Speaking in Forked Tongues
Chapter 13
Vlad had carefully constructed his communications network with his terrorist contacts with security in mind. And it had to be very secure to avoid detection, knowing the Americans and Russians in particular scoured the airwaves for any unusual chatter of an intelligence or incriminating nature. And his activities clearly qualified for special attention if intercepted.
He’d obtained a number of bogus internet protocol addresses that he considered untraceable. Separate addresses were used to compartmentalize things and to eliminate the possibility of bringing down the whole network if one address was somehow compromised. The system was a fairly simple one and had worked well so far. For example, he could email the address assigned to Al-Qaida in the Maghreb and his counterpart in Libya would log into the same one. They would then communicate with each other using the third party address. By doing so, there would be a cutout with no direct link between the two of them.
Masking the IP addresses was a straightforward proposition which effectively hid geographic locales, prevented web tracking and avoided leaving a digital footprint that could be traced. Moreover, it had the ability to choose the country and city where one wanted to appear to be. Vlad realized it wasn’t a foolproof system and could be broken. But first someone had to notice the addresses among the many millions on the internet. It would be like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack, especially difficult if you weren’t looking for it in the first place.
He chose his favorite white sand beach to compose his message. However, he stayed in the shade of the palm and coconut trees, worried about getting melanoma given his fair Slavic skin. The sun was intense at the equator and one could get a bad burn even with a short exposure. And the last thing he wanted was to be taken for a swarthy Arab. It would be too much humiliation for him to bear. His strong hatred of them was more than skin deep.
The email was being sent to his contact in Yemen, specifically to the head of the Al-Qaida branch. It was time to start planning for the largest and most dramatic attack to date; the one he and Rashid had earlier discussed. Much needed to be done to prepare for the spectacular event and Vlad wasted no time in getting things started. Putting together the logistical aspects of the operation would be difficult, but not insurmountable in his professional opinion. However, the timing of the event was the most critical element. He strongly believed that with some luck and careful execution, it would succeed.
Vlad started typing out the lengthy message. For added safety, he’d break it down into at least three separate segments. It was time consuming, but safer that way. He was a firm believer in exercising tried and true operational security measures. After all, Vlad was a throwback from the old school of espionage, but in his mind some things never went out of style. And practicing safe security was one of them. He chuckled to himself at the awkward turn of the phrase.