Seconds later, an announcement came again, this time from the social director on board the ship, who was going through the lineup of the coming activities while in-port at Coco Cay Island. On the back end of the announcement was another search for a passenger named Mark Savona.
“Passenger Mark Savona, passenger Mark Savona, please dial 777 for the front desk. You have an urgent message. Mark Savona, dial 777. Thank you, and enjoy our beautiful weather at Coco Cay Island! We are looking forward to seeing you tonight at the captain’s dinner!”
“Shit. You’re right, Jeanie.”
Mark’s sixth sense kicked in, and it wasn’t good. Almost no one knew he was on the cruise ship. At work, only the human resources computer database knew that he was away on a cruise and out of the country. Whoever wanted him had done their homework. They would have had to track him down out of all the world’s cruise lines, then all the Royal Caribbean ships sailing at this very moment, then obtain the ship’s phone number, then drill down to find him. This has DIA Operations written all over it.
“Go make your call, baby. I’ll be right here,” Jeanie said, giving him a wink. She eased down into the hot tub and looked over to check on the band.
Since Mark was a few drinks in, he thought about not calling and decided to blow it off. Slipping from the ledge of the hot tub, he entered the water to join Jeanie, and looked across the pool deck at the crowd. A big smile came across his face.
“No way, Jeanie. Staying right here with you, honey. You think I want to leave you alone so I can make a work call?” Mark placed his trademark Washington Nationals baseball cap backward and leaned back with his arms spread on the outside of the tub.
Jeanie laughed while stroking his arm, and they watched the surfing videos play on the pool deck’s gigantic screen. The band was taking a break, and the Caribbean music was being piped in over the ship’s loudspeakers.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please. Passenger Mark Savona, Mark Savona, please dial 777 to speak to the front desk. Thank you.”
“Well, persistent little buggers, aren’t they? Three announcements,” Jeanie said, turning to frown at Mark.
Mark looked at the pool full of passengers having a fun time, getting ready for the belly flop contest, and then glanced over at the bar. He then turned to look at Jeanie, and the expression on his face was priceless. “Jeanie, if I make this call, I can almost guarantee the result will be work related,” as he ran his hand through his long hair. “Should I make it? Should I make the call?”
“Dude, just go,” she replied. “You know you won’t relax until you do.”
Mark got out of the hot tub, grabbed the famous Royal Caribbean green pool deck towel, and quickly dried himself off. He went through the automatic doors that sensed him coming, and walked over to the house phone on the wall to dial. Mark turned to get one last glance at Jeanie, who was still getting stares from all the plump, older men and their larger wives. He chuckled to himself.
“Hello, this is Catapang from the Philippines. May I help you?”
“Hello, Catapang. This is passenger Mark Savona. I understand from the announcements that you’ve asked me to dial the front desk?”
“Oh, yes, sir. Mr. Savona, we’ve got a message, an urgent one: you need to dial immediately to this phone number. Please allow me to pass it. The number is 202-555-1212. And ask for Jason,” Catapang told him.
Holy crap, Mark thought. “Are you for real? That’s my work number. My work is calling me?” Mark asked.
“I guess so, sir. Actually, they have called a number of times. Very persistent.”
“OK, thank you for the message.”
Mark hung up and was stunned. Here he was, barely away from the office for a few days, and the deputy director’s right-hand man was calling him on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean. “Goddamn it. The damn Devil Dragon is already in Nevada. What does he need now?” Mark quietly and angrily said under his breath.
He made his way back to his oceanfront state room, walked out onto the balcony overlooking the beautiful, clear green water, and ensured the Peanut App on his smartphone was working. The Peanut App automatically encrypted his phone for secure voice, ensuring no one else could hear their call. It displayed a traffic light icon on the screen showing it was connected and turned green when it was secure. Since they were just offshore, his phone picked up the AT&T International cell tower at Coco Cay Island, Bahamas. Mark’s anger was growing.
User privacy and messaging apps were becoming increasingly significant for both government and civilians alike. While the Peanut App was totally encrypted with all conceivable security applications, some commercial ones were thought to have encryption, but in actuality, did not. As an example, some programs used end-to-end encryption, such as Facebook’s What’s App, Apple’s iMessage, and Signal’s Open Whisper Systems. What was not encrypted were Google Hangouts, Snapchat, Skype, and WeChat. As the DIA knew all too well, commercial encryption methods could always be cracked, so designing their own Peanut App was the right move.
Mark Savona was DIA Deputy Director Calvin Burns’s go-to man and an expert on Chinese fighter and bomber aircraft. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, he earned an undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering and a master’s degree in international relations. He previously worked for five years with Pixar Animation Studios in San Francisco, California, but always had a curious eye on Washington. While most of his coworkers were reading Variety, the entertainment trade journal, he was reading Foreign Affairs. He continued to be attracted to DIA after seeing an ad in the back of the periodical.
A robust scotch drinker, card player, fan of fantasy football, and avid follower of the Washington Nationals, Mark had life tackled. His girlfriend wasn’t too bad on the eyes either.
Mark was also very unusual. One look at him and you’d never know he worked at DIA or conducted covert business for the intelligence community. He looked more like a roadie for a rock band. Mark had long hair in a ponytail, sometimes a manbun, a few tattoos, sometimes an earring, and usually very, non-business-looking clothes.
He’d been known to wear Hawaiian shirts with nonmatching pants, no socks with funky shoes, shorts, and a tee shirt, and even one time, a cowboy hat… to work. When he wore ties, a rare occasion, they clashed in the most awful way. Although a top employee for being a producer, he had caused a number of human resource issues due to cursing or speaking his mind as needed.
By this time, the live band had started again on the pool deck, and it was quite loud from the room balcony. Mike dialed.
“Jason, this is Mark Savona. I received…”
“Mark! How are you?”
“Look, I’m fine. I can’t believe you’re calling me. I’m on a cruise ship in the…”
“Mark, what is that music I’m hearing? It’s louder than hell. Sounds like reggae.”
“No kidding, dummy. I’m on vacation. I’m on a cruise ship down in the Caribbean with my girlfriend. How come you’re calling me? What the hell is going on that you have to interrupt me and my umbrella drinks?”
“We got a hot one. An item that the deputy wants to talk to you about. Some type of problem. Time sensitive.”
“Oh, come on, Jason, I’m half in the bag. Can’t it wait?”
“Nope, he wants to talk to you. Right now. I’m going to put him on. He told me to contact you anywhere you were on earth. I found you from your leave paperwork and the Operations Center downstairs told me where you were.”
Oh, that’s just great. I’m never gonna tell them again, he thought. “OK. Put the old man on.”