John Krygelski - The Aegis Solution

“That’s my goal in life. To amaze people wherever I may go.”

Within twenty minutes they were sitting in a circle around the stove, sipping hot tea and munching on the drippy, chocolate concoctions.

Tillie, between bites, asked, “Were you able to make any sense out of what Eric said to you at the end?”

Elias swallowed the last bite of his snack and took a long sip before answering. “Not as much as I would have liked.”

Tillie wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “How long have you known Eric?”

“A long time. About twenty years.”

“Were you friends?”

“I used to think so. Eric and I had worked in the field at the same time. Went through quite a bit together. Saved each other’s butts more than once. I was even his son’s godfather. And Leah was the godmother.”

“What happened?”

“There are basically three kinds of spooks in the business. The first group would be the patriots. For them, it’s all about what’s best for the country. The second group would be the mercenaries. They do it because they crave the adrenaline rush. They have no allegiance to any country. The third group would be what I call the pragmatists and some of the think-tank experts refer to as survivalists. They pick the side which is in their best self-interest. They are, by far, the easiest to turn since they have no loyalty at all. If they are busted, if their cover is blown, then they talk, and they cooperate.

“The pragmatists will switch sides in a minute if they perceive that the other side is winning. As for the mercenaries, a lot of people think that they will always work for the highest bidder. In my experience, that isn’t the case. They tend to gravitate toward the entity offering the most cutting-edge hardware and the highest risks. The patriots are the toughest to go against; you can’t turn them, and they will charge the machine gun nest, if that’s what it takes.”

Leaning forward on his canvas chair, Wilson asked, “Which one was Eric?”

“I used to think that Eric was a patriot, years ago. Maybe he was at one time. He never exhibited the adrenaline-junkie tendencies to tell me he was a mercenary.”

“So that leaves survivalist.”

“That’s right. Something happened in Eric’s world. Something changed, which caused him to come to the conclusion that the side I was on was no longer the winning side.”

“But you have no idea what that might be?”

“No, Wilson, I don’t. And I didn’t have a chance to find out from him.”

“Sorry about that,” Tillie apologized. “I should have waited longer before I pulled the trigger.”

Chuckling, Elias assured her, “Tillie, that’s not what I meant. If I had confronted him with a weapon that functioned, I might have learned something.”

“Before you blew him away.”

“Before I blew him away.”

Wilson continued his questioning. “From what you and Tillie told me, I believe there is little doubt but that you and your wife were getting too close for their comfort. Did she communicate anything to you before she…while she still had a chance? Anything which might give you a clue as to what they are planning?”

“No. Nothing. We had no contact for days prior to the end, which was normal for that type of an assignment.”

“So all we’ve really learned, thus far, is why you were brought here instead of simply being executed. They needed to know how much you knew and, of course, whether you had told anyone.”

“Exactly. And once Eric found out that I didn’t know the location of the lab or specifically what they were making, he knew there was no reason to keep me around.”

Tillie frowned. “But he said something about one more function you needed to fulfill. What was that all about?”

Elias thought back for a moment. “That’s right. He did say that. I have no idea what he meant, though.”

“And what do you know about the lab?” Tillie asked, taking another sip of tea.

“Not much. All Benjamin told me was that it was a bio-weapon lab and that they were working on a new aerosol material.”

Wiping the melted chocolate off his fingers, Elias began to break down the AK-47. Wilson and Tillie watched the practiced, swift movements.

After a few moments, Wilson pressed on. “Is your colleague in Israel continuing his efforts to gain additional information from this Bassam?”

Elias shook his head as he inserted the firing pin in place. “No, Benjamin has squeezed all of the juice he could out of that particular lemon. What he told me was all there was to glean from Bassam.”

“Why was Eric specifically in Aegis?” Wilson asked. “And what does Kreitzmann have to do with this puzzle?”

“I thought we decided that Eric was here as bait to attract Elias,” Tillie stated.

“He was. That’s not what Wilson is asking. I think his question is why Aegis and not someplace else. And the answer is that they wanted to put me in an environment where there is nothing I can do with the knowledge I might have. They have effectively cut me off from any allies or any other agencies or even governments who might have a concern about Faulk’s actions.”

“I’m a little confused about that,” she said. “Don’t the agencies and governments talk to each other? Wouldn’t Faulk have been told about Bassam? Oh, wait! That was a dumb question. Bassam told the Israelis that Faulk and Eric were bad guys. Benjamin, or his bosses, wouldn’t have told our government anything.”

“You’re right, Tillie. Well, almost right. Benjamin told me that they did inform Faulk when they first caught Bassam. I guess it caused quite a ruckus, with Faulk demanding they turn him over to us for questioning. The Mossad refused. After they interrogated Bassam, and heard what he had to say about Stone and Faulk, the Israelis realized they couldn’t pass on any more information. They decided to tell Faulk that Bassam was a dry well.”

“I assume he didn’t buy that.”

“Obviously not, but getting information out of Mossad if they don’t want to share is almost impossible.”

“Faulk must have been beside himself,” Wilson commented. “In his desperation to find out what the Israelis knew, he must have remembered that you and Benjamin had a relationship.”

Elias nodded his agreement. “We did. And it was well known in the intelligence community that there was no love lost between Faulk and me.”

“Looking at it from Benjamin’s perspective, it made perfect sense,” Wilson thought out loud. “He knew you hated Faulk. He knew you had lost your wife in the attack. He knew the information he possessed was of the highest order of magnitude, and yet, since it implicated a highly placed individual in our government, it couldn’t be shared through normal channels.”

“Absolutely. He would have no idea who he could trust over here.”

“Except for you.”

“Except for me. I was really his only option.”

Elias had finished assembling the now functional AK-47, and leaned it against the ladder beside his chair.

Tillie drank the last of her tea and set down the cup. “We have some of the pieces, but we’re still missing a bunch. Why was Eric here for so long? What does Kreitzmann have to do with Faulk’s plans?

Wilson spoke up, “If I may ask a question, perhaps I can clarify one point. How long ago did the Israelis capture Bassam?”

Elias thought back for a moment, suddenly making the connection. “Of course!”

“What?” Tillie asked excitedly.

“The Mossad first picked up Bassam almost three months ago.”

“That’s when the Israelis first notified Faulk that they had him?”

“Exactly.”

“And that’s close to when I saw Eric enter Aegis.”

“Right.”