The StarSight Project

by S. P. Perone

  The public still believed that the mysterious thugs responsible for the Senator’s death were also responsible for the disappearance of Ahmed Sharif. No public disclosure of Sharif’s terrorist connections had been made…and probably never would be made. Disclosure about Sharif would surely lead to public awareness of the narrow escape from Ali-Sheikh’s EMP missile attack, and that could not be allowed. Despite Shane’s report, Carothers remained skeptical that Sharif had perished in the desperate flight from his Italian villa. But, even if Sharif were found alive, he would never be charged with anything. He might even resume his high profile life. He would be watched closely, however. And, there would be one U.S. Senator and one CIA Assistant Director who would personally assure that Sharif never again wielded the influence he previously controlled.

  Now, back in Rockville, Tony and Sarah were spending an early December evening with their friends, Harry and Luci Churchill. Nathan Carothers had joined them that morning on the flight back from California, and was a guest in the Churchill’s home this evening. They each had a glass of red wine in hand. Sarah and Luci were in the kitchen, while Tony, Harry, and Carothers were seated in the family room in front of the blazing fireplace.

  Although Shane and Sarah had not yet made an appearance at the university, they were aware of hostile rumblings from the faculty. The narrow escape of the StarSight team from a fatal explosion had been well publicized. Although no group had claimed responsibility, the press had characterized it as a terrorist attack on several prominent scientists conducting secret work at Livermore Lab. Janus Clarkson, in particular, had been stirring up faculty. The student newspaper had quoted him and several others as condemning the university’s lax position regarding faculty research leave…particularly for classified research…and specifically for Professor Tony Shane. The existence of Shane’s classified research contract had become public knowledge, with Andrew Mason of theJournal resurrecting the story of the alleged CIA connection.

  Harry had been describing for them the current climate at the university, while Carothers and Shane had listened glumly. Shane’s recent victory at the University Research Committee “inquisition” had been portrayed as a “sellout” by the university to appease the feds. And Clarkson’s clique had been firing salvos, laying partial responsibility for Shane’s misadventures at Provost Newman’s door. It was Harry’s opinion that Clarkson was promoting himself for Newman’s job…and that he might just get it.

  Although Carothers listened to this conversation, he contributed nothing. His mind was elsewhere. His stopover in Rockville, on his return from Santa Barbara to Washington, was not social; nor was it official. It would not directly involve the university either. But, the impact on one of the university’s faculty would be substantial. It was unofficial business; and it would be conducted tonight…in the Churchill’s home.

  Knowing that Carothers needed some time, Shane excused himself, and sauntered into the kitchen to join Luci and Sarah. Not unexpectedly, he found Sarah with her arm around Luci, comforting her. He knew what message had been delivered, and walked up and gently joined Sarah in embracing Luci. There were no words he could say that would relieve her pain, but he and Sarah wanted her to know they were there for her.

  The three of them remained in the kitchen, while Carothers spoke to Harry in the other room. Standing close together, looking out the front window, with the flickering glow of the fireplace playing across their backs, these two big former athletes conversed in low, serious tones. Part of Carothers’ message was the same that Sarah had delivered to Luci. But, there was more. And, Harry was visibly upset. Shortly, he hung his head and sobbed. Carothers put his hand on the big man’s shoulder, silently providing what comfort he could.

  Eventually, Carothers left Harry, and walked to the kitchen. It was time for him to leave. He bid good-bye to Luci and Sarah.

  Walking with Carothers out of the house to his car, Shane slipped on his coat, and glanced over at Harry standing alone, staring out the front window.

  Outside the house, Shane learned that Carothers had had the conversation with Harry that they had anticipated. It was then that they said their parting good-byes.

  “Nathan, thank you for all you’ve done. We all appreciate it. I know it was rough on Luci and Harry, but I also know it could have been much worse. Thank you again.”

  “Don’t worry, Tony,” he said slowly, gazing intently into Shane’s eyes. “I don’t ever do anything without a good reason.” Then, ignoring Shane’s quizzical expression, Carothers abruptly switched gears. “Did you know that the StarSight system is being evaluated by our counter-terrorism unit? I think we’re going to need you and Sarah and the rest of the StarSight team to train our people.”

  “Christ, Nathan,” Shane interrupted. “Weren’t you listening to Harry? They’re after my scalp here. If Clarkson has his way, they’ll probably throw me, Sarah, and the classified research right out the door!”

  Smiling, and putting a hand on Shane’s shoulder, Carothers said calmly, “Trust me, Tony. This tempest will blow over soon. The university has a big Christmas and semester break coming up. By the end of January, after all your students and faculty have been on sun breaks to Florida, or skiing in Utah, all will be forgotten. You just stick to your guns. Just like when you handled Clarkson’s attack last time. You and Sarah will be fine. And we’ll be able to get the StarSight system working like it should.”

  Shane stood there, remaining silent. He wanted to believe Carothers; to share in his optimism. But, he would have to wait and see.

  “You’ll hear from me in a day or two to set up a schedule,” Carothers continued. “And, you know, Ellen Moorhouse will probably take on her husband’s committee assignments. So, you’ll be dealing with ‘Senator Moorhouse’ again on the classified research contract.”

  “How is she doing, Nathan? She’s really been through a lot.”

  “More than you’ll ever know, Tony,” Carothers responded, while staring blankly toward a distant streetlight. Then, returning his gaze to Shane, he continued, “But…you’ll find out…she’s strong, and determined. And, she’ll have more incentive than anyone to see this work gets done. You know, Tony, we were damn lucky to win this battle with Ali-Sheikh. Rudimentary as it is, StarSight gave us the edge we needed. But, it needs to be much better. We won’t always have independent intelligence sources like we did this time.”

  Shane nodded absently, other issues coming to mind. “You know, Nathan, you still haven’t answered some questions. Do you mind if I ask?”

  “Go ahead, Tony. We can freeze out here together,” he said, as he pulled up the collar on his overcoat.

  “First of all, who provided the information about the classified project to Mason of the ChicagoJournal ? Was it Clarkson?”

  “Not as far as we know. Mason isn’t talking. But, we think it was an Ali-Sheikh operative, posing as a university professor. Clarkson was probably given the information by the agent, and he took advantage of it. But, we don’t think he started it.”

  “What about Salomé? She disappeared after getting Sarah and me to the US Embassy in Zurich. We appreciate the strings you pulled to get us both back to California without any fanfare, by the way. But, what about Salomé? Did you pay her fee? Do you have any idea where she is? Who she’s working for?”

  With a serious expression on his face, Carothers replied, “Tony. Don’t dwell on thoughts of Salomé. You don’t really know her. She’s not your friend. She’s an amoral mercenary. Tomorrow, she may have a contract to terminate you…or Sarah. And, she would do it without a second thought.”

  Shocked at Carothers’ brutally frank statement, Shane was speechless for a moment. Then, he said, “Forgive me if I don’t agree with you, Nathan. Salomé opened up to me. She saved Sarah’s life. I can’t believe she’s the cold-hearted creature you describe…and that she claims to be.”

  With a knowing smile on his face, Carothers simply nodded his head, without comment. Then, sensing Shane had run
out of questions, Carothers said his good-bye, entered the rental car, and drove off to meet his flight out of O’Hare.

  Shane stood there, looking after the receding car, wondering what other adventures Carothers would be involved in…and whether he and Sarah would be drawn into any of them. He hoped not…but he had a feeling there might not be a choice.

  While Shane was outside talking to Carothers, Luci and Sarah had returned to the front room. Walking to the front window, they came up on Harry’s side. Turning to see Luci, he reached out to embrace her…absorbing her pain…forgetting his own. Slowly, they walked back to the fireplace and sat down. Sarah remained at the window, observing Shane and Carothers in front of the house.

  She had not yet told Tony about the decision that she had discussed with Carothers. The agonizing pressure to complete the StarSight project before the dreadful terrorist attack could be launched had altered her view of a professional future. And, the harrowing experience she had endured…with Max, Salomé, and Sharif…had changed her emotionally. The latter had made her stronger, more determined to be in control of her own life. The former had convinced her that the academic world was no longer for her.

  She shuddered whenever she thought of how close they had come to ignoring the clues to the terrorist attack that StarSight had provided. The Senator and Carothers had been right. She and Tony had been locked into a conventional academic mind-set; they had been reluctant to speculate on their observations. It was a behavior pattern adopted as an instinctive defense mechanism; one implemented whenever publishing papers or giving talks…to avoid criticism from academic colleagues. It was only because of the persistent pressure from the Senator and Carothers that they had reluctantly released the observations, which had ultimately saved untold numbers of U.S. citizens from a horrible, shocking tragedy.

  She knew what she had to do. She would be moving to Washington, and would accept a position in the CIA’s Counter-terrorism Center in Langley. Her first assignment, Carothers assured her, would be to take charge of the StarSight project. But, in the future, she hoped to become a field agent. Never again would she endure the helplessness that she felt during her kidnapping. She would learn to control her own destiny.

  Now, as she gazed on Tony, outside, talking with Carothers, his breath visible in the cold night air, her heart ached at the thought of how her decision would affect their relationship. Tony was hopelessly tied to his academic career. She couldn’t conceive of his leaving Daniels to join her in working for the government. As much as she would have liked that, she had accepted that it would never happen.

  She had decided to tell him tonight. As they lay together in bed. She prayed that he would understand; that he would not be angry; that, instead, he would hold her close; and reassure her of his love and his support for her career choices.

  It was ironic that she and Tony had worked their way through the issue of having joint academic careers…yet had not considered the possibility that they might be drawn apart because one of them chose a non-academic career. But, their love had been strengthened by working through that crisis. Perhaps it was strong enough to endure. She believed it was. She knew she could be Tony’s soul mate forever. Unfortunately, she also knew that Tony would not see how they could continue to be committed, though separated. It would take a while for him to understand it. But, eventually, she hoped that he would.

  As she watched Carothers leave, and anticipated Shane’s return to the house, Sarah moved to extract Luci from Harry. She knew Shane needed to speak to Harry alone. So, she asked Luci to join her in the kitchen…to get some coffee ready for the guys.

  Returning to the house, Shane saw that Harry had returned to a seat in front of the fireplace. He was alone.

  Walking over, Shane placed a hand on his shoulder, shocking him out of his reverie. “Mind if I join you, big guy?”

  “Suit yourself, old buddy, I’m not very good company right now.”

  Shane took up a seat next to his friend, and sat looking at the fire for a while. Then, turning to Harry, he said, “Sarah and I are really sorry about Luci’s parents. We know how thrilled she was when she thought they might be coming to the States.”

  Without looking over at Shane, Harry said, “Is there any possibility Carothers is wrong about this, Tony? Are they really gone?”

  “I’m no expert, Harry. But, from what I’ve seen of Carothers in operation, I wouldn’t doubt him. His information sources are very reliable. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m so grateful that Sarah broke the news to Luci. I couldn’t have done it.”

  The pair remained silent for a while. Then, Harry spoke. “Carothers said you know what I did. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Tony. Can you ever forgive me?”

  “Are you kidding? How can anybody throw stones unless they’ve been in the same spot? If my parents…or my wife’s…had been threatened with a horrible death, I probably would do whatever was asked of me.”

  “How did you know that I had stolen your classified notes?”

  “It was when we discovered that our project team had been sent fake e-mails containing the secret codes for data files. I knew there was only one way they could have been stolen. It was that night we were in my office talking about my fight with Sarah. I left you alone for a while with the safe unlocked. I figured you must have gotten my research notebook and scanned the last few pages into the computer. From there, the guy who set you up was able to hack into my system and extract the files.”

  “Was it Carothers who figured outwhy I did it?” Harry asked.

  “Yeah. He’s pretty good. When I told him what I thought had happened, he asked me all kinds of questions about you…and Luci. Next thing I knew, he had checked on Luci’s parents, and found out that they had been dead for many years. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that someone had fabricated the letters, supposedly from her parents in Vietnam. This whole story of their possible reunion with Luci was just a set-up. They were able to threaten you with eliminating them in some horrible way if you didn’t cooperate.”

  “What did you think of me…before talking to Carothers? Did you think I was some kind of spy, or something?”

  “No, Harry. There was never any doubt in my mind that you were being forced to do this. I just didn’t know how. That’s the way I approached Carothers.”

  “For the record, Tony, Luci knew nothing about what I did…or why.”

  “I figured that, Harry. And, she won’t ever hear anything from me. Or from Carothers.”

  “How did you convince him not to report this incident, Tony? I’m really grateful.”

  “Do you think I could convince Carothers to do something he didn’t want to do? No way, Harry. He walks to his own beat. Three or four moves ahead of everybody else. Just figure you’re on the hook somewhere down the road, big guy. And, that’s what it’s all about.”

  Puzzled, Harry looked over at his friend, his face a question mark.

  “Look at it this way, Harry. Some time…next month…next year…you get a phone call in the middle of the night:Your buddy’s been hijacked by some fruitcakes headed for Iraq, and only some six foot four black political science professor can save him . Just consider it an offer you shouldn’t refuse.”

  This comment got Harry chuckling, even though he knew it wasn’t all that funny. The cuts and bruises on Sarah’s face had raised eyebrows. And, Shane had gotten Carothers’ permission to share with Harry a sanitized version of the harrowing adventure he and Sarah had just experienced. Forced to leave out names, places, and details in his telling of the story, it was nevertheless a frightening tale.

  “And, there’s one other thing,” Shane continued. “Carothers really chewed my ass about leaving that classified safe open. He told me it was a 1 to 10 offense if the Feds ever heard about it.”

  “So?” Harry asked, his eyebrows arched.

  “So…you and I areboth on the hook, old buddy. Our days of playing academic games may be over.”

  The man being esc
orted into Sudhama Ali-Sheikh’s quarters, buried deep within a cave in the northern mountains of Pakistan, was dressed in camouflage gear. Bruised, dirty and unshaven, the man stumbled toward Ali-Sheikh, reached out to grasp his hand, and instantly found himself embraced by this powerful terrorist leader.

  “Ahmed. Welcome, finally, to our headquarters,” Ali-Sheikh said to his guest. “I understand you have had a very difficult time.”

  Remaining silent, his guest nodded his head. Ali-Sheikh waved him to a chair, and they both sat down. An aide quickly brought them each a cup of strong Turkish coffee, and departed the tent so that the two men could speak in private.

  “Thank you, Sudhama,” Sharif began. “Thank you for finding me and bringing me here safely. I owe you my life.”

  Ali-Sheikh nodded, acknowledging the man’s gratitude…and also the debt he had mentioned. Burning with anger inside over the failure of the grand venture they had conceived together…and laying the blame squarely on Sharif, Ali-Sheikh had toyed with the idea of eliminating him. Unfortunately, he needed Sharif’s wealth to help support his many activities. And, he knew it would continue to be there. Because the United States could not risk revealing the near-tragic events that Sharif had set into motion, he would not be prosecuted. He would return to the outside world, and to his business. But he would be watched. He would not be able to conduct the covert activities he had before. He would find himselfpersona non grata in government circles. Ali-Sheikh knew that any plans for future acts of terrorism, which Sharif would support financially, would have to be decided before Sharif left Pakistan.

  “What do you propose we do, Ahmed,” Ali-Sheikh asked his guest, “to recover from our recent disappointments?”

  “I don’t know, Sudhama, but the very first order of business must be to eliminate this traitor, Salomé. I want her to be dispatched…slowly…by the most ruthless of your agents.”