As soon as he heard about the UAV incident in Afghanistan, Adam knew he would have to come out of the dark and let Langley know that, over here in Hong Kong, he was tailing Zha Shu Hai, a Chinese drone hacker and American fugitive.
No, he couldn’t very well sit on that information.
Yao knew his cable to Langley was going to be a tough sell. His supposition, that a young Chinese hacker who had stolen UAV software code two years earlier might somehow be involved in this week’s computer attack and hijacking of several American drones, was not based on any hard evidence.
On the contrary, there seemed to be some evidence that Zha Shu Hai was not working on anything as high-level as drone hijackings. Yao did not mention the Triads in his cable, but hacking drones and killing American soldiers in Afghanistan hardly seemed like the modus operandi of the 14K. No, hacking banking software or other forms of computer embezzlement seemed like it would be the more likely aim of Zha if he was, in fact, employed by 14K.
But Adam needed to be sure, and he had asked only for some additional resources to help him dig deeper into whatever was going on above the Mong Kok Computer Centre.
But Langley had declined his request, explaining that all assets in Asia were tied up at the moment and assets at Langley were similarly otherwise engaged.
The response Adam received had been reasonable, he had to admit, even if it pissed him off. The reply from Langley had explained simply that, in the unlikely case that China was involved with the UAV incidents, it would come from inside China. All intelligence out of China indicated that offensive computer network operations of a military nature on the scale of a UAV attack would originate from the PLA’s General Staff Department, Fourth Department. These were China’s elite cyberwarriors.
A well-coordinated attack on the United States would originate with them, not with a hacker or group of hackers in Hong Kong.
The cable went on to explain to Adam Yao, in what he saw as a patronizing tone, that Zha working in Hong Kong in an office building was not a threat to the Department of Defense’s secure computer network.
After all, Hong Kong was not China.
“No shit,” Adam responded to the message on his monitor. He knew the situation he described in his cable was highly unusual, but his evidence, his on-the-ground intelligence collection, though circumstantial, surely warranted a closer look.
But his superiors, the CIA’s analysts, did not agree.
So Adam did not get his assets, but that was not the worst news in the cable from Langley. His superiors in the National Clandestine Service indicated that they would pass on the helpful information about the location of Zha Shu Hai to the U.S. Marshals Service.
That meant, Adam was certain, that within a few days a couple of four-doors would show up in Mong Kok and a team of deputy marshals would climb out. They would be identified as a threat by the Triads, the Triads would get FastByte22 out of town, and that would be the last Yao saw of Zha.
Adam logged off the secure e-mail system and leaned back in his chair. “Shit!” he shouted to the small empty room.
Zha Shu Hai had never been in Center’s office before. Few of the employees of the Ghost Ship, even the important ones like Zha, had personally been inside the surprisingly cramped and spartan work area of their leader.
Zha stood with his hands at his sides and his knees locked, an affected military stance because Center had not asked him to sit down. The rock-hard gel in his spiked hair shone and sparkled in the light from the flat-screen displays on Center’s desk. Center himself was in his chair in front of his monitors, his ever-present VOIP earpiece in his ear and his rumpled demeanor on display here just as it always was on the operations floor.
He said, “Three American drones were downed before the Americans ceased all flights.”
Zha just stood there at semi-attention. Was that a question?
Center cleared up the confusion. “Why just three?”
“They were quick to land their other UAVs. We managed to break into one more in Afghanistan within minutes of the crash of the first one, but it had landed before our pilot achieved input control and the weapons had been offloaded. As soon as I realized that, I took the Global Hawk off the coast of Africa. That is a very valuable and technologically advanced machine. It will show the Americans that the capacity is there for great harm to them.
“The Global Hawk crashed into the ocean.” Center said it in a way that Zha could not read.
“Yes. It is a Northrop Grumman product, and my software was optimized for the Reaper and Predator platforms from General Atomics. I had hoped that the pilot could have crashed it into a ship, but he lost control soon after I passed responsibility to him.
“The third vehicle I took was on the American mainland, for the obvious effect of causing them great concern.”
Zha was proud of himself for all three hacks. He wanted more appreciation from Center than he was getting.
“We should have had more pilots,” Center said.
“Sir. I felt it necessary to be personally involved with each hijack. I could have captured the signal and given control to different pilots, but there were many technical nuances with each operation. The pilot was not trained to maintain the signal.”
Tong looked over a report Zha had sent him with details of each operation. He looked like he was going to comment further, but instead he laid the paper down.
“I am satisfied.”
Zha breathed a long inward sigh. He knew that was Center’s highest compliment.
The older man then said, “I’d hoped for five, or even more, but the three UAVs you took were well chosen for maximum impact.”
“Thank you, Center.”
“And the Trojan in their network?”
“It remains. I have provided them with the false trail, they will find this within the week, but the actual Trojan is ready to go to war again as soon as they fly their drones.”
“The false trail should focus their attention on Iran?”
“Yes, Center.”
“Good. The PLA has hopes the Americans will attack Iran over this. That is their ultimate goal. I, however, think they are underestimating the abilities of the NSA to recognize the misdirection. Still, every day Washington’s understanding of China’s involvement in Earth Shadow remains unclear is another day closer our forces are to achieving their goals.”
“Yes, Center.”
“Very well,” said Center, and Zha bowed, then turned to leave the office.
“There is one other item.”
The young man snapped back to attention, facing Dr. Tong. “Sir?”
The older man picked another sheet of paper up off his desk and looked it over for a moment. “It seems, Zha, that you have been under surveillance by the Central Intelligence Agency. There is a spy from their organization here in Hong Kong, and he is watching you. No, don’t worry. You aren’t in trouble. Even with your disguise we knew it was possible that someday you would be recognized. He has your name, and he has your computer handle. Do not use the name FastByte Twenty-two again.”
Zha said, “Yes, Center.”
“But the local CIA man does not seem to have any other concrete details about our operation. CIA leadership has told him you are not a concern of theirs at the moment, although they may notify police to try and bring you back to America.”
The young man with the spiked black hair did not speak now.
After a moment Center waved a hand in the air. “This is something I will bring up with our hosts. They should be taking better care of us. They are making a lot of money from our banking operations, after all.”