The Chimera Secret

21

The National Security Agency’s facility at Fort Meade could possibly be described as the most classified intelligence building in the entire world. A parking lot for 18,000 vehicles gave some sense of scale to the operations conducted by this most clandestine of agencies. A huge oblong building in the center was coated with mirrored black windows that reflected the surrounding Maryland hills and likewise shielded its interior from prying eyes, a Pandora’s Box of classified information-gathering so sensitive that it was said that any form of communication, whether verbal or electronic, could be intercepted and eavesdropped by specialists laboring within.

Doug Jarvis strode into a briefing room on the top floor four minutes late for a meeting, the importance of which had been flagged on his internal mail system as ‘Stellar’ by Director Mitchell. When he got into the room, he realized why.

Before him sat the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the United States military’s highest-ranking officers and the men responsible for the overall command of the Army, Navy, Air Force and intelligence community. It wasn’t quite like being summoned by the twelve apostles, but it wasn’t far off either.

Jarvis hesitated before closing the door behind him.

A single spare chair awaited him, which meant that he was the only department head invited to this spectacular display of rank and medals. It was a wonder that the sheer volume of brass wasn’t showing up on the agency’s spy satellites. Heading the table was DIA Director Abraham Mitchell, flanked by the Director of the National Security Agency, Morris Tyler, and CIA Director William Steel. The Chiefs of Staff sat alongside each other on each side of the table, and at the far end was the empty chair.

A dense pall of foreboding fell upon Jarvis’s shoulders as Abraham Mitchell’s voice rumbled like an avalanche of boulders toward him.

‘Jarvis, good of you to join us. Please, take a seat.’

Jarvis kept his back straight and his chin held high as he strode with more confidence than he felt and took his place at the end of the table. Mitchell wasted no time in getting down to business.

‘Your operation has been flagged by the CIA as having flouted a number of pivotal security protocols, during which civilian contracted workers have been exposed to classified projects and data which, if exposed, could lead to serious repercussions.’ Mitchell glared down the table at him. ‘Why?’

‘In order to protect the same interests you have just described,’ Jarvis replied instantly, knowing that to hesitate would seal whatever fate awaited him in this room. The Director was clearly unable to offer Jarvis much room for manoeuvre. ‘Without the intelligence provided, the cases upon which we were working could not have been solved as efficiently as they were. It was a necessary step for which I take full responsibility.’

Mitchell’s features creased into a tight smile. Although Jarvis knew that his boss harboured no ill feeling toward him, the presence of so much high-level muscle left him in no doubt that Mitchell was under pressure. He decided to fight fire with fire.

‘A necessary step,’ Mitchell echoed, ‘which you had no authority to make.’

‘This isn’t about authority,’ Jarvis snapped, provoking a look of surprise on Mitchell’s craggy features. ‘This is about getting the job done with the resources we had available at the time. And I cleared every usage of classified projects with the relevant chief of staff.’

William Steel glanced down the table at him.

‘Those chiefs of staff are no longer on the service record, Mr. Jarvis,’ he said softly but with enough restrained energy to convey force. ‘The list of people you can call in favors from is rapidly shrinking.’

‘I don’t call in favors,’ Jarvis growled back. ‘I do what is required to protect national security. That is what all of us should be doing, not coming here from the CIA and shoving our little noses into piles of bureaucratic crap in order to get brownie points back at the Pentagon.’

William Steel’s eyes flew wide in surprise. Jarvis didn’t wait for the director’s response.

‘Can we stop beating about the bush and get down to the problem here?’ Jarvis asked the Joint Chiefs. ‘I take it that this is about my department’s hiring of Warner & Lopez Inc. to carry out investigations on our behalf?’

‘It is,’ Morris Tyler acknowledged before any of the chiefs could reply. ‘The Department of Defense believes that it is a tactical folly to employ civilians in what should be an internally sourced investigative outfit.’

‘Then the department should look more goddamned carefully at its own charter,’ Jarvis snapped back. ‘All of the intelligence agencies outsource work, even clandestine operations. Every single one of Warner and Lopez’s investigations at the DIA was previously rejected or denied resources by other agencies, including the CIA and FBI, before we picked it up at the DIA. We got results precisely because we were willing to look into things when other agencies were not.’

‘Which is admirable,’ Tyler agreed, ‘but which could still have been internally sourced. Why put these things into the hands of civilians at all?’

‘Budgets,’ Jarvis replied, ‘resources, equipment, time. The logistics of life mean that quite often a case will come up that requires intervention immediately. I put in a call to Director Mitchell for men on the ground and I might be waiting hours before a team can even be confirmed, let alone assembled. With Warner and Lopez, they’re on the spot on demand, and they’re just as reliable as any government agent.’ Jarvis shot a look at William Steel. ‘Sometimes even more so.’

Admiral John Griffiths, Chief of the Navy, leaned forward on the table.

‘We were briefed this morning on the scope of your operations. I know that everybody in this room is aware of the full details of each of these investigations, so I’ll make this simple. Since starting this department of yours, for which I understand you turned down the role of Director-DIA, you’ve overseen investigations into alien remains found in a seven-thousand-year-old tomb in Israel; into immortalized veterans of the Civil War living in seclusion in New Mexico; and the arrest and death of the philanthropist Joaquin Abell, who had used his fortune to build a device capable of seeing into the future. And you put all of this into the hands of a washed-up former marine and a DC detective turned bounty-hunter?’

Jarvis maintained a stern expression.

‘Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I did. And respectively that washed-up former marine and DC detective saved the life of a prominent senator, prevented a serious biological attack on the United Nations and put an end to a takeover of the democratic process of this nation within those investigations. If it weren’t for their efforts, half the population of our planet would have died of a lethal virus by now. What’s wrong with you all? Have they not done enough to prove their worth? Shall I call them and demand that they double their efforts because the CIA’s little puppy dogs think that they can do better?’

William Steel’s tone betrayed no rancour as he replied.

‘No, Mr. Jarvis. Only that they can be more closely monitored and their allegiance assured.’

Jarvis’s eyes narrowed.

‘That’s utter crap and every man around this table knows it. What’s the CIA’s stake here?’

Tyler Morris raised a hand, silencing Steel’s response.

‘Gentlemen, the fact remains that we have a situation here that is best resolved by ensuring a return to more traditional methods. Outsourcing is all well and good for administration purposes, but for sensitive investigations I propose that we require trained, qualified agents to take over within this department of the DIA.’

Jarvis raised an eyebrow at Tyler.

‘The same trained, qualified agents that tossed those same cases aside before we picked them up and solved them?’

‘We’ll review our analysis procedures,’ Tyler Morris rumbled back.

‘Sure you will.’

General Hank Butcher, Chief of the Army, shook his head.

‘What’s your problem with this?’ he asked Jarvis. ‘Why are you so opposed to military influence in your investigations?’

‘Because it’s not influence the CIA wants,’ Jarvis replied. ‘This is about control. They dropped the ball time after time when these investigations came up, passing them off as the stuff of myth and mystery. Now, they see that we’re getting results at the DIA and they’re throwing a hissy fit because they want to play.’

‘That’s not the case,’ William Steel snapped, finally showing his anger. ‘We’re interested only in what you haven’t done, not what you’ve achieved.’

‘Fine,’ Jarvis said. ‘I’ll send Warner and Lopez down to Quantico for some training and get them badged officially to the agency. Satisfied?’

Steel squirmed. Jarvis could see him grinding his teeth in his jaw.

‘No,’ he replied. ‘This operation is over, period.’

‘Is that an order now?’ Jarvis mocked. ‘I thought that in terms of rank you were the smallest fish in the room.’

Abraham Mitchell intervened, his voice quiet but forceful enough to cut through the tension.

‘Doug, for now I think it’s best if we draw this operation to a close until something can be worked out.’

Jarvis looked at Mitchell and slowly shook his head.

‘Y’know, I had you down as pretty solid, Abe. Didn’t realize you’d fold so easily just because the JCs are flashing their pretty medals and ribbons at you.’

‘It’s practicality, not pressure!’ Mitchell growled back. ‘Every man at this table is in basic agreement except you. We can put it to a vote if you like, Doug, make it real fair.’

‘Fair?’ Jarvis uttered. ‘Nothing’s fair when it comes to inter-agency squabbling. I don’t suppose this has gone up as far as the Director of Intelligence, has it?’

‘This is a manpower issue,’ Steel replied. ‘It’s not something we need to off-load on him.’

‘Perish the thought,’ Jarvis said as he looked at the Director of the CIA and got up from his seat. ‘He might disagree and wonder whether the CIA has an ulterior motive for shutting us down, and then what would you do?’

‘Shut you down anyway,’ Steel uttered.

Jarvis shot Mitchell a look of pure contempt. ‘Are we done here?’

Mitchell nodded once, curtly. Jarvis turned, and had almost made it to the door when Steel’s voice reached him.

‘Jarvis. Where are Warner and Lopez right now?’

‘Busy,’ Jarvis said as he opened the office door.

‘Busy where?’

Mitchell looked at Jarvis. ‘Doug, their whereabouts is not a big deal.’

‘Busy in Idaho,’ Jarvis replied finally. ‘Why?’

‘Pull them out, immediately,’ Steel snapped.

‘They’re dark, out of reach,’ Jarvis lied. ‘I’ll pull them out when they make contact, or are we intending to put their lives at risk by going in there and searching for them in plain view of potential enemies of the state?’

Jarvis saw a tremor of unease flicker like a shadow behind the director’s eyes.

‘What are they doing in Idaho?’ Steel demanded.

Jarvis smiled at him, then stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

‘He’s up to something,’ General Butcher said. ‘Had it written all over his face.’

‘He’s supposed to be up to things,’ Mitchell replied defensively. ‘That’s what we pay him for.’

Steel leaned on the table.

‘It’s not his job to risk the exposure of classified projects to—’

‘Oh, cut the crap,’ Mitchell interrupted him. ‘We all know that the CIA just wants to take control of Jarvis’s operation and the credit that goes with it. If you had sharpened up in Israel when Warner first appeared on the scene we wouldn’t be having this conversation.’

‘He’s a liability, a wild card,’ Steel snapped back. ‘He’s got his own mission and he’ll prioritize that before any concerns for national security. Look what happened in Israel — he damned near caused an international incident because he doesn’t know when to stop.’

‘By his own mission, I presume you’re referring to his fiancée, Joanna Defoe?’ Mitchell asked.

‘Warner’s still hung up on her,’ William Steel acknowledged, and then backtracked. ‘But she is irrelevant to this. It’s his attitude and methods that are our problem.’

‘Strange,’ Mitchell said, ‘that you should know so much about a bail bondsman. If I didn’t know better I’d say you’ve been watching him.’

‘Beyond the scope of this discussion,’ Steel muttered.

There was silence for a moment before John Griffiths spoke.

‘Warner’s fitness report from the marines says it all: he’ll either do nothing or he’ll go at something full-on like a bull at a red flag, regardless of orders. From what we’ve seen of his history working with the DIA he’s illegally crossed international borders, blown up apartment blocks, damned near got a senator killed and is now doing God knows what in Idaho. As for his partner, Lopez, I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her.’

‘I’m aware of their volatile nature,’ Mitchell replied to the Joint Chiefs as one. ‘I’m also aware of their extraordinary devotion to their work. They get results where, frankly, other agencies do not.’

‘What are they working on in Idaho?’ Steel asked. ‘Can they be pulled out without Jarvis’s help?’

Steel stared expectantly at Mitchell, who decided to give Jarvis the benefit of the doubt once again, just to see the spook’s irritation.

‘Not if they’re dark,’ Mitchell said. ‘Jarvis requested an armed unit to support them, which I forwarded to the 116th Brigade at Gowen Field. Whatever they’re up to, it needs firepower.’

‘National Guard units are easily tracked,’ Morris Tyler noted. ‘Shouldn’t be too hard to keep them under surveillance, even in the field.’

General Butcher opened his hands palm up on the table. ‘So, what do we do with them?’

Mitchell sighed.

‘I’ll ensure that when they return from this latest expedition Jarvis retires them from operations and revokes any clearances they might have. Beyond that, there’s very little more that I can do.’

‘You can surrender all of the paperwork pertaining to their operations to me,’ Steel said. ‘That way, we can assess what happened and ensure there is no repeat performance when the CIA takes over.’

Every man in the room looked at the CIA director for a long beat before Butcher spoke.

‘What’s the big deal?’ he asked. ‘You’ve already got what you want. Where’s the fire?’

Steel hesitated, as though unsure of whether to address the question or not.

‘Covert ops,’ he replied finally. ‘There’s a danger that Warner’s work in one area might uncover CIA investigations in another. It’ll be a lot easier for us all if Warner’s out of sight and out of mind.’

Mitchell leaned forward on the table. ‘What investigations?’ he demanded.

‘There are no secrets at this level,’ John Griffiths said to Steel, ‘unless the CIA are up to something that Congress doesn’t know about, which I’m sure they would be most displeased to hear.’

Steel stood from the table and made his way to the door without replying. He opened it just as Abraham Mitchell spoke again.

‘Interesting, that you have gone to such great lengths to protect a covert CIA op when you didn’t actually know where Ethan Warner and Nicola Lopez were. Or did you?’

Steel made no reply as he closed the door behind him.