by R G Ainslee
* * *
As it happens so often, things didn't work out well over the next few hours. While we were at the airport, Mack received a call from Relint, informing him NSA suspended my security clearance, ending my role at the lab. I pictured myself working with Oldham in an un-classified support role.
An enraged Wilson got on the phone with Fort Meade and worked his way up to the top seeking an explanation. An hour later, he called me into Mack's office with the bad news.
"Brannan, I'm sorry. Certain people have gone behind my back and a Senator inserted himself into the situation at the last moment. In addition, Colonel Hansen expressed concerns about your mental state in light of your so-called brutal interrogation of Marsden. A review board will evaluate your status."
A bunch of deskbound pencil pushing bureaucrats would decide my fate. The Senate Intelligence Committee, it didn't take a genius to figure out how they became involved. Hansen: proof positive the bell curve goes both ways.
"There’s the question of your sudden and unauthorized exit from Kenya and refusal to tell by what means you traveled from Nairobi to Arizona in only four days without money or passport."
I gritted my teeth and held my tongue. Again, a bureaucratic nightmare ensnared me and threatened to end my career. Anything I said could, and most likely, would be used against me and I sure wasn't about to tell NSA the entire story. Lara risked her position to help me. I wouldn't implicate her at any price.
Wilson waited for an answer with an intense penetrating glare. After a few tense moments, he spoke first, "This situation will need to play itself out. Once I get back to Meade, I’m confident things will return to normal."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
* * *
The phone rang for Wilson. He listened dispassionately, hung up, closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and expelled a breath. "Marsden arrived in Norfolk two hours ago and is now in custody of the FBI."
Mack stiffened. "What happened?"
"The Justice Department was somehow informed of his impending arrival and instructed the FBI to take custody from the CIA. Marsden already has a lawyer with a bail hearing scheduled in Federal Court on Tuesday. We will be denied any further access to him."
Mack broke in, "We need to talk to him."
Wilson raised a hand, "I'm sorry, not possible." He hesitated, took a breath, and continued with a dead serious tone, "What I want to know is, who in hell told Washington about Marsden being in Nairobi and how did he have a lawyer waiting. Can anyone explain this?"
Mack, still upset, related to Wilson the full story of Marsden's involvement with Senator Bradbury and Simion Georgescu. Apparently, Mack knew more about the sleazy situation than he had told me in the past.
Wilson was fuming. When Mack was finished, he said, "All of this is pure speculation and we may never be certain of the truth, but the balance of probability is that Marsden is a pawn in a bigger game the outlines of which we can only guess."
Mack continued, "One thing for sure, Marsden could not have worked alone at setting up this scheme. Who helped him on the inside? Who was he in contact with? The most obvious answer would lie in the direction of Georgescu and his allies."
This caused an uncomfortable silence on Wilson's part. I wondered if Mack had hit a sensitive spot. What does Mack really know?
Mack said, "What do we do now?"
Wilson said, "At this point, we must back off. The Soviets will surely make contact with him and find out what he told us. We don't need to give them any more indications on what we know or don't know."
"He's off the hook, just like that?" I said.
Wilson gave me a disgusted look and averted his eyes.
"Excuse me, I need to go to my office and make a phone call." Didn't tell whom I planned to call, left them with the impression I was trying to call Lara. I would wait until the next morning to make another futile attempt to contact her.
When I returned, Breyer was briefing Wilson on his preliminary investigation. I was impressed. They found their way to my cabin, found the grey Bronco, and photographed the two men. Ritter staked out at the foot of the canyon, waiting to tail the pair when they left for the night.
Wilson’s expression was grim. He said, "Brannan, it would be best if you keep a low profile. If these men are looking for you, we don't want them to find out you returned." He nodded to Mack, "Colonel Gibson is it alright if he stays with you for a while?"
"Sure, I'll call the wife and tell her to stock up on beer."
Chapter 29 ~ Lex Talionis
Saturday, 4 March: Ft. Huachuca
Saturday morning, I called Nairobi from Mack's home phone. Tried Lara's apartment first, no answer. Then the embassy, this time they refused to accept the call. The message loud and clear: don't try again. What little hope I had left, faded into a fog of despair. I couldn't give up, but deep down knew our relationship was finished.
We spent the first hours with Wilson reviewing the Cochise Project data. Wilson said not to worry about the security clearance issue until official word arrived. We still had the weekend and maybe a few more days. I plodded along, re-examined the material, made numerous calculations, but my heart wasn't in it.
Wilson left to take a call and returned with a grim expression on his face. "We have a new development." He looked straight into my eyes. "The Secretary of State has become involved in the Marsden issue. It seems the Mexican government somehow became aware he is in custody and filed a formal extradition request. Wonder how they found out?"
All eyes turned towards me. Resolved not to tell them about my call to Bartlett informing him of the arrival of Freddy Rodriquez's murderer on U.S. soil, I kept my mouth shut.
Mack asked, "Now what do we do?"
Wilson pursed his lips and stared at the ceiling. "Perhaps a quick extradition process will serve our purpose. Marsden will be away from the press and congressional oversight."
What he really meant was the duplicitous bastards on the Senate Intelligence Committee wouldn't be able to use him in their circus on Capitol Hill. — Why is it, the worst of the lot always seems to end up in politics?
* * *
Breyer interrupted our meeting right after lunch, "Sir, we have additional information on Mr. Oldham." Wilson nodded for him to proceed. "He left work early in the afternoon on Thursday and has not been seen since."
Wilson’s eyebrows rose. "Any reason why?"
"His supervisor said he seemed upset when one of his co-workers told him Brannan is back."
"Did you check his living quarters?"
"Yes sir. No sign of him or foul play."
I asked, "Find anything?"
The security officer paused and appeared to be ill at ease. "Sorry, can't discuss that aspect." He shot the colonel an uncomfortable glance.
Wilson nodded. "Fine. Thank you, Captain."
The message was clear: They found something but aren't about to tell … must be incriminating. Wonder if he was the source of the leak? … But why? … Probably never know. These security types like to play it close to the vest.
My attention re-focused when Wilson said, "How about the men following Brannan?"
"We made some progress. One of them is staying at the Cactus Inn Motel under the name Antonio Morales and the other apparently lives in Nogales. He left last night in an old Chevy Nova. Unfortunately, we lost him at the border."
The border. I experienced a strange sensation of déjà vu. "You mean he crossed into Mexico?"
"Affirmative. The vehicle’s registered to a Juan Martinez at a non-existent address in Nogales on the U.S. side. The Ford Bronco belongs to a local garage that rents older vehicles. Mr. Martinez leased the vehicle for a week."
Wilson inquired, "What are they doing now?"
"The Bronco is parked in the same place and there’s no sign of Martinez."
* * *
Later in the evening after a heated discussion with Michaels, Wilson leaned back in his chair, gazed at me for a few moments, and asked with
a penetrating tone, "Brannan — summarize your analysis of the situation."
I sat up straight. "Marsden served as a decoy intended to distract us away from the real system the Soviets were testing. The signal I detected was almost exactly like we developed on the project. Maybe the instability problem hadn't been resolved. Random microbursts may not be able to adjust to the speed at that distance. The signal could have been too unstable to guide the missile to the target at such a high altitude and fast speed. Perhaps the Soviets really didn't make any progress." A pause to gauge reaction, Wilson’s eyes narrowed.
A quick glance at Michaels and from the expression on his face he wasn’t buying my conjecture. I addressed him directly, "Think about it. The Cochise Project model relied on hiding the guidance instructions imbedded in the in the third harmonic. The fatal flaw in the concept is once the system is detected, it is no better than a conventional system."
Michaels shrugged. "So…"
"Why did they allow Marsden to go to Ethiopia? Why did they allow him to be so high profile? They had to realize he would be spotted. His presence was sure to be noted. They established credibility for the subterfuge by releasing information about his involvement in Ethiopia."
Wilson motioned for me to continue. Michaels wrinkled his brow. I detected a wry grin on Mack’s face.
"They wanted us to find out he was in Addis Ababa."
Mack chimed in, "If you’re right, they wanted us to buy into the idea a system using the third harmonic concept was being deployed."
Wilson leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table edge. "For what reason?"
I continued, "It’s possible a different system was tested, one based on an energy burst concept. The Cochise project signals were camouflage. In doing so, they attempted to lead us into drawing the wrong conclusions."
"Been done before," added Mack.
He was right. During World War II, the British used success in direction finding technology in the Battle of the Atlantic as a cover for successful code breaking: The Enigma Project.
Michaels frowned. "Do you really believe the Soviet's primary aim was to test an energy burst weapon and not the third harmonic concept?"
"The energy burst system didn't need external guidance. The effects are effective over a wide range, a kind of shotgun effect. The first two signals displayed Cochise Project related parameters. The third missile held the energy burst. They counted on us attributing the results to a weapon guided by a third harmonic signal."
Wilson interjected, "Apparently, the energy burst knocked out several electronic installations in southern Ethiopia. We gave up on the concept because the burst kills your own equipment too. We deemed it not an effective weapon for general use." He paused and directed his attention to Mack. "Do you agree that the energy burst concept was the primary reason for the deception?"
Mack leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Yes. I believe the most likely scenario is that the Soviet's realized the third harmonic concept wouldn't work and decided to cut their losses. They sent Marsden to Ethiopia and didn't try to conceal the fact. Their purpose was to trick us into thinking the third harmonic concept actually worked. The operational test was a diversion designed to lead us down a false path to nowhere." He glanced towards me.
I said, "They gambled that we wouldn’t detect the energy burst and attribute its effects to the enhanced guidance system. By diverting our attention and efforts, we would waste time and effort by developing countermeasures for a threat that didn't exist."
Mack continued, "The bigger game is that they are using disinformation to influence policy decisions regarding defense spending. This would require someone on the inside. They feed information disguised as accomplished fact: the existence of a near operational system based upon the Cochise project concept.
"For the deception to succeed, it has to support facts we already know. Once the lie is established, the Soviets use their cronies to exert influence on our national defense decision-making process. It appears they wished to divert our efforts away from something else. The new question is what is that something?"
Michaels frowned and took a deep breath. "Do you believe Marsden knew about the plan?"
Mack said, "Marsden may have been deceived as well. He believed what he told us. He either didn't know about the energy burst weapon or was a damn good liar under pressure."
Wilson leaned back and spoke with a serious tone. "I agree. I believe we made an incorrect assessment concerning the system deployed in Ethiopia. The scenario simply fell into place. Marsden was present in Ethiopia, and we had no need to consider alternative ideas. The pieces fit, and we bought the story, hook line and-sinker. We became attached to the idea the Soviets had restarted the Cochise Project concept because the scenario appeared so perfect."
He turned in his chair and looked straight into my eyes. "I agree with Brannan in that we committed a fundamental mistake and fell in love with our initial conclusions."
Michaels shifted uncomfortably, about to speak when the colonel resumed, "Colonel Gibson, you and Brannan are to be commended for thinking outside the box and pointing us in the right direction. Fortunately, you recognized the inconsistencies and questioned the assessment. Unfortunately, you will never receive proper recognition for this accomplishment. The infallible folks at NSA and CIA will refuse to accept unwelcome facts or give up on their analysis."
I said, "Sir, the person who first sensed a deception was Captain Barker."
"I am not aware he was privy to the technical details."
"He wasn't. Maybe that's why he was able to see through the scheme. As you put it, he wasn't in love with the data. And no, he wasn't cleared for that specific information, but he put his life on the line. So did Major Santini."
"Point taken."
Michaels wasn’t satisfied. "Why did the Soviets spend so much effort in trying to capture or kill Brannan?"
Mack answered, "Perhaps they wanted to take him alive because they were unclear if the energy burst was responsible for bringing down the SR-71. They tried to capture him to find out what he knew and determine if their diversion worked. Or perhaps they couldn’t let him survive because he could expose the deception."
Michaels grimaced. "If that’s the case, what do the Soviets know now?"
Wilson’s voice assumed a grave tone, "Judging by their pursuit of Brannan and the presence of the men observing his house, they must be unsure what we know." He tapped the table for emphasis and raised his voice. "This is extremely important — we don't want them to find out — we want them to think we took the bait." He leaned back in the chair and looked at Mack. "Therefore, the investigation of the Cochise Project signals will continue. We will ensure they discover we are convinced Marsden was on the right track."
Sounded reasonable, but I decided to play devil's advocate. "Sir, what if the energy burst weapon was the actual diversion? What if we’ve got it backwards?" I still wasn’t convinced.
"What if? … That question always bothers me. Moreover, it is the reason the investigation will be real, not just a facade. That's why this business is so expensive in the end. We can't afford to be wrong."
"Seems like the mission was a waste of time and effort."
Wilson shook his head. "Not at all." He smiled. "In this instance, success is measured in terms of misfortunes avoided, rather than goals achieved, that's the nature of the game we play. We must take solace in each small victory, no matter how it is defined."
I wasn’t convinced. "In other words, you redefine the problem to—"
The colonel bowed up. "No, we are fighting an intelligence war, deception works both ways. It is like a boxing match, we dodged a punch, and now we know how he telegraphs his moves. But, we need to remember victories are often transitory."
Wilson glanced at his watch. "Gentlemen, it's Saturday night, please be my guests at the Officer's Club for…"
I wasn't listening. My thoughts were in Africa.
Sunday, 5 March: Ft. Huachuca
>
The next morning, after an interesting evening at the Officer's Club, we assembled in Mack’s office to continue our examination of the Cochise project data.
Mack filled his coffee cup and spoke to Wilson, "Colonel, before we get started, can you bring us up to date on the war between Ethiopia and Somalia."
The colonel nodded and took a sip of coffee.
Mack added, "And I’d like to know in what way this relates to our situation?"
Wilson began, "The administration’s goal has been to aid Somalia and tie down Soviet forces in an effort to impede their influence in the Horn of Africa. As you know, last month Ethiopian and Cuban forces were driving towards the Somali border. The Somali's requested assistance and the administration considered various military options but chose not to intervene any further.
"The White House and State Department clashed over how to handle the new realities and an attempt to link the matter to the SALT II arms control talks was sidetracked. Matters became more complicated when the House Armed Services and International Relations Committees issued reports advising against helping Somalia. The administration has belatedly determined the threat to US interests in the area is minimal."
I said, "Okay, what are they going to do?"
"The State Department is insisting the Somalis disengage from the Ogaden. They will most likely do so, because they have lost over 8,000 troops and three-quarters of their tank forces and a substantial portion of their air force."
Mack seemed skeptical. "If I may ask, how did you get involved?"
"The Defense Department was concerned about the possibility of a new Soviet air defense initiative and sought out assistance from NSA and the CIA. One of my agency contacts informed me of the concern and I proposed the SSRP concept to the Director of NSA. He agreed and with CIA approval, I received backing from the White House National Security Office to initiate a covert mission over Ethiopia." He grinned. "The operation was begrudgingly approved by DOD."
That caught my attention. "You say the White House approved all this? No wonder there were so many leaks."