Grant wondered where this meeting would lead, and what A.T. would be asked to do. Then another thought hit him, or maybe it was his gut "talking" again. Mullins said the exchange was top secret. Why top secret?he thought. Spy exchanges were normally handled by the Agency, and usually turned into a media circus.
He walked slowly toward the back of the room, continuing to wonder. Pausing briefly, he turned around, just as the door swung open.
"Grant! Good to see you!" Carr said with an outstretched arm.
Grant took hold of the President's hand, returning the firm grip. "And you, Mr. President."
"Still thinking about that job I offered you?" Carr asked, smiling. He unbuttoned his dark blue suit jacket, then adjusted his red tie.
"Uh, well, to tell the truth, sir, it hasn't been a top priority."
"I'm not surprised, but I'd like you to keep it in mind." He walked to the head of the table, and dropped a folder on it. Centered on the outside of the manila folder, in red letters and all caps, were the words "TOP SECRET." He glanced at his watch. "The other guests should be here any minute. Have you met the Vice President?"
"Haven't had the pleasure."
Carr motioned toward the credenza. "Something to drink?"
"No thanks."
Just then, Vice President Forbes opened the door, followed by four men. They were all dressed in dark blue suits, except for NSA General Prescott, who wore his green Army uniform.
"Mr. President," the five said, almost simultaneously.
Carr made the introductions. "Vice President Forbes, CIA Director Bancroft, NSA General Prescott, and National Security Advisor Stan Hillman, this is Captain Grant Stevens. Grant, I think you know Secretary Daniels (SecDef)."
"Yes, sir. We've met before," Grant responded, reaching for Daniels' hand.
"Captain," Daniels said. "How's your buddy, Joe Adler?"
"He's doing fine, sir. I'll be sure to tell him you asked."
Carr took a seat, with everyone following his lead. The Vice President and National Security Advisor sat opposite one another, closest to Carr, then Bancroft and Prescott opposite each other, with Grant next to Daniels. They all settled in, placing briefcases near chairs. Bancroft and Prescott each placed folders on the table.
Rolling his chair closer to the table, Carr opened the manila folder. As he straightened the papers inside, he questioned National SecurityAdvisor Hillman. "Stan, I know you were in the Watch Room earlier. Did any new information come in that we can use now?"
"No. I've directed them to let us know if anything raises a red flag."
Carr focused his eyes on Grant, who was watching him. "Feel free to speak up any time, Grant."
"Is now a good time?"
"Go for it."
"I guess my first question has got to be, why has the Team been asked to get involved in a spy exchange?"
A slight smile appeared on Carr's face. "You'll understand in a moment, Grant."
"All right, sir."
Director Bancroft started to pass the folders to Carr when Carr said, "Let Grant take a look at those, Hank."
As Grant opened the top folder, Bancroft pointed to it. "That top folder is the dossier on Alexei Dotsenko. He was one of our deepest cover operatives for years, feeding us information from inside Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs."
"Excuse me, sir, but did you say he was one ofour operatives?!"
"I did. If you'll let me continue, you'll understand." Bancroft glanced at the other men, saying, "It isn't necessary at this moment to go into his background, or how we found him. So, I'll start when he informed us that he was being assigned to D.C., as part of the Russian Embassy staff, a.k.a., the KGB. The Soviets wanted him to head up a spy ring, expecting his operatives to infiltrate the DoD, State, Treasury. Dotsenko would be their handler, with their identities known only to him. He never gave Moscow their names, only code names that could never be traced."
"Then how …?" Grant started to ask.
"Our own agents filled in positions at those departments."
Grant scrunched up his face, trying to understand Bancroft's reply. "Sooo, he was feeding the Soviets disinformation, provided by our own agents?!"
"That's right. Plus, while he was here, we were able to either meet with him secretly, or use 'dead drops,' constantly getting more intel from him," Bancroft answered.
"I have a feeling, Mr. Director, that sending him back won't be entirely because of Reznikov."
"It's the opportunity we needed."
Silence in the room. Grant was trying to process the last response by CIA Bancroft, wondering if he should pursue the statement now or wait. He'd wait.
Bancroft shifted in his seat, always leery about giving up sensitive information. "Another one of our deep cover operatives hasn't been heard from in over a week. She just 'dropped off the radar.'"
Grant had to ask, "Do you know if she's still alive, or maybe captured? I mean, is it possible her cover was blown? Could her last contact with CIA been intercepted?"
Bancroft drew in a deep breath. "Any of those reasons are possible, but we haven't picked up any transmissions indicating either way, so we're confident she's still alive.
"Now," Bancroft continued, "that second folder is her dossier." As Grant opened the folder, Bancroft began: "Sophia Pankova, mistress of Army Major General Dmitri Oleniv. He was assigned to the PVO (Territorial Defense Forces) in Tbilisi, close to the Turkish border. Six months ago he was transferred, and took her with him to a base in Drazowe, Poland."
"Never heard of it," Grant commented quietly, as he picked up a black and white photo of Sophia Pankova.
"Neither had we," Bancroft commented. "How the Germans, then the Soviets kept it secret, we still don't know, but they sure as hell did. It was because of Pankova that we found out. She has full details on the base setup, and what or if anything's being disguised or hidden that we should know about."
Bancroft nodded toward Prescott. "General, could you put up a sat image of the area?"
Prescott opened a second folder, removed an image, then walked to a table, placing the film-positive on a lighted overhead projector. The black and white image appeared on the screen. A northwest section of Poland had a specific area circled.
"Tell us about it, Hank," Carr said.
"We had to 'dig' deep to get this information, but just before WWII, German authorities bought all of the area you see. They started construction of a large military base, a training ground and various testing grounds. Most of the local inhabitants were resettled and their homes razed to the ground. After the war, two German military bases and the town itself were taken over by the Red Army. Then, Soviet military established one of the biggest military camps of the Northern Group of Forces. The town was excluded from Polish jurisdiction and erased from all maps, even though it was officially part of the People's Republic of Poland. Official documents of the surrounding communes, and the surrounding 100 miles were designated forest areas. After World War II it remained in Soviet hands, as a secret military base. We believe there are at least 5,000 Soviet troops stationed there, all of them an elite unit."
Bancroft nodded toward Prescott. "General, can you point out the other 'items' of interest?"
Prescott readjusted the image, then went to the screen. With the rubber tip of a wooden pointer, he tapped the screen at different locations. "These 'mounds' that appear to be covered in vegetation, we're positive they're old German bunkers. Whether that's all they are, or whether the Soviets are using them for other purposes, we still don't know."