“What do you suppose Karl and Maya are doing here in Venezuela?” she asked.
“That’s what we intend to find out, Polina.”
21
CIA Director John Bradford sat in his high-back leather chair contemplating his future. He could just take his retirement pay as a former Air Force general and move out west somewhere, like Wyoming, and relax until the inevitability of his own demise. Had he not done enough for his country? Life was much simpler planning for flying sorties — even deep within enemy territory. He had always flown with complete air superiority. Air dominance, in fact. But this espionage game was much different. One man or woman with a gun could make a huge difference in the outcome of a mission. And, in many cases, even a gun was not needed. Information was the true weapon.
Bradford thought about sending Karl Adams out into the field, and it scared him somewhat. What if an order he gave got Karl killed? His father, Jake Adams, would not be very forgiving of that outcome. Sure, Jake knew the risks involved with his son’s profession. But that man had lost so much in his life, could he handle the loss of his son?
Finally, a gaggle of area analysts and the operations director entered and took seats or remained standing on the periphery. An important development had arisen in the past hour, and they were gathering to prepare a briefing for the senior leadership, including the president.
Bradford said, “Sherm, let’s get to it. What do you have?”
Sherman Swanson, the CIA Director of Operations, remained seated, but moved forward in his leather chair. “Sir, we have a high level of confidence that the Russian ship carrying the nuclear missile is heading for Venezuela.”
“You mentioned last time that this was a possibility,” Bradford said. “What makes you confident now?”
Sherm nodded to his analyst, Roddy Erikson, who had pulled up something on a tablet and projected that on a large LED screen on a far wall.
Roddy said, “This is the current location of the Russian vessel Magadan.” On the screen was a detailed map of the Atlantic Ocean. Now Roddy zoomed in on the ship’s location and another vessel showed on the screen. “This is the USS John McGrath, our newest guided missile destroyer. They have been shadowing the Russians just out of visual range.”
“Any signals intel?” Bradford asked.
Roddy smiled. “Yes, sir. That’s why we think the ship is heading to Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. We intercepted a SAT call from the ship to Moscow.”
“Could this be a ruse of some sort,” Bradford asked.
Roddy glanced at the operations director and then back to the CIA director before saying, “No, sir. This was supposed to be a secure call.”
“We can break their encryption?”
Sherm broke in. “Not all of them. With this particular phone, yes.” He hesitated. “We got lucky.”
Bradford swiveled in his chair, his hands pressed against his lips as if praying. Finally, he said, “Let’s not mention the luck thing when we brief POTUS.”
“Agreed,” Sherm said.
“What do you recommend?”
Sherm said, “We can’t let this ship dock in Venezuela.”
“POTUS will want to know about our options,” Bradford said. “It’s not like we can blast this ship out of the water.”
“Sir, the Russians are in violation of a number of international and bi-lateral treaties.”
Bradford shook his head. “There’s no way we can write a stern letter to the UN. By then the ship will be in port, offload the missile and have it sent somewhere into the jungle. We’ll never find it.”
“We have a number of assets on the ground in Venezuela,” Sherm said.
“I understand,” Bradford said. “But our options are much better if we stop them in international waters. Once they reach sovereign Venezuelan soil… ” He stopped short of finishing his sentence, and everyone in the room knew what he meant.
“Venezuela goes nuclear and can suddenly reach our shores with a missile,” Sherm said. “That gives them a lot of power.”
Great, Bradford thought. “Do we have another Cuban Missile Crisis on our hands?”
“Hopefully, we can keep it from escalating to that,” Sherm said.
“How do you propose to do that?” Bradford asked.
“We have limited choices,” Sherm said. “We can have POTUS talk with the Russians and let him know what we know.”
“It might be too early for that,” Bradford said. “It would tip our hand, and they would know we can intercept their SAT calls.”
“Not to mention the fact that we had a man in Murmansk who started this whole thing.”
“Right. What else?”
“We board the ship and confiscate the missile.”
Bradford let out a deep breath and shook his head. “Woah. That could be considered an act of war.”
“There is one other option,” Sherm said, smiling. “We disable the ship and delay their entry to Venezuela.”
“But that’s just a delay tactic,” Bradford said. “What do we do in the interim?”
“Wait and see.”
“That’s doing nothing.”
“Doing something is beyond my pay grade.”
“I understand, but POTUS will want a recommendation from us. Defense is involved, as well.”
“Sir, we’re not through yet,” Sherm said. “We might have a larger problem. Everyone but Roddy leave.”
The other analysts quickly departed, leaving just Bradford, Sherm and Roddy in the office.
“Go ahead,” Bradford said.
Roddy pulled up a world map on the large screen and then walked over to the display. “Sir, we have a number of reports from various locations that the Russians are on the move.” He paused and continued once the CIA director waved his hand. “There’s movement on both sides in India and Pakistan, with troop buildups on the border in Jammu and Kashmir.” Roddy pointed to that region. “Also, on India’s border with China in the Depsang Plains, the Chinese have moved their army into this region. This was a disputed area in a war between China and India in sixty-two.”
Bradford scratched his head. “What does this have to do with a missile heading toward Venezuela?”
“He has more,” Sherm said. “Go ahead Roddy.”
The younger analyst moved to the right side of the screen and said, “The Russians are conducting joint military exercises with the Chinese in this narrow region where China and Russia border North Korea, southwest of Vladivostok. Russia has about a ten-mile border with North Korea here.”
“You’re the Russian expert, Roddy. What the hell are the Russians up to?” Bradford asked.
Roddy seemed to be shaking with anticipation. “They aren’t hiding their movements. At least not well. If I had to speculate, I would say they’re testing America to see how we’ll react.”
“How is Defense reacting?” Bradford asked.
“They have a carrier group in the Sea of Japan moving in closer, and the Army and Air Force in Japan and South Korea have raised their DEFCON level.”
“So, the president is aware of the situation in Southeast Asia,” Bradford surmised.
“Yes, sir.”
“And India?”
Roddy glanced to his boss, the director of operations, and then to the CIA director. “We don’t believe POTUS is aware of the situation along the Indian border.”
This was getting to feel like a major cluster-fuck, Bradford thought. What was the biggest threat? If India and Pakistan got into a hot war, it could turn nuclear. The same could happen with that crazy dictator in North Korea. But would someone even that bat-shit crazy start a war with Russia and China, knowing that South Korea and America would likely pile on from its southern border?