Chapter 11
Posted: July 14, 2007 - 06:44:52 pm


"Sanjay!"

Pausing in his trek to the building, Sanjay turned to look at Mike. He smiled and said, "Mike. It's a very nice day, isn't it?"

Looking at the blue sky overhead and feeling the warm breeze, Mike said, "Yes, it is a very beautiful day. It kind of makes me wish that I was out fishing."

"Yes, that does sound nice. I like to fish and today would be a very good day to do that," Sanjay said with a smile. He still harbored a hope that Mike could be a friend. He rather liked the straightforward way that Mike addressed problems.

"Really?" Mike asked thinking he had never seen an Indian out fishing.

"Oh, yes. My room mate when I was at the university used to take me fishing. We would drink beer in his boat, fish, and talk about life in America. When I moved here, I even got a boat," Sanjay said giving his usual head wobble.

"Maybe we should go fishing one of these weekends," Mike said.

"That would be very nice," Sanjay said giving Mike a big smile.

Mike said, "Dale and I are having a meeting this afternoon concerning the incident in Pennsylvania. We'd like you to be there."

"I will attend with great pleasure," Sanjay said. He paused and pointed to a fenced in area off to the side of the parking lot. The fence was topped with barbed wire. Curious, he asked, "What is that for?"

Mike looked over at it and shook his head at the idea that the holding area was put in such an obvious location. If he were a spy, one look at that would have him running in the opposite direction. He answered, "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Maybe we are getting guard dogs and that will be their kennel," Sanjay answered shrugging his shoulders.

Mike smiled when he said, "You might be right. It does look like something you would keep dogs in."

The pair walked into the building together talking about the events in Pennsylvania. After making their way through the building, they reached their office area. Sanjay went on towards his office when Mike stepped into his office. Mike looked at the man in his office and asked, "What are you doing in my office?"

Chang spun around in surprise and answered, "I was waiting for you."

Sanjay had heard the beginning of the confrontation and returned to stand behind Mike. After a quick glance at Chang, he asked, "What was he doing?"

Mike answered, "It looked to me like he was getting ready to search my desk."

"That is not good. You should report this to security," Sanjay said glaring at Chang. Although it was a security violation, many analysts kept their passwords on scraps of paper tucked in their desks. He suspected that Chang had wanted to search Mike's desk in the hope of finding his passwords.

Dismissing Sanjay's suggestion, Chang said, "There's no reason to call security. I just stopped in here to talk with you. I wanted to ask if there was any news about those rail guns."

"You could have gone to the databases yourself," Mike said knowing that if Chang had just stepped into his office that he would have seen him in the hallway.

Shaking his head, Chang said, "I'm sure that you have some ideas about what is going on with them that haven't made it into the databases yet. I thought that maybe if we talked about it that we might come up with an idea as to where they might be."

"I don't have time for that this morning," Mike said deciding that pursuing the matter at that moment would be a waste of time. He knew that Chang's time at the CIA was limited.

Chang left and gave Sanjay a smirk as if he had gotten away with something. Sad that Mike had not pursued the possible security breach, Sanjay stood in the hallway looking at Mike with disappointment for a moment before returning to his office. This had been an opportunity to get rid of someone he thought was a very bad man. He knew that Donald would have been all over Chang for doing that.

Later that afternoon, the sounds of a fight echoed through the halls disturbing the meeting that Mike was holding. It sounded like someone was shouting in Chinese and two men were shouting back in English. There was a loud thud against the wall of the conference room. Sanjay looked around worried and asked, "What is going on?"

Looking away from the screen at the front of the room, Dale answered, "It sounds like they are removing Chang from the premises."

Hearing that the fight had resumed after the thud, Mike smiled and said, "It sounds to me like they are trying to remove Chang."

"I do believe that you're right," Dale said with a chuckle. Turning to the screen, he pointed at the picture of one of the men who had been killed in Pennsylvania. He asked, "What do we know about him?"

One of the men from the terrorism task force answered, "That is Mohammad Kuchemeshgi. He's an Iranian. He started his career shuttling information and weapons between Tehran and Hezbollah in Syria. About ten years ago, he was put in charge of a Hezbollah training facility inside Iran. He held that position for five years and then disappeared for a couple of years. We believe that he was in Lebanon during that little episode between Israel and Lebanon. He resurfaced two years ago when he immigrated to Canada requesting political asylum. He's been living there for the past two years."

Sanjay was trying to keep up with the presentation and trying to make out what was going on outside the conference room. Chang was shouting something, but it was almost impossible to make it out. Worried, he asked, "Shouldn't we be out there?"

Mike smiled at the question and answered, "I think the Marines have it well in hand."

Sanjay stared at Mike wondering how he knew it was Marines removing Chang. Unable to hold back his curiosity, he asked, "Marines? Shouldn't it be our security detail escorting him out?"

"Our security people are a little busy right now processing evidence. The FBI is busy making arrests in other places," Dale answered.

"I believe it was the Acting Director's request that Marines be used to escort Chang and a few others out of the building," Tim Brown said with a smile. He felt that it was the suggestion that having individuals who could be court-martialed escorting the suspected traitors out of the building to where they could be processed by a handful of FBI agents that convinced the Acting Director to use the Marines.

Looking around the room, Sanjay realized that the activities in the hallway had nothing to do with Mike having caught Chang in his office. It was part of something larger than that and he suspected that Mike had known it was coming. He asked, "Did I miss a memo or something?"

Ignoring Sanjay's question, Mike asked, "So do we know who the associates of this Mohammad character are?"

Mike entered the house to be met at the door by Karen. After giving her a good kiss hello, he said, "You look mighty pleased."

"I heard the news. Big things happening all over the country," Karen said with a smile. About three minutes into the news coverage of the massive arrests around the country she had figured out what had been the news that had Mike so happy a couple of days earlier. She asked, "Was anyone you know arrested?"

"Chang," Mike answered with a grin.

"Thank God," Karen said.

"Anyone else?"

"Four of our Islamic friends on the terrorism task force were escorted out," Mike said with a grin. He was sure that one of them had identified the CIA agent who had been arrested to Iranian officials as a way of crippling efforts to collect data in that country. They were still processing people in the 'dog kennel' when he had left from work. The individuals inside the cage didn't look that happy. The Marines guarding the cage looked more than willing to shoot anyone who complained too strenuously. There was a tense moment when very battered looking Chang had pointed to him and Sanjay while shouting that he would get them.

"It's about time there was a clean sweep inside the agency," Karen said.

"You wouldn't believe what the atmosphere was like in the building after they escorted all of the spies and traitors out of there," Mike said. It was as if someone had declared a party. The cafeteria had swelled to standing room only as people stood around discussing the Marine invasion. He had never really heard people laughing in the cafeteria until that afternoon.

"I bet," Karen said.

Mike said, "We lost a lot of people today, but I think our jobs just became significantly easier."

"Would you like to go out and celebrate?" Karen asked.

"Well, I tried to call my mother and your mother, but they are already busy. It seems that our parents are celebrating this as well," Mike said. There had been a number of arrests at the Pentagon as well.

"I talked to Ellen next door and she's agreed to watch Robert this evening," Karen said with a grin.

"Really?" Mike asked. It was a surprise to him that she would leave her baby with someone who wasn't family. This was really looking like a good day.

Smiling at him, Karen said, "Yes, really. I'm looking forward to starting on a little brother or sister for Robert."

Sanjay piloted his boat along the Shenandoah River with an easy hand. It was obvious that he was perfectly comfortable on the river. They went around a small bend in the river and Sanjay pointed out a log in the water. He said, "I caught a six pound bass over there a couple of years ago. It was a real beauty. The mouth was so big you could have put a beer can in it."

Laughing, Mike asked, "Do you spend a lot of time out here?"

"Yes. I used to come out here every other weekend with Donald. I didn't go much after he died," Sanjay said. He brought the boat to a stop and said, "We'll drift along here and fish towards the shore."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Mike said. He reached down and opened his tackle box. It took him a moment to decide which lure to use.

"Catch," Sanjay said. He waited for Mike to look up before he tossed a coke over to him. Smiling when Mike caught it, he said, "Sodas before lunch, beer after lunch."

Laughing, Mike popped the top on his can and said, "Good planning."

Sanjay nodded and took a sip of his drink. Putting it down, he prepared his rod. A few minutes later he cast out towards the shore. As he cranked the reel, he said, "Ah, this is the life."

"Isn't it though," Mike said sending his lure hurtling to the shore. It hit the water a few feet from shore. He started cranking the reel.

The two men chatted amiably as the morning passed. Sanjay caught a fish and demonstrated that he was no stranger to fishing with the deft manner in which he removed the hook and dropped the fish into the live well. Pleased with the catch, Sanjay said, "I don't have to stop by the grocery store and buy a fish on the way home tonight."

Mike laughed and asked, "Do you have to do that often?"

"Not really," Sanjay said wobbling his head. Holding his hands about four feet apart, he smiled and asked, "Did I ever tell you about the one that got away?"

"No," Mike answered with a laugh.

Sanjay was quiet for a minute and then said, "I'm glad that they took Chang away. I was afraid of him. After Donald died, I was sure that Chang had done it. I didn't know who to trust. I approached you, but you didn't follow up on my hints."

"I believed you and did follow up on it. You weren't the only one who believed that Chang had killed Donald, but they weren't prepared to arrest him. They were waiting for a clean sweep," Mike said.

"I'm sorry," Sanjay said looking down at the floor of the boat.

"For what?" Mike asked casting his line. He felt a small tug but was too late to set the hook.

"I thought you did nothing and I was quite disappointed in you," Sanjay said. He looked at the shore and, after a few seconds, appeared to make up his mind about something important. Looking over at Mike, he said, "The people from India are very conservative and are very unwilling to change their ways. They support each other very much and form a community in which they can act and think Indian. They will help each other by sharing information that allows them to work the system to their advantage. They want to be Indians who live in America, not Americans. They don't trust Indians who are too friendly with Americans and will stop supporting them."

"Is that why all of you sit together at lunch?" Mike asked. He crumpled his empty soda can and set it down in the boat.

Even though it was early, Sanjay reached over and pulled out two beers. He tossed one to Mike and opened the other. After taking a big sip of beer, he answered, "Yes and no. It is a little comforting to sit with others who share your language and cultural background. You've got to understand that we basically live immersed in a culture that is very different from where we grew up. It is very nice to be able to speak your first tongue and make cultural references that are easily understood by everyone."

"I never thought about it like that," Mike said.

Sanjay shrugged his shoulders and said, "The problem is that it is basically expected that I will always sit with them. There were times when I wished that I could join my co-workers when I was working with them on a major project. I often came back from lunch feeling like I had again become an outsider.

"I am ashamed to admit that I sit with the other Indians because I don't want to become outcast. Donald was my best friend, but we didn't socialize at the office. Donald understood that it would have made it difficult for me to deal with the people from India. I feel guilty that that we didn't eat lunch together and talk about fishing. There were times when Donald was saying something that I knew would get him in trouble and I felt bad that I wasn't there to nudge him in the side to shut up."

"I can understand that," Mike said. He had a good hard hit and set the hook feeling a little irritated that the discussion was being interrupted. He landed a nice three pound bass. After removing the hook, he held it up by the mouth and said, "Look at that beauty."

"That is a very nice bass," Sanjay said opening the live well.

"For your fish fry," Mike said with a wink as he dropped the fish into the live well. If they decided to release the fish, they would still be healthy.

"Thank you," Sanjay said. After closing the live well, he said, "I think I am going to stop sitting with the other Indians. I think they are wrong."

Nodding his head, Mike thought about what it would mean to become an outcast from people who shared a common background. He said, "It's a shame that you have to choose us or them. There should just be an us."

"That's a very wise thing you have just said," Sanjay said thoughtfully. He repeated it, "There should just be an us. I think you are right about that."

"That's the idea behind the American melting pot; people from everywhere come here and become one people."

Sanjay bobbled his head and said, "There have been times when I've forgotten that despite how much my old college room mate drilled that into me."

"I think that a lot of people have forgotten that. Too many people want to keep themselves separate. We have African Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, Arab Americans, Indian Americans, and, for all I know, Martian Americans. What happened to just being an American?" Mike said.

Mike banged on the steering wheel of his car in anger. Driving into work, he had heard on the news that the ACLU was busy trying to get all of the men arrested in the sweep out on bail. Swearing, he said, "Those fuckers are just trying to destroy this country."

He pulled into the parking lot and found a space beside a van that wasn't too far from the entrance. Getting out, he looked over at where the holding pen had been. The holding pen was gone. Facilities had even patched the grass where the posts had been driven into the ground.

Mike made his way to his cubicle with a bounce in his step. It felt good walking to his office knowing that he wasn't going to have to watch his back. Sanjay was walking towards him in the hallway. He greeted him, "Hello, Sanjay."

"Hello, Mike. I hope that you didn't get into too much trouble for getting home late," Sanjay said.

Mike laughed and said, "No. Karen was very understanding. I had a great time."

"That is good to hear. I hope that we can go fishing again," Sanjay said.

"I'd like that," Mike said.

Sanjay wobbled his head and said, "Good. I talked to my wife last night about inviting you and your family over for a barbecue. She thought it would be a good idea. Would you like to come over Saturday night?"

"I'll have to ask my wife," Mike said.

"Of course, all men know who is really in charge. I guess had I better get to work. Dale is holding a meeting over in the anti- terrorism area and has asked me to attend," Sanjay said.

"Okay," Mike said. He entered his cubicle and looked down at the note on his keyboard. Dale had invited him to the meeting, but it wasn't necessary for him to attend. Frowning, Mike thought about it and decided that it was better to learn what the folks at Sandia had discovered about the rail gun that had been captured.

Mike stared at the screen at the Internet Café. The unofficial alert level used by the Intelligence 100 was at the third highest level possible. Rather than the puny five level system used by Homeland Security, their system had ten different levels. The first level wasn't safe, but threat level normal and corresponded to the middle level of the Homeland Security system. It meant that enemies were operating at normal levels against the United States.

The tenth level identified that there was an active attack occurring within the borders of the country. The ninth level identified that there was an active attack against American territory outside the borders. This was used to encompass American military bases and embassies overseas. The eighth level was used to indicate that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that an attack within the borders of the country was going to occur within seventy-two hours. This level did not admit the possibility that it might not happen. It meant that it was going to happen with a certainty greater than ninety-five percent.

Mike clicked the link and read about the threat. It appeared that the NSA had multiple intercepts of messages from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Pakistan to individuals within the United States. The messages ordered that operations were to begin inside America as a result of the arrests of embedded agents. The calls had been to disposable phones that couldn't be tracked.

There were still nine rail guns that had not yet been located. Mike clicked on the link that allowed a member to add notes to the message and added a comment to that effect. He added a link to the film of the rail gun in operation. He also posted a request that anyone who might know what kind of material was likely to be loaded in a canister post it even if the evidence was sketchy.

There was nothing else for Mike to do. He had warned as many people as possible of the danger. He knew that his warning was being taken seriously. The gunfight between the terrorists and the Pennsylvania state troopers had heightened awareness among local law enforcement.

While he was thinking about it, the screen flashed over to a picture of a woman sucking on a man's cock. The waitress looked at the picture and then at Mike. It a disgusted voice, she said, "Do you want your usual coffee?"

"You wouldn't happen to have some scotch, would you?" Mike asked.

"No, we're a café, not a bar," the waitress replied rolling her eyes. She could envision him whipping out his cock and masturbating while looking at the pictures if he had enough to drink.

"I'll take a coffee," Mike said. He looked at the picture thinking that the woman in the picture wasn't all that good looking. When the waitress left, the screen returned to the page he had been modifying.

The waitress returned with his coffee. The screen had changed to show the same woman playing with a vibrator. She put his coffee on the table and said, "Here you go."

"Thanks," Mike said. He picked up the cup and took a sip of the hot beverage.

The waitress didn't understand this particular customer. He never looked at anything other than pornographic images, but never leered at her like the other men who were looking at those kinds of websites. He was always polite and looked embarrassed whenever she showed up. The waitress asked, "Why are you always looking at that porno?"

Mike thought about how to answer that question. After a few seconds, he answered, "Sometimes you get so tired of the ugliness of reality that you need a little escape into fantasy."

"Oh. Your reality is so ugly that it brings you here three nights a week?" she asked looking at him with a frown.

"It's so ugly that I would be here five nights a week if it was possible," Mike answered.

"You seem like a nice enough guy; it's a shame that you're a pervert," she said. She wondered why the owner of the internet café kept saying that the country needed more men like John, or as she called him — Pervert John.

"Thanks for the coffee," Mike said. He didn't like the idea that he had achieved a reputation as a pervert. Still, the sex pictures were the cover used to explain why the Intelligence 100 spent so much time at Internet Cafes.

"You're welcome," the waitress said before turning and walking away.

Mike turned to the screen and decided to see what was going on with the Chinese researchers that were scattered around the country. The quality of intelligence had really gone down as a result of the President's crusade against the Intelligence Agencies. Many of the entries hadn't been updated in close to a year. He flagged a few individuals and requested that some effort be made to identify what had been happening with them. It was the best that he could do.

He sat back and thought about what else he could do. Opening up the e-mail feature, he selected NSA001 as the recipient. As a subject, he wrote, 'Preventive Actions Required.' In the body of the letter, he wrote, 'We must warn everyone in the intelligence business of the actual threat level. If we don't, thousands could die.' With a final click, he submitted the e-mail for delivery.

Mike took his family over to his parent's house for dinner. The mood at the table was somber. The wives didn't understand why Mike and Robert weren't talking. Karen decided to get the conversation going and said, "There hasn't been an attack since all of those traitors were arrested."

"I know," Robert said. He put down his knife and fork before crossing his arms. He said, "That has me really worried."

"Why? Isn't it a good thing?" Louise asked.

"There is a reason that things are quiet at the moment," Mike said. He looked over at Karen and his mother. He wondered how much he should tell them. Looking across the table at his father, he could see that the man was wrestling with the same problem. Finally, he said, "Promise me that neither of you will go to any place that is crowded for the next three days."

"I promise," Karen said knowing that Mike probably had an idea that something bad was about to happen.

"Why?" Louise asked.

Robert said, "Don't ask why. Just promise him."

Louise started at Robert for a moment and then said, "You two know something. We have the right to know."

Robert finally said, "I heard today that the President was considering releasing all of the spies who were caught in the hope that he could appease a couple of foreign governments. He wants to make the point that the CIA is changing and that there won't be a need to implant spies in the future."

"That man is a damned coward. He's lying to the American People and won't even raise the threat level to orange," Mike said. He hadn't heard that rumor, but his father should know. After all, there were Marines on duty at the White House.

"It should be at Orange?" Karen asked.

"No. It should be at Red," Mike answered.

Louise said, "I promise I won't go any place where there is a crowd."
Lazlo Zalezac
Lazlo Zalezac
Chapter 12