Surrept (20 page)

The CIA assistant director hands the files he has compiled to each member at the table and addresses the attorney general, "Robert, this is pretty much what has been discussed to date, but you should have a copy."

Leo looks around the table as he begins.

"For those of you who haven't met Senator Oscar Rothstein, chairman of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Calvin Donnelly, majority leader and head of the Appropriations Committee, gentleman welcome." He hands them file copies. "These are copies of the president's directive and the operations approved that will be discussed and are considered to be top secret and privileged, for your eyes only, as set forth in the directive."

Attorney General Hastings interrupts Leo Matz.

"I would like to make a statement for the record before we begin. The president has requested me to be present for two reasons. One is to ensure that we have no FISA issues in the commission of this action and that we do not repeat past mistakes. And two, that I am one hundred percent aware of the discipline and care taken by each agency here today to ensure the safety of this country and the actions we are taking within it."

Karen Satriano asks, "Jack, do you have something before we get started?"

Jack Hayward says, "The NSA is committed to gathering intelligence information and data that is relevant to the security of this country and covert operations abroad. We have worked in concert with the HSA and CIA to prepare the information provided in the outline Mr. Matz is about to debrief all of us on today. If there are any questions regarding the source and/or season of that material, please feel free to submit any requests for validation to the NSA."

Leo shoots Jack a look of appreciation for his support in his statement. He knows that validations are the number-one concerns of the AG and the two senators. He continues now with the formalities done.

"I have prepared a summation of the information provided by our agency to the CIA and HSA and they are available for your review as set forth in the directive. The briefing at the White House with the joint chiefs ran longer than anticipated, so let's get started. I have been asked by directive to share the outcome of that meeting with you here today and provide you with a file copy of that directive set forth by the president so that all agencies are in unison as to the plans and policy changes which are to be effective immediately."

"The president has insisted on transparency in this unprecedented military and covert action. Here is where we are: the president has decided to do a mock pullout of all U.S. troops of infantry and support level status to create the image that a pullout is in the process in the hope that we can sell this movement worldwide and deter further attacks as we prepare our tactical posture."

"The operation for pullout is called Operation Shift Gears. This operation will be publicly endorsed and is authored by the secretary of defense. Troops will begin movement at eighteen hundred hours tomorrow. The public will be split, one side outraged, and the other relieved, and we all know that for this administration, this plan of action could be political suicide. The president is willing to take this risk based on the key operations that will occur over an eighty-four hour period. That is seven days to change the world as we now know it. The joint chiefs have agreed. However, they are apprehensive about showing retreat by our troops in the present theaters of operation. So it will be the agencies represented in this room that will be the foundation and/or lynch pin for its success and/or failure; these operations are designed to stun the enemies of this country and our allies throughout the world."

He continues, "Open your files, and you can see these are for-your-eyes-only, top-secret classification orders set forth by directive of the president of the United States of America. The operations approved are Operation Hurricane, Operation Controlled Lightning, and Operation Level Ground. The purpose and objectives of each operation are as follows. Operation Hurricane: unprecedented mass drone, naval missile, and air bombing strikes in the Taliban and Al Qaeda training locations and strongholds in the regions of Waziristan and the entire Afghan and Pakistani range."

"These operations will persist for eighty-four hours after the pullout is sold worldwide. Our forces will be engaging in over three thousand sorties targeting leadership, transport, and supply locations, including the Pakistani frontier regions that their government has deemed off limits. This operation will include the participation of all branches of the U.S. armed forces, intelligence community agencies and private contractor operatives."

He goes on, "The second operation is entitled Operation Controlled Lightning. A surgical combination of strikes and apprehensions on all validated known and or suspected extremist Islamic terrorist leaders, clerics, cells and support safe houses and operatives worldwide. The estimated target list exceeds fifty-seven hundred human targets and approximately fourteen hundred fifty arms, communication, and financial support sites, and other front operation companies and institutions worldwide. This operation will include special operations forces and black OPS teams from every branch of our military, as well as the intelligence community and private contractors, all of which shall be directly engaged by our intelligence agencies as well. The Israeli Masad will also be engaged in joint and separate operations in concert with our efforts. The duration for this operation will occur in concert with a one hundred twenty hour window, and is designed to cripple the extremist terror community indefinitely."

Leo looks around the table then continues, "The success of these operations will be enhanced greatly as each team will have its specific target mission guidelines and support; hence, the title Controlled Lightning. This operation will maintain covert action secrecy guidelines indefinitely."

The room is quiet. Leo knows that he has to sell this plan as the single greatest resolution for success in the security of the nation. He continues.

"Operation Level Ground: an unprecedented agricultural destruction operation, designed to eradicate the opium crops and prevent harvest over the entire region of Afghanistan.

In addition, this operation includes the targeting of known drug lords, government-involved suspects, their infrastructure of heroin supply already processed, and the operatives within their organizations in the region and abroad. The number-one killer in Afghanistan is famine and opium-related fatalities, not casualties of war. However, there is enough food available in the country to feed its population, yet poverty restricts fifty-three percent in its ability to acquire foods to maintain themselves daily."

"Therefore, a food fund will be offered to the entire region to supplement the loss of agricultural income and loss off ground use to the country of Afghanistan and its citizens, thereby eliminating the corruption abilities of government and offsetting the cost of military occupation presently approved. Those appropriations will be utilized for strictly humanitarian and or support resources. The total cost of these operations estimated at two hundred and sixty-five billion dollars, approximately one-sixth of the U.S. funds spent to date on the Afghanistan conflict in a ten-year period. These proposed operations have an estimated duration of less than two years."

Leo looks at the faces in the room and realizes how split they are in what they have just heard. His anticipated reaction is validated by their facial expressions. Leo takes a drink of water and continues, "The preparations and coordination of these operations are outlined and are presently being set in place to be implemented as per the president's directive. I know you all have questions, let's start with our attorney general."

Robert Hastings leans forward. "I want to make sure I am clear and understand that the apprehensions you referred to, that some of them would occur here in our territory. Is that correct, Leo?"

"That's correct."

"And the strikes, which you referred to, would occur only outside of our territory and not within it?"

"That is correct, Robert."

The AG looks directly into Leo's eyes as he stands up. "I assume that the apprehensions in our territory will be coordinated with the Department of Justice agencies. Thank you for having me gentleman. As you know, there is much to attend to and obviously much to prepare for in our country right now. Kevin, I trust that you will brief me on the balance of this meeting. Good night, gentlemen."

The stone-faced AG leaves the room, and he is obviously not happy about what he has heard. The room is dead quiet as the senators whisper among themselves.

Kevin Anderson stares at the file in front of him and reviews the contents. He is horrified as to what is about to happen to the world. He looks at the senators, who seem to be positive in this proposed plan, and wonders how many whispers in the legislative branch his agency knows nothing about. He then thinks of the whispers within his own agency. He closes the file and reaches for his cold coffee as thoughts of his wife and children become his focus. Kevin Anderson thinks,
So much for the FBI credo, Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity
.

***

It is early Monday morning in Denver. Ahmed arrives at the university. He parks the van and exits with a large duffel bag and his backpack and walks to the administration building. A campus cop cruises by him as he traverses through the light crowd of students and enters the same building as before and proceeds upstairs.

He enters the room he previously visited and there is no one there yet, so he checks his watch, sets the bags down in the corner of the room, and takes a seat at the table facing the door. A quarter of an hour passes and it seems like hours before the door opens and the round-bellied Middle Eastern man enters and smiles. Ahmed rises to greet him and exchange kisses on each other's cheeks as they embrace.

"Praise Allah, how are you, Ahmed. Are you okay?"

Ahmed sits. "I am fine, professor. I have completed the project assignments you have required of me." He points to the bags in the corner. "The calculations and instructions for handling and maintenance of the bacteria are in the bags as well. There is a little extra to ensure our success in the project."

The professor smiles at him. "I was confident that your brilliance and commitment would not fail us Ahmed. Tell me about the outcome of your project."

Ahmed responds, anxious to share his intellect and creation. "I have developed a super bacterium, a combination of salmonella, clostridium botulinum, and listeria, and then combined those with a mutated strain of E. coli and trichinosis, which has held in suspension, and now continue to mutate. I allowed them to incubate and mutate into one super bacterium. This strain is unique. The instructions are simple. The concentrates I have brought to you require combining them to with a saline solution. Then delivered to the target commodity, pork, in one of the three ways I describe in the instructions, all of which are simple to administer for a mass contamination, especially targets such as a processing plant environment where high contamination is possible and volume is needed."

Ahmed continues, "By my calculations and research, each American consumes about fifty pounds of pork each year, which means with one mass contamination carried out simultaneously we should have the ability to affect close to twelve point eight million infidels in less than a week. And the fatalities should be near eighty-six percent, give or take."

The professor smiles with anticipation as Ahmed continues, "The key factor, of course, is the ability to deliver the bacteria to the processing plants without detection."

The professor says, "Excellent. I could not have done better myself; you are a brilliant asset to Islam, Ahmed. Allah will bestow great favor on you. It is you who has enabled us to affect the world and rid it of the infidels. Do you realize that?"

Ahmed looks at the round man and wonders if this is his greatest accomplishment or his greatest sin. "I realize that my work is now done here, and I have fulfilled my promises, and that it is time for me to go home, to our people. Are the arrangements made for my departure?"

The man reaches into his pocket and removes an envelope. "Here is ten thousand dollars, as promised, for your journey. You are to meet your contact in Montana in three days. There is a map enclosed. A place called Bozeman. The instructions are in the envelope. From there you will go to Vancouver, British Columbia, and it is from there that you will depart for home. May Allah carry you in his hand."

Ahmed takes the envelope. "Thank you, professor. May Allah guide you, in all of your future tasks."

They both rise and embrace. The professor gathers the bags as Ahmed leaves the room.

***

Adriana jogs in the cold evening air wearing her black ball cap and outfit to match, taking long strides like a deer as she glides around a corner and down the sidewalks. She slows as she enters a large apartment complex and walks briskly along the dimly lit walkway to the clubhouse by the pool, steaming as the warm water vaporizes into the cold air. She approaches the clubhouse where she had met Reggie several times before, peers inside, and scans the room. There are two women on treadmills and an older man working on a machine.

Reggie is working on a weight bench with heavy weight. Adriana removes her cap and tucks her hair under her sweatshirt. She pulls a veil from her pocket, places it over her head, and puts the ball cap back on over the veil. Adriana looks around, and a woman walking a dog enters the parking lot behind the clubhouse.