“I copy,” the agent replied.
“I’m Captain Cal Remington, son. I’m glad we were able to get you out of there in one piece.”
“So am I. Until your guys showed up, I thought I was dead.”
“You probably would have been. They tell me you’re the main reason Chaim Rosenzweig isn’t lying in a box right now.”
“I suppose so, sir.”
Goose listened to Remington work. In a few short sentences, Remington had managed to remind the agent what he owed the Rangers, and Remington in particular, while at the same time acknowledging the agent’s potential worth. Goose didn’t always agree with the captain’s methods, but they were effective.
“I need to know about the offensive the Syrians have planned, Son,” Remington said.
The agent hesitated. “Is Section Chief Cody there, Captain?”
“Yes.”
“Could I speak to him?”
“This is a military operation,” Remington said. “Mr. Cody has been sidelined for the moment.”
Sidelined? Goose thought. More likely Cody had been thrown out by his boot heels. If the Rangers had known there was a chance that a transmission might result in a Syrian attack, they would have handled the rescue mission differently. The CIA section chief hadn’t been up front with them, and Goose knew Remington wouldn’t have stood for that. Cody had probably been cleared from HQ in that moment.
“The information I have is sensitive,” the agent said.
“If the Syrians are planning to attack the Turks and the company I’ve got stationed there, I can guarantee you, no one is going to be more sensitive than me.”
“With all due respect, sir, the information is highly classified.”
“Let me ask you a question, Son. If the bullets start flying across that border in the next few minutes, are we going to be seeing dead CIA agents hitting the sand? Or dead Rangers? My dead Rangers.”
The agent still hesitated.
Looking back at the man, Goose noticed how young he was. Surely no more than a handful of years older than Joey, probably less than that. It was strange to realize. Joey still fought and complained about taking out the trash, and this agent had been responsible for penetrating a terrorist cell and preventing the assassination of an international figure.
“Rangers, sir,” the agent replied. His voice broke and Goose felt a little sorry for him. When he glanced back over his shoulder, he saw that Bill had a hand on the young man’s shoulder.
“If you can,” Remington said, “I’d appreciate it if you’d help me save some of those Rangers, Son. The same way we saved you.”
For a moment, the RSOV’s engine droned into the silence that followed Remington’s plea.
“I guess Section Chief Cody told you it took a long time to gain the PKK’s trust,” the agent stated.
“Almost a year,” Remington agreed.
“The reason they let me in was because I crack software. I don’t know if you realize this, Captain, but hackers aren’t the real deal when it comes to penetrating firewalls and security countermeasures surrounding computer systems.”
“I work with intelligence,” Remington replied. “I know the difference between crackers and hackers.”
Goose checked his watch. The Chase-Durer Combat Command Automatic Chronograph had been a gift from Megan and the kids. The watch was solid and heavy, and its cost had been excessive when matched against the family budget. But Megan had insisted on giving it to him, especially since he was gone from home so much these days. As first sergeant, time was always a consideration, so he was always looking at the watch, always thinking of the family he left at home.
Now, though, Goose felt time working against him. He figured they could be no more than five minutes out from the front line.
“I impressed the men I was with,” the CIA agent went on. “I managed to crack into several security areas that held Chaim Rosenzweig’s movements and finally located the target in Jerusalem. Thankfully, I was also able to alert the agency team there to set up the intercept. I don’t think Rosenzweig or his people even knew he was in danger.”
“Why didn’t you shake loose then?” Remington said.
“Because while I was inside the hotel system, using the computer the PKK cell had given me to use, I found out they had another man on me, piggybacking every move I made.”
“They made you?”
“Yes, sir. I think so. I don’t know how far back they made me. Maybe the day I stepped into the cell. In order to crack Rosenzweig’s security, I had to use agency resources. Every time I was inside the system using the tools I keep stashed there, the PKK cracker was shadowing me. I discovered him two weeks before the assassination attempt was scheduled.”
“He found out information about the agency?” Remington asked.
“Yes. In the beginning.”
Goose waited for the other shoe to drop.
“That wasn’t the guy’s major interest, though,” the agent said.
“What was?”
“The United States Army buildup along the Turkish-Syrian border.”
Cold dread spread across Goose’s back, neck, and shoulders. He remained calm and quiet, letting Remington handle the questions because he knew the captain would be asking the same things he would.
“What did they get?” Remington asked.
“Everything,” the agent answered. “They know where the U.S. military forces are, and they know where the Turkish forces are. Exact locations.”
Goose glanced at Bill, knowing the man could overhear the conversation even though he wasn’t linked to the frequency through the headset. Bill looked grim but he didn’t say anything.
“I tried backtracking the guy,” the agent said. “I put a trace on him through the sat-com relays I was using, a relatively simple snooper program that masks itself as a digital enhancement viewer. Using the information I received through a dozen traces, I triangulated the guy’s location through ground-based satellite relays.”
“Where was it?”
“In Aleppo, Syria. Do you know where that is?”
“I know where Aleppo is,” Remington said.
Goose digested that. Aleppo housed the Syrian Missile Command. They had three mobile surface-to-surface missile brigades there that included one battalion of FROG-7 surface-to-surface missiles and one battalion of SS-1 SCUD-B missiles.
The FROG-7s were unguided rockets but capable of carrying nuclear, chemical, or biological
