Chapter 55
“Because I left a worm in your system the last time I was there,” Ethan said.
Frank’s eyes narrowed with doubt. “That’s not possible. Our system would have detected it. Just like we detected and tracked your intrusion.”
Ethan had delivered the speech with the right amount of detached snark. It was enough to give Frank pause. His eyes narrowed at the kid, trying to see through his bluff.
“What’s the name of the config file?” Frank asked.
“Why should I tell you?”
“I think that’s obvious. Unless of course you prefer to have your brains splattered all over this nice fresh snow.”
Ethan hesitated a moment. “Default_orbital_123x.cfg.”
Frank nodded to his assistant. “Log onto the server. Find that file.”
The assistant did as instructed. He tapped the keys, his face buried in the screen. The glow illuminated his intense eyes as he searched the system. “Got it!”
“Verify it’s a foreign file,” Frank said.
After a few taps of the keys and swipes of the trackpad, he replied, “That file was copied to this system the day of the intrusion.”
Frank grimaced. “Delete it.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Ethan said.
Frank glared at him. “Why is that?”
“By all means, if you want to activate it, go ahead.”
“How do we get rid of the worm?” Frank demanded in a low growl, his intense eyes staring into the kid.
“It’s really simple. I can do it with a few keystrokes.”
“Then do it!”
“This is where we renegotiate,” Ethan said.
"You have thousands of satellites in orbit.
Expensive. I doubt you have the working capital to replace that.
Not to mention the time involved. When those start falling out of the sky, your whole operation will go up in smoke.
Your stock will tank. All of those wonderful revenue projections you've made will disappear.”
Frank's face reddened, and his jaw went tight.
"It seems we both have something to lose," Ethan said.
"But there's a way that we can all go home happy.
I'm going to give you an address to a crypto wallet.
You're going to transfer $1 billion. That's not too much to ask considering what's at stake.
Let's call it a gentleman's agreement. You transfer the funds, and I will disable the worm.
Of course, you promise not to destroy the Children's Hospital or retaliate in any way.
" Ethan smiled. "We can all go about our lives as though none of this had ever happened. "
Frank glared at him. "You're bluffing."
With a concerned look on his face, Frank's assistant said, "No. He's not. The satellites are de-orbiting."
Frank's eyes rounded. "What!?”
"The orbital patterns have changed. Within an hour or two, they will begin to reenter the atmosphere."
"How many?”
"All of them," his assistant said in a grave tone.
Rage boiled on Frank's face. He scowled at Ethan. "You little shit. I'm going to fucking kill you!" he warned as he marched forward.
Ethan took a step back. "I'm the only one who can stop it. Do we have a deal?"
The veins in Frank's forehead bulged. It looked like he was about to explode. There was nothing he could do. He’d lost control of the satellites.
His plan to fire a directed energy weapon at the hospital was nullified.
The window of opportunity was gone. The shifting orbit of the satellites made anything like that impossible now.
Frank slowly came to the realization he had no other choice. He said to his assistant, "Do it!"
Ethan gave him the address to a crypto wallet. With a few taps on the keys, $1 billion in crypto was transferred to the kid.
Ethan confirmed the transaction on his phone.
"Now, restore control of the satellites, or I swear to God, I'll kill you all right now and everyone you've ever known or loved."
Ethan laughed. "You guys are such dipshits. The logic bomb has already exploded. I’ve got news for you.
I never left a worm on your system. It was on the USB drive.
The minute you connected to your server, it executed.
" Ethan shrugged. "Sorry, bro. I don't care what you do to me. This moment is priceless. You and all your crony friends are so entirely fucked right now.”
Frank reached his breaking point. He grabbed the M4 assault rifle from one of the goons and took aim at Ethan. His finger wrapped tight around the trigger.