He didn’t think an unsanctioned black op would be feasible in this situation. Novosibirsk was the third largest city in Russia, nearly two hundred miles beyond the Kazakhstan border. Getting Sanderson’s team to the target wasn’t the problem. Evading the massive military and police response from the Novosibirsk Oblast would be impossible without significant, targeted intervention.
The feasibility of this operation depended upon White House support, which shouldn’t be entirely difficult to win given the fact that a weaponized virus from Vektor Labs had nearly decapitated the U.S. government.
Berg’s STE (Secure Terminal Equipment) desk set rang, indicating a call from the operations watch center. He picked up the handset, which triggered the automatic negotiation of cryptographic protocols within the removable Fortezza Crypto Card inserted into his phone. Unique identifiers built into the card’s cryptographic processor verified that Karl Berg was on one end of the call and that the operations watch center was on the other. STE technology represented a major improvement over the STU-III system, where the cryptographic processor was built into the phone and provided no unique identification procedures. With the STE system, Karl Berg could insert his card into any STE phone and conduct a secure, encrypted conversation.
“Karl Berg,” he answered.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Berg. I have a Flash Alert data package designated for your eyes only. How do you want me to proceed?”
“You can send it through my secure feed. I don’t have time to review the package in the ops center,” Berg said.
Berg knew where the package had originated, but he was dying to see the contents.
“Understood. You now have access to the package.”
“Thank you,” Berg said.
He navigated to the CIA operations intranet gateway and entered a long string of passwords that enabled access to his secure feed. He quickly found the data package in question. A separate screen opened, showing eight data sets, all of which contained a hyperlink. He opened the one showing the longest period of time, which ended three minutes ago in Sweden. “19:17.24GMT/13:17.24EST-19:23.53GMT/13:23.53EST.”
The hyperlink activated a data recording captured by one of the motion-activated, night vision-capable cameras hidden in the Viggbyholm safe house’s fire detectors. Located on the ceiling of each room, the cameras provided a searchable three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view within each space. The recording showed a three-man team enter the kitchen from the door leading into the backyard and proceed to wait for two minutes. Each operative wore the latest generation Russian night vision monocles and carried the same type of submachine guns used by the Zaslon Spetsnaz team in Stockholm. Definitely not your garden-variety operatives. He guessed they were some variation of SVR Spetsnaz.
After two minutes, the house lights came on, momentarily blinding the camera as the smart-sensor switched camera lens inputs. A fourth operative entered through the back door, and they proceeded to search the house. Berg toggled through the other hyperlinks, which showed the team conducting a quick, yet thorough investigation. He returned to the first link, which was still running, and almost missed the most important part of the data feed. The lead operative removed a small electronic device from his backpack and immediately ordered the team’s evacuation. Less than fifteen seconds later, the scene went dark, replaced by the green image of an empty kitchen. The team leader knew that their raid hadn’t gone unnoticed.
Berg sat back in his chair and considered the situation. He hadn’t expected the Russians to forget about Reznikov. Given what the crazed scientist had told him over vodka shots and gourmet food, he was surprised that they hadn’t heard more from the Russians by now. Of course, Moscow was still buried under the staggering fallout left by Reznikov’s manmade disaster in Monchegorsk, compounded by Reznikov’s link to the terrorist plot in the United States. The Russians didn’t have a basis to object on any level. Everything led back to a program that supposedly didn’t exist.
As predicted, the Russians would dig around quietly for Reznikov. But how long would their efforts remain below the surface? The Spetsnaz team in the video didn’t look like they would have passed up the opportunity to take down anyone found in the house. The big question was where would they go next? If Berg were pulling the strings, he’d start with the Stockholm embassy.
Three members of the CIA station knew critical details about Petrovich’s operation. One of them was temporarily assigned to his staff while she awaited her next assignment, which took her out of play. This left the Stockholm embassy’s CIA station chief and her assistant station chief. The Russians wouldn’t dare touch the station chief, but if pressed, they might make a move on the station’s second-in-charge. This was the only move that made sense.
Given the sensitivity of Reznikov’s circumstances, it would be reasonable for the Russians to assume that the details of the operation had been restricted to the most senior CIA officer at the station. In this case, neither the station chief nor her assistant knew the identity of the target, but this wasn’t something he could pass on to the Russians to dissuade them from taking regrettable action. All he could do was warn Emily Bradshaw that the Russians were actively prowling the streets of Stockholm. He opened a different internet directory and located the station chief’s after hours contact information.
Chapter 4
Thomas Manning cracked his knuckles and nodded at Berg, shifting his attention to Audra Bauer. Karl Berg put the projector in standby mode and exhaled, waiting for Manning to start.
“I can sell this to the director. Do we have a confirmed link to the Iranians, beyond what the Israelis have hinted?” Manning asked.
“Reznikov didn’t specifically mention any Iranians in the facility. He just said that he’d been approached on the outside by what he assumed were Iranian intelligence agents,” Berg said.
“For all we know, those could have been Mossad agents testing the waters at Vektor. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve mistaken Mossad operatives for Middle East terrorists,” Manning countered.
“It’s always a possibility. I could run this by our liaison and see what our Israeli friends might be willing to confirm.”
“If we’re willing to share the information provided by Reznikov with the Israelis, I’m sure Mr. Minkowitz would be amenable to steering us in the right direction,” Bauer said.
“The director will never approve that,” Manning interjected. “Reznikov’s information stays with us for now. We’ll need to come up with a different angle to garner Israeli support.”
“If we can convince them that we plan to take action against Vektor, they’ll pass information,” Berg said.
“Let’s take this up the chain of command without trying to involve the Israelis. If the plan gets kicked back, we’ll take steps to solidify the Iranian connection,” Manning said.
Berg’s phone buzzed, breaking his concentration. He’d set the phone to silent for this meeting, with the exception of high-priority calls from the operations center.
“Late for dinner?” Manning said.
“My apologies. It’s the operations center. This might have something to do with Stockholm,” he said, and Manning nodded for him to take the call.