Crandall began his intelligence career in the army, working in conjunction with Special Forces in Vietnam. After the war, he immediately joined the CIA. He participated in the failed Iran hostage rescue attempt Operation EAGLE CLAW in 1980. Then, in 1983, Crandall was assigned to Berlin as a case officer, running agents. Crandall was tough and uncompromising, traits which made him unpopular especially with subordinates. But his fortitude and reckoning had won the admiration of his superiors. There was something definitively bird-like in his physique―he was tall and scrawny, yet powerful. His visage and tactics had earned him the nickname “The Hawk” by his colleagues, but none would dare utter the moniker to his face. In 1984, when he was forty-five years old, Crandall was promoted to Berlin Station Chief.
The three intelligence officers—Charles Danforth, Mike Griggs, and Sean Mason—quickly gathered in Crandall’s office. Danforth was about forty, the typical Ivy League-educated CIA officer. Griggs was younger, about thirty-five, and wore a mustache. Mason, in his sixties, was the oldest of the group, distinguished by his beard and neatly combed silver-white hair. Mason was British MI6, the most senior of western intelligence officers operating behind the Iron Curtain, and had served in the Special Air Service during World War II. He had been in eastern Germany from the start of the Cold War, eventually rising to the highest status in the intelligence community.
“Gentlemen,” Crandall began, “I need not remind you how to handle highly sensitive information. There is a threat that must be handled immediately.” Crandall paused for dramatic effect, looking over the three men. “In this extreme circumstance, Langley has authorized me to brief you on Sunrise.”
“Sunrise? What’s that?” Griggs asked, leaning forward.
“Not what, but who. You see, even the simple confusion of that codename is deemed necessary for security, because Sunrise is our only deep cover agent operating behind the Iron Curtain,” Crandall explained.
“Deep cover,” Danforth reiterated the words, weighing their magnitude. “Didn’t we try that before?”
“Yes,” Mason said knowingly. “In the sixties, but it failed. Our own British agents didn’t take either.”
Crandall went on: “Naturally, it is quicker and easier to recruit agents throughout the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It takes years to develop a deep cover agent, and the effort is rarely successful. Sunrise is the only deep cover plant that thrived. ”
“How long has Sunrise been in play?” Danforth asked.
“Fifteen years. In that time, he’s risen to the top of the GDR’s ranks,” Crandall said.
“How is that possible?” Griggs asked, doubting.
“His mother was German. His father’s American. He could blend expertly into his surroundings, and he was trained from a very early age for this purpose,” Mason said.
Griggs and Danforth shot him a look. How did he know that?
“What’s the threat?” Danforth inquired.
“A Stasi colonel named Karl Scharf has begun a mole hunt. Scharf has already proven his reach and effectiveness. Sunrise and all our other top level agents in the GDR are facing possible exposure.” Crandall pressed the intercom on his desk, paging the secretary outside his office. “Please send Anna in now.”
Anna entered, and Crandall introduced her to the three men. Anna was not the only one who had met Sunrise. Mason knew all about the agent, and had even met him. At first, he only received filtered bits of Sunrise’s information, but an emergency in late 1981 forced him to be read fully into the case. When Sunrise’s primary contact disappeared, CIA heads suspected their agent was blown. The then-Berlin Station Chief, seeing time was of the essence, turned to Mason, already in East Berlin at that moment, to contact Sunrise. With his mastery of tradecraft, Mason safely established contact and gave him the warning. Together, Mason and Sunrise determined the contact had died in a tragic but coincidental accident when a semi-truck collided with the tram he was riding on as a passenger. For the next few months, Mason became Sunrise’s primary contact until Anna stepped in during the summer of 1982. Knowing Mason’s long experience and acquaintance with Sunrise, Crandall called Mason into this meeting for advice and to enlist his aid. Still, Crandall was keen to assert his position as the final authority in the room.
Prompted by Crandall, Anna related all of the information Hans had given her. The men listened intently. When she was finished, Danforth took a deep breath. “We can’t risk the exposure of our agents.”
“No,” Mason replied.
“Well, what do we do?” Griggs asked.
Crandall spoke decisively, “We take Scharf out. End the mole hunt and his push for invasion all at once.”
“How do you propose to do that?” Danforth asked.
“Seizure. We kidnap or eliminate him,” Crandall stated.
“Wouldn’t that confirm a mole has penetrated the East German ranks?” Griggs countered.
“Not if we concoct the proper cover story for his disappearance,” Crandall argued. “And as I understand it, Scharf’s list of enemies is growing. There are enough in the GDR who will want to see him gone.”
Griggs nodded, accepting this. “All right. When do we begin?”
“Immediately. I want Scharf gone as soon as possible,” Crandall ordered.
Mason shook his head. “Jim, it’s too aggressive. You need to consider the consequences, play out the possibilities, before going forward. You rush into this, and you might make it worse.”
“There’s something else,” Anna said, “concerning Sunrise.”
“Yes?” Crandall crossed his arms.
“I’m not sure how long he’ll still be a viable source,” Anna said.
“What are you talking about?” Crandall seemed puzzled.
“I’ve noticed he’s begun to distance himself. I think he’s lost,” Anna said.
Now Griggs and even Danforth were surprised. “What?” Danforth said.
“You’ve run his life since he was seventeen. No interruptions, no vacations, no respite. He’s on an open-ended, continual mission, and it’s become harder for him to maintain balance,” Anna asserted.
“Really?” Crandall barely concealed his contempt.
“Its all he’s known. I’m not sure he knows what he’ll have to come back to when he’s finished,” Anna said.
“He knew what he signed up for,” Crandall challenged.
Anna stared at him. “The longer he’s out in the cold, the greater the danger of his capture. I can see it’s wearing on him. And either he will be exposed, or he’ll cease to function. A man has to have some part of his life that is his own. We took his from him fifteen years ago, and if you don’t give it back, there won’t be anything left of him.”
Crandall almost snorted in response. Anna was undeterred. “I know him better than you. I meet with him. All you’ve had for the past year is the reports I’ve given to you.”
Crandall pinched his nose and stood. “All right, Anna, thank you.”
The men stood and waited for Anna to leave. As soon as the door closed, Danforth spat out in surprise, “She’s in love with him.”