It was also where Commanders John Clay and Steve Caesare, from Naval Investigations, had been living for the past two weeks.
Both men briskly made their way down the long, polished hallway of the Naval Education and Training Command building’s third floor. When they reached the end, the pair stopped before a large white door. John Clay knocked and the door was promptly opened from the inside. Stepping into the room, Clay and Caesare recognized Rear Admiral David Einhorn, the commander of the NETC. Einhorn was sitting behind his desk with his Force Master Chief standing next to him, both of whom ceased their conversation and looked up expectantly when Clay and Caesare entered. Almost unnoticed, the lieutenant who had opened the door then silently stepped out behind them and closed it again.
Einhorn nodded. “Gentlemen, I understand you have something for me.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Clay. They both approached the desk, but Clay took an extra step forward and handed Admiral Einhorn a thin folder. “We’ve finished the investigation, sir. Here is the signed report.”
Einhorn took the folder and flipped it open, glancing over the first page. “A power failure? Are you kidding?”
Clay shook his head. “No, sir.”
“How the hell does a power failure cause a drone to go rogue?”
They’d been expecting this reaction, especially from Einhorn. After all, they’d already uploaded their report online and forwarded copies to both Einhorn and their own boss, Admiral Langford, a half hour ago. Their hand delivered copy was merely a formality. Judging from his reaction, Einhorn had read the online version already.
Einhorn hadn’t wanted them there from the beginning. The failure with the drone was a fluke as far as he was concerned. Hell, as far as his entire staff was concerned. But it did happen. A new drone lost connection with its remote pilot for twelve seconds. It may not have seemed like a big deal to everyone else, especially since the connection was reestablished successfully, but it required an investigation. Not because the Navy necessarily worried about the connection, but because of what might have happened during those twelve seconds.
A few years before, a Predator Drone had been captured in Iran by blocking the aircraft’s satellite connection back to its remote pilot in Arizona. Worse, Iran never had to hack the drone. They only had to keep the connection blocked long enough to force it into an emergency mode, which compelled the drone to get itself to the ground safely. It was a bug in the software: a mistake.
Nevertheless, having the world watch their televisions and see Iranian soldiers dancing up and down on one of the Unites States’ four million dollar secret weapons was not something the Pentagon was willing to endure again.
Clay cleared his throat and answered Einhorn. “Well, sir, the failure was caused by a power fluctuation on one of the drone’s motherboards. It’s the same board that controls the transceivers and antennas. We think it’s a design flaw with the hardware since we’ve been able to reproduce the problem several times.”
Einhorn dropped the file on his desk and leaned back in his chair, clearly irritated. “So, was it hacked?”
“No, sir.”
“I didn’t think so,” the Admiral scoffed. “I told them they were sending you boys out for nothing.”
This time Clay and Caesare looked at each other. “Well,” replied Caesare, “it doesn’t necessarily mean that it couldn’t be hacked…sir.”
Einhorn furrowed his brow at Caesare. He didn’t care for either one of them. He had a department to run, one of the most important in the Navy, and he didn’t like these guys from investigations poking their noses wherever they liked. Yet, while Einhorn was not happy, he certainly wasn’t stupid either.
It wasn’t clear why, but he knew both of the commanders standing before him reported directly to Admiral Langford, the President’s new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Langford had replaced General Griffith, who moved to fill the role of National Security Advisor after that position was unexpectedly vacated. Now Langford had the President’s ear, so Einhorn wasn’t about to do or say anything stupid.
“So, what’s your recommendation then?” asked Einhorn, with heavy sarcasm.
Clay paid no attention to the Admiral’s tone. “A full analysis, which includes an audit of the hardware design and software computer code.”
“And how long will that take?”
“I’m not sure, sir. It would depend on the resources available.” Clay knew Einhorn wasn’t going to like any estimate he offered, so he simply left it at that.
Einhorn grunted and picked up the folder again. “Well, I trust Langford will let us know how to proceed. I suppose that’s all, gentlemen. Thank you for your time.”