by Andrew Watts
Weese looked around the room like he didn’t want anyone to hear him when he spoke. “They’ve been interviewing the Iranian. And they have a few leads.”
“And?”
“He gave up a few details that prove to be very interesting to our task force here. Chinese connections.” He nodded his head as he spoke.
“Really?” Chase looked at his brother David and then back at the FBI agent. “Who knows about this?”
“Susan’s briefing the director right now. You and I are about to go join her. But she asked me to come fill you in first. She said that we’d likely require your expertise.”
“How so?”
“The Iranian received a communication a few days ago. Then they received minivans filled with weapons and the explosive vests. We were able to trace the vehicles, weapons, and explosive residue. The results are preliminary, but…it looks like it will be a dead end.”
“Come on, Weese. Don’t slow-play me. Give me the punch line.”
He smiled. “Alright. It was the initial communication. They left some folder in a van in an alleyway in Maryland. There were no cameras in that area, so we couldn’t see who put the van there. But there was only one building that had a view of it. The Iranian said he had to destroy the envelope. We figured they would want to be able to see that, to make sure it got done right. So we went over footage of the only building that had a vantage point on that alleyway. It’s a big brick apartment complex. Lots of people coming and going every day. But only one of them showed up on our watch list.”
David added, “The Chinese counterespionage watch list.” Chase noticed that David was still a little awkward in his delivery. He was still finding his way in the conversation, getting comfortable in his new line of work.
Peter said, “FBI Counterespionage has been following a particular employee at the State Department for a few years. They are very confident that he’s a Chinese plant. He feeds his handlers anything and everything he gets.”
“How do you know?”
“We’ve had an ongoing blue dye operation. We provided specific details to single individuals. Single-variable testing. This allowed us to see which version popped up on the other end. Like I said, we are very confident he’s working for the Chinese.”
David hadn’t thought about that part of the problem. He leaned forward, incredulous. “Wait, so you’ve known that this guy was working in our government, and you just kept letting him work there?”
The FBI agent looked at Chase and then back at David. “That’s how the game is played, my friend. Sometimes it’s more valuable to know who the spies are and leave them in place. It allows us to control the information flow.”
David shook his head.
Chase didn’t blink, saying, “And this Chinese spook was in the building across the street from the Iranian dead drop? The one that gave them orders to conduct the Beltway attack?”
“Yes, sir.”
Chase shook his head. “Why the hell would the Chinese have the Iranians go through with this? They have to know that eventually we’d get to the bottom of it.”
David said, “You know why. It’s the same reason that the Chinese have eighteen Americans in a prison in the South China Sea. The same reason they’re staging a war between us and Iran. This is just one more piece of evidence for what I’ve been saying this whole time. We’ve got to wake up. The Chinese want us to go to war with Iran. It’s in their best interests to keep us otherwise occupied…”
The FBI agent looked at Chase. “Susan said to join her in the director’s office in ten minutes.”
Chase stood. “Alright, well…let’s go.”
Chase and Special Agent Weese arrived at the director’s office a few moments later. Susan, the CIA staff operations officer in charge of SILVERSMITH, was waiting in the chamber room outside the office. The director’s administrative assistant motioned for Chase and Special Agent Weese to sit next to Susan.
“The director will be with you all momentarily.”
“Thanks,” Chase said.
Despite his confident demeanor, he was still a little uneasy about being brought into such a high-level meeting for the first time.
Susan leaned over to him as he sat down, whispering, “Has Weese briefed you?”
“Yes, just now.”
“Do you have any questions?”
Chase gave her a look that said, Of course I have questions. “A few.”
The secretary rose from his chair and opened the large wooden door leading to the director’s office. “The director will see you now.”
Susan whispered, “Just follow my lead. Try not to say anything provocative.”
The three of them walked into the director’s office. There were two leather couches that faced inward, and a small coffee table in the center. An older man in a suit sat on one of the couches. Chase thought he looked familiar, but couldn’t place the face. The other couch was bare. The director sat in a wooden chair on the far end of the coffee table.
“Come in, folks.”
The director of the CIA was a former congressman. He had been on the House Intelligence Committee for several years before the new president plucked him out of a safely red state. Before he had been a congressman, he had served as an Army JAG for twenty years. While Chase didn’t like lawyers or politicians much, he respected the fact that the man had military service. And from what he heard, the director was one sharp cookie.
“Mr. Manning, I was reading the file you put together on what happened in Dubai a few weeks ago. A most interesting read. Especially the part about Miss Parker. Or should I say Miss Chou.” Their eyes locked.
Chase reddened a bit. He had rightly included everything in his post-mission report, including his own relationship to the woman he now knew to be Lena Chou.
“Yes, sir” was all he could think to respond with.
“Well, I can’t fault you, son. If the counterespionage group didn’t know about her, we couldn’t expect you to. And I’m very impressed with how you handled the situation. I’m sure that your brother is grateful as well.”
“I believe he is, sir.”
“And Susan tells me that his information has been quite a value added to our new China task force—SILVERSMITH.”
“Sir, David is glad that people are taking action on his knowledge. Although he is concerned—and I share this concern—that there are still Americans being held captive by the Chinese on the Red Cell island.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Chase saw Susan grimace.
The man on the couch said, “That has been vigorously denied by our counterparts in China. And some of our most reliable sources are not able to corroborate that information.”
Chase had two voices in his head. One was Susan’s, telling him to hold his tongue. He thought that might be wise, considering he didn’t even know the name of this man on the couch who was challenging him. The other voice was his brother’s.
“Sir, respectfully, if you were an adversarial nation who had just conducted an act of espionage—an act of war—I wouldn’t expect you to be the most honest source of information on the subject.”
Director O’Malley smiled. “Susan, Chase, please…have a seat.” He motioned to the couch and sat back down in his chair. “Chase, this is the president’s national security advisor, Charlie Sheppard.”
Chase felt like an idiot for not recognizing who he was.
The director said, “Susan has just finished walking us through the update on a possible Chinese connection with the Beltway attacks.”
“It’s circumstantial,” said the NSA. “Maybe this Chinese spy was in the building across the street for another reason. Or maybe he was even watching the Iranians, but he wasn’t the one who had planted the orders to strike. We need to give the FBI more time to do their job and investigate.”
Chase stayed quiet. The public fury over the attacks was like nothing he’d seen since September 11, 2001. There were over two hundred innocent civilians dead. Many of them
were government employees or family members. Everyone in the D.C. area knew someone who had been affected. And the reports from the media all pointed to one source: Iran.
Chase wouldn’t argue with that. It was the Iranians who had attacked. He saw that with his own eyes. But just like the attacks in Dubai a few weeks ago, there was more to the story.
“Susan? Anything you want to add?” the director asked.
She crossed her legs. “Gentlemen, I agree that the FBI needs time to complete their investigation. But there are other things at play here, as you well know. Right now our military is preparing to strike in Iran. This is the second Iranian attack on US military or civilian personnel in a few weeks. Both times, there have been links to the Chinese. We can’t ignore that.”
“And we won’t ignore it,” Sheppard said. “But the president can’t ignore that a radical Islamic nation that hates everything we stand for has just attacked our country. We need to strike back, and strike back hard. To send them a message—to send the whole world a message—that you can’t mess with the United States and get away with it. And you know what, I don’t care if the Chinese were involved. They didn’t pull the triggers. The Iranians did. So don’t you tell me that the Iranians were innocent.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I was there on scene. I know that the Iranians weren’t innocent.”
The director spoke softly. “Chuck, Chase was driving home on the Beltway when it happened. He took down three of the terrorists, saving a lot of lives. And he helped capture the only one that was taken alive. Please cut him a little slack.”
The NSA raised an eyebrow. “You did all that, huh? Well, I thank you for what you’ve done. But you must understand that these are tense times. We can’t be playing games here. You of all people should realize that.”
Susan spoke up. “Sir, I think what my colleague Mr. Manning is trying to say is that, if the Chinese were involved—if they triggered the attack somehow—then attacking Iran won’t be the right response.”
The NSA said, “Tell me how attacking the country that just attacked us isn’t the right response.”
Susan said, “Sir, the Chinese wouldn’t have done this without a reason. We have evidence that they’ve been fanning the flames of a conflict between the United States and Iran for several weeks now, if not longer. If we attack Iran, we’d be playing into their hands. And with the intelligence David Manning has given us—”
The NSA scoffed. “David Manning. This is the guy that we arrested a few weeks ago for cyberterrorism with Iran?”
The director held up his hand. “Now, Chuck, that was a misinformation campaign. Which we also believe had roots in China. David Manning has been completely cleared. I can speak to that. His interviews and background checks over the past few weeks have been extremely thorough.”
“But you know that not all the information he’s given us checks out,” Sheppard said. “Our own assets in China are saying that they have no idea about any Americans in captivity on an island, and that they had nothing to do with the Dubai attacks.”
Director O’Malley held up his hand. “We’re looking into that further.” The director looked at Chase. “Chase, I apologize for any discomfort it causes you for us to discuss your brother like this. I assure you that we trust him; otherwise, I would not have invited him to be a part of the SILVERSMITH operation. And, quite frankly, you wouldn’t be in this room. But there are, as Mr. Sheppard points out, inconsistencies with other bits of intelligence coming out of China.”
Chase fumed but stayed quiet. He noticed that the NSA cast a glance at him when he mentioned his brother’s name. Chase knew there were members of the government who didn’t trust the information coming from his brother. But he hadn’t seen such an overt questioning of the accuracy of David’s word at this high a level.
Chase also began to wonder just why was he was in this room. A high-level meeting like this wasn’t something that someone in his community—the CIA’s Special Operations Group—was normally invited to.
Director O’Malley said, “We have human intelligence coming out of China—sources in both the PLA and the Chinese government. And they don’t match up with a large-scale Chinese military attack. For instance, aside from the military buildup at the Red Cell island, there aren’t any indications of troop movements.”
The NSA said, “It’s the Central Committee that I care most about. The PLA wouldn’t do anything unless the Central Committee okays it. And your sources in the Central Committee have always been good, right?”
“I am familiar with these sources, sir. And that is correct, they’ve always been very reliable,” Susan said.
Sheppard said, “And to be clear, the Central Committee sources have reported nothing unusual. No reports of military activity, buildups, increased training…”
“That’s correct, sir.”
“And no secret plans to kidnap Americans and bring them to the Red Cell island?” he persisted.
She shifted in her seat. “Sir, while that is accurate, our current hypothesis is that Jinshan’s group in the Ministry of State Security might have—”
“Aw, that’s bullshit, and you know it. There’s no way an operation of that size and scope could have gone through Jinshan alone. Yes, I understand that he’s got a lot of pull over there. But—and this is information coming from you guys”—he pointed at the three CIA members, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows—“there is no military movement that indicates the Chinese are going to attack American forces. Is that right?”
Susan sighed. “Sir, I admit that we have more work to do. The human intelligence sources in China don’t fully corroborate David Manning’s information. But I would point out that we still have eighteen missing Americans, some of whom are high-level clearance types from our military and intelligence communities. These are the same people David Manning and Henry Glickstein say were on the Red Cell island.”
The NSA raised his voice. “Well, it sure would be nice if you could get us on that island, or get the Chinese to give us a tour. But all our channels, including our military and intelligence backchannels, have assured us that there are no Americans on that island, and that all that information David Manning gave us is conspiracy theory bullshit.” He looked at Chase. “Son, I mean no offense.”
Chase looked at the NSA. He clenched his fists under the coffee table. I’ve killed better men than you. He said, “None taken.”
The NSA said, “I’m sure your brother believes he is telling the truth. And he might be. But the president needs to take action on real, hard evidence. Verifiable proof. And this Beltway attack…the Persian Gulf attacks…ladies and gentlemen, I can say without a doubt that the Iranians were responsible in a big way. Let’s focus on that.”
Silence.
Chase now knew that any arguments he made would be falling on deaf ears with the NSA. This guy was a politician, and a certifiable idiot. He was reading the papers and reacting to the press and the fury of the people. What he needed to do was make smart, rational decisions based on intelligence information, even if they were hard and unpopular decisions.
But as Chase thought about the men, women, and children he had seen killed on the pavement of I-495, he realized that he couldn’t blame anyone for reacting emotionally. Chase wanted to hit someone. To strike back, and take revenge. It was human nature.
However, if China and/or Jinshan had orchestrated these Iranian attacks on the United States, that would be the exact response they wanted us to take.
Susan said, “Gentlemen, we also now have a significant amount of evidence built around Lena Chou and Cheng Jinshan’s involvement in the Dubai Bitcoin Exchange conspiracy—as well as Lena’s espionage while within the CIA.”
“I’ve read your reports tying Lisa Parker to the Chinese,” the NSA said. “And I saw the footage of her in Bandar Abbas. The Chinese deny that she was ever in their country. They say she wasn’t a Chinese citizen. We don’t have much ground to stand on there either.”
“That may be true. But the president isn’t convinced that Parker’s actions in Bandar Abbas absolve Iran of any culpability in the Persian Gulf attacks. They actually killed Americans. They shot missiles at our Navy ships. That is real. That matters. Cold, hard facts. And I’ll say another thing.” He pointed his finger at the group. “You guys might not like hearing this, but the fact that you had a Chinese agent working in the CIA for years actually hurts your credibility. Not helps.”
No one spoke for a few moments.
The director took a deep breath and said, “Susan, let’s talk about next steps on the Chinese connection to the Beltway attacks.”
Susan, red-faced and flustered, tried to regain her composure. “As I was briefing you earlier, we have a very high degree of confidence that there is a US State Department employee who is a member of Cheng Jinshan’s espionage ring. He’s the one who was spotted at the building across the street from the Iranian dead drop. We believe”—she looked at the NSA—“that there is at least a possibility that he activated the Beltway attacks.”
The director said, “What would you like to do?”
“We’ve been going back and forth on this with the FBI.” She looked at Special Agent Weese, who hadn’t said a word this whole time. “We’d like them to take this Chinese operative in for questioning, and would ask that the FBI allow us to listen in on the interview and share information. We feel that there is a high enough threat to our nation that it is warranted.”
The NSA shook his head. “Do you realize what a headache that would be if you’re wrong? The president will never sign off on that. Like I said, your evidence is based on conflicting and circumstantial reports.”
Special Agent Weese said, “Sir, we at the FBI feel that we would have support from the courts. We’ve gotten a FISA warrant on this particular person already. The evidence gathered there supports taking him in for questioning.”
