It all made sense to Devin. This wasn’t just about espionage. The Russians had a much broader strategic goal in mind. They planned to use the network to reshape the geopolitical world in their favor, by flatlining US global influence.
“I think we have to assume those companies are compromised at the project management, engineering, and software levels. Helen’s list is short on suspected sleepers within these companies, because the personnel information isn’t publicly available. She could search through the government and the military, because much of those industries’ personnel information is publicly available, especially higher up in the ranks. It’s that key software developer or systems engineer working for Antheon on the telemetry components used by Iron Dome’s Tamir missile that she’d never identify. That’s the level she couldn’t access, and that we need to identify. Because this isn’t just about damaging the United States,” said Devin.
“Exactly. This is about the resurrection of a superpower, but this time as a real superpower,” said Berg. “Not as a drab, mismanaged zombie land with nuclear weapons.”
“But the conspiracy was obviously conceived and implemented during the Cold War,” said Devin. “Russia has come a long way since the collapse of the Soviet Union.”
“Really? They export oil and weapons. Same as before. And when the price of oil craters, their economy tanks. The Russian economy has been stagnant since 2014, when oil prices dropped below one hundred dollars a barrel and never rose again above sixty dollars for any appreciable length of time. The Chinese have crushed them recently in the discount-arms trade market, with far less expensive, comparable weapons and technology—a lot of that based on research stolen from us. Russia’s arms exports have flattened for the first time since 2001. Sabotaging our top defense industry exports kills two birds with one stone. It gives their arms industry room to grow and weakens the US economy, which weakens the dollar—resulting in higher oil prices. The US dollar and the price of oil are directly correlated.”
“Russia gets richer and stronger while we get poorer and weaker,” said Devin. “But they’re still just exporting oil and weapons, and the difference between our two economies is massive. They can’t possibly catch up.”
“Nobody can catch up, except for maybe China,” said Berg. “Putin and his cronies know that. This is more of a diversified reboot.”
“I like that term. Even if I don’t know what you mean by it,” said Devin.
“I’m just riffing off what Helen started, framed by thirty-plus years of experience working the Soviet-Russian problem from a national intelligence perspective,” said Berg. “The Russians have been playing a very long game, and it’s about to pay off in ways we haven’t anticipated.”
“Beyond taking us down several notches and raising themselves a few?”
“Well beyond. Have you kept up with the situation in Hungary?” asked Berg.
“Assume I haven’t kept up with anything outside of my immediate personal life and work.”
“Fair enough. I spend far too much time analyzing this stuff. Like I said, old habits die hard,” said Berg. “So. Orbán and Putin have been pretty cozy over the past two years, right? Especially since Orbán announced Russia’s significant investment in Hungary’s soon-to-be-launched electric car industry. Two state-of-the-art factories to open a year apart near Budapest, the first going live in two years. University programs in Russia and Hungary specifically tailored toward the industry. This is a big undertaking, almost entirely underwritten by Russia, leveraging Hungary’s skilled and relatively inexpensive workforce. The target market is obviously Europe. Funny how Ampere’s latest-generation battery was a flop. Random overheating issues.”
“Ampere had a rough few years. First the SpaceV disaster, now this,” said Devin, instantly understanding how they could be connected using Berg’s logic. “The second cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.”
“Bingo. Finished just in time to fill the void and meet the increased commercial space flight demand created by the SpaceV program,” said Berg. “President Tokayev solidified power in Kazakhstan right around the time construction on the new cosmodrome began. The two countries have never been tighter since the fall of the Soviet Union. Think about the other messes connected to US technology and industry exports.”
“Obviously the Iron Dome failure,” said Devin. “The Russians will likely fill a lot of Antheon’s missile-defense contracts outside of Europe. Then there’s the never-ending F-35 debacle. Just when you think all of the kinks have been worked out—”