Checkmate blog tour: Excerpt Post

Checkmate by Jonathan Patrick

Publication date: July 22, 2013 by 3R Publishing

Source: Publisher/author via Closed the Cover (CTC) 

Synopsis:

It’s a difficult time in America. Several years of attempted economic and social fixes have failed. Its major cities have reached a tipping point whereby any disaster, manmade or natural, would have devastating consequences. America is no longer seen by its friends or enemies as the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Washington bureaucrats are involved in every decision and political correctness rules the day. The country that used to, only a few short years ago, project its military might outward to the world, has had its own military forces striped to the bone. No service has felt this impact more than the United States Navy. With only a fraction of combat vessels left to patrol the world’s oceans and keep peace in the world, decisions are no longer based on safety and national security but by financial necessity.

With most of its once mighty navy staying in port, and the remainder stretched thinly across the globe, America’s enemies now have different words to describe America: weak…and very vulnerable.

**********

I am happy to participate in the book tour by posting an excerpt from Checkmate. 

Below is an excerpt from chapter four:

**********

The government background check took almost six weeks to get them cleared into the building. During that time they spent their days scrubbing the software of the specific requirements for the previous user and leaving a clean slate for them to build whatever it was the CIA wanted. It took another four weeks for them to get their initial agency specific Top Secret clearances and find out what they would be doing.
     As it was explained to them by Ramón Rodriquez, the BOATSS system was a new and emerging system global acoustic array that had been designed to identify ships over twenty five tons by their unique sound characteristics or “acoustic” signature. This information would be cross referenced against any other information gathered on the vessel such as photographs of the vessels in port, at sea or by satellite imagery. With this information, a profile could then be created for the particular vessel.
     The emerging concept was that by documenting and tracking the ships, you could identify which ports they visited and potentially predict not only where they were traveling to, but potentially what they were transporting. This was the system the United Nations had wanted and partially funded. The system’s hardware technology was a significant upgrade from the Navy's current Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) array that had begun to show signs of wear and tear due in some part to age but funding issues as well.
     Although upgraded and combined with other systems and now called the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) the system had not been designed for the overwhelming amount of data now being demanded from it. The new “BOATSS” system was marketed as a standalone system whose information would be released to the UN for treaty and embargo enforcement.
     Like many other programs in D.C., the reality and scope of the program was somewhat different than what was publicly announced or revealed. The reality of the project was that the CIA pushed some much needed funding over to the Navy's side of the ledger for some projects for which the Navy had been unable to acquire funding. They did this in exchange for the Navy's complete acoustical libraries on all foreign ships, and some trained personnel. The CIA's plan was to piggy back the information gathered with old SOSUS sensors onto the new more robust system and be able to track whatever it wanted, where ever and whenever it saw fit.
     Jewels, Gina, and several other new program staff members listened intently to the new employee presentation. The man giving them their briefing said he realized that all this information was a lot to digest on their first day. He addressed his next comments in the direction of Jewels and Gina. He let them know he understood the magnitude of the task at hand and that he would understand if it took some time to get the new software figured out. Ramón Rodriquez explained, in what both Jewels and Gina later described as a most condescending manner, that this was very complex software unlike any he had ever seen.
     It had been quite obvious during the presentation that Ramón Rodriquez was a pig of a man. He gave Jewels the once over, twice, and appeared to be smitten the moment Jewels walked in. He was so obvious that even the other people in the room were uncomfortable.
     At the conclusion of his presentation, Ramón asked them if they had any questions. Jewels found him very annoying and noticed his rather poor attempts at hiding his desire for her. With as dry a wit as she could muster and in an obvious attempt to embarrass him she looked him in the eye and said “I've seen this type of program before and it's actually very simple to use, are you sure this is all they need us to do?”
     Several people snickered.
     Ramón Rodriquez, his face red as a beet, replied yes.
     Jewels was very pleased with herself. As they walked out the door, she nonchalantly asked Ramón, “What is it you do around here?”
     He looked at her with what could best be described as pure detestation and said, “I'm your boss."

********************

***Edited to include: Don't forget, you can  enter a giveaway to win an eBook of Checkmate over on the tour page on Closed the Cover (http://www.closedthecover.com/checkmate-virtual-tour.html.
(Thanks for the reminder, Ashley!)

 

 

Follow the rest of the tour here. 

Tour Schedule

Tour Hashtag: #CheckmateTour

November 14, 2013
Closed the Cover  - Kick-off Post and Giveaway

November 16, 2013
Rants Rhymes Reviews - Book Excerpt & Giveaway

November 17, 2013
Closed the Cover - Guest Post

November 19, 2013
My Nook, Books & More - Book Excerpt and Giveaway

November 21, 2013
Book 2 Buzz - Book Spotlight, Book Excerpt and Giveaway

November 23, 2013
Beth's Book Reviews - Book Excerpt and Giveaway
Book Talk with Alana - Book Review & Author Q&A

November 25, 2013
A Book Geek - Book Excerpt

November 27, 2013
Wi Love Books - Book Excerpt & Author Q&A
Entirely Books - Guest Post

November 29, 2013
Rants - Rhymes Reviews - Book Review

December 2, 2013
Everything Marie - Book Review

December 5, 2013
Feed My Reads USA - Promo and Book Excerpt

December 6, 2013
Closed the Cover - Book Review

Book Details

Author: Jonathan Patrick
Edition: First Edition
Format: eBook
Publication Date: July 22, 2013
Publisher: 3R Publishing

View it on Amazon
Tour Hashtag: #CheckmateTour

---

About the Author

Jonathan Patrick is a retired U.S. Air Force veteran who lives with his wife and two children in the Carolinas. His military career took him to many countries around the world and exposed him to the inner workings of several key intelligence agencies and programs. He has recently begun work on his second novel.