The Red Syndrome (17 page)

ext morning, as soon as I entered my office and turned on my monitor, I saw a message from Hodson: There would be an urgent
meeting at 9:00 A.M. Attendance was mandatory. As I walked into
the conference room, I saw Laura looking at a big board. Twenty other
people were already there talking in a low voice. Tension was in the air.
The top line written in bold letters read:

MAJOR TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST U.S. TARGETS

Below was a list. Some we'd already forgotten:

• September 11, 2001: Four hijacked commercial airlines are
slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field
in Pennsylvania, killing 3,020 people, injuring 2,337. Al Qaeda
claims responsibility.

• August 7, 1998: Terrorist bombs destroy the U.S. embassies in
Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In Nairobi, 12
Americans and 270 other nationals are killed and more than 5,000
are wounded, including 6 Americans. In Dar es Salaam, i U.S. citizen is wounded, io people are killed, and 77 are injured.

• June 21, 1998: Rocket-propelled grenades explode near the U.S.
embassy in Beirut.

• July 27, 1996: A pipe bomb explodes during the Olympic Games
in Atlanta, killing i person and wounding u1.

• June 25, 1996: A bomb aboard a fuel truck explodes outside a U.S.
Air Force installation in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Nineteen U.S.
military personnel are killed in the Khubar Towers housing
facility, and 515 are wounded, including 240 Americans.

• November 13,1995: A car bomb in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, kills 7
people, 5 of them American military and civilian advisers for
National Guard training. The Tigers of the Gulf, Islamist
Movement for Change, and Fighting Advocates of God claim
responsibility.

• February 1993: A bomb in a van explodes in the underground
parking garage in New York's World Trade Center, killing 6
people and wounding 1,042.

• December 21, 1988: A bomb destroys Pan Am Flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people aboard are killed, including
189 Americans, as well as i1 people on the ground.

• April 1986: An explosion damages a TWA flight before landing
in Athens, Greece. Four people are killed.

• April 5, 1986: A bomb explodes in the LaBelle discotheque in
West Berlin. One American and i German are killed; 15o are
wounded, including 44 Americans.

• December 18,1985: Simultaneous suicide attacks against U.S. and
Israeli airline check-in desks at Rome and Vienna international
airports. Twenty people are killed.

• November 24, 1985: Hijackers aboard an Egypt Air flight kill i
American. Egyptian forces later storm the aircraft in Malta. Sixty
people are killed.

• October 7,1985: Palestinian terrorists hijack the cruise linerAchille
Lauro. Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly, wheelchair-bound American,
is murdered and thrown overboard.

• August 8, 1985: A car bomb at a U.S. military base in Frankfurt,
Germany, explodes, killing z and injuring 20.

• June 19, 1985: In San Salvador, El Salvador, 13 people are killed in
a machine-gun attack in an outdoor cafe, including 4 U.S.
Marines and z American businessmen.

• April 12,1985: A bomb explodes in a restaurant near a U.S. air base
in Madrid, Spain, killing 18, all Spaniards, and wounding 8z,
including 15 Americans.

• November 1984: A bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Bogota,
Colombia, kills a passerby.

• September zo, 1984: A truck bomb explodes outside the U.S.
embassy annex in Aukar, northeast of Beirut. The ambassador is
injured and 24 people are killed, including two U.S. military
personnel.

• March 16,1984: CIA Beirut station chief William Buckley is kidnapped by militant Islamic extremists in Lebanon. He dies after
prolonged torture. His body is found on December 27, 1991, in
southern Beirut.

• December 12, 1983: Shiite extremists bomb the French and U .S.
embassies in Kuwait, killing 6 and injuring over 8o people. The suspects are members of al-Dawa, a terrorist group supported by Iran.

• October 23, 1983: A suicide car bomb attack against the U.S.
Marine barracks in Beirut kills 241 servicemen. A simultaneous
attack on a French base kills 58 paratroopers.

• April 18, 1983: A suicide car bombing against the U.S. embassy in
Beirut kills 63, including 17 Americans.

• November 4, 1979: Fundamentalist Islamist students take 52
Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran.

• June 14, zooz: Car bomb at U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan,
kills 12.

Laura and the others gazed at the list. She turned to me when she saw
me approaching. "What's going on here? Why is that list displayed?" she
mumbled in surprise and trepidation as she leaned against the bare wall.

"Beats me," I said, and then it hit me. The documents obtained during
the search must have been analyzed. Put together the deciphered messages, the huge money transfers, and Lipinsky's homicide and we apparently had one huge national security crisis on our plate.

Bob Hodson walked into the conference room together with four other
men, all in dark blue business suits.

"DC guys," said Laura.

I looked at Hodson's face. I had come to know him a bit during the past
few weeks. He looked somber and serious.

"Please be seated," he said. "There has been a major development. As a
result of recent combined intelligence and investigation efforts of this task force and several other U.S. federal agencies, the scope of our investigation has been broadened. Although the money-laundering mission of
this task force continues to be within our charter, a priority is now given
to issues of national security. The FBI director and the secretary of
Homeland Security have received the president's instruction to allocate
all available means and personnel to crack this impending crisis."

"What is he talking about?" whispered Laura, standing so close to me
I could almost hear her accelerated heartbeat.

"I don't know. But those charts are probably connected to what he's
about to tell us."

Bob Hodson cleared his throat and continued, "The things I am about
to tell you are top secret, I repeat top secret. By that I mean both vertical
and lateral confidentiality. All fresh intel you will collect or analyze, you
will deny up or down the chain of command, including your peer groups,
unless they appear on the disclose list. Reporting will be made only
through direct channels to me. Do I make myself clear?" He looked
around; a hum of acceptance was sounded.

Hodson continued, "We have credible information that a terrorist
organization calling itself the Slaves of Allah is planning to launch a massive attack against the United States. Their first target may be Manhattan.
The information we have indicates that they have been using coded messages sent to Eagle Bank of New York to transfer money to an Austrian
bank to purchase carriers for materials, which we suspect are biological or
chemical, to be used on U.S. soil. Therefore, from now on, the top priority
of the Task Force will be to assist the investigation of that threat.

"Investigation outside the country will be carried out by other arms of
the U.S. government, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, National
Security Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency. The secretary of
Homeland Security and the attorney general have already coordinated
with the directors of these agencies, who in turn have sent their representatives to the task force to liaise with us."

The audience was very quiet, looking at Hodson.

"Now, in case you're wondering why this chart is displayed" - he
pointed at the wall - "you all know you are here to discuss terrorist activity, but I wanted these events to be displayed as a reminder that we are not
dealing with threats. We have enemies that have shown they can cause
serious and painful casualties. Let us not give them another opportunity."

At this point, Hodson shifted gears. Without looking at me or Laura,
he went on to say that two members of the task force, acting on their own
initiative, had cracked two of the ciphered messages sent to Eagle Bank.
Normally, of course, he wouldn't approve of such a flagrant breach of the
chain of command - particularly since one of the members had actually
physically removed the messages from this office - and a conduct review
would be forthcoming. This aside, he still wanted to thank Dan Gordon
of the Justice Department and Laura Higgins of Homeland Security for
their breakthroughs, which now enabled the task force to vigorously confront these dangers.

All eyes were turned to me and Laura. I felt uncomfortable with the
attention, but I cherished the moment - well, thirty seconds. Hodson
continued, "The task force is therefore being reorganized to face the new
challenges. The old teams are disbanded. From now on there will be three
working groups. The first group will continue with the original mission
of the task force. Look for the source of the money transfers into Eagle
Bank; identify any violations of U.S. laws and any suspects. The members
of this group are Jim Lion, Laura Higgins, Peter Vasquez, and Dan
Gordon. The second group will coordinate intelligence efforts, both
receiving and distributing. The third group will oversee international
activities, including liaison with foreign intelligence services, and will
include representatives from the CIA, the Justice Department, FBI, and
NSA. All teams shall report to me only." He listed the new rosters, then
continued, "Forget your old allegiances. I will conduct separate daily
briefing sessions with each group, starting with Group One at thirteen
hundred hours, followed by Group Two at fourteen thirty, and finally
Group Three at seventeen hundred. Any questions?"

Jim Lion raised his hand. "Bob, what is the defined role of the task
force in its new form?"

"Mainly coordination," stated Hodson. "All U.S. law enforcement,
intelligence, and military agencies have been instructed by the president to give top priority to this imminent danger to the United States. The
task force will participate in these efforts. Your job is to bring me all the
information your particular agency develops and, following my
approval, include it in the pool of info we will be collecting here. You
will also suggest-I repeat, suggest-potential investigative operations
with the aim of gathering additional intelligence to protect the United
States. If and when approved, specific orders will follow.

"Any more questions?" Hodson was visibly relieved when no one spoke
up. "Dismissed."

High politics was not Hodson's forte. Let him chase crooks, drug
dealers, or gun smugglers and he beamed; put him on a case where he
needed to know what's going on outside the United States and he was lost.

The news was not good - at least for me. How would I endure an
assignment that kept me at a standstill while the other guys got all the
action?

As I returned to my makeshift office, Lan called from my office in
Midtown. "There's a Mr. Ben Friedman on the line; he says that he needs
to talk to you urgently."

"Sure, put him through," I said. "Benny, what's up?"

"Dan, I'm in New York. We need to talk. Today if possible."

His tone worried me. What had happened to the lighthearted guy I
knew?

"Where are you?" I asked.

"At the Hilton. Fifty-third and Sixth."

"Meet me at the bar. I'll be there in about thirty minutes, depending
on traffic, and how crazy my cabdriver is." I hadn't seen Benny for a year.
I hoped he hadn't changed, that he was still the easygoing professional
with impressive but publicly unknown credentials. In our line of work,
very few people know about your capabilities and achievements. Soldiers
display decorations on their uniform; what could a spy agency executive
like Benny have to show for his pains? Only his failures were reported in
the media.

I arrived at the Hilton bar first. A minute later I saw Benny approaching
with a gloomy-looking man in his late forties, unfashionably dressed in a tweed jacket and plaid shirt. Benny looked the same as always, tall, heavy,
with intelligent brown eyes. Only his mustache had grayed a tad. He was
wearing a baseball cap, the custom for observant Jews outside Israel,
replacing his knit yarmulke so as not to attract attention - a particularly
important objective for Benny.

"This is Gideon, from the Office." Benny introduced the man standing
next to him, using the code name for the Mossad. "Let's go up to my room."

Once we got out of the elevator on the twenty-seventh floor, we followed Benny through the long corridor leading to his room. He opened
the curtains to a magnificent view of Central Park.

"Dan, we need help," he said.

"Only if it's legal and ethical. If it's fattening, however, I might reconsider."

Benny didn't smile. Bad sign.

"We have two missing operatives in Europe," he said somberly.

"And?"

"We need help finding them."

"Tried to go to my management? Not that I'm ducking the request. But
the Mossad has a liaison officer in Washington precisely for matters of
cooperation such as this one."