Colonel Werner answered, “No, he is here.”
“What do you mean here sir?” asked J.R. He and Daniel look puzzled.
J.R. looked worried, “Sir, I know that certain intel is compartmentalized. But do we really have an interrogation facility here?”
Colonel Werner confirmed JR’s fears. “We have a black site, Captain. We are a black site for the joint intelligence community.”
Daniel yelled, “What the hell do you mean black site?”
J.R. patted Daniel on the shoulder, “Daniel, in the truck we listened to Glen Beck’s conversation on Black Sites. In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged project is conducted. In this case, Fort Stewart has a secret prison and interrogation facility. Generally, black sites are operated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency outside of U.S. territory and legal jurisdiction.”
Daniel seemed enlightened, “I guess Glen is right.”
J.R. smiled, “Pretty much.”
Colonel Werner gave Daniel and J.R. the details on how and where Kyle and Jeff had been picked up. Sara showed J.R. and Daniel additional satellite surveillance photos of Kyle and Jeff at training camps and traveling in Genesis helicopters. Then they spent an hour on cell-phone transcripts. Sara pulled up satellite surveillance shots of Kyle and Jeff with about twenty soldiers in a small courtyard at a village near the border of Somalia.
“We do know that Jeff grew up as a devout Christian in your father’s home. Bumblehive intercepts we reviewed have revealed that Jeff was radicalized online and through the online contacts made his way to training camps in territories controlled by the Shepherds.”
J.R. raised his hand. “So tell me more about the Shepherds.”
“Our intelligence has consistently confirmed that the Shepherds are a tight-knit group of terrorist organizations. Genesis’s Supreme Commander earned her rank among the Shepherds. By her organization’s economic and politic might and power, they call her the Shepherdess.”
Daniel raised his hand. “May I ask, what is Bumblehive?”
“Oh, sorry. Bumblehive is a nickname for The National Security Agency Data Center. Remember the former N.S.A. contractor Edward Snowden who disclosed top-secret intelligence to the American and British media about the massive collecting of phone and internet records?”
“I sort of remember that, yes.”
“We used Bumblehive’s innovative technology and we found that Jeff and Kyle have quite a history.”
Daniel got up and paced the floor. “Where does all of this lead to? It appears my brother has associated with some very bad people. To hear of him this way, I don't understand this. Jeff must have had some very significant and mind altering experiences in those counties with Genesis to make him capable of doing what you say he did.”
“It appears that this is the case,” answered Sara.
“Can I see my little brother?” says Daniel.
Colonel Werner frowned a bit and motioned for Daniel to sit down. “Maybe I can arrange that.”
Sara cautioned everyone. “They have been through several intense interrogation sessions and you may not like what you see.”
At that moment, a geeky-looking Asian guy entered the room. Colonel Werner introduced Harry. “This is our lead interrogator. Harry has years of experience at this.”
J.R. thought, why do these guys always wear white coats and black dress shoes? Maybe they wanted to be doctors and failed.
J.R. refocused his attention when Colonel Werner made an interesting statement. “I thought he should brief you before you go to the next step. Normally, we do not do this, but I need the both of you to do something in the interest of the United States. We will talk about that later.”
Harry sat down and Sara handed him the remote. A woman wearing only underwear appeared on the screen. She appeared to be stressed. Blood ran out of her nose and she appeared to have bruises on her breasts and back. Before Harry could say a word, Daniel asked, “Who is that woman? Did you torture her? Why does she look like that?”
Sara answered, “Jameela.”
“Who is Jameela?
Sara once again answered, “Operational Commander for the Genesis Organization.”
J.R. interrupted, “How do you know this?”
Harry answered, “She told us. We tried every possible humane interrogation tactic in the Army field manual on Jameela. Nothing worked until we used waterboarding.”
Daniel said angrily, “She is a young woman. How does this waterboarding work? Is it as dangerous as we hear on television?”
Harry explained, “We restrained Jameela on a board. The incline was about 15-20 degrees so that the feet are above the head. We placed a damp cloth over her face to keep the water clinging to the entire face. If the CIA did it, they would put plastic wrap over the mouth but not the eyes or nose to prevent water from escaping the throat and sinuses. Either technique involved pouring water onto the inclined face so that the water runs into the upturned mouth and nose. The water stays in the head, filling the throat, mouth, and sinuses with water. The lungs don't fill up with water so Jameela did not asphyxiate, but she did feel her entire upper respiratory system from sinuses to trachea filled with water. Her senses are yelling, “You are drowning.”
Daniel cried out, “Why so brutal?”
Harry responded. “Jameela basically told us everything, we think. The structure, the operation, the two ships preparing to leave Shanghai, and the plan to blow up Pearl Harbor as a historic and iconic place in America.”
Colonel Werner commented, “The last time the Army had a discussion about Navy at Pearl Harbor was a long time ago.” Looking at J.R. and Daniel, the colonel said, “Gentlemen, you know the story. Does Genesis think that someone can hit us like that again? Ain’t gonna happen…not on my watch.”
Harry put a picture up of Jameela before the interrogations began. There was this gorgeous Persian woman on the screen, and it took Daniel and J.R.’s breath away. At the same time, they uttered, “She is drop-dead gorgeous.”
Sara responded, “Yes, and just as brilliant and dangerous. Intel received so far pinpoints that Jameela originated from Chabahar, a coastal city in southeast Iran near the Gulf of Oman. She was educated in the United Kingdom. By the way, Jameela and Jeff had developed a somewhat intimate relationship.”
J.R. and Daniel looked at each other with a devilish smile. Daniel whispered to JR, “Dude, Jeff was banging this chick?”
Sara shouted, “You guys really can’t whisper. You know that, right? But yes, you can say he was banging her. The bad news is that the party is over.”
“Now, before you boys make a saint of this young woman, I want you to take a look at something. Sara, please put that satellite photo of container ships and radar analysis on the big screen.”
“Yes sir, Colonel Werner.”
“This is a problem, guys. The heat signatures of these bombs are so enormous that they would trigger a tsunami that would devastate Naval Station Pearl Harbor itself.”
Sara added, “Naval Station Pearl Harbor provides services comparable to a large city. Navy-manned USS Arizona tour boats transport nearly two million visitors to the memorial each year. The bachelor quarters have approximately 3,000 permanent party and transient personnel. The kill rate at this high-profile target would be astronomical. We cannot let it happen. It must be stopped at all costs.”
J.R. stood up and started pacing the floor. He yelled, “The USS Arizona is the final resting place for many of the ship's 1,177 crewmen who lost their lives on December 7, 1941, in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona was the most heavily damaged of all the vessels in Battleship Row. My grandfather was one of the crewmen who gave their lives.”
Colonel Werner commanded J.R. “Sit down soldier…now!”
J.R. sat down and calmly said, “I agree. Now where are those two Genesis mules and that she-devil of theirs?”
Daniel yelled, “My God, my God.”
“Boys, the
good news is that our dear friends at Navy seized the two cargo ships headed for Hawaii. A massive search of the entire vessels and contents found two modified B53 bombs enhanced with enough red mercury to set off a horrific harbor tsunami, not to mention kill the whole damn island and knock out strategic navy fleet ships.”
Colonel Werner motioned for Sara to continue her briefing. “Naval Intelligence picked up Jameela two days before we picked up Jeff and Kyle. She was in Charleston working under an assumed name. Her mission was unknown. We did find ship manifests from a company called Siseneg Freight and Transport. Our intel revealed the company owns a fleet of supertankers that are home ported in China. This is bothersome as two of the tankers are headed for the United States as we speak.”
Harry provided gorier details. “Jameela has been under interrogation a lot longer than Kyle or Jeff. We broke her in a day and a half. You saw her before and after pictures. Fact is she is dead now.”
Daniel jumped up, “Where is my brother? Is he still alive?”
Colonel Werner yelled, “What is with you and J.R.? Can’t you boys stay seated? Sit down. Sit down now.”
Daniel calmly returned to his seat and Harry gave him the good news. “Kyle and Jeff are still alive. We wanted to continue the interrogation of Jameela yesterday and we found her dead in her cell. The cause was a heart attack. When we picked her up, she was taking pills for bronchitis. A drug called clarithromycin. We did not think much of it as clarithromycin is used to treat certain infections caused by bacteria, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and infections of the ears, sinuses, skin, and throat. Our autopsy shows she was very susceptible to drugs like this and she took the whole bottle on the night of the confession. Taken in large amounts, the drugs interfere with electrical activity controlling heartbeat. She died a sudden death in her sleep. We notified the Persian embassy…but no response yet. My interrogators felt there was more intelligence that she was holding back.”
“Wait a goddamn second,” yelled Daniel. “Jameela is clearly an enemy of the state, someone who is planning on killing citizens, and the army just gives her a bottle of pills? This doesn’t even happen in regular jails.”
Captain Parrish looked at Colonel Werner. “Daniel does have a point Colonel.”
J.R. concurred, “That he does Colonel…yes, indeed he does.”
The Colonel turned to Harry, “Go ahead…tell them.”
Harry with an embarrassed look went on to explain, “It seems to do her medical examination, she charmed a young medical intern to give her what he thought would help her allergies. The intern is undergoing disciplinary action as we speak.”
Daniel somewhat confused asked, “Why would a torture victim need a medical exam.”
Harry had a quirky smile on his face when he answered the profound question with a profound answer, “We want to know the interrogation subject limits. The last thing you want is for a subject to die before you get the intel you need.”
Sara switched their focused by informing everyone, “I am being notified that we extracted the Widowmaker in Bucharest. He has been taken to a place where the laws of the United States do not apply. We will allow the local authorities to do the interrogation. Harsher interrogation can be employed and will work.”
Daniel asked, “What do you mean by 'harsher'?”
Sara simply replied, “Let’s just say that that the techniques will be outside the Army’s Field Manual. Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.”
Harry stepped in and commented, “When we train interrogators, we ask them a question: What do you do with a person who has no fear? The newbies usually give us the book answers they think we want. They are shocked when we tell them what the real answer is.”
Daniel asked, “And what is the real answer?”
“You must put the fear into them.”
Harry paused to reflect. “The techniques translate into 'aggressive persuasion,' when minutes and hours count. The techniques that our collaborators use are far more efficient in extracting accurate information in a timely fashion. We extract valuable intelligence to save millions of lives and to prevent economic damage to our country. Yes, we did use waterboarding as we did with Jameela and we developed intelligence that confirmed that Jeff is a member of an elite terrorist organization called Genesis. Several months ago, he delivered four million in gold to Widowmaker and he picked up six modified digital detonators. He traveled on duty with the China Freight transport cargo ship to Romania and back to Shanghai, undetected with the detonators.”
Colonel Werner watched Daniel. He saw Daniel entering a despondent mood. He engaged him to snap him back. “Daniel, let’s do the math. Two ships, two modified B53 bombs enhanced with enough red mercury to set off a horrific harbor tsunami. Sounds scary, right?”
“Yes, sir…it does.”
“Now let’s get past the mass destruction for a minute. Ask yourself, what is wrong with this picture?”
Daniel answered a question with a question. “We are short four detonators?”
“You would make a fine intelligence officer. Find the detonators and I fear we will find the other B53s that went dark. Don’t think for a minute I buy that Pearl Harbor crap. Harry’s intelligence is limited to what Jameela knows. She may not have known about the other B53s. Something’s up. Something big.”
Sara stood to stretch and to give final instructions. “We are giving you permission to call home and tell your families that you will see them tomorrow. You will see Kyle and Jeff at 01:15 hours.”
Daniel pleadingly asked, “Why do I need your permission?”
J.R. reached out and put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder and responded in a calm voice, “You are being detained as a special guest of the United States Armed Forces and I am under direct orders of the Army at this point. Trust me, Daniel. We need your help.”
Daniel answered in a stressed voice. “I should be very angry at the treatment you have given my brother. If I could feel the anger through the shock of what Jeff has possibly done. Jeff has to come to terms with the consequences of his actions.”
“Daniel, we have gone through hell and high water together. I am not about to leave you now.”
Daniel's eyes got teary. “All my life, I regretted blowing my knee out and not being able to serve my country. Perhaps I can serve my country now.”
Colonel Werner rose and shook both their hands and left. Sara took them to a secure conference call and gave them guidance on what to say to their family. She reminded them that all calls were monitored in real time.
Chapter Fifteen — Inconvenient Interrogators
Daniel and J.R. were given temporary post lodging where they cleaned up and took naps. Noticeably missing from their rooms were telephones and computers. They were also searched. Their cell-phones were stored in a facility that employed industrial strength cell-phone signal jammers to prevent GPS monitoring and tracking. At 1:00 a.m., they heard a quiet knock on both doors. Daniel and J.R. both stepped out into the hall. One of the three military escorts handed them head masks. They were soft to the touch but covered the entire face in complete darkness.
“Put it on Daniel.”
“For what, J.R.? I want to see where we are going.”
“Well if you could then it wouldn't be a black site.”
Daniel smiled nervously at the military escorts. “I'm sorry. My bad.”
They were driven back to the black site. The ride took less than five minutes, and when the head masks were removed and the doors opened, they found themselves in a garage lit as if it were daytime in a modern business facility.
J.R. chuckled, “I'm moving over to Army.”
They were escorted in and took an elevator up. J.R. commented, “This is different. Normally, we go down several levels.”
Daniel groaned. “You are scaring me, J.R.”
Several floors up, they got off the elevator on a floor that seemed to be an army field hospital. Daniel thought it was a fully equipped medical unit. They could use this as a back
up for Memorial or St. Joseph in a city-wide emergency. Then they entered a room that looked like a research classroom.
Sarcastically, J.R. said, “Look at this technology. I didn't know they made touchscreen TVs this wide.”
The civilian technician adjusting the screens did not crack a smile when he said, “They don’t...at least not yet."
J.R. sarcastically replied, “You get some sleep, Mr. Personality?”
The civilian technician still didn't crack a smile. “No, sir, neither you nor I will sleep tonight.”
Suddenly the door swung open and there stood Sara with Harry.
Harry snarled, “So you want to see the bad boys?” Harry walked up to the screen and swiped it. Images of an interrogation room appeared. J.R. and Daniel fell into their chairs at the sight before them.
Jeff and Kyle were just sitting there in smooth steel restraint chairs looking as if they had not slept in days. They were naked except for undershorts.
Daniel angrily asked Harry, “What are those two surgical tables loaded with surgical devices for?”
Harry hunched his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. “Let’s just say…they are my work tools.”
Daniel nervously asked another question. “Are they next door? Tell me that is not a fire-hose in the middle of the floor?”
Harry smiled, “No and yes. But don’t worry we have a big drain in the middle of the floor. For the last twelve hours, we have had them stand naked in this room with a mean temperature of 50 degrees. From time to time, we have doused them with cold water. They have chairs and undershorts now because we got company — you.”
Suddenly the door swung open. In walked several men and women. No greetings, they just sat. J.R. leaned over and whispered to Daniel, “CIA, FBI, and NSA reporting. This is big.”
Daniel turned back around to ask Harry another question. Now where did he disappear, he thought. Daniel felt a tap on his shoulder. JR pointed to the big screen. It was Harry walking into the interrogation room. They could hear him as if he were sitting right next to them.
Harry yelled at Kyle, “You bastard. Where are those detonators?”
Accelerant- Sixth Extinction Page 14
