Read Online Enemy In the Room by Parker Hudson - Free Book Online

two trusted Muslim brothers, or via encrypted email
showing an authentication code and no sender. They spent a lot of
money for the best IT systems and hackers; they believed that their
RTI intercepts and actions were invisible.
    As a matter of routine Knox checked the
control panel at his desk which tested for bugs and insured that
electronic white noise would foil any attempt to record their
conversation. He removed his coat and joined Kamali at the table
with a pad and his gold pen. He nodded to the Iranian.
    “We’re in reasonably good shape on the
equipment side,” Kamali said, looking down at his notes. “David
Sawyer’s team just purchased telecom bunkers in three cities. He
and everyone think that USNet is opening co-location facilities for
website hosting. At our current rate of information growth, they
should last until about the end of the year, when we’ll have to
buy, build or lease more space, and buy more servers.”
    In virtually perfect English, Mustafin
added, “On the analysis side, we’re already pushing the limits.
It’s easier to add fifty computers than ten competent analysts. Our
computers are matching connections and key words a thousand times
faster than just two years ago. Who could have foreseen all of the
handhelds, and all of the wireless hotspots? We’re literally being
flooded with unencrypted emails with every kind of business and
personal detail imaginable, which senders can’t imagine we’re
reading. And we’ve barely touched all the information in uploaded
videos and social media.”
    Knox nodded, then made a note on his pad.
Mustafin continued, “The change in Hong Kong was easy to track
because several emails indicated it was about to happen. But
catching a single phone call or email with crucial information is
getting harder.”
    Knox agreed. “Having enough qualified people
is going to be more challenging, particularly since we don’t want
them to know what they’re doing.”
    “Exactly,” added Kamali. “The good news is
that the analysts don’t have to be sitting in the U.S. We’re hiring
in Asia, South America, and Africa. And we’re using their local
conflicts to recruit bright people into what they think is their
cause’s intelligence effort. We just want you to know that despite
everything, the system is not perfect. And soon we’ll have to
expand or reorganize the duty officer slot. There’s so much
information coming in that it’s difficult for one person to digest
and act on it all.”
    “OK. But we obviously have to be careful
with duty officers. We must know and trust them completely—or have
them on a short leash. And that’s just to handle the regular
business intercepts—they can never work on or know about our
Special Operations. Even on the business side we have to give them
a vivid picture of what will happen if they betray us. Hopefully
your share of our RTI profits will continue to motivate you to use
caution.” They both nodded. “Then let’s get on to the most recent
projects.”
    Kamali began, “We now have eight major
automobile manufacturers around the world paying us a million
dollars a month for our reports on their competitors. Of course
none of them knows that our sources are their competitors’ emails
and phone calls. Ditto in aircraft, weapons manufacture, banking
and pharmaceuticals. Next month we’ll begin the same in oil and
gas—software, computer, and securities firms are slated by the end
of the summer. Our total business-related gross is now about $150
million per month and climbing.
    “In the past thirty days we made almost $40
million from people and firms who pay us to remain silent about
what we know about them. And the big number, as usual, was the $825
million we netted on third-party stock purchases and sales. Our
portfolio of non-USNet related stocks is now well over $50
billion.”
    Mustafin glanced at his notes and continued.
“As for our other work, through our foundations and charities,
Allah be