Counter Ops Ch. 02

Washington DC-6:00 am August 29: Don Griffen walked out of his Georgetown townhouse, and stepped into his Mercaides CLK, and backed down the driveway. For the past 3 years Don had been one of Texas's senators. He was up for re-election this year, so he was blazing through the campaign trail. He stopped his car at a starbucks down the street, this was a part of his routine; He had been in the Army several years, and had made it to Major, before he retired right after Desert Storm, so routines were customary for him. He had been a member of the Army's most elite special forces team, Delta force, and had done missions in Panama, America, Mexico, and Brazil, but mostly Iraq. He ordered the same thing he did every morning, a tall latte, and picked up a copy of the Washington Post. On the cover were the pictures of all the people who had been killed the previous morning. Senator Griffen feigned surprise and shock at the story, but he already knew the important details, and not just the who, what, when, where, and how, but he knew the most important detail, why. He smiled to himself, that he might be the source of so much attention, but still hated the fact that no one knew his name yet, outside of Texas. But they would soon, after all it had been his position on the US military arms board that had allowed him to procure the explosives needed for the downtown attack. He tucked the paper under his arm as he left starbucks, he took a left down the street towards capitol hill, walking from the coffee shop to work was another part of his routine, Today was different though, as he was walking he pulled out a white envelope from his suit coat pocket and discarded it in a trashcan nearby. After glancing around to see if anyone may have seen he set off again, no doubt there would be a committee meeting today.

Tali Mushar saw the envelope go into the trashcan from the driver's seat of his Ford pickup. He waited ten minutes never taking his eyes off of the can. He lit up a cigarette, and stepped outside closing the door behind him. He walked casually over to the can, and checked for obvious observers before reaching in and retrieving the envelope. He had to resist the urge to sprint back to the truck, but he kept his cool and walked back and hopped in. He opened the envelope before starting the engine, and saw the $75,000 that the senator had promised him; along with the money were more instructions on how to get the other $75,000. The location was where they had agreed to meet; he started up the engine and drove off to the location.

The drive to gas station took about 20 minutes in rush hour traffic, Tali reached for another ciggarette from the pack, but before putting the pack away, he stored a flash drive into the pack, and placed it back into his pocket. He stepped outside and started fuelling his truck. A man walked up to him, Tali watched him approach.

"You got a cigarette man?" The man asked him as he slid an envelope through the passenger window. Tali fished the pack of Newports out of his pocket and tossed them to the man. The man nodded in appreciation and walked off.

Tali got back into his car, his day wasn't over, he still had a plane to catch.

Back on capitol hill Senator Griffen sat in his seat pouring over the rest of the Washington Post, waiting on the committee meeting to start. He saw everyone else was seated except the board's commissioner, Gary Ruthers. Griffen couldn't stand Ruthers, always late and seemingly out of touch with events around the world, all he cared about was putting weapons in the hands of soldiers who mindlessly followed orders of the President, who was all too concerned about appeasing special interest groups. But Griffen had the solution, people might not realize why he did what he had to do now, but someday America would remember him as a hero. Ruthers finally walked in and took his seat next to Griffen, with a pound of the gavel the session began.

"General Knotts the report on the C4 indicates that it came from our supply." Ruthers didn't start off slowly. This kind of attack needed to be handled quickly and as quietly as possible.

The General hesitated before starting in. " Its possible, we cant really trace it back to anywhere specific, but to be honest... we don't even know where all of our supplies are half the time. It would have been too easy for some one with the wrong intentions, and the right clearance to get some of this." The General paused, "That being said the C4 is definitely military, it fits NATO specifications perfectly and the type used in the attack was controllable enough to be used by anyone."

The Generals comments made everyone a tad nervous, but its not like it was news to many of them.

Meanwhile across town at Dulles International Airport, Tali had checked his bags and made his way to the security checkpoint. After making it through the checkpoint. He found his terminal, and purchased an American magazine, and sat down and pretended to read it. He could read English just fine, but he had no interest, in the sinful ways of the celebrities that defiled the pages. He found however that reading such magazines as this made him seem normal, also he had shaved a few nights prior giving him a short stubble, he hated not having his normal beard, but it was another thing that made Americans uneasy. In a few hours his plane would be ready, and he would be on his way to Kuwait.

Don Griffen made his way down the steps of Capitol Hill, and into the limo waiting for him. He opened the door and got in.

"Hows it goin Josh?" Don asked to the young man sitting across from him. The man was dressed in a dark blue suit, from one of the high end shops around D.C. he had short black hair, and a look about him that made some people uneasy. That was the reason Don like him though. Josh never joked around, and was reliable.

"Our mans on his way to Kuwait right now he should arrive within 14 hours." He pulled out a pack of Newports and pulled out the flash drive. "This holds all the details of the mission. We need some help pointing the blame, but we have people inside the right intelligence agencies that can handle that. All you need to do is stay out of the microscope and we should be fine."

Don took the drive and nodded. Taking out the CIA director had been good for them, but that was not his main objective. Killing the CIA agent, Young had been the priority, he had come close to discovering his plan, and he had needed to go.

"Thank you Josh." With that Josh stepped out of the limo as it pulled away.

IV

It was about 9:45, Carter saw as he looked at his watch. Fisher had finished giving him the rundown of how the team operated, and had given Carter the packet containing the information on their mission. As of the moment the packet was somewhat thin. Call signs for the whole team were in the packet. Fisher was West4 Actual, Mars was West4 Delta, Wilson was West4 Tango, Joannas was West4 Mike, and Carter would be West4 Gulf. Also in the packet were pictures of key personal, and footnotes regarding information about the prior days events not put out to the public. Besides the brief Fisher had also put Carter through a weapons course, and a quick medical course, nothing that Carter hadn't been able to easily handle though. At about ten the rest of the team filtered in and got seated for the breif. Fisher got started.

"Tonight at 19:00 we will board a commercial flight to Kuwait, from there we will catch a bird into Iraq. Now from the initial brief you all know that Ali Zakari is a man wanted by the government, but only a few people inside the CIA truly know Zakari's status. If encountered he is to be treated as a friendly." Confused expressions filled the faces of the rest of the team.

"Zakari has been in contact with the CIA up until yesterday his contact was Agent Young. We believe that his murder was intended to cover up this knowledge. Unfortunately all we know is that he wants to turn states evidence he hasn't yet been able to name names or divulge any information of future terrorist operations, and any info he may have given Young died along with him. Obviously if Agent Young was killed than someone is after Zakari also. Once we reach Iraq we will travel to Afghanistan. The NSA has an agent there who will be able to help us zone in on Zakari's location. The agents picture is in your packets, but expect him to look different. Hes been living among the locals. His ISO prep information states that he went to Middlefield High School, and his first car was a Ford Taurus." Carter was used to ISO preps when he was in the military it was something the Army used incase a soldier was taken captive or isolated for a long time. This way the person could easily be identified by asking a couple of questions. Fisher kept going.

"We will have a military escort till we hit Iran, after that we will be blacked out. That's all I have for now. Be here by 17:00 ready to leave."

Carter got up and headed for the arms room. When he entered he had a hard time believing his eyes. Almost every known weapon in the world, and some not yet released were in this room. He started by selecting his gear. Several pairs of Blackhawk's tactical pants, and polo shirts went into his assault pack. He selected a MOLLE vest that would carry all his magazines, canteens, and other gear. He selected a SOG Seal Pup knife, and slid it into its place on the vest. He made his way to the assault rifles, and settled on the SCAR-H, an M4 type weapon that fired a 7.62 round. He put about 15 magazines full of 30 rounds into the pouches on his vest. He traded in his Sig for the new Berreta Storm 40. S&W. It was lighter and more compact than his previous sidearm. He would carry it on a leg drop holster, after he selected the pistol he grabbed nine magazines loaded with 14 rounds. Next he made his selection from a decent variety of sniper rifles. He chose a DARPA sniper rifle. The rifle was similar to the M40 carried by Marines and Army snipers. The rifle fires a 7.62, and has a collapsible stock to make carrying it on his back easier. He took 30 rounds of ammo for the weapon. He had all the weapons boxed up and put in the connex that would meet them over seas in Kuwait.

Don Griffen's limo had dropped him off back at his townhouse about 30 minutes ago, and he had inserted the flash drive into his personal computer and opened the file. His picture came up along with information about Zakari. This file labeled Griffen as the traitor, this was the file Young was trying to upload to the CIA when he was killed. After about an hour of decrypting the file, he was able to replace his photo with a photo of Michael Simpson. People within the agency had fingered him as the next director after Welch was killed. He finalized the drive, and put it back into the pack of cigarettes. He would hand it off later, but he was tired and decided to take a short nap.

In Afghanistan Ali Zakari was just waking up at about six in the morning. He rose from his bed and made his way to the computer. He logged on and checked CNN, and was shocked with what he saw. The fact that the CIA's director had been killed didn't bother him. In fact the man he was more concerned about was hardly mentioned, other than the fact that his death kicked off the days events. His handler Young had been killed, and that was all he needed to know. All sorts of thoughts flooded his head at that moment. Was the leak on his side? Not likely only he knew about his plans to defect. No the leak had to come from the Americans, they always had dirty people working for them... or leading them. Interested more in money that their morals or beliefs. He knew he had to move though, once his plans were known to anyone, even in his own circle, Allah help him his life was over. He slid his laptop into his bag, and slung his AK-47 on to his back. Traveling would be difficult, he was well enough known in Afghanistan to make it seem odd that suddenly he was on the run. He was also on the Americans BOLO (be on the lookout) list, since to most of America he was still a terrorist. He knelt on the floor facing toward Mecca and completed his morning prayer. After he was finished he got up and walked out the door and up towards the mountains were some loyalists were hidden. He would seek refuge there, and hope none of them received word of his planned defection. Hopefully he would be picked up by Americans soon.

Back at Dulles Airport, Talii was standing in line to board the plane. He handed his ticket to the lady at the booth and walked down the plank to the jet, took his seat and waited until they were safely in the air to fall asleep.

At Langley the members of West4 were staged at a small helipad waiting for a bird that would take them to Dulled, to catch a plane to Kuwait. They were flying commercial so as to avoid any counter-intelligence. They had been granted access to carry side arms on the plane under the guise as US Air Marshals, which after 9/11 were prevalent on many international flights. Their gear and other weapons would be waiting for them at Ali Ah Salim, a US staging area for troops going into Iraq. Carter was double checking his sidearm, and after sliding it into his hip holster he lit up a cigarette. Don Mars walked up to him as he took the first drag.

"Hey can I get one of those?" He asked Carter. Carter took the pack from his back pocket and handed to him along with the lighter. Mars lit up a cigarette and handed the pack and lighter back to Carter. "Thanks man. So how long you been doin this?"

"I've only been with the CIA for a couple of days." Carter replied with a laugh. "But I've done a few tours in SF, been around the sand a little bit, but nothing like this shit."

"Ya this team hasn't really done anything like this, or anything outside of training for that matter. But hey trial and error huh?" They both forced a laugh. The chopper was coming into view. Both men picked up their bags. Carter took one last drag of his cigarette and tossed the butt off to the side, and walked off towards the chopper. Soon they'd be in the air.

Don Griffen awoke to the sound of the Nationals game playing on TV and looked at the clock on the wall it was about 7:25. He got off the couch and went into the kitchen to found something to eat. Ever since his wife left him all he had been eating was a variation of microwave dinners, and hot pockets and he put on a few pounds to show for it. Around 8:00 there was a knock on the door. Griffen got up and walked over to the door and opened it up.

"Come on in Josh I got the drive in the kitchen." Griffen said as he turned letting Josh into his house. Josh walked in closing the door behind him.

"I spoke to my contact at the United Front today." United Front was the group behind the events of the day, Griffen had come in contact with them through Josh. Griffen didn't much care for their social ideals, but they had a significant source of laundered money that he could use for future campaigns, and he believed in what they were planning.

"Oh ya? What did they have to say?" Don asked.

"They said they got the shipment in, they just have to divide the product safely, than distribute it, and than... well you know. They were also concerned with the Agent Young ordeal." At those words Griffen moved towards a drawer which held his Kimber .45 pistol.

"Ah yes well he's gone and any trace of my involvement or my connection to the Front died along with him." Griffen said tensely. Josh seemed to consider his next words carefully.

"Well... not all connections." With that Griffen pulled the drawer and reached for the gun. Josh was faster however and brought up a silenced 9mm. Josh took aim and squeezed off two rounds into the senator's chest. Griffen stumbled back and ended up leaning on the kitchen wall. Josh walked up to the senator calmly and put the pistol against his head.

"Sorry Senator." Josh pulled the trigger one more time, and blinked as blood splattered onto his cheek. The Senator's limp body staid standing for a couple seconds than slumped sideways onto the floor. Josh took the thumb drive and slid it into his pocket, and flipped the safety on the pistol. He moved to the door and wiped off any prints he may have left than walked out the house.