A short time later, I learned it wasn’t.
* * * *
Instead of beginning the briefing by explaining the operation’s protocols—the way he usually did—Carlton announced he’d asked Kellerman to start the meeting off by describing the cover stories his department had developed for the operation’s team members.
“The protocols we’ve worked up for the operation are entirely dependent on your cover stories,” Carlton said, gesturing at the four of us, “so I want you to have your legends clearly in mind before I present the logistics of the operation.”
Carlton turned the meeting over to Kellerman, and when he stood up, he walked over to the video screen. “If you haven’t been keeping up with what’s been going on in Yemen, then you need to see some recent scenes from the capital city of Sanaa in the northern part of Yemen.”
He nodded at Olivia, who entered some keystrokes on her computer and brought up several images on the screen behind him.
Kellerman said, “These photographs show the devastation caused by the Saudi airstrikes against large sections of the city, including a hospital and an elementary school, but the scenes in the south are not that much different.”
He was right.
When a second set of pictures showed the southern coastal city of Aden, it was difficult to see much difference in the two photographs, except that the destruction in the south was caused by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
“Douglas will give you more information about the politics of what’s happening in Yemen, but I wanted you to see these images in order to understand the situation there.”
He turned away from the screen and addressed us.
“There’s no tourism going on; no business deals are taking place; no sporting events, concerts, or conferences are being scheduled. In other words, there’s nothing going on in Yemen except a civil war. As you might imagine, that’s limited our options in crafting a plausible cover story for you.”
Delaney raised her hand, and, although Kellerman looked surprised at this gesture, he nodded at her.
“What do you mean the civil war limited your options?” she asked.
“I meant most people are fleeing the country, so any strangers coming into Yemen are heavily scrutinized.”
He paused while Olivia brought up a second set of photographs.
These images showed journalists and news correspondents in various locations around the country who were reporting on the bombings, the refugees, and all the other horrific aspects of Yemen’s civil war.
Kellerman continued, “However, there is an exception to that. A certain group of people are entering the country on a daily basis. News organizations are sending television crews to cover the civil war in Yemen, and that’s why a crew from the Global News Service will be traveling to Aden next Friday to do a story about the refugee camp near Somahi.”
The GNS logo from the Global News Service appeared on the screen. Although the logo, a series of blue concentric circles with the initials GNS in the center, wasn’t as recognizable as the logos from the major news organizations, the GNS news service was well known among independent news organizations.
GNS primarily supplied independent television stations in the U.S. with in-depth news packages on current events and other timely subjects, giving them the means to compete with the larger television networks.
What those independent television stations didn’t know was that the Global News Service was also an Agency-funded organization.
By funding the news service, the Agency was able to make certain demands on the organization, demands that might require an Agency-staffed television crew be assigned to cover a story happening in a global hot spot.
Kellerman pointed to the GNS logo and said, “For those of you who don’t know, the Agency occasionally uses the news service as a smoke screen to carry out a mission. While we’re extremely careful about how often we use GNS, we’ve decided having the Rebel Merchant team pose as a GNS television crew is warranted because of the volatile situation in Yemen right now. We also believe the GNS broadcast credentials will get you into the interior of the country without drawing the attention of the authorities.”
Several years ago, I’d gone into Benghazi as a GNS journalist in order to initiate contact with one of Gaddafi’s generals.
The general had expressed interest in overthrowing Gaddafi, and I’d been sent in to check him out.
By the time I arrived, the general was dead; killed by a single bullet placed neatly in the middle of his forehead.
In that case, I’d burned my GNS credentials and gotten out of the country immediately.
Of course, I was operating solo then, so getting out was easy.
Operating with a television crew might be a different story.
* * * *
The moment Kellerman made the announcement about using the Global News Service for our cover stories, Carlton glanced over at me. When I saw him raise his eyebrows, I knew he was expecting me to voice my objections.
I didn’t say a word.
Whether I kept quiet to prove he didn’t always know what I was thinking, or whether I kept my mouth shut because the GNS cover story sounded like a viable means of getting us in and out of Yemen with the least amount of attention, I wasn’t sure.
I suspected it was a little of both.
Kellerman said, “When GNS sends a crew to report on a story, the crew usually consist of four people; a field producer, an on-air reporter, a cameraman, and a driver/translator. With that in mind, here’s the breakdown of your identities while you’re in country.”
He gestured over at Delaney. “Delaney will be the crew’s field producer, and she’ll be using her real name. I realize that’s highly unusual, but Delaney’s not only a Support Specialist in our Strategic Programs Division, she’s also employed at Global News Service as a field producer.”
So, I was wrong.
Delaney wasn’t a techno-nerd.
Delaney’s role on the Rebel Merchant team had nothing to do with technology.
Kellerman continued. “Because of Delaney’s experience as a field producer, she’ll be able to advise the rest of you on how to flesh out your own identities as GNS crew members.”
He gestured over at a man seated in the row of chairs behind us and said, “Tom, would you mind distributing their passports now?”
As Tom pulled three passports out of a manila envelope and laid them down in front of us, Kellerman said, “Delaney, why don’t you give the guys a brief explanation of what their job will be on the production crew?”
Delaney turned toward us and said, “I promise I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.”
“I hope I won’t have to handle a camera,” Taylor said. “I’m lousy when it comes to taking pictures.”
She tapped on the passport in front of him. “No, you’re not the crew’s cameraman. If you’ll open your passport, you’ll see you’re Conrad Barber. You’ll be our driver and Arabic translator. No one else on the crew is supposed to be able to speak Arabic.”
“I can handle that,” Taylor said.
I held up my passport and asked, “Could I trade names with you?”
Delaney smiled and said, “I picked that name out for you myself.”
“What kind of name is Austin Brice?”
“It’s got a show biz ring to it, so it’s the perfect name for a news reporter. You’re the crew’s on-air talent,” Delaney said.
I turned and looked at Carlton. “The protocols don’t call for us to do any actual on-air reporting, do they?”
He seemed amused by my question. “I’ll explain the protocols in a minute.”
Delaney gestured at Mitchell. “Are you comfortable with being Ralph Logan, my cameraman on the crew? I understand you’ve had some experience with handling a video camera.”
“Oh, sure. I’m easy,” Mitchell said. “You’ll find I seldom complain about anything. Right, Austin?”
Chapter 26
On
ce Delaney had finished telling us about our cover stories, Kellerman distributed the biographical details of our false identities for us to memorize, and then Carlton began briefing us on the mission protocols.
First, he announced he’d divided the protocols into four phases based on location.
Phase I was Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Phase II was Aden, the rebel capital in southern Yemen; Phase III was our destination, Somahi, and the compound where Jacob was living in the Yemeni desert; Phase IV was a Saudi airbase at Al-Mukalla, our exit out of Yemen.
After reading off the protocols, Carlton said, “Before I go into the details of each phase, I want Mason Barron, our chief of station in Saudi Arabia, to join us on a video call.
He nodded at Olivia. “Would you bring Mason online now, Olivia?”
She hit a few keystrokes, and within seconds, Mason Barron appeared on the screen. He was seated at the end of a table, and from his surroundings, I could tell he was in The Bubble, a secure communications facility found in all American embassies.
However, since the high definition screen in Conference Room C was mounted on the wall at the end of our conference table, it looked as if Barron might actually be seated at the table with us.
Barron, who held the title of Public Affairs Attaché at the American Embassy in Riyadh, had a wide forehead, hazel-colored eyes, and curly, ginger-colored hair, along with a scruffy beard.
He was wearing a navy-blue suit with a white dress shirt and a light-blue patterned tie. A suit wasn’t his usual attire, so I had to believe he’d come to The Bubble straight from some kind of formal meeting.
Barron was a fidgety kind of guy with an excessive amount of energy and an endless supply of ideas. When I’d worked with him before, he’d always appeared to be in a perpetual state of motion, and today, when his image pixelated across the screen, I noticed he was twirling a pencil between the fingers of his left hand.
When he looked up and saw the occupants of Conference Room C staring back at him from his video monitor, he smiled and said, “Hey, guys. What’s happening back home?”
Carlton ignored his folksy manner and said, “Mason, before I go over the mission protocols, I’d like to introduce you to the Rebel Merchant team.”
Barron pointed the pencil at the screen and said, “No need to introduce Titus. We’ve been in the same foxhole together before. How’s it going, Titus?”
I gave him a brief nod and said, “It’s good to see you again, Mason.”
After Carlton gave Barron a brief description of each person and their job description on the GNS news crew, he asked Olivia to update everyone on the status of Stephen Gault.
“Today is Gault’s last day at Advanced Computer Solutions,” she said. “We have no reason to believe he’s not going through with his plans to join Jacob Levin in Yemen. On Friday, Gault will leave Detroit and fly to Riyadh. From monitoring his emails, we know he is supposed to fly from Riyadh to Aden on Monday morning.”
Olivia pointed a remote mouse at the video monitor Kellerman had been using earlier. Seconds later, the itinerary for Stephen Gault’s travel from Detroit to Paris and on to Riyadh appeared on the screen.
She said, “We’ll keep the Agency’s surveillance teams on Gault until he checks into his hotel in Riyadh on Saturday.”
She looked over at Barron and said, “Once he checks into his hotel in Riyadh, monitoring his movements will be up to you and your surveillance teams.”
“I assure you, I’m on it. What happens after he leaves Riyadh?”
“I’m getting to that, Mason.”
“Oh, sorry,” he said with a smile, “my bad.”
Olivia didn’t return his smile. “In Jacob’s email to Gault yesterday, he said someone would contact him when he lands in Aden and transport him to the compound in Somahi.”
“Douglas,” Mason said, “if you need someone on the ground in Aden, I’ll volunteer for that. Or better still, maybe I could be on that flight with Gault.”
It might have been a good thing Mason Barron wasn’t in the same room with Carlton when he was offering these suggestions. Otherwise, the pencil Mason was using to beat out a rhythm on the table would have ended up somewhere else.
“That won’t be necessary, Mason,” Carlton said, clinching his jaw, “and when I’m finished briefing you on the protocols, you’ll understand why.”
“Oh, sure. I get it.”
If that were only true.
* * * *
When Olivia finished telling us about Gault’s itinerary, Carlton explained Phase I of the operation’s protocols.
Phase I called for the Rebel Merchant team—a.k.a. the GNS news crew—to leave Washington early Thursday morning and fly to Frankfurt, Germany, where, after a three-hour layover, we’d change planes and arrive in Riyadh early Friday morning.
This would put us in the Saudi capital shortly before Stephen Gault arrived on Saturday.
“On Friday afternoon,” Carlton said, “the GNS news crew has a scheduled appointment in the Public Affairs office at our embassy in Riyadh.” He gestured at Olivia. “Do you want to explain the procedure once they get there?”
Olivia looked over at Delaney. “When you arrive there, Mason will introduce you to a Saudi official from the Marlize Refugee Camp in Somahi. He’ll provide you with all the necessary documentation you’ll need to visit the refugee camp and film your news story.”
“I’ve already been in contact with him,” Delaney said. “His name is Ali Abdullah Tariq, and we’ve been exchanging emails for the past two weeks. Yesterday, he confirmed our appointment.”
“That’s right,” Barron said, as he took off his suit jacket and began rolling up his shirtsleeves. “I’ve got all that lined up already.”
I raised a couple of fingers to get Carlton’s attention.
“Do you have a question, Titus?”
I nodded. “It’s a question for Mason.”
After Carlton gestured at me to go ahead, I looked over at Barron. “Have you made similar arrangements for any other news organizations before?”
“Of course, I have. Why?”
“I was wondering if it had raised any eyebrows with the Saudis when you made the arrangements for us to visit the refugee camp.”
“I couldn’t tell that it did. Less than a month ago, after the Houthis launched a couple of missiles toward the Saudi military base near Somahi, I had to do the same thing for a cable news network.”
Delaney spoke up. “GNS is following the usual procedures, so I can’t imagine our request raised any red flags with the Saudis.”
I said, “If they had questioned you, it wouldn’t have changed anything, but it’s always good to know about any anomalies going in.”
“I’m with you,” Taylor said, turning toward me and nodding. “I don’t like surprises.”
Carlton said, “None of us do, but I assure you, we’ll be dealing with the unexpected throughout this operation. We don’t even know for sure who’ll be meeting Gault when he lands in Aden. Of course, there’s a possibility it could be Jacob himself. In fact, let’s hope it is Jacob. In that case, you could do a grab and go, take him to a safe location, and present him with the facts of life right then.”
Carlton picked up one of his folders, but then he put it back down again. “Olivia, before I present Phase II, why don’t you go ahead and talk about the tracking device?”
Olivia said, “As Douglas mentioned, one of our problems in working out the protocols for the mission has been the uncertainty of who’ll be meeting Gault in Aden, and how he’ll be traveling to Somahi to meet up with Jacob. After discussing it with Douglas, I’ve decided the best way to handle this is to have one of you place a tracking device on Gault’s luggage after he arrives in Riyadh.”
Olivia looked up at Barron, who was in the process of loosening his tie, and said, “Mason, planting that device will be your responsibility. We’ll be sending the tracker with Titus, and he’ll hand it over to you when the GNS news crew arrives at the emba
ssy on Friday afternoon.”
“That’ll work.”
“Would it be easier if I placed the device on Gault’s luggage myself?” I asked.
Carlton shook his head. “Since Gault knows your face, we don’t want you anywhere near him.”
“He doesn’t know me,” Mitchell said. “Why don’t I do it?”
“What makes you think I’m not capable of placing a tracking device on a target?” Barron asked.
“I’m familiar with such devices. I could always do it,” Taylor said.
Suddenly, Olivia stood to her feet, placed both her hands on the table in front of her, and gave us each the evil eye.
After a few seconds of silence, she said, “Just in case Douglas failed to make this clear to everyone, I’m in charge of managing the Ops Center for Rebel Merchant. If I give you an assignment, that’s your assignment. If I tell you to go somewhere, that’s where you’ll go. If I order you to stay where you are, that’s where you’ll stay. Have I made myself clear? Is there anyone here who doesn’t understand this?”
Complete silence.
After she resumed her seat, Olivia looked over at Barron. “You’ll plant the tracking device on Gault’s luggage.”
“Of course I will.”
“I believe that means we’re ready for Phase II now,” Carlton said.
* * * *
Carlton began his briefing on Phase II by showing us the itinerary for our own flight from Riyadh to Aden, where we’d be renting an SUV for the two-hour trip to the Marlize Refugee Camp in Somahi.
“What about Gault?” I asked. “According to his flight schedule, he arrives in Aden thirty minutes before we land.”
Olivia said, “By the time you pick up your vehicle for the trip to Somahi, we’ll have an update for you on Gault’s activities. Besides the tracking device on his luggage, we’ll have a surveillance drone overhead, which will be providing us images of his contact in Aden. I expect he’ll be headed east on the road to Somahi shortly after he arrives.”
“But,” Carlton said, “if we discover Jacob Levin is the person who’s meeting Gault in Aden, then I’ll authorize you to grab them immediately. In the event that happens, we’ve made arrangements for you to take them to a safe house in Aden.”
Five Years in Yemen Page 24