SATAN'S SPY
André Le Gallo
Also by André Le Gallo
The Caliphate
The Red Cell
SATAN’S SPY
Copyright © 2021 André Le Gallo
Original copyright © 2014
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
by D Street Books
a division of Mountain Lake Press
Cover design by Jutta Medina
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, except for certain historical figures, is unintentional and coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote brief excerpts in a review.
To Cathy, Thérèse and Craig,
Elise, Brittany and Preston
for your support and encouragement
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
1. Manama, Bahrain
2. Tehran: Detention Center for Revolutionary Guard Corps
3. Tehran: Early January 1979
4. McLean, Virginia: The Present
5. Marin County, California
6. Langley, Virginia: CIA Headquarters
7. Langley: National Clandestine Service
8. Tehran: Former American Embassy Grounds, Mousavi’s Office
9. Alexandria, Virginia: Old Town
10. Langley: Office of the Director
11. Tehran: Hotel Tehran, Chamber of Commerce Breakfast
12. Washington: Four Seasons Hotel
13. Shemīrān, Iran
14. Tehran: Imam Khomeini International Airport
15. Navārān, Iran
16. Tehran: The Persian Esteghlal International
17. Tehran: Canadian Embassy
18. Langley: Director’s Office
19. Tehran: Mousavi’s Office
20. Washington: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
21. Tehran: Farah’s Apartment
22. South Tehran
23. Tehran: Canadian Embassy
24. Tehran: Al Quds Safe House
25. Tehran: National Computer Center
26. Tehran: Tuesday
27. Tehran: Ministry of Intelligence Compound
28. Tehran: Esteghlal Hotel
29. Washington: Tribune Building
30. Washington: White House Situation Room
31. Tehran: Ketaki Restaurant
32. Tehran: Swiss Embassy, U.S. Interests Section
33. Tehran: Al Quds Safe House
34. Tehran: Grand Bazaar
35. Tehran: Farah’s Apartment
36. Tehran: Friday-Saturday
37. Tehran: Al Quds Safe House
38. Tehran: Swiss Embassy
39. Persian Gulf: Aboard the U.S.S. Allen Dulles
40. Washington: U.S. Capitol Building
41. Tehran: President’s Office
42. Outskirts of Tehran
43. Tehran: Crossley Residence
44. Tehran: Farah’s Apartment
45. Tehran: Crossley Residence
46. Langley: Director’s Office
47. Yazd, Iran
48. Yazd: Yazdi House
49. A Street in Tehran
50. Yazdi House
51. Persian Gulf: U.S.S. Dulles
52. The Qanats
53. The White House: Oval Office
54. On the Road to Shiraz
55. Shiraz, Iran
56. Andrews Air Force Base: CIA Hangar
57. Firuzabad, Iran
58. Qashqai Camp, South of Firuzabad
59. Nayband Marine Coastal National Park, Iran
60. Manama: U.S.S. Dulles
61. Zagros Mountains, Iran
62. Zagros Mountains
63. Manama
64. Zagros Mountains
65. Persian Gulf: U.S.S. Dulles
66. Persian Gulf
67. Tehran: Mousavi’s Office
68. Persian Gulf
69. Mousavi’s Office
70. The White House: Oval Office
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Foreword
André Le Gallo’s Satan’s Spy is a refreshing break from the usual pattern in American pop culture when dealing with American espionage. We are spared the usual cartoon of bumbling incompetence or anti-Constitutional malevolence. Rather, here we get to see a CIA that, despite its fair share of human failings, is generally populated by conscientious, capable citizens. We see a fair measure of courage and intelligence, along with some lesser virtues and an occasional vice. And we see how the agency must operate in the dangerous and morally ambiguous world created by clashing personalities, policies, cultures, and politics.
Le Gallo is able to do this because he has been there. A career case officer, the details of his plot are at times vaguely autobiographical, adding operational realism to the twists and turns of his story line.
And what a story line! Le Gallo allows himself to paint boldly, with bright colors and a wide brush. Beginning with a terrorist attack in a Gulf Hotel and ending with a daring escape attempt at sea, Satan’s Spy more than fills its quota for adventure. There is a botched Iranian election, cyber combat, and even an exquisitely timed act of God to complicate events.
But with all of its twists and turns, and even with the occasionally unexpected plot event, Satan’s Spy is anchored in reality: a dangerous Iran with aggressive ambitions and deeply felt internal dissent; a cyber menace that threatens catastrophic destruction; an American intelligence community struggling with democratic demands for transparency even while dependent on secrecy for its success. As that reality seems to shape and reshape itself daily in the Middle East, Satan’s Spy gives its reader more than a small edge in penetrating the meaning of current events. Clearly Satan’s Spy does not try to say it all, either about global crises or about espionage. But it does lift the veil a bit and that’s a service, especially since it does it in a way that both informs and entertains.
—General Michael V. Hayden
Former Director, National Security Agency
Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Introduction
“Are you keeping Steve and Kella in your new novel?” I was asked at a book signing for my first novel The Caliphate. When I said I was, the middle-aged man who had asked the question said, “Great! That Kella is a beautiful girl!” His wife pulled on his sleeve to have him sit down and, in a stage whisper, said, “Arthur, she is only a fictional character.” With encouragement like that, I had no choice but to revive Steve and Kella for Satan’s Spy.
“Write about what you know” goes an old saying, so the background tapestry for Satan’s Spy is drawn from personal experience. Intelligence operations do not exist in a vacuum, and the story provides a glimpse into some of these external factors: the friction between the CIA and the Department of
