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“Very well, sir…” It was clear she didn’t like the answer. Reluctantly, she left the room. For now.
Chase turned back to Gillen. The CEO was seated behind his desk and gestured for Chase to take one of the empty chairs. He poured a glass of water from a pitcher.
“Rather than be upset that no one on my staff detected an intruder, I’m choosing to be delighted our new risk consultant was able to pass undetected.”
Chase jerked his thumb toward the doors. “If you had more Ashleys, I’d have never made it past the lobby. You should give her a raise.”
“Noted. Now, what can I do for you?”
“I left you some pretty urgent voicemails last night.”
“Digital sunset.”
“Excuse me?”
“I turn off my phone and all devices at 7 p.m. No calls, no texts, no emails. Voicemails get auto-forwarded to Ashley. She fans them out to the correct department.”
Chase was incredulous. So his message was routed to Alex Teague, who apparently didn’t appreciate Chase sticking his nose in. Which further explained why the voicemails Chase left for the CSO had gone unreturned as well. Turf battles he could understand, but he struggled to wrap his brain around the idea that a tech billionaire who designed phones would turn off his own at 7 p.m. People were dying and this guy was talking about yoga and digital sunsets.
“How do people get in touch with you?”
“They don’t. That’s the point. I make my deepest, greatest natural contribution to society with my tech. I can’t be distracted with minutiae.”
Minutiae. If this was Gillen’s headquarters, and Ashley was his keep, then his assets out in the world like Avalon Park and the manufacturing facility comprised his kingdom. Right now, his kingdom was under siege. And with the latest attack, the explosion at the plant, his subjects were now getting killed. And more were under threat.
“What about emergencies?” asked Chase.
“For those instances where I absolutely must be consulted,” continued Gillen, “I schedule short blocks of what I call OPS time throughout every day.”
“Operations?”
“‘Other People’s Shit,’” said Gillen smiling.
“Well, I’m afraid I’m here with a heaping helping of it, Mr. Gillen. Avalon is being targeted. The incident at Avalon Park was no simple glitch and yesterday’s explosion at the plant was no accident.”
“You’re saying someone was able to breach an Echelonandthe firewall of an Avalon manufacturing facility?” Gillen smiled, a skeptical eyebrow raised. “Unlikely.”
The CEO was friendly, but in his expression, Chase read the boundless confidence and certainty of his skills and in his tech. The competitive streak, too. Avalon Communications was the fastest-growing tech and communications company in the world and considered by many to be the best. It was as if Chase had issued a challenge. Or an insult.
“Teague told me it was an industrial accident,” Gillen said. “A terrible one, to be sure, but an accident nonetheless.”
“Teague needs to look deeper. No matter how advanced or impenetrable your tech is, it’s still used by humans. My best guess is someone went phishing and one of your people took the bait. They sent an official-looking email, an unwitting employee opened a link, and just like that bad actors are in your network. I have an associate who can help confirm that today, but however they got inside the fence line, they were able to mess with the industrial control systems and wreak havoc. Was it the blast furnace?”
The expression on Gillen’s face told Chase he was warm. “Teague tell you that?”
Chase shook his head. “The adversary called me.”
“What?”
“It gets worse. They want $100 million.” Chase pulled his phone from his breast pocket, found the Voice’s text message with the link, and placed it on the desk before Gillen. “And they want it sent to this link by this evening. Or else more people will die. That’s why I’m talking to you, not Teague. We don’t have time for chain of command here.”
Gillen leaned over the phone, staring.
“You must be joking…”
“The news is reporting that three people died in that explosion. A hell of a lot more were terrified by the ballpark evacuation. I love a good joke, but nothing about this is funny.”
“I’d agree. What are they planning to do?”
