Black Flagged Redux

Chapter 17





3:00 PM

The Pentagon

Washington, D.C.

Director Frederick Shelby nodded to the marine colonel who held the door open for him and stepped inside the conference room. The stoic marine had met him at the VIP entrance and escorted him through an abbreviated security check. They had spent the next ten minutes navigating the building in silence, which apparently suited both of them. The tight-faced Colonel turned to him once to announce that they were approaching the Plans Section and that everyone had been assembled. Shelby considered breaking his own silence to offer the marine a job with the FBI. He could think of several ineffective jabber-jaws that this man could replace.

The first thing he noticed in the room was a blonde woman in a dark gray suit. She was seated next to a rather fishy-looking man wearing a tan suit jacket over a light blue dress shirt, which was missing a tie. He immediately assessed this man as White House representation.

"Director Shelby, it's an honor and a privilege. I saved you a seat here," Major General Bob Kearney said, who stood up and shook his hand.

Once the director was seated, General Kearney addressed the group.

"We'll make a quick round of introductions. I think we have everyone we might need to proceed with the information presented by Director Shelby." He nodded to the admiral to his right.

The admiral introduced himself. "Rear Admiral Mark DeSantos. I head the DoD's Strategic Support Branch, which is the successor program to the joint DIA and DoD venture created by General Sanderson in the early nineties."

Shelby noted the golden "trident" and naval parachutist wings perched above an impressive row of ribbons on the stocky man's dark blue uniform. His light brown hair was notably longer than any of the other uniformed men in the room, and he appeared relaxed in his seat, wearing a skeptical look on his tanned face.

"Lieutenant General Frank Gordon. Commander, Joint Special Operations Command," said an imposing hulk of a man on the opposite side of the table.

To Shelby, the man looked like a bodybuilder who had accidentally borrowed the wrong outfit. His dark green uniform bristled with insignia that baffled Shelby and stood in contrast to the crisp Navy uniform design. Still, the sheer volume of brushed silver pins and colorful ribbons led Shelby to the same conclusion as the SEAL admiral. They'd seen some serious shit. The next man looked downright frightening.

"Brigadier General Lawrence Nichols, Marine Corps Special Forces Command."

The general's facial skin was so tight and weathered that he oddly resembled a skeleton. His dark blue eyes burned through Shelby who, for the first time in ages, felt uncomfortable. He didn't need to examine the marine's uniform to know that he had seen his share of worldly violence and had stood at the serving end of that table.

The director shifted his gaze to the two civilians at the table. The smarmy civilian dressed in business casual spoke ahead of turn, cutting off the severe-looking woman, who immediately raised an eyebrow and flashed a strained smile.

"Gerald Simmons. Call me Gerry. Assistant secretary for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Capabilities. I'm SECDEF's principal advisor on these matters. If I say it's a go, it's a go," he said.

Shelby glanced back to Generals Gordon and Nichols, detecting no shift in their posture or facial muscles. It appeared that they had a lot of practice dealing with Gerry. He admired their stoicism and restraint because he was pretty certain that he had raised his own eyebrows at the ASEC's statement.

"Sarah Kestler. White House Counter-Terrorism director. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Director Shelby."

"Likewise, Ms. Kestler."

"And I'm Major General Bob Kearney, Defense Intelligence Agency. I lead the Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center, which had a heavy hand in supporting Sanderson's program. The man murdered in the Pentagon two years ago worked in my office. Director Shelby contacted me to set up this meeting to gauge the level of interest in proceeding against Sanderson's new organization. As requested by the director, you have all read the classified summary of events leading to the acquisition of the recent satellite photos and have been given as much information about Sanderson's history as appropriate without considering a serious increase in security clearance protocols. Let me know if you need more information to proceed, and I'll consider issuing LIS Category One approval. I have the paperwork on hand if necessary."

"I do feel like I'm a little in the dark here. How many here have signed LIS Category One paperwork for the rest of Sanderson's file?" Gerald Simmons said.

"Director Shelby, Admiral DeSantos and myself. In all truth, if I approve you, you won't receive any material…it was stolen from the Pentagon's vault two years ago by Richard Farrington, the man standing next to General Sanderson in the satellite photo. He served faithfully in the army for nineteen years, until the day he walked into the vault and stabbed one of my people through the neck with a commando knife. He was part of Sanderson's new program, which poses a clear threat to United States security," General Kearney said.

"Can you break that down better for me? I read the file you provided, and there is no doubt that Sanderson significantly jeopardized U.S. security by destroying the FBI's HYDRA investigation. Our domestic Al Qaeda investigations still haven't recovered. Would that be an accurate statement, Director Shelby?" Sarah Kestler said.

"We're making good progress on new investigations, but yes, it was a significant and costly setback," Shelby said.

"So, now he's in Argentina, raising an army of operatives? People like Farrington? I need a better link to the future security of the United States, before I start suggesting that we either press Argentina to cough him up or take independent action. We all know the stakes involved in either course of action," she said.

"And that's a big part of why we're here. To discuss the viability of options," General Kearney said.

"Let's reach some sort of consensus about the threat before I try to lay anything out in front of the national security advisor," she said.

Although Shelby wanted to fast track an operation against Sanderson and wasn't in the mood to waste time, he appreciated her cautious approach. The director was close personal friends with James Quinn, the president's national security advisor, and his next stop today would be to pay his good friend a visit. With the "War on Terror" fever pitch at its apex in the country, he didn't foresee a problem getting a "green light" from the White House.

"Well, to start, Sanderson is number seven on the FBI's list of wanted terrorists, just under Ahmed Yasin, an emerging young Al Qaeda extremist that we've tried to kill three times already. That alone warrants action, but I understand that we are not talking about a simple Predator drone operation here," Shelby said.

"What are we talking about?" Gerald Simmons said.

"I want Sanderson and his key players in custody."

"Jesus, I was really hoping for something a little easier," Simmons said.

"Now I understand why SOCOM is here," Kestler added.

"The entire operation needs to be shut down before it causes more damage to investigative efforts domestically and internationally. Sanderson is a rogue, and only God knows what he plans next. We have a confirmed link between Sanderson and True America, and his operatives have been accepting arms shipments throughout South America and Europe. He's a deviously intelligent planner and he's had two years to come up with an encore to his last fiasco. Trust me when I say that we can't afford to wait around for his next Broadway production," Shelby said, shuffling through his file for a picture.

"Who knows where his next sleeper agent is hiding? The last one, pictured right here," he said and held up the picture of Farrington, "buried a seven-inch blade to the hilt through an innocent man's heart, severing his spinal cord. Just to steal classified information."

"I'm going to be honest with everyone here and hopefully save some time," Gerald Simmons said. "My boss supports action in this case, and I was mainly sent to assess the viability of suggested options. I notice that we don't have any CIA representation at the table. Does someone have a country assessment from Langley that might shed some light on the possibility of local federal police or military assistance? Obviously, the best case scenario would be to let the Argentine government take care of Sanderson."

"The CIA's absence is no oversight. There were too many irregularities surrounding Sanderson's debacle that couldn't be adequately explained…especially by the CIA," Shelby said.

"Do you suspect they were working together?" Kestler said.

"I couldn't say conclusively, but I've been doing this for a long time, almost 40 years, and let's just say that the numbers didn't add up on the CIA's side of the equation. I don't know if there was any collusion. My gut says no, but I suspect that the CIA tried to specifically eliminate one of Sanderson's operatives. Either way, we need to keep the CIA out of this. General Kearney brought the DIA's assessment of Argentina," Shelby said.

"Overall, the political climate is favorable for Argentinian cooperation; however, we feel that success is highly unlikely. Assuming a successful operation and capture, we have no guarantee of extradition. The extradition treaty is solid, but Sanderson is unlikely to be transferred. Munoz's testimony for an immunity deal was structured to move the day's investigation along so that the FBI could open more layers and figure out if a major terrorist attack was imminent. Munoz can't be touched. He could take a tour of the White House if he wanted. Munoz never directly implicated Sanderson in any of his testimony, and any lawyer worth their salt could argue that Munoz would say anything under duress to get immunity. See where this is going? This may sound outrageous, but the evidence against Sanderson is circumstantial at best. Against most of them, frankly. We have a few solid cases. Richard Farrington's fingerprints were on the knife that killed Harrison McKie. Daniel Petrovich was caught on camera slicing and dicing two Brown River contractors…followed by killing a police detective," General Kearney said.

"And three more Brown River contractors on a suburban street. We've got Petrovich and Farrington nailed. The rest? They're not likely to be held by Argentine authorities," Shelby said.

"Running a paramilitary training center within Argentina's borders? I don't think we have to worry about them being released any time soon," Kestler said.

"I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, Sanderson's crew is running their operation on Ernesto Galenden's land, and based on recent activity uncovered by my investigative team, we can assume that Ernesto Galenden is fully aware and supportive of Sanderson's activities. Mr. Galenden is one of the wealthiest and politically influential men in Argentina. Sanderson would be tipped off long before an operation could get off the ground in Argentina. Certainly before federal forces arrived at the compound.

'"Even if Argentine forces took Sanderson into custody, Galenden has the clout to set them free. It's too risky in my opinion. If we decide to take Sanderson down, we need to do it ourselves. He's had two years to train and prepare his next batch, plus he has a full complement of fully-trained operatives from the good old days. If he's tipped off and flees, it'll put a damper on his plans, but it won't cut him off at the knees. His threat will linger," Shelby said.

"We need to capture this man and his principal players. At that point, we can work to unravel whatever remains of his network and plans," General Kearney said.

"I assume Sanderson and his crew won't be deposited into the U.S. federal prison system?" Kestler said.

"No, ma'am," Kearney said, "he'll be flown straight to Guantanamo, where he'll remain until he cooperates and dismantles his worldwide operation."

"All right, I'm sold, as long as these gentlemen can convince me that we can pull this off without a major international incident," she said and stared at the two Special Operations Command generals.

General Gordon spread out a few satellite images in front of him and smiled for the first time since Shelby entered the room. It was a meaningless, practiced smile that impressed Shelby. Prior to seeing it, the director thought only he had patented this grin.

"After reviewing the satellite photos and the DIA's best assessment of the situation in that camp, I feel extremely confident that we can pull this off and keep it under the radar, both literally and figuratively. Our Navy's Third Fleet, based out of San Diego, is one month away from sending the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group to the Persian Gulf. The USS Boxer and all of the ships in the Strike Group are at sea conducting a final shakedown prior to deployment, fully loaded with a combat-experienced Marine Expeditionary Unit. This MEU has been reinforced with a Marine Special Operations Company and the uniquely modified helicopters needed to put them into action. The MEU also hosts a SEAL platoon that specializes in direct action missions. I can have another SEAL platoon onboard the Boxer within four hours, along with eight of the navy's special operations Rescue Hawk helicopters. HSC-85's "Firehawks" are based right out of North Island in San Diego. This would give us one hundred special operators, and more than enough helicopters to ferry prisoners.

"Based on DIA and FBI estimates, plus reconnaissance, I estimate the possibility of removing up to forty prisoners."

"Forty? Is that feasible? How many helicopters are we talking about here?" Kestler said.

"Ten. Two marine CH-53ES Super Stallions and eight Rescue Hawks."

"Ten helicopters is an invasion force, General. What are the chances of keeping ten helicopters airborne during a nighttime operation? The targets are as well trained as any of the men that will step off those helicopters. Right?" Kestler said.

"Maybe the use of Tier One operators is something to consider," the assistant secretary of defense added.

"We won't need Delta or Devgru on this one. The operation is too big for either of those units anyway."

"Devgru is SEAL Team Six," Gerald said, directing his comment at Kestler.

"I know what the Naval Special Warfare's Development Group is, Gerald," she replied.

"General Nichols' Marines and the SEAL's can handle this job. General?" he said, nodding to Nichols.

"Given the number of structures and personnel on site, one SEAL platoon would secure the armory and vehicles and set up three or four support positions consisting of snipers and light machine guns. The remaining twenty SEALs and sixty marines would be assigned to secure the structures and prisoners. The helicopters would drop into the valley from an adjoining one, giving them little warning. Within the span of a minute, they'll be facing one hundred fully amped, night vision equipped, locked and loaded special operators…supported by several helicopters capable of spitting several thousand bullets into the compound within the span of seconds. Sanderson is a former special operator himself. He'll recognize the futility of his situation within seconds. So will the rest of his crew. If he decides to go out in a blaze of glory, we'll have a bloodbath on our hands, but it won't last long, and U.S. casualties will be minimal."

"I'm more concerned about the ten helicopters illegally crossing foreign airspace. I'll defer to your expertise regarding the capabilities of the operators," Kestler said.

"Thank you, ma'am," General Nichols said.

"Fortunately, we're looking at a relatively unpopulated stretch from the coast to the border of Argentina, far enough away from the capital or any major airports that radar detection is not a concern. No coastal radar emissions beyond sparse Coast Guard patrols have ever been noted in the most likely area for our helicopters to go 'feet dry.' Once over land, we're looking at a hundred and thirty mile trip to the compound. Forty miles of that is over Argentinian soil. Roughly a forty-five minute ride over land to the compound. The helicopters carry every possible electronic countermeasure available and have been constructed to produce a minimal radar or heat cross section. These birds incorporate stealth technology and are virtually undetectable by commercial radar. Even their rotor systems are dampened to reduce noise. The pilots are highly trained for this type of mission and have extensive real world experience flying missions a lot more complicated. Miss Kestler, if the White House approves the mission, it will succeed."

"I concur with this assessment," Gerald said, and for the first time since the meeting started, a few of the generals subtly shook their heads.

"The navy's Strike Group will be at sea for two more days, conducting operations off Camp Pendleton. If the decision is made before they pull into port, the Strike Group can be in position off the coast of Chile within ten days, assuming the navy doesn't mind burning a little extra fuel."

"I'm sure they'll mind, but given the tasking, they won't have a choice. Gentlemen, thank you for your time. I expect to meet with the national security advisor later this afternoon to get the ball rolling. I think it's clear this operation is worth the risks involved. Sanderson presents a clear and present danger to U.S. security. I'll be in touch," Kestler said, and everyone stood up.

"I think with the Secretary's backing, we'll be in business shortly. I expect to see everyone in the situation room within a few weeks. General, I'll catch up with you later," Gerald Simmons said.

When the assistant defense secretary exited the room, General Gordon shook his head and spoke quietly. "Just my luck to get stuck with that guy. I can barely stand to look at him and I have to deal with him on a daily, if not hourly basis. At least he isn't universally opposed to conducting military operations like the last guy."

"That appears to be his only redeeming trait," the marine general added.

"Frank, Larry…thanks for putting on the 'dog and pony' show. I think the general concept of operations laid out by the two of you will be more than adequate to handle Sanderson. Start working on the details. Director Shelby assures me that all of the right faces are aligned to recommend an operation against Sanderson to the president, and we all know it would be highly out of character for the president to swim against this tide," General Kearney said.

"Sounds good, Rob. We'll get things started behind the scenes. I'll put the helicopter squadron and another SEAL platoon on immediate alert, and we'll start a detailed mission planning session with SEAL Team Three and 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion."

"Thank you, gentlemen. Always a pleasure," Kearney said.

The two generals departed after a brief round of handshakes, leaving Admiral DeSantos, General Kearney and Frederick Shelby at the table.

"Why were you so quiet?" Kearney said.

Admiral DeSantos leaned forward with a slightly anguished look on his face. "I don't know. I didn't have much to add. I inherited the watered down version of Sanderson's program, and to be honest, the more I learn about Sanderson's new program, the more I wish we had something like this…off the books of course. I just wonder if there isn't a way to harness what Sanderson offers," the admiral said.

"In flagrant violation of the Constitution and every known law of the country? Sanderson had his chance and he blew it. Congress shut him down for a reason, and given his complete lack of regard for our nation's laws, or respect for our agencies, I wouldn't expect the relationship to be worth the risk. I like results and I'm willing to bend the rules a little to achieve them, but Sanderson's concept of bending the rules far exceeds anything any of us could live with. The sooner he's out of circulation, the better for all of us. Trust me on that," Director Shelby said.

"I'll be in touch. Thanks for corralling the right people at the right time, Bob. I owe you one," Shelby said.

The director stood up and bid the two DIA flag officers goodbye after extracting a promise that Kearney would keep him in the loop.