39 - The witching hour
Sydney - 12 am Saturday AEDT
Welcome to my online cyber thriller, The Phisherman. To learn more about the story and meet the three main characters, click HERE. If you'd prefer to start at Chapter 1, click HERE. To select another chapter, click HERE.
After ending the call with Lucy, Nick sat motionless for a few minutes.
What the hell is going on?
He glanced at his phone and saw it was midnight. The witching hour had commenced, when darkness reigns and evil lurks.
Ah, what do I care about magical smells and spells? It’s all nonsense. I’ve got to focus on being ready when Vengador picks me up in six hours.
He energetically worked his way through a Krav Maga training routine to freshen his mind and body, then opened Lucy’s email. He couldn’t spend much time on it.
He understood her concern after reading it. It claimed he was an addict whose gambling was out of control. And it asserted he was into much worse.
Lucy’s distress was understandable after he examined the attached file. The long list of gambling activities showing times, dates, locations and amounts was terrible enough.
However, the images displayed on the last two pages took it to another level. Nick could not believe what he saw. It made him so angry, he wanted to hurt something, someone, anyone.
And the worst thing for Nick was he could not un-see it. The images were trapped in his mind, their evil depravity filling him with anger and distress – anger at the animals who could do such a thing; and distress for the victims trapped and alone in the worst humanity could be.
It makes no sense. There’s nothing to indicate its source.
Scarily, Nick realized that the log of his gambling activities was correct. Someone had been keeping tabs on him.
But how? Who? Why?
And why send it to Lucy, of all people? She’s the sweetest person on earth.
He realized in a flash.
It’s a message to me: ‘Back off.’
All it did was spur him on.
Yet, Nick needed sleep to stay at the top of his game.
He swiftly checked the many recorded and typed messages Alison had left him while he’d been on the phone with Lucy. It was apparent that his British ally was still angry at him.
It was too late to tackle that problem head-on. Instead, Nick sent Alison a brief SMS.
Hey Ali, I’m meeting my team at 6 am to hunt our hacker. Can you let me know where he’s hiding so we can catch the SOB asap?After reading it through, he added a huge THANK YOU at the end.
Hopefully, it will appease her a little after her rant over the phone.
He set an alarm for quarter to six. That would be almost seven pm in London.
If Alison hasn’t replied by then, I’ll bite the bullet and call her. Hopefully, she’ll simplify things and send a message.
It wasn’t long before Nick’s brain shut down, and he became oblivious to the dramas unfolding around him.
Unfortunately for him, the worst was happening in his room while he slept.
London – 2 pm Friday
Alison was ten minutes into her video briefing with the NSA’s Julio Estévez and his war council of six when her phone vibrated – Nick had finally messaged her.
Frustratingly, she had to wait another fifteen minutes before there was a distraction at the NSA’s end that provided the opportunity to peruse what he’d written.
Alison displayed no visible reaction as she read Nick’s brief message. No one knew how much she wanted to hurl the phone at the wall and scream.
Why am I not surprised? There’s no apology for his arrogant outburst at the airport. Nor is there any gratitude for what I’m doing to save his neck.
Her gut told her Nick was one of the good guys, despite D3vast@t10N’s veiled accusation. After Nick’s confession on the trip back from Kidderminster, she knew the CIA agent carried dark secrets that ate away at him.
And she was sure he hadn’t revealed his deepest, darkest pain.
Yet, I’ve also confirmed that Nick is a gifted liar.
Worse, he was willing to lie to her. Though Julio’s introduction had given nothing away, Alison was sure the NSA’s lost documents belonged to Project 831.
And 831 is definitely not a code cracker.
She knew the Game Master’s assertion was closer to the mark when Julio visibly baulked as she asked, “With due respect, Julio, why should GCHQ be concerned with these hacked documents? I’ve paused several critical cases for a project we’ve never heard of, even though you’ve been developing it for two years. I assume the ramifications for the UK are minor, given our two countries’ alliance with sharing advances in technology. It’s not like you’ve been working on a secret cyber weapon you’re hiding from your allies.”
Alison brazenly stared back as Julio eyed her through unblinking hooded eyes.
She smiled knowingly when he blinked before telling her with a cold voice, “The project specifics are not your concern, Alison. I’ve discussed it with your Director General, and he is happy to assist us. Your job is to do what I’ve told you: find the hacker who stole our project files.”
“I still think that …”
“It’s not your job to think. What you need to do is help my team to find the son of a bitch who has our documents. That’s it. And there will be no more questions about the project unless you want a personal meeting with me and your DG.”
Alison blinked before querying with mock humility, “So, what do you think I can do that your techies can’t?”
Julio gave Alison another disapproving glare, then nodded to the gaunt gentleman on his immediate left.
“Why don’t you explain how Ms Simpson will assist us, Jason?”
Alison started at the thin man’s deep voice. Although his pale lips barely moved, his words were crystal clear.
“I’m sending you the file the hacker used to penetrate the Agency’s security measures via an unknown zero-day exploit. He tricked an Agency employee into opening the file on a system with access to the project files. You must analyse the file and tell us what you find.”
“Obviously, there are a few things you haven’t told me,” Alison responded. “To start with, how do you know your hacker is male?”
Alison almost snapped at the open sniggers erupting from the other end of the video conference. The only person who didn’t respond was Mary, the sole female on Julio Martin’s war council.
Alison couldn’t miss Julio’s hawkish stare, daring her to take it further. However, Alison was willing to let sleeping dogs lie.
I already know Alan Watson’s like most of you - a narrow-minded, hateful chauvinistic male.
After a long pause, Jason replied with a demeaning tone Alison had heard too often.
“We don’t know the hacker is male. However, there aren’t many like you, are there?”
Before Alison could respond, Julio interjected.
“So, have you got that file, Alison?”
Biting her tongue, Alison checked the conferencing software’s chatroom.
She stifled an ironic laugh when she saw the document.
It’s the one I analysed for Nick four days ago.
Griffith - 11:15 pm Friday AEDT
Z was frustrated.
Davies had been in Sydney for an hour. Yet, the CIA agent hadn’t responded to any of his sister’s messages.
Read your messages, you stupid moron.
He cranked the volume up on his favourite Judas Priest song, then slowly rolled his fifth rollie, allowing the sounds and smells to soothe his mind.
Alan had just ignited the fat wad of tobacco when the green call button on phone exploit’s control app lit up.
Impatiently, Z clicked the button. Davies was calling his sister.
Finally!
It was another thirty minutes of frustration before Lucy Davies forwarded the email with the infected document, and then another fifteen before the CIA agent opened the file his sister had sent.
Z was connected to the agent’s laptop the moment Davies opened the attachment.
Like taking candy from a baby!
He opened the application Abaddon had sent him and added the IP addresses for the two computer systems he’d pwned. 1
He was fascinated as the tool weaved its magic in the background, unbeknown to either Davies sibling. All it needed was a connection between Action Man’s laptop and his sister’s system back in the US for Abaddon’s tool to make it look like everything was managed remotely by the CIA agent as he travelled the world.
Importantly, it meant the evil being created was stored on a computer in the US. When the lies Z was smothering Davies with were brought to light, Action Man would feel the full weight of US law, one supported by international agreements with the UK and Australia.
And then …
Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to gaol you go.
All the pieces were in play.
It was time for Z to make his last move in the game of “Suck on that, Action Man.”
Excitedly, he sent the simple message to Abaddon.
its dun The final move belonged to his mentor.
Z was unaware of who else Abaddon was liaising with. All he knew was a chain of black hat brothers was involved – a chain that went all the way to the heart of the British Secret Service.
All he had to do now was sit back and wait as the pawns performed their duty.
If it played out as Abaddon described in his message, Nick Davies, the supposed king of CIA black ops, would be brought to his knees, oblivious to his destruction until it was too late.
London – 3 pm Friday
All Alison was waiting on was a word from the Game Master to confirm the suspicions he’d expressed in his last message.
And she had just received notification that her black hat mentor had sent the promised outcome.
With trepidation, Alison opened the chat to read D3vast@t10N’s message.
It was short and to the point.
nick davies is a rotten egg. attached file explains everythingAlison downloaded the document titled nick_davies_activities.
She slowly scrolled through the document.
The first four pages listed dates, times, locations and amounts for Nick’s gambling activities. It would have been hard to believe if Nick hadn’t told Alison about it himself. In black and white, it was too real to be denied. It even included a few sessions in London over the last few days. The problem was it lent credibility to what followed.
Alison cried when she reached the final page. The images it contained were awful. They reminded her of the most impacting busts she’d made during her time in GCHQ.
No matter how often she saw pictures like that, it shook her. To see how evil adults could be to young children was the ugliest side of humanity
If you can call it ‘humanity.’ Monstrosity is a better word.
Appended to the photos was a list of IP addresses. The first address belonged to the server hosting the obscenity. The others were high-profile clients who regularly accessed the server. Many related to a case she’d been working on for the last few months; what she had never been able to determine was the source. And now, it had been handed to her on a platter with a big red bow.
It didn’t take Alison long to determine that the server was located at a mansion in Georgetown, Washington DC. The property was owned by Nicholas Henry Davies, born September 11, 1985. The current occupant was Miss Lucy Mary Davies, born March 17, 1987 – Nick’s sister.
The document’s final paragraph provided remote login details for the server’s administrator: someone called Nifty_Nick.
Alison keyed in the login details and was angry to see the kiddie porn server. It used a hidden partition on the hard drive and had been configured so anyone using the computer would not be aware that it existed.2
Alison suspected it had been created remotely via a rootkit. The only way to access it was over a network link, so it would be challenging to prove who’d set it up, though she had her suspicions.
One thing she knew.
Nick is not tech-savvy enough to pull that off without help.
Her immediate problem was that it had been reported to her and she had substantiated an illegal server based on US soil. It meant she had a duty to report it and, under her GCHQ authority, form a plan to respond to and prosecute any British citizens accessing it.
She had a quick look through the server’s logs. They weren’t large. It looked like they were wiped every 24 hours, though she suspected the server’s administrator would have a copy of past logs for insurance.
Looking through the last day of logins, she saw a few IP addresses from the list included in the file the Game Master sent her.
When she checked the latest entry, which occurred less than an hour ago, it tracked back to a hotel in Sydney.
Alison located the hotel’s number and rang it.
When a distinctly Australian accent answered, Alison said, “Hi, I’m Joanne, Nick Davies’ fiancée. I was wondering if you could pass a message on to him in the morning?”
“Certainly, Miss,” a young woman said from the other end. “What did you want to say? I’m sure it will be a lovely surprise.”
Alison mumbled something and hung up, though her mind was falling apart. She had hoped the person on the other end would say, “I’m sorry. There’s no one here by that name.”
She had always known something was wrong with Nick, besides his open sexist and racist attitude.
A man like that who’s never had a serious relationship must be hiding something.
After busting too many paedophiles lurking in darknet chasms, she knew there was no rhyme or reason as to who was a member of that perverted community.
The final straw was to discover Nick had accessed the server only an hour ago, after he’d messaged her that he was going to bed.
I can’t protect him anymore.
As tears welled up in her eyes, she picked up the office phone to make a call she’d never dreamed of making.
Well, now you can see where this is going. Or can you? I reckon you’re in for a few big surprises as everything rushes towards the phinale. I hope you enjoyed this chapter enough to click the heart-shaped LIKE button below. And if you have any suggestions to help make it better or you simply want to encourage me as a storyteller (either would be appreciated), please leave a comment.There are various explanations for where the word ‘pwned’ orignated from. No matter what the origins, the meaning is always the same – getting ‘pwned’ means getting ‘owned’ by someone else, most commonly in a game (that’s why it’s pronounced ‘poned’). The term is commonly used when a hacker takes over a website i.e. he/she/they/it owns the website. For a more detailed explanation, check out pwned [Merriam-Webster]
A hard disk partition divides a physical hard disk into multiple virtual disks so that one physical drive looks like multiple disks that can each have its own storage system and controls. Think of it like your country & states/shires - it’s one country made up of multiple states/shires.