"If the cell did get away the SFF is not going to give up," Friday continued. "There's a possibility the SFF set them up to take the fall for the temple bombings in Srinagar."
"Do you have proof of that?" Herbert asked. He was interested that Friday had come to the same conclusion as he and General Rodgers.
"No," Friday admitted. "But the Black Cats would normally have handled the investigation and they were cut out of it by the SFF. They also obviously knew about the cell."
"That doesn't mean they were involved in the destruction of the temple," Herbert said. "The Free Kashmir Militia are known terrorists. According to Indian radio they already took credit for the bombing—"
"Whoever made that call may not have known the extent of the attack," Friday said.
"That could be," Herbert agreed. "I'm still not ready to declare them innocent. Maybe someone in the group betrayed them and rigged the extra explosions. But let's assume for the moment you're right, that the SFF organized the bombing to advance an agenda. What is that agenda?"
"My Black Cat partner believes it's a holy war," Friday said. "Possibly a nuclear holy war."
"A preemptive strike," Hank Lewis said.
Again, Herbert was encouraged by the fact that Ron Friday and the Indian Black Cat officer reached the same conclusions that he and Rodgers had. It meant there might be some truth to their concerns. But he was also discouraged for the same reason.
"We think the SFF forces used gas against the Pakistani stronghold," Herbert said. "Which would mean they wanted to try and capture them alive."
"A perp walk and confessions," Friday said.
"Probably. But I've got to believe the main reason the cell is running is not to save their own lives," Herbert said. "Even if they get back to Pakistan no one in India is going to take their word that they're innocent."
"They need the girl," Friday said.
"Exactly," Herbert said. "If she worked with the SFF to stage the attack, they need to get a complete public statement from her. One that doesn't look or sound like it's a forced confession."
"I'm missing something here," Lewis said. "If we suspect that this is going on, why don't we just confront the SFF or someone in the Indian government? Get them involved."
"Because we don't know who may already be involved in this operation and how high up it goes," Herbert said. "Talking to New Delhi may just accelerate the process."
"Accelerate it?" Lewis said. "How much faster can it possibly go?"
"In a crisis like this days can become hours if you're not careful," Herbert said. "We don't want to panic the people in charge. If we're right, the SFF will still try to capture the cell."
"Or at least Nanda," Friday said. "Maybe she's the one they're really after. Think about a teary-eyed Hindu woman going on television and telling the public how the FKM plotted to blow up the temple, not caring how many Hindu men, women, and children they killed."
"Good point," Herbert said. "What about the girl's grandfather? If the cell is alive and we can find them before the SFF does, do you think he'd be willing to talk to her? To convince her to tell the public what she knows?"
"I'll make sure he's willing to talk to her," Friday said.
As they spoke the satellite camera stopped on what looked like it might be several footprints. Viens began zooming in.
"What are you thinking of doing, Bob?" Hank Lewis asked.
"We've already got two men on the ground and a field force on the way," Herbert said. "If I can get Paul to sign off on it, I'm going to ask General Rodgers to try and intercept the cell."
"And do what?" Lewis demanded. "Help avowed terrorists make it home safely?"
"Why not?" Friday said. "That might win us allies in the Muslim world. We can use them."
"America doesn't 'win' allies in the Muslim world. If we're lucky we earn their forbearance," Herbert said.
"A smart man knows how to work that too," Friday said.
"Maybe you'll get to show us how it's done," Herbert replied.
"Maybe," Friday replied.
The intelligence chief had worked with hundreds of field ops over the years. He had been one himself. They were a tough, thorny, independent breed. But this man was more than that. Herbert could hear it in his voice, the edge to his words and the confidence of his statements. Usually, men who sounded like Friday were what spy leaders called HOWs — hungry old wolves. Working on their own year after year they began to feel invisible to the host government and beyond the reach of their own government. They'd been out in the cold so long that they tended to bite anyone who came near them.
But Friday had not spent a lot of time on his own. He had come from an embassy post. That suggested something else to Herbert: an I-spy. The espionage game's equivalent of a bad cop, someone who was in this for themselves. Whatever Striker ended up doing in the field, if it involved Ron Friday Herbert would tell Mike Rodgers to watch him very, very closely.
"Bob?" Viens said on the speakerphone. "You still there?"
"I'm here," Herbert said. He told Lewis and Friday to hold the line.
"Are you looking at the monitor?" Viens asked.
"I am," Herbert said.
"You see that?" Viens asked.
"I do," Herbert replied.
There were footprints. And they were made during the previous night. The sun had not had a chance to melt and refreeze them. The cell had definitely left the cave and was heading north, toward Pakistan. Unfortunately, they could not tell from the jumble of footprints how many people were in the party.
"Good work, Stephen," Herbert said. He archived the image with the rest of them. "Have you got time to follow them?"
"I can track them for a bit but that won't tell you much," Viens said. "I looked at one of the overviews. We're going to lose the trail behind the peak about a quarter of a kilometer to the northwest. After that all we've got is a shitload of mountain to examine."
"I see," Herbert said. "Well, at least let's make sure they went as far as the turn. And see if we can get a better idea of how many people there were and maybe what they were carrying."
"I'm guessing they weren't carrying much," Viens said. "Three inches or so of snow cover, two inches of print. They look about the right depth for an average hundred-and-sixty-pound individual. Besides, I can't imagine they'd be carrying much more than ropes and pitons trekking through that region."
"You're probably right," Herbert said.
"But I'll see if we can't get a head count for the group," Viens said.
"Thanks, Stephen," Herbert said.
"Anytime," Viens replied.
Herbert clicked off the speakerphone and got back on with Hank Lewis and Ron Friday. "Gentlemen, we've definitely got the cell heading north," he said. "I suggest we table the political debate and concentrate on managing the crisis. I'll have a talk with Paul. See if he wants to get involved with this or whether we should abort the Striker mission altogether and turn the problem over to the State Department. Hank, I suggest you and Mr. Friday talk this over and see what you want your own involvement to be. Whether we stick to the original mission or work out a new one, it could get ugly out there."
"We'll also have to talk about what to tell the president and the CIOC," Lewis said.
"I have a suggestion about that," Herbert told him. "If you tag Mr. Friday as a loan-out to Striker as of right now, the NSA doesn't have to be involved in making that decision."
"That's a negative," Lewis told him. "I'm new on the job, Bob, but I'm not a novice. You let me know what Paul's thinking is and I'll make the call on our end."