Use of Force

CHAPTER 47

Lydia Ryan looked at both men with disbelief. There was no way the CIA would ever allow what they were asking for. Absolutely not.

“You want what?” she repeated.

“Access to the Malice source code,” said Nicholas.

Malice was an ultra-top-secret program developed by the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence that allowed the Agency to skirt both the NSA and the FISA court, in order to intercept and trace encrypted Internet communications.

The program was so highly effective that the CIA had gone to great lengths to mask its existence. Neither the President nor the intelligence committees had ever been briefed on it. Only in the most extreme circumstances was it ever used.

She knew better than to ask how Nicholas even knew about it. She didn’t want to know.

Instead, she directed her next remark to Carlton, “We’re talking about the most valuable weapon in the Agency’s hacking arsenal.”

“I understand that,” he replied.

“I don’t think you do. This goes beyond anything they’ve ever developed. Beyond putting smart TVs into fake off-mode in order to listen in on people’s conversations. Beyond hacking smartphones in order to capture audio and message traffic before it gets put through an encryption app.

“You’re talking about launching the cyber equivalent of a nuclear-tipped missile, just because somebody looked at you sideways in a dark parking lot. And unlike a nuke, once a cyber weapon like Malice is loosed, it is out there for anyone to discover and turn back around on us.

“This isn’t a fire-and-forget system. The moment it detonates, you have to send a team into the blast zone, right into the rubble, to physically recover it. Every device it has touched, every packet of data it has stowed away inside, all of it has to be accounted for. That’s what you don’t understand.”

“I do understand,” Nicholas countered. “That’s why all I want is access to the source code. I don’t want the entire missile. I only want its guidance system.”

“So you can do what? Play Frankenstein? That could end up being even worse.”

“Lydia, I know you don’t like any of this.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” she replied.

“Which is why we have to do it this way.”

“First you tell me that for your hack to be convincing, you’ve got to turn over all my personal emails, including ones that are a little too personal. Then, you drag Malice into this — something I shouldn’t even be discussing with you.”

“If there was another way to do this,” said Carlton, “we wouldn’t need to ask.”

“There has to be.”

“There isn’t,” Nicholas replied. “Believe me. For the last twenty-four hours, I’ve been trying to come up with one. Your personal emails, along with Mr. Carlton’s, are the Trojan horse. They’re the only means by which we can get Malice into the pipeline and figure out who ordered the hack.”

“I can tell you right now that Bob McGee is never going to authorize this.”

“You let me worry about Bob,” said Carlton. “What I need you focused on is coming up with a plan to get Nicholas inside the Center for Cyber Intelligence.”

“Inside?” Ryan repeated with a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Malice can only be accessed from inside,” Nicholas stated.

“You know you’ve got a bit of a reputation at the CIA, right? They’ll go batshit if they see you in there.”

“Which is why nobody can see him,” Carlton clarified.

“Any other requirements?” she asked, turning to face him. “Maybe he can ride out of Langley on a unicorn.”

The Old Man smiled at her. “If anyone can make it happen, it’s you.”

Ryan didn’t smile back. Instead, she asked, “How much time do we have to put this together?”

“Nicholas needs to go in tonight.”

Ryan stood up from the table.

“Where are you going?”

Walking out of the study, she replied, “To start a hot bath while I look for some razor blades.”