Short note: Not a dream

Arlington County, Virginia

Harry felt fidgety as he made jerky movements with his fingers, as he sat on the edge of a comfortable chair in the conference room. He spent the whole night getting ready for this meeting.

By normal standard procedure, he should not be allowed to attend such a meeting consisting of almost the entire top brass of the US military and even top administrative officials. He was bewildered when he was ordered to attend this meeting by the US Cyber Command Commander Michael S Brown who was his boss.

Though Harry was confident in his capabilities in Cybersecurity capabilities, he still felt incredulous when he was summoned by the commander. He rubbed the back of his head as he took deep breaths. His position was at the very end of the 'U' shaped giant table with only one chair to his right, by contrast, he would be in close proximity and would be able to notice early whoever enters.

Harry Williams was a computer addict since he was young which even resulted in him using high power prescription myopic glasses. He had become a hacker since he was fifteen when he had some significant achievements.

He prided himself as a grey hat hacker. Often, he would look for vulnerabilities in a system without the owner's permission or knowledge. If issues were found, he would report them to the owner, sometimes requesting a small fee to fix the issue. If the owner did not respond or comply, then he would simply post the newly found exploit online for the world to see. It was how he earned his college money.

Then he went to study Forensic computing and Cybercrime investigation Master degree in UCD (University College Dublin), Ireland. But, he didn't stop his Grey hacking profession. When he was 24, he had hacked into an online gift contest to win himself a brand new Porshe. A year later he hacked into an online lottery draw website to win $ 10 million, that's it he lit himself up in NSA radar as bright as a lighthouse in a dark sea.

He was kept in house arrest for six months before giving a chance to 'redeem' himself by serving the country. For the past two years, he had been doing just that. As he entered his late twenties, his hot boiling blood also cooled down accordingly which made him a bit sensible, so he adapted himself to this calm and fulfilling life. The satisfaction one experiences when he goes to sleep every night knowing he had helped his country a little that day was too cool.

He had shined in the USCYBERCOM (United States Cyber Command) with his hacking capabilities, he caught many notorious hackers who remained anonymous for very long. Due to these merits, he was the youngest to promote to the office directly under the supervision of the commander.

"Boss, are you dreaming about Amanda, right?" an immature voice brought Harry's attention to the conference room. He turned to look that the only chair to his right was now occupied by a fatty who was in his late twenties, with red hair and freckles. He wondered how the army service uniform fit this fellow.

This was Kevin James whose hacking Code name was called as 'Astra' (Sanskrit word for a weapon), he was into Eastern Mythology especially Indian. He was the prodigy of the commander's team. He actually hacked into Dassault's database server and downloaded many cutting edge Aviation technologies worth hundreds of millions. One might think how a person who committed such a crime was not only safe but also working for the US military? Simple, this bastard sold these technologies to the Pentagon thus escaping the prison and is now working for the government. He is an assistant for Harry and also his close friend, more like a younger brother.

Actually, the Cyber department personnel were feeling happy because of a piece of good news that the president was going to sign the National Defense Authorization Act on 23rd of this month (23rd Dec, 2016). This Act would empower USCYBERCOM, which currently worked as a part of NSA (National Security Agency), into a full and independent unified combatant command.

But, Harry couldn't see any jubilant feeling from his commander, not only his superior, Harry could sense tension and stress in the air as he saw all the serious expression of these top officials some of whom were speaking in low voices with heads close to each other.

When he heard Kevin mention Amanda, a bold red hair girl full of vitality and exuberant energy came into Harry's mind. She was the younger sister of Benjamin Miles. Benjamin Miles was the leader of the top US mercenary group known as 'Blood Water Mercenaries'. He had seen her when she had visited the Cyber Command office with her brother.

"Don't worry Harry, you just have to beef up a little and she will directly jump into your bosom." Kevin egged on Harry as he spoke with mirthful eyes. Computer geeks usually were characterized as unsociable people, but they didn't know that if computer geeks got together, they could become the thickest of friends.

Harry kicked Kevin's leg as he pretended to check something in his laptop bag while muttering, "Shut up fatty, this is not the moment for cracking jokes, don't you see that the atmosphere is not right?"

Harry knew he had a thing for Amanda but he also knew it was impossible between her and him, she was just like a goddess to him, he adored her but was not presumptuous to think she would match with him. According to him, only another soldier soaked in war and blood would be able to match her.

Kevin looked around for a while as he nodded, "True, every old foggy are looking like they are sitting on pins and needles, Harry who are those guys in the middle."

Harry almost fainted when he heard this fatty addressing these senior officials as old fogies, it was good at least he had the sense to lower his voice. Harry also thought its better to get some sense into this processor head as he replied, "The one in the middle Department of Defense Secretary, Noah V Hill, the person to the right is the Department of State Secretary Oliver T Cook, the person to the left if the Chairman of the Joint Army Chiefs Logan K Wood, the others are Army chiefs of Marine, Navy, Air Cavalry, so you better tighten up your loose mouth if you hope to have a steady career and don't want to be handed over to the French government for your crime of leaking core technologies of Dassault group."

Kevin immediately shut up when he heard the last words of Harry. The conference room was very large with plain coloured walls. There were glasses and pitchers filled with ice water in front of every official. The bright overhead lighting made sure that every corner of the room so that they were no shadows cast. The only noise Harry and Kevin could hear was the steady drone noise which came from Air conditioning vents.

The air was filled with the scent of cologne, perfume and air freshener. When Harry was observing the surroundings, the Double glass doors opened as a tall man walked in a slow and steady pace, it was almost lazy. There was no falter in his step nor any trace of awe, respect on his face. Not only was his demeanour unfit to this occasion, but he had also worn just casual wear, dark brown t-shirt with black cotton jeans, sneakers with sports watch. When Harry looked at the lazy expression on the newcomer's face, he gripped his hands under the table with anger, "What arrogance, who does he think he is." On the other hand, Kevin had a look of awe as he muttered, "So cool."

Harry was certain that some soldiers would drag this person out without further delay but reality disappointed him as he saw no such action being taken. On the other hand, he observed that the top officials all straightened their backs as they watched the newcomer seriously. Only now, did Harry understood that this person was the main character for whom this meeting was held. Harry was postulating that it must be the President who would be coming.

This time Harry closely observed this 'guest', this person looked a bit like an Arab with jet black wavy thick hair, thick eyebrows, skinny jawline, arched eyebrows. But he had green eyes with a wide face and a fair skin tone. He wore spectacles which gleamed lightly as he watched every person mildly. His harmless vision gave jitters to Harry as if all his secrets were laid before this person.

"This is?" the Secretary of Department of Defense finally spoke after observing this person for a few seconds. His voice was stern, sharp and carried a natural feeling which stimulated obedience from the listener. Harry thought that this was a charm which was developed through years of commanding soldiers.

The person who was also observing all the people in the room turned and smiled as he replied, "this humble one is Zurvan Iravani, am a Persian, I only represent my organization and not my country." he explained slowly with a calm smile, no stuttering or small stops were there, his speaking was free-flowing like water, he also had no accent in his words. "This must be Mr Noah, Defense Secretary?"