“Since the Blackout occurred, it’s been hard to get good intelligence. Emails and instant messaging have been spotty at best. Texts and phone calls can’t be trusted, because after our satellites were hit, we have been forced to route them through compromised networks.”
He threw up his hands. “Frankly, we’ve been spoiled. We got used to getting information at the snap of a finger. And now, the fog of war had descended upon us. So let’s look at the events of the past few weeks from the perspective of the Washington decision makers. Here’s what they saw: One of our US Navy destroyers in the Gulf sinks one of their patrol craft when the two vessels inexplicably start firing at each other. The jury is still out on what really happened. Then a rogue CIA agent and an ex-CIA agent participate in the murder of an Iranian politician and his wife on Iranian soil. Iran believes that it was a US-Israeli operation. Iran attacks US military assets near Dubai and in the Persian Gulf. Right around this time, the Blackout Attack occurs.”
David nearly leapt out of his seat. “But that’s not what happened. We’ve been telling everyone from the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee to the White House Chief of Staff to the Pentagon: Cheng Jinshan and Lena Chou and God knows how many other Chinese military and intelligence operatives staged this attack. Iran could never pull all of that off. It was China. And for God’s sake, Henry Glickstein and I were kidnapped by the Chinese. We were taken to—”
Chase grabbed his shoulder. “David, it’s alright. I suspect that you may be preaching to the converted.” He looked across the desk.
The Assistant Director for clandestine operations nodded back at Chase. He looked at David. “Son, I just want you to try and understand what they have seen, so you can better understand the decisions they are making. You aren’t going to like all of them. But I don’t want you doing anything self-destructive to change it. Please, listen to me speak, and then I’ll let you ask questions. Trust me, I am one of the few people in a position of power inside the Beltway that believes everything you have said.”
David crossed his arms. “I just don’t understand why that is. Why doesn’t everyone believe us? We have Lisa Parker, or Lena Chou, on video in Iran. Hell, there are still people missing. I’ve given names, and those missing persons are verifiable. These are Americans we’re talking about. They’re still probably on that island in the South Pacific. Are we just going to leave them there? I mean—”
The Assistant Director held up his hand. “Think about it this way. Let’s say that Pearl Harbor or September eleventh just happened. Every bit of evidence points to a specific culprit. Then you’ve got two guys that come along and say that it’s all a conspiracy. That September eleventh was really the Russians, and they just made it look like it was Al Qaeda. But meanwhile, ninety-nine percent of the news coverage is of Osama bin Laden. Troops and planes are being sent to Afghanistan. The world gets its message from the news cycle. Now fast forward to today. The news cycle has told us that Iran is now public enemy number one. Iran is the reason that no one can get on Facebook for the past three weeks. Iran is the reason that the stock market has crashed. Iran has killed thousands of US sailors with a cruise missile attack. And you know what? There is good evidence that they really did that. Our military air defense commanders picked up Iranian surface-to-surface radar signatures just before the attacks. David, I’m sorry. But you and Henry Glickstein are just two tiny voices in a choir of TV media that is in wartime coverage mode. To be honest, you should be happy that they’ve dropped the idea that you and Henry sold secrets to Iran.”
David said, “They never had any evidence of that. It was just part of Lena’s attempt to get us locked down long enough to recapture us.”
Chase said, “Sir, I’m guessing that you’ve got something you want to share with us?”
The man nodded. “I thought you should know that you have a cadre of believers in your story. A few of us have seen enough truth in your story that we want to take some precautions. Yes, I want to share a few things. Can I have both of your word that it won’t leave this office?”
The two men answered yes.
“A week ago, we sent an Air Force reconnaissance plane over the area where your Red Cell island is likely to be.”
David leaned forward in his chair. This was the first positive action that the US government had admitted to. “What did it find?”
“It found a very full Chinese military base. There were two dozen helicopters and another dozen light-attack fighters. Heat signatures indicated over two thousand personnel on the small island. And what’s more, our imagery experts from the National Reconnaissance Office believe you to be correct — there is, in fact, a submarine pen built into the coastal mountain.”
“Any sign of the Americans?”
“No. But without getting personnel or some very small drones ashore, that would be hard to detect.”
“So… what, then?”
“That’s one of the things I wanted to let you know, David. I know you have been very vocal about this. And it has come to my attention that you even want to go to the press, if you don’t see results soon.”
David’s face flushed. Chase felt bad for him, but he needed to hear this.
The Assistant Director said, “Please do not do that. If you do, you will not only hurt yourself, but you will risk reducing the effectiveness of an active operation to locate and rescue those other missing American personnel. Is that clear?”
David nodded. Chase was relieved.
“Now, I can’t provide any more information on that specific operation. And I shouldn’t mention this either, but again… I feel you two gentlemen deserve to know. There are those in Washington that are taking your warning about the Red Cell very seriously. This goes back to what Chase and Elliot were originally working on with Jinshan’s Abu Musa operation. We feel that we have a strong case showing that Jinshan, if not more in the Chinese government, was involved in an attempt to take down the US dollar. The US State Department has made formal complaints against Jinshan’s bitcoin tampering. China has politely acknowledged this, and told us that he will be reprimanded. But as you both know, Jinshan is a powerful man there, and fills many roles. With our intelligence communications network hampered, it is hard for us to ascertain what Jinshan’s real status is. But I believe the Chinese threat to be real. And so do many good men in the military and intelligence community here. There are people that want to heed your warnings.”
David said, “Then why are we sending three carrier battle groups to the Persian Gulf? Why is the news saying that our military buildup in the Middle East is larger than Desert Storm? It looks very much like we’re preparing for an all-out war with Iran. You understand what that means, right? We’re playing right into Jinshan’s plans.”
He nodded. “I appreciate how you feel. But the Iranian threat is real. And the Chinese threat may just be the plans of a lone wolf — Jinshan.”
“A lone wolf that can deploy his military and order attacks on the United States? This wasn’t just one man.”
“There aren’t enough of us yet that believe Jinshan was really responsible… that Chinese assets were really responsible… for those attacks.”
“So they think Iran has the ability to launch this cyberattack that still has our Internet down? You know better.”
“Yes, I do. But fighting the bureaucracy of Washington is a delicate task. I can’t call them a bunch of idiots and change their minds. I need to give them solid proof. Trust me, I’m trying, David. My friends in the Pentagon and Congress have assured me that Washington and Beijing are having very high-level talks on a regular basis now.”