Chapter 11 - The Shadow in the Bunker
"What is it, Master Chief?" I asked, walking down the steps beside him.
"Commander Sullivan's private terminal in the sub-level bunker," Ross said, glancing over his shoulder to ensure Admiral Vance was out of earshot. "Two hours before the morning formation, while everyone was preparing for the inspection, an unauthorized high-bandwidth data transmission was routed from his terminal to an unknown IP address."
I stopped dead on the concrete. "Where was the transmission directed?"
"It bounced through three proxy servers in Eastern Europe," Ross said, his voice dropping even lower. "But the encryption key wasn't commercial. It was a stolen NSA Level-7 cipher."
My pulse, which had remained calm through Brock's assault and his subsequent arrest, spiked sharply.
"What data was sent?"
"The operational routes," Ross whispered. "The deployment schedules for the nuclear deterrence subs operating out of Bangor. And the real-time biometric tracking data for the Joint Chiefs."
A sudden high-pitched chime sounded from the secure satellite transponder strapped beneath my tunic.
I unzipped my outer pocket and pulled out the tactical display.
The screen was flashing in urgent, crimson pulses. A single red notification dominated the interface, accompanied by an executive-level priority warning from the Pentagon:
*CRITICAL BREACH DETECTED: BASE PERIMETER NETWORK COMPROMISED.*
*SULLIVAN HOLDING CELL FEED WENT DARK AT 0914 HOURS.*
*SECURITY TEAM REPORTING UNRESPONSIVE.*
I looked up toward Building 402, located half a mile away across the tarmac.
May you like
From the roof of the high-security holding facility, a thin, black plume of smoke was beginning to rise into the clear morning sky.
And then, every emergency siren on the base began to wail at once.
