by Dan Fox
‘It’s Steve Black Mr President. I need to talk to you as soon as possible. Is it convenient now?
‘Will this be a long call Steve?’
‘I believe it will be Sir.’
‘Okay, give me a couple of minutes to wind up what I’m doing. Just hang on the phone will you?
A few moments later the president picked up his private mobile phone again and said, ‘Good to hear from you Steve. I am hoping you’re going to tell me that you’ve got them all.’
‘Yes Sir, we have them all and we have unravelled the plot down to the finest detail. There’ll be plenty for the CIA, NSA, FBI and Homeland Security to work on afterwards. However, there are a few things that you should hear first Sir, and some of them might not make good listening’, said Steve struggling to find the right words in the right order. ‘Firstly this was a very complex plot involving many people in different countries. It was also financed from the very top of the Extremist ladder.’
‘Good Lord’, said the president.
‘There are serious implications for our vetting procedures both at home and abroad Sir. I’m telling you this because they need to be overhauled properly and not just the cracks painted over.’
‘I get you Steve; you’re worried that some people will try to sweep this one away. Have no fear of that. I didn’t like being kidnapped and I’m damn sure it won’t happen to me again. You have my word on that.’
‘Also, Sir, we need much better cooperation between the Agencies. I know they all pulled together when your plane went missing but I fear that could be just a one-off reaction because it was you and they all knew their asses were on the line. We also need better cooperation within the same agency across country borders. We would never have picked up the two boys in Peshawar if that lone CIA man hadn’t thought outside the box. He deserves a medal.’
‘He’ll get one, don’t worry’, said the president, ‘but please continue.’
‘I believe that however it is done we have to have better intelligence from within Pakistan. It is a minefield. Our sort of unofficial but official presence there does the job but only to a degree. We need to reach out further and deeper and for that they need much more resource.’
‘Steve, I understand what you are saying but it’s very difficult territory to navigate. They change leaders and government so often we don’t know who we’re dealing with from one day to the next. We’re never quite sure who’s with us and who’s not.’
Steve started to get frustrated now. The politics were rattling his nerves and he came back at the president a little more harshly than he intended, ‘Well tell them all to fuck off and do it on our own, we couldn’t be any worse off.’
‘Steve, I hear what you’re saying but you need to calm down a little. Rest assured that we’ll re-examine the whole shooting match from top to bottom. No stone will remain unturned, believe me. I’ve also had it with the career politicians who urge caution at every attempt to bring in new ideas. I’ll be having a clear out very soon. You watch out for the Press comments.’
‘Okay, Sir, I’m sorry I went over the top.’
‘Steve, it’s okay. Actually you didn’t. You said what you believe and it happens to be true. Anyway, time is marching on, what else do you have to tell me?’
‘You’re not going to like this Sir, but the CIA team in Islamabad missed out on the biggest prize of all.’
There was silence for a moment and then the president said, ‘You’re not serious, you’re yanking my chain. Please tell me this a joke.’
‘I’m sorry Sir but it’s not a joke. He was a visitor at a house they had under surveillance and had been watching for a long time as the owner was suspected of all sorts of dubious things but they had absolutely no evidence against him. When we picked up on the owner’s direct involvement in the plot, and were told that he’d master minded it, we went to get him. Unfortunately, the surveillance team didn’t see the visitor enter the premises and only saw him leave. He was disguised as a much older man and a cripple, but nevertheless they missed him.’
‘My God, I’ll have their heads for this. Who was in charge of the CIA team?’
‘Tom Attwood Sir, but it won’t be down to him as an individual it’ll be one of his surveillance team screwing up. Maybe he fell asleep I don’t know.’
‘Do you know how long we’ve been chasing our asses on this one?’
Steve answered the rhetorical question, ‘Yes I do Sir. Rather than go into Witch Hunt mode now Sir, I suggest that you get the military involved, your Navy Seals, and see if you can track him down. He may not have been able to get very far yet. There is still a chance.’
‘You’re right Steve, I’d better move on this one straightaway. Was there anything else you needed to tell me?’
‘Not in information terms but there is the question of what you want to do with the people we have rounded up.’
‘Sorry Steve, what do you mean by that?’ said the president.
‘Well Sir, when you called me immediately before this mission you said you wanted them all dead. I wasn’t sure you’d still want that.’
‘Oh yes I want them dead. But my instinct tells me that we can maybe bleed some more information from them first that will make our clean-up operation more successful. Do you agree?’
‘Yes Sir I do.’
‘Well that settles it. Your last task is to get Attwood to call me. I am truly grateful for what you and your team have accomplished for both me and our great nation. You go and have a good rest. Thanks from all of us.’ The phone disconnected.
Steve went back into the dayroom to update the rest of the team on his conversation with the president. After that he called Dean Walker at CIA headquarters.
‘Dean it’s Steve Black here. We’re all done in Islamabad and I’ve updated the president. The loose ends are being sorted by Tom Attwood. Can you sort us a fast exit from here to London Heathrow, we could do with a few days break, and as you’re paying make it first class?’
The End
