First Strike (Tyler Griffin Book 1), page 10
The fact that the handler had conveniently fled just before exposure of his asset bothered Hannah immensely. CIA training dictated that if compromised, an agent should focus on their own escape. The fact that Minotaur had fled also suggested that both parties were aware of the impending exposure, but that the handler had something of a headstart. Hannah had realised that there was no information whatsoever on how Minotaur had been compromised, and that was something she wanted to learn.
It had surprised several of her colleagues that she had been able to get into a meeting between DDCIA and the JCOS to give a report to the big wheels at the agency after the Libyan engagement. The knowledge had led to some whisperings that her father was behind the invitation, helping her to leapfrog over her peers into a higher security clearance as well as salary. If only they knew the truth, she had thought wryly as she’d considered the rumours. Right now, the one thing blocking her path to advancement was her father, and she locked eyes with him the moment she walked into the room.
Vincent Griffin gave her a fractional nod of greeting, his expression never changing from his normal dour grimace in order to convey his displeasure at her interference. Hannah had requested a seat at the meeting due to having “new information” on Minotaur, Vincent’s asset in Tripoli.
Hannah did not respond as she took her seat at the table, Deputy Director CIA Arthur Monroe taking control of the meeting. A former intelligence man who had trained with the Air Force before joining the CIA, Monroe was regarded as a steady hand.
‘Lady and gentlemen,’ he greeted them, ‘bring me up to speed on what’s happened.’
Admiral Cunningham replied immediately, the theatre of current conflict within his sphere of operations. Although the Navy was under the overall command of a flag officer at Naval Forces Central Command, Pearl Habour, Cunningham was on point for the JCOS.
‘Elements of our sixth fleet were engaged by Libyan forces overnight in the Gulf of Sidra. We sank at least four of their vessels with the loss of some forty to fifty Libyan lives, with no loss to our own forces. The engagement has now ended, but the media embedded with our forces are already reporting on the event and tensions are now higher than they have been in the region since 1981.’
Hannah knew that the admiral was referring to a prior Gulf of Sidra incident five years before, when two F–14A Tomcats of VF–41 Black Aces from USS Nimitz had been engaged by a pair of Russian–built Libyan Sukhoi SU–22 Fitters. The ensuing dogfight had resulted in both Libyan aircraft being shot down by the Tomcats, an international incident for which both sides were blamed. However, the American voice recordings and radar records showed clearly that the Tomcat pilots had acted within international laws in a defensive manner after being approached and repeatedly provoked by the Libyans.
‘Consequences?’ DDCIA Monroe demanded.
Vincent Griffin spoke first.
‘Both HUMINT and ELINT suggest that Libya will seek international condemnation for what they will refer to as “unprovoked attacks”, much as in 1981. That’s a given, and already a number of usual–suspect nations are lining up to condemn the engagement. Beyond that, we feel that Libya is unable to respond militarily to our Navy and that diplomacy via the United Nations should be allowed to calm the situation.’
Hannah raised an eyebrow at that, surprised. DDCIA noticed.
‘You disagree?’
Hannah looked up to see DDCIA Monroe looking directly at her. She felt a pulse of anxiety ripple through her and felt her skin flush. Get a grip, Hannah.
‘Yes sir,’ she replied. ‘I think that naive in the extreme.’
Now, the entire table turned to look at her. DDCIA peered at her with interest. ‘Go on.’
Hannah gathered herself together as she replied.
‘We have good HUMINT to suggest that the Libyans will retaliate with whatever means and methods they can devise. Intercepted transmissions between known Libyan cells suggest attempts to target foreign interests, referencing something known as the “eight hundred forty”. We don’t know how this number relates to the target but we’ve got people working on it. We know that Gaddafi is willing to use terrorism to strike back at American assets whenever and wherever he can. Based on my profiling of him, this latest set–back for his military forces will provoke a desperate need in him to find some way, any way, of retaliating.’
Vincent Griffin coughed as though amused.
‘Psychological profiling? Is that what we’re basing regional strategies on now?’ He looked at the DDCIA. ‘Maybe we should try divining tea leaves?’
There was a snigger of muted chuckles around the table. Hannah tried to ignore the flush of heat itching on her cheeks.
‘It might have stopped you losing an asset to the Libyans,’ she pointed out tartly. Vincent’s humour vanished in an instant and Hannah took her chances. ‘Libya is a closed book in terms of how its leader thinks. We know he’s a despot and that he’s corrupt, but is it not true that our greatest fear in this country is that of terrorism? We know about Russia and of how it conducts its Cold War with us. We know about East Germany. They fight conventional wars. What we don’t know is what drives a man like Gaddafi, and what we lack is a means of predicting what he will do next. Profiling gives us that edge.’
DDCIA frowned. ‘And what does your profiling suggest that he will do?’
Hannah opened her file and glanced at her notes.
‘He will once again seek to deliver a very public, highly visible blow to American citizens or service personnel. The target would likely be in a country foreign to the United States, but closely allied. Civilian casualties would be considered collateral. An explosive device, delivered by a suitably motivated individual, will be the means of inflicting maximum shock and widespread media coverage of both the terrorist attack itself, and by extension the Libyan conflict at large.’
Vincent Griffin shrugged.
‘That’s terrorism plain and simple, there’s nothing special about that. Asks the Brits – they’ve been dealing with dissident Irish Republicans for decades. Is that all your profiling has revealed to you?’
Hannah did not rise to her father’s bait, keeping her eyes fixed on DDCIA.
‘The target will almost certainly be placed somewhere that is politically problematic,’ she went on, ‘somewhere that can serve as a flash point for a wider conflict. Gaddafi’s not stupid. He won’t just kill innocent civilians or military personnel, he’ll do it somewhere that will give us a bigger headache, something to deflect attention away from Libya.’
The DDCIA seemed interested now. ‘Such as?’
Hannah glanced again at her notes.
‘Libyan cells last year targeted both Rome and Vienna. Based on the principle that they would not seek to hit the same city twice, I would suggest West Germany. There is no reason to suspect that the Libyans would take credit for the attack. They would allow the resulting political situation to grow all on its own in the hope that it will provoke suspicion of Soviet–sponsored acts of terrorism against American personnel and civilians.’
That got everyone’s attention. A tall, barrel–chested man from the Office of Current Intelligence peered at her with keen eyes.
‘But you just said that Russia wouldn’t conduct such operations on foreign soil,’ he pointed out. ‘It’s not their MO to send in sleeper cells to kill civilians. Sure, they live here among us ready to disrupt our country in time of war, but we’re not technically at war with them.’
‘We know that,’ Hannah agreed. ‘But the rest of the world doesn’t and wouldn’t necessarily agree with it either. I believe that Libya will ramp up its terrorist support while using those same acts to forment conflict between America and other nations. They will then court those other nations as brothers fighting the same common enemy: the United States.’
Vincent Griffin shook his head.
‘That’s hogwash,’ he replied. ‘Russia is publicly and politically distancing itself from Libya and seems as appalled as everyone else by acts of terrorism perpetrated by Libyan cells.’
‘Right now, they are,’ Hannah agreed. ‘But lone wolf terrorists are the worst of their kind if they cannot be identified. They cannot be proven to have come from one nation or another. The seeds of doubt and mistrust are sewn by the unknown. If Russia is suspected of being behind attacks, maybe a few diplomats get recalled. If Libya gets its thinking cap on and recruits criminal–element Russians to deliver the bombs and then publicly sells them out to deliberately stoke the flames of mistrust… What I’m saying is that Gaddafi cannot win a military confrontation with us so he must seek some other, any other means of weakening our position and justifying his own expansionist ambitions.’
DDCIA thought for a moment.
‘So, what would you suggest we do to counter this new and unexpected threat?’
For a brief moment, Hannah was aware that the second highest official in the intelligence community was asking her what he thought that the country should do.
‘There is a captured asset in Libya who may know the identity of lone–wolf terrorists based in the USA that might be financed by Gaddafi’s regime. I would suggest an extraction of that individual for the valuable information they may possess.’
There was a moment’s silence as the DDCIA digested this course of action.
‘And then?’ he asked. ‘We recover the asset, gain the information, apprehend the terrorist – then what?’
‘We use what he knows to counter the threat from any other cells operating in our countries.’
‘Just like that,’ Vincent replied for DDCIA. ‘You’re advocating a difficult, dangerous extraction for information that the source may not possess.’
‘And the alternative?’ she challenged her father.
‘Already in place,’ William Shankley cut in from one side. ‘We’re just waiting for the right moment. We hit Tripoli itself and show them we won’t sit back and let them get away with terrorism.’
Hannah stared at Shankley as though he had grown horns.
‘You’re advocating a direct military strike against a sovereign country, in plain view of the entire world?’
‘It’s going to happen,’ Shankley replied, ‘and if it were down to me it already would have. Besides, Minotaur is out of the picture.’
‘What?’ Hannah asked, confused.
‘It’s already been decided, the asset known as Minotaur will be eliminated,’ Vincent explained to her.
Hannah had not been informed of that decision and the exclusion of the FID from proceedings irked her.
‘We’re wasting a valuable opportunity to extract information from within the regime because you’d rather kill the messenger?’ she asked. ‘What happens when they break him? Everything he knows will be in their hands while you’re all here sitting on yours!’
‘The messenger is likely already dead or not far from it.’
Hannah did not know what to say to her father. DDCIA replied instead.
‘JCOS and the White House agreed that the risks for extraction are too great,’ he said. ‘What you’re proposing simply cannot be fulfilled.’
‘I’m proposing an act of psychological warfare against Gaddafi himself,’ she replied. ‘He is, like all depots, a coward at heart. I agree that one thing which would give him pause would be America gunning directly for him, but only for a while, and how many future terrorists will you create from those whose families are injured or killed by collateral damage? The clean extraction of Minotaur from right under Gaddafi’s nose would fulfil the same threat, that we can reach him directly, without collateral damage.’
Shankley shook his head, his fist gently thumping the table between them as he spoke.
‘Bombing Tripoli will send a real clear message to every terrorist in the world at the same time.’
‘It’ll send a real clear message to every other world leader too,’ Hannah countered, ‘that the United States does not abide by the Geneva Convention and is willing to target other heads of state for assassination.’
Shankley grinned at her. ‘Because the CIA has never done such a thing? Let’s not beat about the bush – every country’s government and intelligence agency is willing to assassinate, for their own interpretation of the greater good. We’re advocating giving someone like Gaddafi a dose of their own damned medicine. They break the Geneva Convention every day and yet demand that everyone else abide by it when it comes to them? The hell with that.’
‘If we continue to make the mistakes of the past,’ Hannah replied, ‘then in the eyes of everyone else, we’ll become Libya.’
Hannah sensed that many at the table were on her side despite Shankley’s rhetoric. The admiral’s eyes were beaming with delight and she noted several concealed smiles of support from around the table.
‘This is playground discourse,’ Vincent Griffin pointed out to her. ‘The whole situation is far more nuanced than you apparently realise.’
‘Or far simpler than you’d like to admit,’ Hannah countered. ‘Libya will fight back against us, using methods that appal all decent Americans. We can prevent it. It’s just a question of who strikes first, and how.’
DDCIA glanced at Griffin. ‘What’s the intelligence situation on the asset?’
‘Minotaur is in Tripoli, where he is likely being interrogated,’ Griffin replied.
‘That asset could be the key to preventing many more atrocities,’ Hannah pressed DDCIA. ‘You’re wasting not just one life but countless more if you let him swing from a noose in some God–awful Libyan prison.’
DDCIA shook his head.
‘I admire your diligence and your candour Agent Griffin,’ he said, ‘but we already confirmed that Minotaur is not of sufficient defence value to mount an extraction.’
‘The entire sixth fleet is right on Tripoli’s doorstep,’ Hannah implored. ‘You could get him out in an hour.’
‘That’s easy for an analyst to say,’ Vincent snapped. ‘Not so easy for a Special Forces to achieve. Would you want to go in there and…?’
‘Damned right I would!’ Hannah cut her father off, standing up, her fists balled on the table before her.
Hannah was about to argue further but DDCIA Monroe spoke first, one hand held palm out to silence her.
‘We cannot base policy and strategy on something as vague as a psychological profile,’ he insisted. ‘While I appreciate the work that has gone into this, the chances of such profiling being able to reliably predict what someone like Gaddafi will do next are minimal to say the least. Besides, if the handler is out and Minotaur has no damaging information in their possession, they’re no longer important to us. This matter is closed.’
Hannah forced herself to swallow the bitter pill as she sat down.
‘Will you at least pass the information on to SECDEF?’ she asked. ‘If it turns out that I’m right after all, you’re going to need this profile. ‘
DDCIA nodded and took the file from her. The suits around her began standing and filing out of the room. Hannah waited until her father was in earshot and hissed at him softly enough for the others not to hear her.
‘Thanks for the support.’
Vincent Griffin shrugged his shoulders. ‘You said what you thought. So did I.’
‘You’re condemning him to death.’
‘Better him than our own service personnel.’
‘Our soldiers are trained and armed, Minotaur is not. What you’re doing is going to come back and haunt us, dad.’
Vincent Griffin turned to face Hannah.
‘In case you hadn’t noticed, the CIA is not a democratic organisation. It is a meritocracy and right now you have neither the experience or the knowledge to overrule those above you. Minotaur no longer has sufficient value to warrant a rescue operation. Don’t tell me how to do a job that I’ve been doing since before you were in diapers.’
With that, Vincent left Hannah standing alone in the room. She watched him leave, and not for the first time she realised that if she wanted to influence how this all went down she would have to take some decisions for herself. There had to be a reason for her father advocating the killing of a former asset, although she couldn’t imagine why he would do so.
Hannah made her way back to her office and picked up the phone, checking her watch as she did so. Her first call was to the CIA station at the American Embassy in Paris, a Special Assistant to the Ambassador, where she requested a copy of all intercepted transmissions between Libya and East Germany, specifically those pertaining to the Libyan Embassy in East Berlin. If Gaddafi’s people were going to be talking to anyone, it would be the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. A direct line of communication there could play out as a route for terrorist attacks, most likely across the border in West Berlin where many US service personnel spent their time on leave from US bases in the country.
She then called the CIA station at the American Embassy in Bonn–Bad Goldesberg, Germany, the Berlin Operating Base. There, a unit of U.S. Army Intelligence monitored the activities of not just local politicians but also tapped telephone and telegraph lines and opened all mail moving between the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. She asked them to maintain a watch for all communications across the Berlin Wall pertaining to or mentioning anything including the number “840”.
Then, she called a telecommunications unit at Rhein–Main airbase in Frankfurt with a similar request: any communications from the Libyan Embassy should be copied to the FID desk at Langley. Then, she made a final call to the FID Director’s office. If Minotaur was to be saved, she needed someone to protect them from whatever her father was up to.
She hated to do it to him, but she fervently hoped that her last ally in all of this would play ball.
***
XV
Gulf of Sidra
April 2nd
‘Screwtop six-oh-four, voice traffic, ultra-high frequency.’
