“What? Oh, no he’s going to Pakistan next week to try and work out final arrangements with a new contact we’ve established inside the ISI. He was looking at reports that Taliban resistance in the northwest has virtually stopped over the past few days, and he wanted to find out why. But that isn’t what I called you in here for. This one is more of a puzzle that needs solving, and I need your unconventional thinking. We want to nail this one before Langley does, but more importantly, before the P5+1 talks with Iran begin in Ankara. Whatever else you were working on, table it. This is priority one.”
Susan read two things from that last bit. One, everything she just did for the whole month preceding was apparently not that big a deal, and two, Jim had no idea what his own people were working on, except on the day he assigned a project and the day the final product arrived on his desk. She tried not to let her frustration show.
“I’m working on a tactics piece for those very talks. It’s almost finished, but I’m going to need a few more days,” Susan pointed out, looking for guidance and trying to salvage the work she had already done.
“Give it to George. Let him have your notes and what you’ve done so far. If you’ve done all the leg work and made your conclusions, he should be able to type it up. Right now I need you on this.”
“Fair enough. What is it?” Susan was at least relieved that something was going to come out of her work on Iran negotiating options. She thought it was too important to just bin it. George was the other Iran specialist in the building. He was a hard worker, and because Susan was four years his senior at IWG, he pretty much did what she told him. She was confident he would produce a good report, but she made a mental note to have him give her the final product to review before he submitted it, anyway.
“Pete Grozny’s people have been following a Maltese-flagged cargo ship that was apparently hijacked around Denmark just over a week ago.” Pyotr Grozny, “Pete,” was a long-time Soviet defector who was the head of the Russia cell. There was an entire group dedicated to Russia because of the importance the country still played in the world arena. Besides, most of the executives at IWG refused to believe the Cold War was over.
“Normally an incident like this wouldn’t even make the radar screen as anything more than a mere curiosity. But given the circumstances surrounding the ship, Pete decided to watch it a little more closely.” Jim swiveled his chair and retrieved a picture from the far corner of his desk. He handed it to Susan.
“This is the motor vessel Baltic Venture. Her particulars are on the back.” Susan flipped the picture over and verified that there was indeed information written on the back of the photo. “She was scheduled to deliver a shipment of cut timber from Finland to Algeria, with an arrival date of August 4th, four days ago. The press got wind of it on the 5th, and it’s been all over the networks in Europe and Russia. With the way things are going off of Africa and the problems we’re having with Somali pirates, people are afraid the same thing has spread to the Baltic. At least the media wants everyone to be afraid, in order to expand their viewership and sell some more newspapers.
“On July 31st, a member of the crew contacted the Finnish owners and reported that the ship had been hijacked. That was the last communication anyone had with the vessel. The owners reported the phone call to the International Maritime Bureau who noted it, but did not list it in their weekly piracy update. I wouldn’t have either, since as far as anyone knew, the Baltic Venture was steaming along her intended course to Algeria and someone in the crew might have just been making a crank call, if it even came from the ship.”
Susan looked at the picture again and read the print on the back. She still didn’t know what the possible hijacking of a merchant ship in the Baltic had to do with her. She knew Jim was getting to that, but she just wished he’d get there quicker. She really did have a rough weekend as her boss quickly deduced from her apparently disheveled appearance. Now she was getting a headache that was creeping up the back of her skull and threatening to attack her eye sockets at any moment.
Jim continued. “When the ship didn’t show up on the 4th, the IMB decided maybe the owners were right to be worried. They contacted the NATO Shipping Center in Northwood, England, and asked if they could assist in locating the overdue ship. They also put out a statement about the lost vessel that was picked up by the AP wire and shotgunned out to various news outlets throughout Europe. This is where Pete got involved.
“After a reporter in Germany did some digging, he discovered that after the Baltic Venture left Finland with the load of timber, she stopped in Kaliningrad for some repairs. The ship was in port for three weeks before she set sail on July 26th. This was a scheduled stop, so there was nothing unusual suspected by the owners. However, Kaliningrad is crawling with Russian military. There are several bases in the province, and what made Pete curious was the fact there has also been penetration by Russian organized crime into the region over the past year. Not to the level immediately following the Cold War, but it’s there nonetheless. His fears of mob influence on greedy military commanders, stationed far from the watchful eyes of Moscow, were, if not confirmed, at least reinforced, when one of IWG’s sources in Kaliningrad claimed that Russian S-300 missiles were loaded onto the ship during its stay there. The source claims he didn’t notify us about the shipment sooner, because he just came across the information two days ago when he was at a party with some loose-tongued friends whose tongues were loosened even more by vodka and television reports of the hijacking.”
Susan looked at her watch and said, “Jim, sorry to interrupt, but I still have no idea how this whole thing involves me or the cell.”
Jim leaned back and smiled. “Pete’s source says the missiles are bound for Iran.”
Susan’s interest was now piqued, and her analyst’s mind immediately began working. “How reliable is this source?” she asked.
“As reliable as the next guy selling state secrets for a profit, I suppose. But his story just may have some truth to it. The Russian daily, Kommersant is reporting that a Russian destroyer and ocean-going tug left Tartus, Syria, on the 5th and began a westbound transit through the Mediterranean toward the Strait of Gibraltar. We also know that two Russian frigates were dispatched the same day from the Baltic Fleet Headquarters and are currently heading south through the North Atlantic. That may all be coincidence, and the whole story may be just the imagination of a drunken sailor, but that’s why we hired you. First, I need you to figure out if the buyer really is Iran. And if so, was this a state-sanctioned deal or some rogue element either inside or outside the government. Second, assuming the transaction is legit, what are the implications of this deal? Pete’s guys will work on the vessel’s whereabouts, Russia’s intentions, and the alleged seller’s story while you tackle the buyers.”
Susan got up to leave, happy for the chance to help solve a crime. It was a welcome twist to her usual work. She decided she needed to take back all of the bad things she thought about her boss. “I’ll see what I can dig up on the destination and also draft a memo on the consequences of the possible arms sale. I’ll have the memo on your desk by five, but I’m going to need more time to track down the buyers.”
“Of course. Oh, and Susan,” Jim remembered, “it appears the press doesn’t know anything about the missiles—at least no one is reporting it. That may limit your available information sources. We want to keep this quiet until we have solid information and can publish a credible analysis.”
“You got it, boss.” Susan walked quickly back to her cubicle, a little more spring in her step than when she left to go to Jim’s office. On the way, she passed Phil drinking coffee by the copy machine. “Phil, I have to cancel our plans for after work.” She waved the photo as she abruptly turned into her analyst’s sanctuary. “Gotta work late,” she offered as explanation while she sat down at her desk and logged back into her computer.
“Okay,” Phil’s distant voice replied from over the cubicle walls. Susan had already started work
ing.
Chapter 7
Susan came back to her desk with another cup of coffee—her sixth since Jim had given her the Baltic Venture assignment that morning. She sat down, exasperated. The image on her computer monitor blurred as her tired eyes tried to take in everything and nothing at the same time. It was eerily quiet in the office. Even the night cleaning crew had come and gone. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was the only one left in the building, except she knew that two floors above the Intelligence Watch Group offices, which occupied the ninth and tenth, was one of the more successful corporate law firms in New York City. There were always young attorneys bucking to make partner who worked unholy hours in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Susan reflected that at least they had a purpose. She wondered what was keeping her working so late. It definitely wasn’t the money.
Susan shook her head to try to wake herself up and maybe jolt herself into action. She combed her hair back with her hands and took a sip of coffee. What could she be missing? She had looked at every available news source out of Iran for information about a possible arms deal with Russia, and checked every dissident website for even a hint of an accusation of such a transaction. Nothing. She was beginning to think that either Pete Grozny’s source was wrong and there wasn’t a secret arms deal between Russia and Iran, or she wasn’t as good as Jim made her out to be. She guessed it was probably both. She had been a fool to buy into Jim’s confidence in her. She knew he was mistaken in his trust and overrated her abilities by a long shot.
She closed what she was looking at on the computer and stretched. She was trying to think of any reason why she shouldn’t just close up shop and try again tomorrow morning. She powered down her computer, admitting defeat, and grabbed her purse from under the desk. After checking to make sure her car keys were still there, she clicked off her desk lamp and headed for the exit.
Susan hated giving up like that. She knew no one expected results by Tuesday morning when she had just been assigned the project. But, damn it, Jim had put his confidence in her, and that just didn’t happen very often. She wanted more than anything to impress him. It had been a long time since someone actually took notice of her abilities and appreciated the hard work she did. In fact, she couldn’t ever really remember the last time someone thanked her or even told her, “Good job, Susan.” Certainly her parents never did. She loved her parents as much as any kid could love two uber-successful university professors who demanded so much of their only child and expected nothing short of perfection. Susan tried her best to make them proud. If they were proud of her, they sure never told her.
Susan locked the main doors to the IWG offices and walked to the elevators. She pushed the down button and waited. Her mind shifted involuntarily back to the alleged Iran arms deal as the elevator slowly made its way up to the ninth floor. Why would you want to ship a bunch of missiles from Russia to Iran via Algeria? She supposed the sellers weren’t very smart, which could be an explanation in itself. But why put it on the Baltic Venture and risk losing the shipment at sea? Why not send it over land? The elevator stopped with an audible ding. The ship. The door to the elevator opened. She hadn’t looked into the ship. She had spent all day searching Iran while the Russia cell, she knew, looked into possible Russian sellers. What if the ship has the answer? It was at least another angle to investigate.
The door to the elevator closed. Susan was still standing in the common area outside the IWG offices. She looked around the room and hesitated momentarily, then she turned around and unlocked the office door. She got to her cubicle and put her purse down while she turned on her desk lamp and powered up her computer. When she had logged onto the company’s system she began a meta-search for the MV Baltic Venture.
Susan filtered and discarded most of the American media reports. She found that the media in the United States was adequate when you took it as a whole and the issue they were covering directly involved the American people. Unfortunately, that meant it was celebrity news that got most of the press because that was what was most important to Americans. She viewed three results—one from Finland and two from Russia—that were posted in the past hour. Nothing of note there. When Susan got to the twelfth page of search results, her eyes stopped on a piece coming out of the United States. But it was not a media outlet that produced the link, it was on a personal blog. “Middle-Truths.blogspot.com,” she read as she clicked the mouse to figure out why this link showed up in her search for the Baltic Venture. When the blog post opened, she read every word.
The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time August 6th
“A little over a week ago, on July 28th, MV Baltic Venture, a Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged cargo ship was hijacked in the Baltic Sea. She was on her way from Kotka, Finland, to Algiers, Algeria, with a load of timber. A cell phone call from one of the crew members to the ship’s owners, alerting them of the hijacking, was made on July 31st. That was the last time anyone heard from the ship.
The news of the hijacking wasn’t even made public until yesterday—a day after the ship was scheduled to arrive in Algiers.
This report puzzles me for three reasons.
First: the location of the hijacking. We hear about Somali pirates taking ships off the east coast of Africa quite a bit these days. But the Baltic Sea? I think piracy in that region went out with the Vikings.
Second: the alleged hijacking wasn’t even made public until six days after the owners received word of the ship’s capture. I can understand not wanting to overreact, but six days? I would think a shipowner, or at least the business whose goods were being transported would at least want an update on the ship’s position every couple days. This seems like it would be even more important when the last communication you had indicated your ship was now in the hands of pirates.
Third: the ship was supposedly taken nine days ago. Where is the ransom demand? Nine days is plenty of time to take the ship away from any coast guard or naval interference and make your demands. Why haven’t the hijackers talked to anyone?
Now, those are just some of my basic problems with the hijacking story. They just don’t fit the usual pirated vessel scenario. Even more intriguing, and perhaps more telling of what is really going on here, however, is the part that happened next.
Today it was reported that the Russian Navy dispatched five vessels to track down and free the Baltic Venture. They obviously buy into the idea that the ship was indeed hijacked. What doesn’t fit is the level of the response. Why send three warships, an oiler, and a tug to rescue a pirated cargo ship?
The 20 crewmembers are majority Russian citizens, but that’s still not a good reason to send five of the only operable fleet assets you have to go chase pirates. After the Cold War ended, Russia’s navy took a nose dive as maintenance was neglected and money was scarce. The Russian Federation is stretching itself thin. For what?
When the ship is located (its whereabouts are currently unknown according to open sources), wouldn’t a crack team of Special Forces fast-roping from a helicopter be a more viable response? It would certainly be cheaper. We know from the delicate handling of the school hostage rescue a few years back that the Russians pay no mind to collateral damage, so who cares if some of the crew gets caught in a crossfire during the takedown?
Another question: Is Finnish wood that valuable?
I think the answer is “no.” Which leads to the next question: What’s on that ship that is so valuable? What is so important that the Russians would deploy two frigates and a destroyer to get it back, or keep someone else from having it? And why don’t the Russians want anyone to know what that cargo is?
How do I know they don’t want anyone to find out? Because they haven’t said a damn thing! They haven’t even offered the pale explanation that they are sending warships to rescue their citizens who are on that vessel. Sometimes silence in the face of controversy speaks louder than any words.
I believe there really is something valuable on the MV Baltic Venture. But by valuable, I don’t mean money
.
If an expensive military response is the answer to retrieving the hijacked ship, then she must be carrying some expensive military cargo. Cargo the Russians don’t want to fall into the hands of some criminals looking to make a quick buck.
So, again, why all the secrecy?
Herein lies the rub: the cargo, whether missiles, guns, explosives, whatever, was probably not meant to be sold. I mean that whatever the Baltic Venture is carrying, it was probably stolen and is being shipped illegally to some as yet unknown buyer. If we knew what the cargo was, we could probably guess who the buyer is—or at least come up with a good list of potential buyers.
The Russians don’t want the world to know they can’t keep track of the weapons they own. Particularly given the number of nukes left over from the decades-long stand-off with America that many were sure would lead to the end of life as we know it.
Russia is making strides to re-enter the world stage as a competent player to be reckoned with. They want to get back some of the prestige they enjoyed when the Soviet Union was a superpower. They need that smuggled cargo back in their control. They got lucky. The ship was hijacked, and as far as anyone knows, hasn’t made it to the intended buyers. They also found out about the illegal shipment. Why else would they respond the way they did?
Now the big question is: who told them? The answer: I leave that up to you, my friends.”
Susan was surprised by what she just read. The fact that somebody in America was following this story was one thing, but what was even more incredible were the assumptions this guy (gal?) was making. The arms shipment hadn’t been leaked to the press. IWG only knew about it because a paid informant in Russia heard a drunk guy mention it. Was this person for real? An average Joe with their pulse on the reality of the geopolitics of the day was rare. Not unheard of, just rare. Or maybe this person worked for one of the intelligence agencies near D.C. and moonlighted as a blogger because they couldn’t keep a secret. Susan dismissed that thought as not very career-enhancing, not to mention borderline criminal, and therefore not likely. She thought if she could figure out who came up with this idea, maybe they would have some ideas on the buyer. Or at least talking it over with someone who had obviously done their homework already might help her find the answers she was looking for. Then she might be able to come through for Jim and earn the trust he put in her.
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