CHAPTER 1
Formation
Prince Omar Khalid, a member of the UAE Royal Family, has put out a call for a meeting in June at the Oberoi Hotel at 1 Bay Street in downtown Dubai City. The Prince has been involved with megayachts (over 200 feet long) all his life. He is an avid cigarette boat racer and loves speed on the water. At age 41, he has applied his MBA from the London School of Economics to accumulate a vast fortune. He has helped develop Dubai's Maritime City and megaport. He is part owner of the Oberoi Hotel and other new buildings in Dubai.
Much to the chagrin of other members of the Royal Family, the Prince remains a bachelor and is usually seen in public with his assistant, Dahlia Samira. Only age 30, Ms. Samira has the reputation as a 'hot shot" computer scientist with a degree from Cambridge University north of London, England. The former Miss Dubai and swimsuit model, she serves as a Project Manager for the Prince.
Prince Khalid's confidant, indeed, right-hand man is Prince Yousif Latif. Prince Latif is a life-long friend of Prince Khalid and at age 40 is frequently seen in Dubai's High Society. The Prince earned his PhD in mathematics from UCLA. He's an avid polo player with several strings of ponies. He is a shrewd negotiator and buyer on behalf of Prince Khalid. His dark, piercing eyes remind one of Pablo Picasso.
Today, the trio is in Prince Khalid's suite on the 26th floor of the hotel awaiting three individuals who will be instrumental in executing one of the Prince's bold undertakings. The first person to arrive is Tom "Catfish" Crowley. The 55 year-old megayacht captain with 30 years of experience on the high seas was trained as an aeronautical engineer but turned into a maritime sea captain. People in his home port of Hamilton, Bermuda oft en say he looks like Earnest Hemingway. As his taxi pulled up to the hotel, Dahlia was in the cool black and white marble lobby to greet and escort the Captain up to the Prince's suite.
As the elevator door opened into the suite with its dramatic 180 degree view of the new megacity, Prince Latif approached the Captain with an outstretched hand of greeting. Prince Latif was the first to speak: "Captain Crowley your reputation proceeds you. What an honor to meet you."
The Captain, or Skipper as he is sometimes called by peers, replied: "Thank you, Your Highness, it is truly a pleasure to be here." "And, Captain, I have the pleasure of presenting His Highness Prince Khalid," said Prince Latif. As they shook hands, the Captain bowed his head in respect. The Prince also warmly welcomed the seasoned voyager. He then motioned the Captain to be seated at a long ebony conference table and enjoy a cup of tea.
Only five minutes later the elevator doors opened revealing Dahlia and a short, rotund man dressed in khaki slacks and a black Hawaiian shirt with large yellow Hibiscus blossoms. Prince Latif approached the man saying: "Tom van der Heyden, I presume." "Yes, Your Highness, that would be me at your service," replied the gentleman. The 32 year-old communications engineer known as a "wireless guru" with many publications in print, then said: "I don't know how you found me on a remote island, but here I am and eager to learn about your project, Sir." Tom took a seat at the table. Van der Heyden scanned the room intently as though he was searching for listening devices or "Bugs."
No sooner had van der Heyden taken a sip of his tea when the elevator doors opened. Dahlia motioned for the guest to step into the suite as she said: "Your Highnesses, please meet Adam Raviv. The 36 year-old Israeli computer whiz was warmly welcomed by the Princes and introduced to Crowley and van der Heyden. Van der Heyden immediately had a flashback of a young Einstein. Prince Latif introduced the inventor of many cyber sleuth technologies by saying: "Computers are not secure when Dr. Raviv is involved. He is the inventor of GSMen technology which you will learn about later." It was quickly revealed that everyone at the table had a love for the ocean, even Raviv who raced on jet-skies and did blue water fishing to unwind from professional tension.
* * *
Prince Latif opened the meeting by saying: "You are our guests for the weekend. You will learn of our project and enjoy Dubian hospitality. But first in order for you to do so, you must sign the Non-Disclosure and Pledge of Secrecy which Dahlia is placing in front of you." Each of the guests was given a Montblanc Meisterstuck pen to sign the document. All three forms were signed, and the Prince said: "Very well. And you may keep the pen." Smiles broke out around the room. The Prince continued: "Your visit will consist of two major briefings and opportunities to see our modern metropolis. You will also please me to be my guest for dinner at my residence," said Prince Khalid. The guests nodded their approval. "And if you're really quick learners, we'll have time to go out on my go-fast boat," joked His Highness. The strangers — soon to be a cohesive team- all laughed with a nod of approval.
"Each of you has a vital role to play in our project, indeed, adventure. But let me warn you that there will be some danger in what we do. However, the reward will be huge. And you will each share in it," stated Prince Latif. He continued: "You are free to go now, but once you are briefed, you're committed. Is that clear?" Nobody got up from the table.
"Very good," said the Host. "You will now be briefed by Prince Latif on the first element of the project. Yousif, please proceed." Dahlia turned on a laptop and closed the blinds at the end of the table to form a movie screen. Soon the screen was lit by a video showing a revolutionary trimaran megacraft . The 300 foot long boat was shown in a variety of configurations such as a car ferry, disaster-relief supply vessel and military applications including tanks and troop landings. Captain Crowley was quick to speak up: "I know that craft . It's a High Speed Craft (HSC) made down under in Hobart Australia."
"Exactly, Skipper. You're right," said Prince Latif. "It's made by a company called INCAT in Hobart, Tasmania, an island state off the south coast of Australia. There are about one hundred of them around the world serving difference purposes. America bought two for military demonstration purposes. Prince Khalid toured one of them last year when it visited our Maritime City. You can tell by the man standing on the dock in this view, that it is huge, 310 feet long and 88 feet wide. And as shown in the data package in front of you, it is very, very fast. One of its secrets is that the middle trimaran rides above the water and creates lift rather than drag."
"Captain Crowley. What do you think? Would you like to pilot one of these beasts?" asked the Prince. "It's quite different than the cruise ships."
"It would be an honor, Your Highness," replied the Skipper. "Will it be a ferry boat here in the Middle East?" inquired the Captain.
"No, far from it, my new-found friend," replied the Prince. "You'll learn about its use during your stay here," replied His Highness. "And you're going to love its home ports!"
"Ports?" asked Captain Crowley. "Did you mean plural, several ports?" asked the Captain.
"I sure did," replied the Prince. "You see, one will be based at your home port of Bermuda. But there will also be one in Cabo San Lucas and one in Monaco. You see, we'll be buying three HSC's in order to complete our mission, provided you and two other skippers are convinced it is the right craft for our project," continued the Prince. "But, Captain Crowley, you and you alone will know the exact nature of our mission. The other two skippers will perform their duties without a need to know the ship's real purpose. Do you understand, sir?"
"Yes, Sir. I do!" replied the senior seaman.
"Fine." "Now let's go over some of the details of this megayacht," continued Prince Latif. But before we do, I want to make it perfectly clear that you Mr. van der Heyden and you, Dr. Raviv, must know every feature about this craft as though you own it. You will not be piloting it, but your role in our project requires you to understand this technology platform in great detail in order to perform what will be asked of you. Is that clear, gentlemen?" asked the Prince.
The two men looked at each other and said in unison: "Yes, Sir!"
For the next one and one-half hours, the INCAT documents were examined. Different configurations were each analyzed. Captain Crowley was particularly interested in the weight and balance calculations as well as the propulsion from the water jets. He examined some of the reliability statistics of the key subsystems. The group was impressed by the quality of the nautical-based questions and comments by the Israeli ... maybe he is an Einstein. At noon, lunch was brought into the suite as the team continued to learn about the HSC and each other.
Promptly at 2:00 PM Prince Latif said: "Gentlemen, it's time for a break. Our car is waiting to take you on a tour of the new Maritime City, complete with covered wharfs where our HSC's will be re-fitted for the mission." Ten minutes later a Mercedes-Benz Maybach entered the wharf area. The Prince gave a walk-around briefing of the facilities and their capabilities. It was clear that he had played a vital role in the design, development and commissioning of this world-class drydock for the construction and retrofitting of megayachts, typically over 250 feet in length. The work force appeared to be primarily for the Far East and were housed in tall, modern apartment buildings, complete with retail and entertainment complexes. At 3:30 the three visitors were asked to return to the Maybach. Ten minutes later, the limo pulled up to the entrance of the Dubai Gold Souk. Each of the visitors was handed an envelope which contained $10,000 in Dirhum to be spent in the Souk.
"Please accept this as a token of our appreciation for your participation in our project," said the Prince. "Now go and enjoy the next hour as you pick out something for yourself or a loved one. The car will return at 4:30 to take you back to the Oberoi. You will have 2 hours to relax, perhaps visit the spa and dress for dinner. Proper outfits are already in your rooms. At 6:30 our car will leave for Prince Khalid's residence for dinner and a question and answer session."
* * *
By 6:30 the trio was getting used to enjoying the Maybach. This time the Mercedes-Benz drove to the suburb of Al Karama near the Palace of the Sheikh Ahmed. As the gates to the residence opened, a building in the likeness of a French chateau appeared before their eyes. The trio, now dressed in fine, white silk tunics, climbed the front steps. As they entered the building, one metal covered everything: gold. His Highness Prince Khalid descended a spiral staircase to greet his guests. He joked: "Did you buy anything for me at the Souk?" Everybody laughed. Tom van der Heyden thought to himself: "Now, I know how a King lives."
As the Princes led the party into the bar area, they were met by Dahlia who wore are stunning gold and black dress ready to serve an adult beverage. During cocktails, the Host detailed some of his accomplishments in the development of Dubai. He also gave great credit to his friend, Prince Latif, for his ability to create iron-clad, enforceable contracts with on-time delivery clauses and stiff penalties for default.
"Too bad you can't stay a week," said His Highness, "because Latif will field his polo team in a critical match. But you will already be busy with project tasks, I assure you, if I know my friend the Prince," said Prince Khalid.
* * *
Dinner was a sumptuous, extravagant affair. Each course was better than the previous one. Dr. Raviv was used to pottery dishes and stainless steel utensils back in Tel Aviv. He took some personal reflection before he put the gold fork to his lips. Captain Crowley has given up smoking many years ago. But he couldn't resist the Prince's offer of a fine Cuban cigar and a cognac after dinner. In the conversation each guest revealed a little more about himself. Tom van der Heyden, the communications expert, seemed to appreciate the rationale of why this particular trio came together ... but for what purpose?
The Host ended the evening by saying: "Tomorrow you will be briefed twice — once in the morning and once in the afternoon. You'll have two hours free time, but one hour will be taken up by a VIP visit to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Somehow a cocktail tastes differently, 124 stories above the Earth. Then tomorrow evening it will be Prince Latif's pleasure to entertain you. I don't think you'll be disappointed," ended the Prince as bid his guests farewell. The Maybach knew the way back to the Oberoi.
* * *
At 9:00 AM the trio entered the Prince's suite. Strong, black coffee awaited them. Again, Dahlia powered on a laptop for a slide show.
Prince Latif started the meeting by asking a question, "Do you know what a Blue Gene is? That's B-L-U-E G-E-N-E as he spelled it out.
"Of course," said Dr. Raviv, "it's one of IBM's supercomputers, one of the most powerful, yet efficient, in the world."
"Correct, Doctor, said Prince Latif. "You're absolutely right." The BLUE is for IBM and the GENE is for project to map the genome.
"Here are several slides that depict the computer," continued the Prince, as he narrated each one with details that impressed his guests. The uses for such computer power are varied and usually are carried out by research institutes trying to solve difficult problems." The Prince continued, "To give you an idea of the Model "L's" computer power, the machine's 131,000 processors routinely handle 280 trillion operations per second."
"Yes, and I bet the data streams are so large that multiple, parallel networks must be employed," said van der Heyden.
"Absolutely, right, Tom." "Opps, may I call you "Tom?" asked the Prince.
"Of course, Sir," replied the communications expert.
"Ok, enough of this "Sir" stuff; we're a team now. And first names are no offense," replied the Prince with much authority in his voice.
It was at this point when the Skipper made a key point: "But you don't need a supercomputer to run a HSC."
"Captain, you're absolutely right," replied the Prince. "As you know there are thousands of small computers and sensor systems on a cruise ship, but altogether they don't equate to the compute power of a Blue Gene L," replied Yousif.
At this point, Dr. Raviv broke into the conversation by saying that "supercomputers are routinely used by the military in missile defense applications and by the Intelligence Community to foil computer intrusions and/or conduct offensive operations against other systems. Indeed, they can even crack encryption codes."
"Right you are, Doctor," replied the Host.
"I may be a bid dense, but I still don't see how or why a megayacht and a supercomputer come together," stated the Skipper in an inquiring tone.
"Captain, we're going to spend a little more time discussing the Blue Gene before we break for our skyscraper tour," said the Prince. "It will all come together this afternoon. I assure you, sir."
* * *
On the trip back from the el Burj Khalifa, a lightbulb went off in the seaman's cranium — a megayacht with a supercomputer close enough to shore might be used to clandestinely crack a computer's encryption scheme. And the data would be there for the taking. As they pulled up to the Oberoi Hotel, Tom noticed a slight, almost devilish, smile on Adam's face.
CHAPTER 2
Incat
Aboard Prince Latif's Gulfstream V business jet over the Pacific Ocean, the inspection/evaluation team of Dahlia, Captain Crowley and Captains Tony Caselli and Tanner Jolie were briefed by the Prince about the purpose of their trip.
"We'll refuel in Tokyo and then proceed past Sydney to the southern-most part of Australia. We'll land at Hobart, the capital and most populous city of the Australian island of Tasmania," said the Prince. "Founded in 1803 as a penal colony, the city now supports a growing number of expeditions to Antarctica."
"It's harbor is the second-deepest natural port in the world," continued the Prince.
"We'll be there three days as we inspect one of the most revolutionary sea craft ever devised, the INSAT High Speed Craft (HSC)," said the Prince. Prince Khalid toured the U.S. Navy's HSC, called 2 SWIFT, when it called on Dubai two years ago. Ever since then, the Prince has baselined this megayacht for the mission. By this time tomorrow you'll understand why."
Captain Crowley then spoke up: "I've seen videos of the sea trails. It's huge and yet very fast."
"You're right, Skipper, replied the Prince. But it's even bigger in person. But it needs to be to accommodate our payload. Indeed, at 310 feet long, it will be ranked as the 41st largest megayacht on the planet. And we're in the market for three of them to be fitted out at our Maritime City in Dubai," said Prince Latif.
