Cyberstrike by James Barrington (best memoirs of all time TXT) 📕

the middle of the room, on which was a tubular object about six feet long and over two feet in diameter that appeared to be composed only of tightly wound copper wire. ‘Is that it?’ he asked.

‘That’s part of one of them,’ Ramli replied. ‘As I said to you in the house, all six of these devices have been completed but we are thoroughly examining each of them one last time before they’re deployed. That’s really only a matter of checking the integrity of the stator winding and making sure that the heavy-duty battery is fully charged. And of course checking that the remote triggering circuitry is intact and functioning properly.’

‘And you’ve confirmed that the mobile phone is synchronised to the trigger?’

‘Yes. In some ways, that’s the simplest part of the whole thing. We’ve set up a call cascade system and initiated a five-minute delay within the software on the tablets before the ignition sequence starts. All you have to do is use the mobile phone to call the first number. The call will not be answered, and after three rings the call cascade will dial the second number, and three rings later the third number, and then the fourth, fifth and sixth. The moment each of the mobiles detects the incoming call it will activate the tablet, which will initiate the five-minute countdown and then trigger the ignition. We’ve been testing it this afternoon so I can show you if you like.’

Sadir nodded and followed Ramli across to another workbench where half a dozen cheap mobile phones lay, each connected to a small tablet computer which was in turn linked to a dry cell battery and a small low-voltage light. Ramli accessed each of the tablets in turn, making a change to something within the program, then stepped back. He picked up a seventh mobile phone from the bench, turned it on and handed it to Sadir.

‘There’s only one favourite number listed on that mobile, and that’s what you need to call to begin the sequence. I’ve altered the timing in the software to one minute so you can see how it works. Give it a try.’

Sadir pressed the telephone symbol on the screen, then the star symbol to open the favourites menu. He glanced at the six silent mobile phones in front of him, then started the call. Almost immediately the screen on one of the mobiles illuminated and he heard the sound of three rings both from the speaker of the smart phone and the called mobile. Then it fell silent and the second mobile began ringing, followed by the third, then the fourth and the fifth and the sixth. A few moments after that the lamp connected to the first mobile illuminated, followed about five seconds later by the second and then by the others until all six lamps were burning.

‘We know the timing is critical on the ignition sequence,’ Ramli said, ‘and we’ve worked out that it takes about five seconds for the second mobile to be called after the first one, and we will be building in that slight delay to the timing sequence. So the first tablet will initiate it after five minutes, the second after four minutes and fifty-five seconds and the third after four minutes and fifty seconds, and so on down the cascade, which means all six devices will detonate at almost exactly the same moment.’

‘For maximum effect,’ Khayat said.

Sadir nodded and looked around the workshop. The other five devices were on the floor of the workshop, their heavy steel jackets removed to reveal the stator winding to allow testing to be done. ‘And you’ve organised transport?’ he asked.

‘We’ve already hired six vans and we picked them up yesterday,’ Ramli replied. ‘They’re parked on quiet streets around this house, and we’ll prepare each vehicle and weapon today and tomorrow to provide a margin of error in case something goes wrong.’ He pointed to a piece of heavy-duty equipment standing in one corner beside the steel double doors. ‘That’s an engine hoist, designed to lift engines out of cars. It’s got wheels so we can use that to move the devices around here in the workshop, and we will also be using it to transfer them into the backs of the vans here in the workshop. We’ll have to do it in two stages because the weapons are so heavy. So first we’ll transfer the steel cylinder, which is the heaviest and bulkiest part of the device, and bolt that to the floor of the vehicle to make it secure. Then we’ll load the core of the device, the part surrounded by the stator winding, into the cylinder and bolt it in place. We’ll run final continuity checks on all the circuitry, then position the mobile and the tablet for that weapon on a vertical wooden board that we’ll bolt inside the van behind the cab. Finally, we’ll secure the heavy-duty battery to the floor of the van, but we won’t connect the other components to it until after we’ve positioned the vehicle.

‘And then,’ Ramli finished, ‘all we’ll have to do is drive the vans to the positions we agreed, make our final checks and then leave the vehicles.’

‘Will the steel of the vans’ bodywork affect the weapons?’ Sadir asked.

‘No. There’s nothing that can affect the output of these devices in that way.’ He pointed at a stack of steel sheets resting against the rear wall of the workshop. ‘But what we will be doing before we start loading the weapons is welding one of those sheets into the van behind the cab and four other sheets on both sides, the roof and the floor to make a kind of open-ended steel box around the device. That should help channel the force and slightly increase its effectiveness.’

That was something Sadir hadn’t thought of, but it did make sense.

‘That’s a good idea. Just confirm the locations where you’ll be leaving the vehicles.’

‘The three biggest weapons will be positioned outside the centre of the