It was one of the key traits that convinced Sharpe to ask Mendoza to postpone his next assignment, a promotional move to Investigations, until Task Force HYDRA finished the next phase in its anticipated life cycle. His prospective supervisor within Investigations signed off on the delay, and Mendoza appeared more than happy to stay on for another six months, especially since they were making such rapid gains unraveling Al Qaeda's U.S. based financial support network. He expected Mendoza to appear deflated at some point during the day, as the bad news piled onto them, but the man either kept it to himself, or truly remained unshaken. Sharpe admired either possibility, considering what could be at stake for both of their careers.
Mendoza got up from the chair, with an open file in his hands.
"Don't get up for me, Frank. Seriously, we all need some time in that chair today. Plus, I guarantee I'll just have to get up and answer that phone as soon as my ass is firmly planted. Dana, grab any seat, just don't steal Frank's."
Sharpe moved around to his government supplied desk chair as Mendoza sank back into the leather chair.
"Dana’s CIS papers are on your desk. She just needs to sign on the highlighted lines," said Mendoza, and Agent O'Reilly stopped her descent into one of the office chairs to the left of Sharpe's desk.
"Keep your seat. Take a few minutes to review the agreement, and sign your life away. I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but I just want to make sure you understand the importance of this agreement. It's simple. You can only discuss CIS Category One information with myself, Agent Mendoza and the CIA liaison, Randy Keller. At this point, these are the only people that aren't locked in a room at the Pentagon with the Black Flag files," said Sharpe.
"Black Flag?" asked O'Reilly.
"Yes. To bring you up to speed in under thirty seconds…the list of names you've worked all day belong to a group of operatives trained under a clandestine program called Black Flag. It no longer exists, having been shut down by Congress, and buried by the Pentagon for several years. However, as you saw today, someone reactivated former members of this group to assassinate every one of this Task Force's Al Qaeda financing suspects. I don't need to reinforce the fact that the Task Force's investigation was effectively destroyed today.
“At this point, we are simply trying to figure out why they were assassinated. Is this a rogue anti-terrorist focused group taking their own fight to Al Qaeda? Is this sponsored by Al Qaeda? Did they discover that we were close to fully unraveling their financial network? Is this the prelude to another major attack, and they are just cleaning up any loose ends? I'm having a hard time believing that this group is working for Al Qaeda, but maybe the individual operatives don't ask questions, and their leader, General Terrence Sanderson, took a huge payoff to mislead them."
"Sanderson. That's a familiar name," said O'Reilly, signing the paperwork without reading it.
"Yeah, a few years ago, he was all over the news. He retired under suspicious circumstances that were never fully disclosed. Now we know why. I can't stress the importance of information security in this case. This is a guaranteed prison sentence for screwing up. You'll continue working in the operations center, but one of us will need to approve any work you are conducting, just to make sure it's not a CIS One spin off. All discussions of the restricted material need to take place in person, and away from other personnel. Are you good with this?" said Sharpe.
"Absolutely. I assume the INTERPOL digging probably falls under CIS One?" said O'Reilly.
"Yes, and you conducted the search after signing these papers. Right?"
"Of course," said O'Reilly.
"So, this information sheds some light on Petrovich, and all of the Black Flag operatives," said Sharpe, handing the newest Sanctum information to agent Mendoza.
"I'm not at all surprised he was able to do so much damage up in Silver Spring. Petrovich's assigned area of operation was Serbia, and he spent two years operating there, starting in early ‘97 and ending at some point in ‘99."
"His military service record indicates an honorable discharge in September ‘99," added Mendoza.
"Alright. So this was his last tour of duty, so to speak. Prior to that, he received training in all of the areas listed on our first fax, with a specialty focus in skills. Sniper operations, urban combat survival, and oddly enough, computer networking/security," said Sharpe.
"That's odd, especially for Serbia," O'Reilly commented.
"Why do you say that?' asked Mendoza.
"Well, I can't imagine a need for that skill, especially in that region in the late nineties. There was barely a need for it here. I mean, the systems were still pretty basic in the U.S. at that point. But in war torn Serbia? Does the sheet mention the specifics of his assignment there?"
"His job was to penetrate one of the ultra-nationalist paramilitary groups," said Sharpe.
"And do what?" asked Mendoza.
"The Pentagon didn't feel the need to convey that information," said Sharpe.
"Great. Well, whatever he did, or still does, he's highly dangerous. He murdered a cop without hesitation, and killed six ex-special forces guys with ease…" said Mendoza, whose comment was interrupted by Sharpe's desk phone.
"Hold that thought," Sharpe said, and picked up the handset, "Special Agent Ryan Sharpe."
"Sir, it's Weber. No luck getting through to the Sanctum. The line appears to be dead. I called Pentagon security, and asked them to notify whoever was in charge of the Sanctum that the line was busted."
"Thanks, Weber. Now get some rest," Sharpe said, then hung up the phone and turned back to the others. "Some snafu over at the Pentagon. What have we come up with for Petrovich?"
"Agent O'Reilly put together a chronology with details. Here's the short version: born and raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois, by parents who are still living in that town. No brothers or sisters. Went to undergrad at Northwestern, not too far away in Evanston, Illinois, right on Lake Michigan. Graduated in ‘91 with a degree in economics/finance and received a commission as a naval officer through the NROTC program at Northwestern. Minored in Russian language. He attended the Surface Warfare School in Coronado, California, during the summer of ‘91, and reported to a frigate stationed in Japan later that year. Transferred to Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey in ‘93…"
"Is that normal?" asked Sharpe, "I know a lot of former military officers, and that seems pretty quick to go from ship to shore."
"It is unusual. As a marine officer, you do two tours, roughly two years each, then a B Billet, the Navy's equivalent to a shore tour. It's pretty standard across the board from service to service. Post-grad school would definitely be a post junior officer tour. Not something you'd do after your first sea tour…and a short sea tour at that. He reported to the USS Rodney M. Davis in November of ‘91 and left in the spring of ‘93. That's also unusual, and it gets better. After grad school, he reports to a joint command attached to NORAD. How much do you want to bet nobody ever ran into him at either one of these stations? Finally, in early ‘97 he transfers overseas to SACEUR's Maritime headquarters in London, where he stays through discharge in ‘99."
"And we all know he damn well didn't spend a minute in London. Four years of training? ‘93 to ‘97?" asked Sharpe.
"It would appear that way. That's a long training program," said Mendoza.