Boundless Ambition: (Kyle Achilles, Book 5) by Tim Tigner

Author:Tim Tigner [Tigner, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Kyle Achilles Series, Book 5
Published: 2020-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 54

Swaps and Surrogates

USING THE WEB BROWSER on his phone, Achilles kept an eye on the Sea Star’s progress for the remainder of their time in St. John’s. He theorized that the filed schedule might be a ruse to lure them to the end of the earth. That the Sea Star might suddenly turn back toward the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, which had plenty of ports and was packed with shipping traffic. But the cargo ship remained on course as it left Newfoundland in its wake.

Given that reassurance, Achilles emailed [email protected] with another assignment. He asked the hacker to access the Sea Star’s inventory management system and get him the position and full serial number of every container whose last three serial numbers and check digit were 413 7.

The Invisible Man replied within the hour. Two containers matched. One at Bay 12, Row 07, Tier 05, and one in Bay 01, Row 00, Tier 62. Their complete serial numbers were provided. Ten thousand dollars was debited from the retainer.

Achilles recognized the serial number of the second container when he saw it, as well as its location. “They didn’t move it,” he said as Katya emerged from the shower. “The missile is still front and center on the top tier. At least in the ship’s computer.”

“Huh. Could they have done an unrecorded swap?”

That was Achilles’ first thought as well. “I seriously doubt the ship’s software would allow it. A container mix-up would be a big deal. Those are exactly what cargo management systems are designed to avoid. Consider the logistics of rapidly loading and unloading thousands of containers—and the potential costs of getting them confused.

“I grabbed the wrong bag at the airport once and didn’t notice my mistake until I went to unpack the following morning. It was a time sink for me and a major inconvenience for the poor soul I screwed. I gotta think cargo companies install bulletproof systems to prevent human error.”

“And tampering,” Katya added. “Don’t forget theft.”

“Right.”

“But if they didn’t move the missile to a new container, or the container to a new location, then the missile is right where it’s always been. That doesn’t feel right.”

“It doesn’t—until you think about what happens next. Remember, Halifax is the ship’s destination. Churchill is just a diversion, and it’s a tiny town. I doubt the ship will unload more than a dozen containers. Probably just two or three.”

Katya started nodding. She got it. “No point in shuffling a container around to hide it when they’re going to produce it anyway.”

“Exactly.”

“Which means they have some other method of making it disappear.”

Or us, Achilles thought. “It does. That’s my chief concern at the moment. They know something critical that we don’t.”

Katya became contemplative.

Achilles waited.

When she refocused, he knew she’d latched onto something. “Isn’t that the very nature of warfare? Both sides structure systems and activities around plans and anticipated actions, never knowing exactly what their opponent is up to until a battle sorts things out.”

“I suppose you’re right, professor.”

Katya didn’t react to his quip.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.