American Traitor, page 25
part #15 of Pike Logan Series
He heard a pause, then said, “I think I can, but it will take significant assets. I’d rather leave him with a bullet in the head.”
“Start planning the extraction. But keep a bullet in your gun for him.”
“Will do. We’re reaching the station. I have to go.”
Han disconnected and exited the secure room, saying, “Where’s Yuan?”
A man scurried to the back and brought him out. Yuan said, “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. Where do we stand with the videos?”
“They’re done. And they’re good. The American outdid himself.”
“I want to see them. And him.”
“You want to see the American?”
“Yes. Right now.”
Yuan left and came back with a skinny man wearing rumpled jeans and a stained shirt, sporting a four-day growth of beard, reminding Han of a drug addict. He didn’t believe that was true, but he definitely saw someone who lacked self-discipline.
Yuan said, “This is Jerry Tribble, the American helping us with our facial recognition efforts.”
Han shook his hand and said, “I understand you’ve helped us with something else as well.”
Jerry glanced nervously at Yuan and said, “Just a little side thing I did as a favor. A birthday joke for a friend, right?”
Speaking in Chinese, Yuan said, “I told him it was a gift for the head of the AI unit here. A gag gift for his birthday.”
Han studied Jerry, then replied in Chinese, “Did he take the money?”
“Yes.”
“Did it go through his corporate contract?”
“No. Straight to him.”
“He is not naïve. He wants to give himself some plausible deniability if his work is discovered. Can it be?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you study the video at the micro level, forensically, can you identify his fingerprints on it?”
“Not really. Well, you can identify some of the code as being very similar to what he has done in the past, but that’s about it.”
“And he knows that, yes?”
“Oh, yes. Of course. It’s why he’s making excuses about birthdays.”
Han thought, Time to drop the hammer.
He switched to English and turned to Jerry, saying, “Did you recognize the people in the videos?”
Jerry glanced at Yuan and said, “Yes. Well, one of them. It’s the president of Taiwan. I don’t know the other one.”
“And you think it’s a birthday gag?”
“Uh . . . I guess . . . I mean, isn’t it?”
“How much did you ask to be paid for this gag?”
“I didn’t ask anything. Yuan offered.”
“How much?”
Jerry rubbed his face and said, “Twenty-five thousand U.S. dollars.”
“Paid directly to you, correct?”
Now looking a little sick, Jerry nodded.
“Do you think we’d spend twenty-five thousand dollars, all hidden from oversight by going directly to you, for a birthday gag? Does that sound reasonable?”
Rocking from foot to foot, Jerry said nothing.
Han said, “You work for us now. Continue as you have and it will be very lucrative. Payments just like the one you received.”
Jerry swallowed and nodded again.
Han said, “Of course, you can leave at any time, if that is what you wish. We can send you back to the United States with this gag birthday gift hanging around your neck, along with the previous help you have provided from scraping pictures of people in New York City.”
Chapter 55
Chen and Zhi arrived at the small safe house, paying the driver and exiting the cab. It had taken longer than he would have wanted to get here, but with the proscription on flying, it was what it was.
They walked up to the front door, Chen taking a look at the surrounding area and liking what he saw.
A house on a street corner in the outskirts of Cairns, it was a two-story structure built of clapboard and bricks, with a side yard that gave it distance from the next house over. All good. What he liked best was that the back of the house butted up to a road that had a canal behind it, with a small bridge leading to a running path. The only downside was that the chosen location happened to be on the second floor of a duplex, with someone else living below.
Given the multiple escape routes, he still liked it. He didn’t believe that would ever prove necessary, but he liked the thought process.
Zhi said, “Looks like the men here aren’t as bad as the ones in Sydney.”
Chen smiled and said, “No mention of Sydney. We were as much at fault as they were.”
She flashed her eyes, and he said, “Don’t. No talk of Sydney.”
He walked up the outside stairwell, rang the bell, and waited, staring into the camera above the doorjamb.
The door opened to a trim, handsome Asian in a T-shirt, ropy muscles flowing out of his sleeves. Of average height, he was as lean as a cheetah, causing Zhi to stare in admiration.
She said, “Hello. We are from Control.”
He slid his eyes up and down her body and said, “I’m Bear. And I’m the control here. This is my operation.”
Chen pushed past him, not wanting a fight, but knowing one was coming. Bear was the team leader for the endgame operation in Cairns. A good man, but apparently not as trusted as Chen, or Control wouldn’t have sent him up here, leaving the Sydney mission to collapse.
He leaned his bag against the wall, turned to Bear, and said, “I’m now in charge here. That’s the end of it. Understand?”
Incensed, Bear said, “No, I don’t understand. I was told you were coming, but not why.”
Zhi said, “It’s not personal. It’s from Control. Just execute.”
Angered at the statement, he turned to confront her, and then saw her eyes. He hesitated, and Chen said, “I am in charge here. It’s not an insult to your team. It’s because I have a better understanding of the mission. We’ve already executed actions in Sydney, and this mission has become more prominent than it should have been.”
Bear squinted, wanting to say something else, but did not.
Chen said, “Good. Let’s do this together, because it’s a no-fail event.”
Bear said, “Like Sydney?”
When Chen didn’t answer, he said, “Yes, we’ve all heard about the mess in Sydney. You don’t need to be on a Fifth Bureau COVCOM to see it. You just need an Australian news station.”
Chen realized that it was time to put the command question to rest. He advanced on Bear, snapped up his hand, and slammed it into Bear’s throat, pushing him into the wall. He said, “We need to work together now. I do not want to fight.”
Implicit in the question was the fact that he would, in fact, fight. And he would win. A man appeared from the back of the house, and Zhi drew a pistol, pointing it at him. He disappeared.
Bear dropped his arms and said, “No fight. No fight. I didn’t mean to imply it was your fault.”
Chen pulled his hand away and said, “Good. Very good. Trust me, I know what I did wrong in Sydney. I underestimated. I don’t intend to do that again. And I appreciate the strategic nature of the safe house you have. Your skill is not in question here.”
Bear nodded and Zhi hid her pistol.
Chen walked into the kitchen, took a seat, and said, “Who’s below us?”
“A couple. We’ve met them, but they stick to themselves. They provide us a little buffer should someone want to assault.”
Chen nodded, realizing the arrangement could have prevented what had happened in Sydney. The couple below them wasn’t a downside at all. It was protection against an assault force that wanted to remain as invisible as they did.
He said, “What do you have for the exfiltration?”
Bear took a seat across from him, saying, “I think this whole thing is insane, but I have the assets lined up. We can get him offshore, and we can then transfer him to a plane, but it’s been really, really hard to set up. Why can’t we just get on an aircraft here?”
“There’s a reason Sydney was a mess. There are others who might be chasing Bobcat, and they have the stink of a state. I can’t afford to put him on a plane in Australia. He’ll get snatched. I have to get him out of here by other means. I’m sure it was painful, but I appreciate the effort.”
“Who are the others? Australia? The United States? Who?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I think the team that hit us in Sydney wasn’t a team. I think they were just friends of the American whom we targeted, and they had more skill than we knew. We were taken by surprise, but I don’t want that to happen a second time. I’m taking no more chances.”
Bear nodded. “Okay. I certainly don’t want this to end up like Sydney. We’re with you. What do you want us to do?”
Chen relaxed, saying, “Bobcat is secure in the hostel we rented. I want to bring him to me and make sure he has the data, but I don’t want to taint this house. I’m going to set up a meeting with him, ensure he’s clean, and then get him here under our control.”
Bear nodded, saying, “And then?”
“And then we get him out of here, the long way.”
Chapter 56
As he had hundreds of times before, George Wolffe entered the Old Executive Office Building for an update to the Oversight Council, only this time he was the acting commander instead of sitting in the back row.
Hollywood movies made such gatherings ominous, with a drumbeat of music detailing the pressure that was to come, but in reality the meetings were mundane, even given the stakes involved. They debated the nuances of life-or-death missions like they were evaluating the purchase of a stock. In truth, Wolffe had always hated these things, but he had no choice now. Since Kurt Hale had been killed, he had become the face of the Taskforce.
He reached the door to the conference room, saw no Secret Service personnel, and entered, finding Alexander Palmer waiting on him, the rest of the Council in their seats. He said, “Where’s the president? This is worthy of his attention.”
Palmer was terse, saying, “He had competing interests. Just give us what you know.”
Wolffe heard the tone, but knew better than to ratchet up the tension. There was no love lost between the two, but Wolffe understood he needed to get approval for an Omega operation, and antagonizing Palmer in the absence of the president was unwise.
Wolffe thought Palmer was a political toad, more concerned with the latest popularity index than what was necessary for security, and Palmer thought Wolffe was a cowboy willing to use the Taskforce at the slightest provocation. It wasn’t the best match for deciding the fate of the country’s national security direction, but Wolffe could live with the politics as long as they didn’t overshadow real strategic problems.
He stifled what he wanted to blurt out, instead saying, “What I know is that we’re about to be in a war defending Taiwan. Or we’re about to lose Taiwan by our inaction. Is that enough for the president’s attention? He should really be here.”
Palmer said, “Oh, come on. You guys always say the world is ending. Brief the Council on what’s happening, and then let us decide.”
Wolffe said, “Fine by me. I’m not the one who said go chase China, but I’m a believer now.”
Palmer said nothing, allowing Wolffe to move to the front of the room.
He reached the head of the table, turned on the laptop, and brought up the Project Prometheus logo. The room went quiet, the buzz of conversation falling away.
He said, “First, thank you for taking the time out of your day to do this meeting. I know it’s painful, given your real jobs, but it’s necessary. We deal in a world of gray, and we have to make black-and-white decisions. I’m going to ask you to make one today.”
He flipped the slide, showing a graphic of Taiwan, then said, “This is the national security flashpoint of the world. We talk about great power competition and how we’re focusing on China, but we’re missing the actual battle. It’s not going to be a full-scale war. It’s going to be a slow bleed.”
Alexander Palmer interjected, saying, “I’m sorry, but I thought you were here to brief us on Taskforce actions. Not give us a class on geopolitics.”
Wolffe bit back his initial response. He said, “Yes, sir. I am talking about Taskforce actions.”
He paused, looked around the room, then set the remote on the table, ignoring the briefing slide.
He said, “Look, here’s the deal. Russia took over Crimea with nothing but a social media campaign and a few Spetsnaz soldiers. They won because we stood by. I believe that same thing could potentially happen in Taiwan. We didn’t really give a damn about the Crimean Peninsula, letting Russia walk right in, but we’d better damn well care about Taiwan, because if we lose that, we’re ceding the entire Pacific Ocean to China. This isn’t like the domino theory from Vietnam. This is the domino. And Pike is on that threat.”
Amanda Croft, the secretary of state, said, “Are you seriously saying that China is going to invade Taiwan?”
“Yes and no. From what Pike got from Dunkin, Jake Shu stole not only information related to our F-35 program, but also data from an artificial intelligence program for the defense of Taiwan. On the surface, that’s just more espionage, but looking at Crimea as an example, they may be planning on a hybrid war.”
Palmer said, “What’s that mean?”
“It means they aren’t going to do it like we’ve been wargaming for the last three decades. They aren’t going to conduct a cold-start invasion. They’re going to foment chaos inside the country, stirring it into a frenzy, much like we see happening in Hong Kong. Once they’ve got everything boiling, they’re going to have Taiwan initiate the action, allowing them to claim self-defense.”
Easton Beau Clute, the chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said, “How are they going to initiate chaos? What would cause the catalyst? It’s not like they can tell the people of Taiwan to riot. They hate China.”
“I don’t know the catalyst, but they didn’t tell Hong Kong to riot either. They just did.”
Unconvinced, Clute asked, “Where are you getting this from? We’ve seen nothing to indicate anything like this.”
Wolffe said, “Honestly, I’m extrapolating from intelligence Pike has gleaned from Dunkin, and it’s by no means ironclad, but he has a target we need to interdict.”
Palmer said, “What target? The last thing we were talking about was a breach of the F-35 artificial intelligence systems. Now you’re extrapolating that it’s a full-scale takeover of the entire country of Taiwan?”
“Yes, but I’m not saying we need to launch a carrier group to the Taiwan Strait—although that might be wise—only that there are potential repercussions in play beyond simply trying to alter our F-35 program. And Pike is on that thread.”
Amanda Croft gave him a suspicious look, and Wolffe knew if he was losing her, he was losing them all. She said, “Give us the background.”
He did, walking them through everything he knew, detailing Dunkin’s killing and the rescue of Nicole, to include her coming to U.S. soil. In between, he expanded on Dunkin’s theory about the AI systems for the defense of Taiwan.
When he was done, he said, “I can’t vouch for the intelligence as solid, but the target is the same: Jake Shu. Even if Pike is wrong on the overarching threat, Jake Shu needs to be interdicted for the F-35 program alone. We need to know what he knows.”
He looked at the Council members and saw slack-jawed amazement at his statements, completely ignoring his request for action.
Amanda Croft said, “There’s a dead American in Australia? And Pike killed a team of Chinese because of this? How is it you didn’t lead with this information? You act like it’s just business as usual. Jesus Christ, what are you thinking?”
Before Wolffe could answer, Palmer waved his hand, raising his voice. “Wait a minute. Besides the damn killing, did you just say you brought an Australian national back to United States soil from a Taskforce action?”
Calmly, Wolffe said, “Yes, to both of you. Dunkin is dead. Pike killed a team of Chinese, and he also saved Dunkin’s girlfriend. She is now on the way to the United States, where the Taskforce will sequester her in a hotel until this is complete. All of that is irrelevant now. Pike has a thread, he’s clean, and I’m asking for Omega.”
Palmer blurted, “Have you lost your mind?”
Easton Clute held up his hand, cutting him off. He asked, “What is this thread?”
There was no way Wolffe was going to let slip that the thread came from a thirteen-year-old Syrian refugee who’d recorded it from a Chinese exchange student at a boarding school in Charleston, South Carolina.
He said, “I’m not going to talk about sources and methods. Suffice to say that Pike has gleaned what he believes is the cell phone number for the Ministry of State Security agent controlling all operations in Australia. He believes that the number will lead to Jake Shu.”
Palmer leaned back and said, “I don’t care what he believes. This is over. There is no way I’m giving Omega authority to Pike after what you just said. We’ll be lucky to keep this under wraps from the Australians. Bring him home.”
The red light over the secure entrance came on, telling the Council that the door was about to be opened and the room was no longer secure.
Exasperated, Palmer said, “What the hell? Keep that door closed. Whoever is behind it can stay behind it.”
He turned back to Wolffe and said, “We don’t give Omega on Pike’s say-so. You’ve done enough damage in Australia.”
The door opened and Palmer said, “Shut that damn thing! This is a closed hearing.”
A Secret Service agent appeared and said, “President Hannister is coming in.” He didn’t say it like he was asking permission.
The room stood, and President Hannister appeared in the doorway, saying, “Take your seats. Please.”
Wolffe remained standing, waiting on the questions and not wanting to repeat everything he’d already said.
