Page 41 of Jonas (Silver Team #4)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Once again, the vibe in the basement was tense as we waited for Zane to bring Penny down. Shockingly, even Cash and Lore had curbed their banter.

Easton was standing behind a sitting Nebraska, doing nothing to hide the fact he had his sidearm strapped to his hip. The rest of us were strapped, too, just not in your face about it. But I did notice that Cash had adjusted his t-shirt for easier access to his Glock should the need arise.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, then seconds later, a stunning blonde woman came into view. She took in the room but stumbled to a stop when her eyes hit Cash.

Lore made an untamed noise from the back of her throat that sounded like something a lioness would make.

Derrika scooted closer to me, not because she felt threatened by Penny. That was an ‘I told you so’ bump.

Fucking hell, shit was about to get more complicated.

“Is there a problem?” Lore ground out.

“No. Um. Sorry. No,” Penny stammered and quickly looked away from Cash.

Thankfully, Cash had better sense than to give one of his smirks. Which would only antagonize Lore.

“It’s not even noon, and it’s already been a long-ass day. Let’s get to it,” Zane prompted. “We looked into Operation Freebird.”

“Good. Yeah. So you know that was a primary hideout for POTUS.”

Thank fuck Penny wasn’t going to draw this shit out with a game of pretense and hide the truth.

“Yes,” Kira answered. “And it was frighteningly easy to find. How did you find it?”

“May I sit?” Penny asked. Zane waved to an empty chair. Penny pulled it out woodenly and all but collapsed into it. “Sorry, my nerves are rattled and I might be more than a little paranoid at the moment.”

“It’s okay.” Nebraska took over. “Take your time and start at the beginning.”

Her soothing voice worked wonders, and Penny blew out a long exhale. It wasn’t until she glanced back at Cash did she stiffen and start to fidget.

What the fuck was that?

“I’ve worked at the NSA for fifteen years. I work with type 1 cryptographic systems. Basically, I test the algorithms.”

“Holy shit,” Kira whispered.

“English for the rest of us,” Easton requested.

“Cryptosystems are nothing more than protecting information using a set of rules and encoding the information into an unreadable format. Like the standard AES, an advanced encryption standard that is widely used. That’s an easy algorithm—one used for the key generation, one for the encryption, and another for the decryption.

We have different cryptosystems for different levels of security. ”

“Encryption, got it,” Easton supplied.

“I work with type 1 products,” Penny went on. “This encryption is used for our most top-secret documents, which Operation Freebird should’ve fallen under. So should’ve about a hundred other documents I found that had the type 1 encryption stripped, and basic asymmetric encryption was in its place.”

“Holy fucking shit,” Kira seethed.

Penny’s face visibly paled.

“There’s been a total system failure at the National Security Agency. Let that sink in for a second. No alarm bells. No red flags. The only way for the encryption to be changed is to have access to our top-secret algorithms and the parameters and rules set for that type of system.”

“Who has access to this information?”

“To all of it? No one in my department. The network is compartmentalized. Each person has a task in the chain. Once the algo is set, there are three of us who go in and check to make sure the system is secure.”

“She tries to break the encryption,” Kira interrupted.

“And since she has insider knowledge of how the process works, it should be easier for her to break it than some other hacker. She’ll also have specialized computers and programs to attack the algorithm.

If she can’t break it, the system will be deemed secure. ”

“Correct. I also check old systems to see if I can break the chain. And that’s what I did this morning and found top-secret documents were unprotected and wide open.

Not just Freebird, but also the locations of missile silos in the US, and not just the ones in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and North Dakota.

Our top-secret sites are open for our enemies to find.

There were also documents on a new missile defense system the Army is testing and strategic locations for our carriers if the US was ever attacked. You name it, it’s available.”

We weren’t fucked. We were so fucked it’d take an act of God to get us unfucked.

“Does anyone have access to these systems as a whole? Where are they backed up? I’m assuming this data takes up an enormous amount of space,” Zane inquired.

“The only person who has access to our type 1 protocols is the Secretary of Defense.”

I didn’t have to hear the collective breath every occupant in the room took. I could feel it.

“Say that again,” Zane whispered, the sound so menacing it made me brace for the sure to come explosion.

“The Secretary of Defense,” Penny repeated slowly.

I saw Zane’s hand shake as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. His movements were deceptively slow, each one measured—as if he moved too fast, he’d fly apart.

Never had I seen Zane Lewis rattled.

He set his phone on the table once the call he made started to ring.

“Do you have anything new?” Trent Graham asked.

“Yeah, Mr. President, I just learned that national security as a whole no longer exists. And I only have one slice of the pie. I’d safely bet that your Department of Defense is fucked. That every goddamn secret that was housed at the Pentagon is no longer a secret.”

“What exactly are you saying, Zane?”

“Penny Cox, meet the President of the United States. Please explain to him what you just told us.”

“Um. Hi. President Graham. I…um.”

“Penny,” Nebraska called. “Deep breath. Just pretend he’s a nobody and tell him what you just told us.”

Penny’s eyes bugged out, but she nodded.

After a few deep breaths, she started again. This time with conviction. The story was no less frightening hearing it a second time. The Chinese had found a way to get their hands on classified intel. And they didn’t have to threaten, kill, or expend all that much effort to do it.

“Thank you, Miss Cox. I appreciate you coming forward. Zane, a word with your team in private.”

Well, it was safe to say POTUS was vibrating with anger, and I didn’t need to have eyes on the man to know. His voice clearly broadcasted his fury.

“Cash, take Penny upstairs.”

“No need. I can find my way,” Penny said and scrambled to her feet.

“I’ll go up with you,” Derrika offered. “I can use a soda.”

I hoped Penny in all her nervousness didn’t notice the mini fridge right behind her.

“I’ll come up when this is over,” I told her.

“Okay.” With a quick brush of her lips against mine, she stood.

Zane waited until the door at the top of the stairs closed before he said, “She’s gone.”

“I want Senator Rutte brought in for questioning,” Graham said.

“Is there a specific place where you’d like this questioning to take place?”

“Your discretion.”

That was shocking and a testament to how pissed Graham was.

“I’ll let you know when it’s done,” Zane said flatly.

“Lucas Grant and I will be there.”

“Sir, I strongly?—”

“Lucas and I will be there,” the president insisted.

“Trent, listen to me?—”

“You were right earlier. I was wrong. I’m hesitating not because I don’t know what the right thing to do is.

I’m hesitating because of polls. I made a promise to myself, not to lead as a politician but as a man who deeply loves his country.

I’m only in this office because I work for the people.

And my people are under attack. I want Rutte.

My gut says he’s behind the insanity to move the Pentagon’s data offsite but I can’t prove it.

Even so, I’m going with my gut on this and trusting you and your team.

After we speak to Rutte, I’ll move to next steps. ”

That sounded a lot like we were going to war with China.

“Trent—”

“This…” Trent growled. “Is a declaration of war, and the United States of America does not cow to anyone.”

With that, the President hung up.

I couldn’t stop my smile.

“Do you know Penny?” Kira addressed the elephant in the room.

“Nope.” Cash shook his head. “I’ve never seen her before in my life. And with a face that pretty, I wouldn’t have forgotten her.”

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Lore flinch. Again it was there and gone, just a flash of Stella before Lore was firmly back in place.

“Great. If we’re done discussing how pretty Penny is, can we get back to it? I volunteer to track down Rutte.”

Without skipping a beat, Zane declared, “We need Penny. So if you’d please stow your murderous tendencies I’ll give you a gold star when this is over.”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

“Stella,” Nebraska warned.

“Fine.”

Fuck . Derrika was right. Not only was Lore searching, she’d found what she was looking for in Cash.

This was not good news.

“You and Cash, go find Rutte. I want him here.” Zane transferred his stare to Cash. “You know where.”

“Copy that, boss.” Cash looked at Lore. “Let’s go, Queen of Denial.”

“What the hell am I denying?”

“How hot I am, obviously. Hell, I stopped that woman in her tracks.”

And there it was, the smirk.

Fucking Cash .

Kira smirked. “How cute. The Queen of Denial and the King of Cash.”

“It’s Cash is King, KK,” he corrected.

Lore tossed her hair over her shoulder and scowled at Cash. “Right, because speaking about yourself in the third person isn’t obnoxious.”

“Baby girl, I can show you?—”

“No you can’t,” Zane cut in. “You’re forbidden from showing her anything. Including but not limited to: your ass, Little Cash, or anything else that can cause mayhem.”

“See? Even Big Daddy Boss knows my ass is so fine one look can cause mayhem and possible riots.”

“I promised not to murder the chick upstairs. I make no promises he’ll come back alive.”

“That’s acceptable,” Zane agreed.