Colonel Kurt Hale finished his briefing, knowing that the detailed information was overkill. The target, who they’d nicknamed “Crusty” because his hair reminded everyone of the Simpsons cartoon character Krusty the Clown, had been chosen for Omega authority on two other occasions. Nothing in Kurt’s briefing had changed from those other two attempts at taking him off the board. In fact, Crusty had become more involved in terrorist financing-and maybe stepped into an operational role. The only thing that had changed was the Oversight Council’s membership roster after the presidential election. Not a complete shuffle, but five of the thirteen members were new. It shouldn’t matter-the information should stand on its own-but Kurt had learned the hard way that individual personalities meant a great deal in Washington, DC.
As the commander of the Taskforce-a counterterrorist organization made up of the best operators from the special mission units of the Department of Defense and the National Clandestine Services of the CIA-Kurt wasn’t a voting member of the Council. Since the Taskforce operated outside the bounds of U.S. law, everything they did was incredibly sensitive, and his position was seen as too much of a conflict of interest. He agreed with the sentiment, but in this case he was afraid the Council would balk simply because they were new. Well, new and the fact that the last Taskforce action had occurred on U.S. soil-directly against their charter-and had almost made front-page news. If it had, the entire Council would have ended up in jail, their lives destroyed.
Kurt could tell they were skittish about granting him Omega, the last mission’s close call fresh in their minds. Luckily, President Warren had decided to attend this update. Theoretically, his vote carried no more weight than anyone else’s, but realistically, everyone knew it did, if for no other reason than he’d appointed everyone else on the Council.
He knows how critical this vote is. I’m giving them a softball. If they say no here, we might as well disband, because the next one will be worse.
Kurt waited for the first question. It came from President Warren, setting the tone. “So this is the same guy we were chasing when we diverted to Bosnia two years ago? The financier?”
“Yes, sir. No change to his operational profile. Still in Tunisia, and still doing bad things. The only difference is that he’s moved from Tunis to Sousse, further down the coast.”
“And no change to our operational profile?”
“No, sir. We’ve been at Sigma for the last three years. Never changed. Same cover organization, same planning considerations.”
The Taskforce called each stage of an operation a different Greek letter, starting with Alpha for the initial introduction of forces. Sigma was the last phase before Omega-authority for a takedown. The end for a terrorist.
“How can you say nothing’s changed? Tunisia went through a seizure two years ago. The government was overthrown. Another one has taken its place. Surely that matters.”
Kurt was momentarily taken aback at the attack, expecting the president to support him. Then he realized that’s exactly what the president was doing, giving him a platform to short-circuit any reason for the Council to say no.
“Well, yes, that’s a consideration, but truthfully the change of government has made this easier, not harder. Besides finding a target, the biggest problem in doing an operation in another sovereign country is penetrating that country’s own security apparatus. In this case, it’s in disarray. The public distrusts anyone in the old intelligence agencies.”
The new secretary of state, Jonathan Billings, tentatively snaked his hand in the air like he was in grade school. He’d never been in an Oversight Council meeting, and Kurt could tell he was intimidated. Maybe wishing he’d never agreed to sign the non-disclosure statement and seal his fate should something go wrong. After the troubles he’d had with the previous SECSTATE, Kurt dreaded what was going to come out of his mouth.
President Warren said, “John, you don’t need to raise your hand. What do you have?”
“Uhh…I know I’m new to the Oversight Council, but I’m wondering why we’re wasting so much time on this. Seems like an easy decision to me. Unless I’m missing something. From what I was briefed, this profile is the perfect mission. Am I missing something?”
Kurt fought to control his facial expression, keeping it neutral, waiting on a council member to confirm or refute the statement. It came from the secretary of defense, a man who’d lived through every Omega operation conducted. Not an enemy, but someone who understood the repercussions.
“Hang on, here,” the SECDEF said. “Yeah, it’s the perfect profile, but so is a takedown of just about a thousand other people. We can do the mission, I don’t question that. But is this guy still worth the effort? After the death of bin Laden and all the other leadership in the old AQ hierarchy? Is he still a player, or is this a Taskforce vendetta based on the fact you’ve never managed to get him?”
Kurt said, “Yeah, he’s worth the effort. Besides continuing to be a conduit of funds for various terrorist groups, we now have indications he’s stepped into an operational role. It’s not something we can pin for sure, but he’s apparently funding an assassination attempt in Lebanon, refusing to provide money unless he gets to pick the target. It’s not a direct threat against U.S. interests, but given the unrest over there, pulling him now can only be beneficial.”
The director of the CIA said, “How sound is that intel? From what I’m seeing, about half is just guessing at what’s going on in the Levant.”
Kurt said, “Honestly, not that good. We’ve got a case officer in Lebanon with greater penetration than any of your assets-no offense-but it’s still iffy. We’re putting a team into Syria in the next few days to see if we can regain a handle there, but that’s not a determining factor here. Forget I mentioned the Lebanon assassination angle. Crusty still needs to go. He’s a threat to U.S. national interests. Always has been.”
The SECDEF and DCI sat back, satisfied. President Warren called the vote, and before Kurt knew, it was over. Omega authority. For a target the Taskforce had hunted since its inception. He didn’t want his emotions to show earlier, maybe clouding the vote, but this was personal.
Finally. He wanted to flee the room right there and send the message to the team.
President Warren interrupted his thoughts. “Okay, on to other business. Who’s going to Syria, and when?”
Kurt smiled. “Pike. Well, Pike’s company.”
“I thought his ‘company employees’ were in Tunisia? Taking down Crusty?”
“They are. It should have taken five months to get a visa for Syria, but the Syrian government pushed it through. Pike’s going with Jennifer. The team will catch up. We can’t waste the opportunity. We don’t know when the government will shut down our entry. Nobody else in the U.S. can get in, but Pike’s cover business worked out perfectly. The government itself is actually helping us penetrate.”
“When’s he leave?”
“Uhh…as soon as possible. We got the visas back today. But he doesn’t know he’s deploying yet.”