“Why?”
Latham smiled. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
There was general laughter.
“Who exactly are we talking about?”
Coates looked at Mason and got a nod. “Senator Herb Smith, chairman of the Intelligence Oversight Committee.”
There were several moans around the room.
Mason said, “Glad to see we’re all familiar with the dynamic Senator Smith.”
More laughter.
“Now for the punch line,” Coates continued. “Two days ago, we received some disturbing information from Tanner and Cahil. In the course of their work on DORSAL, they found an informant who described a meeting between Hiromasa Takagi’s chief of security and an Arab man. A composite of this man was made. We’ve identified him as the third unidentified man from the Khartoum meeting.”
There was silence in the room as the attendees tried to absorb the implications. Tanner and Cahil exchanged glances: The DDO had left out any mention of Parece Kito and Tsumago. Why? Tanner looked over at Mason, who gave him a barely perceptible nod.
Oaken said, “There’s one thing that bothers me: Fayyad’s approach. The standard time line on a honey trap is four months, minimum. They’ve done it in three weeks. Why the hurry?”
“That’s one of the questions we need to answer,” said Mason. “But we think we know what put it in motion. Go ahead, George.”
Coates picked it up: “Three weeks ago, we lost an agent in Beirut. Within a week of his kidnapping, Vorsalov and Fayyad were meeting in Khartoum. A week after that, Vorsalov was summoned to Beirut, then he came straight here. More importantly, the information Smith was fishing for was related to the Beirut op.”
“So, something this group squeezed from Marcus made them nervous,” said Cahil.
“Exactly. Problem is, we don’t know what set them off, and we don’t know what they’ve got cooking.”
“But its something that involves Takagi Industries,” said Oaken.
Mason nodded. “And that’s the piece we need to find. What’s the connection, who’s running the op, and what is it?” He stood up. “So, while we wait for the result of Agent Latham’s roundup, we start working the puzzle. Any questions?”
There were none.
As the group dispersed, Mason said to Dutcher, “Dutch, will you and your people stay behind a minute?”
Once the room was empty, Mason shut the door. “First, I know we glossed over Parece Kito and the ship. I’ll explain why in a minute. Second, the brief you just heard was classified top secret. What I’m about to tell you goes beyond that. Aside from the people in this room, only George, Sylvia, and Jim Talbot know about Parece Kito and Tsumago. For now, it stays that way. Understood?”
There were nods all around.
“Dutch, when this started, I told you about a link between Iraqi fire control systems and Takagi Industries. That’s all true. The part I left out is what’s got us worried.
“Of all the Scuds fired during the war, we got a good salvage on only one of them. It was a conventional missile but stripped down for different payload. Actually, it was a reconversion: a Scud that started as conventional was converted into a bio/chem carrier, then back to conventional. They fell short on quality control, though. Part of a telemetry package contained an actuator system designed to control an airburst release,”
“Oh, boy,” Cahil muttered.
Dutcher said, “Dick, are you telling me you sent my people into this thing knowing they could be dealing with chemical or biological weapons?”
Mason nodded. “That’s one of the reasons I finally pulled the plug. As long as they were simply checking DORSAL’S network, they were safe. Briggs, Ian, I ordered you out for two reasons: One, we wanted to be able to restart DORSAL in the future; and two, I didn’t want you flying blind. I hope you understand.”
“We’re big boys,” Cahil said.
“Ohira’s product lead you to the bio/chem angle?” Tanner asked Mason.
“Yes. About a month before he was killed. We weren’t sure what to think when you two uncovered Ohira’s interest in Takagi Maritime. To us, it felt like a goose chase. To you guys, it felt solid, and you were right. Ohira’s tangent scared Takagi enough that he had him killed.”
“Along with a lot of others,” Tanner said. “So far, he’s murdered almost thirty people to keep his secret.” Including Sumiko, Tanner thought. But he missed one, didn’t he? He missed Ezoe, and now it was going to cost him.
Dutcher said, “So, bottom line, Dick: You think Takagi was hired by this Beirut group to deliver a chemical or biological weapon, then Marcus turns up, stumbles onto something he shouldn’t have, so they grab him and mount the Smith op.”
“Exactly.”
“And now, whatever the hell it is, it’s aboard Tsumago headed for… Where?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Mason said. “Either it’s going to be stored for future use, or it’s going to be used immediately. If that’s the case, we feel the two most likely targets are the United States or Israel.”
Accompanied by fireboats spouting geysers of water and blaring their horns, Valverde had left Tel Aviv two days before. Standing on the deck, Saul and Bernice Weinman gazed at the distant island of Crete, Valverde’s first port of call. A warm wind fluttered the pennants over their heads. Bernice had not stopped smiling since they boarded, and now she leaned over and kissed Saul on the cheek.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“Just thank you. We’ve waited so long. It’s wonderful.”
After a brief layover in Crete, Valverde would weigh anchor and head west for stops in Greece and Sicily before sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic Ocean.
As night descended on Velverde, eight hundred miles to the east, a helicopter landed in the lee of a sand dune and General Issam al-Khatib climbed out. He ducked under the whirling blades and walked to an outcrop of rock overlooking a wadi.
Parked bumper-to-bumper in the dry riverbed were two miles of empty semi truck transports. Hundreds of soldiers hurried about, rigging lines and pulling camouflage tarpaulins into place.
Al-Khatib checked his watch: Almost time.
Far to the southeast, the exercise continued. If it were daylight, al-Khatib might have been able to see the dust storm raised by the tanks and APCs. All that power, he thought with a smile. Just waiting. He felt the surge in his blood.
To the west and south, also too far to see, were two U.S. Navy battle groups, one off the coast of Lebanon, the other patrolling the Gulf. And Israel, rattling its saber, posturing and threatening action. The game continues. But not for much longer.
He looked up at the black sky. Somewhere up there an American spy satellite was racing in its orbit toward them. He checked his watch again. They would make it.
In the wadi, the troops kept working.
Prior to joining Holystone, Tanner and Elle moved to the Chesapeake Bay area and rented a house in Hills Point not far from Annapolis, where his father taught at the U.S. Naval Academy.
For the first month, Briggs had fished, camped, spent time with Elle and his parents, and generally did a lot of nothing which, after twelve years in spec war, was a novel experience.
After joining Holystone, they started looking for a permanent home and stumbled on the lighthouse in a back-water cove of the Rappahannock River. They immediately fell in love with it. The two-story cabin-style house and attached light tower had been abandoned for forty years. With the blessing of the Virginia Historical Commission, they bought it, moved in, and Briggs had been working on its upkeep ever since. Surrounded by forest on three sides and the cove on the fourth, it was secluded and quiet. And after six weeks away, it was a welcome sight for Tanner.