BCM: “Or technological emergency. I think the Daemon qualifies.”
CSC: “Make no mistake: this is a full-scale attack by the Daemon. Its forces are launching a violent revolution. Regulation 500-3 is called for. Civilian leadership is unable to maintain secure communications.”
NSA: “What I want to know is why our systems degraded so suddenly and completely.”
EndoCorp: “The Daemon is conducting a broad denial of service attack against government domains and communications. It’s also undermining the confidence of capital markets. It’s part of Sobol’s overall strategy.”
DARPA: “Bullshit.”
All eyes turned to him.
EndoCorp: “Excuse me?”
DARPA: “You heard me.”
BCM: “There’s no reason to abandon decorum, gentlemen.”
NSA (holding up his hands to calm the situation): “However, my colleague’s succinct critique stands: we may have outsourced a large portion of our raw intelligence-gathering capability to private industry, but we’re not completely blind. There’s no indication that the systems operated under contract for us have been compromised.”
CSC: “That’s ridiculous. We can show you the proof.”
NSA: “I’m not interested in your digital proof. We’re monitoring network and electromagnetic activity in real time. There’s no evidence our national defense assets have been degraded.”
BCM: “That’s a bold and reckless statement. You’re accusing trusted national security partners of gross negligence, Mr. Director.”
NSA (pointing to the TV monitors): “This so-called domestic uprising related to the economy—Mexican drug gangs running loose, raping and pillaging in the countryside. Panicking the populace.”
BCM: “This is what happens when economies collapse. Order needs to be restored before the chaos spreads. Private security forces are available and more palatable to the public than a government military force.”
FBI: “These gangs—we’ve arrested heavily armed suspects all across the Midwest. They’ve murdered policemen and civil authorities—and more than a few of them have turned out to be professional mercenaries tied to defunct military regimes in Central America and Eastern Europe.”
CIA: “Trained operators whose fingerprints we have on file.”
BCM (raising an eyebrow): “Then you’ve worked with them before?”
CIA: “My question is: who brought them here?”
EndoCorp: “Most likely drug cartels, taking advantage of general lawlessness to make money.”
CIA: “That defies logic.”
NSA: “And what about money?” (Opens up a folder and tosses out reports like a blackjack dealer in Vegas.) “Financial houses controlled by your clients have been selling Treasury bills like crazy—you’re precipitating a run on the dollar.”
BCM: “Our clients have a fiduciary responsibility to their investors, and quite frankly the monetary policies of the U.S. government haven’t—”
DIA: “As if the U.S. government controls the creation of money! It seems the same private institutions entrusted with setting monetary policy were the ones who profited from debasing the dollar. No wonder the public is flocking to the Daemon network. The darknet credit is still worth a damn!”
CSC: “That’s treasonous talk.”
DIA: “Don’t lecture me about treason!”
BCM: “Everybody calm down. Let’s stop throwing the T-word around. One man’s treason is another man’s patriotism.”
FBI: “How do you figure that?”
BCM: “The nation is under attack, and here we are arguing. We need to put our heads together.”
NSA (glaring at him): “Yes. The United States is under attack. The question is by whom?”
They all sat in bristling silence for several moments.
BCM: “Certainly you don’t intend to stop us from defending our property? Or from maintaining public order?”
FBI: “Who is behind the covert terror operations in the Midwest?”
BCM: “Does it really matter?”
DIA (looking to NSA director): “We need to declare a national emergency and mobilize whatever National Guard troops and equipment not already deployed overseas.”
BCM: “You have a serious problem, gentlemen. Without immediate financial support, the U.S. dollar will collapse—precipitating the complete insolvency of the U.S. government. Picture Russia. Argentina.”
NSA: “This is treason.”
BCM: “A multinational corporation can’t commit treason. My clients have no obligation to America. Risk must be hedged.”
NSA: “Get the treasury secretary on—”
BCM: “Your government can create all the money it wants, but it will be worthless here and abroad. Without outside intervention the U.S. government will soon be a hollow shell.”
There was silence for several moments.
NSA: “What do they want?”
BCM: “They need Army Regulation 500-3 amended to include private military contractors. And then they expect it to be invoked.”
DIA: “You expect us to suspend the Constitution? Are you insane?”
BCM: “You’re to stay out of the way while they deal with the Daemon. If you do so, global financial institutions will support the dollar—of course, there will need to be economic and social reforms put in place first to ensure a return to fiscal discipline.”
The government half of the table looked like they were pondering violence.
DIA: “Why are you doing this?”
BCM: “My clients are simply defending their property—they own the genes being stolen by the Daemon’s operatives. They own the networks and software it has compromised. They own the global brands it has undermined. Representative government doesn’t have the will to defeat this threat.”
DIA (to the NSA director): “Have him arrested!”
The BCM representative gestured to the phone near the NSA director’s chair.
BCM: “It’s your call. Try to arrest our people. Try to have the military interfere with our security operations. I think you’ll find that no one in your government has the stomach for it. We are not the enemy of America.”
NSA: “I don’t know what you are. But some people in government still take seriously their oath to uphold the Constitution.”
The NSA director picked up the phone and started dialing.
Chapter 24: // Green Desert
NSA Director Removed Amid Bribery Scandal—In yet another case of government corruption, Lieutenant General Mark Richards was forced to step down early today amid charges that he accepted lavish gifts and favors in exchange for approving lucrative intelligence contracts—contracts that benefited foreign technology firms. He has so far refused to comment, his lawyer citing the pending criminal case. . . .
Jon Ross moved through the crowd that had gathered around a soup kitchen. Grim-looking, recently middle-class refugees surged toward the queues. He could see the isolated D-Space call-outs of darknet members keeping order.
“Form four lines! Four lines, please!”
Ross stood up on the bumper of an abandoned car and gazed across a vast tent city, accumulated like so much plaque at the confluence of two interstate highways outside of Des Moines, Iowa. It was actually a mixed tent/car/RV city. He estimated several thousand makeshift campsites. There was music, the buzz of voices, dogs barking, and the shouts of children playing in the maze of humanity. The acrid smell of people cooking over magazine-and-newspaper fires filled the air.