The Dark Web: The stunning new thriller from the author of The Angolan Clan (African Diamonds Book 3) Read online

  THE

  DARK

  WEB

  CHRISTOPHER LOWERY

  urbanepublications.com

  THE

  DARK

  WEB

  Book 3 in the

  African Diamonds Trilogy

  A NOVEL BY

  CHRISTOPHER LOWERY

  First published in Great Britain in 2018

  by Urbane Publications Ltd

  Suite 3, Brown Europe House,

  33/34 Gleaming Wood Drive,

  Chatham,

  Kent ME5 8RZ

  Copyright © Christopher Lowery, 2018

  The moral right of Christopher Lowery to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the BritishLibrary.

  ISBN 978-1-911583-22-6

  EPUB 978-1-911583-23-3

  MOBI 978-1-911583-24-0

  Design and Typeset by

  Chandler Book Design

  Cover by Julie Martin

  Printed and bound by 4edge UK

  urbanepublications.com

  Dedicated to my amazing wife, Marjorie

  and our beautiful daughter,

  Kerry-Jane.

  Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes -

  I fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts.

  Virgil; The Aeneid, 29 – 19 BC

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  The Dark Web Glossary of Terms

  Introduction

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  THE DARK WEB

  GLOSSARY OF TERMS

  BIP

  Banque International de Paris,

  BPE

  Bishop Private Equity

  Lee-Win

  Lee-Win Micro-Technology, Shanghai

  XPC

  XPlus Circuits, its Dubai subsidiary

  UNSC

  United Nations Security Council

  IGIS

  Institute for Global Internet Security

  PE

  Private Equity Investment

  Botulism

  A neurotoxin, poison formed by the Clostridium Botulinum organism

  CPU

  Central Processing Unit, a mini-computer managing a piece of equipment

  Processor/Micro-Processor

  A tiny silicon card containing hundreds of millions of CPU instruction cells

  Firmware

  Software programmes/instructions built into a processor

  Flash Drive

  Memory stick for copying data from a computer

  ACRE

  Automatic Constant Recurring Encryption

  MARK VII

  Lee-Win’s latest micro-processor

  A2

  A malicious cell inserted onto a silicone card to provide a hacking entry point

  Upgrade

  New version of previous software technology

  Upload

  Distribution of software technology over the Internet

  Download

  Reception of software over the Internet and implementation by users

  Web Network

  Pieces of equipment linked by any kind of wireless connectivity

  M2M - IoT

  Internet of Things – Remote and Machine to Machine communication

  The Cloud

  Remote computing equipment made available to users over the Internet

  Connectivity Module

  Unit in a micro-processor which permits wireless connectivity

  Hub

  A powerful wireless transmitter capable of distributing information over the Internet

  CAD, CAM

  Computer aided design, Computer aided machines

  Time Differences

  London GMT: Dubai +3, USEC – 5, USWC -8, Hong Kong/Shanghai +7, Europe, SA +1, Moscow +2

  INTRODUCTION

  The list of names in the Internet Hall of Fame is long: Licklider, Kleinrock, MIT, Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, Kahn, Cerf, UCLA, Santa Barbara and Utah Universities, Roberts, Stanford Research Institute, Tomlinson, Kirstein, Crocker, Mockapetris, Metcalfe, Dalal, Sunshine, Berners Lee, Wales, Zenndström, Frijs, Zuckerberg. Just a few of the thousands who contributed to its creation, development and global commercialisation.

  These brilliant visionaries, scientists, engineers and governments worked with one common and praiseworthy objective: to give the world a valuable and useful tool to facilitate global communication and learning and to create unity. That is the reason for the name, Internet Protocol, the etiquette of connecting to a global communications network.

  Then, as in the case of every discovery or invention introduced for the benefit of mankind, evil minds exploited their creation, with totally different and less altruistic motives. Thus was born the Internet of today, with its litany of examples of the worst of mankind’s inventions, corruption, perversion, f
raud, terrorism, hatred, pornography and worse, unfettered and uncontrolled. A Dark Web of depravity hidden in a Cloud behind an anonymous, invisible façade, ready to be unleashed on the naive and unsuspecting world at the press of a button.

  As Virgil wrote, two millennia before the birth of Christ, describing the treachery of the Greeks who infiltrated their soldiers into Troy, hidden in a massive wooden horse presented as a gift: ‘I fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts’.

  But Virgil was writing about a wooden horse, not the Internet.

  PROLOGUE

  Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

  Monday, 9 July 2012

  ‘That man from the syndicate called again, that’s the fifth time since we turned them away.’ Madame Xiu Lee-Win poured a glass of green tea for her husband.

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘The same as every time they came and every time they’ve called, “The company is not for sale, please stop pestering us”.’

  ‘I don’t understand their obsession with our business,’ Chongkun Lee-Win sipped his tea. ‘There’s dozens of microprocessor companies around just as good as ours. If they’ve got the kind of money they say, they can take their pick. Just keep refusing, dearest, and they’ll finally realise we won’t change our minds.’

  ‘I suppose so, but I’m tired of answering the phone and hearing that man’s voice. And he said a peculiar thing before he rang off this time.’

  ‘And that was?’

  ‘He said, “I think it’s time to convince you to sell”.’

  ‘I don’t know how they’d do that. They’ve already offered a fair price. Don’t worry about it, just ignore them and they’ll go away.’

  ‘You’re right, I’ll stop answering the phone. I’ll get the Filipino girl to answer in Spanish, that’ll put them off. Anyway, how was your day?’

  ‘Excellent. We just got the second quarter results and they’re very good, we’re ten per cent ahead of revenue forecasts with two per cent gross margin improvement. We can afford to continue to invest in our development programmes without worrying about cash flow.’

  ‘You’re talking about the ACRE project, aren’t you? How’s it coming along?’

  ‘We’re making good progress; Han and I were reviewing the latest test results this afternoon. I think we’re still a year or two from perfecting it, but you know how long it takes to transform a concept into a working solution.’

  She wagged a finger fondly at him. ‘You’d better deliver it soon or you’ll be embarrassed in front of the world. Remember? I told you not to authorise those press releases last year. “Announcing ACRE, The Ultimate Level of Encrypted Transmission from Lee-Win Micro-Technology”. You could be prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act.’

  Her husband laughed and kissed her cheek. ‘Nonsense. It was a smart move, it brought us lots of publicity and new customers. They’re all waiting for ACRE and we’ll get there in the end. It’s just a matter of time and money and the breakthrough will come, you’ll see.’

  ‘Yes, it certainly is. According to the cost summary I saw on your desk, we’ve invested over $40 million since you came up with the concept two years ago. And you were sixty years old last month, are you going to follow that dream into retirement?’

  ‘It’s not just a dream, Xiu. ACRE is much more than that. Do you remember how we pioneered the change in the concept of CPUs and microprocessors back in the eighties? Now we’re going to do the same thing for encrypted transmission. I forecast that five years from now, Automatic Constant Recurring Encryption will be the de facto system of protecting and transmitting data all over the world.’

  ‘If you say so, darling. You can keep up the project, just don’t stress about it constantly, or it will be the death of you.’

  Thursday, 26 July 2012

  It was six-thirty on a dark, rainy morning when Chongkun climbed into his white 2009 Volkswagen Golf. Although he had a chauffeur and several other cars, including a 1999 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit Mark IV, he preferred to weave through the traffic in the little saloon and drop it in the employees’ parking lot behind the Lee-Win building in Pudong, leaving the luxury travel for his wife. The sky was black with heavy rainclouds, and he strained to see through the windscreen wipers as he drove slowly along the street lit up by the headlights of the passing cars. Their colonial-style town house in the Jing’an area was about fifteen kilometres from the office, on the other side of the Huangpu River. Chongkun would meet their two sons, Junjie and Jiang, for a coffee before work and chat over the day’s programme. Both were married and worked with him in the microprocessor business, as heads of finance and marketing respectively. Although the family owned several other companies involved in manufacturing and commerce, he loved the challenge of the continual innovations in the world of the Internet, often led by Lee-Win under his stewardship.

  Chongkun always took the same route to work. Experience had taught him it involved the fewest hold-ups, and the trip took less than thirty minutes at that time in the morning. He made his way to the Fuxing East Road to cross the river by the tunnel and then come down Century Avenue to the business park. At the roundabout near the Xiao Taoyuan Qingzhensi Mosque, the cars were bunched up, nervous drivers waiting for a gap to enter the traffic. As Chongkun inched his car forward, a massive black Hummer pulled alongside him on the right and a green Ford saloon came up on his left side, moving to the inside lane of the roundabout. The Hummer also moved ahead and he drove slowly out with it, protected by the saloon on his left. Suddenly he felt a soft impact from behind and the Golf was pushed several metres forward, onto the roundabout. He jammed his foot on the brake and looked in the rear-view mirror. An old red Land Rover had run into the back of his car. The Ford on his left had stopped, and he looked past it to see a Tsingtao Beer truck bearing directly down on him. The Hummer had also stopped on his right, and he pushed the throttle flat to the floor to try to get past it and over the roundabout.

  The fully loaded lorry smashed into the Golf, pushing it into the Hummer. The little car was crushed to half its size, with Chongkun inside. It took the firemen three hours to extricate his dead body from the wreckage. The Land Rover had disappeared from the scene. In the dark, pouring rain no one was sure what had happened and why he had driven into the path of the truck.

  The verdict of the inquest was accidental death, but his heartbroken widow didn’t believe it. In October, she sold Lee-Win Micro-Technology to the syndicate for twenty per cent less than their original offer, and the Lee-Win family left Shanghai and settled in Macau.

  Xiu Lee-Win’s prophesy had proved to be accurate, but not for the reasons she supposed.

  ONE

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  March 2017

  ‘Decider! Two clear points. My serve.’

  ‘Hang on. I need a minute.’ ‘Scotty’ Fitzgerald opened the door of the squash court and grabbed his bottle of water. He took a swig and wiped his face with his towel. ‘Shit! It must be a hundred degrees in here.’ It was seven in the evening, but the court was like an oven.

  ‘It’s hot. Even I’m feeling it.’ His colleague, Sharif Kayani, took a swallow from his bottle and poured the rest over his shaved head, drying off with his T-shirt. They went back onto the court and he took up his serving position. ‘Right. Time to show you who’s in charge.’

  Sharif served from the right box; a sliced forehand, coming off the left side of the front wall so the ball spun down towards the floor of the left quarter. Scotty took it on the volley with a swipe towards the right wall, ricocheting off the front and coming back to the left, behind him. The other man stepped quickly across and smashed it against the back wall, so it rebounded directly onto the service area. Scotty sliced it softly back against the front wall and it died onto the floor before Sharif could retrieve it.

  ‘Who did you say was in charge?’ Scotty gave a condescending smile as he took up his serving position on the left. ‘Winning point coming up.’

  F
ifteen minutes later, the men were towelling off in the shower room of the enormous underground sports facility below the XPlus Circuits building in the Dubai Investments Park. The Park was home to many high-tech businesses with a presence in the fast-growing industrial centre of the Emirates, and the facilities available to employees were legendary. Each floor of the four-storey edifice had an area of 1,000 square metres, with two basement levels housing not only the computer network centre and test labs, but squash and badminton courts, snooker, swimming pool, a cycling track and a fabulously well-equipped gymnasium.

  Scotty was actually a Welshman, born in Cardiff, previously a software development manager for a US telecoms company. His parents had moved to the US when he was a child, and after obtaining his degree in Computer Sciences at Princeton he’d joined Verizon’s IoT, Internet of Things, development team in Silicon Valley. He was an acknowledged leader in encryption technology and was headhunted by Lee-Win Micro-Technology, one of China’s largest manufacturers of microprocessors, routers and microchips, when they allocated a billion dollars to create a new design centre to support their Shanghai manufacturing unit.

  The new centre was set up in a separate entity, XPC, in Dubai. The owners of Lee-Win were smart enough to know they could attract the very best industry talent to Dubai more easily than to Shanghai. XPC had opened two and a half years previously, having been built in just eighteen months while an intensive recruitment programme was initiated to poach these experienced professionals from around the world. Not only in traditional fixed machine technology, where Lee-Win had several billions of products installed throughout the world, but also in the booming mobile IoT sector, where they enjoyed a fast-growing share. Sharif had been brought from Lahore, Pakistan, with his entire team of programmers and Daniel Oberhart, Senior VP of Operations and Support, was bribed from Zurich, Switzerland, where he had been Director of Operations for MicroCentral SA, a fast-growing competitor in the global processor industry.