Five Years in Yemen

by Luana Ehrlich

  When he didn’t elaborate any further, the DDO said, “Dr. Kepler, there might be some here who aren’t familiar with DARPA. Would you mind giving us a brief explanation of your agency?”

  Dr. Kepler peered over his glasses as he glanced around the table. “DARPA is the acronym for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. We’re responsible for the research and development of new technologies for our military.”

  After the DDO thanked Dr. Kepler, he looked down at the other end of the table where a middle-aged African-American man was staring at a laptop.

  When the DDO cleared his throat, the man looked up, ran his hand over his close-cropped hair, and said, “Forgive me. I’m Dirk Andersen. I’m the head of the DIA’s Middle East division at the Pentagon.”

  He gestured at the DDO. “Deputy, please allow me to take a moment and convey General Asher’s appreciation for your willingness to host this meeting. I’d also like to add he’s sorry his schedule wouldn’t permit him to attend.”

  I felt sure Andersen had just gone up a notch in the DDO’s eyes. Besides the DDO’s Machiavellian tendencies, I knew from experience he had a soft spot for excessive politeness, especially if the person praising him was also showing him deference at the same time.

  The DDO smiled. “Please tell him I said his absence was completely understandable.”

  Next, he turned his attention to the person on Andersen’s left, the only woman seated at the table.

  When she and her support staff had entered the room earlier with Benson, I’d recognized her immediately.

  Her regular appearances on the nightly news made it likely everyone else had recognized her as well. In fact, it wouldn’t have surprised me to learn her presence was the reason the Deputy Director had made the decision to hold the interagency meeting in his prestigious office suite in the first place.

  Apparently, the political aspects of Operation Rebel Merchant were about to be given a voice.

  * * * *

  Unlike everyone else seated around the table, the DDO didn’t ask her to identify herself. Rather, he did it for her.

  “We’re so pleased to have Sasha Gail Pack, one of the President’s Senior Advisors with us today,” he said, nodding in her direction.

  When she gave him a glowing smile, he spread his arms out in an expansive show of hospitality and said, “Welcome to the CIA, Ms. Pack.”

  “Oh, my goodness, please call me Sasha Gail,” she said in a soft Georgian accent. “Believe me, Deputy Ira, the pleasure’s all mine. When the President asked me to come over here today and represent the White House, I was thrilled. Thank you for including me.”

  According to the place card in front of her, Sasha Gail was Assistant to the President and Senior Policy Advisor.

  According to news reports, she was the President’s whisperer, advising him on all things political.

  When I’d seen her on the Sunday morning talk shows defending the President’s policies, I’d admired her ability to disarm political opponents by using her Southern charm and ever-present smile, even while pointing out the flaws in their arguments.

  In keeping with her carefree persona, her shoulder-length blond hair fell down around her face in a haphazard fashion, and, while her makeup always appeared flawless, she was often criticized for her lipstick, specifically its color—a deep dark red, the color of oxygenated blood.

  The DDO said, “I’m aware it’s a holiday weekend, so I promise not to keep you any longer than necessary. However, since our purpose today is to pool all the intelligence we have on our missing SSG contractor Jacob Levin, I believe some background information on Levin would be in order.”

  As if on cue, the DDO’s assistant, who was seated behind him, began distributing Levin’s bio to those seated at the table.

  When Carlton received his, he immediately passed it over his right shoulder to me, as if he were either disinterested in the document or had already memorized its contents. I was betting on the latter, because I was pretty sure he’d been the person who’d put together the background information on Levin in the first place.

  While the DDO proceeded to hit the highlights of Levin’s biographical data, I skimmed the document to see if it contained any new information. There was nothing there as far as I could see. It was the same intel Carlton had shared with me back at his townhouse several months ago.

  When the DDO had finished summarizing Levin’s bio, he asked if there were any questions, and that was when Ms. Pack spoke up and said, “As my mama used to say, ‘a girl better say what she wants to say when she has a chance to say it, or she may never have a chance to say it.’”

  “Oh, by all means,” the DDO said, looking amused. “Tell us what’s on your mind.”

  “Now, don’t get me wrong,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not criticizing the excellent job you’ve done on presenting Jacob Levin’s bio, but, as y’all know, I’ve worked on various legislative issues with Daniel Levin, Jacob’s brother, so I believe it’s important to point out the brothers were very close when they were growing up.”

  She looked down at Levin’s bio. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe there’s any mention of that in this handout.”

  “That’s an excellent point,” the DDO said, gesturing at his assistant as if he should write down this piece of innocuous information.

  Sasha Gail said, “I realize that fact may not be relevant to this discussion, but I just wanted y’all to understand where the White House is coming from as we get further into this topic.”

  Benson looked over at Sasha Gail and said, “I believe the relationship between Jacob and Daniel is extremely relevant. You can never have too many details when you’re looking for a missing person.”

  “Bless your heart, Mr. Benson,” Sasha Gail said.

  Benson gave her a big smile. “Please, call me Frank.”

  The red-headed woman seated behind the Advisor to the President snickered at this exchange.

  I managed to control my emotions, but just barely.

  Chapter 19

  I had the feeling the DDO thought the meeting was getting away from him, so it didn’t surprise me when he decided not to ask if anyone else wanted to comment on Jacob Levin’s background.

  “Let’s move on from Levin’s background to the work he was doing for the Defense Department,” the Deputy said. “Dr. Kepler, would you mind explaining that for us?”

  Dr. Kepler nodded. “First of all, let me say that I believe Jacob Levin is a brilliant man, and a true patriot who cares deeply for his country. I have no doubt the work he did for us at DARPA was motivated by his desire to further his country’s interests and save the lives of our military men and women.”

  His face clouded over when he glanced down at the other end of the table where Dirk Andersen was seated. “From what I understand from my colleague in the DIA, there’s evidence Jacob took the knowledge he gained while working on the device for us and shared it with one of our allies. If that’s true, I assure you he did it because he believed it was the best thing for our country.”

  “Thank you for that insight, Dr. Kepler,” the DDO said, “but would you mind telling us more about the device itself and how it works.”

  Dr. Kepler appeared frustrated.

  Whether it was because of the DDO’s curt response, or whether it was because he felt Jacob was being unfairly judged, I couldn’t tell. At any rate, Dr. Kepler did as Deputy Ira requested and talked about the device.

  “It’s called the Mobile Onsite Drone Detection system. While we often refer to it as a device, it’s actually considered a weapon, part of our Mobile Force Protection program. Jacob himself developed the technology for it.”

  Dr. Kepler spent the next ten minutes describing how the MODD system was designed to provide real-time protection for ground convoys or troop movements by quickly neutralizing hostile unmanned aircraft systems in the area.

  “The beauty of this device is that it not only protects our military personn
el, it eliminates civilian casualties as well. Besides that, Jacob designed the system to utilize our present tactical ground vehicles, and all it requires is a couple of people with access to the command and control software to operate the device.”

  “Thank you for that information, Dr. Kepler.” The DDO looked over at Dirk Andersen. “I believe you have a timeline of what happened after the MODD system was ready for field testing.”

  “To be truthful,” Andersen said, “I wasn’t at the Pentagon at that time, so I’m relying on my predecessor’s notes here.”

  Andersen looked down at his laptop and read off the dates associated with the Pentagon entering into a contract with the Southridge Services Group to run the trials on the MODD system in Iraq.

  “That’s when Jacob left DARPA and went to work for SSG,” Dr. Kepler interjected. “He didn’t trust anyone else to run those field tests.”

  “Right,” Andersen said. “Jacob’s resignation from DARPA happened simultaneously when the Defense Department and the Agency entered into a joint contract with the Southridge Group.”

  “Could I just ask y’all a question here?”

  The DDO nodded at Sasha Gail. “Feel free to ask questions at any time.”

  “Would you mind clarifying for me why the Agency wanted to hire Jacob? Why would y’all need a military research scientist?”

  The DDO smiled and said, “We didn’t need a research scientist, but we did need an Arabic speaker with a Top-Secret security clearance who could translate the documents our Special Ops Forces obtained from an al-Qaeda leader’s residence in Karbala. When General Asher heard we were looking for a translator, he realized Jacob Levin would fit that bill, and he contacted me.”

  Sasha Gail pushed her hair away from her eyes and said, “His brother, the Congressman, also speaks several languages.”

  Her remark didn’t fit into the context of the discussion, but I’d seen her use a non-sequitur before when she was debating someone from the opposition party on a cable news show. At the time, her unexpected response had unsettled her opponent and rendered him speechless.

  I was pretty sure that had been her intention.

  Now, the DDO had a similar reaction, but he recovered after a few seconds.

  Choosing to ignore her remark, he said, “General Asher arranged for the SSG team to be housed at our base in Karbala, and the field tests took place in the desert west of Karbala. They only tested the system every ten days or so, which meant Jacob spent the rest of his time on the base either working on the device or translating the documents for us.”

  The Deputy paused as if he thought Sasha Gail might want to respond. When she didn’t, he said, “I hope that answers your question.”

  She smiled sweetly but said nothing.

  * * * *

  Dirk Andersen continued highlighting the timeline of significant events that occurred in Karbala during the testing of the MODD system, but when he got to the part about the arrival of the five-member Saudi delegation, the DDO stopped him.

  “A few days ago, one of our operatives received some new information from two sources about what happened when Jacob gave the Saudis a demonstration of the MODD system’s capabilities.” He nodded at Carlton. “Douglas will share that intel with you now.”

  I sensed a perceptible change in the interest level of the participants as soon as the DDO mentioned the Agency had some new intel, and I noticed Andersen decided to start taking notes when Carlton began describing what the operative had learned from Travis Zachary and Stephen Gault.

  Naturally, Carlton didn’t mention that the operative who had obtained the intel was seated directly behind him, although I suspected Benson knew it was me, because whenever Carlton referenced an unnamed Agency operative, Benson bobbed his head up and down and smiled.

  However, Benson’s smile disappeared when Carlton revealed the contents of Jacob’s proposal, and when he got to the part where Jacob told Gault about accepting the Saudis’ offer to design a drone detection device for them, Benson interrupted him.

  “I believe that statement proves Jacob Levin is guilty of treason,” he said. “It’s clear he’s in direct violation of Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution.”

  The DDO said, “That might be debatable since the Saudis are considered our allies.”

  Dr. Kepler took off his glasses and used them to gesture at Benson. “I assure you Jacob is no traitor. If I remember correctly, the definition of treason is giving aid and comfort to an enemy, and Jacob would never do that.”

  After receiving this pushback, Benson shrugged and said, “Like Deputy Ira said, that’s debatable.”

  Sasha Gail, who’d been holding a whispered conversation with her support staff during this exchange, suddenly turned toward Benson and said, “Oh, I agree with you completely, Frank. It appears Jacob Levin is a traitor to his country.”

  Her remark left little doubt where the White House stood on the subject of Jacob Levin.

  * * * *

  After Sasha Gail made her declaration, I wondered if the DDO was going to present his arguments against the notion Levin should be considered a traitor, but instead of opposing her, he asked Carlton to continue his narrative about the new intel.

  Although I wasn’t in a position to see the expression on his face, I detected a note of tension in Carlton’s voice when he revealed Jacob had offered Gault five million dollars to come to Yemen to work on the MODD system’s computer software.

  “After he agreed to come,” Carlton said, “Jacob sent him instructions regarding how he was to travel to Somahi. We’re in possession of those travel arrangements, so it should be easy for our operatives to follow him to Yemen.”

  “Are you sure this is good intel?” Andersen asked. “A few weeks ago, I assigned a team to shadow Stephen Gault after he received a call from a cell phone connected to a known terrorist. That call originated from Yemen. Later, we were able to identify the caller as an American. However, our analysts can’t say for sure the caller was Jacob Levin, so I’m wondering what makes you confident he’s still alive?”

  “I’m curious about that too,” Benson said.

  He wasn’t the only one. Although I didn’t think the DDO would have gone to the President and asked him to approve Operation Rebel Merchant without some proof that Jacob Levin was still alive, I was still waiting to have that corroborated by Carlton.

  “Oh, we’re positive Jacob is alive,” the DDO said, “and we have the photographs to prove it. However, that intel is Eyes-Only, so we won’t be able to share it with you.”

  When Andersen started to protest, Sasha Gail spoke up. “You might not be able to show him the actual photographs, Deputy, but I know it wouldn’t violate the Eyes-Only classification if he knew the source of that intel.”

  Before the DDO could respond, she turned to Andersen and said, “The Agency received that intel from Mossad. I saw the photographs myself when the Deputy showed them to the President.”

  “The Israelis?” Andersen asked. “What do they know about Jacob?”

  * * * *

  It turned out the Israelis knew a great deal about Jacob. In fact, according to the DDO, they knew everything. The DDO admitted as much after Sasha Gail forced him into making that confession.

  “A few months ago,” the Deputy said, “the Agency received a back-channel communication from a high-ranking official in Mossad regarding Jacob. When we followed up on that contact, we found out the Israelis knew Jacob was alive and living in Yemen. As a matter of fact, they’ve been aware of Jacob’s circumstances for the past five years.”

  Andersen asked, “Are you saying the Israelis knew Jacob was working on the MODD system for the Saudis all this time?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  Andersen stared at the DDO. “Well? What did the Israelis tell you?”

  I thought I knew what was coming next, and, sure enough, the DDO pontificated for a few minutes on a subject that was only loosely related to the discussio
n at hand, a tactic I’d seen him use before when he was either reluctant to get into the specifics of a particular piece of intel or he wasn’t cognizant of the details enough to talk about them.

  “The relationship Israel maintains with her neighbors in the Middle East is extremely complicated, but the relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia is especially complex. For all intents and purposes, the two countries are allies in the fight against Iran’s influence in the region, particularly in Iraq and Yemen. While their mutual alliance is undeclared, both countries are engaged in—”

  “I’m sure you could be more specific about the intel they gave you,” Sasha Gail said.

  The DDO, who wasn’t used to being interrupted, looked agitated. “If I could just . . . ah . . .”

  “I’d be happy to do that,” Carlton said, reaching over and picking up one of the files he’d brought with him. “I have everything right here.” As he opened up the file, he glanced over at the DDO and said, “I’m assuming that’s okay with you, Deputy Ira.”

  “Oh, sure,” Ira said, waving his hand dismissively. “You might as well tell them what Mossad had to say.”

  Sasha Gail looked pleased.

  * * * *

  Carlton began by revealing what had gone on five years ago during a meeting at the Saudi Defense Ministry when Prince Mohamed, the Defense Minister, was about to send the Saudi delegation to Karbala to view the demonstration of the MODD system.

  “My counterpart at Mossad shared with me the transcript of that meeting,” Carlton said, “Although he never acknowledged it, the fact that the transcript exists seems to indicate the Israelis had a mole in the Saudi Defense Ministry.”

  After Carlton summarized the purpose of the meeting—to plan the Saudi delegation’s upcoming visit to Iraq—he said, “If no one objects, I’d like to read the final pages of that transcript. When I’m done, I believe you’ll have a better understanding of what the Saudis’ true intentions were in sending the delegation to meet with Jacob Levin five years ago.”