Hibiki tried to continue. “This man also said he would only exchange the box if the entire team were present, stating that he may want something from any of you in the future and that he wants you to be able to recognize him on sight. But it’s for your eyes only and no pictures, no covert surveillance, that’s why he wants the meet to be at a stylish, swish party tomorrow night in HK. That, and safety from Dudley. You’ll all need to be dressed for the part and be able to pass through reasonable security.”
Hayden jumped in as he took a breath. “When you say the SPEAR team? Do you mean all of us?”
“I’m not sure,” Hibiki admitted. “Can you make it?”
Hayden paused as the entire team did the calculation. “It gives us about twenty nine hours to get to you and make ready. Yeah, we can do that.”
“Then I would say get started.”
“Can we pause for a second?” Mai said. “And address the issue of these so-called Z-boxes. I mean — we know the Chinese developed them and then just gave them away. Why are they so important?”
“The Pythians want them,” Dahl said. “So they’re not waffle makers.”
“Actually,” Hayden said. “I was waiting until morning to tell you guys, but we recently got the low down on the Z-boxes from our contacts inside the Politburo. A ten-year deep cover asset had to blow his ID and then be pulled out to attain this info so you can bet your sweet asses it’s of the highest importance, presidential level. The Z-box is basically a hacking tool. A complex, intelligent machine that cracks codes.” She paused. “Almost any code.”
“You’re talking US military access,” Dahl said. “Monetary and energy grids. That kind of stuff.”
“I’m not just talking US or military, but anywhere and everything. Every essential service’s infrastructure. Schools. Government. Entertainment.”
“How would they do that?” Smyth wondered.
Karin answered that one. “All common individual systems, whether they be offense oriented, defense oriented, hell, even used for gas and electric distribution, run off the same sort of structural design, much the same as one corporation’s personnel records run on systems pretty similar to another’s. They’re all based on the same designs. Access one, you can access another and another. Once you have their source code it’s relatively easy to find vulnerabilities in the whole system. For malware writers as much as terrorists and serious hackers such vulnerabilities are the Holy Grail, an unlocked window for these sneak-burglars to get into. Alternatively they could alter the code for their own means or leave a backdoor for later. Sell the backdoor’s password to someone else. This box does all that and more, and it doesn’t need a super-geek to operate it. It provides access.”
Hayden took over without missing a beat. “The US has accused China of conducting a cyberwar and cyber espionage against its interests for many years. Congress called them ‘the single greatest risk to the security of American technologies’.” She sighed tiredly. “And here we are.”
Mai coughed loudly. “So, to recap, the Chinese developed a code box and everyone wants it.”
“They’re all at it,” Komodo said with a disbelieving grunt. “NSA. British Intelligence. The Mossad. You name it. China just got here first.”
“And since they gave it away so easily they probably already have a superior design.”
Komodo laughed. “Well you know what they say about your PlayStation and laptops. By the time you buy the latest one it’s already out of date.”
“What I’m thinking,” Hayden said. “Is that if we gained possession of a device we’d be able to better understand how they work. Maybe even crack their code, make them obsolete. I’m pretty sure the Secretary will have the same idea. I’ll call him now but do expect to be on the next Gulfstream out. ETA fourteen hours or so.”
“We’ll start gearing up.” Drake said. “Working the op. Build it on a ‘don’t trust the source’ basis and take it from there. At the very least Dudley will be trying to get the box back. We don’t want any surprises.”
Smyth’s sarcastic grunt filtered down the wires. “That’d be a friggin’ first.”
Drake admitted he had a point. “All right, smart ass. Fewer surprises than normal. How’s that?”
“Still clutching.”
“And bring your stylist, Smyth,” Alicia cracked. “This party — it sounds posh. You for one are gonna take an awful lot of tittifying up.”
“What the hell does that mean? Is that rude?”
Drake was laughing. “Bloody hell, Alicia, you’re one to talk.” Even Mai had to hide a smirk.
Alicia swept up on to her feet, a swan in perfect flight. “Vogue’s my middle name, didn’t ya know? I’m the chic chick. A glamour puss with a large helping of added ‘Y’. The swank that makes you—”
“We get it,” Dahl said. “You think you can pull it off and maybe you can.” He surveyed the group critically. “My guess — Drake’s the problem.”
“Balls. The last time I looked the height of Swedish fashion was Abba’s Agnetha. What have you had since then? Boris Becker?”
“He was German, you damn, ignorant Yorkshire tw—”
“Well, there you go. Even Saab went bust.”
“Guys,” Hayden interrupted. “Guys. Just start making ready. We’re on our way. Hopefully this will be a ten-minute cakewalk. But failing that—”
“Big Trouble in Little China gets a sequel,” Drake stated. “But bigger. Much bigger.”
“Be ready for anything.”
“Always am, Hayden. Always am. Already I see a plan B forming…”
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
Drake spent the fourteen hours before Hayden and the others arrived casing the luxurious hotel in question, which stood at the edge of Victoria Harbor, overlooking the bay and nearby Kowloon, resplendent by day and sparkling at night. The party would be held on the top floor, naturally off limits to all but the insolently rich. With that in mind Alicia led a shopping trip to the Pacific Place Mall, spending hours and countless HK dollars to guarantee the team were properly outfitted. At first, Drake wondered about the odd change in her — Alicia Myles didn’t really care if she was dressed in denim or lace, leather or silk, or anything for that matter — but then he caught up. This was different, it was engaging, poles apart from her self-imposed normality, thus — it appealed. For now.
For today.
He returned from his surveillance with Dahl to find the spacious warehouse abuzz with activity. Yorgi in particular sat with his chin resting on the floor, amazed, and Drake personally didn’t blame him. Alicia, Mai and even Chika — though she and Grace weren’t going to be involved in the operation — stood around in various stages of undress, trying on different variations of clothes and colors.
Dahl stopped in his tracks. “So this is a little inappropriate. Should we wait outside?”
“Are you kidding? This is my dream.”
Drake headed inside, whistling tunefully. Mai turned toward him, dressed in a floor-length, split-to-the-thigh, midnight-colored gown. With her hair pinned up and styled she took his breath away, this softer version of her one he rarely saw. Her slight smile tugged at his chest and he remembered again why he’d loved her all these years.
Not only for the vision she presented but for the strong-hearted, headstrong, perfectly capable woman within. For the insecurities she could not hide. For the way she held a blade. For the way she kissed him, heart and soul. For the woman that she was.
Then Chika spun her away and the moment broke, a fragile thread trying to tether their stormy emotions. Now Alicia moved into his eye line.