Meanwhile Back on Earth...
Jordan Cross sat in the back of his limo, watching the Manhattan skyline go by as he made his way to his Central Park penthouse.
'Tomorrow I shall rule supreme. Then the world shall tremble.' Jordan thought.
Benjamin sat in back with Jordan, his PDA clearly visible, ready to take notes or orders from his master.
"Benjamin, tonight we're going to Washington and tomorrow Project Leviathan comes to fruition." Jordan said.
"Yes sir. Our people are all in position, though it took a little longer getting all of the necessary personnel into positions in other countries. I was a little surprised that you included Canada, Central America and South America." Benjamin said with as must respect as possible in his tone.
"Yes, I know. But it needs to be done. The people will be better off for it and Americas will be stronger for it." Cross nodded sagely. "Once they see the truth sir, they'll fall to their knees and worship you till the end of time." Benjamin said, with no hint of doubt in his voice.
"Did you wire the money yet?" Cross asked with a far away look in his eyes.
"Yes, it was done this morning. Thirty million to an account in Bogota, twenty million to the Nevis account and fifteen went to Munich. We received conformation about twenty minutes before we left." Benjamin said, consulting his PDA for the answers.
"Good, our Columbian friends will be pleased and will keep their side of the bargain. Once it's over and done with we can always retrieve the money at a later date. It's one thing to be in business with the Columbians, it's another thing to trust them at all." Cross stated. "A wise move sir. Will you include the Mexican drug cartels in the 'clean-up'?" Benjamin approached the subject with a certain amount of caution.
Cross looked sharply at his personal secretary, glad that he brought up the very thing he was thinking about. Those drug cartels could be treacherous to deal with any day of the week and it was certainly a bad idea to turn your back on them even for an instance, unless you really wanted a meat cleaver jammed in it.
"Yeah, I'll want to make a clean sweep of them. No need leaving loose ends around, they only become a hindrance later on." Cross said, wiping a bit of lint off his Chino pants.
A beeping sound emanated from the PDA, alerting that a message was in the inbox. Benjamin open the simple text message, less then four lines long and was straight to the point, which took less than ten seconds to decode what the message really meant.
"Sir, it appears that our 'party favors' have arrived on schedule and are being set up even as we speak. All you need to do is give the signal and the party will begin." Benjamin stated, with just the hint of pleasure in his voice.
"Good. Call Marcus and have him begin what we discussed. He'll know what you're talking about." Cross said with the first hint of adrenaline coursing through his veins.
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Marcus LaMarx sat in his small, cramped apartment, furiously typing away at the keyboard of his computer. The sound of Disturbed rattled walls of his apartment, letting the potent music fuel his soul, his creativity, and push him to his limits. His phone rang, which was a rare occurrence, but didn't hear it. If it didn't light up like a damn fireworks display when it rang he wouldn't have known it rang. He muted his music, another rare occurrence in his building, and picked it up." Yeah?" He wasn't much for small talk.
"Mr. Cross says for you to begin." The voice on the other line said then it went dead.
He stared at the phone, not knowing what the hell that was about until it clicked. Jordan Cross hired him to do an almost impossible job. But for someone with Marcus's talents it was child's play. Cross paid for the best hardware for Marcus to use his 'talents' to do something that has never been done before. He slid the junk off his computer station and hooked up the special lab top. This thing of beauty cost more than a new Lexus. It had a killer Ethernet connection and most of the components going to be available on the open market for the next two years. He had prepared for this moment for over two years and was anxious to complete it. Hell, when all was said and done he'd be the 'number one hacker' on the entire planet. After the hard drive warmed up he started with number one on his to-do list. ___________________________
Scholars speculate that the Internet could never collapse, considering how it was structured; it was designed to prevent itself from collapsing. Even if a terrorist attack occurred, striking computer relay points, it would never work. What if someone was smart enough and had the needed talent, not to destroy the Internet, but control the flow of information. Some would say that it would be impossible to, say, stop all forms of communication coming in and going out of the continental United States. Others would say that no on this Earth could establish a communications blackout through three separate continental masses. Well, they were proven wrong. At three thirty a.m. EST the Western Hemisphere went 'dark', as it were, for the first time in a hundred years. This was just the first indication that something was wrong.
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Inside the Oval Office Washington D.C. Time: 6:32 a.m. EST
The President sat in his comfortable leather chair, a scowl creeping across his face after having been rudely awaken by his nervous looking aide. He was told that there was a national emergency and his presence was needed immediately.
"Alright boys, what the hell happened that would require my presence in my office at six thirty in the morning?" He sounded grumpy as he rubbed the graying stubble on his jawbone.
