Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

Although Mallik hated cultivating government dignitaries, corporate executives, and celebrities, it was a necessary annoyance he had to endure to enable his future plans. His connections would allow him to unite the country behind him after the Vajra system threw the world into chaos.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Ghosh said, grinning at the prospect of meeting beautiful Bollywood starlets.

Mallik lowered his voice. “I wonder if you’ve heard any developments about the discovery of Xavier Carlton’s missing plane on Jhootha Island.”

He’d watched the reports on the news as they’d flown to Pokhran, reveling in how Carlton must have been stewing about the surprise disclosure. Mallik had originally intended the BrahMos cruise missile loaded with Novichok to kill everyone on the island and leave the facility intact for the Indian government to find, but his alternative of attacking Diego Garcia to lead authorities to Jhootha Island had worked out even better than he’d hoped.

General Ghosh shook his head in wonderment. “The initial reports are sketchy. We know there are survivors from the plane, which they say didn’t crash but actually landed on the island. I’ll believe that one when I hear more.”

“Have the survivors been interviewed yet?”

“They’re still being treated after being held captive for eighteen months.”

“Who was it that found the island?”

“Apparently, a passing freighter saw smoke coming from the island and investigated. Some of the crew happened to be former U.S. military and were able to rescue the survivors. Quite lucky, if you ask me.”

“Quite lucky indeed,” Mallik said, trying to contain a grin since he was the one who led them there. The Colossus Project was in true danger of being exposed now if any evidence from the computers on the island could be recovered. The plane passengers could provide some information as well, but nothing that could lead back to Mallik.

“Shall we get on with the demo?” Ghosh said. “This had better work as you said it would.”

“I have no doubt it will, and your team will be impressed,” Mallik replied. He went to the microphone at the front of the stands while the two dozen attendees took their seats.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here,” he said. “Although most of you know me for my satellites and rockets, I have also been expanding over the last few years into other areas that can benefit our great military. Threats posed to us from Pakistan and China, as well as from terrorist groups, mean we must always be looking toward the future to combat these threats. I brought you here today because I think that also means looking to our past for solutions.”

He spoke into a radio and said, “Bring them into position.”

As he continued talking, six high-tech Arjun main battle tanks raced toward the range in front of them a half mile away. From the opposite direction came a single obsolete T-55 tank dating to the 1960s.

“On my left are six models of our premier tank, the Arjun, deployed with our most elite regiments. On my right is a lone T-55 that played a major role in our victories during the 1971 war with Pakistan. Obviously, the T-55 doesn’t stand a chance against sophisticated weaponry like the Arjun, which has laser targeting and automated fire control, all commanded by advanced onboard computer systems. Today you are going to see that T-55 defeat all six of its opponents.”

That brought a mixture of laughter and scoffing from the audience.

Mallik simply nodded and smiled. “I understand your disbelief, but we know there are unique new threats to our military out there. Software hacking is one dire hazard that we are unprepared for, as you will now see.”

He radioed to the tank commanders. “You may now begin your first attack run.”

Two of the advanced Arjuns took off at high speed toward the T-55, which remained stationary.

“Yesterday, we supplied a software control update to these two tanks,” Mallik said. “It was supposed to increase targeting speed by twenty percent. What the commanders of these tanks do not know is that the software update also installed a patch to the tanks’ communications arrays. I now have full control of them. First, I think I want them to stay where they are.”

Mallik made a show of taking out his phone. He tapped on a specially designed app and hit STOP.

The tanks ground to a halt behind him. That brought a murmur from the crowd. He could only imagine the surprise on the faces of the tank crew. Only Ghosh, who sat there with a bemused look on his face, had known what was going to happen.

“Instead of the T-55 defeating its enemies, why don’t we have them do it themselves?”

Mallik tapped a preprogrammed button labeled CROSS FIRE.

The barrels of the two tanks whirled around to face each other instead of the T-55. As soon as each of the guns was in position, they fired.

The massive rifled cannons belched flames, and explosions bloomed simultaneously on the hulls of the two tanks. Their barrels dipped as if the tanks were blown away, but in reality the explosions were flashbangs that were harmless to the heavily armored vehicles.

But the explosions made an impression on the crowd. As the sonic booms reached the stands seconds later, most of the audience stood up in awe at seeing the tanks suddenly turn on each other. Ghosh simply nodded at Mallik in appreciation of what he’d just witnessed.

“Please be seated, ladies and gentlemen,” Mallik said. “No one was injured in the demonstration, but I think it points out how vulnerable our military hardware could be to outside hackers.” Once Colossus was fully operational, it would have no trouble installing all manner of m

alicious software into any military system on earth.