The Russian Crisis

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER TWO

Payne glanced at Brownley before answering. He took a breath. "It's a security thing." Jackson felt the hair at the back of his neck bristle and there was a cold feeling in his chest. He could feel his blood pressure drop and his skin pale.

"Go on." His voice was unemotional.

"We don't know who it is but someone on the inside has taken stuff..."

"What does that mean, Ryan," asked Jackson.

Payne waved a hand toward Brownley and said, "As Bill can attest, our systems are protected with all means available, encryption, fail-safe ..."

"Damn it," said Jackson with some anger, "You think I'm senile, Ryan. I'm not a programmer but I sure as hell know about JPI systems security."

Payne responded with more force than Jackson expected from the usually buttoned-down CFO. "Someone has stolen JPI source code. Don't ask me for more details because I'm not sure anyone except Barry and Jean understands it... They discovered it in the first place."

Payne named the two top developers at Jackson Phillips Inc. Barry Tenant and Jean Villeneuve were among the most knowledgeable, military-focused software developers in the world.

"Source code for what? Jackson asked with a slight break in his voice.

"Machine Learning Defence and Targeting. Pretty much everything."

Phillips had named the division as one of his last acts at the company. 'ML' was first assumed by others as referring to Military, the customer base of JPI. But Jackson meant it as Machine Learning, the process that describes Artificial Intelligence or AI.

For non-geeks, 'AI' refers to the many ways in which machines are thinking more and more like humans. Machines learn how to build cars, vacuum floors and turn on lights. Military software learns how to make war more efficiently. Machines learn like humans - for better or for worse.

"Oh crap," said Jackson and he put his hand to his forehead. "If our solutions are compromised, it could be a catastrophe for armed forces everywhere ... Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali..." He mentioned places where JPI clients were actually fighting wars or training fighters.

"I have to remind you," Brownley interrupted, in his gruff voice, "this is no longer 'our' when it comes to you, sir. You are no longer the head of Jackson Phillips Inc. even though it's your name on the door." He turned pointedly to Payne. "I'm against this meeting and I must warn you that some of what may be said here could be covered by the Official Secrets Act in Canada..."

Jackson looked at the big man in anger. "You come into my house and insult me? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Brownley recoiled slightly from the sudden tension in the room. Jackson was a soldier, a spy and a powerful CEO - yes, in the past - and his background showed clearly in his manner.

"I apologize," said Brownley grudgingly, "But it is my duty to inform you..."

"Enough," said Payne with a sudden cut of his hand through the highly charged air. "Jackson Phillips is not only a close friend and my former boss, he is as qualified as anyone in the world to hear what I have to say. He knows more about secrecy than you and I put together."

What Jackson knew was, in short, the MLD&T division had developed solutions to prevent terrorist-style bombings and other attacks against allied soldiers or civilians. The targeting part of the division's title referred to locating and removing the bombers themselves before or after they triggered their devices.

JPI solutions could be easily adapted to specific battle fields - Iraq, Syria, Mali, - and even to civilian locations like a Middle-East marketplace, a dense urban area in Africa or a North American street where a truck driven by a terrorist could plow into pedestrians.