The Zenith Angle - Bruce Sterling [112]
“I don’t know what that was even about.”
The plane went into a terrifying sideways slide. Van clutched at his armrests, heart hammering.
“Do I have to spell it out to you in words of one syllable?” Tony said, unperturbed. “I guess I do, huh? Van, you are their hero.”
“Huh?”
“You’re their man, Van. You’re their ball-breaker, you’re their kick-ass guy. What cyberwar people want more than anything in the world is a geek who is genuinely tough. Did you see any ‘Cyberspace Force’ people in there at that meeting? Did you wonder why not?”
The plane leveled out. Then, sickeningly, it began to climb.
Tony glanced at his clipboard. “I’m loving these AFOXAR kids. They’ve got brio. No, Van, the unlikely attempt of Colorado Springs to become the computer-security capital of the visible universe, whoa, that has come to sudden grief. Word got around. When I found out my pal was in a damn hospital, I made some words move around. To the President’s political adviser, specifically. He’s a busy guy, but he didn’t mind when I gave him just a few words: ‘illegal bug,’ ‘National Security Council,’ ‘rogue operation inside Washington,’ some words like that. Major General Wessler has got himself a brand-new field assignment. General Wessler is going to be sucking brown dust in Mesopotamia.”
The plane dipped violently. Tony whooped in glee. “And that Cyberspace Force, who had such nice brochures . . . They are not even an idea now. They are not even the idea of an idea. They are buried like Pompeii under eighteen solid meters of volcanic ash. What happened there, huh? Dr. Vandeveer happened, that’s what.”
“Look,” Van protested, “I know that you told me to stay away from that satellite . . .”
“I know, I know, Jeb was real ambitious. You guys just couldn’t stay out of the loop on the KH-13. But let me tell you how all that plays to the people at this event, Van. How it looks is, the Cyberspace Force went down and dirty on you, and the CCIAB went down and dirty right back. And there was some kind of encounter. And you came back from that, and your boss kisses you in public. And they don’t come back, and their boss gets broken like a breadstick. So everyone claps real loud for you. They clap till their hands get sore. Because they are terrified of you, man. You are their stud cyberwar general. You are the geek who killed and ate some real military. You rock.”
“That’s not at all how it really was.”
Tony sighed. “Who even cares? You’re never going to tell them the truth about beating up some wacky little soldier inside your apartment. And neither am I, or anybody else, ever. The point is that a cyberwar needs heroes. There aren’t a lot of cyber-heroes around. In fact, you’re pretty much the only one in the world.”
The ground was coming up outside the window. “Michael Hickok wasn’t like you said he was, either, Tony. What you said about Hickok was all hype. I hired that guy.”
“Van, that was okay, too. I still think that guy is evil, but if Hickok chose to jump ship and join your side, then he’s smarter than I thought. Hickok is a goon, but if he’s your goon, that’s terrific. I can trust your judgment there. When it comes to cyberwar, you’re the best around. Really. You just are.”
Van wiped sweat from his forehead. “Tony, why are you angling this?”
“Because your scene is where the action is, brother. This event of yours has been very good to me. The Internet boom is history, but there’s still money in security, and there will be a lot more once people knuckle down and shape up. Thanks to you, a ten-billion-dollar boondoggle is finally on the ropes. That KH-13 is facing cancellation. And that is great news. It’s a new day now. We’re gonna put that kind of bureaucratic bloat behind us, and move right on. Nobody cares about gold-plated Cadillac satellites in a real shooting war. It’s all about rapid point-and-shoot now, that’s the new trend. It’s all about Predators. And, Van, you and I just proved to everybody watching