entered the office of the Supreme Leader. He mechanically plodded forward to greet Ayatollah Alireza Saatchi. The Assembly of Experts had recently elected the Ayatollah. Saatchi was only the third man to serve as Iran's Supreme Leader.

The 60-year-old cleric was a staunch hardliner. He chaffed at the Western influences he felt were infiltrating Iran, especially as a result of the increased prosperity from the nuclear deal and removal of sanctions. The Ayatollah relentlessly admonished Iranians not to sell out the Revolution. This attitude clashed with the majority of the population and the Revolutionary Guards, including General Farhad Javan.

The office was spartan. Three pictures of the Supreme Leaders hung side-by-side on the wall. Ayatollah Saatchi sat in a wooden, high-backed chair. It had decorative padding—the only vibrant thing in the room. He wore the clerical uniform of a black turban and black robe. The black turban denoted the fact that he was a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. Behind the Supreme Leader, stood an Iranian flag attached to a pole. The flag hung limp.

General Javan sat on a small Ottoman, about a yard away from Saatchi. Javan was dressed in full uniform. Medals and ribbons hung from his chest. The atmosphere was tense.

Rahmati bowed down to kiss the Ayatollah's left hand. Then, he rose to kiss both of Saatchi's cheeks. He greeted General Javan and sat next to him on the Ottoman. Rahmati had been whisked out of Damascus to make the three-hour flight to Tehran. After the pre-dawn journey, he was rushed from the airport to see Saatchi.

One thing that Rahmati didn't miss about Tehran was its terrible traffic. And this time, the trip from Damascus to Tehran made him feel more like a prisoner, than a Commander. Rahmati's handlers worked diligently to keep him hidden from the Iranian public.

"Commander Rahmati, you've done an excellent job in Syria. Your military success has exceeded my expectations. The Revolution and the Iranian people are proud of you. You've achieved our goal of turning Daesh's recruiting upside down. We have more fighters joining us in Syria than them." Saatchi smiled fakely at Rahmati. Rahmati smiled fakely back.

Saatchi continued, "However, I'm concerned about some of the propaganda you've released. While I understand your intent, I'm not sure our people do—especially our young and impressionable students. Your comments have stirred unintended problems for our Islamic Revolution. We both know that you've sworn an oath to God to protect the Revolution. This includes my protection. Now, I want to give you a chance to clarify your views."

Rahmati studied the Ayatollah. He then looked to gauge Javan's reaction. Rahmati answered politely, but sternly, "My views are consistent with the Revolution. They're consistent with the Persian Empire's history of greatness. They're also consistent with public opinion. And they're consistent with the views of the Revolutionary Guards."

Saatchi pursed his lips and gazed into the distance. Rahmati concentrated on the Ayatollah's personal stench to avoid thinking about what was next. Time stopped. But the Commander knew he had the Ayatollah in a vice grip—as long as Javan didn't waver.

Whoever controlled the Revolutionary Guards controlled Iran. If the Revolutionary Guards didn't order the protection of the Ayatollah, he was a dead man. On the other hand, with proper protection, Saatchi's next utterance could order Rahmati's execution.

The Ayatollah cleared his throat. "I'm recalling you from Syria. I'm going to give you the opportunity to appear on state TV and clarify your position. I need you to emphasize your support for the will of God and the Revolution."

Rahmati stared through the Supreme Leader.

"And, I have something to offer in return," said Saatchi, in a calculated tone.

Again Rahmati glanced at Javan. Operation THUNDERCLAP was moving exactly as they'd planned. When Rahmati approached Javan over a year ago, he was confident that he could articulate a message that would resonate across the Middle East. He also knew that Javan was keen to put the Iranian economy on firmer footing—with the help of Western investment.

"Commander, after you clarify your position in support of your Supreme Leader, and remind all Iranians that God ordained our Revolution; I'd like you to advance the Islamic Revolution along another avenue. I want you to serve as the Prime Minister of Iraq.

"The current Prime Minister has agreed to step down and support you. It'll take a few days to work everything through the Iraqi bureaucracy and get the Parliament to confirm you, but it should all be taken care of by Wednesday or Thursday. If you agree to my conditions, you'll be sworn in on Friday—in Baghdad. Muhammad, you can do so much good for our Revolution in Iraq."

This was not the offer Rahmati or Javan anticipated.

Both expected the Ayatollah to call for snap elections in Iran. Then, Rahmati could run for President. And Javan could forcefully urge the Ayatollah to modify the constitution. Without a change to the law, the Presidency of Iran was largely a figurehead position. All the power in Iran was vested in the Supreme Leader. From the corner of his eye, Rahmati saw a smile on Javan's face.

Rahmati agreed to Saatchi's deal. After over 40 years, Muhammad Rahmati was going home.

*

Javan drove Rahmati northward, to the offices of Abdullah Rahmati's high-tech conglomerate in downtown Tehran. Northern Tehran lay under the shadow of the Alborz mountain range. On this day, the mountains were covered with a thick blanket of glistening snow. The mountains made Rahmati think of his mom. He wished she were alive to share this moment.

As you drove further north, Tehran became prettier. Rahmati and Javan had plenty of time to absorb the beauty of the mountains. Traffic was terrible. Tehran's geography closely resembled the city of Los Angeles, as L.A. was hemmed in by the San Bernardino mountain range.

"You know, I've been shot at by Jews, Daesh, and all over the Middle East. What scares me the most is driving the streets of Tehran," joked Rahmati.

General Javan laughed. "Well, let's just hope that Imam Saatchi doesn't try to shoot you."

The two were ecstatic over the results of their meeting with the Supreme Leader. As Prime Minister of Iraq, Rahmati could implement his vision more quickly. He'd possess more autonomy than if he stayed in Iran. They also believed that if the demonstrations continued, Saatchi would be forced to call early elections anyway.

"Would you run for President?" asked Rahmati.

"I don't think I'll ever get approved by the mullahs." Javan was referring to the Iranian Assembly of Experts, a group of 86 clerics that elected the Supreme Leader. They also determined who could run for the Presidency. The Assembly operated somewhat like the College of Cardinals, the Vatican group who elected the Catholic Pope.

"I have more power as head of the Revolutionary Guards, than as President. I'm going to continue to turn the screws. Iran needs to embrace the future. The donkey riding mullahs are relics of the past. The Revolution occurred 41 years ago. The nuclear deal was a step in the right direction, but we had to fight tooth and nail—even for that.

"A lot of my Guards were opposed to the deal. They were making a fortune from smuggling restricted items. It might have been good for them, but it wasn't healthy for all Iranians. The release of our billion dollars frozen in American banks, and the new oil agreements have helped stabilize our economy. But we need much more." Javan was a graduate of the London School of Economics.

"We have an incredibly young, technically adept, hard-working population. Their creativity needs avenues for expression. All Iranians need to make a lot more money. Besides that, I can't wait to get away from that Imam. Do you know that all he eats is garlic, green onions, and yogurt? His breath makes me want to puke all over his nasty, dyed beard. Who knows what lives in that thing."

Rahmati chuckled. "Maybe he can sell Ayatollah cookbooks. Or, I can see it now, The Ayatollah Diet. He'll be a better author than ruler of this country. The mullahs have run Iran into the ground. I totally agree, we need to get rid of all the clerics.

"Once your Guards see that the entire economic pie will grow, and that they'll all get richer; they'll fall in line. Now that I'll be Prime Minister of Iraq, we can work on making this region the heart of the world again. Our land gave rise to the Babylonians and Persians. It was the center of the House of Islam for thousands of years."

"You forgot the Ottomans," teased Javan.

"We all have a black sheep in the family," said Rahmati, grinning. "Today, our region is a pathetic excuse for what we can become. If we play our cards right, we'll be the future rulers of Iran, Iraq, and the entire fertile crescent, inshallah—a new Islamic empire. Now, let's get some more good news about AVICENNA."

*

Rahmati, Javan, and CEO Hamid Gilani gathered around a half-moon shaped conference table. The meeting room had a panoramic view of downtown Tehran. The skyline was eclectic and impressive. Hamid wore charcoal-gray pants, with a black turtleneck. He looked like an Iranian Steve Jobs. He contrasted noticeably with Rahmati and Javan's drab, army-green uniforms.

"Muhammad," said Hamid, "I'm not sure if you've been able to see your father yet, but he's so proud of you. I visit his house twice a week. All he talks about is how his superstar son is destined for greatness. We watched your last A-Scope broadcast. After he finishes talking about you, Abdullah peppers me with the questions regarding AVICENNA."

Muhammad Rahmati howled. "At 89, my dad's mind is still very sharp. Thank you for sharing that with me. And thank you for checking in on him. Now tell me about AVICENNA."

"As you're very well aware," said Hamid, "RTC has worked on AVICENNA for the last 25 years." RTC stood for Rahmati Technology Conglomerate. "Today, I can report to you that Suleiman is fully operational. It slices through public key encryption, like scissors through tracing paper.

"AES takes a little longer, but the algorithm developed by the Russian mathematician works exquisitely." AES was an abbreviation of advanced encryption standard. "Suleiman's been completely stable for four weeks. The whole team is awestruck. Here's the kicker, Muhammad. Suleiman cracks the SHA-2 and SHA-3 family of hashing algorithms. It's a cryptographic trifecta!" SHA was short for secure hash algorithm.

AVICENNA was the code name for a secret project to construct an Iranian-made, quantum computer. The computer was dubbed, 'Suleiman.' Suleiman was one of the most game-changing computing inventions, since the dawn of the silicon computer. The quantum computer was Abdullah Rahmati's life-long dream. Even when the elder Rahmati lived in Iraq, he carefully followed the work of Richard Feynman and David Deutsch.

The idea to create Suleiman came to Abdullah when he was with the Revolutionary Guards. The Reagan Administration, in addition to supplying arms to the Iranians for the release of hostages, passed along TOP SECRET information regarding supercomputing and quantum computers.

This aspect of Iran-Contra affair was never disclosed. Abdullah Rahmati was incensed that the cowboy Americans thought so little of the technical capabilities of Muslims. They never thought twice about giving away their supercomputing secrets. While quantum computing wasn't going to change every form of computing, Suleiman had numerous applications that were of great interest to the Rahmatis.

Chief among these was encryption.

There were two basic types of encryption: public key and shared key. Public key encryption relied upon the lack of classical, von Neumann architected computing's ability to quickly factor the product of two large prime numbers. This inability meant that public key encryption schemes were safe, because classical computers couldn't solve the puzzle within a reasonable time frame. When used on Suleiman, Shor's algorithm found the factors in nanoseconds.

The NSA knew of the vulnerability to public key encryption. In 2015, the NSA announced that the DoD needed to move to quantum resistant algorithms. Beyond the pronouncement on a website, little progress was made. There were other priorities.

And, the NSA had its own quantum computer research project called, 'Penetrating Hard Targets.' Though heavily funded, the project was far from the creation of a fully functioning quantum computer. This gave the NSA confidence that their current public key algorithms were quantum secure for the foreseeable future.

Conventional wisdom stated that AES and SHA were unbreakable, even with a quantum computer. Apple used AES to encrypt iPhones. AES was a shared key encryption algorithm that relied on iterative substitution with keys of variable length—the bigger the key, the harder the decryption process. The worst result the NSA expected from a quantum computer was that anything encrypted with AES-128, would need to be upgraded to AES-256. But they hadn't counted on Abdullah Rahmati and his Russian mathematician, Egor Orlov.

Orlov came to Iran when Communism fell in the early 90s. Egor created Orlov's algorithm to crack AES encryption. Until the development of Suleiman, the algorithm was always theoretical. Egor never possessed a computer powerful enough to test the algorithm. However, using Orlov's recipe, Suleiman broke AES-256 in four minutes. Orlov's algorithm, with tweaks, also worked on SHA.

The implications of Hamid's briefing were staggering.

It meant that Suleiman gave Rahmati the ability to crack almost every public and shared key encryption scheme on earth. Using Suleiman, Rahmati could see all Internet traffic, email, instant messaging, and voice communications.

This ability extended to all military comms, including information on SIPRNet and JWICS. SECRET and TOP SECRET information was Rahmati's for the taking. And by cracking SHA, Rahmati could decipher passwords and change data in a file without anyone ever knowing. If he wanted, he could steal all the Bitcoins in the world, or siphon funds from every credit card transaction.

Rahmati and General Javan wildly embraced one another. Then, Rahmati hugged Hamid. "All praise be unto Allah! This is a miracle!" They celebrated for almost 10 minutes. Rahmati finally calmed down. "Who else knows about this?"

"Your father, me, Egor, his two Russian assistants, and four quantum physicists," answered Hamid. "Over the years, we've built a decent cover story for the huge electrical needs that it takes to power the computer. The Iranian government thinks we just manufacture computer chips here."

"This is the greatest secret in the world," said Rahmati. "It must be protected at all costs. Farhad, you're watching our entire team, right?"

"Not to worry, Muhammad. We're watching everyone—including you." Javan smiled wryly. "So what was the secret to perfecting Suleiman?"

"When the US released our $100B for the nuclear deal, my dad got a massive infusion of capital. He used it to upgrade our semiconductor facility," said Rahmati.

Hamid added, "The scientists finally developed an adequate error correction mechanism for our 10,000 qubit machine. The error correction limits the most negative aspects of decoherence."

A quantum computer differed from a classical computer in numerous ways. Their architectures were entirely different. At their most elementary level, traditional computers managed billions of switches—microscopic transistors etched on silicon.

The fundamental unit of the classical computer was a bit. Bits operated in one of two states, either on or off. On corresponded to a, '1.' Off was represented by a, '0.' On and off was the binary language of computers. 1's and 0's were a digital computer's digits.

Quantum computers did not use bits. They employed qubits. Due to the strange properties of quantum mechanics, qubits could operate in more than one state at a time. Quantum physicists referred to this as a superposition of 1 and 0.

In other words, qubits could be on and off—at the same time. This allowed computations to be performed in parallel. Qubits radically increased the quantum computer's speed and computational power. Suleiman was one billion times faster than a desktop computer.

After nearly 25 years of work, RTC had beat the world to the quantum computer. They even beat Nucleus Corporation and the NSA. Those quantum computers were nothing more than prototypes.

"Let's go to work! Let's start breaking the American's codes," shouted Rahmati.

"Right," replied Javan. "I've segmented off a trusted group of hackers from Tarh Andishan." Tarh Andishan was Persian for, 'Innovators.' They were the Iranian equivalent of the NSA's TAO and Israel's Unit 8200. "They're completely loyal to me. I call them, 'Group 24.' The Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans trained Group 24. We can use them on AVICENNA."

"Wonderful," replied Hamid. "We've made sure that Suleiman will never touch the Internet. Orlov's team has worked out a hub and spoke architecture for the data that will keep Suleiman completely air-gapped. I don't understand it completely, but whoever truly understands Russians? Suleiman is ready to start decrypting American communications."

Rahmati said, "Let's begin with breaking command and control codes used by the US military in the Middle East. Especially concentrate on cracking 5th Fleet comms. Then, let's copy the DoD SECRET and TOP SECRET data. After that, we can target the NSA, CIA, and GCHQ information stores." GCHQ stood for Government Communications Headquarters. '''''''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''' ''''''''''''

Javan said, "I've also got a team of 12 developers that can quickly make the front ends to query the underlying data, once it's decrypted. We've got to be careful that we don't leave traces in the audit logs of the systems we hack. Since we've broken SHA, we can scrub their logs so they'll never know we were there. While we're at it, we'll get everyone's passwords!"

Rahmati reminded Javan to compartmentalize everything. The more people knew of Suleiman, the greater the risks of spies and leaks. Javan concurred.

"I have more good news," said Hamid. "Now that we know how to make Suleiman, we have spare parts to assemble another rapidly. Egor wants to call her, 'Rodina.'"

"Rodina?" replied Rahmati, in disgust. "What's that mean?"

"It's Russian for, 'Motherland.' I'd let him name it. He's already upset we didn't call Suleiman, 'Hammer.' He wanted to call the second computer, 'Sickle.'"

"Hammer and Sickle? Argh. Russians have no imagination," said Rahmati. He was still bitter about the lack of air support in Tal Azan.

Hamid sighed in relief. "Rodina it is. We need our Russians motivated. I think we'll still be able to hide the increased power consumption, especially if we can use Group 24 to conceal the upsurge in electricity."

Javan nodded his head. "That won't be a problem. Group 24 has hidden trapdoors in every major electric grid in the world, including ours."

"So," continued Hamid, "we'll use Suleiman to crack all the encryption. We'll use Rodina to make sense of the data. Orlov is in the process of creating a quantum neural network to process the information. Nucleus would die for this. That's the whole reason they've been trying to develop quantum computers—to make their AI better.

"Orlov is also anxious to try Grover's algorithm on the data. It's a quantum search algorithm. Using a typical search algorithm, if you search 10,000 items, it will take 5000 searches. With Grover's algorithm working on Rodina, he's pretty sure you would only need to perform 100 searches."

"Excellent," replied Javan. "That will free up a lot of manpower. I'll assign a handful of Group 24 to industrial espionage. We can sell what we want to the Russians and Chinese. Muhammad, if I'm going to get this information to you in Iraq, we're going to have to lay new fiber. ''''''' ''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''' '''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''

"Right," said Rahmati. "We need to be able to communicate securely at the speed of light. I'll get the Russians and Chinese to finance the new fiber. "You know, it's amazing. The cowboys thought we could never build a system like this. They fixated their attention on us copying their designs for nuclear weapons.

"They forgot that Muslims created the first Renaissance in the sciences and arts. Their scientific revolution would never have been possible without us. We should get a royalty every time they write a number. They're called Arabic numerals for a reason.

"The cowboys and their allies have spent trillions. They've created the greatest spy apparatus and defense communication systems in the world. Now, we're going to see everything they see. Then, we're going to use it against them. Long live the Crescent Revolution!"

## Chapter 29 – The Prime Minister

10:00 a.m., Friday, November 20, 2020 - Baghdad, Iraq

Liberation Square, Baghdad

With his back facing the eastern bank of the Tigris River, Muhammad Rahmati took the oath of office. He became the Prime Minister of Iraq, the most powerful man in the Iraqi government. Rahmati wore a dark blue suit, with a red tie. It was the first time the world had seen him dressed in anything other than military garb.

The new Prime Minister stood on an elevated platform, overlooking a crowd of over two million jubilant Iraqis. Pictures of Rahmati were everywhere. Revelers waved Iraqi flags in the morning sun.

"In the name of God, the compassionate and merciful. Brothers and sisters, may peace be upon you. Today, I stand overlooking our monument, created in 1958. We built it to celebrate the founding of the Republic of Iraq, a republic that ended the monarchy.

"Since that day, Iraq has had its share of good days and bad days; good nights and terrible nights. My family and I have shared in this history, just like you.

"My grandfather died at the cruel hands of the dictator, Saddam Hussein. My father spent more than half his life living in exile. At the age of two, I was forced to leave Baghdad. I've spent a lifetime living in a foreign land, away from my home. Saddam's bombs stole the breath from my mother. No doubt your tragedies are just as real as mine, if not even more numerous. Many of you were born orphans or orphaned at an early age, just like our Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him.

"But, from this moment on, a shining crescent moon will illuminate all the dark places in Iraq. Brothers and sisters, you are the light of the Crescent Revolution. The crowd erupted in wild cheers.

"Light is shining on the dark places of sectarian violence.

"Light is shining to eradicate the blackness of hate between the Sunni, Shiite, Kurd, and innumerable tribes.

"Light is shining on bribery, corruption, and political incompetence.

"Light is..."—the crowd began to repeat the mantra with Rahmati—"shining on an education system that fails to prepare our children.

"Light is shining on gender inequalities that make men more valuable than women, and daughters more highly prized than sons.

"Light is shining on inadequate healthcare and infant mortality.

"Light is shining on an economy that derives 93% of its income from oil.

"Light is shining on our poor record of economic development for these last 20 years.

"And, I say with every fiber of my being...

"Light is shining on all terrorists, tyrants, dictators, and colonial powers.

Rahmati's bones shook from the thunderous applause of the mass of humanity.

"Light is shining on the destroyers that seek to steal, enslave, and murder.

"Finally, light is shining on Daesh.

"You will not just be bombed. We'll root you out and annihilate you, just like the Americans did to your predecessor, Al Qaeda in Iraq. Only, we'll never let you be resurrected. We'll wipe your hateful, bigoted ideology from the face of the earth. You believe it's your Islamic duty to kill anyone who practices shirk.

"That's why you murder and enslave the Yazidis. You even kill Shia's, a brother in the House of Islam. You're the real Infidels! We all know that the Koran states in Sura 2:256, 'There shall be no compulsion in religion.' I call upon Sunni's and Baathist's in northern and western Iraq, to work with us to destroy Daesh. I've come home. Now you come home."

Shirk was Arabic for idolatry. The most fundamental tenet of Islam was that God was one. Therefore, idolatry was an abomination to the religion. The next highest precept was that Muhammad was God's prophet.

"Just like the Prophet offered the Quraysh amnesty after his victory over Mecca, I will process requests for amnesty after this speech. Our friends, the Americans, were a bit short-sighted in their de-Bathification process. I should know; my father is a Baathist.

"I call upon Iraqis everywhere, living under Daesh, to rise. Turn on Daesh. Provide information to our security forces. My government—your government—will protect you. Your services and quality of life will be restored. No longer will you need to hide your children's' eyes to survive the day.

"Brothers and sisters, everyone has a seat at the table in my government. Sunnis, Kurds, Shias—everyone. We will not discriminate based a person's religious confession; or lack thereof.

"My fellow Iraqi's, with your help, we can fulfill God's original intention for Iraq. God breathed life into Adam and Eve in this very land. And now, we can rightly claim our place in the world. I believe that God will grant a re-birth to Iraq. I believe that are destined to once again be a great nation, an empire of ideas, inshallah.

"The children of Ishmael shall thrive once more. Iraq will be the birthplace of novel engineering advances. We will invent new ways of technologically interacting with our brothers and sisters, even those with differing opinions and religious affiliation.

"We will once again shine brightly in the Middle East, and on the world stage. Our economy will be balanced and prosperous for everyone. Our private sector will be invigorated and provide the country with wealth and stability—beyond oil.

"We will reach out to our neighbors and re-establish our historical trade relations. And, we'll seek new business partners. I will establish a Middle Eastern Trade Union that binds our markets together, for the prosperity of its constituent nations.

"Today, I also announce a massive new infrastructure project that will provide needed jobs and improvements for Iraq. And, based initially upon funds coming from our neighbors, I announce that ground will be broken to build a new Babylon.

"This new Babylon will be constructed near the site of ancient Babylon. Over time, I will move the capital of Iraq from Baghdad to Babylon. Our metropolis will surround our ancient ancestor's city.

"Iraq needs a symbol, a new beacon of hope. A place built by Iraqis, for Iraqis. We need a symbol that says, 'This time, is different.' Babylon will be everyone's city. A city that all Iraqi's—indeed all Muslims—can call their own. We will fashion Babylon into a world-class capital, with buildings that disappear into the heavens.

"Brothers and sisters, there are those who advocate breaking up Iraq. They say we are fools. They say we'll never live peaceably. They say we'll never grow beyond our petty tribalism and sectarian rivalries.

"I say to them...just watch. We don't need a Sunnistan. We don't need a Shiastan. We don't need a Kurdistan. We need one Iraq, for one united people.

_"_ The crescent moon's bright light will shine on sectarian and confessional division. Light overcomes darkness. As it has in days past, Iraq will be the crown jewel of an Islamic empire that discovers, innovates, and prospers. The Iraqi crowd noise surpassed anything ever heard in the 72 years of the Republic of Iraq.

What Rahmati did not tell the masses was that Iran, Russia, and China had committed substantial funds to rebuilding Babylon.

China was leading the way. They were to lay a next-generation, fiber optic backbone, and communications infrastructure to securely connect Tehran and Babylon. In time, new fiber could be positioned across all of Iraq, to enable the country to have high-speed Internet access. While Rahmati's rhetoric about Babylon was real, there were more practical reasons for the rebuilding of the ancient city.

After destroying much of Baghdad, the Americans rebuilt the city, especially hardening the infrastructure of the '''''''''''''' '''''''''''''. But every government building was bugged. Every phone and data line was tapped. Also, Rahmati knew that the Caliphate had on numerous occasions, stopped on the outskirts of Baghdad. They came close to capturing the city. He had no illusions about tackling the Caliphate. The battles would be hard fought.

Babylon would be built on the Euphrates River, a river described in the book of Genesis as existing in the Garden of Eden. Babylon was 50 miles south of Baghdad. The reconstituted city would be closer to the heart of the Shia population, and easier for Iran to reinforce. Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild Babylon next to the ruins of the ancient city. But the project stopped when the Americans invaded in 2003.

*

Prime Minister Muhammad Rahmati's speech was carried live to people all over the world, not just the Middle East. For the first time in 14 days, Iranian demonstrators were not in the streets. They were parked in front of their TVs. Time Magazine announced that Rahmati would be the 'Time Person of the Year,' for 2020.

Rahmati's speech to Iran, earlier in the week, did little to dampen the protestor's enthusiasm. He deftly walked the tightrope of sounding pro-status quo in Iran, while still giving the demonstrators hope. Most importantly, the Republican Guards ordered none of the Iranian security forces to disperse the crowds.

Immediately after Rahmati's Iraq speech, an even larger group of protestors took to the streets of Iran. They filled gathering places all over the country, including its five biggest cities of Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, and Tabriz.

Protestors took to the streets wearing black armbands and headbands emblazoned with the Crescent Moon. Others wore Immortals' bandanas covering the lower portion of their faces. Even more ominously for the Iranian clerics were the chants of, "Death to tyrants, death to mullahs."

*

Jared Adler rushed into the server room of Adler Capital yelling, "I got it. I got it!"

"That's terrific, Dad," replied Josh. "Which one is it?"

"It's the three-story house, about 300 yards from the geo-marker. The occupants have already vacated. We can close in 10 days."

"That's fantastic news, Mr. Adler. It fits perfectly within our timeline," said Becca.

Jared continued, "The Mexicans say that they dig through the clay soils of the Mexico-US border at a rate of 300 feet-per-month, if there are no surprises. Now, it will be slower digging through the limestone bedrock of Jerusalem by hand, but we're using robots with specially designed cutting heads. Let's just say that 300 feet-per-month is our metric."

Josh followed his dad's train of thought. "If the Ark is precisely where the AI predicts, and we tunneled right to it, it would take about three months. I'd imagine that's with optimum conditions. So basically, we should plan on the excavation running anywhere from three to six months."

"Ugh! I don't think I can stay underground for even a week!" gasped Becca.

Josh laughed. "Becca, you're welcome to stay home. I've told you many times that I wish you would."

Becca made a face. "Nice try. But I'm going. Maybe I should bury myself in your garden, Mr. Adler. I can test how long I can stand it."

"I'm sure General Shields' satellites would do a little dance if they saw you buried in the ground," Josh said.

"Ha, ha."

"How does three to six months fit with Professor McMillan's schedule?" asked Jared.

Becca replied, "With is spring semester sabbatical, it should work. I don't know if he's teaching summer school or not. I'll get in a secure chatroom with him, and review these latest details."

"Remember," said Josh, "our goal is to hit the older tunnels dug before the Babylonian destruction of the Temple. If we can intercept them, our work may be easier."

"How long is El Jefe's crew committed to staying?" asked Becca.

Jared replied, "They're available until the Ark is found, or you guys quit. We're paying them a daily wage, plus a hefty completion bonus. The faster they finish, the higher the windfall."

"My greatest concern is this mission's operational security, once we start digging," said Josh. "Now that we know we've got to hide underground in Jerusalem—for up to six months—how are we going to do it?"

Jared answered, "For a small fortune, I've hired a Jerusalem-based remodeling and construction firm that came highly recommended. They do a lot of undercover work for the Israeli government. The Israeli government is always building things and digging in places that need concealment. I've told them that they are a cover for an ongoing operation in the house.

"Don't worry Becca. I did this all by secure telephone. I asked for their best crew. From the outside, it's going to look like the home is being remodeled. They'll be scaffolds and bulldozers, things like that.

"Every day, they'll show up and act like they're upgrading the property. They'll bring you food, water, and clothing. They'll remove the dirt and dump it. It'll be tricky, but they assure me they can handle this job. They've also got some of the Jerusalem police on the payroll. I got the owner of the construction firm and El Jefe together on a conference call, and we hashed out some more details. Make no mistake. This is a big operation. When it's all said and done, it's going to cost about $15-20M. But, it's being funded entirely by your trading platform—and my eating of El Jefe's fees.

"As far as hiding underground, I think you guys may be able to sleep in the house, after a certain point. The most dangerous phase is the beginning. The staging area needs to be completed as soon as possible. Then, you can avoid detection while you're subterranean. And the construction crew knows they have to look like Arabs."

## Chapter 30 – Persia

9:00 a.m., Thursday, November 26, 2020 – Tehran, Iran

General Javan's Revolutionary Guards' Office

"Mr. Prime Minister."

"Good morning, General Javan."

The two old friends embraced, as Rahmati kissed Javan on both cheeks. Rahmati had made the one-hour flight from Baghdad to Tehran to see how Suleiman was progressing for himself. It would be months before the underground fiber optic cable ran from Tehran to Babylon, although work was well under way.

"Muhammad, I want to discuss Suleiman. But first, I have news. I have enough support among the Revolutionary Guards to depose the Supreme Leader and his council of mullahs. As you know, three days ago he implemented martial law and told the protestors to go home. He said he heard their voices. And, he stated that he'd announce a significant change to the structure of Iran. The mullahs have tried to turn some Guards against me, but they've failed.

"After 41 years, I'm going to remove the Ayatollah from power. I'll change the constitution and abolish the theocracy. After a time of stabilizing rule by the Revolutionary Guards, I'll announce elections. If I poll well, I may run for President."

Rahmati smiled at Javan. "We've done it. Congratulations, General Javan! What are you going to do with the mullahs?"

"Without the Revolutionary Guards, they're nothing more than donkey riders and onion eaters. I think Evin Prison is the best place for them. They can get a taste of their own medicine." Evin Prison was among the most brutal prisons in the world. The Shah built Evin to imprison, torture, and execute political dissidents.

"Muhammad, I like the buzz you created in announcing Babylon. I've been thinking. I want to rebrand this country. Iran sounds weird to Westerners. I think the West should refer to this country as it did for millennia. I want them to address us as Persia again.

"Iran brings terrible memories to mind for the West, especially in America. Most Americans associate Iran with the storming of the US Embassy in 1979. The name change will show a clean break from the mullahs. What do you think?"

"Farhad, I believe that's an exceptional idea. With the rebirth of Babylon and Persia, we're signifying that our aim is to rebuild two old empires—empires that once ruled the entire known world. Only this time, Babylon and Persia will be allies. Speaking of working together as partners, update me on Suleiman."

"It couldn't be going any better," said Javan. "AVICENNA is the most secret program within the Guards. Suleiman is cutting through the American's encryption, like first-grade math students wrote the algorithms. We've completely infiltrated the NSA, CIA, and GCHQ. And we've exfiltrated their data, without them even knowing they've been hacked. We also stole millions of passwords to critical US systems. With those passwords, we don't even need to crack the encryption.

"We've copied data at all levels of classification. This includes SECRET, TOP SECRET, and all their compartmentalized programs. Rodina is working to process the data, with the help of Unit 24 analysts. It's tons of information. We're like kids eating through an endless bowl of ice cream.

"The first thing we did is search through the data to find Iranian and Iraqi spies. I've already imprisoned a number of disloyal Revolutionary Guards in Evin. Did you know that even some mullahs were spies? Here's a report on Iraqi agents on the US payroll." General Javan handed Rahmati the report.

As Rahmati thumbed through it, Javan continued, "Some of the agents are known only by a code name. We're still working to identify all traitors, but there's enough information to get started."

"Yes," replied Rahmati. "I'm going to come here once a week until the fiber is operational between Babylon and Tehran. There are a lot of names here; Abu Ghraib is going to fill up quickly. This will give me the head start I need, as I consolidate power."

"I think coming here in person is best," said Javan. "I don't even want to trust couriers with this information. After we deal with the US and UK spies, we're going to dig into the details of all their current clandestine programs. Then we're going to go after Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel, Germany, and Japan.

"On the industrial side, we've compromised all the major American defense and Silicon Valley companies. We can start selling the secrets to the highest bidder. We'll split the proceeds of the sale between Iraq and Iran."

Rahmati smiled and said with a glint in his eye, "You mean between Babylon and Persia."

*

General Shields lethargically plopped himself on the couch. He was resting at his home on Fort Meade. He savored the smells of Thanksgiving dinner, just cooked by his wife. Shields told the TV to, 'watch Cowboy game.' The Dallas Cowboys were getting ready to play the Green Bay Packers. He reached for his glass of scotch.

After Charlie's murder, holidays were always difficult. Thanksgiving was the hardest. General Shields and Charlie had watched football on Thanksgiving since Charlie was a little boy. Charlie was an exceptional athlete with a very disciplined mind. He played football and baseball in high school. Then he took his athletic prowess to the Navy and completed the SEAL program.

General Shields was surprised. He thought it would be easier. Even though Abu Mosulaydi and Abu Omar were dead, the General felt little comfort. As a wave of sadness crashed against his heart, the TV station broke in with a news flash.

Major General Farhad Javan, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, was due to speak to the Iranian people 8:00 p.m. Iranian time. This was one-half hour from now on the East Coast. Shields leaped from the couch, said goodbye to his wife, and headed for NSOC.

*

Arriving at NSOC, General Shields greeted Phil Callahan.

"Geez Phil, what'd you do to get the Thanksgiving Day shift?"

Phil smiled and began briefing the General. "Unfortunately, we only know as much as the media. Our last contact, with our highest ranking source in the Revolutionary Guards, was a little over 48 hours ago. CIA hasn't heard a word from him since. In fact, all of our assets—even the mullahs on the payroll—are silent. That's the HUMINT side. On the SIGINT side, we don't have much either."

General Shields jutted his chin and barked, "Phil, I came here to get a briefing on Iran, one of our principal adversaries over the last 40 years. I could've received the same information from CNN."

An embedded CIA analyst summoned his courage and said, "General Shields, with every hour that goes by, it becomes increasingly more probably that there's a mole somewhere. During our last contact with the Agency's best asset in the Guard's, we were told that General Javan was the acting leader of Iran. We all know the close ties of Javan to Rahmati."

At the top of the hour, General Javan took to the airwaves.

Javan said that the Crescent Revolution had come to Iran. He announced that, in the interest of security, he was assuming leadership of the country. He was going to try all the clerics—including Ayatollah Saatchi—for crimes against the Iranian people. General Javan said that he'd work with the Iranian Parliament to craft a new constitution that removed all mullahs from issues of state. Clerics would no longer rule Iran.

After a period of stability, Javan assured his audience that he would authorize elections. Finally, General Javan said that Iran looked forward to being a prominent citizen in the world of nations. With open arms, he welcomed foreign investment in Iran. Then he announced that he was changing the name of Iran back to Persia.

As Javan put the finishing touches on the speech, Lin Lu walked into NSOC. "I came as soon as I heard the announcement. I thought you could use my support. That was some speech! I never thought I'd live to see the end of the theocracy in Iran. I think it's wise to reset the country back to Persia. It's only been called Iran for 60 years. It was Persia for nearly 2500 years."

"Yep," said Shields. "Thanks for coming in Lin. I'm sure POTUS is going to schedule a teleconference soon. In the span of six days, the Crescent Revolution has overthrown two governments in the Middle East. If this is anything like the Arab Spring, I don't think the dominoes are done falling."

*

Back in Baghdad after his morning meeting in Tehran, Muhammad Rahmati also watched General Javan's speech.

"I can't believe he did it. Javan just became the Potentate of Persia." Rahmati was conversing with Hadi Hadari.

"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 certainly weren't choirboys. They excluded and persecuted 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.

# Chasm Waxing: Part III – The First Confrontation

## Chapter 31 – The A-Car

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 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.'

"This is crazy," whispered Josh. "We're sitting in a car that's using the same deep learning algorithms to drive autonomously that we used to find the Ark. The neural networks that understand language are architected slightly different than the convolutional neural networks that recognize video, but the overall approach is the same. I'm upset with myself for not using the driver-less car example with General Shields. I don't think he truly understands AI."

"What do you mean?" asked Becca, softly.

"Even for technically adept people that have programmed computers, deep learning for AI is a leap. In the past, experts in a particular field—domain experts—would create an algorithm to perform a specific task. Let's say it was identifying heart disease from examining MRIs. Software engineers with healthcare experience would work with heart doctors. The cardiologists would then judge the results and help to refine the model. The algorithm was specifically designed to recognize heart disease. It may have taken months or years to perfect. It was specialized for that one task—only.

"Deep learning is an entirely different computing paradigm. Once the neural network is trained for a specific task, deep learning algorithms are performing better than the domain experts. How's that going to impact Cardiologists? Training can be accomplished in hours, days, and weeks."

"That's incredible!" said Becca.

"Yep. Nobody at Nucleus programmed this car to drive. They programmed it to learn from visual stimuli and then react accordingly. I didn't program the AI to locate the Ark. Finding the Ark was simply a by-product of teaching the AI to comprehend written language.

"General Shields didn't understand the difference between strong AI and programming. I'm sure a lot of people will make that mistake. You and I are facing the unintended consequences of stronger AI—we're not in control of what the computer learns. That threatens people. It's going to threaten a lot more people in the AI epoch that's just dawning. And just think what happens when the AI is as smart as us—and then gets smarter. AI is already better at facial recognition, chess, and Asian board game, "Go," than humans. And we're just getting started."

"I see what you're saying. But, it doesn't excuse Shields from treating us so poorly," said Becca. Josh shook his head in agreement.

Becca wrote a note: 'I think you went overboard on this A-Car. We don't need all these options. We're only going to use it until Memphis. Then, the disinformation campaign software kicks in. After we return from Israel, it goes straight to the A-Grid.'

Josh responded aloud, "Are you kidding? With the revenue this car is going to make on the A-Grid and our cut from the ad revenue, it'll pay for itself very quickly. I selected the configuration that allows for the most ad space."

Within 15 minutes, the couple pulled up to Jared Adler's estate. Jared hurried out to see the A-Car for himself. "I knew this was going to be a big deal. Autonomous vehicles are going to disrupt entire industries. I can understand why Nucleus shares have doubled in the past year. Just think how much profit the ride-sharing companies are going to make from company-owned cars. There's no revenue to split. And that's just one example.

"Today, cars are parked 95% of the time. Imagine a world in which cars are parked for only 50%. Or 25%. Just like the steam engine, electric grid, and Ford automobile transformed cities; self-driving vehicles are going to radically alter the design of a metropolis. 30% of the land dedicated to parking can be repurposed. There will be much less congestion. Some years ago, I began buying parking garages in many big cities.

"As this autonomous driving revolution occurs, I can convert the properties into new buildings and high-rises that will be in prime locations. I'm also adding to short positions in stocks that have been hit hard by driver-less vehicles, especially the car rental companies. They'll be the new Blockbuster, if they don't fix their business model. Blockbuster could've been Netflix. But they aren't. They're dead." Investors shorted stocks when they wanted to make money from a stock's decline in share price. "The only space I'm invested in more heavily is the Boston biotech scene."

"Welcome to the AI future," said Josh, sardonically. "There's going to be many winners and many losers—hopefully, more winners."

"I wouldn't want to be a truck driver or delivery man for a living," said Jared.

"There are even broader implications than that," responded Becca. "AI is authoring newspaper articles. Software based neural networks are writing software. What's that mean for the future of my profession?"

"I don't think you need to worry," answered Josh. "If I had to guess, I'd say AI won't decrease the need for human written code. I think it will increase the need. In the 90s, when the object-oriented approach to software engineering was taking off, prognosticators said it would be the end of writing software. Everyone would just use pre-assembled objects. While some of that did turn to be prescient, fueling the growth of the open source movement; object-orientation only increased the need for software engineers. Of course, I could be wrong." Josh smiled hopefully.

Jared handed his son a note. 'I talked to El Jefe. The team has dug the excavation shaft. They're nearly finished with the staging area. By the time you get to Jerusalem, it should be complete. And they should've started the main excavation tunnel. They love the robot excavators. Our plan is coming together.'

After he had read the note, Josh smiled excitedly and handed it off to Becca.

In reply, Becca wrote: 'That's awesome! The Professor arrives at Ben Gurion Airport next Saturday night. On Tuesday, January 5, we fly from Mexico City to Amman.'

Jared reached to shake Josh's hand. Then, the Adler men tightly embraced one another.

"Josh, I'm proud of you. Be careful. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad," said Josh, with a lump in his throat. "Thank you for helping us."

Jared then hugged Becca. "You be safe. I'm looking forward to celebrating your wedding in the summer." He winked at her.

Josh welcomed the relief of tension. They all giggled.

Five minutes later, Becca and Josh were on their way to Jerusalem; by way of Memphis, Brownsville, Matamoros, Mexico City, Amman, and Eliat. Hopefully, all of this travel would be accomplished without raising General Shields' suspicions.

*

Eight hours into their journey, Becca gazed at a napping Josh.

She enjoyed the holidays with Josh. Becca experienced her first Hanukkah. And Josh celebrated his first Christmas. He may be the one, she thought.

The stress of being in charge of strict operational security for the last three months wore on her. Josh and Jared were both very headstrong, and a challenge to corral. All it took was one slip up, and the plan would be over—before it ever began.

Josh opened his eyes and looked at Becca with bleary eyes. "Now, that's the best way to wake up from a siesta," he said, with a sleepy smile. "Once you get used to not having to steer, it changes everything." Josh wrote: 'I was dreaming about the Ark. What do you think it will be like to find it?'

Becca replied: 'I'm sure it will be exciting, but I haven't let myself think about that moment. I think about everything else—hiding from the NSA, crossing into Mexico, the disinformation campaign, flying to Jordan, making it through the border crossing at Eilat, sneaking into Jerusalem, the dig, etc., etc., etc.! But, I haven't really envisioned finding the Ark.'

Josh said, "I guess that's why we're a good couple. I dream...you do."

"Hmm," replied Becca, precociously. "Is that all? By the way, your Spanish accent is no bueno. It's 'SEE-esta,' not 'SCI-esta.'"

## Chapter 32 – International Travelers

6:45 a.m. (EST), Saturday, January 2, 2021 – Memphis, Tennessee

Elisha Robert's House

Zero-day was upon them. Becca and Josh were fleeing the country and executing their detailed cover story. Becca movingly said goodbye to her father. Elisha was surprisingly sturdy. He continued to remain steadfast that God would protect the couple. He also couldn't stop talking excitedly about the growth in his church attendance. It had nearly tripled. "Hurry up and find that Ark! I need the Professor back here as soon as possible to teach the New Believer's Sunday School Class."

Earlier in the morning, they took steps to disguise their identities. Over the holiday, Josh had grown a stubbly beard. Today, he shaved his head. Becca went even further.

"I've never pictured you as a blonde. I'm so used to your ponytail; I love the long hair! And you look sooooo good in those skin-tight, workout pants. What a hot Canadian you are, eh?"

Becca laughed. "Are you saying I don't look good in denim? I got this outfit so I could run faster than you. NSA police will definitely catch you first, Mr. Clean. Besides, Lululemon's yoga pants are discount lipo. That's why women buy them."

The couple placed their smartphones in the A-Car's charging cradles. The plan called for the A-Car to reach L.A. in about six weeks. It was to stop and sight-see a number of times during the trip. The car was programmed to drive to the nearest SuperNight Motel each evening. Becca's disinformation software made use of the AI's API to create texts and emails during the journey. The messages would incorporate current events, local weather, and text exchanges to enhance their realism.

Once in L.A., the A-Car was to visit Hollywood landmarks, take in a Rams game, then meander south to San Diego. After San Diego, the getaway algorithm had Becca and Josh taking Pacific Coast Highway up the entire coast of California, through Oregon, and on into Washington.

Becca's primary goal for the cover story was to buy time to depart the country without incident. She wanted to delay—for as long as possible—the knowledge that they'd left the States. She hoped that after nearly three months of surveillance, the NSA was growing weary. Hopefully, the analysts were either disinterested or sloppy—or both.

Based on the timing of the excavation, Becca could adjust the pace of the self-driving car. If the dig indeed took six months, she felt their chances of detection were nearly 100%. No one could predict exactly what General Shields would do if he discovered their escape. Becca planned some bread crumbs she hoped would convince the General that they'd left the country to elope, if he figured out they were gone. She doubted he would buy it.

Becca said a prayer. Then, she pressed the enter button on her laptop. The Python code deployed in their private cloud executed its main method. The disinformation software launched. Off motored the empty, self-driving A-Car.

After hailing a cab to take them to downtown Memphis, Josh and Becca arrived at their rendezvous point. Jared had hired a driver for the 14-hour journey to Brownsville. Several times during the trip, Becca checked on the status of the A-Car. A little after 8:00 p.m., she said, "Here's a moment of truth. The A-Car just dropped us off at the SuperNight Motel in Arkansas. Now it's going to the A-Station for a charge."

Nucleus Corporation had worked a deal to locate A-Car robotic charging and gas stations close to SuperNight Motels. The couple was among the first in America to try a cross-country trip in a fully autonomous, driver-less car.

"I'd feel like a pioneer headed West—if we were in the car," said Josh, with a biting smile.

"Yeah, let's just hope we're not like the Donner Party. They tried to get to California in the winter, too."

"That's dark, Becca. You know...I'm pretty hungry." Josh pretended to nibble on her arm.

"Gross, that's nasty. It's way too soon for Donner Party jokes." Becca shook her head in mock disgust. "Alright, the program has checked us into the motel and paid for the room. The sensors say that the robotic charging snake is operational, and plugged into the A-Car. Both the happy couple, and their vehicle, are re-charging for the night."

"Nice. How are we going to spend the evening?" teased Josh.

"Sleeping in separate beds—until you put a ring on it."

"You're wearing a ring."

"It's part of the cover story. Just like sleeping with you," said Becca, with a flash in her eye.

"Touché," said Josh, exasperated.

A-OS turned an A-Car into a mobile Linux server, with a multitude of sensor hardware. It used 5G and Wi-Fi to link to the Internet. A large number of communication and status updates took place between the A-Car and Nucleus. Nucleus monetized much of this information. The company said all the comms were encrypted and private.

Becca highly doubted this claim. She was pretty sure that, ''''''''' '''''''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''' '''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' ''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''

She would connect with the A-Car using her anonymized laptop, communicating through a prepaid, 5G wireless modem. Becca hid a rootkit in the A-OS that allowed her to interact with the A-Car via an encrypted VPN link. She hoped all these anonymity and privacy efforts would mask her direct SIGINT with the A-Car.

*

Becca and Josh arrived in Brownsville, Texas just past 9:00 in the evening.

Christmas decorations still adorned the city. Becca and Josh exited their ride in the unlit parking lot of a Hispanic grocery store. They ascended into the cab of a mid-sized moving truck. Painted on both sides of the van was the logo and tagline for, 'Boss Storage.'

Their new driver gave Becca the creeps. His leering eyes also seemed pleased with Becca's blonde hair and tight yoga pants. A scar ran down the entire left side of his face. It looked like it was from a knife fight. Tattoos of dragons, scantily clad women, and Jesus covered the driver's arms and neck. Becca drew no solace from the Jesus tattoo.

Minutes later, the moving truck arrived at Boss Storage. After entering the access code, the driver meandered around a large number of outdoor storage units. There were tons of units; the facility was a massive maze.

If anything happens, no one will ever find us, thought Becca. Josh looked just as uneasy.

The disfigured driver stopped at Unit L. He backed the truck into a position, such that the van's rear was very close to the storage unit's entry. Everyone left the cab. The driver unhitched the moving truck's rolling vertical gate. A two man team exited the truck, unlocked the storage unit, and lifted its retractable door. Then, they turned on the lights.

The men were just as sketchy as the driver. Becca's heart raced. The space was 30 feet, by 30 feet. Boxes and junk filled the room from floor to ceiling. There was a small path down the center of the unit. The driver told the couple to walk down the middle of the aisle.

Becca and Josh anxiously looked at one another. "Rapido," ordered the driver. The couple did as told. As they walked down the partition, the driver followed. Becca felt like their nightmarish chauffeur could put a bullet in the back of their heads at any second. Maybe this storage unit was nothing more than a mausoleum. The couple reached the end.

Josh turned around and bravely said, "There's a box in our way. And then a cinder-block wall."

"Move it," commanded the driver. Josh pushed the corrugated box aside, revealing a closed, wooden hatch. "Open it."

Josh complied. The couple could see could see a long ladder, descending into a dark hole.

"That's deep," Becca gasped.

"Climb down the ladder. When you reach the fifth rung, you'll find another light switch." Josh began descending and turned on the light. Becca followed.

The dim bulb revealed more of the shaft, but the floor was still shrouded in shadows. "Hold on tight. It's a long way to the bottom," said the driver, looking down at both of them. He sealed the wooden hatch. Becca was excited just to get some distance—any distance from him. "Thank You, God," she said, with a soft voice.

The climb was nerve-wracking, but not as stressful as the last 40 minutes. Becca estimated that the ladder was about 100 feet long.

"I don't think this ladder would pass inspection by OSHA," said Becca.

Josh answered, "I'll let you call them."

When they finally reached the dirt floor, there was another light switch. With a flick, numerous fluorescent tubes sputtered to life. They ran the length of the tunnel. Concrete completely encased the passageway. It was like walking through a storm drain. Air ducts hung from the ceiling, pumping in fresh air. Becca and Josh began their subterranean walk towards Mexico. Not only were they under the earth, but they were walking directly beneath the Rio Grande River.

The couple hiked for about a mile and a half. After that, the concrete lining of the tunnel ceased. The next portion of the tunnel was hewn from the Mexican earth. Wooden beams, at intervals of every ten feet, reinforced the sides of the dirt tunnel. Water slowly dripped at many places along the way.

Finally, another ladder appeared. It was much shorter than the first. Josh climbed the ladder and raised a stone enclosure. "Wow," yelled Josh. "This is so awesome!" Becca scurried after him. The couple had climbed into a plush hotel room. Well, it was plush for Matamoros.

"Buenas noches, Mr. Benjamin and Ms. Boucher. Welcome," said a maid. "If this is acceptable, this will be your room for the night. I was just making sure everything was ready for you. Your driver will take you to Mexico City in the morning."

*

The travels in Mexico went smoothly. Customs at the Mexico City International Airport barely even examined their fake Canadian passports. Amman agents were a bit more diligent, but not by much.

Now, they were embarking on the most dangerous phase of their trip, moving from Jordan into Israel—through the Rabin crossing point. A salty breeze blew from the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba. Becca and Josh wore broad smiles, aided by the cotton balls stuffed in their cheeks. Before they got to the crossing point, Becca applied makeup to both of them. It distorted the contours of their faces. She had ditched all her electronics; there was plenty stashed on the other side.

"Let's hope the facial recognition software here works on facial features and not deep learning," said Josh.

"If not, then you are wearing make-up for nothing," replied Becca. "But it looks exquisite."

Josh narrowed his eyes and scowled. "Is the makeup making me look like I'm smiling?"

Becca chuckled. "Actually, the makeup doesn't. But the cotton balls do." At least, they could make each other laugh in a high-stakes moment.

Deep learning based facial recognition software was much more accurate than the older type of software, which used calculations from facial measurements—like the distance between eyes—to identify people.

"Wouldn't it be ironic if the deep learning algorithms that led us to the Ark, got us imprisoned before we could find it?" asked Josh.

"I had enough irony in English class," replied Becca.

Minutes later the couple walked up to a female, Israeli border guard. The Canadians pulled out their passports. The guard asked them a few questions. "Sarah and Abraham, that's kh-ute," she said, stamping their passports and waving them through. The sound of the Hebrew guttural and the pounding stamp was music to their ears.

"That was all too easy," said a relieved Josh.

Becca replied, "It must have been the makeup."

## Chapter 33 – The Dig

9:35 a.m., Monday, January 11, 2021 – Jerusalem, Israel

The Noble Sanctuary/ Temple Mount

Becca and Josh stepped off the tour bus. They brusquely walked through the barriers guarding the Wailing Wall plaza. The illicit adventurers wore long coats, hats, and scarves. Not only was it a chilly morning, but the couple knew that cameras, drones, and advanced facial recognition software ran in overdrive at this location.

They got lucky in Eilat. They didn't want to press that luck on the most controversial piece of property on the face of the earth. After purposefully straggling behind their party, they ambled their way to mingle with other groups gathered in the plaza. Then they left altogether.

After a short downhill walk through the Jerusalem streets, they came to the property purchased by Jared Adler. The house gave all the appearances of a residence undergoing extensive remodeling. A dump truck and industrial-grade machinery were on site. Scaffolds encircled the three-story house. It was bigger than Becca expected.

"We're looking for the construction foreman," said Josh, to the first workman he encountered. The laborer wore a white hard-hat and looked Arab. He pointed to inside the house.

The couple entered the residence and found the foreman. He stood in a spacious living room. Detailed architecture plans were scattered across makeshift desks. Josh gave the construction boss the code word.

"Hi, Abraham. I'm Ismael Khalid." The foreman extended his hand to Josh. "And you must be Sarah?" Ismael wore a black and white checkered Palestinian kaffiyeh, with a black band around the crown of his head.

"We've gotten a lot of work done in six weeks. I don't know exactly what you guys are up to, but judging from the amount of dirt you're moving and money you're spending; it must be huge. You need to be careful. I served in the Mossad for many years." Mossad was the Israeli CIA.

"The mining engineer is sharp. And I'm confident in the Professor. But, I wouldn't trust any of the others. I haven't caught them doing anything yet, but it's a sixth sense I've developed after working 20 years as a katsa." Katsa was Hebrew for 'collections officer,' the Mossad's equivalent of a CIA field agent.

"Alright," said Josh. "We'll keep an eye on them."

Ismael continued, "So far, the hardest part about this project has been making sure everything stays powered. We installed high-performance solar panels on the roof, so that's helping a bit. Between the tunneling drones, lights, and the ventilation system; you need a lot of power in the hole."

"We're splitting it up between solar energy, the regular electric grid, and generators. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves. We also ran fiber down the entry shaft, so you'll have high-speed Internet access down there." Ismael led them into a first-floor lavatory, with an over-sized Jacuzzi tub. He shut the door behind them.

"Why'd you take us to the bathroom?" asked Becca.

"Watch," said Ismael. The former Mossad agent rotated the bathtub faucet to the left. The twist activated a hydraulic system. The tub sprang up, until it stood vertically in the air. Ismael then whirled the tub 180 degrees. This allowed unimpeded access to an eight-foot-square, steel platform.

"Get on this deck and squat on all fours. When you're comfortable, press this button. You're going straight down for 30 feet. Then, you'll find another platform. Step on it, and do the same thing. It'll take you down to your bunker, or whatever it is you're building down there."

The couple did as Ismael said. Becca pushed the button. As the platform lowered, they passed wooden two-by-fours, which reinforced the vertical shaft. Electrical conduit, dim lights, and thick PVC pipe ran on the far end of the limestone shaft.

After a three story drop, Becca and Josh came to the second metal deck. The wall of the shaft enlarged. The couple scooted to the other platform and repeated the process. As they got closer to the bottom, sounds of machinery and an air hammer could be heard in the distance. Becca looked back to the old platform. Now, she could tell that they'd just exited an industrial scissor lift. They were on another. The explorers walked off the platform, as it came flush with a concrete slab floor.

"Ello Luv," said Professor McMillan. "Welcome to the City of David."

"Professor!" Becca rushed towards the tall Brit and embraced him. "I'm so glad to see you," she said, over the noise of the excavation.

"Crumbs! Unless I knew you were coming, I wouldn't have recognized you. You have yourself quite a blonde bombshell of a girlfriend, there Josh."

"You got that right Professor. I sing 'O Canada' nearly every morning," said Josh, almost tripping over the rails as he shook McMillan's hand. "That's more rails than I expected."

"Aye," said the Professor. "How was your trip?"

"Aside from some anxious moments getting across the US border, we're shocked at how easy it was. There were no incidents whatsoever," answered Becca.

"That's right brilliant. I've been here a little over eight days now. The others arrived some weeks ago." McMillan pointed towards the tunnel apex. "This team has really knuckled under. They're hard workers. The two tunnel-boring robots work side-by-side to dig the main excavation tunnel. Each robot expels dirt onto its minecart. That's why there are two sets of tracks. The Mexican diggers take the earth from the minecarts and stuff it into these sacks. Loading and unloading dirt is the most manually intensive job down here." The Professor pointed to the bags that resembled jumbo-sized potato sacks. "With the help of the blokes up top, we cram the sacks onto the scissor lifts."

Becca inhaled deeply and examined the anteroom more carefully. It was almost the exact size of the storage unit in Brownsville. Steel pillars attached to metal girders reinforced the staging area's roof, at intervals of every six feet. "The air down here is better than I expected—just a little musty. I'm glad we wore sweatshirts, but it's not too cold."

Three-by-three wooden supports and latticed mesh reinforced the bedrock walls of the staging room. The mesh reminded Becca of cargo nets. The main excavation tunnel was on the west side of the staging area. Electrical conduit and ventilation pipes, attached by C-clamps, hung from the top of the tunnel. They ran the length of the burrow and would grow, as the passageway lengthened.

"Y'all have made a lot of progress," said Becca, impressed.

"Yup," replied McMillan. He looked like a British version of Indiana Jones, with the hat and satchel. Maybe he did that on purpose, thought Becca. Indiana did find the Ark.

The Professor pointed to the leading end of the tunnel. "You can thank El Minero, down there. He's an extraordinarily talented mining engineer. He knows more about tunnels than I've ever forgotten. The bruv is a genius. Let me introduce you. But, put these on first."

McMillan gave Becca and Josh protective mining helmets, with lights attached to the crown. They walked together toward the tunnel apex. Currently, the tunnel was a little over 10 feet long. The Professor tapped El Minero on the back. The mining engineer was short, pudgy, and clean cut. He possessed a happy, round face. The two excavators kept working. Becca now had a better view of the tunnel-boring robots.

They looked like miniature armored tanks, with egg-shaped bodies. Each robot had two, thick oval treads that they used to grip the earth and propel themselves forward. At the front of the robots, circular cutting heads spun into the rock. The cutting heads were specially designed to slice through limestone. The back of the robot expelled dirt and pulverized bedrock into the minecarts.

The boring robots created a tunnel that was five feet, by four and one-half feet. El Minero planned on reinforcing the shaft with wood, every 10 to 15 feet. One of the excavators extended the height of the tunnel's crown by a foot, or so. He used an air hammer and pickax. Still, the Professor was in a constant stoop, as he moved through the tunnel. The other digger manipulated the dirt, minecarts, and potato sacks.

After introductions, El Minero said, "These robots are amazing. We're a lot further after six weeks of excavation than I planned. This is my first time using robots. It's much faster than a human excavator. And they don't need siestas. El Jefe will love these automatas."

"Why are you manually extending the height of the tunnel?" asked Becca.

"Juan is just making sure the tube is more stable, by angling it," replied El Minero. "Each robot has three, self-guided probes that it deploys into the rock. They're like large drill bits. They bore forward in a star configuration. As they burrow, the probes use onboard sensors to search for existing tunnels and artifacts."

An Israeli, high-tech defense company developed the robot and probe platform. Israeli armed forces used them to locate Hamas' tunnels in Gaza. Hamas used the subterranean passages to sneak into Israel and bypass border crossings, just like Becca and Josh in Brownsville.

"Where are the other diggers?" asked Josh.

"The Juans are sleeping up top. We switch them out every 12 hours," said El Minero.

"They're all named Juan?" asked Becca, puzzled.

"They are to you," replied El Minero, with a smile. "The probes communicate with their host. Before they run out of charge, they reverse and re-attach themselves. Hopefully, the robots will quickly locate the old tunnel system.

"We're digging down, at roughly a 10-degree angle, in case we hit groundwater. If you see any water, run to the lift and get out! I don't like being so close to the Gihon Spring. With these robots, I estimate that we'll be able to dig 20 feet per day. It's twice as fast as manually digging. If we're able to maintain that rate, we'll be at your geo-marker in 45 to 60 days."

After listening to a few more details, Becca excused herself and went back to the anteroom. She set up a folding table and chair set. The hacker used the table for her comms equipment and laptop. She connected the fiber-optic cable that Ismael had run down the excavation shaft, to a specially configured fiber router. Becca assembled the router herself and shipped it to Israel. She was afraid of secret backdoors in any routers she bought retail.

A half-hour later, Becca was securely communicating over a high-speed Internet connection. She checked the status of the A-Car. It was parked at a SuperNight Motel in Arizona, near the Grand Canyon.

*

Rahmati went to Persia for his weekly meeting with Javan.

"I can't wait until we can meet in Babylon," said Rahmati. "The Chinese are making great progress. The fiber should be complete in a few weeks or so. Then, we can start securely collaborating at 300,000 kilometers a second."

Javan replied, "I agree, that'll be a great day. Suleiman and Rodina are advancing extraordinarily. We own the military comms of the 5th and 6th Fleet. We were so focused on the benefits of cracking AES; we underestimated the benefits of breaking SHA. Not only does the SHA hack give us the ability to secretly modify log files, but we have all the SYSADMIN passwords. We're superusers on every DoD and intelligence network. If we wanted, we could change the contents of documents without altering the digital signature. Or we could send fake emails. Or we could spoof the digital certificates of any software company to spread malware."

Rahmati laughed. "Let's keep those things in our back pocket. Each of those things might raise the visibility of our attack, if they were discovered. We want to keep Suleiman and Rodina a secret for as long as possible. But can you imagine, we have the ability to modify every classified document in the United States? Unbelievable!"

"Indeed. Just being a superuser lets us work through all the covert programs, without even worrying about AES or public key encryption. It's a much faster way to get the information. We started with their TOP SECRET programs. Muhammad, we're in possession of some shocking secrets. American's would probably impeach the President if we disclosed some of these things."

Now, Rahmati's laugh bellowed through the whole office. "That's just one more knife to use in a street-fight. Whatever we're paying the Russian cryptographers, we should double it. We can only keep AVICENNA hidden for so long. The Americans may be cowboys, but they're not dumb. They'll guess that we have a quantum computer pretty quickly, after we implement the rest of our plan."

"Yes," said Javan. "It's been very instructive reading about the NSA projects. It gives us deep insight into all their SIGINT capabilities. The sheer number of files is massive. We've worked only through half of them. Also, we've identified more Persians on the American and British payroll. We're going to use them to plant disinformation, before we take them out. Muhammad, one of my analysts discovered an extremely interesting project. It's called SWARM. I think you should take a look."

Rahmati reviewed the file for a long time. "This is fascinating."

Against numerous naysayers, Muhammad Rahmati had made substantial progress against Daesh in the past six weeks. Iraq was such a basket case since the American's left 10 years ago, that most pundits predicted the Rahmati Effect would fade.

They prognosticated that the forces that had consumed all other Iraqi governments, would ultimately overcome Rahmati. Iraq would face renewed, centuries-old sectarian violence. The blood of Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds would run red in the streets—once again.

Rahmati couldn't wait to prove the conventional wisdom wrong. Much of that wisdom came from countries that benefitted from a weak Iraq. They wanted its oil fields, or at least, better oil concessions.

Re-Baathification was indeed playing a critical role in Rahmati's fight against the Caliphate. While not every Baathist joined Rahmati's government, enough high ranking ones did. They provided crucial intelligence on Caliphate operations. It was a risky situation for Rahmati, since the Baathists were Sunni.

The Prime Minister was trusting significant responsibilities to former enemies. However, most of the Baathists cared more about power than they cared about religious doctrine. After 15 years, many Baathists were just thankful to walk the halls of power once more. Rahmati also effectively united with the Kurds with promises of support in their efforts to establish an independent state carved from Turkish territory.

Iraqi forces; aided by Shiite militias, Persian special forces, and Russian airpower had driven Daesh from the cities of Ramadi and Tikrit. Next, the Coalition was planning on waging an offensive in Mosul and Fallujah. Daesh forces were fleeing to the Syrian Desert, Libya, or the Sinai. Others were melting away into Europe.

The world was in awe of Rahmati's progress against the Caliphate.

Regaining control of Iraq's oil was just as important as pushing Daesh out of populous Iraqi cities. Rahmati was expelling Daesh from Iraqi oil fields and stopping their oil tapping operations. The oil wells were returning to the exclusive control of Iraq. Daesh's finances were in disarray.

With the oil fields coming under Iraqi control, Rahmati's financial coffers were finally expanding. He closed a lucrative revenue splitting arrangement with the Kurds, also furthering their alliance. The oil production-rich town of Basra was quickly reestablishing itself as the crown jewel of Iraq. Rahmati sought new foreign investment in the oil fields, offering attractive oil concessions. Babylon's construction was also proceeding rapidly. The Chinese knew how to build cities quickly.

Rahmati continued to leverage social media to further his personal brand and advance his ultra-popular message. He used A-Tube and Snapchat to detail the highlights of his strengthening government. The PM live-streamed and Snapchatted his walks in the streets of Baghdad, his interactions with Iraqi citizens, and Babylon's progress. His social media team developed custom filters for Snapchat and generated memes for other social platforms. The filter that made everyone look like Rahmati went viral.

*

Responding to a text, General Shields hastily arrived at Defense Innovations. He stepped into the SWARM Op Center. "What's going on?"

"As I've been tracking Josh Adler and Becca Roberts, I noticed some anomalies," replied the SWARM analyst. He pointed to his computer monitor. "Look at this. They're staying at a SuperNight Motel every evening, as they make their way across the country. I've been looking carefully at all the sensors from the A-Car, just to see if anything jumped out at me.

"It's clear the car is driving autonomously across the US. So that's the first thing I noticed. Wouldn't they want to drive manually, at least some of the time? Their A-Car does have the steering wheel option."

General Shields laughed. "Well, they are getting married. They're probably just really enjoying each other's company—in the back seat."

The analyst smiled. "Maybe, but there's more. Check out this graph. The tire pressure in this A-Car never changes. I mean, due to friction from the road, it varies when they drive. But study these readings. They're measurements of the tires in the morning, when they're cold. Now, look at the pressure readings when the car begins the day's journey. There's no variance. No one is getting into or out of this car."

"Do the doors open?"

"Yes, but they can be remotely opened and closed."

"Ok," replied the General. "Go on."

"They do check in, check out, and make payments using Becca's credit card. But this is interesting. Becca is a SuperNight Star Member. She's not getting any points for her stay."

"Maybe she didn't give them the card number? Or, maybe the rewards are batch processed?"

"No, they have it. And, I examined other people that are Star Members. Look at this." The analyst depressed the keyboard to switch to another application. "When guests check out; immediately, their points are updated. It works the same way for every Star Member. SuperNight's Star Member system is real-time.

"At the same time, Becca and Josh's personal SIGINT leads me to believe they're in the car. There are messages to friends and family that talk about their journey's current scenery and real-time micro-weather. Josh talks to his dad about the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl. Becca did tell her best friend that they're considering elopement. Their SIGINT makes it hard to believe that they aren't in the A-Car."

"What about the phone's cameras or the A-Car's voice recognition system?" asked the General.

"Becca must have disabled all of them, because they're unavailable to us."

"Ok," replied Shields. "Let's get eyes on the car. Where are they?"

"They've just parked in a lot at the Grand Canyon. I assume they're taking a tour from there."

"Get the FBI on this. Tell them to tail the car. '''' '''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' Shields texted Samantha.

*

Hours later, in the waning light of the Grand Canyon's purple dusk, an FBI agent arrived at the A-Car.

The G-man called the Op Center. "There's no sign of anyone."

"I'm going to remotely open the trunk," replied the analyst.

The trunk popped open, revealing Becca and Josh's luggage. Their cell phones were in the interior. "These A-Cars are cool," exclaimed the agent. He searched a little longer and then returned to his vehicle.

After a while, the A-Car's ignition system engaged.

"I'm going to follow the car," said the agent.

Nucleus Corporation's flagship model SUV drove back to the Grand Canyon SuperNight. It parked. The gull wing doors spread open for a few seconds and then closed.

"Damn it!" yelled General Shields. "They sure as hell didn't elope." Samantha never responded to Shields' text.

*

Becca's looked at her A-Car monitoring app. She saw the notification. Someone remotely accessed the A-Car's trunk. Now, the A-Car was parked in the SuperNight lot. She activated the A-Car's exterior camera system. Then she saw him. Becca could spot an FBI agent from a mile away.

## Chapter 34 – A Copper Scroll

11:35 a.m., Tuesday, February 2, 2021 – Jerusalem, Israel

City of David

Professor McMillan threw his woolen, felt fedora on the ground.

"Bloody hell, Josh. We've been digging through limestone and dolomite for 23 days straight. The tunnel is now a little over 425 feet long. We're almost half-way to your geo-marker. We may be ahead of schedule, but we've found nothing.

"No artifacts, no hint of any other shafts—nothing. There's not been one iota of evidence to indicate that there's anything down here, let alone the Ark. If we were on the right path, I'd have expected to find something by now...a shard of pottery, a coin, something man-made."

Josh nodded his head. "I know it's disappointing. I can tell you that the neural network predicts that we're getting closer every day."

McMillan grimaced. He turned his hunched back on Josh and huffed off.

Living in a tunnel for nearly a month was fraying everyone's nerves. There were brief respites up top, in the house. But it was not enough to feel normal. Josh felt like a mole. Aside from fresh Jerusalem air, everyone looked forward to the daily resupply provisions from Ismael's construction team. At least the food was fresh.

Josh made his way back toward Becca. He walked the length of the tunnel, passing minecarts full of dirt and the wooden reinforcements supporting the excavation. El Minero insisted on the supports, despite the fact that the bedrock was much sturdier than the clay soils of the Mexico-Texas border.

Becca was working comms in the anteroom. "The Professor is upset," said Josh.

Becca replied, "Yeah, he's not the only one. It's been almost three weeks since the FBI discovered our cover story. I'm pretty sure the General didn't buy the elopement. Every day we don't find the Ark is a day the NSA is getting closer to locating us."

"You can bet that they've been pouring through the video feeds at customs and border crossings in the Middle East. The good thing is they have to search a broad area. All you told the General was that the AI predicted the Ark was somewhere in the Middle East. But, they're probably working with Mossad and Shin Bet. We don't have much more time.

"Josh, what if all of this was for nothing? We'll be arrested. And we won't have anything to show for it."

Josh wrapped his arms around Becca. "It's going to be ok. I believe we'll find the Ark. Whether we do or whether we don't; you become more beautiful to me every day. We wouldn't be here at this moment, if it weren't for you. It's an honor to be on this quest with you, Princess. Thank you for being by my side. I love you."

Becca blushed. She held onto Josh as tightly as she could. "Princess...I like that a lot better than Dorcas."

*

"General Shields, look at this. I think this is them," said the SWARM analyst.

"This overly happy couple looks like Becca and Josh. They went through Eliat on January 7, as Canadian citizens. Look how they're constantly smiling. It's a trick to defeat the facial recognition. They've also taken steps to disguise themselves and mask the shape of their faces. I used Nucleus' deep learning facial recognition API, and it came up with a positive match. It's got a 98% degree of confidence.

"Given that they penetrated Israel, the most logical places for their next destination were Jerusalem, Haifa, or Tel Aviv. So, I've been crunching video surveillance from those cities. This bus came to the Wailing Wall four days later, on January 11.

"I've spliced together the feeds around the Temple Mount. Watch. After loitering around the Wailing Wall plaza, this couple doesn't ever go in. They try to get lost in the crowd. Minutes later, they walked down this street. I think they're the same couple from Eliat. I zoomed in on the girl's hair. The blonde coloring is the same. Then, I reviewed the satellite imagery over that area; there's always a bird with eyes on that site. I didn't see anything directly on, or around, the Temple Mount.

"But, look here," said the analyst, pointing at Jared Adler's property on a map. It's the only place in which significant construction has occurred in the last month. A crew works the site, seven days a week. Friday is the only day in which their pattern is different. There's heavy equipment, scaffolding, power generators—stuff like that."

General Shields replied, "One of the most likely sites of the Ark is under the Temple Mount. Maybe they're trying to tunnel from the residence? That would be one long tube. But this is our best lead. Good work. Lin, let's get the last batch of Swarmbots deployed to this location."

*

The Professor sprinted to Josh and Becca. He held a dusty clay jar in his hand. "The probe's sonar just discovered this at an entrance to an ancient tunnel system," he said. It was the most upbeat Becca had seen the Professor in weeks. "I want to open it in front of you two love-birds."

McMillan took the top off the long cylindrical jar. It contained a metallic scroll. "I'm gobsmacked. This looks just like the copper Dead Sea Scroll. The Israelites engraved the metal to make sure the writing didn't disintegrate over time, as it does with parchment."

McMillan unfurled the thin metal sheet and meticulously examined it.

"It's written in Hebrew script. It says: 'The words of Baruch, the son of Neriah, written upon instruction of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah.' Baruch was the Prophet Jeremiah's amanuensis. Jeremiah authored two books in the Hebrew Bible. He plays a prominent role in many theories about the Ark."

The Professor continued his translation. He stumbled over some of the words because ancient Hebrew did not have vowels. The same group of consonants could be interpreted as different words. It all depended on context.

"'The LORD God has fashioned you, as a potter molds clay. God has ordained you to redeem the Ark of the Covenant. Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. In coming days, they will finally breach the city walls. King Jehoiakim has brought this punishment upon Judah, by playing the harlot. He has prostituted the land through a wicked alliance with Egypt.'"

The Professor exegeted the text. "So...this letter is from the time of the first siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, sometime before 597 BC. The King of Judah, Jehoiakim, acted contrary to Jeremiah's advice. Rather than trusting God, the King made an alliance with Egypt to protect Judah from Babylon."

McMillan returned to reading the scroll. "'The LORD directed Jeremiah to re-veil the Ark, utilizing wise King Solomon's tunnels, beneath the House of the LORD.' Cor Blimey! This scroll proves that we're underneath the original location of the Temple. 'House of the LORD' is an alternative name for the Temple." After bear-hugging Becca and Josh, it took some time for the Professor to temper his elation and return to his translation.

"'As your eyes gaze upon the Ark, know that perilous times dawn. All the earth shall quake. The stars shall fall from the sky. The moon shall drip with blood. The sun shall be draped in sackcloth and ashes. Be at peace, our LORD is God of gods and LORD of lords. With your last breath, grasp the light.'

"Hmm, that last sentence is odd. I'm not sure I translated it correctly. It's written in Aramaic. All the other text is in Hebrew. It's like someone added it later?"

The archeology professor absorbed the moment. Then, McMillan fell to his knees in awe. "This is older than any of the Dead Sea Scrolls, by at least 200 years. This scroll may be the greatest archeological find—ever.

"Not only do we know the Ark is close, but we're directly under the site of the first and second Temple. We're beneath the very place where the Jew's believed God's presence dwelt on earth. And, we're standing underneath the site of the Temple where Jesus taught.

"Josephus' description was right all along. How could we not have believed the only eyewitness God preserved? While he saw the destruction of the second Temple to the Romans, about 600 years before the destruction of the first Temple by the Babylonians, the Temples were situated in the same place. Due to the complete destruction of the second Temple by the Romans, we've just forgotten the Temple's original location.

"Most of all, how could we not have believed the words of Jesus' prophecy. He warned that not one stone would remain of the Temple. Thousands of Herod's stones comprise the Wailing Wall. Josh, all your AI did is read Josephus and interpret his writing at face value."

"Does that mean the Temple Mount housed the Roman fort instead?" asked Becca.

The Professor replied, "Yes, it must've been the site of the Fortress Antonia. Over the past six months, I've carefully reexamined the works of Josephus. He states that the Fortress Antonia housed the entire Roman Tenth Legion. A Roman legion was 6,000 soldiers. That number doesn't include support personnel.

"I studied the commonly accepted models of the Temple Mount. Almost all of them are based on the scale model created by Avi-Yonah in 1973. That model of the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple resides in the Israel Museum. If you look Yonah's portrayal of the Fortress, there's no way it could have quartered a Roman legion. It's too bloody tiny. Josephus says that the Fort was 35 acres—the exact dimensions of the Temple Mount.

"The Temple and its surrounding courts were a hotbed of insurrection. Herod the Great and Caesar would've wanted to use overwhelming force to put down any rebellion. They wouldn't have built a minuscule fort. So it makes sense that the platform that now houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, contained the Fortress Antonia—not the Temple.

"The geopolitical implications of this discovery are earth shaking. Not only does it look like we're near the Ark, but this copper scroll proves that the conventional wisdom about the site of the Temple is wrong. Jews could rebuild their Temple today. The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque can stay right where they are. Becca and Josh, you young lads have changed the course of history."

## Chapter 35 – The Golden Cave

10:25 p.m., Wednesday, February 17, 2021 – Jerusalem, Israel

City of David

"It looks like the probes sense an opening about 15 feet ahead," said Professor McMillan.

A little over two weeks ago, the Professor found the copper scroll and the outlines of the ancient tunnel system. Over 2500 years, the passageways had collapsed in many places. But the robots and the probes could follow the contours of Solomon's original limestone channels.

As hoped, the existing tunnels allowed the team to excavate much more quickly. They were now within 20 yards of the geo-marker assigned by Josh's AI.

Josh's smiled broadly. His dimples lit up the tunnel. "Amazing. The AI was right all along."

*

"General Shields, what do you want to do?" asked the SWARM analyst. "It's difficult to hear over the excavation drones and air hammer, but it's clear they think they're close."

"Before I finally tip off the Shin Bet, let's get a positive identification of the Ark," replied the General. "When I make that call, it's all going to hit the fan."

After discovering Becca and Josh's duplicity, General Shields was able to deploy 12 of the most up-to-date Swarmbots to Adler's Jerusalem property. The Swarmbots snuck into the residence with the remodeling crew. They watched until they spied the hidden entry in the bathroom.

Shields contacted Chris Fischer. As Swarmbot's Chief Engineer of Robotics, Fischer offered his recommendations for Swarmbot communications in a mine-like setting. He advised the General to send one Swarmbot down the shaft and test the comms.

Fischer hypothesized that while the guinea pig Swarmbot would lose satellite connectivity once underground, it could still communicate with the other Swarmbots. It could make use of its peer-to-peer communications protocol called, Swarmlink. Power from Flashcharge could also be wirelessly transferred using Swarmlink.

During the dirt removal process, one Swarmbot clandestinely moved onto the scissor lift platform. Once below, the Swarmbot got eyes on the tunnel. Although the signal was weak, Swarmlink worked as Fisher hoped.

As Shields got more comfortable, he deployed additional Swarmbots underground. One Swarmbot was positioned halfway down the shaft, between the scissor lifts. It served as a relay between the five Swarmbots up top and the six subterranean Swarmbots. Owing to the sensitive nature of the operation, the SWARM Op Center manually controlled the Swarmbots, not Gamers.

*

Before she went to bed, Becca sent a secure email to Jared Adler and her father. The note was succinct: 'WE ARE CLOSE!'

Early the next morning, after working through the night, the team dug out a large, hewn-stone entrance. The rectangular door was 10 feet tall, by six feet wide. Both walls, to the right and left of the stone door, were covered in gold. The more the team dug, the more the walls' outlines became evident. They were slightly rounded. The rock door had thick handles carved into its top end. It stood at a 65-degree angle.

"It's like a mini-drawbridge," said Becca. Josh leaped up and grabbed the handles, but nothing happened. He dropped back to the ground.

"Why don't we use the robots?" asked Becca.

"That's a terrific idea," replied Josh. With the Professor's help, he proceeded to tie a rope to the handles and attach it to the robots. They cleared the way and reversed the direction of the robots. The mechanical archeologists strained under the load. One of the door's handles cracked. Moments later, there was a loud whoosh, as the top of the door crashed down to meet the tunnel's dirt floor.

"Wow," said the Professor. "That rush of air meant that the room was hermetically sealed. That's incredible."

*

General Shields anxiously watched the entire chain of events through a Jumbo, resting close to the apex of the tunnel. When the stone entry fell to the ground, a sense of wonderment overtook the op enter.

Then, the atmosphere of the room changed completely.

A SWARM analyst cursed. "General Shields, we've just lost comms with every Swarmbot. Someone else is in control."

"How's that possible? The satellite link is completely encrypted. Not even Ramstein knows that we're piggybacking on their network? Get Fischer in here ASAP."

*

Becca and Josh shined their miner's helmet lights into an enormous, reflective cave.

"This cave is gilded. I've never seen anything like it. This structure would be nearly impossible to build, even today," said McMillan. The cavern was shaped like one-quarter of a dome. The far wall, opposite the stone door, stood at a right angle.

Becca asked, "Professor, where'd they get all this gold?"

"It's a colossal amount. I don't know. I don't even understand how they architected the cave. The biggest mystery is how the Hebrews sealed it for so long. It's like they smoothed the karst limestone, and then overlaid it with a gold-infused sealant? Maybe the Queen of Sheba helped him? I don't know. But, Solomon must have built this cave during the height of his kingdom. The Bible says that Solomon was the richest king on earth. It also states that gold and silver were as common in Jerusalem as stones.

"There's no way Judah had enough gold, during the time of Jeremiah, to build this cave. That was 500 years later than Solomon. By that time, Judah was weak and poor. And remember, the copper scroll says that the tunnels were Solomon's. Digging the original tunnels, hollowing out this cave, smoothing the walls, laying the gold, hermetically sealing it—this was a monumental effort. Solomon must have used slaves, just like he used for his copper mines."

The golden floor of the cave was 75 feet long. At its highest point, the ceiling of the semi-egg-shaped chamber was 20 feet tall. To the immediate left of the stone entry, Josh saw a wooden chest. El Minero and all four excavators quickly extended the ventilation system into the golden cave and rushed to position portable lanterns. Light danced in the chasm. It reflected off the gold, like a house of mirrors. Two large, covered objects stood in front of the archeological team. Beyond the obstacles, a long rectangular tent was visible—at the far end of the cave.

As McMillan looked in the direction of the tent, he said, "Oh, my Lord. That's the Tabernacle. God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle in painstaking detail. He spent two chapters of the Bible describing the creation of the world, and over 50 chapters detailing the requirements of the Tabernacle. Before there was a Temple, the Tabernacle housed the Ark. It was instituted right after the Exodus. That Tabernacle could be 1500 years older than Jesus."

"Why would Solomon go through all this trouble to protect the Tabernacle?" asked Becca.

The Professor thoughtfully considered his answer. "Solomon built God a permanent house, the Temple. Maybe he wanted to take care of his temporary house, too? Or, maybe he foresaw a time like King Hezekiah's or King Jehoiakim's, and he desired to protect the Ark? I'm just guessing."

Josh ran to the wooden container. It came up to his naval. "Professor, do you think the Ark is in here?"

"I don't think so," replied McMillan.

Josh lifted the top off the box. This unveiled another chest, coated in silver. "Help me remove this."

Becca could now see white and blue linen robes, a turban, and a purple apron. The Hebrews called the kilt-like apron, an ephod. The ephod was fringed in gold and decorated with an elaborate blue and scarlet pattern.

A golden square, the size of a 10-inch picture frame, lay on top of the ephod. The adornment contained embedded, polished stones and jewels. Each gem was set in a grid-like pattern. It was three stones across, by four rows—for a total of 12 distinct jewels. Two black stones, in settings of gold, were secured to each shoulder of the purple ephod.

"Ahh," said the Professor. "This box contains the high priest's garments. The most famous—or rather, the most notorious—high priest in the Bible was Caiaphas."

"He worked to persuade Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus," said Josh

Becca looked at her boyfriend, astonished. Eight months ago, he'd mocked her and called her a Bible thumper.

The Professor continued, "This golden square was known as the high priest's breastplate. The chains at its top, connected to the golden settings of those two onyx stones. That enabled the breastplate to hang, like a huge necklace. The breastplate covered the high priest's heart. Each stone represents one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah." McMillan pointed to the red gem, at the breastplate's top right quadrant. "That's a ruby."

"It's so beautiful," said Becca. "What tribe is signified by the diamond?"

"Well, blow me down, Becca. You think all I do is study Bible trivia? The Professor laughed. "But, I'll take a guess. I believe that it's Zebulun."

"I want to be from the tribe of Zebulun," she exclaimed.

The Professor chuckled. "Look at this." He pointed to the Hebrew script etched on the two black stones. "This writing lists the names of the 12 tribes of Israel; six on each onyx stone."

"Let's close this up and keep searching," urged Becca.

El Minero's crew had removed the two tarps from the objects immediately in front of the Tabernacle.

"Hey mates, slow down," said McMillan.

"Alright," answered El Minero. "Juans, fork the ventilation system. The air in here is still too thin."

McMillan walked toward the bronze object, closest to him. Becca and Josh followed. "This is the bronze altar. This platform was used to burn the animal and grain offerings." The altar was eight feet square. It stood waist high.

The Professor continued to the next object. It was closer to the tent. It looked like a fountain or bird bath. "This is the Bronze Laver. The priests used it to wash their feet and purify themselves before entering the Tabernacle."

As the explorers got closer to the Tabernacle, the colors of the outer curtain became visible. There were intricate patterns of blue, purple, and red, intertwined in the fabric. Golden cherubim were also woven into the veil. McMillan walked to the center of the 45-foot long, by a 15-foot tall curtain. He peeled it to the left.

"We're about to walk into the Holy Place. Only the priests could enter this area. Because of the people's sin, they weren't allowed into the Tabernacle. I've got goosebumps."

"Should I go in?" asked Josh. "I mean I'm Jewish, but I'm certainly no priest."

"Your call," replied McMillan. "If I were you, I'd take Baruch's scroll seriously. God gave you the wisdom to create the AI. I'll respect you, no matter your choice. However, I'm reasonably sure that if you want to see the Ark, you're going to have to enter this Tabernacle."

Josh stopped hesitating. "Let's go."

Josh, the Professor, and Becca nearly tip-toed into the Tabernacle's Holy Place.

Their lanterns and the illumination from their helmets, sparkled across the golden objects in the room. A golden table was to their immediate right. In front of them, at a distance, was something that resembled a golden podium. A seven-branched menorah was on their left-hand side.

"That's the table of showbread," said the Professor, pointing to the right. "Every Sabbath, the priests would eat 12 loaves of bread, signifying the 12 tribes of Israel. When Jesus said he was the 'bread of life,' the showbread may have been on his mind."

McMillan pointed to the left. "That's the golden lampstand. It's the Tabernacle's only interior source of light. They didn't have miner's helmets back them." He laughed. Like a lot of Brits, the Professor laughed at his own jokes.

The golden lampstand—also known as the menorah—was a seven-branched candelabra. Candle-like flames would burn on the tips of its seven branches. It was the height of one man. The span of its branches was two men. Hanukkah was a celebration of the Temple menorah that miraculously produced light during the Maccabean Revolt. The Maccabees warred against the Syrian ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 BC.

"When Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world,'' continued the Professor, "many Bible scholars think he was looking at a giant menorah in the Temple courtyard, while celebrating Hanukkah."

"And what's that, in front of that other curtain?" asked Becca.

"That's the golden altar of incense," replied McMillan. The Professor led the team closer. The incense altar was the width of a skinny man and three feet tall. "As the incense burned, smoke wafted into the air. The smoke symbolized prayers ascending before God.

"What amazes me most, now that I'm standing in the Tabernacle, is that God said that everything in here is an exact replica of His throne room in heaven. In other words, if you die and go to heaven, you'll see all this again. If you read the Christian Bible's last book—Revelation—you'll find references to almost all these artifacts."

As the intrepid excavators walked past the altar of incense, they stood in front of another curtain. It was similar to the first curtain they passed when they entered the Tabernacle. The Professor took a deep breath. "Beyond this partition is the Holy of Holies. If the Ark of the Covenant is anywhere, it's on the other side of this veil.

"Be careful. Don't touch it. There are stories in the Bible of people that touched the Ark. They died on the spot. Let me be frank. I'm very nervous. And, I'm very excited. All at the same time. Only the high priest—and in all of Israel, there was only one—was allowed to go past this curtain. And he could only enter on one day of the year."

"Yom Kippur, right?" asked Becca.

"Yes, Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement. The high priest sprinkled sacrificial blood, from the bronze altar, on the Ark's Mercy Seat. If God accepted the sacrifice, the high priest would live. If not, he died—right then and there. He wore bells and a rope around his waist, so the other priests and worshippers could listen. If the bells went silent, they used the rope to remove the dead high priest."

"Yikes," said Becca. "Now, I understand why my dad preached so often that Jesus became our High Priest."

"Alright, alright. Enough about Jesus. Let's see the Ark," said Josh.

"Josh, God picked you for this job. You do the honors. Remove the veil," said Professor McMillan.

Josh opened the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.

There it was.

The Ark of the Covenant.

Becca's eyes immediately focussed on the two golden cherubim. According to the Hebrew Bible, the spot underneath their mingled wings was where the God of Israel would talk to Moses—the Mercy Seat. The Shekinah glory of God, as the Rabbis called it; the God the Israelites believed created the heavens and the earth, dwelt on the Mercy Seat of the Ark to be near His people.

Becca, Josh, and the Professor stood in awe. Not a word was uttered. Every moment of their lives led to the very second.

At the height of this mystical encounter, grenade-like explosions ripped through the cave. Concussive waves reverberated through the Tabernacle. Becca heard screams and pops outside the Tent. Then, the screams stopped. Josh, Becca, and the Professor turned around. They saw Muhammad Rahmati. He stood at the entrance to the Holy Place. An Immortal was at his side, pointing his silenced AK in their direction.

"Hello—Josh, Becca, Professor MacMillan. Thank you for finding the Prophet Musa's artifacts. They now belong to me. This is Babylon's rightful property. The conniving Jews—Jews with the same treacherous spirit that allied with the Quraysh—unlawfully hid them from their conqueror, Nebuchadnezzar."

"How do you know who we are? How'd you find us?" asked Becca.

"All good questions, my dear. I regret to inform you that answers no longer have any meaning for you. I can't have any witnesses to this event. I'm sorry. Release the Remora," commanded Rahmati, through his radio. He said the order in Farsi, but Remora in English.

Within a few seconds, Becca heard a buzzing noise. Professor MacMillan gasped and gurgled. Then, he grabbed his heart and fell face first onto the Tabernacle floor.

"You bastard," shrieked Becca. "Why are you doing this?" The Immortal pointed the AK directly at Becca's head.

Rahmati's radio crackled, as a voice said in Persian, "That's it. All the Swarmbots have either exploded, or their comm-links are down." Becca recognized the word, Swarmbot.

"Roger," replied Rahmati. "We'll just have to execute them the old fashioned way. Josh, Becca; follow me. After I deal with you, I'll examine our Prophet Musa's Ark, in all its glory."

The couple looked into each other's eyes. Josh mouthed the words, "I love you." They joined their hands and slowly walked forward.

Just then, as if someone whispered into Becca's ear, the last line of the copper scroll came to Becca's mind. With your last breath, grasp the light. As Becca passed the seven-branched lampstand, she reached out. With trembling hands, she clutched the branch nearest to her. "Save us," she whispered.

Immediately, a trapdoor—directly underneath the couple—swung open. Still holding hands, Becca and Josh fell through the floor in the middle of the Holy Place. They screamed in surprise. The Immortal ran to the pitch black opening and fired his AK.

Becca and Josh dropped 15 feet before they crashed onto an angled, polished stone surface. It felt like quartz. Becca landed on top of Josh, driving his shoulder hard into the rock. They began sliding down, faster and faster, at close to a 45-degree angle. After a terrifying minute, they were dumped into an underground pool of icy water. They both popped up quickly, gasping for air. Fortunately, the lights on their helmets were still operational.

Rahmati cursed in frustration. "I hope that was a bottomless pit, and those two are dead."

After briefly surveying the Ark, he exited the Tabernacle. Rahmati gathered his force in the golden cave, including Hadi Hadari. "We need to dispose of all these bodies. Wipe down this mess of blood and guts. Make sure to no DNA remains. Double-check that the bindings are still firm on the Arabs above. Don't hurt them; they are fellow Muslims. The Swarmbot's explosive capability was stronger than their technical documentation described. We need to get the Ark and the artifacts packed. Then, we can transfer them through the Gaza tunnels. All of Musa's relics belong in their proper place—Babylon."

Becca and Josh exited the water. "That slide, or whatever you call it, must have dumped us into the Gihon Spring system," said Josh. "Do you hear the water dripping? Let's follow that sound and see if we can get out of here."

Within a few minutes, the shell-shocked couple could see some faint light. After walking further, they came to a portion of the Gihon Spring that tourists visit. There was little ambient light from the quarter moon. Thick clouds afforded even more cover for the couple. Becca and Josh secretly made their way to the Jerusalem safe house, looking over their shoulder for Rahmati or Israeli security forces. With traumatized psyches and unraveled hearts they struggled to make sense of the events.

## Chapter 36 – Immunity

01:15 a.m. (EST), Thursday, February 18, 2021 – Columbia, MD

SWARM Op Center, Sixth-Floor SCIF, Defense Innovations Accelerator

General Shields dialed Josh's father.

Adler groggily answered his mobile. "Jared, this is General Bernard Shields. Your son and his girlfriend are in grave danger. We know you're aware of where they are, and what they're doing."

Before Rahmati seized control of the Swarmbots and ended the surveillance feeds to the op center; two Swarmbots recorded grainy images of—what looked to be—Muhammad Rahmati. The ramifications of the pictures rocked Shields to his core, but he couldn't make a 100% positive match.

He needed confirmation from Josh and Becca. If they were still alive. Shields did know that a number of Swarmbots exploded and that a Jumbo had released its Remora. NSA assets would later gather the remaining Swarmbots and ship them back to the Fort.

Jared processed the information with a sleepy mind. This is a trick, he thought. "General, I don't have anything to say. I'll let Josh know you called. If he wants to talk to you, he will."

"Look, Jared. I'm not going to reveal all the evidence we've compiled. We both know that Josh and Becca have fled the country. They accomplished this feat in spite of their presence on the no-fly list."

Jared's pulse slightly quickened.

Shields continued, "I can tell you that we found Josh and Becca's A-Car at the Grand Canyon. We know that Becca hacked into a motel computer system. We tracked them to Jerusalem, where they've been digging to find an ancient historical object. I warned them this object impaired their safety and was dangerous for our nation.

"We ran a title on the property, near the Temple Mount, that's concealing the excavation. With the help of four forensic accountants, we've tracked the recent purchase of that real estate to entities' affiliated with you."

Jared's stomach did flip flops.

"I'm not sure how Josh and Becca got out of the country, but I believe you know how. When I add all this up, there's been a lot of state, federal, and international laws broken."

Jared was now fully alert. "General Shields, perhaps we can all go to jail together. And how's visitation day going to be for you? How will your wife avoid running into your mistress? At the very least, if you don't go to jail; you'll be forced to resign."

The General's tone softened. "I'm sure we both have things we'd like to keep hidden. This isn't a pissing match. The bottom line is that your son and his girlfriend's life are in serious jeopardy. Despite what you may have been told, my actions were designed to protect Josh, Becca, and interests of the United States. If they're alive, we've got to get them out of Israel and back to the States. NSA needs to debrief them. They possess vital intelligence, with global implications. We must carefully determine our next steps. And, I've got to ascertain if there's a mole in my organization or the Intelligence Community.

"I'll help you get Josh and Becca out of Israel. I'll remove them from the no-fly list. And, I'll get the Justice Department to write up an immunity deal. Our nation has a serious problem. I need Josh and Becca's knowledge and talents."

Jared's burner cell phone started ringing. It was either Josh or Becca. Now, Adler's heart thumped. His knees weakened. He fully realized that Shields was neither bluffing, nor trying to deceive him.

Jared rushed through remaining deal points. "I've got a lot of connections in Israel. I'll work on getting them out. I'll need your help getting them through customs. Once they get home, we'll fly to Dulles on my jet. I'm going to bring my lawyers. Not only do they need an immunity deal, but we'll need additional ones for me, my CTO, Becca's father, and the archeologist."

*

The next day, Shields caught a CNN report on Muhammad Rahmati. The news anchor said that Rahmati had secretly entered Gaza. He proceeded to deliver a speech that would reverberate across the Middle East for a long time. Rahmati chastened Israeli and Palestinian leadership. Surprisingly, he was harder on the Palestinian rulers, than the Israelis.

Rahmati admonished the Palestinian government to work harder to improve the lives of their people. Leaders must forget about lining their own pockets with the aid money that pours in from around the world. If not, then Palestinians should initiate their own Crescent Revolution, just like Iraq and Persia. He called for a unilateral end to Palestinian rocket attacks and assaults on Israelis with guns and knives. Rahmati ended the speech by challenging Israel and Palestine to renew talks on a two-state solution.

The talking heads were effusive in their praise of the Iraqi PM. "Is there anything this guy can't do? Peace between Israel and Palestine? He's got to be the leading candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. There hasn't been an honest broker like this since Oslo or Camp David. He was way too easy on Israel, what about the settlements?"

*

72 hours later, Josh and Becca landed at White Plains Airport. Josh's right arm hung in a sling. The Westchester County, New York airport was 20 minutes from Jared's home. Jared arrived in his limousine.

The three collectively embraced for an extended time. Becca sobbed. Josh and Jared teared up. After working through small talk, and more of the Rahmati story, Jared got down to business. He detailed the specifics of General Shields' immunity proposition. Becca replied first. "That guy can take his immunity deal and shove it up—"

"Becca! You, Josh, your dad, and I are in a lot of trouble. This is our get-out-of-jail-free card, and we all need to take it."

"Mr. Adler, I told him this would happen. Swarmbots, with pieces of code I wrote, murdered Professor McMillan and all the excavation team. I don't know how Rahmati hacked them, but he did. Who knows, maybe Shields and Rahmati are working together?"

Josh interjected, "Becca, you don't really believe that. We've been talking about this since we got to the safe house. Rahmati's team somehow figured out how to take control of the Swarmbots. There's no way Shields was involved. I don't want to see anyone go to jail....and we do need to get debriefed by the NSA. We have to help Shields figure out how Rahmati hijacked the Swarmbots. Do you think I'm thrilled to see the guy that fired me? But it's best for everyone, including your dad."

Becca stewed for a while. She looked out the limousine window. "The snow is so pretty. It's pure. It's white. And look at me. I just got my dad's best friend killed."

"The Professor knew full well that the job was dangerous," said Josh. "I told him that in Memphis. Think what he saw in the final minutes of his life—the greatest archeological discovery in the history of the world. Besides, that's New York snow. It'll be dirty in 15 minutes."

Becca didn't laugh. "That's another thing. We don't even have the Ark. We have nothing to show for his death...or the death of El Minero...or the four Juan's."

Jared stared at Becca, puzzled. "That sounds like a restaurant."

Becca and Josh looked at each other. Then they giggled. The cathartic laughter allowed the release of some steam.

"I know the situation is bad," said Jared. "You guys experienced some grisly stuff. El Jefe is beside himself about losing his best mining engineer. To make it up to him, I told him I'd rescind the management fee for three years. At least, Rahmati didn't kill any of the construction crew. He must have somehow drugged them. They don't remember a thing."

*

The setting was surreal for Josh.

He sat back at the same shiny mahogany conference table where he signed the deal to become a part of the Accelerator. At that time, he went directly against the wishes of his father. He started CyberAI and became business partners with General Shields. And nine months later, he was fired in this very room.

Today was different. While he occupied the same seat, Josh was accompanied by his father and his girlfriend. Today, they assembled on his side of the table. Becca hadn't uttered a word. In the seven months they'd been dating, Josh came to realize that a quiet Becca meant she was either mad or nervous—or both.

Josh was glad to have his dad present. Jared Adler knew how to hammer out a good deal. He didn't need to bring his lawyers because they'd already hashed out an immunity agreement for everyone. They were free from the threat of prosecution in return for 'cooperation' and non-disclosure of the events after leaving the Accelerator in October. Cooperation was loosely defined.

Lin Liu and General Shields arrived in the conference room. Josh watched his father's reaction to Lin. He wasn't sure if Jared even noticed Shields' presence. However, Becca noticed the General. The edginess in their handshake was palpable.

Shields said, "I want to thank everyone for meeting with us. I'm glad we were able to work out an immunity agreement for you all. I know that you've experienced some rather traumatic circumstances."

"Rather traumatic," blurted out Becca. "A very special man to my family was murdered by a collection of robots you built. And, an entire team of men was blown up by highly advanced explosives you installed in Swarmbots. This all occurred after you assured me that Swarmbots were merely surveillance platforms. Husbands are not going to see their wives. Children will never again play with their fathers."

"Becca, I understand your anger. I don't want to dwell on the past, but I told both of you not to get involved with the Ark. At the time, I'm sure you thought me to be an ogre from Castle Gecko. You probably called me Krusk. I was genuinely trying to protect you both from the peril associated with that artifact. I suggest you channel your anger towards the one responsible, Muhammad Rahmati. The NSA did not kill your friends. Rahmati did.

"Somehow, the Prime Minister of Iraq—a worldwide, political rockstar—accomplished feats that should've been impossible. According to the written report of your debrief; he knew who you were. Obviously, he knew where you were. And, he was aware of what you were doing. We guess that he secreted the Ark out of Israel, through the Gaza terrorist tunnels."

Jared added, "Becca, we've set up a fund for the Professor and the Mexicans. It won't bring them back, but it's something for their families. Members of the remodeling crew remain on-site, guarding the property until they are given further instructions.

Becca scrutinized the recesses of General Shields' soul. For a split-second, she felt compassion. The hacker bowed her head and murmured, "Krusk was a half-orc, not an ogre. There's a big difference." Then, Becca turned her head towards her boyfriend.

Now it was Josh's turn. "You also fired me and took my company."

General Shields cleared his throat and patiently parried the anger. "I understand why you feel that way. At the same time, consider things from my perspective. Since your AI first came across the Ark, you've probably spent every waking hour pursuing it.

"CyberAI needs a full-time CEO. As you know, there was a new round of funding with a higher valuation. You choose not to take part in that process, but you're still the highest percentage owner in the company. So, I didn't take your business at all. And, I can't overemphasize this point: I told both of you that looking for the Ark was incredibly dangerous. You choose to do it despite my warnings."

Lin added, "What you guys didn't see is how much the General agonized over that decision. General Shields answers to Congress regarding the Accelerator."

"What if Congress asks him about hacking my car? Or anything related to the Swarmbots?"

"First, he'd remind you that part of your immunity deal is non-disclosure of those events. Then he'd probably say, from time to time, the NSA engages in activities to protect the security of the United States," replied Lin, with a sly countenance.

Josh straightened his back in his chair and exhaled deeply. "General Shields, you have our statements. Now, how can we help you going forward?"

"We need you to review your encounter with Rahmati, in light of our logs and data from the remaining Jerusalem Swarmbots. We must identify how he commandeered the drones. And, given that your AI found the Ark, I'd like to see what other insights it can yield. What can your AI tell us about Rahmati? What are his intentions with the Ark? What's his game plan for the Middle East? What are his next steps in US relations?"

Josh responded, "We can absolutely help with the Swarmbots. But, let's talk about the second part. Becca and I want to start a new AI company. We want our company to focus on a stronger, more general AI. I want to move way beyond cybersecurity. I believe that may help find the answers to some of your questions."

"The Accelerator can invest in the startup," offered Shields. "We never flagged your clearances, so you're both still in good standing. You can use the SCIFs and access NSA technology."

"General, with all due respect," said Josh, "I don't want to be business partners with you. I don't want to do demos for you, or sit in board meetings with you. My dad and I will fund the company."

Now Jared negotiated. "I propose that in return for free rent at the Accelerator, we'll license the technology to you. We'll use your facilities' clearance and the SCIFs."

"And," interjected Josh, "I want access NSA's new GPU-accelerated, NVIDIA supercomputers and an office on the 5th floor. I don't want any interaction with Vish. Additionally, I want CyberAI to remove any claim to my independently developed AI code."

"And I don't want to see Samantha," said Becca.

General Shields smiled at the negotiating forces of nature across the table from him. Josh and Becca had grown up. "Done," he said, emphatically. "Welcome back Josh. Welcome back Becca."

## Chapter 37 – eM

10:00 a.m. (EDT), Thursday, April 1, 2021 – Columbia, MD

Suite 502, ElectricMind's Offices, Defense Innovations Accelerator

"It feels good to be back," said Josh.

"I'm a little surprised myself," replied Becca. "I thought I'd hate it. But, I hate Rahmati more."

"Yeah. And I want that Ark back. It belongs to Israel, not Rahmati. By the way, Samantha came by here again this morning. You were down meeting with Swarmbot."

Becca shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips. "I don't have anything to say. I've been cordial to her in the hallways and cafeteria. I just don't want to go there."

"I understand. I do think her hands were tied."

"Maybe they were. But, I gave Gamification every waking hour. Samantha could've done more. At the very least, she could've told me why I was quarantined from Gamification's best people and its most important projects. Instead, she tried to convince me that I was imagining things. Anyway—new subject. I love working with Chris Fischer. He's super-smart. We should try to get him for ElectricMind, if we ever need a robot brainiac. He knows drones and autonomous robots inside and out."

"How are you coming with identifying Rahmati's Swarmbot hack?" asked Josh. General Shields had read Becca and Josh into SWARM.

"We're stumped. I've tried every attack vector I know. I've not been able to take over a single process; let alone commandeer a dozen Swarmbots. My thesis is that the hackers found a flaw in how the Swarmbots store their AES encryption keys.

"Chris disagrees. He thinks it's not a likely scenario because they used open source, trusted libraries for the AES keys. Those libraries have proven to be rock-solid over the years. He's pushing for a simpler explanation; you know Occam's razor and all. The Swarmbot logs show nothing out of the ordinary.

"The op center handed off all the Swarmbot communications to Rahmati's hackers in Jerusalem. It worked no differently than the handoff that occurs when the op center takes control of the Swarmbots from Gamers. This Swarmbot hack is beginning to scare me."

"Is it possible that Rahmati's crew just brute force attacked the encryption?" asked Josh.

"No. Swarmbots use military-grade encryption for the satellite comms, AES-256. The NSA certifies AES-256 for TOP SECRET. AES is the safest encryption algorithm in the world. Everyone uses it, even Apple. AES-256 encrypts iPhones."

Josh's question reverberated through Becca's thoughts. "Wait, now that you say that, let me go back and look at the Swarmbot's peer-to-peer networking capability. Maybe I missed something in Swarmlink."

"I'm totally confident in you, Becca. You'll track it down. Chris is right. It's probably something simple that we're just overlooking. I'm close to being able to help. Hey, while I have a second...I just wanted to say that I really enjoy working with you. I think we're a great team. When I got fired from CyberAI, I felt like I was surrendering from an important battle. Now, we're in this together—and we're battling as one. You make me better."

"Aww, that's sweet. I love working with you too. You've helped me, be more of me. You rescued me from my dark place and freed me to walk in the sunshine. I think our adventure is just getting started. I'm fired up to work together to grow ElectricMind into a billion dollar company. Watch out Nucleus!"

Josh finally decided on a name for the AI. They couldn't keep calling it, 'Josh's AI.' He labeled the artificial intelligence, 'eM.' He pronounced it just like the letter, 'M.'

Josh set up eM to ingest data about Rahmati. Some information came from the web, but there were other sources as well. This included SIPRNet and JWICS. Lin ordered the NSA to install the classified drops in a newly constructed SCIF in ElectricMind's offices

*

Muhammad Rahmati was now operating out of his headquarters building in Babylon. His high-speed communications backbone finally linked to Tehran. The fiber optic installation went faster than normal because Chinese engineers laid the cable beside railways.

With high-speed, encrypted comms, Rahmati rushed to assemble his own team of cryptographers, analysts, and hackers in Babylon. They were to work in conjunction with Group 24 on Suleiman and Rodina.

Both Iraq and Persia purged their countries of all Western spies. Rahmati could tell from decrypted intercepts that the US and the UK were now operating entirely blind. They had no more reliable HUMINT in either Iraq or Persia.

"I'm glad you're finally here, Javan. We've gone through a lot together to reach this day. As you can see, there's no traffic in downtown Babylon," chuckled Rahmati. Babylon was still under heavy construction. It housed few residents.

"Well, I'll remember that," laughed Javan, heartily. "I'll need to find another way to rid Tehran of excess citizens. Evan Prison is not big enough."

"Good point. Governing the country would be much easier without all the people." Rahmati and Javan cackled in unison.

"The Americans are up to some intriguing things," said Rahmati. "We need to execute the third phase of Operation THUNDERCLAP soon. We both know that our possession of quantum computers will leak at some point. Or, the Americans will guess of their existence, especially with the hack of the Swarmbots. Although, I imagine they're still scratching their heads about that one. While we have the keys to America's Kingdom; we need to act.

Javan nodded. "Ultimately, I agree with your call on commandeering the Swarmbots. It was the only way to get in, secure the Ark, and make sure the Jews wouldn't rally around the idea of building their Temple. We don't have time to deal with that issue right now. Until the Americans figure out the hack, they'll shut down the SWARM program."

"I thought long and hard about taking the unexploded drones. It was just too risky. There could have been a back door somewhere. But we do have all the engineering diagrams and schematics."

"I don't want to have to deal with those things in Persia," exclaimed Javan.

Rahmati said, "I have other concerns. If the Americans can find the Ark; given enough time, they can ascertain the location of Suleiman and Rodina. Granted, they're deeply hidden, but so was the Ark. I want to interrogate those kids that escaped in Jerusalem. How on earth did they find that cave after 3000 years?

"In any case, we've got to move quickly and force the Americans to the bargaining table. We must be more successful than the Japanese or Al Qaeda, when they surprise attacked America. We need to hit fast—and then offer them a face-saving way out. Just like Pearl Harbor, the American's aren't ready.

"Right," said Javan. "I know one thing; we don't want an Iraqi Hiroshima or Persian Nagasaki. We need to ensure that the Russians and Chinese will cooperate, and not renege when the situation gets tense. We're laying out the chess board. Once the plan is implemented, there are only so many moves everyone one can make. Hopefully, we force the American's to respond accordingly.

"We're set to launch our Persian social media and e-commerce sites. Our engineers have versions in both Farsi and Arabic. Once you get your entire infrastructure set up here, we'll ship you the Arabic servers.

"Muhammad, with your popularity, you can begin pushing everyone to the .ISLAM domain. We've made sure the search engine is very robust, and we've hired some former Persian and Arab engineering executives from Silicon Valley. I love that we're taking this page right out of China's playbook. There's no Atom Search Engine in China, only Baidu. I'm excited we're going to follow that same model and create businesses headquartered in our countries, to employ our citizens."

"Indeed," replied Rahmati. "This Islam-First economic policy is genius. No wonder China has grown so fast."

"How's everything going here?" asked Javan.

"It's moving forward better than I anticipated. The amnesty, coupled with the fact that I've eliminated spies, has allowed us to decimate Daesh. You probably saw that we just retook Tikrit. Whenever we eliminate Daesh, we usually have to completely rebuild. We're spending a truckload of money on laying fiber. We aren't going to have a world class economy without guaranteeing access to high-speed Internet to all Iraqis.

"Of course, 93% of all Iraqi state revenue is derived from oil. You guys are in a better place. Your economy is a little more diversified. But, we both need oil prices to rise. We've got to build out our infrastructure more quickly. The greatest human tragedy over the last 100 years is that our rulers pocketed all the money from Allah's resource, made for His people.

"Allah created oil for Muslims to prosper. Instead, kings and dictators consumed it for themselves. The world is buying less and less Middle Eastern oil. Now is the time to act. Every year, Americans pump more shale oil and buy more electric cars. Europe is similar. We can't stop the flood, but we can realign our economies before the damn breaks."

*

"General Shields," said Becca, "I've worked non-stop to replicate the Swarmbot hack. I've tried everything I know. I haven't had any success. For the past two weeks, I focused heavily on Swarmlink. After a conversation with Josh, I thought there could be a hole in the peer-to-peer comms. But, Swarmlink uses the same encryption libraries as the satellite comms, AES 256.

"The Swarmbot operating system is embedded SELinux, the hardened version of Linux developed by the NSA. I've checked the ports and protocols, over and over. Everything is correctly configured. I don't have an answer for you. I can't tell you how Rahmati did it."

"Chris, what's Swarmbot Corporation's opinion regarding the hack?" asked Shields.

"Ken, Hideki, and I have looked at this from every angle. Now, anything can be hacked. But, none of us know how they did it. Our best guess is that Rahmati's team used a zero-day exploit. We just haven't found the source of the compromise yet. We all know that Iran is very good at hacking. We think Iraq is still in the Dark Ages. But, both of them are very chummy with the Russians and Chinese. They could have received a zero-day, or zero-days, from them—there could be more than one."

A zero-day was a never-seen-before cybersecurity attack or virus. Hackers paid big dollars for zero-days. Since they were brand new assaults, no anti-virus software was able to recognize the attack's signature. The NSA stockpiled zero-day attacks, as did may other nations. They'd be unleashed during times of heightened tension or war. Stuxnet contained multiple zero-day attacks.

"I've surfed the Darknet and trolled for any attacks that resembled the Swarmbot exploit. We couldn't find any candidate hacks. We also offered big money in the hacker chat rooms for zero-days that match our parameters. So far, no one has responded to our offer. We're stuck. But, we all feel a zero-day attack is the most likely scenario.

"We've considered if someone may have placed a backdoor in the Swarmbot's chipset. That's a favorite technique of the Chinese. But, we source all of our chips from US factories. Nobody has reported an exploit like this."

Becca steadied her nerves. "General, I have to bring this up. It's the only possibility that we haven't seriously considered. What if Rahmati cracked the AES encryption algorithm?"

"That's impossible," responded Shields, tersely. "The NSA certifies those algorithms."

The General directed his gaze to Josh. "Does the AI tell us anything new?"

"As we speak, I'm working through the files that Lin had delivered from the NSA Records Center. The ones relating to Rahmati's father are old. The records include handwritten notes that need translation. Then, I have to digitize them for eM. Did you know that Abdullah Rahmati played a role in the Iran-Contra Affair?

"Also, there was an interesting Mossad file on Abdullah. It claims that Abdullah was one of the handlers for the guy that shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca. Abdullah Rahmati was quite a colorful character.

"I'm working on training eM's neural network to understand the Swarmbot technical documentation. That's a bigger process than ingesting the Iran-Contra documents, because I have to teach the AI to understand technical literature."

Becca added, "I'm also reviewing the Swarmbot technical documentation again. It's possible someone leaked those documents. Perhaps the hackers identified a latent vulnerability by reading the documentation."

"Swarmbot doesn't think that's likely," said Chris. "We've carefully read through the technical literature many times. But we welcome a fresh set of eyes."

"This is all very disappointing," replied the General. "The best answers for the compromise of my $100M investment are: an unknown zero-day attack, I've got a mole, or Rahmati broke the Swarmbot's AES-256. I can't redeploy the Swarmbots until we identify the exploit. You guys have to do better."

In measured tones, Becca said, "General Shields, I'm concerned that our problem is bigger than the compromised Swarmbots. Your SWARM analysts tell me that all of our assets in Iraq and Persia have gone offline. What if their disappearance and the Swarmbot hack is related?"

General Shields groaned. "The CIA has lost a substantial number of human assets in Iraq and Persia. We haven't lost all of them, but we don't trust the information from any of them. We've never seen a packet of SIGINT from Rahmati, not even an email. He's in Babylon, using new fiber that's recently been lit. It connects him to Tehran. I can tell you that plans are being worked to rectify this situation. But Becca, it's not like you to be obtuse. What are you saying?"

A small ahem removed the frog from Becca's throat. "I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but it's not just that Rahmati hacked the Swarmbots and used them to execute our crew. He knew everything about our mission; from our names, to the fact that we were looking for the Ark. He was way too prepared.

"Couple that with that fact that our HUMINT in Iraq and Persia is totally compromised, and I think we need to extend our worst case thinking. There may be no mole. It could be that he's derived an algorithm to defeat AES-256. Not just the AES in Swarmbots—all AES 256. I know we all think that's impossible, but we've got to start considering that possibility, as remote as it is."

General Shield's eyes glazed over. "That would be unthinkably dangerous for America. It would be like Alan Turing's mechanical computer, the Bombe. We used the Bombe to break the code for Hitler's Enigma machine. If Rahmati has a digital Bombe, we need to destroy it. History tells us how it turned out for Germany—once we broke their codes."

Becca focused on the word, digital. The thought crossed her mind, What if Rahmati isn't using a digital computer?

## Chapter 38 – Quantum Probabilities

10:05 a.m. (EDT), Thursday, April 29, 2021 – Columbia, MD

Suite 502, ElectricMind's Offices, Defense Innovations Accelerator

General Shields looked deeply into Josh's eyes. "Tell me again Josh. I've set up a meeting for later this morning with POTUS. I've requested the attendance of the new Director of the CIA, Roscoe Tanner, and POTUS' National Security Advisor."

Josh was afraid the General's hopes for eM were too high. He replied sheepishly, "eM hasn't made as definitive a prediction as when she located the Ark—"

"I certainly can't tell the President about the Ark," barked Shields.

"I know. I'm just trying to manage your expectations. eM is producing statistical representations based on mathematical models as to the cause of the Swarmbot's compromise."

"He means," said Becca, "all we can give you are probabilities."

Josh continued, "Not all of the predictions are mutually exclusive. But for the sake of simplicity, let's just say they are.

"eM lists an outright hack at a 15% probability. This prediction incorporates her search of the Deep Web and examination of zero-day vulnerabilities.

"She also thinks there's a 15% chance that a hacker somehow exfiltrated the AES encryption keys. This was Becca's original line of inquiry. From there, the predictions are more dire.

"eM guesses a 25% chance that the information was leaked by a high-level mole or moles, with access to the Swarmbot program. If the moles exist, they are probably members of the IC, with superuser privileges. This would mean that Becca, all of the Swarmbot team, and eM have overlooked an exploit—that the hacker recognized—in the technical documentation.

"Her most disconcerting statistical prediction is the one to which she assigns the single highest probability—a 35% chance. That's the possibility that Rahmati has created a quantum computer that he's employing to break our encryption."

Shields got more agitated than when he'd heard it the first time. "I just can't see how that's possible. I thought only public key encryption was susceptible to cracking by a quantum computer?"

Becca replied, "Maybe he's developed other algorithms, in addition to Shor's algorithm."

"I think eM weights a quantum computer as most probable, because we came across some interesting facts in the archived files Lin had delivered," said Josh.

"While the main action in Iran-Contra involved American weapons shipped to Iran, by way of Israel; valuable technical information was also included in the deal. Incidentally, I can't believe that Bush didn't get indicted for Iran-Contra. The then Vice President was involved up to his elbows!"

Shields laughed. "If he got away with Operation 40 and J. Edgar Hoover's letter linking him with the Big Event in Dallas, Iran-Contra was never going to touch him. He pardoned most everybody when he became President. So, what sort of technical information?"

"Back then, it was cutting edge. We sent the latest US research on computing. This included information on Intel 386 processors, supercomputers, and quantum computation. All of this data went directly to Abdullah Rahmati. By then, he was a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Guards.

"After the Iran-Iraq war, Abdullah Rahmati retired from the Revolutionary Guards and started Iran's computer industry. I found little on Abdullah after that. But, it's possible his company has been researching quantum computing since then. He looks to have substantial ties to Russian and Chinese academics."

For the first time, Josh saw an apprehensive expression sweep over General Shields. It scared Josh.

"Damn, that's a nightmare scenario," said Shields. "No one was supposed to beat us to a quantum computer. It's not like we haven't considered this development. We just thought everyone was behind us. All we possess are prototypes. We're not even close to a fully operational quantum computer. And, we were always just concerned about public key encryption. Cracking AES was deemed impossible—even by a quantum computer. By the way, that doesn't add up to 100%, does it?"

"No," replied Josh, "eM has a catchall. She guesses that there is a 10% chance that there's some unknown cause for the Swarmbot's hack, like a backdoor in the chips or sensors."

General Shields sighed out all the breath from his lungs. "There's no end to the damage that Muhammad Rahmati could do to our national security with a quantum computer that can crack public key and AES encryption. He'd essentially have the full resources of the US DoD and IC at his fingertips. He'd also have visibility into every single financial transaction in the world.

"POTUS loves this guy. He thinks he's the new savior of the Middle East. He follows his Twitter and Snapchat accounts on his phone. He subscribes to his A-Tube channel. I've got to find some way to make the President worry about Rahmati, preferably without talking about the Swarmbots.

"Keep up this line of inquiry. If he does have a quantum computer, I need eM to figure out its location. I'll try to get you more information on Persia, especially right before and after the Iran-Iraq war. And, I'll get you everything else we have on Abdullah and his conglomerate."

*

General Shields entered the Oval Office and greeted President Goodson. The DCIA, Roscoe Tanner, was already seated on the couch in the sitting area.

The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, known more informally as the NSC Advisor, sat on the other couch, looking at the DCIA. The presidential seal was visible on the circular blue rug.

As they rose to greet General Shields, DIRNSA recognized an unexpected visitor. The Vice President, Alexander Cain, sat in a wing-backed chair, at the far end of the sitting area. He directly faced POTUS' Oval Office desk. VPOTUS was a former governor of California. As a one-time Texas Senator, President Goodson selected Cain to appeal to the most moderate members of his party.

"General Shields, I asked Vice President Cain to join our meeting. Later this afternoon, we have to attend a lunch engagement. I thought his knowledge of the Middle East would be helpful."

"Outstanding," replied Shields, as he shook Cain's limp hand.

Shields and Cain crossed each other's paths occasionally during Goodson's first term. They respected one another, although Shields thought Cain to be a soft liberal, and Cain pegged Shields as a digital cowboy.

"Mr. President," said the General, "I've come in person to reiterate a very troubling issue regarding the Prime Minister of Iraq, Muhammad Rahmati. Of course, we've all been abuzz about Rahmati. He's achieved a level of popularity—among Arabs and Persians, Sunnis and Shias, and worldwide—that no one ever even imagined.

"We've talked about the many positive developments in Iraq. Rahmati has become the unifying leader we hoped would rise after Saddam fell in 2003. He's nearly wiped out the Caliphate in Iraq. He's done significant damage to them in Syria. He's dealt fairly with the Kurds and Sunnis. Of course, he's a major ally of Persia, but this does fit nicely with our strategy of Persian rapprochement that we kicked-off with the nuclear deal. Rahmati is the most popular leader in the region. The closest thing to him in recent memory is Nasser, in the 1960s."

POTUS knew Shields well. He expected, maybe just one more platitude, and then the other shoe would drop.

"However," continued Shields, "as the chief signal collector for the United States of America, I can tell you that the NSA is completely in the dark regarding Iraq. And, we know less about Persia then after the Revolution toppled the Shah."

"Our SIGINT on Rahmati and his inner circle is less than negligible. He's a ghost. We've never intercepted any communications between Babylon and Tehran, even though we've got pictures of Rahmati and General Javan meeting regularly. His operational security in Babylon is impeccable.

"He appears to be assembling a robust, cyber-operations division, located with him at his new Babylonian headquarters. We assume that they're working in close coordination with Tehran. Recently, we discovered that these cyber-forces have hijacked some US systems—in ways we can't yet explain.

"Thinking beyond just SIGINT; Rahmati seems to anticipate our every move. In my opinion, he has access to some of our most classified information. Rahmati may have spies operating at the highest levels in the US or the UK. Mr. President, our analysts think it's very likely that Muhammad Rahmati or General Javan have cracked our military encryption."

President Goodson looked perturbed. "Bernie, all during my first term, you were on my ass to do more about the Caliphate. As you know, that was a tricky situation. We had to thread the needle with Syria. But, the Russians and the Persians stopped the Caliphate from overthrowing the Syrian government and drove them east, into the Syrian Desert.

"Rahmati destabilized the mullahs in Persia. Then, he did more dirty work for us in Iraq. Heck, even the Europeans had to pony up cash and air power. Now, the Caliphate is nullified. And it's only negligibly impacted our $25-plus trillion national debt. Muhammad Rahmati has done the hard work for us. He's a godsend." Goodson looked to his Vice President.

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."

''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' ''''' '''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' '''''''''' ''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''' '''''' '''''''''''''' ''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''''''' 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. ''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''' ''''' '''''''' ''''''''''' ''''''''''''' ''''''' ''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''' '''''''''''' ''''''''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' ''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''' '''''''' ''''''''''''''

"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."

## Chapter 39 – Discovered

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.

Satellite images were displayed on the six flat panel displays, at the opposite end of the President's chair. POTUS sat at the head of the 13 seat conference table. The pictures showed Persian and Iraqi forces massing along the Persian Gulf, across from Saudi Arabia.

A Persian fast boat had boarded a Norwegian tanker that was steaming through the Strait of Hormuz. And, the President was pressing the DCIA and General Shields, as to how Rahmati could have possibly known about the CIA's fiber tapping operation.

"Mr. President," said General Shields, "I don't know. But our leading theories haven't changed. There's either a very high-level mole, or Rahmati has cracked our encryption—possibly with a quantum computer. If indeed he's hacked Saudi documents; that may tell us more. They use different root certificates for their public keys. This would be indicative of a more widespread problem with encryption—worldwide."

Each of the Joint Chiefs of Staff detailed how the armed forces were going about mobilization to protect Saudi Arabia from descending into chaos. "The key here is to protect Saudi oil fields from falling into Iraq or Persia's hands," said the President. "This has been the strategic linchpin of our Middle East policy since FDR."

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—CJCS—highlighted the significant naval assets in the area. "Mr. President, the 5th Fleet has our newest carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, already deployed in the Red Sea.

"We can move her to the Persian Gulf, and send the 6th Fleet's, Abraham Lincoln through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. Right now, she's in the Mediterranean. Then we can steam the George Washington as her replacement. She can be in the Mediterranean in seven days. She's disembarking from her home port in Norfolk, right now. Three carrier groups is a boatload of firepower."

POTUS didn't appreciate the pun.

The Secretary of Defense—SECDEF—proceeded to brief recommended troop levels. He advised the President deploy 100,000 to 125,000 soldiers to protect the kingdom and defend the Saudi oil fields. The troops could all be in place in 60 to 90 days.

The NSC Advisor briefed the situation in Turkey. "It appears that Kurdish activity along the border of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria has dramatically increased. I'd venture to guess, part of Rahmati's oil deal with the Kurds is to support the Kurds as his proxy in a war against Turkey. That's what the Quds Force would do. And of course Turkey's stability was questionable to begin with."

General Shields shook his head in disbelief. "How is one man operating with such speed and clarity, while we can't even collect a single rogue packet of his SIGINT? As you know, Mr. President, TAO has just implemented a new TOP SECRET operation to hack Iraqi and Persian cyber assets. They'll leverage some of our best stockpiled zero-days. I'll have CYBERCOM detail all of our offensive cyberwar options. I'll get that report to you later this evening."

The DCIA added, "And Langley will speed up the investigation of the quantum computer thread."

## Chapter 40 – Blackout

1:35 p.m. (EDT), Monday, May 31, 2021 – Columbia, MD

SWARM Op Center, Sixth-Floor SCIF, Defense Innovations Accelerator

General Shields and Lin Liu watched ElectricMind's presentation on the video wall in the SWARM Op Center. Three and one-half months had passed since Rahmati commandeered the Swarmbots in Jerusalem. The SWARM program had been grounded since then.

But the General kept the center staffed. Everybody liked the energy and entrepreneurial environment of the room. Shields' most trusted digital hackers filled the op center. TAO provided skilled intelligence gatherers. Offensive cyber-warriors came from CYBERCOM.

May 2021 had been the most difficult month in General Shields' professional career.

Rahmati's .ISLAM social media properties, backed by a powerful Islamic search engine, released a steady barrage of incredibly embarrassing information. Rahmati also established a satellite TV station, called Crescent TV. It spread favorable media coverage. He patterned the station after Al Jazeera and RT, formerly known as Russia Today. Crescent TV maintained studios in Babylon, Tehran, and Washington DC.

Rahmati's A-Tube-like website, CrescenTube, released footage of the CIA's clandestine operation to tap Iraqi-Persian fiber. This was followed by the video interrogations of the incarcerated CIA agents.

The attack and confessions especially struck a chord in Persia. Iranians had a long history of antipathy for the CIA. In 1953, the CIA led a coup—known as Operation AJAX—to overthrow Iran's legitimately elected representative, Mohammad Mosaddig. The US reinstalled the Shah to replace Prime Minister Mosaddig.

Rahmati also launched a WikiLeaks-type site. He released secret political communiques that vividly portrayed the US playing a balance of power strategy in the Middle East, pitting Sunnis against Shias. While diplomatic insiders always knew of the policy; it was troubling for the general populace to see the emails and hand-written documents.

The biggest bombshells came from disclosures related to Saudi Arabia. The extent of Saudi corruption stunned the world. Most galling were the transfers of state oil money directly into the personal accounts of Saudi government officials.

And, American's were shocked at the staggering dollar figures that flowed from Saudi Arabia into the coffers of US politicians, influential Americans, and prominent US institutions. Many Americans asked what exactly was being sold for all this money.

Rahmati also released documents detailing the extent to which Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf states supported the Caliphate, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The revelations galvanized the people of Iraq, Syria, and Persia. Americans were equally stunned. The extent of the Saudi revelations led eM to increase the likelihood that Rahmati was leveraging a quantum computer to 39%.

In response to the leaks, once again, massive protests spread across the Middle East. Now, the biggest demonstrations occurred in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi's client state, the tiny island of Bahrain, also participated in the dissident movement. Given the US base there, the situation was extremely worrisome to the US.

The House of Saud cracked down hard. However, they came under increasing international condemnation, especially from the UN Secretary General. The authoritarian regime in Egypt was also under fire from students and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Palestinians even marched against their government.

"I want to make sure we watch the Rahmati address at two o'clock," said General Shields.

"No problem," replied Josh. "We'll be done by then."

Josh continued the briefing. "eM's been ingesting the Persian geospatial information on JWICS. She guesses that the quantum computer is located in one of the many buildings owned by the Rahmati Technology Conglomerate. Obviously, that's not too surprising."

"I've hacked into the Persian property records database in Tehran," said Becca. "With the help of your Farsi speaking analysts, we've found 12 sites that are owned by the conglomerate. Based on all the parameters we think a quantum computer would need to operate, eM predicts that these four structures are the most likely spot for a quantum computer—if it exists." Becca displayed a map of Tehran, with the four probable sites highlighted.

"That's good work," said General Shields. "Can't we just hack those building's computers in and look for signs of the quantum computer? Once we find it, we can just take it out."

"We've penetrated some of them," replied Becca, "but, it's not been very helpful. So far, there's been nothing that even hints at the existence of a quantum computer, let alone its location."

Shields carefully studied Becca's map of Tehran. "Well, CYBERCOM has certainly prepared the battlefield in Persia. If POTUS doesn't want to kinetically bomb those structures, there are other options to take those locations down. We've got backdoors into their power grid."

It was now 2:00. All eyes turned to the Crescent TV feed in the middle of the video wall. Muhammad Rahmati stepped to a marble podium in Babylon. After a typical Muslim greeting, Rahmati began.

"Our holy writings talk about a time in which everything hidden will be revealed. The revelations I've posted regarding the deceitful actions of the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United States are one fulfillment of this prophecy.

"Once again, I call upon Saudi Arabia to return the holy lands of Mecca and Medina. And, I promise that Iraq, along with our great ally Persia, stand ready to protect any Muslim in harm's way. This includes citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf State—including Bahrain.

"As I stated in my speech on the evening of May 14, cyber-intrusions into the state of Iraq will not be tolerated. I will be releasing information in the next 10 minutes to the CrescentLeaks.ISLAM site. These documents, and accompanying analytics, will detail the number and extent to which the US continues to actively engage in spying and cyber-aggression against the nation of Iraq.

"In addition, I will be releasing details from a TOP SECRET project, recently started by the NSA and CIA, to step up cyber-monitoring and foreign spy infiltration of our country. This espionage program began after we thwarted the CIA's illegal incursion into our nation. The Americans have crossed my red line. Consequences are forthcoming."

The once buzzing SWARM Op Center was now deadly silent. Rahmati's words hung in the air like a thick fog.

"Dammit!" yelled the General. "We can't keep one single secret. Do we have to return to typewriters? Think of this guy's bravado—he's threatening the world's only superpower and Saudi Arabia—at the same time.

"There's a significant Shia population in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, they're concentrated near the major Saudi oil fields. Although Bahrain is an independent country, it's really just an extension of Saudi Arabia. It's critical to the US, because we use our base there to project power in the Middle East. He's declaring war on Saudi Arabia, and telling them he's coming for their oil. And we're going to be stuck in the middle of a Saudi civil war, defending an unpopular monarchy."

"What do you think he intends to do about our hacking?" asked Becca.

The General replied, "I don't' know. I don't expect him to be over-aggressive. It would be suicide to fight the US and Saudi Arabia at the same time."

"Why do you think he's not announced anything about the Ark?" whispered Josh.

"I don't know. I imagine he'll reveal it at some future date, when it better suits him. He's shown himself to be a brilliant warrior, promoter, and now; a very adept statesman."

"We all know he's a murderer. Why don't we just tell the world? Then, we can release the footage of Rahmati from the Swarmbots," said Becca.

Josh answered the question for the General. "We'd have to explain how we obtained the video, and where it was taken. We don't want to draw undue attention to the Jerusalem property. The construction crew sealed the entrance to the tunnel, and they're laying low right now."

Becca rolled her eyes in frustration. "Then, we've got to upgrade the encryption on the Swarmbots. We need intel. If we can find Rahmati, we should take him out." She was surprised at the words that just came from her mouth.

General Shields' laugh filled the room. "Look at our new Swarmbot champion. Becca, I told you the world was shades of gray. I agree with your sentiments. From here on out, I'll read you into any program you want.

"By the way, the Fort is working around the clock to perfect their quantum-resistant algorithms. Since Rahmati's last speech, troops have been mobilizing for deployment to Saudi Arabia. The Persian Gulf is a powder keg. We need secure comms."

A breaking alert came from the CNN feed streaming on another portion of the video wall.

"We're receiving numerous reports that the entire state of Texas is experiencing a power blackout. We'll try to get you more details shortly." The news anchor was visibly disturbed. "It's not clear if the blackout is related to Muhammad Rahmati's pledge of retribution for cyber-attacks upon Iraq."

*

20 minutes later, General Shields was in NSOC.

"It's a total blackout of the Texas grid. But the Western and Eastern Interconnections are fully operational," said the duty officer. Three separate, but connected networks, comprised the US electric grid. "All of Texas is dark. This includes Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. DHS is reporting that the Port of Houston's backup systems have either failed or been taken off-line.

"DHS is also receiving a steady stream of complaints from energy companies. All the reports are essentially the same. A significant number of domestic oil and gas rigs have been incapacitated. All the affected platforms make use of horizontal drilling techniques, otherwise known as fracking."

The Department of Homeland Security was the lead agency in charge of protecting US critical infrastructure. Because it owned none of the critical infrastructure, the agency had little real-time visibility into energy companies' networks.

"We've got to get ahead of events," said Shields, infuriated. "I'm sick of constantly reacting. Every Texan's commute home will be a nightmare. We have 48 hours before this becomes a Hurricane Katrina-like situation, with riots and looting. When people's food in their refrigerators starts to spoil, all hell will break loose."

An NSOC analyst directed General Shields' attention to the Fox Business channel. The S&P 500 Index was down 11%. Gold was spiking. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $159 a barrel. This would send gas to over $5, by next week.

The anchor issued rapid-fire updates.

"We're receiving numerous reports that Russian troops have driven further into Ukraine, besieging its capital of Kiev."

"Japanese news agencies are reporting that China has moved an armada of ships into the disputed Senkaku Islands."

"For God's sake," blurted the General. "This is a concerted effort by Russia, China, Iraq, and Persia. Any one of those nations could be behind a cyber-attack on our energy infrastructure." Shields' next thought turned the damage those nations could do to DoD networks. He rushed to NTOC.

*

General Shields huddled in a conference room behind the electronically fogged windows of NTOC Ops Room A. NTOC stood for the NSA Threat Operations Center, pronounced, 'N-Tock.' NTOC provided 24/7 monitoring of US national security networks. It functioned similarly to the computer incident response team at DHS. But NTOC monitored DoD and IC networks, and maintained deep hooks into NSA's vast SIGINT infrastructure.

The atmosphere at NTOC was even more tense than NSOC. NTOC network sensors were lighting up all over the Middle East.

NTOC's Director briefed Shields. "We've lost control of all our drones involved in operations over Persia and Iraq. They've been forced to land. Every one of our naval assets in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean is reporting severely degraded comms. All manned aircraft on patrol or reconnaissance are being recalled. Pilots are reporting anomalies with their cockpit's instruments.

"No one has ever seen anything like this. We're having real trouble ascertaining the source of these advanced persistent threats. This is the worst breach of DoD networks—ever. Someone is in complete control of US military comms in the Middle East."

NTOC's briefing was like a punch to Shields' kidney. He labored to catch his breath. He'd hoped to be in a position to manage an aggressive cyber-attack on Rahmati—led by CYBERCOM. Now, with DoD networks under attack, he was still on the defensive.

*

At 5:30 p.m., President Goodson addressed the nation.

"It's important to know that Federal agencies are working with Texas electric power authorities to find the root cause of the problem. As you know, it's nearly summer in Texas. The entire South is experiencing a heat wave. Before the power went out, I checked the temperature at my ranch. It was 105 degrees.

"I've been on the phone with the Texas Governor. He's deploying the Texas National Guard to all major cities. I'm ordering federal troops to help as well. All Texans must know that the full resources of the United States are behind you. You're in our thoughts and prayers. Together, hand-in-hand, we'll get through these challenges. It's also important for everyone to remain calm and abide by the law. Look after your neighbors. Help is on the way. These are the times in which Americans always rise to the occasion.

"I'm aware of initial reports stating that the power blackout is a result of cyber-attack. About that, let me say two things: first, it's too early to determine the cause of the Texas Blackout. Second, in the course of our investigation, if we determine that this was an act of cyberwarfare, know this: We'll hold the nation or nations that housed the attackers—as the attackers. Our response will be proportional; an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

*

Lisa Shields was sound asleep. The General had not made it home for the evening. Mrs. Shields was startled out of her slumber. The volume on her TV was blaring and tuned to an Islamic station. She realized that she was sweating profusely.

Lisa walked to the e-thermostat. The air conditioner was turned off. That's weird. I turned it down before I went to bed. We're in a heatwave for goodness sake. She looked more closely at the digital face of the thermostat. The status window read, 'Ask your husband about SAMANTHA.'

## Chapter 41 – The Offer

2:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, June 1, 2021 \- Washington, DC

Conference Room, White House Situation Room, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.

Less than 12 hours after the Texas power grid went dark, POTUS was meeting with his advisors. General Shields was dead tired. Typically, he would have attended via secure video teleconference. But there were no more secure communications. So he occupied the black leather chair—two seats down from the President.

POTUS was at the head of the polished, cherry conference table. Less important advisors assembled behind POTUS, in less comfortable chairs that lined the walls of the rectangular conference room. The Whitehouse Sit Room adhered to TOP SECRET SCIF standards.

The Secretary of DHS was briefing President Goodson. "This is definitely a cyber-attack on the SCADA systems of the Texas Interconnection. It's very sophisticated. The generators in the power plants can't spin fast enough to produce electricity for the grid. The good news is that they're only being slowed down. If they're sped up, all of them could be destroyed—just like in Aurora. If that happened, power could be offline in Texas, for months.

"New generators are difficult to acquire in that quantity. A nation state, or hackers heavily financed by a nation state, is responsible for these attacks." The Idaho National Laboratory ran the Aurora Generator Test. The test demonstrated cybersecurity vulnerabilities of generators on the electric grid.

"Well, which nation state is it?" asked the exasperated President. "Is it Rahmati?"

"As of yet, we've been unable to attribute the primary source of the attacks," said the DHS leader. "Zombie machines, from all over the world, are the coordinating the assault. After we block one, another is spun up to take its place. At this time, I can't tell you who is behind this act of cyberwarfare. It's the same story with the Port of Houston and the domestic energy rigs. We can't definitively attribute the attack. We don't know who's responsible; we only have suspicions."

POTUS sighed in disbelief and cursed under his breath. "What can NSA and CYBERCOM tell us, General Shields?"

"Mr. President, I can report that our military networks in the Middle East are also under an advanced persistent attack. This has led to periodic interruptions in comms with in-theater naval assets, including naval aircraft. Our entire drone fleet operating over Persia and Iraq has been commandeered."

"As you know, an hour ago we issued a CRITIC that the GPS system was down. We've not been able to identify the party responsible for the attack. The GPS shutdown is going to have very broad implications, not only for the military, but also for civilians."

An aide rushed to the President's side and whispered in his ear. Goodson excused himself abruptly. "Muhammad Rahmati is on the line for me."

*

"Mr. President, I know that this is a difficult time for you."

"Prime Minister Rahmati, if you are behind these attacks, rest assured that I will respond in kind. And the nuclear option is on the table."

"Mr. President, I can understand your reaction. I'm calling in an attempt to de-escalate this situation. I can tell you that these attacks are coming from all over the world. Nuking Baghdad, or Babylon, or Tehran will not stop them. Unleashing a massive cyber-attack on Iraq or Persia will not stop them.

"In fact, I believe an overreaction of that nature will merely accelerate the attacks. My intelligence sources tell me that the Western Interconnect and Eastern Interconnect will be shut down, in addition to the Texas power grid. The generators will be destroyed, not just disabled. From what I've heard, something like Stuxnet will happen to all US power generators. Chatter we've intercepted implies that your high-voltage power lines will also fry.

"I'm sure you realize the ramifications of the destruction of the generators and power lines. It could be years before your nation is fully powered again. Let that sink in. Years.

"Now, I'm confident that you can turn Iraq into glass with your nukes. Or, you could destroy our electricity and energy infrastructure. You could send us back to the Stone Age, if you wanted. But, I'm also certain that your nation is the most connected country in the world. America has much more to lose than we do.

"I can also tell you this. Persia's first response to a US nuclear attack on their homeland or Iraq, would be to launch ballistic missiles aimed at Tel Aviv and Haifa. I would caution you as to the nature of those rockets. I'm sure UN inspectors haven't missed anything, but it's possible those weapons are nuclear."

"Why are you calling Rahmati?" snarled POTUS. "And where are my citizens you've detained?"

"As I said Mr. President, I'm calling to rectify this situation. Think of me as your advocate. I know who to persuade to restore power to your Texas grid immediately. Your Persian Gulf military comms and your GPS system will come back online. Your fracking capability has suffered damage and will need repair.

"The contingent I represent will offer reparations for this damage. We'll also start a fund for anyone that's endured extreme harm. I'm primarily thinking about the sick and elderly suffering in the heat in Texas. Also, we'll return your captured CIA operatives and drones."

"Who is your side?" asked POTUS.

"Mr. President, you look at the polls in the Middle East. My allies consist of the majority of Arabs and Persians. Even Muslims in Turkey, Pakistan, the Caucasus, and Indonesia support me. More concretely, you're well aware that Iraq's allies are Persia, Russia, and China."

"What do you want from me in return?" asked POTUS.

"What we're asking for is simple. Leave Iraq and Persia alone. Keep out of our sphere of influence. You can call it the Rahmati Doctrine. Just like there are no Iraqi forces in Mexico or Panama, keep your troops out of the Middle East.

"We have no problem with your forces in Afghanistan. But, we are big boys. We can now take care of ourselves. More specifically, I want a commitment from you to stay out of Saudi Arabia. Remove the troops that you've sent and don't deploy anymore. Let the chips fall where they may.

"Stay away from Turkey. Don't try to rollback today's actions by Russia and China. If Bahrain falls under our sphere of influence, you have my word that we'll honor your current lease terms for the 5th Fleet's base. You'll be able to continue to project power in the region and protect your interests."

"Muhammad, Turkey is a NATO member and Saudi Arabia is a major ally of the United States, I—"

Rahmati interrupted POTUS. "When America signed the nuclear deal with Persia, you signaled to the world that your strategy in the Middle East would be more balanced. In this age of democracy, freedom, and openness; you no longer have to support kings and dictators.

"I can't fathom the American support of a kingdom that suppresses its own people and funds Wahhabi Jihadism. 80% of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Portions of your own 9/11 Commission's report had to be classified to hide their involvement. Some ally! Well, I take that back. I've seen the money trail. I guess I understand it completely. Mr. President, as I recall, you've been a hefty beneficiary of Saudi money. As far as Turkey, NATO won't want any part of a Kurdish-Turkish civil war. It's not like Russian tanks are rolling through Ankara."

"And if I reject your offer, and launch cyber and military attacks on you, Iran, Russia, and China?"

"I'm not going to enumerate everything that will happen. But let me start with this: You have until 7:00 a.m. this morning to accept my offer. Should you refuse, a series of escalations will occur.

"First, the generators in the Texas grid will be destroyed. Texas will be dark for a long time; including the Port of Houston. By the way, oil just hit $200 a barrel. That should send your price of gasoline to nearly seven dollars a gallon, in the days ahead.

"Next, all your power generators in the Eastern Interconnection will be destroyed. New York, New Jersey, and the entire East Coast will make a one-way trip back to the 1890s. I hope America has adequate stocks of kerosene lamps. Your exchanges will be unable to open. I don't know if you've had a chance to see your stock market futures, but they just hit the lows of the evening. All your major indices are down another 10%. Mr. President, your markets are in free-fall.

"After that, your unclassified military Internet—the NIPRNet, will be taken offline. Then, SIPRNet and JWICS will go down. Thomas, your adversary is using the Internet as the highly resilient network DARPA first intended, when they created ARPANET. You could vaporize Iraq, Persia, China, and Russia and still not stop the attacks.

"Also, I'm told that much more embarrassing information will be released. Did you know that your married Defense Secretary is involved in a homosexual affair with one of his staff? Your Chairman of the Federal Reserve is amassing a small fortune in an offshore account. He's discovered that it's very profitable to tip off the Big Wall Street banks before the release of the Fed's rate decision, the FOMC Meeting Minutes, and the monthly employment report. That's just some of the juicy details. Tom, I'm told that a portion of the disclosures pertain to you.

"Now, we can both work in secret to make this go away. I'm set to release more information on corruption within the Saudi government. In the face of this evidence, you can say that you don't want to be on the wrong side of history in supporting a corrupt regime. It's the same thing the US did with Mubarak in Egypt and Qaddafi in Libya—cut and run.

"I'll say we had nothing to do with Texas. I'll recall some diplomats and tell the world that was our response to your cyber-attacks. All of this can disappear. We can sweep everything under the rug. We can both go back to improving our countries' tomorrows."

*

A visibly shaken President returned to the Sit Room. Shields had never seen him in such a state of angst.

He detailed Rahmati's demands. He told his advisors that Rahmati claimed to have damaging personal information on many in the room. From the corner of his eye, POTUS looked at the SECDEF and saw his aide wince. Shields' heart raced at the thought of his own personal jeopardy.

"Can we identify and take out the hackers in the next four hours?" asked President Goodson. "I'm apt to believe that Rahmati is not bluffing."

The CJCS answered, "We could definitely take out sites in Iraq, Persia, China, and Russia with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. Of course, there would be retaliatory strikes."

"We could drop non-nuclear, electromagnetic pulse bombs. They could fry all the computers and the electric grid. But, I don't think we could hit all the sites in four hours."

"And, we don't know if that would stop the cyber-attacks," said General Shields. "Rahmati is using a massively distributed botnet to conduct these attacks. We don't know where to send a nuke or an EMP bomb. It's clear that his side has been preparing the cyber-battlefield for a long time. They've probably maintained trapdoors and Trojan horses in our critical infrastructure for years."

"Alright," said the SECDEF, who was technically General Shields' boss. "What can you do from a cyberwar perspective, General Shields?"

"We can immediately take down the grids in Persia and Iraq. We can do the same in Russia and China, although it will take a little longer."

POTUS asked, "Are we sure that if we turned out the lights in those places, the attacks would stop?"

"No sir," responded Shields. "The botnet is utilizing corrupted computers from all over the world, including the UK, Japan, Germany, and Australia. If we had more than four hours, we could probably find better answers. We do know that the hackers are very sophisticated, and they cover their tracks exceptionally well. Rahmati may possess a distributed AI capability to continue the cyber-attacks, in the event of annihilation.

"We could attempt to shut down the Internet, but this would have drastic consequences for US commerce and confidence. And Iraq, Persia, China, and Russia have taken steps to create their own Internet backbones.

"Most importantly, Mr. President, we don't know how they've compromised our encrypted military comms. It's one thing to hack the Internet. It's quite another to hack the GPS system and military infrastructure. They commandeered drones and degraded naval comms. The 5th Fleet is using signal flags to communicate. Even if you launched nukes, it's possible hackers could redirect them. They completely own us right now."

POTUS processed the situation in light of the deadline. He thought about the ramifications of action and compromise. "If I agree to his conditions, then this will become his pattern—every time he wants something. However, a negotiated settlement would allow us to buy us some time."

After further deliberation, POTUS said, "This isn't Munich; this is General MacArthur retreating from the Philippines to regroup. We'll be back. We've got to ascertain how he's accomplishing all this mayhem. Then, we can more adequately counter it. It's clear to me that we're woefully unprepared for cyberwar. And we've been resting on our laurels in quantum computing."

The President called Rahmati at 6:00 a.m. He agreed to stand-down American troop deployments to Saudi Arabia and to ignore the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. He negotiated with Rahmati to buy oil at a discount. Rahmati promised to keep everything quiet and reiterated his concessions, including the release of the CIA agents and drones.

By mid-morning on June 1, 2021, the Texas Interconnection grid was back operational. The Federal Reserve announced the results of an emergency meeting. They would reduce interest rates by 50 basis points, and engage in a new round quantitative easing.

While the stock market soared on the announcement, so did the price of gold and oil. The US dollar tanked. Commodities were priced in US dollars. When the value of the US dollar decreased, commodities; like gold, oil, and copper—skyrocketed.

Though mostly kept from the public; hedge fund managers and the big Wall Street banks received reports detailing the extensive damage done to US domestic oil and natural gas rigs. This destruction occurred predominantly in Texas, North Dakota, and the Marcellus Shale running from Pennsylvania to New York. The rigs were fried. It would take six to nine months to return to the pre-6/1 oil and natural gas production levels.

In the following week, oil shot to $225 a barrel. This, in turn, priced gas at nearly $7.50. The drastic rise in energy prices seriously threatened to slow the US economy. Gas prices were the highest they'd ever been in the US.

## Chapter 42 – Awaking the Sleeping Bear

6:30 p.m. (EDT), Friday, July 16, 2021 – Columbia, MD

Suite 602, Conference Room, Defense Innovations Accelerator

Samantha Powers shuffled through her financial reports one more time. She was preparing for Gamification Systems' Board of Directors meeting. Lin Liu shared the conference room with her.

General Shields entered. "What are we doing in here? I thought we'd be meeting in my office, like always." Then, Shields noticed Lin.

"General," replied Samantha, "I thought I'd have Lin attend this meeting so she could take the meeting minutes. It's been a while since our last board meeting. We have a lot to discuss."

Shields closed the door. He sat down at the head of the table.

"Are you alright, General?" asked Lin. "You look...well, you don't look too good."

Shields leaned back in his chair. He raised his arms to his head, and firmly grasped his hands behind his skull. Then he exhaled deeply. "6/1 rocked the very foundations of our government. President Goodman is doing a good job in public of downplaying everything that transpired. But behind the scenes, we're scrambling to architect a game plan to use against Rahmati."

POTUS ordered a 120-day gold review panel to ascertain root causes of the power outage. He selected people he could control. The utility and energy companies were told to keep quiet for national security reasons. The President gave all the CEO's secret, written assurances that he'd suspend Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for them and their firms.

The New York Times was set to run a story detailing the extensive damage done to the fracking rigs, and tie it to reports of degraded military comms and the power outage. Both POTUS and VPOTUS called the Times' Editor and persuaded him to kill the story.

"I have to hand it to the President, behind the scenes, he's using 6/1 as a rallying cry for his Administration." Shields impersonated Goodman with a Texas accent he'd developed while working as Commander of AFCBYER in San Antonio. "Ladies and gentlemen, we just got our ass handed to us, like a rodeo clown in an outhouse."

"Eww," said Lin. "I can't even imagine what that means...but it sounds bad."

Shields continued, "It's up to us to make damn sure that the twenty-first century is the Merican century. We've all been worried about China overtaking the US. We should've been thinking about the Middle East."

POTUS got congressional funding for a multi-billion dollar TOP SECRET project named, LEVIATHAN. He likened LEVIATHAN to the Manhattan Project that created the nuclear bomb to end World War II in Asia.

Project LEVIATHAN's goal was to rapidly build a fully functional, quantum computer. Two teams were selected to compete independently in a race to create the winning design and implementation. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California housed one team. The other competitor was stationed at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois.

An umbrella TS/SCI operation, code named MOLESKIN, was established to contain the many projects and operations dealing with Iraq, Persia, and Rahmati.

GWENIVER was the code name assigned to a particularly important project under the MOLESKIN umbrella. GWENIVER's purpose was to determine the nature and whereabouts of Rahmati's quantum computer. It was given the additional caveat of VRK, for Very Restricted Knowledge.

This meant, between the NSA and CIA, less than 20 people were read into GWENIVER; including, Becca, Josh, Lin, and Shields. Any communication related to GWENIVER had to be handwritten and delivered in person. Samantha was not read into MOLESKIN or GWENIVER.

"POTUS was taken aback by the failure of the Intelligence Community to anticipate Rahmati's attack. Even today, we're still aren't dealing with absolutes, only probabilities. Rahmati's actual capabilities are still a mystery. President Goodson considered this failure to be on par with Pearl Harbor and 9/11. He's furious with DARPA. They were supposed to make sure we didn't get blindsided any technological advance. He's fired both DARPA's Director and Deputy Director."

General Shields' greatest source of work stress was the quest to develop quantum-proof, encryption algorithms. The Fort had minimally deployed encryption algorithms they thought were quantum-secure, mostly on JWICS. But, it looked like Rahmati had been able to crack those new codes.

Quantum-secure algorithms did not rely on the factorization of prime numbers or integer substitution. They employed lattice and multivariate cryptography. However, it was impossible to test the quantum-resistant algorithms fully, until LEVIATHAN was a success.

"The President's greatest immediate worry is the economy," said Shields. "Jobless claims keep ratcheting up, week after week. The July employment report showed a marked rise in the unemployment rate, and that's only a month after 6/1. All the post 6/1 stock market gains have evaporated."

Many of the lost jobs were in the energy sector. The number sent the market into a tailspin. Already at zero, the Fed responded with negative interest rates in an attempt to stabilize stocks. However, the dollar debasement furthered the vicious rise of commodities. Oil hit $275 a barrel, gasoline spiked to over $9 a gallon, and gold neared $4000 an ounce.

"People are losing their retirement savings and can't afford to drive their gas cars. To make it worse, Rahmati continues to release embarrassing revelations regarding the US and the Saudi government. Files going back to the 90s, show the depths of Saudi complicity with Jihadists; and the complicity of the US with the Kingdom."

"Here we've been fighting with these guys since 9/11, and Saudi Arabia has been funding the ideology shared by Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, and the Caliphate. We've always known that the Kingdom used charities to funnel money to these organizations. But the depth of the collusion has remained hidden from the public. Until now."

"At least," said Lin, "the disclosures have allowed the President to save face. Without them, it would've been a major embarrassment to stop the troop deployments to Saudi Arabia."

"That may be so," replied the General, "but the Kingdom is in a complete meltdown. The protests are officially out of control. The handwriting is on the wall. The Saudi government can't crack down on all the protestors. The police and military will no longer carry out their orders. The House of Saud is going to fall." The House of Saud was the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, established in 1744.

"I can't understate the danger to the United States. Since the 1930s, the giant oil fields of Saudi Arabia, including Ghawar Field, have been deemed critical to our national interests. Protection of Saudi oil was a top priority of every Administration since the 1930s, on par with the Monroe Doctrine. Ghawar looks like it will come under Rahmati's control, any day now. We're trying to get UN forces deployed to protect the fields, but Russia and China keep overruling our efforts."

"Not only will Rahmati seize Saudi oil, but if the putsch goes his way, he'll get his hands on one of the most advanced militaries in the Middle East. For decades, the quid pro quo with Saudi has been that we buy their oil, and they buy our weapons. That's the very definition of a petrodollar."

While the US was moving towards energy independence, and alternative technologies were chipping away Saudi importance—in 2021, Saudi oil was still crucial to the world crude oil market. This was especially the case while US fracking rigs were still inoperable.

The General's gaze fell on Samantha's angry eyes. As stressed out as Shields was professionally; his personal life was far worse. Lisa confronted the General about Samantha. Lisa was devastated. General Shields was ashamed. He hadn't told Samantha about Lisa's discovery of the affair yet.

"General Shields," said a furious Samantha, "I'm very concerned about the economy. Enterprise software does not fly off the shelves in a recession. And, I'm concerned about the state of the world. But most of all, I'm concerned about the company I run. Can we start the board meeting, or would you like to reschedule?"

The General's face went flush red. "Lin, let's reschedule this board meeting. Would you please excuse us?" Lin left brusquely.

"What's your problem?" said the General, scowling. "You've been at my throat for weeks. Check that, months. And what's with inviting Lin without my approval?"

"Bernie, my problem is that I've made a terrible mistake. I've allowed my feelings for you to hinder me from soundly managing Gamification Sytems. Now, I feel trapped in a relationship with you."

"Samantha, our relationship has been strictly business for weeks. I'm not going to pressure you. We're both adults."

"I know. The problem is, you're a married adult. It's a mistake I profoundly regret. It was selfishness on my part. You were an escape. I'm mad at myself for falling in love with you. I mad at myself for letting our relationship influence my leadership of Gamification. I should never have let you dictate my personnel choices."

"Investors dictate personnel decisions all the time. And not just in start-ups."

"Maybe so," Samantha replied. "But carrying on an affair with my lead investor...has got to be the stupidest business decision I've ever made. I've disappointed myself, and I've failed people I care about.

"General, I loved you. But, we're over."

*

Shields walked back to his office. Alone. He poured a scotch. Clutching the drink, he turned around and looked at Charlie.

The General tossed the scotch in the sink. He went back home to his wife.

## Chapter 43 – Reconciliation

1:30 p.m. (EDT), Friday, July 31, 2021 – Columbia, MD

Suite 502, ElectricMind's Offices, Defense Innovations Accelerator

The offices of ElectricMind were spartan, consisting of cubicles Josh bought from a second-hand furniture store.

Not counting Becca, Josh had hired five other employees. He possessed the capital to employ more. But Josh wanted his team to be fast and agile, as they worked to extend eM's neural network to understand text better. His biggest takeaway from CyberAI was the fact that cash was precious.

In addition to continually refining the NLP-based neural network, the next highest priority was constructing a separate neural network that made sense of images—like recognizing faces, objects, and the like. This ability would also help the neural network with navigation of autonomous robots.

While the process to create deep learning algorithms for understanding words and pictures was the same; the architecture of the neural networks were decidedly different. Creation of varied neural networks was a key element of ElectricMind's business strategy, as it moved into stronger AI and discovery. General Shields was more than happy to push Josh in this direction.

Specifically, the General wanted eM for the Swarmbots. He dangled a lot of money in front of Josh to deploy eM for autonomous operation of the Swarmbot's, once the quantum-resistant encryption was ready. He wasn't happy with the results of the Gamification Systems' split-test. eM would allow him to replace the need for Gamers altogether. With enhanced AI, Swarmbots could become truly autonomous robots—not drones.

Becca noticed that Josh was in a contemplative mood. She took a seat in his cube. "Just think how much has happened, since we first met. You were fired, I quit, you developed the best deep learning algorithms in the world, we hid from the NSA, found the Ark of the Covenant, watched our friends die, went back to the NSA, and started ElectricMind."

Josh laughed. "That would make quite a book."

"You should see the sequel," said Becca, raucously.

Josh looked at a diagram of algebraic matrices on his white board. "I've been thinking about how I can use a quantum computer to refine eM's neural networks. I also can't wait to use it advance the Swarmbot's swarm intelligence."

The bell rang in the reception area. Josh hadn't hired a receptionist.

"I'll see who it is," said Becca, as she walked toward the sound of the bell.

"Hi," said Samantha. "Would you please talk to me? Can we take a walk by the pond?"

"Fine," said Becca, frostily.

The elevator ride down was equally uncomfortable, as Samantha tried to make small talk. "Your new look compliments you very well."

As they walked around the pond, Samantha said, "I just wanted to apologize to you. I've done some good things as CEO of Gamification Systems. But, I've also done some foolish things."

As Samantha continued to apologize, it was hard for Becca to remain cold. It took energy to stay angry. Becca wanted that energy for more positive things. Her heart warmed. Since Jerusalem, Becca found it easier to forgive—once she put her mind to it.

"Samantha, I've never been a CEO. As I've been with Josh, I've seen some of the pressures up close. But, you really hurt my feelings. I was crushed by how it all went down."

"Becca, if I had to do it all over again, I would have fought harder. At the very least, I should've told you the truth. I've committed a lot of sins, but the worst was trying to convince you that you were crazy. I was afraid of the General and what he could do to Gamification...to all of us."

Samantha and Becca hugged. It was a start.

*

The General and Lin exited his office suite, and walked down the gray and blue hallways of the Top Deck of the NSA headquarters building.

"The crypto-geeks think their lattice-based cryptographic algorithms are bullet-proof. They guarantee me that they're truly quantum resistant. I'm anxious to switch out the crypto-keys in the Swarmbots and get them re-deployed. I want to track Rahmati and see if the Swarmbots can help us locate his quantum computer. Fischer says that the 5Gen Swarmbots are almost ready, just another week or so. Josh is getting closer to enabling eM to function as the Swarmbot's AI.

"All of this should help us to manage Rahmati. We also have a promising lead. We're working to develop an asset. He says he's a part of Rahmati's inner circle. Even if all the spy gave us was the location of the quantum computer, we'd be in a better place than we are now."

"And how are you, General?" asked Lin. "From the looks of it, you've been sleeping in your office for the past few weeks."

"How can you tell?"

"Because I'm female. And your toothbrush is on your wet bar."

"I've been better. I hurt the most important person in my life. I'm a success to everyone from the outside-in. From the inside-out, I know I'm not. I used my moral compass to stir my scotch."

## Chapter 44 – The Last Visit

10:00 p.m. (EDT), Saturday, August 21, 2021 – Memphis, TN

Elisha Robert's House

Becca flew to Memphis for a quick weekend visit with her dad. She wanted to catch up. It was the first time she'd seen him since the events in Jerusalem.

Elisha served Becca breakfast. After grace, Becca dug into the bacon. She loved her dad's crisply cooked bacon. It was nice to talk with him without worrying about whether the NSA was eavesdropping.

"I don't understand why General Shields hasn't told anyone about what Rahmati did to the Professor and the others?" said Elisha.

"I'm pretty sure it's because he doesn't want to talk about the Swarmbots," answered Becca. "He's certainly made everyone aware of Rahmati's hack of our encryption."

"The press is eating Rahmati up. It makes me sick to my stomach," said Elisha. "Professor McMillan's death hit our church hard. Rahmati is a thief and a murderer."

"That he is, Dad. But he's uniting Sunni and Shiites. He's altering the history of the Middle East. And, he's probably the most transformational international politician of our generation, maybe longer. I can't tell you everything I know, but I can say that it's all incredibly scary.

"Dad, something happened to me when I grabbed that menorah. Josh and I were going to end up just like the Professor. We were seconds away from death. Then, it was like someone whispered—right in my ear."

Elisha smiled. "In my opinion, I'd say that was the Holy Spirit, or maybe an angel."

"I hadn't heard that voice since I was a little girl...before mom died. Through the stress of leaving Gamification, hiding from the NSA, digging for the Ark, the murders—all I could do was trust God. The pressure was so intense. The stakes were so high. I couldn't handle it on my own."

"My dear, that's a powerful testimony. You should preach the sermon tomorrow." Elisha and Becca giggled in unison. For the first time, in a long time, Becca and her father were going to attend church together.

Becca hadn't felt this at ease with her dad, since the ovarian cancer ravaged her mom. Elisha told Becca that he was preaching at four different services on Sunday due to the massive growth in church attendance. The press had dubbed the spiritual revival in the US as the 'New Great Awakening.'

"That's exciting, Dad. But it must be so tiring! How's the quantum faith sermon coming?"

"It's a book," replied Elisha.

"Well, how's the book coming?"

"Slow. The minute I write a word, I can't tell what chapter I'm in."

"Dad, really? Quantum humor will never catch on."

Jared laughed. "The book is good. I'll let you read my third draft. How's Josh doing?"

"He's well. I'm extremely proud of him. We've become very close. He's very special to me."

"Do you think y'all will get married?" asked Elisha.

"I love him a lot. We do need to work through how we'd raise kids. He seems open to my faith, but he's still working through Judaism. The quest for the Ark definitely made him hungry for spiritual things."

"Becca, that's a very mature approach. I think most people forget that Jesus was an observant Jew. I believe when He returns, it won't be any different.

"I think his primary language will be Hebrew. He'll keep the Jewish feasts, holidays, and calendar. And he'll reign from Israel. We're not going to look to Washington D.C. when Jesus comes back; we're going to look to Jerusalem."

"Dad, do you think that day is close?"

## Chapter 45 – Trumpet Blasts

Tuesday, September 7, 2021 – Babylon, Iraq

Prime Minister's Palace

Dusk fell upon on Babylon.

Hadi Hadari walked into Rahmati's office overlooking the sparkling Euphrates River. The Euphrates River and Tree of Life were the only geographic features named in the first and last books of the Christian Bible—Genesis and Revelation.

Rahmati peered into the receding red sun. "There will be a new moon tonight. That means a new Islamic month."

Hadi grinned. "Muhammad, you're on top of the world. You've established yourself as the voice of the Middle East. There hasn't been a ruler as strong as you, since the Ottoman Empire."

Rahmati sighed. "The Ottoman Empire was the last recognized Islamic Caliphate. But they didn't adapt to the times, and the West slowly consumed their rotten flesh—like the buzzards that they are. We must avoid that fate. I'd rather die than be another Ataturk."

"The same thing is happening in Saudi Arabia," said Hadi.

"Yes, the monarchy will collapse in a matter of days. They've called for elections. They've lost the military. Right now, inertia is the only thing holding up the House of Saud. I'm going to turn up the heat on the King. I'll announce that Saudi citizens will share in oil revenue, when Ghawar Field and Mecca fall.

"With the instability in the region, and the Shiite workers' strike on the Saudi oil fields, oil hit $325 a barrel today. Gas is over $11 a gallon in the US, and nearly double that in Europe. Gold is going crazy; it closed at $6500 an ounce.

"It's like we have a license to print money. Petrodollars are pouring into Iraq and Persia. You know it's good when even the Russians are ecstatic. With the price of oil, their economy is booming.

"We've frozen Saudi oil out of the market. The American's are still trying to fix their fracking infrastructure. When we confiscate the Saudi fields, we'll be the largest oil supplier in the world. Bahrain is now under our protectorate. We've got complete surveillance of the 5th Fleet base, and could bottle them up, if needed. All of our plans are working."

Like Saddam Hussein, Rahmati began to restate Iraq's historic territorial claim to Kuwait. Rahmati's proxy war, pitting the Kurds against Turkey, was also advancing.

"With all this oil money, I can invest in the future of this region. I'm implementing a trial program in Babylon. To receive next quarter's oil dividend check, all residents of Babylon must agree to implant a microchip into their hand. After we work the kinks out of this trial program, I want to spread the system to all of Iraq."

"What will the chip do?" asked Hadari. "I don't understand."

"The chip will handle all payments. We need to be able to identify and track all citizens. That'll help reduce the threat of terrorism. The Caliphate may be dead, but its Jihadist ideology is still very dangerous. The microchip will include a unique identification code for every man, woman, and child. We can tie this identifier to the Blockchain, so everyone's purchases will be recorded and protected. Iraq will then possess one of the most advanced and efficient financial systems in the world."

*

An hour behind Babylon, Jews in Jerusalem, and all over the world, readied themselves to attend synagogue. They would celebrate the holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah meant, 'head of the year.' Both Jewish and Islamic calendars were based upon phases of the moon.

Rosh Hosanna began this evening, at first sight of the new moon.

The Hebrew Bible referred to the holiday as Yom Teruah, the day of blowing or shouting of a battle cry. This was because a shofar, a ram's horn, was blown during the holiday. In fact, the festival was also known as the Feast of Trumpets.

The new moon on September 7, 2021, and the blows of the shofar, would inaugurate the new Jewish year of 5782. Hebrew sages also taught that the God created the world on this day and that Abraham would have sacrificed Isaac, were it not for an intervening angel.

Muslims too, traced their lineage to Abraham. Abraham rebuilt the Kaaba. They also believed that the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures regarding the identity of the son to be sacrificed were corrupted. The Koran indicated that Ishmael was the child nearly sacrificed, not Isaac.

*

General Shields and POTUS met at noon in the Oval Office.

Shields' brief highlighted the latest quantum-resistant encryption breakthroughs. He also wanted to get the President's approval to deploy the updated 5Gen Swarmbots to track Rahmati. Their comms would be encrypted using the new quantum-resistant keys. They'd also include the first version of eM. Swarmbots could still be manually controlled from the SWARM Op Center.

"Mr. President, thank you for meeting with me on such short notice. I wanted to detail to you a TOP SECRET project we've been working from our new startup accelerator. Then, I want to inform you as to the updates we've made to our encryption algorithms."

"Alright Bernie," said President Goodson. "I've always—"

General Shields felt a surge. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced. It seemed electrical. But, it also felt like a strong wind. It blew in an instant. His vision blurred in a phosphorescent hue. It seemed like an hour, but was closer to 180 seconds. Shields lost all sense of time.

Secret Service agents rushed through the door.

"Where's the President?"

The still blinded Shields struggled to make his mouth form sentences. "He's right here. I'm talking to him."

*

Josh readied the table setting at Fiola Mare in Georgetown, the site of his first date with Becca. He adjusted the dozen red roses he laid on Becca's chair, one more time. He wanted everything to be perfect. It was a beautiful, nearly fall afternoon in Georgetown. Orange and red leaves blew into the Potomac.

Josh paid photographers and VR videographers to strategically film the scene. He didn't want to miss a moment. Or an angle. Or one second of the experience. The couple both enjoyed reliving important moments with VR. They could return to the memory whenever they wished.

And this was an instant that Josh wanted to remember forever.

Becca should've been here a while ago. Josh didn't know why she was taking so long. Maybe she knew?

From his breast pocket of his sports coat, he pulled out a seven-carat, emerald cut, diamond ring. He reached for his polishing cloth. Josh prepared the ring, one last time.

*

The 100th blast of the shofar bellowed in Jerusalem.

When she recognized her mom, Becca ran as fast as she could. The cancer was gone. The disease was conquered. In the moment it takes a star to twinkle, Elisha Roberts grabbed Becca's hand. Together they dashed forward. Becca squeezed her mom, as tightly as she did when she was a little girl. Elisha wrapped his arms around both his daughter and his wife.

Out of the corner of her eye, Becca saw Professor McMillan. "Ello Luv."

#  About the Author

B. Michaels is an entrepreneur, executive, technologist...and now...a new author. He's spent a number of years working in the US Government and Fortune 1000.

B is passionate about technology, business, and geopolitics. Right now, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and cybersecurity fill his days. In his free time, he studies the Bible, Koran, and prophecy. And plays with his dog!

B would very much like your feedback about Chasm Waxing!

In particular, he'd like to know your ideas for the rest of the Chasm Trilogy:

  * Chasm Waxing details the years 2020-2021

  * Chasm Waning will cover 2025 to 2032

  * Chasm Eclipsed will deal with 2032-3032

You can find B. Michaels at:

Blog: http://bmichaelsauthor.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMichaels_Authr

Email: bmichaels@tutanota.com

