The Gray Man Ch. 19 - Anastasia

Dear Reader,

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination.

Constructive criticism, and feedback is truly appreciated. I would like this to be an interactive journey as much as this medium allows. Please feel free to send suggestions, ideas for future characters etc. I welcome the input.

This story is much darker than many I have written. It was a needed catharsis following a very long and difficult couple of weeks that opened wounds I thought long since healed.

I also need to be honest. Nobody on this site is getting paid - authors, editors etc. If you are the type of reader that reads to look for mistakes to send snarky notes - allow me to invite you to skip my stories.

Keep Soaring,

Pelican

(¬‿¬)

Gray felt like a caged lion, chained to a desk for 6 months. He knew that he was getting older, that field operations were for the young bloods, so he wanted to get every last operation out of his system. Recovering from his injuries and wounds from his last mission was going to cut almost a year off of his warranty. Between healing and now recovery chained to a desk, he was frustrated. If he was being truthful he hated his new assignment.. He had survived ambushes, firefights, explosions, and torture. He had saved lives, prevented attacks, and uncovered secrets. He had loved his job, despite the risks and sacrifices.

The doctors in Germany had told him he was lucky to be alive, that not many would survive a fall off of the side of a mountain like he did, but that healing would take time and to put the cherry on the sundae, "You aren't 25 any more."

He felt like he had lost his purpose, his identity, his passion. With Angela still deployed he drove himself into his recovery. Finally being able to run again helped keep him from falling into depression and anger. Underwood and Gretchen prevented him from pushing away his friends and family who tried to support him. They both knew the Post Traumatic monster he had battled and they were not going to let it win this time.

Gray was digging deeper into Nazir and his operation. The more he dug the more connections he found. He found the source of Nazir's money. He suspected the drug trade, as it was rampant in Afghanistan. It wasn't opium though. With all of the synthetic drugs, the demand for opium wasn't what it once was. Finally, he found the link - it was lithium. With the demand for batteries as the world went green, the vast stores of lithium in Afghanistan would eventually turn that nation into something that looked like Saudi Arabia.

As he tried to pull on that thread he kept coming to dead ends. Information that was above his pay grade or locked down by the CIA. One evening Gray finally found an unsecured file on a database that in truth he had no business being in.

As he searched for keywords related to lithium, all roads from Nazir lead to China, one of the most important and dangerous adversaries of the United States. He should have known. With the American withdrawal, China had rushed in to fill the vacuum that was left. They were knee deep in rebuilding and infrastructure projects. China did not care about The Taliban, or the Afghan people, they wanted their hands on the lithium.

With Russia still bogged down in Ukraine, he knew that the greatest threat to American interests was China. Recently, they had become more aggressive with cyberattacks, espionage, military expansion, economic warfare, and human rights violations.

Gray quickly scanned through the files before someone at Langley or at the NSA saw the snoop in their files and locked him out. He scanned through hundreds of files and documents that popped up on his screen, looking for something that caught his eye or piqued his curiosity.

He found it - actually he found more than he could have ever imagined.

It was a file labeled "Operation Dragonfly". It contained a series of financial transactions that traced back to China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country's main intelligence agency. The transactions showed that the MSS had been funneling large sums of money into various offshore accounts belonging to different individuals and entities around the world.

Gray clicked on one of the accounts and saw that it belonged to a consulting company, based in Washington DC. The company claimed to be a consulting firm that offered services in various fields such as public relations, lobbying, marketing, etc.

Gray did some digging on firm, using public records and online sources. He discovered that the company was owned by a man named Robert Li, a Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist. Li was also a prominent political donor and activist, who had connections and influence in both parties. He had donated millions of dollars to various candidates and causes over the years, especially those related to foreign policy and national security.

Gray clicked on another account and saw that it belonged to a person named Anastasia Smith, a high-ranking congressional staffer. Smith worked as the chief of staff for Senator John Davis, a powerful and influential member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Davis was also the chairman of the Subcommittee on China, which oversaw and monitored the US-China relations and policies.

Gray felt a surge of adrenaline and excitement as he realized what he had stumbled upon. He had found evidence of a massive and sophisticated espionage operation by China, which involved bribing and blackmailing American officials and influencers to advance China's interests and agenda in the US.

He had also found evidence of a potential traitor in the US government, who had access to classified and sensitive information that could compromise national security and endanger American lives.

Nazir would have to wait, Gray had found a bombshell. He looked at his watch, zero three hundred - the time be damned - he picked up his phone and called Underwood. Groggily he picked up on the second ring, "TJ, what the fuck, it's 3 AM?"

TJ pushed down his adrenaline, "I need you to come to the office."

Underwood nodded, "I'll be there in 45 minutes, this better be worth it. Make some fucking coffee."

Gray smiled, "You got it, I'll be waiting in the SCIF*."

Sharpshooter whispered, "Jesus, that big huh?" Mark hung up, rolled over and nuzzled Gretchen's ear, "I've got to go."

Sleepily she said, "What's going on?"

Mark sighed as he slid a hand across her tit and gave a gentle squeeze, "Your cousin is at the office, found something that can't wait until morning."

Sharpshooter got dressed and headed into the office. When he finally arrived, he poured coffee and walked into the SCIF. In the SCIF there was a single computer that did not have wifi or bluetooth capability. It was wired in such a way that a user could import data, but could not export data without approval from the Accrediting Officer or the Site Security Manager.

The room itself was soundproofed, with RF protection and other countermeasures. There were no windows and only one door that was monitored by closed circuit monitoring at all times. The entry to this particular SCIF was secured by facial recognition software.

Gray motioned for Mark to sit down in one of the chairs and to look at the document. After 45 minutes of reading he took his glasses off, sat back in the chair and whispered, "Holy fucking shit - this is huge. How in the hell is this just sitting there in a 'non-working' classified file?"

TJ shrugged, "All of this, every last piece of this leads back to Nazir."

Sharpshooter rubbed his temples. "We need to talk to the Admiral, he needs to talk to his counterpart in the Agency. Fuck, this is Grade A spyman shit, Ghost."

Gray looked at his best friend, "I want in. I want Nazir."

Mark nodded, "Me too, we need to get the doc at Reed to sign off and I will do what I can to get us tasked to this one. It's time like this I wish Ang was stateside and with us. She's the wizard."

TJ actually sighed, "Me too Shooter, you don't know how badly."

Underwood looked at his friend. "Go, take a shower. Get your ass back here at zero seven and we will brief The Admiral.

Gray drove home, went for a 3 mile run to clear his head. He followed that up with an icy cold shower. He put on a pair of slacks and a dress shirt as he fixed eggs, bacon, and coffee. He drove back to the office, passed through security and walked into Sharpshooter's office at zero six forty five.

Five minutes later Underwood walked in, "Gretchen wants to talk with you when you get a break," he announced.

TJ was happy for his friend and his cousin that they had found happiness in one another. He had to admit though that seeing them happy just made him miss Angi just that much more.

At 5 til 7 the Admiral's assistant poked her head into Underwood's office. "The Admiral said to give him five minutes to get settled in, then he will meet you in The Vault."

Sharpshooter nodded, "Roger that, Chief."

TJ looked at his friend when the former Air Force Master Chief whom Barnett had snatched from her role as the Administrative Assistant to the Commander of the Air Force Academy walked down the hall. "The Old Man must have heard your concern - this will be my first briefing in The Vault."

The Vault was an enlarged SCIF room in the center of the C-Suite. The room would have been similar to an aviation version of a Glass Cockpit. The room was sound proof, no wifi, no cell signal. Also when in use the glass walls would darken to outside eyes and could also project images from the computer systems utilized by the intelligence community.

When Gray and Underwood walked into The Vault, Admiral Barnett was sitting at one end of the table, Master Chief Sergeant Elizabeth Johnson was to his left. At a computer terminal in the corner sat one of the IT techs employed by the group.

Admiral Barnett looked up when his two agents walked in, "Gentlemen, I can not imagine that there is something that you would stumble across that would warrant a Zero Four Thirty phone call that didn't entail one of you in an Imminent Danger to Life and Health situation."

Being the ranking officer, Sharpshooter addressed the Admiral, "We found something that is way above our paygrade."

Steven Barnett pushed his glasses down his nose and looked over the frames, "You have my attention."

TJ walked over to the computer and spoke quietly to the tech who brought up a screen before turning the keyboard towards Ghost who entered his credentials before he returned to his seat at the table.

The lights in the room dimmed and the far wall came to live with the projection from the computer screen.

"Admiral," Gray began, his voice grave and measured. "As you know I am not a desk guy."

Admiral Barnett nodded as TJ went on to explain that he was digging into Nazir, Afghanistan, and the lithium situation. "I pull threads, Sir. It's what I do. As I was pulling on threads and digging into files I stumbled across something called Operation Dragonfly. It was buried deep in some files at Langley."

Steven Barnett nodded again, this time his brow was a little furrowed. One of the jobs of his agency was to bridge Homeland Security, Military Investigative agencies, and the government intelligence agencies identified by alphabetic letters. While that is the mission, the reality is folks are territorial and crossing into someone else's territory was complicated, even for an agency whose job it was to cross into other's territory. He thought for a minute, "This complicates things."

Gray smiled, "As we said, Sir. Above our paygrade. When I opened the file I had many more questions than answers. The biggest question is why is an operation like this buried, it strikes at the very core of our nation's security."

Underwood interjected, his eyes burning with a mixture of anger and frustration. "The long and short of it, Admiral, is The Agency is fully aware that Anastasia Smith, the trusted aide to Senator John Davis, is a foreign agent."

Admiral Steven Barnett leaned forward, "Senate Intelligence Committee John Davis?"

Gray frowned, "One in the same, Sir."

The Admiral's eyes narrowed, "First, that is an accusation that damn well better be based on evidence. Second, if that's true, why the fuck is it buried?"

Underwood pointed to the tech to bring up the next document on the projection, "We have the evidence, we don't have the answer to why it's buried."

Barnett's eyes narrowed in anger. "Smith has been working alongside the Senator for years. She has access to classified information and sits in on very high-level discussions."

Gray nodded gravely. "That's precisely why this is so alarming. Smith's infiltration has allowed her foreign handlers to gain a foothold within our government. They have been extracting sensitive data, compromising national security in ways we never thought possible."

Underwood again nodded to the tech who brought up the next screen. It contained a meticulous compilation of evidence. "Operation Dragonfly has uncovered a series of encrypted communications between Smith and her handlers. These messages contain strategic information, compromising the integrity of our nation's defense."

As the next document came up on the projection wall Gray spoke, "It looks like that there are sources within the agency that there is a deliberate attempt to shield Smith from exposure. It's as if someone high up doesn't want this operation to see the light of day."

The Admiral's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing. The CIA's actions raised more questions than answers. How deep did the conspiracy go? Who was pulling the strings? Barnett was determined to uncover the truth, no matter the cost.

"For fuck's sake, we need to find out why the CIA has hidden this critical intelligence. We cannot allow our own government agencies to be compromised by hidden agendas. I want a full analysis from the two of you of all the actors involved, their motivations, and any connections they may have. I need to do some digging at the top of the food chain to find out what the hell is going on."

Gray and Underwood exchanged a glance, their commitment to the cause evident. They had been entrusted with a task that went beyond their duty. It was a mission that struck at the heart of their loyalty to their country.

Admiral Barnett nodded, his gaze fixed on the mission ahead as the screen they were watching started to flicker. Barnett looked at the technician, "What the fuck is going on?"

The tech's fingers were flying over the keyboard. "Our system is being probed, they are trying to lock down the files. I'm not sure I can stop it from here." The team watched as the documents on the screen started to disappear. The tech was sweating, "Not sure I can stop the intrusion from here."

In a matter of minutes the encrypted file was gone. Admiral Barnett looked over his shoulder, "Libby, I need Langley on the phone, yesterday."

Master Chief Sergeant Johnson was already carrying out her orders, "Aye, Aye Boss."

Barnett looked at Ghost who had his familiar smirk across his face, "I'm glad you find this humorous Sergeant Major," the Admiral commented.

TJ's smirk grew, "I've never followed the rules."

Underwood looked at his friend, "What the hell does that mean Ghost?"

Gray shrugged, "I broke the rules. I printed a hard copy of the info. It's secured in the armory."

The Admiral shook his head, "We will deal with your security breach at another time. Keep your fucking heads down boys, the enemy appears to be be closer than we think. Keep your wits about you, and trust no one until proven otherwise."

Sharpshooter nodded, "You taught me that there is no such thing as a lifelong friend, just a friend with lifelong similar interests.

As the briefing room emptied, Admiral Barnett found himself lost in thought. The revelation of Operation Dragonfly had set in motion a chain of events that would test the limits of their resolve. In the dark corners of espionage, where loyalties were traded like commodities, the pursuit of truth was a perilous endeavor. He looked at Johnson as he rubbed his weary eyes, "I need the boss on the phone." He filled his coffee cup and returned to his seat at the head of the table in The Vault. He mumbled to himself, "Fuck, I'm tired and it's only zero eight hundred. You're getting old Steve, you're getting old.

That evening Underwood and Gretchen had dinner. As they ate, Gretchen looked up from her salmon. "How is he? He feels distant lately."

Underwood sipped his wine, "He is. St. Jean, Afghanistan, Nazir. He's like a man possessed and shattered at the same time."

Gretchen nodded, "What do we do?" she whispered as a soft tear rolled down her cheek.

Mark reached out and gently wiped the tear, "We keep him going until Angela gets home. There are times when the only thing that can reach into that darkness is the love of the beloved. All we can do is keep him from taking on too much water until she gets back."

Gretchen sighed, she missed her cousin. She missed their assignments, she felt her nipples harden as she allowed herself to see another truth - she missed watching his amazing cock change a woman, forever."

She had clients lined up, but she knew that it wasn't the right time. She wondered if it would ever be the right time again. She wondered if things would ever change. Little did she know that tonight would bring about a change that would shake TJ, Gretchen, Underwood, and the entire United States intelligence community.

For that evening Ghost would be paid a visit. Anastasia and Pavel Lukashenko were professional assassins from Belarus. They had been hired by a mysterious client to kill Gray. There was a price on his head and a reward on top of that. The husband and wife had spent weeks preparing. They had obtained blueprints of his home, they had watched his routines even though they varied. Anastastia thought she had found the perfect time.. They had planned every detail of the hit, and they were confident they could pull it off.

They knew Angela was deployed so they waited. That afternoon Anastasia's phone chirped. She opened the phone and looked at the message from a blocked number, "Зялёнае святло" (GREEN LIGHT).

They argued over the plan. Anastasia wanted to wait until Gray was asleep, while Pavel wanted the famous Ghost to see who it was that ended his reign of terror. In the end, Anastasia acquiesced to her husband's ego.

They parked a mile away, made their way along the streets, looking like a neighborhood couple out for a walk. They wore black clothes but reflective vests to cover their alibi. Once at Gray's house they took off the vests and slipped on masks. They double checked their silenced pistols and knives. They climbed over the wall on the back of the property, and sneaked through the dark garden. They reached the back door, and picked the lock.

They entered the house, and moved silently through the rooms. With the downstairs secured they crept up the stairs and checked each of the rooms, before moving to the closed door at the end of the hallway. By the process of elimination they knew Gray was in his study, on the second floor. Quietly they approached the door. Anastasia nodded to Pavel, and he kicked it open.

They saw Gray sitting at his desk, facing them. He looked calm and unfazed by their intrusion. He smiled slightly, and raised his hand.

"Hello, friends," he said.

Before they could react, Gray's right hand flew up and a dart flew and hit Pavel in the neck. He gasped, grabbed his neck and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Anastasia cursed, and aimed her gun at Gray. She pulled the trigger on her Makarov pistol, but nothing happened. Just a click.

Gray stood up, and walked towards her. He was tall, lean and muscular. His short graying hair and light eyes danced with mischief. He wore a tailored suit and a gold watch.