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combatting these
actions?”
    Levell snorted. “That’s a good one. That
bunch of bozos is ineffective and useless. They seem incapable of
formulating or presenting alternatives and solutions. They’re
devotion is preening for the cameras, and to insure their own
reelections, and spending a lifetime feeding at the public
trough.”
    “ That leaves the Ship of
State rudderless. There’s only one possible outcome, and it’s not a
happy one.”
    “ That’s why the Society has
to safeguard our freedom any way necessary until the electorate
comes to its collective senses and puts a trustworthy leader back
in the Oval Office.”
    Levell terminated the call and handed the
Sat phone back to Rhee.
    * * *
    He wheeled himself back down the hall and
into the lounge. McCoy was chomping on a fresh unlit cigar and
engaging in an animated conversation with Maureen Delaney. As
Levell rolled up, McCoy saw the serious look on the other man’s
face.
    “ Something up?” McCoy
said.
    “ Yeah, I had a call from
Brendan Whelan. I’ll tell you about it later.”
    McCoy got both messages. He stood up and
said, “I’m going to get a fresh drink and step outside for a
smoke.”
    As he was walking away, Delaney said, “You
had a call? I thought communications in and out of here were
difficult at best.”
    “ That’s not quite accurate.
We have a Sat phone system that utilizes 1024 bit asymmetric
encryption. IT would require three hundred billion MIPS-years to
crack it.”
    “ MIPS, meaning one million
instructions per second?” Delaney said.
    “ Yes, a MIPS-year is
thirty-one and a half trillion instructions. Multiplied by three
hundred billion, cracking the code becomes virtually impossible. In
addition, the system utilizes a second layer of 256 bit symmetric
encryption. It converts voice to encrypted data using a constantly
changing mathematical formula. Typically, the encrypted stream
would be deciphered by the receiving unit, which converts it back
to voice. All calls are routed directly to the receiving unit by
way of a direct space link, thus avoiding use of a ground
station.”
    “ So your caller also had a
Sat phone?”
    “ Yes, but in situations
where the receiving unit is not a part of the system, and therefore
susceptible to interception, we use a different strategy. In that
case the call is directed to a special ground station where the
encrypted data is converted to voice and directed to the
non-systemic receiver through any transmission link on the planet.
In addition, the special ground station is mobile and can be
transported quickly to a new location by truck, ship or aircraft.
For example, the call could be routed through a ground station in
Kenya, so that a tracer would indicate the call was being
transmitted from Nairobi.”
    “ Technology is my world,”
Delaney said. “But the state of encrypted communications just
amazes me.”
    “ Mostly sounds like
techno-babble to me,” Levell said.
    She leaned forward and smiled at him. It was
one of the most beautiful and radiant smiles he had ever seen. He
was momentarily transfixed.
    “ It may be techno-babble to
many of us, Cliff, but there is no question that you are doing an
amazing job,” she said softly. “You are the only man who could have
built this organization.” She leaned over and kissed him gently on
the cheek.
    Levell’s craggy features filled with color.
“Are you hungry?” he stammered. “I’m starving. Let’s eat.”

 
     
    Chapter 7—Dingle,
Ireland
    The two burly Irish cops hadn’t reached the
door when Caitlin Whelan swept it open. Without hesitation she
threw her arms around the older of the two men and they exchanged a
tight embrace. Next she grabbed the younger man and repeated the
hug.
    The older man said, “Are you alright,
Cait?”
    She smiled. “Yes, Da.”
    Her brother, Padraig, said, “And Brendan and
the boys?”
    “ They’re fine; we’re all
fine. But there are some other buggers who didn’t fare as well.”
She