Operation Barracuda

7

Colonel Irving Lambert had a bad feeling about the upcoming meeting. Senator Janice Coldwater had called it, which wasn’t a good sign. In Lambert’s opinion, the good senator was trouble. As the head of a small group of Washington, D.C., officials known by its members as “the Committee,” she had the power to tell him and other high-ranking military and intelligence officers what to do.

Lambert felt the burden of his age as he walked down the corridor toward the designated conference room in the Pentagon. The fact that the meeting was being held in the center of all-things-military was also foreboding. He would be facing his counterparts in the other governmental intelligence organizations, as well as the politicians who made the big decisions involving Third Echelon’s administrative and budgetary requirements.

Having been in the military intel business since he was a young man, Lambert was well connected in Washington. He could request — and receive — an audience with the president if he wanted. He could initiate covert operations that no one else in the U.S. government knew about — or needed to know about. He often held America’s security in his hands — something else that wasn’t widely known or appreciated. And yet despite all this, Lambert often felt as if he were the bottom of the bureaucratic totem pole. His colleagues in the FBI and CIA received more respect. The military commanders looked down their noses at him. Only a handful of Congress members knew he existed.

It was no secret that Third Echelon was hanging on to threads. The past year, while productive in terms of crushing certain threats aimed at U.S. interests, had proved disastrous in terms of manpower and cost. The Shop had eliminated several Splinter Cells. How the Shop had obtained the agents’ names was still a mystery. Lambert had been ordered to find the leak and plug it up. To date he had been unsuccessful.

Lambert entered the room and was thankful that he wasn’t the last to arrive. Senator Coldwater was already in her seat at the head of the table. She gave Lambert a curt nod and went back to the notes she was studying. An easel, covered by a drape, stood at the head of the room next to the senator.

U.S. Navy admiral Thomas Colgan sat to her left. He stared into a cup of coffee, obviously concerned about something. Next to him was a man Lambert didn’t know. He appeared to be a civilian — a brainy type with mechanical pencils in his shirt pocket. He was the only one who had removed his jacket and draped it over his chair. Lambert could see that the guy was nervous to be there.

Assistant FBI director Darrell Blake sat to the senator’s right. He, too, ignored Lambert and continued to look at printouts that lay in front of him. The head of the National Security Agency and Lambert’s boss, Howard Lewis, was the only one who smiled at Lambert. He sat away from the others, holding a seat open. The colonel squeezed Lewis’s shoulder and sat beside him.

“How’s it going?” Lambert whispered to his boss.

“We’ll see,” Lewis whispered back. Lambert rubbed the top of his graying crewcut, something he did involuntarily when he was anxious.

The other people in the room consisted of Homeland Security representatives, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the DEA, and a handful of other military and political advisers.

The Committee was a top secret think tank put together by the president to tackle classified issues and to police clandestine organizations within the government. Third Echelon fell into this category. The only people in Washington who knew Third Echelon existed, other than the president and vice president, were in the conference room. No one was really supposed to know about Third Echelon. The NSA’s function as the nation’s cryptologic establishment was to coordinate, direct, and perform highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence reports. Since it was on the edge of communications and data processing, the NSA was naturally a very high-tech operation.

For decades the NSA engaged in what was called “passive” collection of moving data by intercepting communications en route. The First Echelon was a worldwide network of international intelligence agencies and interceptors that seized communications signals and routed them back to the NSA for analysis. It was a network vital to the United States’ efforts during the Cold War. As the Soviet Union disintegrated and communications evolved, high technology became the name of the game. The NSA created Second Echelon, which focused entirely on this new breed of communications technology. Unfortunately, the immense volume of information combined with the accelerated pace of developing technology and encryption overwhelmed Second Echelon. NSA experienced its first systemwide crash. As communications became more digital, and sophisticated encryption more expansive, passive collection was simply no longer efficient. So the NSA launched the top secret initiative known as Third Echelon to return to more “classical” methods of espionage powered by the latest technology for the aggressive collection of stored data. As Lambert thought of it, Third Echelon went back to the nitty-gritty world of human spies out there in the field, risking their lives for the sake of taking a photograph or recording a conversation or copying a computer’s hard drive. The agents — the Splinter Cells — physically infiltrated dangerous and sensitive locations to gather the required intelligence by whatever means necessary. That said, the Splinter Cell’s prime directive was to do the job while remaining invisible to the public eye. They were authorized to work outside the boundaries of international treaties, but the U.S. government would neither acknowledge nor support the operations.

When CIA head Morris Cooper entered the room, Lambert groaned inwardly. He and Cooper always seemed to be at loggerheads.

“Sorry I’m late,” Cooper said. “Traffic in the hallways was thicker than usual.”

No one seemed to appreciate that Cooper was attempting humor. He shrugged and sat across from Lewis and Lambert.

“Now that we’re all here,” Senator Coldwater began, “I’d like to start with some budgetary concerns and get that out of the way before we talk about the new business at hand.” Then she looked at the two NSA representatives. “Mr. Lewis and Colonel Lambert, the Committee members have been going over the budget that handles the various agencies and organizations involved in our nation’s security. As you know, this includes Homeland Security, several antiterrorism task forces, and other classified groups within the FBI and CIA. I’m afraid that the NSA is high on the list for a reduction in funding because some headway must be made somewhere.”

Lewis shifted in his seat and Lambert felt his stomach lurch.

“You’re talking about Third Echelon?” Lambert asked.

“Yes.”

Lambert cleared his throat. “With all due respect, Senator, might I remind the Committee of what Third Echelon has accomplished since its inception. In the last year alone we stopped a major conflict in the Middle East that would have brought disaster to Israel. We completely destroyed the terrorist organization known as the Shadows. We’ve run the illegal arms-dealing entity known as the Shop out of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. You can’t say that we haven’t done our jobs. Our plans for the future will make our little group even more effective. For example, we’re expanding our Field Runner program. These support agents travel with Splinter Cells to sites of operations and provide much-needed back-watching.”

The senator nodded. “The Committee appreciates what Third Echelon has accomplished, Colonel. But I’m concerned about Third Echelon’s record of losing Splinter Cells. It’s very high, considering there aren’t very many of them. In the last year you lost how many? Three? Four?”

“That was because the Shop had the names. We’ve discussed this in Committee meetings before, Senator. A leak—”

“And you’ve had nearly a year to find that leak,” Cooper said. “What is it you’re doing over there in that little building of yours?”

“Well, Morris, we’re not just pulling our puds,” Lambert said. Cooper snorted and Lewis nudged the colonel to cool it.

The senator continued. “Colonel, the cost to recruit, train, and pay one single Splinter Cell is immense. Losing one in the field amounts to the military losing a handful of million-dollar missiles. I must also point out that the operations in the Middle East you mentioned did not occur without some public knowledge. The whole point of Third Echelon was to perform its tasks without any evidence of its actions. The business in the Middle East last year was very messy. People were killed. Governments knew you were there. The president was placed in a very uncomfortable position.”

Lambert took a deep breath and said, “All I can say is that the results were solid. Our goals were accomplished and we prevented worldwide catastrophe. I’m sorry if the president had to tell a couple of white lies.”

Lewis nudged Lambert again. The colonel continued. “As for the leak, we’re doing everything we can. I’d like to remind everyone that the only people that know of Third Echelon’s existence are the small group of employees working under me, the president and vice president, and the people in this room.”

Morris Cooper leaned forward. “Is that some kind of accusation, Lambert? You think one of us—?”

“Gentlemen, please,” Senator Coldwater said. “No one’s blaming anyone in here.”

Lambert took a breath and continued. “I have a man tracking down the Shop’s known directors as we speak. We have successfully identified them and we are hot on their trails.”

“I’m happy to hear that, Colonel,” Cooper said.

Darrell Blake came to Lambert’s defense. “The FBI is looking for these men as well. What’s the CIA doing?”

“Oh, we’re on the lookout, don’t you worry,” Cooper said. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms.

Senator Coldwater nodded. “Fine. At any rate, gentlemen, nothing has been decided yet. The budget is still being broken down and analyzed. Colonel, I will take your words under advisement. Let’s move on.” She then nodded at Admiral Colgan.

The naval officer cleared his throat and spoke. “Senator Coldwater, gentlemen, thank you for allowing me and my colleague, Charles Kay — you all know Charlie, the director of SeaStrike Technologies?”

Some of them shook their heads. Lambert had heard of him but never met the man. SeaStrike Technologies was a subsidiary of a major defense corporation that researched and developed tools and weaponry for the U.S. Navy.

“SeaStrike Technologies has been working with the navy for several years now on our MRUUV project. You’re all familiar with that.”

Lambert nodded. So that was what this was about. The MRUUV program had been initiated by the Naval Sea Systems Command to research and develop the technology necessary to create a Mission-Reconfigurable Unmanned Undersea Vehicle — the MRUUV — capable of being launched from the twenty-one-inch torpedo tube that is standard on all U.S. Navy submarines. The last Lambert had heard about the project was that SeaStrike was close to realizing its completion.

“Charlie, why don’t you tell everyone what you came here to say?” Colgan asked.

Kay nervously pulled on his shirt collar and then spoke with the clarity of a scientist. “At the heart of the MRUUV project is that it’s the evolutionary development of the tube-launched long-range mine reconnaissance system, or the LMRS. We intend for it to be launched from a Virginia-class or Los Angeles-class attack submarine for clandestine ISR, as well as mine neutralization and tactical ocean survey.”

Lambert’s interest perked up. ISR stood for “intelligence collection, surveillance, and reconnaissance”—just the stuff that was Third Echelon’s expertise.

Kay stood and moved to the covered easel. He removed the drape to reveal a rendering of a sleek, tubular rod with various sensors and probes sticking out of it.

“This is our MRUUV,” he said. “It is mission-reconfigurable and offers advantages over single-mission UUVs because submarine torpedo spaces are too small to carry separate twenty-one-inch UUVs for each mission. By reconfiguring sensor packages and other mission payloads on the UUV either inside the submarine or at a support facility ashore, the mission payload can be optimized for the submarine’s overall mission.” Kay pointed to the rendering with his pencil. “The Flight 1 MRUUV has a diameter of twenty-one inches and weighs approximately twenty-eight hundred pounds. It will capitalize on the BLQ-11 long-range mine reconnaissance system to provide an initial ISR capability for current SSNs. It’s operated from its mother sub and it communicates directly to the sub or indirectly via satellite communications with other nodes. The system uses its mother sub’s navigation systems for mission planning and is capable of receiving mission updates from the Global Positioning System. The real beauty about it is that the MRUUV can use modular payloads that can be swapped out.”

Kay turned and then smiled at everyone in the room. “And I’m happy to say that our prototype is complete and ready for testing.”

There were some murmurs of congratulations but no applause.

“So let me get this straight,” Cooper said. Kay turned his attention to the CIA man. “You’re telling us that thing can carry weapons? We could put a nuclear device on it and deliver it to a coastal city with utmost discretion?”

“Theoretically, yes,” Kay answered.

“Then that’s pretty sharp,” Cooper said.

“Yes, we’re all pleased with how it turned out.” Kay returned to his seat. “We’re hoping that the test runs can commence as soon as possible.”

Admiral Colgan regained the floor. “That said, we’ve come here to alert the Committee that tests cannot commence due to what may be a serious security breach with regard to the MRUUV program.”

The rest of the group waited for the admiral to continue. Colgan eyed Kay again and nodded.

Kay cleared his throat and swallowed. “The problem is that the lead physicist on the project, Professor Gregory Jeinsen, has been missing for a week. He didn’t report for work last Monday. When an investigation was made, Professor Jeinsen was nowhere to be found.”

“I’ve never heard of this Jeinsen,” Morris Cooper said. “Who is he?”

Colgan answered. “Professor Jeinsen is an East German scientist who defected to the U.S. in the early seventies. He’s worked for the Pentagon in various capacities but mostly in weapons development.”

“I knew him personally,” Kay said. “And worked side by side with him, of course. He’s an honest and brilliant man. An American citizen.”

“And what’s been done to find him?” Cooper asked.

“The D.C. police searched his apartment. It looked completely normal. It appeared that Professor Jeinsen had simply got out of bed one morning, left the place, and never returned. His things are still there. Nothing is missing, as far as the police can tell. If there’s a suitcase or some clothes gone, it’s difficult to say. The police have a missing persons bulletin out on him but there are no clues yet.”

Darrell Blake spoke up. “Our agency was alerted two days after the professor didn’t show up for work. The FBI is now on the case and is looking into every possibility. We can’t rule out that Professor Jeinsen met with some kind of foul play. I’m afraid it’s beginning to look like that is what indeed has happened.”

“You mean he’s been kidnapped?” Lewis asked.

Blake shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Colgan continued. “What troubles us is not only the good professor’s safety but also the fact that Professor Jeinsen had complete access to the MRUUV program. He was the man in charge of it. If the professor happens to find himself in enemy hands, well, the results could compromise our work on the project. It could be a very serious blow to our defense strategies.”

The senator spoke next. “Thank you, gentlemen. A file has been prepared on the professor. You will all receive copies before we leave here today. I’d like all of you to look into this. The FBI is already doing what they can. I want the CIA and NSA to give this situation top priority. This is an order that comes from the president himself. Find Professor Jeinsen.”