“Really, how interesting,” muses Frosty.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me?” I growl.
“Nope not kidding, and very interesting, as our gov’t is working hard to get a handle on who and what we are. They are extremely uncomfortable as we are unknown and they have no leverage on us.” says D.
“Nice, that’s why we pay you the big bucks D,” I say.
“That’s right human, so the next time I want new paint in my office you hop to it, no whining or grouching!” smiles D.
“Excellent job D,” says Frosty, “Now what have we got on the next two Islamic terrorists. And why is it we need to hit them as opposed to the local constabulary doing it?”
“Looks to me like the local constabulary could do the job very well. I suspect this is a setup once again by the US gov’t to try and collect data on us. So we might want to discuss how much, if anything, we allow them to learn.” says D.
“Have I mentioned how aggravating it is to me to have to fight both the terrorist diseased rats and our own gov’t wanting to stab us in the back? Have I mentioned this?” I rant.
“Yeah buddy, several times at least. Sorry, but it is the nature of the beast we are dealing with.” says Frosty.
“What we do next and how we do it is delicate.” muses D.
“I think we should perform the operations and neutralize the targets even though we are under extreme scrutiny. Sidestep their best security measures, but we might consider leaving a small indicator on the bodies to show we know the US gov’t has set us up. Maybe a small US flag, or a US dollar bill, or a uniquely American coin.” ponders Frosty.
“How about a nice Texas coin, that’s uniquely American. We can jam it down the dead fucker’s throat.” I grump.
“Actually not a bad idea from the both of you,” says D. “I can get a Texas Metal Coyote coin on eBay.”
“Ha, way cool, I love the concept and I’m sure the US pricks will get the message.” smiles Frosty.
“However,” muses D. “We must consider the downstream effects of sending a signal to the US gov’t indicating we know what they are up to. This then begins a process of escalation whereby their efforts to ensnare us become more and more intense until such time as we cannot work at all or we are exposed. Neither of which is a desirable outcome. So I lean to one of two options, don’t let the US gov’t know anything and remain as invisible as possible to keep their ensnarement efforts to a minimum, and/or to feed them a pawn to sidetrack them in a different direction entirely. With little effort we could fabricate a fictitious agent who is perhaps a rogue terrorist of some sort that is running wild. Perhaps even a “turned terrorist” to really “muddy the waters of inquiry with the stick of precaution” and thereby cause confusion on both sides of the fence. We could insert a vague picture of an Islamic Muslim terrorist into their security systems and call him Juthamah. The name loosely translates to nightmare. Rather appropriate don’t you think?”
“Bloody hell D, you have been watching spy movies haven’t you?” asks Frosty. “You are suggesting building a strawman, and you are quoting from Rudyard Kipling’s book, Kim!”
“As a matter of fact I have and I am reading novels on the subject and learning and grooming the accepted methodology of the tradecraft. The Russian agent tradecraft is some of the very best, I must say.” replies D.
“I sure like the concept of sending these prick agents off on a wild goose chase to shift the focus away from us completely. While I tend to be confrontational I also see little benefit from entering into a “pissing contest” with the US gov’t.” I add.
“What is a “pissing contest” Matt? Who would do such a thing?” asks D.
“It’s just a slang phrase meaning “to find out who is better between two or more parties”, in reality it is a useless contest which wastes huge resources and causes a great deal of stress and tension for little if any gain.” replies Frosty.
“Humans are certainly a curious lot. Nevertheless obfuscation and miss-direction are two basics of effective agent tradecraft.” says D.
“I must confess D, this is a rather elegant approach to address a security risk to ourselves and I quite like it. Not too difficult to leak the security camera image and his name in certain circles in the deep net, I presume?” asks Frosty.
“Not hard in the least,” chuckles D. “You underestimate the power of the sisters and I to create a subtle but credible audit trail for Juthamah the strawman. With our access to computer networks, servers, and data banks we can have a profile assembled in hours.
“Then make it so,” replies Frosty.
“Ah, Captain Piccard, if I am not mistaken, from Star Trek,” observes D.
“Sweet, now who is this Islamic rat which is going to have a very bad day?” I ask.
“Oh we have a real dandy in this piece of work, his name is Abdul Muntaqim Hashim. His name meaning “he who punishes wrongdoings”, how about that for starters?” says D.
“Be serious,” I chuckle.
“I am, these Islamic dudes are very serious about their naming conventions.” replies D. “Anyway he is a widely used enforcer/interrogator of internal fellow terrorists and general Islamic public. Of course, also for any prisoners they might capture, including the most prized of all, any American captives. In addition he is an active participant in the ritual beheadings of prisoners. Adding to his skill sets, his interrogation techniques includes amputations, and drilling holes in victims, utilizing his portable Black and Decker skill saw and matching 1/4 inch drill. He is just one handy kind of guy and probably uses duct tape too.”
“And where might we find this particularly handy fellow?” I inquire.
“Ah, there’s where the difficulty comes in as he is always on the move and declines the use of cell phones.” says D. “However he operates almost exclusively from the Strasbourg Saint-Denis area in the north central part of Paris. The area maintains a heavily Muslim community, with a strong percentage of North-African immigrants. So we have him localized, so to speak.”
“How is our French and US intel on this POS, D?” asks Frosty.
“POS, what’s that?” replies D.
“Piece of shit D, try and keep up!” I smile.
“Don’t get me started humans; you won’t like me when I’m angry,” chuckles D. “The French, US, Belgium, databases along with Interpol, are very current and up to date on this guy. So our intel is as good as it is going to get.”
“We need a list of known associates who do use cell phones so we can monitor the conversations and locate their position and the probability of our POS.” says Frosty.
“Perhaps we could attempt to blend in to get local Intel and gossip on this guy’s whereabouts,” I muse.
“Not unless you speak French, Arabic, and associated slang fluently, and even then it is a horrible risk to an operative as there are too many undefined variables and actions which could occur. Besides you do not have any of the mannerisms of an Islamic Muslim or of a terrorist.” replies D.
“Well given we have the local populace watching for intruders, and the terrorists very on edge, and the French and US agencies wanting to see who the hell we are, I think the operation at this point is via technology monitoring of the cell phones. Minimize risk, have patience, and see what we can learn,” says Frosty.
Chapter 23: The Plan
Three days we wait, watch and monitor. Well D handles all the monitoring, and watching, while her AI sisters burrow through any and all databases for any information on Hashim or who he has any dealings with at all. I can only guess at all the countries most private and personal databases which are interrogated and thoroughly searched by D and her sisters.
It was good for Frosty and I as we had a “do list” of items needing attention. We really had not had much of an opportunity to get to maintenance items since we had left the Dae Sun. It was nice to address these outstanding issues and to have a little down time.
“Gather round boys, I think we have somet
hing,” says D.
We convene in D’s sea-can in front of the wall of monitors.
“I’ve got some airborne video images of Strasbourg Saint-Denis where our target is planning to be, providing there are no changes between now and tonight,” says D. “See the three story ramshackle dump on the right, the one looking like it could fall down any minute? Well that’s the place where Hashim is supposed to be tonight as he has a meeting with the guy who is our next target, some Mushira Yaminah terrorist who deals with logistics only. His proficiency is moving people and equipment without notice. Anyway if all this shakes out as indicated we will have two targets in the same building this evening.”
“An opportunity not to be taken lightly.” says Frosty
“Yup, we have to go in and have a look as we cannot take the chance of missing them both and having to chase them all over hell.” I add.
“The weather for tonight is rain, so for the most part this will help us in our cover.” says D.
“Can you clarify “for the most part” for me?” I ask.
“Well you won’t get wet and the electronics are all water proof so we are fine that way. But wherever you stand the rain will not hit the street. You are a “hole in the rain” and as such if people are watching very closely they will notice an area where it is not raining. Not very big mind you but it is there.” says D.
“Lovely, hope it rains hard as people will be too busy staying dry to notice a moving “hole in the rain”. I reply.
“I think the best thing we can do is airlift you into an alley about a block away and let you work your way to the building up the back streets and alleys.” says D.
“And what of the extra security?” I ask.
“Non-existent as far as I can tell as we had a devil of a time finding this POS and nothing in any of the databases suggests the local authorities know where he is. So I think it should be a good stalk given your cloaking and the rain as it will make observation difficult for anyone.” says D.
“It will be difficult once in the building, as I quite expect it to hold other terrorists besides the two we need to whack. So the utmost care must be taken to not make any sound at all out of the ordinary to alert anyone or scare off the logistics POS.” says Frosty. “Do the stalk, get into the building early prior to the planned meeting, wait till you don’t leave wet foot prints, move up to the third floor using stealth, cloaking, and FLIR so you don’t get surprised. Find Hashim’s room, knock on the door, when he opens it shoot him in the head and synch your shot to the thunder so it is masked completely, drag the body back into the room and wait for Mushira Yaminah to arrive, when he knocks grab him into the room and kill him. Proceed back to the rendezvous point for extraction.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I mutter laconically.
“Don’t worry Matt, I’m right there with you and will handle the annoying details, like timing the gunshots to the thunder, speaking the local dialect, and imitating the voice of Mushira Yaminah.” assures D.
“How in the hell are you going to time gunshots with thunder?” I ask.
“It’s easy really; there is a huge upsurge in static electricity in the air right before a lightening strike and subsequent thunder. I know how far away the lightening is and when the thunder will occur based on speed of sound. So I will give you a countdown from 5 to 0. You shoot on 0 and nobody hears anything but thunder.” smiles D.
“You never fail to amaze me D, just never fail to amaze me!” as I shake my head.
“Worth every penny isn’t she?” chuckles Frosty. “Let’s go over the gear once again, then have a short rest and prepare to mount up when it gets good and dark and rainy.”
Chapter 24: Game On
I’m geared up, cloaked, latched into the quad harness and ready. It’s raining a nice steady rain; the lightning and thunder are moving our way. It’s time to go.
“Here we go Matt,” says D as she spools up the quad copter engines and we climb into the dark sky. “You’re pretty tense on this one aren’t you?”
“I am, more than normal; it seems there are so many detail dependencies that all have to go just right or the whole operation becomes a train wreck.”
“We can make it work; I’ve got your back.”
“Yeah I know, thanks D. I’m really looking forward to giving this fucking Hashim animal a little pay back.”
The flight is quick and smooth, but unnerving as it’s so dark even night vision doesn’t show much. As we get into the Strasbourg Saint-Denis Islamic Muslim ghetto the occasional still functional street light helps to brighten the view with night vision assist.
We slip quietly down among the buildings in an alley and I disconnect from the harness.
“Your course is plotted and you should be seeing it on your helmet display.”
“Got it, thanks D, here we go.”
The alley is dark and in the rain no one is seeing anything. I’m on night vision and forward looking FLIR, there is no one about, not even the feral dogs that must be here. What few buildings in the ghetto can be inhabited are mostly dark with blankets or cardboard over the broken glass of the windows. Rundown stone chipped buildings covered in graffiti. The narrow main streets people might see when passing through don’t look bad, but the side rundown streets are just plain nasty areas.
“I’m picking up some security cameras,” says D as I approach the target building.
“Any warm bodies in the location of the back door I am not seeing?”
“It’s clear, proceed inside slowly.”
The doors are junk of course and tend to make groans and squawks as they open, but this one is reasonably quiet and I manage to slip inside and get the door closed. It’s dark and quiet. I wait for the rain to drip off me and my feet to dry.
“Looks like we must be in the right place as I am sensing a minimum of two security cameras on each floor watching the hallways.” says D. “I’m injecting a clear empty hallway signal back to the camera’s and blocking the real signal.”
“Nice, let’s move, I can hear the thunder getting louder.”
I move down the first hallway to the stairs. Up slowly one step at a time treading on the left and right of the steps to minimize creaks. Second floor is quiet and the hallway is empty.
“We have movement in the room on the left; two warm bodies are up and around.”
“Ok, just keep an eye on them D and let me know it they look like they are coming out in the hallway.”
“Stop!”
The room door opens quietly and a shaggy head pokes out and looks up and down the hallway right past where I am standing. He checks again and then slowly closes the door. D watches him with FLIR and he moves back across the room and plops down in a chair.
“Clear,” says D.
“Jesus, nice catch D.” I mutter.
I move up the stairs to the third floor. At the head of the stairs D gets a FLIR reading in a room on the right of a human and a dog, a big dog.
“Damn dog,” says D. “It makes things harder, if he comes into the hallway we’re in trouble, as we cannot hide from a dog’s senses and he is gonna bark his fool head off!”
“Just keep watching and we’ll slip by, the thunder should distract him, I hope.”
At the end of the hall on the left I get a FLIR reading of a warm body.
“Gotcha you sum bitch, how’s our thunder coming along D?”
“Static electricity is rising we have about 3 seconds from lightning to thunder.”
“Ok, tell me when to knock on the door D.”
“Wait...wait...knock,”
I tap the door quietly and watch the person in the FLIR display as whoever it is moves to the door. He asks something in Arabic, D answers using a voice which must be the logistic terrorist’s voice and style. The door unlatches and opens a foot; a face looks out but can see nothing. He asks the question again, and steps out to look up and down the hall.
“Wait...wait...that’s Hashim...wait...5..4..3..2..1..shoot.”<
br />
Hashim is puzzled and has turned back into the room, Boom, boom, rumbling thunder rolls, the suppressed Glock jumps in my hand, but all I hear is the thunder. Hashim is hit in the back of the head and collapses straight down. I step into the room; it is lit only by a single candle. Hashim is lying face down on the floor, I roll him over, a chunk of his forehead is missing and oozing dark blood and dark stuff.
“Nice shot,” says D.
“Thanks, couldn’t have got much closer to him, nice work on the timing!”
“We have about 10 minutes to go before Mushira Yaminah shows up. And be aware we are under surveillance in this room. So don’t accidently de-cloak or we are buggered.”
“No problem there D,” as I check for pulse on the remains of Hashim. “I’m going to remove the hard drive from his laptop over there as I bet we can use the data he has on it.”
“Make sure you do not close the cover before you disconnect the hard drive Matt,”
“Why not?”
“The encryption program will automatically encrypt the contents of the hard drive as soon as the cover closes before it powers down. So just leave the cover open, take the back off, and yank out the hard drive, and the encryption program won’t have a chance to run.”
“Well the sneaky bastards,”
“Goes with their occupation Matt, tools of the trade, and all that stuff.”
“For sure, say D can you playback a digitized sound clip over the external speakers on this suit?”
“Not a problem, but why would I want to?”
“When Yaminah shows up I want him in the room listening to what he thinks is Hashim pissing in the toilet. It gives us a bit of time to synch with the thunder.”
“Not bad Matt, an eye for the details, nicely done. You want me to find an appropriate sound clip?”
“Sure and if you can’t we’ll make our own recording for Mushira Yaminah.”
“Well that will be interesting,”
“Not now D, we’re all business.”
“No you don’t understand, I just found out Mushira Yaminah is female,”
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