MindField Read online

  MINDFIELD

  BOOK 8 IN THE SPIES LIE SERIES

  D. S. KANE

  ([email protected])

  Copyright © 2017 D S Kane

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9862321-5-2 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-0-9996554-0-5 (Kindle)

  ISBN: 978-0-9996554-1-2 (ePub)

  Cover design by Jeroen Ten Berge [www.jeroentenberge.com]

  Print layout and eBook editions by eBooks By Barb for booknook.biz

  Praise for DS Kane’s Spies Lie Series

  Bloodridge

  “A globe-trotting spy thriller dense with intriguing insider’s knowledge.”—Kirkus Reviews

  “I thoroughly enjoyed this book … It is definitely a page-turner.”—Judge, 22nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards

  “This is a sizzler torn straight from tomorrow’s headlines. Bloodridge by D.S. Kane is one you won’t want to miss.”

  —John Reinhard Dizon, author of Nightcrawler and Wolf Man

  “What a wild ride! Filled with adventure and suspense and kept me on the edge of my seat. There wasn’t a slow moment in it. Reminiscent of Ludlum and Follett.”

  —Sharon Law Tucker, author of How To Be A BadAss, A Survival Guide For Women

  DeathByte

  “Readers who adore action-packed thrillers in the vein of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne series will enjoy its many double-crossings.”—Kirkus Reviews

  “This was a great thriller … and the speed of the plot was breathtaking.”—Judge, 22nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards

  Swiftshadow

  “A must read for lovers of this genre.” —Sheri A. Wilkinson, book blogger

  “…the high stakes and dizzily paced action will hook genre fans from the first page.”—Kirkus Reviews

  GrayNet

  “Conspiracy theorists are sure to devour this novel.”

  —Mallory Heart Reviews

  “Nonstop action and suspense starring the definition of a strong female lead.”—Kirkus Reviews

  Baksheesh (Bribes)

  “More wild, violent adventures in the world of international espionage..”—Kirkus Reviews

  “This Story Should be an Audible Selection … Could be a Major Motion Picture.”—Charles W, TOP 500 REVIEWER

  ProxyWar

  “The latest adventure in a series that only grows more engaging with each installment.”—Kirkus Reviews

  “Mr Kane saved the best for last of course he left open the next installment. And he brought back accidental spy Jon Sommers to finish things up. Please write fast Mr Kane so we can see what happens next!” —Richard L. Cooper, Amazon Reviewer

  CypherGhost

  “After working as a covert operative for over a decade and travelling the globe, DS Kane now writes fictions about how intelligence agencies craft lies to sway and manipulate their national policy. His latest techno-thriller CypherGhost is a fast-paced and gripping story which will keep you up reading the whole night. DS Kane, without a doubt, is a great storyteller. When we picked up the latest installment of Kane's Spies Lies series, we got hooked from the beginning. The author does a wonderful job of fictionalizing the crossroads of politics, technology and national security in an entertaining plot.

  The book is written is a very easy language and can be read in one sitting. Although we can categorize this novel as a thriller, the author has toyed to some extent with some science fiction themes which make the story more absorbing. Overall, a highly recommended read for the lovers of popular thrillers.”

  —Mystery Tribune

  “Packed with enough terrifying detail to feel at least moderately plausible, if not horrifyingly prescient.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “If you are into spy novels then look no further. The 7th book in the Spies Lie series is every bit as good as the 6 that preceded it. D.S. Kane is the pseudonym of a former CIA covert operative who clearly knows what he is talking about. Characters are well developed and plots are exciting and not far removed from what the operations of a modern intelligence agency might get up to. Do yourself a huge favour and read the book, you won't be disappointed … then once you have finished that you have 6 other books in the series that you need to get your hands on as soon as possible! Other books in the series are as follows 1. Bloodridge, 2. DeathByte, 3. Swiftshadow, 4. GrayNet, 5. Baksheesh, 6. ProxyWar. They are all available from Amazon. Do yourself a huge favour and read them now!”

  —N G McKenzie

  The Spies Lie Series by DS Kane:

  Bloodridge, Book 1

  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K0029J0)

  DeathByte, Book 2

  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L2LLKSC)

  Swiftshadow, Book 3

  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MJ5KXKG)

  GrayNet, Book 4

  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P8HRT9U)

  Baksheesh (Bribes), Book 5

  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010NR3RD6)

  ProxyWar, Book 6

  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018YS91CM)

  CypherGhost, Book 7

  (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTPXRZ5)

  Mindfield, Book 8 …with more to come.

  For certain faculty and administration of

  the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey

  (you know who you are), my guides into the

  political side of how our military functions.

  Contents

  PART I

  CHAPTER 1 • CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3 • CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5 • CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7 • CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9 • CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11 • CHAPTER 12

  PART II

  CHAPTER 13 • CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15 • CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17 • CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19 • CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21 • CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23 • CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25 • CHAPTER 26

  PART III

  CHAPTER 27 • CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29 • CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31 • CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33 • CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35 • CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37 • CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39 • CHAPTER 40

  PART IV

  CHAPTER 41 • CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43 • CHAPTER 44

  Glossary A: Terms Used in the Spies Lie Series

  Glossary B: Terms Related to Hacking

  Appendix A: Character List for Mindfield

  Appendix B: Internet Links

  Acknowledgments

  About MindField

  About DS Kane

  Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters and events depicted here are the work of the author’s mind. Most but not all of the places are real.

  PART I

  The whole program appeared to go classified, hidden from view and was presumed to be funded by either the KGB, the military or some other ‘government interest’ … There was evidence that they were particularly active in long distance telepathic communication. Also in PK that they call telekinesis and possibly in telepathic hypnosis to disrupt individuals in key positions or handling sensitive equipment.

  —Major General Edward Thompson,

  Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence,

  US Army, 1977–1981

  Chapter 1

  Cyrus DeSpain’s home,

  300 North Portage Path, Akron, OH

  December 13, 12:34 p.m.

  Ann Silbey Sashakovich embedded her presence within the CypherGhost’s to make it more difficult for the other woman to detect her. The Bug-Lok nanodevices embedded in their brains enabled each woman’s consciousness
to travel vast distances using the internet, while their living bodies rested intact and far away.

  The CypherGhost stood behind the large, leather couch in the hunting room of Cyrus DeSpain’s Akron, Ohio, mansion. De Spain was pacing the room, right in front of her, but he couldn’t “see” her. And the CypherGhost was too busy hacking Cyrus DeSpain’s medical device and his cellphone to notice Ann.

  In fact, at about five-foot-six and one hundred twenty pounds each, Ann and the CypherGhost were nearly identical in height and weight, and it was easy for Ann’s projection to stand within the other woman’s without much chance the other would notice.

  It took only a few seconds for the CypherGhost to administer a fatal bolus of insulin to the old man. Ann could almost feel the smile on the other’s face before the other woman’s presence faded away. Where had the CypherGhost gone? It would take Ann some time to reacquire her location.

  Ann was not sure if the CypherGhost had noticed Ann. She tried to deny the attraction that had drawn the two together before everything went sideways.

  Then Ann’s brain kicked in and she pondered the obvious. Why had the CypherGhost murdered DeSpain? She scanned the hunting room of DeSpain’s compound for clues. Ann dropped her mindspace into DeSpain’s cellphone’s directories. I need to know what’s so important in these. She began searching through everything she’d copied from the CypherGhost.

  When she heard Avram Shimmel’s voice coming closer from the front door, she forced her consciousness to exit the hunting room. She reentered her body where it lay in the bed of her room and brought herself to wakefulness back in the Swiftshadow safe house in Washington DC, a thousand miles from DeSpain’s home.

  The shades were drawn and the door was closed. She enjoyed the warmth from the radiator under the window.

  She knew Avram and his United Nations Task Force would remain at DeSpain’s home to investigate the murder site. She knew how frustrated he would be at losing his only clue to what was happening. But now I know, she thought, and I can get him back on the track of the CypherGhost if I can figure out where she’s gone.

  Ann knew soon all her own Bug-Lok devices would cease their functioning and she would once again be “normal.” Helpless.

  She forced herself back into a near-reality fugue, trying to determine if there was any way to transform her own neural clusters to accomplish the functions performed by a Bug-Lok module. Some of the functions were easy to imitate, others impossible. The most difficult and most valuable one was using her brain to access a nearby local area network. A cyber function of wireless internet—something the Bug-Lok was designed to do—seemed impossible to duplicate neurally, but she kept trying. And she kept failing. This was her most important project: Hack my own brain.

  She had another project to complete, and this one was almost as important, but absolutely impossible until she successfully completed the first one. She already knew that when a Bug-Lok unit was failing she could alter or stop its functioning within her and force it to detach from her brainstem. What she wanted to be able to do now was to use the internet to reach into another person who had ingested Bug-Loks, by employing the power of her own Bug-Loks. Was it even possible to control another person’s Bug-Loks by using just her own brain? She was sure it was impossible, but she knew she would have to try.

  She wasn’t aware of time passing. She knew that after about two hours she would become run down, tired, and hungry. Then, she’d have to become conscious again to find food before she slept. But even after two hours must have passed by, she still felt strong. So, she kept trying.

  An unwelcome thought emerged into her mind. She ejected the eighteen nearly dead or damaged units and counted only eleven Bug-Loks still operating within her. She emerged back into the real world. Time was running out faster now.

  Since she had witnessed what the CypherGhost had done to Cy DeSpain, she was now sure the CypherGhost and she were on opposite sides of this battle. She knew the hacker’s abilities were at least as good as hers, but she couldn’t fathom what drove the CypherGhost.

  Ann wondered if she had enough power left in her remaining Bug-Loks to defeat the CypherGhost. How to do just that was something she hadn’t even thought about. Would Ann have to kill her? If necessary, she was certainly willing. But, how to do it was a mystery to her.

  * * *

  The CypherGhost exited the bus at a stop in the northern suburbs of Washington DC, close to Baltimore. She wouldn’t be noticed in the section of town she’d chosen. It was a run-down block and the cheap, old motel she’d chosen had no redeeming features. She settled into her room, sat on the ratty couch in the corner of the room across from the ancient television, and closed her eyes to facilitate entry into the alternate realm. She would have to complete a list of tasks to ensure her survival.

  * * *

  Ann lay back on the bed and focused into her mindset as hard as she could. She already knew the harder she worked the Bug-Lok devices, the faster they failed. Now only nine Bug-Loks remained active inside her. She forced them to look outward, through the local network, into cyberspace. Now, while the Bug-Loks held the outward passway open, she tried using her own brain to push her thoughts through with them, to accompany them. Last time she tried, she had no success, but this time, she was able to sense a single additional signal. She tried to Google “brain chemistry” with the signal, searching by using her own brain. The result was foggy, but it was real. She was able to hold the search pathway open for perhaps two seconds before it crashed.

  She felt totally exhausted but she blinked her eyes, roused herself, and managed to walk into the kitchen. I’ve finally succeeded. I’ll need to practice. She ate leftover grilled pork and linguini with clam sauce stored in the refrigerator from last night’s dinner, and then opened and ate the contents of cans of green beans, peaches, and stewed tomatoes she found in the pantry.

  * * *

  Hours later, when Cassie had returned to the safe house, she poured herself a cup of black coffee and sat at the kitchen table across from Ann. They smiled warmly at each other. Cassie was two inches taller, but when she was seated her longer legs and shorter torso made the two women appear about the same height. She bore her age well, and as a result, they looked more like mismatched sisters than mother and adopted child. Cassie had chestnut-brown short-cropped hair and brown eyes, while Ann had blonde hair and blue eyes. Cassie was very thin, while Ann was slightly more substantial.

  Cassie replaced her smile with a look of relief. “I’m glad that troublesome woman is gone.” She looked at Ann expectantly, as if her daughter was required to answer.

  Ann smiled with arched brows. A beginning of a question forced itself through her lips. “Mom, I need to ask you for a huge favor.”

  “Uh, sure, sweetie. Ask away.”

  “I think I can turn off a Bug-Lok that another person has ingested. But before I try this when I face off with the CypherGhost, I need to see if it’s even possible.”

  “No. Absolutely not. I just had two of those nasties surgically removed. I won’t ingest another just so you can see if you can do what I already know is impossible.”

  Ann sighed. “Can you contact William? Maybe he’ll let me try to turn one of his off.”

  Cassie thought for a second. “He’s eleven thousand miles away. Do you think you can really do this? From here?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  Cassie pulled her cellphone from her pocket. “It’s nearly midnight there.” She punched in a long number. William Wing and his wife Betsy were in Hong Kong, undercover and using alternate identities. Betsy was now “Alice” and William was now “Warren.” Since the call could be tracked and traced, Cassie knew to use their cover names.

  “Alice? This is Cassie. Is Warren there?”

  The voice sounded as if it had just been roused from sleep. “Calling us is dangerous. But, okay, he’s right here with me.”

  William’s voice was more alert than Betsy’s had been. “Hi. Can we c
ome back to America now?”

  Cassie handed the phone to Ann. “He’s all yours. Good luck.”

  Ann, took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts. “It’s Ann. I need to ask you to volunteer for something.”

  “Ann? How are you?”

  “Uh, I’m okay. But I have a serious problem and I think you can help me out.”

  “Ah, sure. As long as it’s not dangerous.”

  Ann considered the risk. “I think this is safe, but, of course I could be wrong.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Is your Bug-Lok unit still active?”

  Seconds passed. “Just tested it. Yeah. Still works, for another week or two at least.”

  “May I try to turn it off?”

  “Huh? Are you going to try to hack me with a computer?”

  “No. Not with a computer. I want to try to hack your Bug-Lok with my brain.”

  William laughed for nearly thirty seconds. “Very funny.”

  Ann sighed. Yes, it’s difficult to believe this. “Not funny. For real. Can I try to turn off your Bug-Lok using my brain from over ten thousand miles away?”

  William stopped laughing. “You mean for real? This is too funny. Sure, okay. Give it a go.”

  Ann frowned, doubting her unique abilities. She tried to use her brain, not her Bug-Loks to enter into her alternate mind world. She focused on William, on his approximate locale in Hong Kong, and visualized him, seeing him suddenly emerge within her mind’s field of vision. She tried to enter into his mind. She failed. She tried again. Three more times. It didn’t work.

  “Warren, it’s not working. Can I have your permission to try after we get off the phone?”

  “Sure, Ann. Keep trying. But I’m sure what you’re trying isn’t even possible.”

  “Thanks. If I think I’ve been successful, can I call you back?”

  “Yeah. Good luck.” William terminated the call.

  Ann was sure she was missing something. But what was it? What was both necessary and sufficient to communicate with the mind of another? She headed back to her notebook computer. Hadn’t the CIA and the Russian KGB been active in mind-control experiments a few decades in the past? I wonder if there are any studies from that time still in their archives?