“How is Jinshan doing this? How is he able to use so many Chinese military and intelligence assets without the consent of Chinese leadership?”
Susan said, “Sir, we now believe that one of Jinshan’s main allies within the Chinese government must be the South Fleet Commander of the PLA Navy. He would be the one in charge of the Red Cell island, based on the island’s location. He would also have been able to grant access to the types of military assets that are supposedly supporting Jinshan’s operation.”
The director leaned in. “So you’re telling me that Jinshan and one rogue general are really the ones doing all this?”
“An admiral, not a general. But yes, sir. That’s what we now think.”
“Unbelievable. The president wants to show the Chinese president proof. Assuming that we think his reaction would be favorable.”
“Our China analyst team thinks that the Chinese president would consider Jinshan’s actions high treason, if confirmed, sir. And our China station is doing everything they can to help find out more and bring it to the attention of the Chinese leadership. But to be honest, sir, we still have very little proof, other than our word against theirs.”
“But what about all the military buildup on the Red Cell island?” the director said.
“That particular military buildup is approved by the PLA leadership, sir. As you know, part of the Chinese military strategy is to build up military outposts and bases in the South China Sea. This extends their territorial claim and defensive capability.”
The two were quiet for a moment, watching the interrogation going on in the next room, and David went back to looking at the Chinese flight records for the transports taking off and the images taken from the Jimmy Carter off the coast of the Red Cell island.
“Something doesn’t match up here,” David said to Susan.
Susan looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“I’m looking at the records of the Chinese military flights to the Red Cell island. Not all of the planes are actually landing there.”
The director overheard this. “What do you mean?”
“Sir, the submarine that’s monitoring the island has been taking pictures of just about every aircraft that lands on that runway. I’ve been comparing them to the Mainland Chinese flight records. Only about a third of the jets are actually landing at the island when they’re supposed to be.”
Susan’s voice was skeptical. “The submarine probably can’t monitor everything. Maybe some of the aircraft were missed because it had to submerge or something.”
David shook his head. “I thought about that. But I looked at the timestamps. That can’t be the only explanation. At least two-thirds of these Chinese Air Force transport jets are supposed to be landing at the Red Cell island, but they aren’t.”
The director asked the obvious. “So if they aren’t landing on the island, but that’s what their flight plan is filed for, then where are they going?”
David said, “That’s an important question. But what I think we also need to know is… well, I heard you talking about the Chinese leadership denying knowledge of Jinshan’s Red Cell program. But they know that there’s a military buildup there. What I can’t understand is how these aircraft could be landing anywhere else and not alerting Chinese leadership.”
The director said, “Say more.”
“Well, sir, at In-Q-Tel, I worked with a lot of military technology from around the world. As I’m sure you know, network-centric warfare has been the big trend since the late nineties. The Chinese are following that trend with all their military equipment modernization. Military leaders want to be able to go to a tactical screen and see every asset they own and where they are at any given moment. In order to accomplish this, the Chinese have always used a system of transponders and GPS antennas.”
Susan said, “So… you are saying that the Chinese military leaders would have been alerted to their aircraft not going to the Red Cell island.”
David nodded. “Yes. Military leaders in Beijing should be able to look at a map and see if they have transport aircraft flying to… let’s say, South America.”
The director said, “Is there any other explanation here?”
“It’s possible that this is part of another covert operation. But for”—David looked down at his notes—“twenty-two brand-new, massive military cargo jets to disappear without the top generals knowing about it, that seems pretty odd to me. And for that to occur when their destination is Jinshan’s Red Cell island — that seems like too big a coincidence.”
The director said, “How do we find out where these aircraft are going? And how they are hiding it?”
Susan said, “Give me a few hours. I think I know who might be able to help.”
David and Susan sat in a windowless meeting room at the NSA Headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. David remembered the man sitting across from them as Diaz, the NSA person who had briefed them at Langley.
Diaz said, “So I was able to look into what you asked.”
Susan raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“Actually, I found something quite interesting. But first let me explain. Chinese military aircraft — as well as many of their other assets, like ships and submarines — all use encryption for their communications.”
David said, “What about location information? Do their military assets broadcast their location to each other?”
“Eh. Some of them. Aircraft all do, sure. That’s called IFF. Identification Friend or Foe. Some ships have transponders of sorts. Submarines don’t. Tanks don’t. Soldiers don’t. At least not normally. The reason is obvious. If your enemy were to gain access to your network, they would be able to locate all your assets. And that would mean they could target you very precisely. It would be a huge advantage. But it’s also important for battlefield commanders to know where their units are, right?”
“Right.”
“So, modern military forces encrypt all their data. We often shorten the word encryption to crypto. But we in the signals intelligence world don’t need location-transmitting technology to find your location. We just need you to communicate. If you’re broadcasting any electronic signal, that gives away your position.”
Susan said, “So if the Chinese are operating a secret army in places that they haven’t told all of their military and political leadership about, you would be able to use their communications broadcasts to prove their whereabouts?”
Diaz said, “In essence, yes.”
Susan said, “Well, this is great! Do it.”
Diaz cracked his knuckles. “Right. Well, two things. One, I’ve already found your secret army. They’re in Ecuador.”
Susan said, “Ecuador?”
Diaz held up his hand. “And two — this is the interesting thing that I’ve uncovered — they aren’t using the same crypto that the rest of the Chinese are using. Their communications and location information is hidden, even to the regular Chinese military.”
David said, “What do you mean?”
“This secret army of yours is using a different crypto key. A piece of hardware with their codes for encryption. There are a whole slew of Chinese aircraft, ships, and submarines, as well as many land-based units in Ecuador, that are using this unique crypto key. It’s the same technology that the PLA is using. But the codes are separate. I’ve looked at it, and I can tell that it’s being changed every ninety-six hours. But we can’t break it. The technology is state-of-the-art.”
“So what’s next?”
Diaz said, “We need one of those crypto keys.”