Foreign Agent

CHAPTER 47

President Porter waited until everyone else had left the Situation Room and then had Reed Carlton escorted down from upstairs. CIA Director McGee and Deputy Director Ryan were the only people who had been asked to remain behind.

When they were all seated at the conference table, the President asked, “So what does everyone think?”

Carlton spoke first. “I think it’s doable. Harvath has operated multiple times in Syria.”

“While augmented by Peshmerga fighters,” Porter clarified.

“Yes, sir. That’s correct.”

“So he wasn’t one hundred percent on his own.”

“No, sir.”

“The Agency has a pretty reliable network of locals,” McGee offered. “We can plug him in.”

The President looked at him. “What does pretty reliable mean?”

“For Syria it means the best you’re going to get.”

“Meaning the best that money can buy.”

The CIA Director nodded.

“What about inserting a team with him?”

“One white guy,” Ryan replied, “one set of problems. Many white guys? Many problems.”

“But it could be done.”

“Anything is possible. Yes, sir.”

Porter looked back at Carlton. “Obviously, I have concerns and would feel better knowing someone had his back. Ultimately, though, this is your call. He’s your man.”

Carlton appreciated the President’s candor. “Thank you, Mr. President. It’s undoubtedly a trade-off, but I think the smaller the footprint, the better. I know he’d tell you that too.”

Porter gave one last push. “This won’t be like Berlin. We’re talking about one of the GRU’s top people. Harvath won’t have any reliable backup in Damascus.”

“Correct. This won’t be like Berlin. But we’re going to have something we didn’t have there.”

“What’s that?”

“Bait.”

The President leaned back in his chair as he weighed his options. It was not an easy task. There was no instruction manual that came with this job. No index that directed you to page y when faced with crisis x.

When trouble came, it seemed to come pounding down all at once, like a hailstorm, or, more aptly — like a tidal wave.

He had kept his circle to just the people with him in the room right now. He couldn’t trust anyone else. Not with something this sensitive, and not while the leak was still unidentified.

Which made the President ask McGee, “How are you going to plug Harvath into the Agency’s network in Syria without any of this getting leaked?”

It was a fair question and one that the CIA Director had already anticipated. “Eyewash,” he replied.

“Eyewash?”

“We’ll put out a memo into a few of our internal channels that says we have reason to believe that multiple CIA intelligence sources in Syria have been compromised. Until further notice, reporting from any Syrian sources is to be considered suspect.

“If the Russians do get ahold of the information, it’ll leave them with the impression that we’re in disarray when it comes to Syria. It’ll also create some smoke for Harvath. If it gets reported that he’s in Syria, the report will automatically be suspect.

“And just to keep them guessing, we’ll distribute a second memo to an even tighter circle higher up the food chain. That memo will put everyone on notice that we’re sending in specialists to assess all of Syrian sources and that it’s to be kept absolutely quiet.”

“Won’t your people resent being lied to like that?” Porter asked.

“Not as much as I’ll resent having to do it. But in the intelligence game, sometimes it has to be done.”

Carlton and Ryan both nodded in agreement.

“And what about the leak itself?”

“We’re still working it from our end. But at this point, Harvath may end up being our best chance to uncover it.”

“Meaning he gets a name,” the President replied.

“A name, an email address, a cell phone number. I’d be content just to know what kind of shampoo the guy uses. At least that would be a start. Because right now, we really don’t have anything.”

Porter didn’t like hearing it, but that was the situation. The people he was looking at were not paid to lie to him. “And what about the second half of Harvath’s proposed operation?”

“Obviously, that will depend on how successful he is in Damascus,” Carlton replied.

Ryan then added, “Suffice to say that if Damascus goes sideways, we’re not going to be left with any choice.”

The President let that sink in for a moment. A silence fell over the room. Finally, he said, “Then we’d better do everything we can and hope like hell that he’s successful.”