Black Flagged Redux

Chapter 53





1:20 AM

CIA Headquarters

Langley, Virginia

"Ms. Bauer, you have a call from the White House Situation Room. Line eight," the operations watch officer announced.

Audra walked over to one of the semi-private computer stations near the wall that separated the Fish Bowl from the rest of the operations center and picked up the phone handset, pressing the button for line eight.

"Audra Bauer."

"Audra. It's Alex. Any word on Reznikov?"

"He's still alive. They're still about twenty minutes from arriving at the safe house. The team collected some scraps of paper that look like they were torn from a notebook belonging to Reznikov. The scraps contain cities and addresses in Europe. One right in Stockholm. Reznikov is still unconscious, so we can't get an explanation. We're compiling a list of these addresses right now for the White House."

"All right, I'll pass that information along. They're reconfiguring the main conference room here to handle the situation as it expands. Hey, thanks a lot for the warning about our VIPs. I looked like a crumpled bag of shit when the president walked in. I didn't even have a sport coat."

"The president monitored the operation?"

"Along with the national security advisor and secretary of state. I almost fell out of my chair."

"Kestler didn't give you a heads up?"

"She's been popping in and out of here all night like this is some kind of side show. She dashed in here with the big three a few minutes after we got Reznikov's address. They all vanished as soon as the team hit the road in the transfer van. There's some kind of big military operation going on. I saw a bunch of Special Operations brass earlier, including Lieutenant General Frank Gordon, JSOC commander. Oddly enough, Frederick Shelby was chumming around with them."

"The director of the FBI?"

"The one and only."

"He's there?"

"Unless he left. It was about ninety minutes ago."

"You didn't assign another liaison for a second operation?"

"No. I was not aware of another operation that required CIA support. Shit, I hope I didn't miss something. I've been preoccupied with the Stockholm op."

"I didn't see a bulletin, so I don't think you missed anything."

"Let me do a little poking around. I'll call you right back," Alex said.

"You know where to find me," she said.

Alex Holstein had served as the CIA's senior White House liaison for three years and spent a large portion of his time in the White House Situation Room. The fact that he was at a loss to explain the presence of General Frank Gordon and the director of the FBI at one in the morning in the White House Situation Room left Audra with a strange feeling that she was missing something. She checked on Berg's progress compiling Petrovich's list of addresses. They were a few minutes away from having a complete list. So far, the locations presented no particular pattern, aside from the fact that they were clustered in central Europe, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Eighteen addresses had been identified from Reznikov's writing.

Three minutes later, the watch officer announced another call from the White House.

"Audra Bauer," she answered.

"It's Alex. I confirmed that Kestler is preoccupied with another operation, but I couldn't get any more information from the Watch Floor. I don't have the same rapport with the night shift, and their new tiered seating arrangement doesn't allow for the same easy, over-the-shoulder access to their monitors. I did manage to see which time zone locations are being actively monitored. Washington, D.C., Stockholm and Zapala. The last one stumped me. I just checked, and it's in the Nuequen Province of western Argentina."

Audra Bauer felt her chest tighten and her pulse quicken. It all suddenly made sense to her.

"Thanks, Alex. I'll get right back to you with that list," she said and hung up before he could respond.

She pulled a small paper day planner out of her suit jacket and opened it to the first page, which contained two hastily written satellite telephone numbers. She picked up the phone again and selected an encrypted line. She entered her telecommunications security code, which would allow her to place a call out of the center. The call would be flagged for the watch officer and recorded. Once the line went live, she dialed the number and waited. She let it ring for a minute and tried the second number with the same result. No answer.

"Are you talking to the team leader?" she yelled to Berg, careful not to use Petrovich's name, though she suspected it wouldn't matter soon.

"Yeah," Berg said.

"I need to talk to him immediately," she said, and her tone attracted the attention of Thomas Manning.

"Something wrong?" he said, walking over to meet her near Berg.

"Possibly. Thomas, I'm going to need some privacy."

He looked at her quizzically.

"For your own protection," she added.

"I think we're well past the point of plausible deniability. I just authorized and witnessed a covert operation that left twelve dead bodies on a city street in Stockholm. I think I'm fully vested in whatever mess the two of you have created, though I get the distinct impression that this would have gone down with or without my approval."

"Fair enough," she said and took the phone from Berg.

"This is Audra Bauer. National Clandestine Service deputy director. Have you talked to your boss recently?"

"I briefly spoke with him less than five minutes ago. We've been a little preoccupied if you haven't noticed."

"I just tried both of his satellite numbers, and he didn't respond."

"Then have Berg call. He may not pick up unknown numbers. Especially government lines."

"I have reason to believe he might have company at the compound very soon. It's possible that he's already entertaining them," she said.

"He sounded fine to me. What has you so spooked, if you'll pardon the expression?" Daniel said.

"I just learned that the president of the United States and pretty much his entire National Security Council just went into a sealed situation room with the director of the FBI and JSOC's commanding general. One of the time zone clocks somewhere in the White House Situation Room is set to a small town named Zapala. Ever been there?" she said.

"I need to make a call," he responded.

"You need to promise me you'll see your current mission through to the end, no matter what happens to your boss."

"I'll get Reznikov to the safe house alive."

The line went dead, and Audra handed Berg the phone. "He'll try to reach Sanderson. This couldn't be happening at a worse time. We need these operatives focused on Reznikov. I'm worried they'll go rogue if Sanderson is apprehended or killed."

"General Sanderson? Holy shit. These are Sanderson's people? The people you were supposed to be helping the FBI find?" Manning said, shaking his head in despair.

"Sanderson's team got us this far, which is way further than we could have gone with our own assets. We just need to keep Sanderson out of custody until we can take possession of Reznikov. The Russian holds the key to figuring out exactly who else has possession of this virus. He mass produced this stuff in Kazakhstan for someone. Probably Al Qaeda. With the right motivation, he should be able to help us start to unravel this plot," Berg said.

"I suppose we need Sanderson's men to apply the proper motivation?"

"Unless you want to wait for a covert interrogation team to fly into Sweden," Bauer said.

"Looks like all of our eggs are in Sanderson's basket," Manning said. "Do you have any other way to get in touch with him?"

"No. He normally picks up our calls immediately, regardless of the time. Let me try," Berg said.

"Well, I hope he's out sleep walking. Preferably several miles from wherever this compound is located. How did we not know about this operation?"

"Frederick Shelby didn't agree with Karl's assessment of what happened two years ago at the Georgetown safe house and several other aspects of the CIA's involvement. He pretty much shut us out of Agent Sharpe's ongoing investigation, which I had become convinced was going nowhere," Bauer said.

"Clearly we're not the only ones that can keep a secret. I just hope you're not keeping any more from me," Manning said.

Berg looked up from his cell phone and shook his head. "Nothing," he said and started to dial another number.

"Did you get a hold of him?" Berg said into the phone.

Karl Berg listened to the reply carefully before speaking.

"Daniel, just get Reznikov to the safe house and I swear to you we'll help you find her. She's not going to disappear. You have my word."

The phone call ended and Berg glanced at Audra. "Maybe this is a good time to tell Thomas who we have escorting Reznikov to our safe house."