Threat Vector, a Jack Ryan Novel, Tom Clancy with Mark Greany: summary

Tom Clancy had been an English major at Baltimore’s Loyola College and had always dreamed to be a novelist. He is well-known with his main character Jack Ryan series. He passed away in October 2013. Mark Greany is American novelist, known as Tom Clancy’s collaborator on his final three books. I choose Threat Vector for this post while Executive Order and The Hunt Red October are still in waiting list. The first Great Britain edition is published in 2012. This 710 – page novel is published by Penguin Great Britain in 2013. This is a political and action thriller novel.

Threat Vector, a Jack Ryan Novel, Tom Clancy with Mark Greany: summary

Istanbul, Turkey 

Former operatives of the Jamahiriya Security Organization (JSO), the dreaded national intelligence service of Lybia under Moammar Gaddafi, managed to survive after Gaddafi’s death. The Seven agents made their way to Istanbul, Turkey, where they were sponsored by elements in the local underworld. Only five agents remained in the spy game. The five Libyans became targets of an off-the-books assassination team from U.S. A year earlier, a member of JSO cell had shot and killed Brian Caruso, the brother of the Americans, and a friend of the rest. Five young Americans were in secret operation named the Campus. It was John Clark, Domingo Chavez, Sam Driscoll, Dominic Caruso, and Jack Ryan Jr, the oldest son of President Jack Ryan. The five targets were down and Jack Ryan found the Campus team’s name on the e-mail of the target five.

Beijing, President Wei Zhen Lin 

Zhen Lin was born into privilege, raised in Beijing, and sent to exclusive boarding school in Switzerland. Zhen’s father was a member of the Seventh Politburo of the Communist Party of China. He was with Mao Zadong during the Long March. Wei was a member of a group known as the Princelings. They were the rising stars in politics, the military, or in business in China who the sons or daughters of a former party officials, most them high-ranking Maoists who fought in the revolution.

Wei returned to Beijing to study economics and got a doctorate in administration in Nanjing University. He was elected mayor of Shanghai and became the Shanghai party chief of Communist party and a member of the Sixteenth Politburo. The three highest offices in China are the president, the general secretary of CPC, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the chief of military. At times the same person holds all three roles simultaneously, but in Wei’s case the CMC chairmanship went to a four-star general , Su Ke Qiang, the son of one of Maoist’s most trusted marshals, had been a childhood friend of Wei. The inevitable truth was the nation’s finance in crisis and he placed a pistol in his temple but he lowered the gun quickly to hear his friend Chairman Su came with tanks to Tiananmen Square.

Wei proposed China military power to reassert China in the region. His economic disaster only could be avoided by expanding territory, creating new sources of raw material, new products and markets. Total dominance in South China Sea was step one, and step two is returning Hong Kong to mainland. And step three will be the long-stand stated goal of China, the absorption of Taiwan. Wei will do it without revealing China as an aggressor, he chose some sort of computer attack to destroy U.S. A cyberwarfare and cyberespionage. Chairman Su relied on Dr. Kwan Kwok Tong aka Center. Tong went to the U.S to heighten his abilities in computer programming in MIT. It was a computer software company in Menlo Park, California. They developed a reputation as some of the best white hat hackers in Silicon Valley.

Crane, Centre’s man just killed all of the programmers. But the paper said a murder-suicide with five victims the previous morning at a software company in Menlo Park, California. Melanie Kraft was reports officer, an analyst for CIA. She was blackmailed by Darren Lipton, a FBI man. Lipton knew about her father’s act of espionage. She thought of her own future, she knew if her father was arrested there would be no chance she could ever get a job working for Department of State, the daughter of an American traitor. Melanie had bugged his boyfriend’s cell phone.

Hong Kong 

The campus found the hackers who involved in killing the five programmers was known as FastByte22. Zha Shu Hai was born in China and emigrated to U.S. He was American who arrested for trying to sell classified engineering from his employer, the makers of unmanned aerial vehicles for the Air Force. Like Tong he was a prodigy in computer science. With Zha’s knowledge of computer code and penetrating secure networks, he developed the Ghost Ship’s powerful remote-access Trojan, the malware that allowed Center to steal data convert, as well as see through the cameras and listen through the microphones of every machine it infected. Zha’s virus was as insidious as it was brilliant. Adam Yao, a CIA agent who lived in Hong Kong found Zha organization that linked to Center. Zha and Center also attacked U.S cybersecurity.

Todd Wicks, a computer hardware territory sales manager, had been set up at a hotel in Hong Kong. A detective and the Shanghai Municipal Police arrested Wicks and charged him with engaging a prostitute that was a cause of great concern in that city. Having the U.S consulate know that he had cheated on his wife with a Chinese hooker would be even more humiliating, but maybe they could get him out of this. They had the evidence, the video. He swore to the detective that he would do anything. A Chinese spy wanted Todd to commit act of treason that could get him killed or thrown to the prison the rest of his life. He planted virus on his client, Hendley Associates, an international financial concern in where the Campus worked. It was owned and directed by former US, Gerry Hendley.

The Campus, the unofficial name given to the off-the-books spy shop, had been envisioned years earlier before President Jack Ryan during his first administration. Wicks’s treason had made Hendley Assosiates easily tracked and the Campus had been hacked. Center used four threat vectors. The third vector was the insider threat. Gavin Biery, the director information of technology Hendley Assosiates, was suspicious on Todd Wicks. Wicks’s treason almost made Jack Ryan, Jr. and his friend almost killed. Dr. K.K Tong also recruited some Russian guys.

Valentin Olegovich Kovalenko was a brilliant programmer, former Russian foreign intelligence. His employer had sprung him from Matrosskaya Tishina jail in Moscow but made him accomplice. He thought it was industrial espionage. He sent Kovalenko to some places in Europe but now he was in a mission in U.S. Center had made him met Darren Lipton. Both Lipton and Valentin communicated at the Cryptogram (a secure instant message program) window on their laptop. They thought Center was an English man or Russian. The jobs started easy for Valentin, but got harder and harder. Center had tricked and threatened to kill him. He wanted to quit from his jobs and had helped the Campus team from Center’s men attack.

The call between President of United State Jack Ryan and President of the People’s Republic of China Wei Zhen Lin had been Ryan’s originally; he wanted to attempt a dialogue with Wei, because, regardless of what Wei had been saying publicly, Ryan and most of his top advisers left that Su was pushing the conflict in the strait and the SCS way past what Wei was comfortable with. The Chinese had fired more anti-ship cruise missiles against another Taiwanese ship.

Zha had been killed in Hong Kong. Adam Yao, the Campus team, and SEAL team did it. Yao studied Tong was in Guangzhou and all teams had seized and killed him.  Tong was dead. That was not in the paper; Su had learned this when his body was identified. Ninety-two Ghost Ship hackers, managers, and engineers died as well, dozens more were injured. The servers were blown to bits, and with that Su had learned almost immediately that America’s secure Department of Defense network bandwith increased, satellite communications come back online. The Campus seized Su. Ding shot him dead.

President Jack Ryan announced publicly that the American strike aircraft a limited attack on location Southern China that was thought by American military and intelligence experts to be the nerve center overseeing the cyberattacks against the U.S. Eight American military personnel were killed, when the American Reaper drone was hijacked two months, and missiles were fired on U.S soldiers and its allies. President Wei heard the heavy vehicles of Ministry of Public Security outside his window. They had come to arrest him, just they had done before, except this time Su wouldn’t show up to save him. Su had not save him back then but he only delayed Wei’s fall long enough to further tarnish his legacy. He shot himself.

Mary Patricia Foley, director of national intelligence, asked Jack Ryan to talk to his girlfriend.  Her boss had asked Melanie to resign because she knew about the Campus. She resigned and went home to her father in Texas. Jack Ryan, Jr. was feeling somber with the death of his friends and his breakup with Melanie but being home around his family, brightened him. He was on the dinning table with his family.

Sekapur Sirih

Tom Clancy adalah penulis novel khusus tema thriller politik dan aksi dengan tokoh serialnya Jack Ryan. Selain menulis sederetan novel ternama penulis juga menulis beberapa karya non fiksi. Clancy adalah sarjana Sastra Inggris dan selalu bercita-cita ingin menjadi novelis. Karya-karyanya biasanya tebal dan detil mengenai kepresidenan, pesawat, senjata, aksi laga, dan politik antar negara. Penulis telah meninggal dunia pada tahun 2013 lalu. Mark Greany adalah penulis Amerika yang berkolaborasi dengan Tom Clancy dalam tiga novel terakhirnya.

Ada 40 tokoh terkadang kewalahan mengidentifikasi mereka. Namun saya masih tetap kagum dengan penulis karena mampu menuliskan karya kompleks dan berteknologi terkini karena berkaitan dengan dunia siber (cyber), mengingat usia dan latar belakang akademik Clancy, dengan tokoh berkarakter kuat dan tentu saja novel ini tepat bagi peminat aksi thriller dan politik.

Novel setebal 710 halaman ini cocok dijadikan acuan pembelajaran novel bahasa Inggris karena bahasa yang mudah dimengerti dan disampaikan dalam bahasa bagus. Karena buku fiksi ini bercerita tentang perang siber (cyberwar) perebutan perairan strategis Laut China Selatan sehingga kata Indonesia beberapa kali disebut dan kapal perang Yos Sudarso dan Bunguran Timur pada halaman 635 dan 636. Buku ini tepat sebagai rekomendasi bagi pembaca cyberwar maupun dunia kriptografer, programmer, dan komputer sains.

Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia: The Threat Vector karya Tom Clancy dan Mark Greany

Sebuah tim intelijen operasi rahasia bernama the Campus melakukan pekerjaan mereka dengan sigap dan rapi di kota Turki. Dari kelima anggota tim, salah satunya adalah Jack Ryan Jr., tak lain merupakan putra tertua President Amerika Jack Ryan. Target mereka adalah lima orang mantan anggota JSO (Jamahiriyah Security Organization), badan intelijen nasional Moammar Gaddafi dari Lybia. JSO telah membunuh Brian Caruso saudara dari anggota tim dan sahabat bagi yang lainnya. Lima target sudah terbunuh dengan sempurna namun Jack Ryan, Jr. menemukan sebuah data yang mengarah kepada nama mereka sendiri, kelima anggota the Campus yakni John Clark, Sam Granger, Domingo ‘Ding’ Chavez, Dominic Caruso, Sam Driscoll, dan Jack Ryan, Jr.

Wei Zei Lin adalah putra dari seorang anggota partai Politburo Ketujuh dari Partai Komunis China. Ayahnya masih teman seperjuangan dengan tokoh Mao Zedong. Dilahirkan dan dibesarkan di keluarga berada di Beijing dan menamatkan sekolah berasrama ekslusif di Swiss bersama teman-teman sebayanya yang juga merupakan anak-anak jendral, pejabat atau petinggi China. Seteleh kembali di Beijing, dia belajar ekonomi pada Beijing University, menyelesaikan program master bisnis, dan program doktor administrasi di Nanjing University. Wei tergolong dalam grup anak-anak petinggi negara yang dikader untuk menempati posisi penting di negaranya.

Berkat jaringan itu dia dengan mulus memulai karirnya sebagai walikota Shanghai hingga Menteri Perdagangan yang mengantarkan pria tampan itu menjadi Presiden Republik Rakyat China (People’s Republic of China) serta menjabat sekjen Partai Komunis China. Situasi kepresidenan tidaklah mulus hingga dirinya hampir saja menembakkan kepalanya sendiri. Namun bantuan barikade Jendreal Su ke Qiang, seorang jendral berbintang empat, tak lain adalah teman semasa kanak-kanak, yang kini menempati posisi tertinggi militer sebagai kepala tentara nasional. Kekuatiran atas kegagalannya dan membayangkan dirinya diasingkan dan dipenjara membuatnya hendak memutuskan untuk bunuh diri.

Kekuatan militer di tangan Su, membuatnya bertahan. Untuk mengatasi bencana krisis ekonomi yang dihadapinya, Wei ingin menambah wilayah, pasar, bahan mentah yakni  dengan tiga ambisi: 1. menguasai Laut China Selatan (LCS), Selat Malaka beserta menggenggam perekonomian negara-negaranya sekitarnya, 2. mengembalikan Hongkong dan perekonomiannya ke daratan,  3. merebut Taiwan. Lewat pidato resmi kenegaraannya dia berdalih bahwa kawasan LCS dulunya adalah milik PRC serta ingin menguasai negara-negara itu juga termasuk Fillipina, Indonesia, Vietnam, dan Malaysia. Wei mengiginkan perang siber (cyberwar) menghindari kesan penyerang untuk menghancurkan Amerika yang selalu antusias menjaga Taiwan dan kawasan jalur perairan strategis LCS dan selat Malaka.

Seorang programer dan kriptograper handal Dr. Kwok Kwan Tong dipercaya sebagai direktur operasi Ghost Ship dalam misi rahasia ini. Center begitu nama samarannya. Doktor ahli komputer lulusan terbaik Amerika dan berstatus seorang buronan dari Beijing memimpin pergerakan peretasan (hekking) drone pesawat Amerika dan peretasan data rahasia badan intelijen Amerika. Center merekrut mantan JSO Libya, beberapa orang Rusia termasuk Valentin Kovalenko, mantan intelijen Rusia untuk luar negeri, seorang programmer handal.

Dengan kekuatan jaringan dan pendanaan besar dari SU, dia mampu mengambil tawanan Rusia itu dari penjara dengan memberi identitas baru dan gaji tinggi. Seorang anggota FBI Darren Lipton pun dibayar mahal untuk operasi ini. Tak satu pun mereka mengetahui kalau Center adalah seorang China, mereka hanya menduga Center seorang Inggris atau Rusia karena semua perintah dalam perintah teks dan suara di layar komputer wahana Cryptogram tanpa pernah tatap muka.

Agennya dimana-mana sehingga setiap gerak-gerik Kovalenko yang sempat ingin lari dari perjanjian tak luput dari pengawasannya. Presiden Jack Ryan sudah sempat mempersiapkan perang atas tindakan China yang mulai mengokupasi LCS dan Taiwan. Operasi the Campus pun tidak tinggal diam dan merangkai temuanya dari anggota JSO dan mengarah pada Center maupun Fastbyte22. Adam Yao, seorang prodigy lulusan Amerika dan salah satu agen CIA  yang bermukim di Hongkong mendapati kalau organisasi pergerakan Center berada di Hongkong. Tim Campus dan tim SEAL berhasil membunuh Zha Shu Hai, dengan nama smaran Fastbyte22, programmer hebat andalan Center. Namun mereka gagal mendapatkan Center.

Sekembalinya ke Amerika, Jack Ryan Jr dan rekannya hampir saja terbunuh oleh tiga orang Rusia yang merupakan suruhan Center dan tidak hanya itu beberapa agen Amerika pun terbunuh di sebuah gedung dan diduga perbuatan kelompok Center. Jauh sebelumnya sekelompok programmer handal dari sebuah perusahaan software di Silikon Valley pun dibunuh dan data mereka dicuri. Seorang manajer penjualan perangat keras (hardware), pemasuk resmi barang pada orgasisasi Hendley yang merupakan kantor resmi kelompok the Campus, berhasil mencuri data dan menyadap mereka.

Todd Wicks, sang manajer penjualan itu, telah dijebak dengan tuduhan atas pelacuran ilegal dengan tuduhan penjara dan mengancam memberitahu video rekaman perzinahannya itu pada kedutaan dan istrinya. Dia dijebak semasa kunjungan bisnis di Hongkong. Dengan terpaksa dia menuruti perintah polisi dan  detektif China itu dan menghianati Gavin Biery, direktur informasi teknologi dari perusahaan Hendley Assosiates, yang juga teman baiknya dengan menyadap kegiatan mereka serta mencuri datanya.

Penghianatan juga dilakukan oleh Melanie Kraft, seorang anggota CIA yang juga kekasih dari Jack Junior dengan menyadap telepon genggam sang putra presiden. Semuanya dilakukannya karena terdesak. Anggota FBI Darren Lipton telah mengancam akan membuka penghianatan ayahnya yang memberi informasi pada kekasih gelapnya yang tak lain adalah pihak musuh ketika bertugas sebagai duta besar di Mesir (Egypt). Karena kekuatiran, Melanie dan ayahnya akan berakhir di penjara, dia terpaksa menuruti permintaan Lipton dan atasannya Packard.

Adam Yao berhasil menemukan posisi Center di Guangzou. Center berhasil dibunuh dan Jendral Su yang juga telah mencium kehadiran kelompok the Campus dan sang jendral juga dibunuh. Presiden Wei sangat kuatir akan posisinya atas kematian Su. Dia pun kembali bunuh diri dan kali ini berhasil dan dia sendiri meminta asistennya menyelesaikan upaya bunuh diri itu. 

Sesuai harapan atasannya, Melanie Kraft pun akhirnya mengundurkan diri sebagai agen dan meninggalkan kekasihnya dan kembali ke Texas menemui ayahnya setelah dia mengakui semua pengkhianatannya dan meminta maaf pada Jack. Darren Lipton tertangkap dan dipaksa mundur dari FBI sebagai tanggung-jawab atas pengkhianatannya pada negara. Walau sebenarnya sedih kematian beberapa kawannya dan kehilangan Melanie, namun bagi Jack Junior berada di tengah keluarga menyemangatinya lagi, dia pun menikmati makan malam dengan keluarganya.