Target America

65

Flanked by a pair of security officers, CIA Director of Operations George Shroyer and Deputy Director Cletus Webb walked into the computer lab, where Pope was still sifting through the data he had pulled from Kashkin’s hard drive.

Pope looked up from his computer and smiled. “Have you come to revoke my clearances, George?”

Shroyer shook his head. “No, not yet.” He signaled the two security men to wait outside in the hallway. “But that’s coming. I just spoke with the president. He’s grateful for what you’ve done to help us track the bomb to DC, but he’s decided the time has come for you to think about retiring from government service. The reason we’re here is to begin your debrief.”

Pope glanced at the clock on the wall. “Debrief at two o’clock in the morning, George?”

“Well, frankly, Bob, we’re all a little nervous about what else you might be up to.”

Pope looked at Webb and smiled. “Are you nervous, Cletus?”

Webb shook his head, returning the smile. “No, Bob. I’m your biggest fan, but the president is right. You’ve taken things too far; you’ve become a loose cannon.”

“The loose-cannon metaphor implies that I’m equally dangerous to both sides, and that’s not true.”

“You’re right. Poor choice of words.”

Shroyer cleared his throat. “DOD is moving the ISIS machine into downtown DC as we speak. It’ll begin sweeping the city within the hour. So we’re very confident.”

The ISIS was the Integrated Standoff Inspection System specifically designed to detect SNM (special nuclear material, such as plutonium and certain types of uranium) at a distance. The multimillion-dollar machine was enclosed within a fifty-three-foot trailer towed behind a semi-tractor. It worked by aiming gamma rays at containers suspected of holding SNM. These rays of high-energy photons penetrated the suspect container and excited the radioactive particles within the nuclear material by inducing a reaction called photofission. The result was a burst of high-energy particles that could be detected by the ISIS up to a hundred meters away. However, the machine’s primary application was scanning shipping containers from overseas.

“The ISIS is a good machine,” Pope said, “but it’s untested in this type of application. It wasn’t designed to search a cityscape for shielded weapons.”

“DTRA says it can do the job,” Shroyer said. DTRA was the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, under the egis of the Department of Defense.

Pope crossed his arms. “I guess we’ll see. It is all we’ve got.”

“The president wants you to explain to me exactly what you meant when you told him you’d gained access to the Chinese Ministry of State Security.”

Pope rocked back. “That information is for the president’s ear.”

“In this instance, he and I are the same person. We can call him if you think I’m making that up.”

Pope knew the time had come to play his final ace. “Over the last few years, I’ve allowed Lijuan to share sensitive material with the Chinese; nothing that would give them a technical advantage but enough to make them confident in the material and to keep them coming back to her for more.”

“What kind of sensitive material?”

“Communications software, passcodes, access to a CIA mainframe here and there.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Shroyer flared. “That’s high treason!”

Pope looked back and forth between them and smiled. “Try proving that, George.”

“What?”

“I said try proving it. You’ll never even figure out what information was shared, much less how it was done.”

“Oh, no? We’ll just see what Lijuan Chow has to say about that. She’s being held as a terrorist. Did you know that? Her life in prison can be particularly miserable.”

Pope felt sick to his stomach. “When was the last time anyone spoke with Lijuan? Is she under constant observation? Or is she alone in a cell?”

“What does that mean?”

Pope shrugged. “It’s just a question.”

Shroyer looked at Webb. “Call the detention center and make sure she’s being kept under observation.”

Webb left the room.

Shroyer turned on Pope, pointing a finger. “You’re going to wind up in prison right alongside her if you don’t watch your step. Do you realize that?”

Pope shook his head. “No, George. I’m going stay right where I am, and I’m going to keep right on helping defend this country — just as I have for the last ten years.”

Shroyer shook his head. “You’ve lost your damn mind. Do you really think that box of secret files you have is going to save you?”

Pope stared at him for a long, unnerving moment. “Have you ever seen any secret files, George? Have you ever even heard of me threatening anybody with one? Or have you heard all of the same innuendos as everyone else?”

Shroyer blinked.

“I’m going to stay right where I am because I’ve given this agency access to the Chinese Guojia Anquan Bu mainframe. That means we can read their mail now, George, and we can read it in real time. Hell, I’m more likely to end up with your job than I am to end up in prison.”

Shroyer knew that if Pope was telling the truth, the president would have no choice but to keep him around. The country couldn’t afford to lose his knowledge of the Chinese intelligence network. “How in hell did you manage it?”

“I allowed the Chinese to steal a communications program they thought was designed for one of our own defense systems. Lijuan passed it on to them, having no idea that I’d written the program specifically for the Chinese — or that I’d written in a very complicated series of back doors.”

“They’ll eventually find them and take them out — or discard the program altogether.”

Pope shook his head. “They didn’t even examine the programming; they put it directly into service. They stopped being suspicious of Lijuan’s material a long time ago because I kept it so pristine. I had to give up some very valuable information to gain that kind of confidence, but in the end it’s going to be worth it.”

Shroyer gaped at him. “It’s you! You’re the one who’s been leaking intel to the Chinese these past ten years.”

“Again,” Pope said, “try proving it.”

Webb returned. “Lijuan was found dead in her bunk half an hour ago. The doctor at the detention center thinks it was cyanide.”

Appearing suddenly ill, Pope removed his glasses and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk.

Webb look at him with more empathy than anger. “Did you know, Bob?”

Pope massaged the bridge of his nose. “I had a very strong suspicion.”

“And you didn’t think to warn us?” Shroyer asked accusatorily.

Pope ignored him.

“I asked you a question, Robert.”

Pope’s response was eerily soft. “It was necessary for her to die… this way, she can’t ever be interrogated, and the Chinese will remain confident in the integrity of the information she passed on to them — all in accordance with my original plan.”

“Jesus, you’re a ruthless bastard,” Shroyer muttered.

Pope looked at him. “Do you know China’s greatest advantage over the rest of the world? Aside from their massive population.”

Shroyer stared.

“It’s their patience, George. They are an infinitely patient people. And patience is the very bedrock of wisdom. They’re looking to take over the world, and it doesn’t matter to them if it takes another hundred years. Their sole weakness is their intellectual arrogance, and that’s what I took advantage of. I took advantage of it by making a deal with the devil in exchange for my soul, and I did it because something had to be done to buy this nation time.”

“Time for what?”

“Time to realize that we’ve grown lazy… that laziness is a prelude to weakness… and that we need to make some fundamental changes to the way things are run.”