A Drone over New York

“What?” said Anton and Max simultaneously.

Bill’s face turned to a sudden look of horror before he slammed the laptop closed with a bang, flipped it over and scrambled for the battery.

Damn, Max thought.

“What’s going on, Bill?” Anton said, not realizing what Max already knew.

No answers were forthcoming, as all Bill could do was swear while his fingers struggled with the latches. After what seemed like an eternity in a moment, he finally flicked the little switch that held the battery in place and yanked it out. He breathed a sudden sigh of relief. Max could not help but breathe a sigh of relief as well.

Max knew that it was a close call. The big guy looked up at Max. All the color had drained from his face. He seemed a little relieved that Max had somehow clued in on what had just happened.

“What?” asked Anton.

“I don’t know,” Bill said, still slightly shaky. “All of a sudden, things started turning on that were meant to be off. I mean, it was turning on the Bluetooth. There is nothing to connect to, but somehow it was turning it on.”

“What do you mean, turning on the Bluetooth?” Anton asked.

“I mean, somehow it was running Bluetooth. I deleted the driver from this computer, yet it somehow reinstalled it and turned it on. If it did it, it could connect to a phone—and boom, make a call.”

“Make a call?” Anton asked.

Max had a bad feeling he knew where this was going.

“I think it was trying to contact someone. To tell someone I was running this,” Bill said. The color was still gone from his face.

“Contact someone?” Anton said.

Max and Anton suddenly had the same thought at the same time: “Who?”

“I stopped it—I mean, I’m fairly sure I stopped it in time,” Bill said, still trying to calm down. “I didn’t get a chance to see the number. But if I fire it back up, we risk the call going through. I have to—”

Bill suddenly stood and hurried over to the bookshelf, swearing as he did.

Off the top shelf, he yanked out a large black shoebox. It looked heavy.

“Did your program run?” Anton asked as Bill came back with the electromagnet.

“Yes. That’s the problem. I somehow triggered something embedded in the footage. John, you have your drive, right?”

Max nodded. He pointlessly wrapped his hand around the small plastic device inside his pocket. His hand felt sweaty.

“Can you just stand on the other side of the room for a minute?” Bill said as he unpacked the box and waved over to the corner of the room. “I need to wipe this, just to be sure.”

Bill emptied his pockets and gave everything to Anton. Then Anton joined Max to wait on the other side of the room.

“Stand back, everyone,” he said as he turned his attention back to the device in his hands.

Max watched Bill plug in the magnet and run it over the laptop. The loud hum drained everything from the cheap device. Whatever had been on it, was now gone.

Bill breathed another sigh of relief after he turned off the magnet. He still looked a little pale and collapsed into his chair. The cold sweat gave his forehead a bright shine.

As Max and Anton came back from the other side of the room, Bill looked at them.

“This is real, isn’t it? It’s not some prank or something?” Bill said in a shaky voice.

Max could tell he was probably hoping someone would jump out of the closet and yell “Surprise” and tell him it was just a test. But it wasn’t.

“The footage is real,” Max said. “It was taken directly from a Enexup drone just over thirty days ago. Apart from the video footage, I don’t know what else is on there.”

Bill’s eyes somehow became lost in space as he tried to comprehend what had happened.

“What was the program testing for?” Max asked. It had been bugging him, and it was finally time for him to know what was really going on.

Bill gave Anton an unsure look. Max knew then that Bill was feeling out of his depth.

“Max,” Anton said after a moment, “I’ve been working on a case on corporate espionage, wire fraud, and stock manipulation. Since you have raw data footage from a Enexup drone, I thought it might contain some material I can use to expose it.”

Max could have strangled Anton right then. The person he trusted and thought had unshakable integrity was just as selfish as the next guy. Max had been so wrong about him.

A million things ran through Max’s mind, but one stood out above the rest: Anton had been playing him. It was for a case he had been working on. It wasn’t to protect Max. Anton needed this footage. But why?

“So wait, you mean there was no mob connection?” Max asked, trying to sound calm and collected, even though his heart was beginning to race. “It was just you trying to get your hands on this for your own story?”

Anton shook his head. “No, there is still that. I swear that is still true. I’m waiting to hear back from my contact. He is working the case. I work on lots of different stories, you know that. Right now, one of the big ones is about corporate espionage, wire fraud, and stock manipulation. I’ve been running it for years. I was working on it in the background when we were working together. I needed the drive to see if it had something that was far more dangerous. That software was written to look for it. That is probably how it triggered the response. Some sort of self-defense mechanism.”

Max hesitated. He was trying to think what to do. Had he jumped to a conclusion too quickly? Was Anton still someone he could trust? But he was here now. He had to see this through. He was going to give Anton one last chance.

“Okay, Anton, let’s take it from the top,” Max said. “You’ve explained the mob connection, but other stuff—I mean, I understand the espionage and wire fraud, but stock manipulation? And how does the drone footage help?”

“I agree. Let’s take a step back,” Anton said, visibly relieved to be asked the question. “Enexup is the USA’s largest user of commercial drones. They have over forty million in flight at any one point in time. They have live aerial footage of almost every part of the country. Since the introduction of drones, Enexup has revolutionized itself and become the most valuable company in the world. But there is a darker side to their drone usage. With so much coverage, what’s to stop them writing software to do stuff that can never be discovered? They could count the number of people going into Walmart. If done well, it makes them millions. But on the other hand, they have enough eyes in the sky to look at what individuals are doing. They can see what stores you are going in, what you are wearing on a particular day, even what you are doing on your phone. That’s nothing too bad on its own, but they are using it to bring down their competitors. If you’re a customer, using another company’s app, they can intervene before you make your purchase. Try and get you to buy from them. It’s kind of like having them look over your shoulder at every moment of the day. But it is not just about their sales; they are also using the data to manipulate the stock market. Through a bunch of shell companies, they are buying and selling stock. They are doing it in a really clever way, but it all starts with the drone. Their eyes in the sky. They see everything. I’ve managed to get all the other pieces together, but I’ve been missing the drone connection. Every drone has a piece of software that starts it all.”

Max didn’t like what he was hearing. It was an urban legend that everyone knew.

“On your drive, you have a portion of that software,” Anton said, finishing off his explanation.

“Big brother is watching,” Bill said. “Only this time, it is not the government.”

“Anton, you know I don’t buy into that stuff,” Max said. He hated the connection, the conspiracy theories.

“What do you mean?” Anton cried, throwing his hands up. “The evidence is in your hands, Max. I saw your face while that all went down. You knew what was happening. With this, we could expose the largest ever case of wire fraud and stock manipulation in history! Your little drive could finally finish what the ProBlez case started.”

Max started to realize how serious Anton really was. He wasn’t trying to play him. He was just chasing the truth. It was all Anton ever did.

The big question for Max was what to do now. This was big. It would bring down Enexup. But it wasn’t just Enexup. Other things would come down around it. All the massive data companies would come under suspicion. It would cause another crash. The economy was still trying to recover from ProBlez’s collapse. Bringing down Enexup could cause something worse than the financial crisis of 2008. In his hand was the cause of the next major economic catastrophe. The potentially biggest in living memory.

“You could be the next Svenlatan,” Bill said, obviously trying to be supportive, but missing the mark so bad, it was ridiculous.

Anton tried to hush him with a movement of his hands. To journos like Anton, Svenlatan was a hero. But he was dead. The ProBlez whistleblower who brought down one of the greatest tech giants had been killed by a former employee. Shot at point-blank range in the face. The two other whistleblowers who followed, and who eventually also helped bring down the tech giant, were in witness protection. Rumor was that one had committed suicide, and the other was living in fear for his life. It wasn’t exactly a nice bedtime story.

But this could be it. Max realized he could bring down Enexup. He could be the one behind an economic collapse. His life would be over. He wouldn’t have to worry about fans and professional hit men anymore. Everyday employees would be after him. Families would be broken; lives ruined. All the articles that he had helped with over the years came flooding back. The whole country would be flipped upside down.

It was all too much.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” was all Max could say.

“Down the hall!” Bill yelled as Max started to bend over.

Then Bill leapt into action and rushed Max to the bathroom just in time.

A short while later Max sat on the white-tiled floor of the bathroom, his body recovering from the sudden reaction. He leaned against the wall. The sound of the toilet tank refilling yet again echoed through the room. The stench still infected Max’s nose. It was too much. He had finally bitten off more than he could chew—a seat at a game he was not qualified to play. A thousand metaphors ran through his head, all pointing one way.

But he knew he was better than this. He had survived plenty of crazy situations before. All he had to do was think.

Max Overton was a survivor of the modern age.

Eventually he came to the conclusion that sitting on a stranger’s bathroom floor would not solve anything. He needed to get back out there. Get back on his feet and get back out there.

He needed three tries to stand up. His legs felt a little shaky at first, but he would be fine. He rinsed his mouth out in the sink and stared at himself in the mirror.

You can do this, he tried to tell himself. He wasn’t really sure if he could.

“You okay?” Bill asked as Max emerged from the bathroom. The big guy actually looked worried.

“Yeah, it just kind of hit me all at once,” Max said.

“Sorry about that,” Anton said.

“You hungry?” Bill asked, trying to sound kind. “I’ve got low-fat Greek yogurt, some homemade granola bars, or I can even whip you up an egg-white omelet.”

Max wasn’t hungry at all, but the thought of eating Bill’s heath food as a comfort snack just made it worse.

“I’m fine,” Max said. “Just some water would be great.”

Max sat back at the table. The laptop was sitting on a wet towel, so Max gave Bill a strange look as he returned with the glass of water.

Bill shrugged. “I just wanted to be sure. I’ve run it under the faucet. Nothing is getting off that thing. I’ll bet my life on it.”

Again, Bill’s words were not choice. But he was just as scared as Max was. Bill was clearly no journo.

“I know we said no names, but you’re Max, aren’t you?” Bill said.

Anton had been yelling his name so much, he had apparently forgotten Bill was trying to be anonymous.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you, Bill. Sorry about the bathroom.”

Bill laughed and told him not to worry. Somehow the sound of laughter was what Max needed. It seemed to lift the depressive cloud that hung in the room. Max couldn’t help himself and gave a small laugh, then returned a small smile.

Even Anton gave a small smile. He seemed to be the only one who had remained calm the whole time.

“Glad you’re feeling better,” Anton said after the laughter fizzled.

Max gave Anton a contemplative look. He knew what was coming. Now that Max had time to get over the initial shock, they had to continue what they’d started.

“Again, sorry about that, Max,” Anton said. “But what I said was right. This is big, and we can’t pretend not to understand how important this could be. Listen, I know a few people who can help us. Let me take this public, and I can make sure you get whistleblower status. You’ll be protected. The government of the USA will want protect you.”

“You mean like Svenlatan,” Max said.

That shut Anton up. Even Bill’s face turned sour.

“Look,” Max said, “I know you guys are after the truth, but this is my life we are talking about!” It came out a bit more angry than he had intended. “I’m not like you guys.” Right then he just wanted to throw his hands up in angry despair. He never wanted to be like them. Yet here he was, holding their dreams in his hands. His own dream, meanwhile, was slipping away in silence.

“I’ll take it public, then,” Anton said in a moment of pride—or insanity. “No one needs to know your involvement. I’ll take all the heat. I can lie about how I knew Dale. He’s dead now, so no one can refute it.”

“And I’ll help,” Bill said. “Together, Anton and I can erase you from the scene. We won’t lie; we’ll just leave you out of it.”

“No. No … I can’t let you do that,” Max said. “Besides, you said it yourself. It’s already been in too many hands. We needed it to be Dale. But you’ve got me instead. Pretending I don’t exist won’t work. I’m the only one left and I don’t think I can even do it.”

“Then why not, Max?” Anton asked. “Because of your payday?”

Max’s eyes narrowed and mouth tightened. That was a little below the belt.

“Anton, just don’t do this,” Max said.

It would all come back to Max anyway. With all the moving parts, he was bound to be identified. There was no way they could remove every trace of him.

“My head is on the chopping block, and I don’t think this will get me out of trouble,” Max said.

It was Anton’s turn to look helpless.

Max let his words sink in, choosing to let silence to speak for him.

“Look, will you think about it?” Anton asked. “You have a few different options. You don’t have to do this all by yourself. There are a lot of us who will help you. We will do our best to protect you. We can get you to Venezuela or another non-extradition country before we break the news. I know a few people there who can help. I can mange everything from here. The AP will protect me while I draw the heat away from you. We don’t need to erase you; just get you somewhere they can’t touch you.”

Max sighed. Now he really didn’t know what to do.

“Sorry to put you on the spot like this, Max, but this is the truth.”

That was the scariest thing Anton had said all night. It was the truth, straight up, no holds barred, just the way Anton always was. Anton never shied away from it. But it was crushing Max, almost suffocating.

“Let’s just take a breather,” said Bill out of nowhere. “We’ve thrown you into the deep end here, haven’t we? I would prefer my toilet not to get another round.”

Max nodded and gave Bill a smile. The guy had probably had no idea what he was getting into when Anton came here tonight.

“Good idea, Bill,” Anton said after taking a deep breath. He had probably forgotten how simply the night had started out. “Sorry, Max. Let’s just take a few minutes.”

“More water, anyone?” Bill asked.

Both Anton and Max nodded.

Bill fetched them each a glass of cold water. No one really said anything for a few minutes. Max was trying to calm himself and not let his mind run. He stared at the glass for a while, not really thinking anything.

“What the hell have I got us into?” Max said quietly.

It was Bill who unexpectedly responded: “Well, on the bright side, at least we now know it’s true.”

Max and Anton both had a small chuckle. Now that they were calm again, they could appreciate that a few minutes ago, a lot of urban myths and legends had suddenly become either debunked or proven very scarily real. It must have been what it was like to interview Edward Snowden that very first time. Snowden must have been scared out of his mind sitting in that hotel room in Singapore.

“You’re right, Bill,” Anton said after a moment. “We’ve only scratched the surface. Now that we know the code is real, we can find out how far the rabbit hole goes. We won’t know the full extent of it until we run full diagnostics.”

“Full diagnostics?” Max asked.

“Yeah, we are going to need to run more tests if we want to know what is going on,” Bill said, seeming confused by Max’s tone.

“Just hold on a second, Bill,” Anton interrupted before Max could say anything. “I want full diagnostics run, sure, but do you think you can personally get around all that security?”

Bill nodded. “Sure. Now that I know the code can be triggered, I can be better prepared for it. I can even set up something to find out who it is trying to contact.”

In that moment Max realized that Bill was far more technical than he had first given him credit for.

“How long will it take you to get everything together?” Max asked, still fearing where the conversation was going.

“A day or two,” Bill said.

“Before we start getting ahead of ourselves,” Anton said, “let’s first agree on a few things.”

Now Max felt like he was getting backed into a corner.

“First,” Anton said, “I need to stress the secrecy of what we are working on. One person is dead because of this, and another is in the hospital. Let’s not go shouting about this to anyone. Therefore I suggest we nickname this Project Snow.”

Max and Bill just nodded.

“Second, we need an escape plan if things go south. I’ll handle that. I’ll let you know as soon as I have it planned out. If you get into trouble, contact me. In the meantime form your own short-term plans.”

Again, Max and Bill nodded.

“We all have our roles in this. Bill, in addition to the tests, I need you to dig up all the related tech stuff we have on Enexup. Do it quietly. Clair is going to want in if she gets wind of this, but let’s not involve her until we know what we have.”

“No worries,” Bill replied in a deeper than normal voice.

“Max,” Anton said, turning toward him, “do you have somewhere you can lay low?”

Max nodded. He could probably camp out at Rachael’s for another day or two.

“Good. We can transfer the heat over to us once we know what we are dealing with. In the short term you are the primary target. You got a good place to hide the drive?”

Max nodded again. “And I’ve left you a breadcrumb trail, just in case.”

As Anton continued to outline his plan to Bill, Max realized that Anton would get his wish if he died. He had somehow just handed everything over to Anton that he had wanted. He was now standing in a makeshift apartment with two men, one of whom could easily overpower him. The danger of his situation was now suddenly apparent.

The only thing that was giving him any comfort was Anton. He liked to believe Anton was honest, and his words were more than just words.

Bill was trying to act nice too. But he was a big guy. This place seemed a little too sparse for a gym-junkie’s apartment. Something still wasn’t right.

“Max, you agree with that?” Anton asked.

Max hadn’t been paying enough attention. He replied with a blank stare.

Anton gave him a look. The cogs were turning inside his head.

“Bill,” Anton said without turning to face him. “Can you give us a minute? I think this conversation needs to be done in private.”

Max watched as Bill gave Anton an apprehensive look. Anton kept his eyes fixed on Max. It was either that Bill was not happy about being kicked out of his own apartment, or this wasn’t part of the prearranged plan.

Finally Bill stood up. “I’m going to go for a walk around the block a few dozen times. If you need anything, just prank call me,” he said, smiling.

“Thanks, Bill,” Anton said.

Max didn’t say a word. For some reason he could no longer hold eye contact with the big guy as he left the room.