“It’s important,” the NSA said, frowning. “Very important. If it weren’t, would we be here?”
“I know it’s important,” Mike said. “I’m just wondering if it’s important to me. And mine, I might add.”
“Depends,” the secretary of state said. “You’re going to get a lot of enemies out of this. You’re already going to get them, no matter how we play it after stirring this up. But if we can get all the data, you’re also going to have some friends. Some very senior friends.”
“Trust not in the friendship of princes,” Mike said, still frowning. “I don’t know why I even brought it up. I know I’m going to Lunari and I’ll get the DVDs if at all possible. But I’m not sure it’s going to be possible. Insertion and extraction is going to be a bitch. And we’ve got no intel.”
“There’s a possibility, there,” Parais said. “But not for this discussion.”
“As to getting paid,” Mike said, shrugging. “The good senator from New Jersey owes me five mil if I find the girl. I pointed out to him that if his ‘constituent’ didn’t pay up, he was going to be given the bill. Let him pay it.”
“We’ll talk,” the President said, standing up. “You’re going?”
“I’m going,” Mike said, looking at the table. “God help me.”
“He will,” the President said, nodding. “His hand will be over you, Mike. I know it will.”
“Thanks,” Mike said. “Although I’ll admit I’d rather have a B-52 loaded with JDAMs.”
“You said you have data for us,” Mike said when the President and most of his party had left.
“We’ve got a partial layout for the streets,” Parais said, sliding over a DVD. “Also some data on the building but not the interior. I had an intel crew sweep for computer noise and there wasn’t any. However, we know there is at least one computer in the building from information on the street. So…”
“It’s shielded,” Vanner said, sighing. “Which means they know how important this place is.”
“There are at least twenty guards on duty at all times in and around the building,” Parais continued. “And there are more than sixty working for the same clan in the area. All of them will come swarming at the first sign of a firefight. In addition, if it’s apparent that it’s not the regular authorities, such as they are, or another clan attacking, the other clans are likely to pile in. I’m not sure about reaction times, but you’re looking at Mogadishu if it drops in the pot.”
“We need more intel,” Mike said, shrugging. “We need interiors. We need to know where the DVDs are. We need to know where Natalya is. We can’t even be sure she’s still there. What about a ground-pen sweep?”
“There aren’t any tasked for that area at the moment,” Pierson said. “I checked.”
“Bob, the President just made a special effort to stop by,” Mike said with a sigh. “Retask.”
“That’s not a simple action, Mike,” Pierson argued. “I can’t just pick up the phone and…”
“Yes, you can,” Mike said, his face hard. “You pick up the phone, call your boss and say ‘Hi, I need a ground penetration satellite retasked. Why? It’s compartmentalized. But the President asked.’ Do you really think he’s going to ask the President if he really asked? And if he does, do you think the President won’t back it? Hell, Bob, I shouldn’t have even had to ask. We should already have the data.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Pierson replied with a sigh.
“I’ll get it retasked,” Parais said. “Easier and less questions if I order it. And you’re right, this is a presidential directive mission. That’s easily a high enough priority.”
“Preferably, we need people inside,” Mike added, looking thoughtful.
“Dracul?” Vanner asked.
“Not if there are that many guards,” Mike said, shaking his head. “The lack of intel is what’s getting me. But I’m not sure how to get someone in the club.”
“We can get a girl in,” Carlson-Smith noted. “The data from Rozaje included some internal e-mails of the clan. Girls go to Lunari from all over. All we have to do is pull a car up with the right words, drop the girl off and leave. The driver doesn’t even have to be Albanian. Of course, that leaves her in a very bad spot. I’m not sure MI-6 has a female agent who would take that mission. Lunari is nearly as bad as Rozaje.”
“That’s not an issue,” Mike said, distantly. “I’ve got one. I just can’t figure out how to get the intel out. She won’t have a way to send out commo and she won’t be able to just up and leave. Even if she can develop intel, it won’t do us any good.”
“We might be able to offer some help,” Parais said uneasily. “I was directly ordered to offer this technology but I’m not happy about it. It’s highly classified.”
“Get over the pro-forma protests,” Mike said, his eyes narrowing. “What is it?”
“The tech is experimental,” Parais said. “But we can internally wire a person for sound and video. Not very good video, but both. And it’s almost untraceable. And for sure won’t turn up on standard scanners.”
“How the hell do you do that?” Mike asked, blinking.
“You hook it up to the optic nerve,” Vanner said, watching the DIA secretary carefully. “You either preprocess there or send out a rough signal and process it somewhere else. I’ve read about the theory. Has it actually been done?”
“Not on humans,” Parais admitted. “We haven’t been able to find an agent that will permit the operation. It’s not without risks. Blindness for one.”
“You’re thinking about inserting Cottontail?” Vanner asked.
“Yep,” Mike said thoughtfully. “We’ll need a doctor who’s willing to carefully explain the risks. Where would you do this?”
“There’s a special hospital in Virginia…” Parais said.
“Does she get Dr. Quinn?” Mike asked, laughing.
“Been there, have you?” Parais smiled. “That’s actually one of my charges. But that’s where the procedure would take place.”
“We’re probably on short time here,” Mike pointed out. “The Albanians know what they have and with Rozaje hit they’re going to do something about it.”
“The procedure is fairly noninvasive,” Parais said. “At least from what I’ve been told. They go in through the nose for the video portion and there’s only a very small implant in the mastoid for the audio. It’s something like having a tooth pulled.”
“I’ll have to pitch it to Katya,” Mike said, frowning. “If she goes for it, we’ll drop her off on our way through with someone to keep an eye on her after the procedure. How long for full recovery?”
“A day or two at most,” the DIA director said.
“What about… I dunno, security?” Mike asked.
“The transmitters are frequency hopping and use burst signal compression,” Parais said. “Very hard to detect and they’re encrypted transmissions. The data won’t get compromised.”
“I just hope the agent doesn’t,” Mike replied.
Chapter Thirty-Two
As soon as the unmarked plane landed in Vegas, Mike pulled out his cell phone and turned it on. Not surprisingly, he had a half dozen messages.
“Gurum, it’s the Kildar,” Mike said, walking over to the waiting minivan. He nodded at the driver as he entered and just hoped the guy actually knew where he was supposed to be going.
“Kildar,” Gurum said, in a relieved tone. “I have arranged a meeting with a Mr. Robert Thomas and his partner Mr. Colin Macnee for this evening. In about an hour and a half. Are you going to be able to attend?”