“If they’re trying to regain control from their own system, they’re going to fail,” Mia said. “I know the team of people Evana Bahar has assembled for this attack. It’s comprised of dark web hackers who’ve developed reputations off doing the impossible when it comes to cracking codes and breaking through firewalls. If the Pentagon is going to wrestle control away from this crew, they can’t go about it conventionally.”
“Then how do you suggest they do it?” Blunt asked.
“You hack the hackers,” Mia said.
Alex nodded as she sat down at her desk. "We need to get into their system and take them offline."
“I’m already on it,” Mia said.
Alex glanced at Blunt. “We need to speak to someone at the Pentagon now, so we can have access to their system. We need to see what they’re seeing so we can fight back.”
“Roger that,” Blunt said before heading toward the door.
Hawk called Alex over the coms. “Any news?”
“More than I have time to tell you,” she said. “But the quick version is that there are three drones loaded with missiles and headed toward your position that Evana Bahar has hijacked from the U.S. military.”
“We need to evacuate,” Hawk said.
“I’m not sure that will make much of a difference,” she said. “The planes are fifteen minutes away. More people might die from getting trampled if you set off panic like that.”
“So, you think you’ll be able to regain control of the drones?”
“That’s what we’re working on.”
“What do you want me to do?” Hawk asked.
“You and Black need to get out of there,” she said. “Hopefully, we’ll have another assignment for you shortly.”
“Roger that,” he said. “I’ll wait for your instructions.”
Alex turned her attention toward the situation at hand. Blunt had returned to the room, enabling Alex’s team to see what the Pentagon was seeing from the drones’ cameras. On the monitor on the far wall, she could see the unmanned aircraft speeding north toward Washington from A.P. Hill Base in Virginia. Once they got within range, there wouldn’t be much they could do to stop them. The Air Force scrambled fighters into the air to address the issue by shooting down the drones, but word from the Pentagon was that it wouldn’t have enough time before they reached the city.
“I’m in,” Mia shouted before pumping her fist triumphantly. “I’m sending you the code I used to hack into their system. The more of us who can get in, the more difficult we can make this on them.”
Alex and the rest of the team in the room sat down and went to work. In a matter of minutes, everyone had broken through the hackers’ firewall using Mia’s instructions.
“All right,” Mia said. “Let’s fly them into the Chesapeake Bay.”
“Why not return them to Hill Base, where they came from?” one man asked.
“Because we won’t be able to hold the hackers off long enough to fly the drones back there,” Alex said. “I’m putting up a set of coordinates on the screen, and I want everyone to fly the drones there.”
Keyboards clicked wildly around the room, while Alex watched the satellite image of the drones banking hard to the east and heading straight for the Chesapeake Bay. She had Blunt call the Pentagon and tell officials there to have the fighters escort the drones to the water.
But before anyone could take any action, Mia shouted angrily.
“What is it?” Alex asked.
“They closed our back door entrance into their system,” Mia said. “We’re shut out.”
“Can we get back in?”
Mia shook her head. “Not in time.”
Blunt cursed and then kicked a trash can. “I need to call the Pentagon again. We need to brace for the worst.”
CHAPTER 36
7:45 p.m.
EVANA BAHAR SAT down and exhaled. Across the room, a half dozen hackers she’d convinced to join her in the project of a lifetime dished out high-fives and pumped their fists. For a few minutes, her plan to strafe the National Mall with several missiles from U.S. military drones appeared to be in danger. But that threat was staved off when her team turned back a valiant effort by a dark web legend going by the handle of Helenos-9.
Despite the triumphant celebrations, Evana stood once and more and walked over toward the makeshift command center.
“And you’re absolutely positive she won’t be able to regain control?” Evana asked.
A man nodded. “Not before Washington is lit up like . . . it’s the Fourth of July!”
His zinger was celebrated with laughter and clapping. On the monitor above the desks, an image from the view from the lead drone showed her how much longer before the target would be in range.
In twelve minutes and forty-two seconds, I’ll be a god, immortalized for destroying the infidels.
Assured that the deed was all but done, she hustled over to her computer and captured an image from her screen. She admired the picture of a radar with the National Mall as the target and three blips just outside of it. She thought for a moment before adding this caption: “President Young was right. This year’s Fourth of July celebration will be unmatched in the history of this country.”
A half-minute later, one of her assistants spun around. "Evana! How could you do such a thing? You're letting the Americans know exactly where we intend to strike."
She chuckled and waved dismissively at him. “It’s too late for them to do anything about it now. In ten minutes, it’ll all be over with.”
Evana rubbed her hands together gleefully as she walked across the room to watch the action on the large monitor.
It’s only a matter of time.
CHAPTER 37
7:35 p.m.
MIA IGNORED BLUNT’S doom and gloom forecast behind her. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she knew he was right. Her best efforts had fallen short against Evana Bahar’s army of hackers. But there was something she noticed in a string of code that she
