Death Drones

by Christopher Fox

  “Succinylcholine,” said Miguel .

  “Yes, whatever you said. Apparently it stops the muscles from functioning and people die if not treated immediately.”

  “OK,” Miguel said.

  “They were able to trace the lacing of the shipment to a terrorist in Nicaragua. Not sure what his motive is, but the CIA thinks it is a prelude to some other, larger scale attack.”

  “So how do you get involved?”

  “The CIA have no friends in Nicaragua ever since the Iran-Contra episode. Also, they are not keen to pick him up because they lack the facilities to interrogate him. I can have Daniel Templeton of the CIA explain it all to you. He’s in Honduras. Anyway, the gist of the story is that they want us to go get him and interrogate him.”

  “Sounds like fun. Do we have a plan?”

  “We are working on a plan. The team will be much the same as the one you worked with before, with a couple of additions.”

  “OK,” said Miguel. “Count me in.”

  “That’s great,” Frederico said. “I will inform the rest of the team. I will call Daniel and tell him to expect you. My assistant will make the flight reservations for you. Can you go tomorrow, Friday?”

  “No, that’s too early. I promised Enrique that I would take him fishing this weekend, and I want to spend time with Anna—I’ve been away a lot lately and hate to tell her I’m going away again.”

  “Of course. I’ll make it Monday.”

  “Monday’s great.”

  * * * *

  Miguel stepped from the Avianca Airbus A320 and entered the terminal of Toncontín International Airport where he followed the Aduana signs to the customs area. As part of the Aeropeurtos de Honduras group, Toncontín Airport serves the nation’s capital, Tegucigalpa. Miguel was to meet with CIA Chief of Station (COS) Daniel Templeton to discuss a high-level terrorist asset, although he would not provide any more information over the telephone. As he cleared the customs line, he made his way to the Salida and the taxi stand. He was not to order a taxi—Daniel did not even give him an address to go to—but would be contacted on his arrival. Before he reached the Exit, a young woman approached him and said, “Señor Diaz? ”

  Miguel turned around and looked into the sparkling eyes of a 30-something, dark-haired and very attractive woman and said, “Yes.”

  “Please follow me señor , I have a car waiting outside.”

  “Lead the way.”

  Miguel followed the woman, and after a while he realized that he was ogling her shapely rear end that swayed seductively as she walked. She pushed through the exit doors and turned to the right. Miguel spied the big black Chevy Suburban parked several cars down from them and speculated that it was their ride. Sure enough, the woman opened the back door and gestured Miguel to get in. When he did, she closed the door and got in the front with the driver.

  “I’m at a bit of a disadvantage,” Miguel said. “I don’t know either of your names.”

  “That’s fine,” she said. “You don’t need to know who we are.”

  I guess this is somewhat typical of the clandestine nature of CIA staff. The Suburban eased into the traffic and followed the general flow to the main highway CR5 and accessed the west ramp that took them into the City. The driver took the exit for Boulevard Centroamerica North and continued to Blvd. Morazan, where he turned right. After a few miles, the driver pulled into the El Dorado shopping complex. The complex had a multi-storey office component, and the driver drove into the underground parking area, selecting an open spot and pulling into it. The two front seat occupants got out of the car, and Miguel followed their lead. They walked to the elevator, and Driver summoned the cab. There were two shopping levels plus eight floors indicated on the pad when they stepped into the cab. Attractive Woman pressed ‘10’, the top floor, the doors closed, and they began to rise. Exiting the cab when the doors opened on the tenth floor, they stepped into a corridor. There were several doors leading from the corridor, and they stopped at one. The driver placed a key-card on the small panel on the wall, and the solenoid clicked. There was also a camera angled down to capture anyone entering the door. There was no receptionist, but there was a small area with a low coffee table and four comfortable-looking lounge chairs.

  “Take a seat,” Attractive Woman said, gesturing to one of the chairs. Miguel flopped into the chair as the two disappeared. Moments later, a vertically challenged man appeared and walked up to Miguel .

  “Hi Miguel, Thanks for coming,” he said. “I’m Daniel Templeton. Let’s go and get a drink.”

  Miguel stood and offered his hand, which Daniel shook aggressively. “I must admit,” said Miguel. “I was somewhat intrigued by your call and the clandestine nature of this trip. Hell! Your agents wouldn’t even introduce themselves.”

  “Occupational hazard, especially around here. We try to stay as covert as possible, but the government knows we’re here and keeps tabs on us as much as possible. It becomes a game of cat and mouse most times because we know we are being followed wherever we go. By now, they will have linked you to us and are delving into your background as we speak.”

  “They’re not going to find much there,” Miguel said. When Frederico had set up Miguel’s new identity after Kyle’s ‘staged’ death, they had used a person who had died with no next of kin, so the death of Miguel Diaz was never reported and Kyle assumed the name.

  They left the office and summoned the elevator again. Exiting on the ground floor, they left the complex and started walking down Blvd. Morazan. Miguel surreptitiously looked to his left at the large KFC restaurant across the street. In his peripheral view he spied the two men who were following him.

  “I guess we picked up a tail,” Miguel said to Daniel.

  “The tall guy with the leather jacket is Julio, and the shorter guy is Alphonse. They are our regulars , and that’s probably all they have to do is to follow us. When two or more of us leave, they split up and, if necessary, call in other people. They’re pretty easy to lose if we want to. Sometimes I think I should send them our itinerary, but that would take all the fun out of it.” Daniel chuckled.

  They crossed the busy street and entered TGI Fridays, an American-style sports bar. Daniel waved to one of the servers and received an excited smile in return. He ambled over to a corner booth and slid into it. Miguel occupied the seat opposite him.

  “So,” Daniel began. “I guess I should fill you in on what’s going on and why we called your agency.”

  “I’m listening,” said Miguel, resting his elbows on the table and his chin resting in his closed fists.

  Before Daniel could begin, the server appeared and placed a menu in front of each of them. “Buenos Días ,” he said. “May I get you something to drink?”

  “Cerveza for me,” said Daniel, gesturing to Miguel.

  “Same,” said Miguel.

  The server left and Daniel began his briefing.

  “Before I get into what we actually want from you, I would like to give you a little background about the CIA’s history of handling high-value assets. After 9-11, there was a witch hunt on for the people responsible. We were able to round up a few soldiers , but we needed to get to the organizers. One thing was clear, and that was that there will be more attacks. Eventually, we were able to capture one of the kingpins, a man called Khalid Sheikh Mohammad—we referred to him as KSM. This was the person who masterminded the 9-11 attacks, and no doubt had valuable information about upcoming attacks on America. Of course, we were not allowed by the Justice Department to use any forms of torture to extract information from detainees. So we established what we called Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, EIT for short. This was an approved list of interrogation techniques that we could use, and we were very successful with them. The idea behind the techniques was that they were grossly uncomfortable but not dangerous or life-threatening. This included sleep deprivation, wallbanging and water boarding as examples. However, a report by Senator Feinstein called the techniques torture, and th
at they represented a ‘stain on the moral fibre of America’. As a result, these techniques cannot be used by us, and detainees now are sent to Guantanamo Bay and imprisoned there, much like criminals. Our argument was that these high-level assets should be treated as enemy combatants and not prisoners of war. In this way, they would not qualify for the protections of the Third Geneva Convention.”

  The server came back with the beer, placed two coasters on the table and deposited the two frosted and sweating glass mugs on the coasters.

  “Are you ready to order?” he asked.

  Miguel and Daniel realized that they hadn’t even looked at the menus yet.

  “Give us a few more minutes,” Daniel said.

  “No Problemo ,” said the server as he darted away.

  Daniel continued. “The issue is that when we can catch one of these valuable assets, we are not interested in knowing what they have done; we want to find out what they are going to do. That’s the difference that many people in the Justice system and in Congress can’t seem to get their heads around. They want to treat them as criminals and pay restitution for their crimes. This may have worked for The Hague and the way they set about hunting down World War II criminals because the war was over. Our war is far from over and we need to extract information that will allow us to intercept and thwart further attacks on us. This can only be achieved with the use of some form of EIT. These guys are happy to admit to what they have done; even boast about it. It also gives them an opportunity to give some information even though it is useless to us and they know it. It was only through the application of EITs that we were able to flush out Osama Bin laden as well as several other high-ranking Jihadists.”

  Daniel could see that the server was returning, so he opened the menu, as did Miguel.

  “What’s good here?” Miguel asked.

  “Most of the food’s good—they have good hamburgers. The menu is much the same as in the States.”

  “I’ve been to the one in San José and the menu looks much the same.”

  The server stepped to the table, and they both ordered hamburger and fries. When the server left, Daniel continued.

  “The issue now—and the reason I asked you to come here—is that we have good Intel on another high-level asset in Nicaragua. Now, we don’t want to pick him up, because we know he has information about some nefarious scheme to unleash on America, and without using any EITs on him, we won’t get the information.”

  “So,” Miguel said. “You want us to pick him up and torture him?”

  “No, we don’t want you to torture him,” Daniel chuckled. “We just want you to be able to use the techniques I mentioned to you, especially water boarding, as it is very effective.”

  “So where do I find this guy?”

  “We have all the information you’ll need, but you will need to muster together a covert team, because he is in a compound that is well protected.”

  “That won’t be a problem. When do you want me to do this?”

  “That’s the other problem. This guy came to our attention through the DEA—seems he’s been intercepting shipments of drugs from Colombia destined for the US and lacing them with a sort of poison, resulting in several deaths so far across the US. But we think he’s into more schemes to wreak havoc and terror amongst Americans. This little operation of killing off druggies really isn’t worth the effort, and we think it is a trial run for something bigger. That being said, the DEA are expecting results from our Intel and there is a raid on the compound in the works for this Friday.”

  “Christ! That doesn’t give me much time. That’s only four days away.” Miguel complained.

  “I'm aware of that, but it’s the only way we can make sure he isn’t captured by us and sent to Git Bay.”

  “What time on Friday?”

  “It would have to be late in the day so that it can be done under the cover of darkness.”

  Miguel shook his head. This was a delicate operation and he would need to assemble the old team he worked with when he had to rescue Jenny from the cartel. There was planning, reconnoitring, weapons, and equipment to put together. Daniel could sense Miguel’s discomfort at the situation and reached in his pocket and pulled out a flash drive. Passing it over to Miguel, he said, “Here’s all the information you need. Satellite maps, photos, drone videos—everything we have on the compound, plus all the information on Mohammad and his team. There’s also copies of planning notes based on scenarios we put together, so everything is ready to go. Just pick a plan that you are comfortable with and set it in motion.”

  “OK,” Miguel said as he took the drive and pocketed it. “I’ll take a look at the info and advise you if it’s doable.”

  “Thanks—that’s all I ask.”

  They finished their beer just as the hamburgers came, and each ordered another cerveza . They switched to small talk after that as they finished their food. Daniel dabbed his mouth with his napkin, removing the remnants of the ketchup that had oozed out of the burger.

  “One other thing,” Daniel said. “The DEA received Intel from, of all places, one of the Colombian cartel leaders, a Fernando Lopez.”

  Miguel looked up from his plate and stared at Daniel, causing him to pause in mid speech.

  “Do you know him?”

  “Oh yes, I know him all right,” said Miguel. “He and his cohorts were the ones who stole the treasure we found off Cocos Island, took off with my boat and abducted my girlfriend, Jenny. Later, after we were able to rescue Jenny and get the treasure back, he abducted her again and tried to drown her by scuttling our boat, with me watching from his boat. I was able to jump off his boat and get aboard the Pegasus and rescue her again.”

  “Holy shit!” said Daniel. “Small World.”

  “I had to fake my death and assume a new identity so he would stop harassing Jenny.”

  “OK,” Daniel said and continued the briefing. “Seems like they were able to infiltrate the terrorist group and get information on their activities. When they learned of the high-jacking of their shipments and lacing of the drugs by the terrorist group, they were able to ‘turn’ one of their operatives with a combination of money—and the safe return of his family. The cartel’s man, someone called Roberto …,” Miguel’s facial expression changed at the mention of Roberto’s name. He was one of Jenny’s abductors and the one that Jenny had admitted to sleeping with. Daniel continued. “… interrogated the terrorist and learned of the bigger plot. In a strange bed fellow’s scenario, the cartel offered the Intel to the DEA with the agreement that we, the CIA, would take out the terrorist operation.”

  “It’s amazing the alliances we make for the better good,” said Miguel.

  “Too true. Another proviso is that the cartel’s man is to be involved in the operation to capture the terrorists. This to ensure that their interests are looked after.”

  Miguel stiffened at that. “I’m not sure we want to have an outsider on our team. He’ll slow us down.”

  “Unfortunately, it’s non-negotiable and one of the agreements we had to honour in order to get the Intel.”

  “So, how do I get in touch with this Roberto?”

  “Not to worry, he should be at your agency when you get back home. What time’s your flight back?”

  “Not ’til 4:30. I’ll just take a cab back to the airport.”

  “I can have our guys drive you if you want.”

  “Nah—too talkative for me,” he said with a wicked smile.

  “So when will you let me know?”

  “Tomorrow, late in the day. After I have had a chance to review the flash drive with my team.”

  “Sounds good. I will try to find a way to delay our operation, but it’s somewhat out of my hands now. ”

  “OK.” With that, Miguel got up and offered his hand again. “Thanks for lunch,” he said as he made no offer to pick up the check.

  “You’re welcome. I look forward to your call tomorrow.”

  Miguel asked the server to cal
l him a cab as he left the restaurant. It came in less than ten minutes, and he got in after instructing the driver to take him to the airport.

  Te n

  Maria Delgado had, by Mexican standards, a gifted life. Daughter to a resort developer and his wife, Maria didn’t lack for anything during her childhood. Delgado Resorts managed to survive throughout the SARS epidemic, bad press about safety in Mexico and hurricanes. Struggling through difficult times, they emerged stronger than ever due to a loyal customer and Travel Agency support, now offering 2,500 rooms in four upscale resorts—two in Playa del Carmen and two in Puerto Vallarta. They lived in a palatial estate just on the outskirts of Mexico City.

  Due to issues during delivery, her mother was left unable to conceive again, so Maria became an only child. Needless to say, Maria got lots of attention; probably too much attention as she never learned to share. A very attractive child, she had to fight the boys off at school, always relishing in the attention but never succumbing to any advances. Like many children choosing locations for a university, she did not want to go to one in Mexico City, although some of the best ones were there. Studying that close to her parents would stifle her, and she knew she had to get away from them and be on her own. So she applied to Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez for a law program and got accepted. During her tenure there, the city of Ciudad Juárez became a haven for drug wars, due to its proximity to El Paso, Texas. Maria often ventured into the streets of the city—to see firsthand the degradation and poverty caused by the constant fighting amongst drug cartels, police and government troops—but never at night. The City had the dubious distinction at that time as being the most dangerous city in the world to live. Most of the crime was as a result of rivalry between the two main cartels, the Juárez and Sinaloa. Interestingly enough, crime in the city has reduced considerably in recent years, and it was the site of the Pope’s visit in February 2016. Many credit the decline in crime to the notion that the cartels have either stopped fighting or created a truce, this coupled with widespread crack-downs of corruption within the police force. Ciudad Juárez, based on violent crime rates, can now be considered safer than some US cities such as New Orleans and Baltimore.