Stephen Hunter - Dead Zero

Nelson led them onward, talking as he went.

“The third level of permissibility is what we call Sierra, S for strategic. That’s polite terminology for assassination. That’s when the Agency develops a high-value target opportunity, specific to time and place. A big bad guy, in other words. It’s rare enough to be fun and a highlight in a duty week. We will intercept him, just like we did Yamamoto in World War Two. We’ll know where he will be and we’ll be there, real high or real low. All the permissions are already in place, legal has signed off, we’re just looking for one of a dozen preselected descriptors. Maybe an on-ground asset will be communicating with us. All the folks involved generally tune in; it’s everybody’s favorite TV show. But it’s really up to the battle manager and the pilot to bring it off, and the other people usually keep their mouths shut. That one’s all flying, just waiting for a moment when Mr. Big is in the car, there aren’t any school buses or ambulances or trucks full of violin prodigies nearby, and they drop the hammer. The Agency is very strict on collateral, particularly in a Sierra shoot. It’s one thing to blow up a school when you’re trying to save a platoon from getting overrun and another to blow it up to kill one guy whose presence you’re not a hundred percent clear on. Anyhow, you’ll see a good one when you look at the shot tapes. We got a Taliban assistant commander in Kandahar province on that shift, I’ve already checked. Poof. Instant vapors. My people like those a lot. They’re the shots that’ll end the war sooner, rather than later.”

“There’s no other ‘level of permissibility’ as you call it, nothing beyond Tango, Oscar, and Sierra?” asked Starling.

“No, ma’am. Not at present. Not seven months ago. Now, if we find ourselves in a fall-of-Vietnam scenario, that might change. Or if Al-Qaeda goes belly up if we get the tall man, that might change too. I can’t forecast the future. But those are our standards, our rules, and as you will see, we document everything and nothing is left to chance.”

“And drones aren’t run out of any other base?”

“No sir. The Air Force flies the drones, the CIA provides the intel and co-ops on the supervision. The CIA and the Air Force have a very good operating relationship, at this level anyway. Everybody’s on the same page.”

“And you tape all your shots?” asked Starling.

“Yes, ma’am. Partially to learn from them, but also to cover this eventuality so that we can answer any questions quickly and honestly.”

They walked on through the center, seeing Jameson’s scene played out by a dozen other pilot operators, some in Air Force officers’ uniforms, some in shorts and T-shirts-civilian contractors, the colonel explained-passed under an archway, and came to a corridor. The colonel led them to a room.

“This is where I’ve set you up. We’re at your disposal. You see before you duty logs, and the sergeant here will call your operators and battlefield managers for interviews. You can go through each operator’s shifts in real time-well, you won’t want to do that-or on channel two, you can see all the shots. You can talk with Captain Peoples, who was the battle manager that shift. I’ll have meals brought to you, the bathroom is down the hall, and call me if you need anything at all. As I said, I want it noted that our cooperation was one hundred percent.”

“Thank you,” said Starling, and she and Swagger got to work.

HOOVER BUILDING

PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE

WASHINGTON, DC

1700 HOURS

Nick was in records on the second floor. It looked about as law enforcement as a midsize software company, with a lot of intense people locked into their computer terminals. He went to the duty desk and waited for someone to notice him. He could have sent someone, for as an assistant director, he now had a fleet of staff, as well as endless extras assigned for the duration of this task force emergency, but somehow he felt it best if he handled it himself. He also could have had a clerk dispatched to his office, but he’d never adjusted to the perk thing. It was something you didn’t want to get too attached to or you’d really miss it when it went away.

“Yes, Mr. Director?” one of the clerks asked, having rushed to his side. ADs were big news in this part of the building, on this floor, and assisting one could always lead to some kind of break in the career climb.

“Hi,” he said, squinting to see her nametag, “Doris, how are you? How’re the wife and kids?” he joked, playing the sincerely-insincere card that was always good for an ice-breaking laugh.

“The kids ran away with a motorcycle gang and the wife is divorcing me for a bull dyke in Latent Prints,” the girl said brightly, and both laughed. He liked her spirit.

“Okay,” he said, “here’s the deal. I’m not sure how you access this, but I’m thinking that in some way you ought to have records on a certain kind of guy.”

“You don’t have a name, a crime, a booking number?”

“Only a category.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Okay, you know these guys who work overseas for these big security firms on government contracts? Graywolf is the biggest, but there must be more.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I know we looked into Graywolf in 2005 on the issue of illegitimate or indiscriminate shooting in Baghdad.”

“I remember it.”

“The guys they hire: they seem to be called contractors, they’re tough, hard guys, with a lot of military, even Special Forces, experience.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need a list of the ones who’ve gotten in trouble with the law.”

“I can cross-reference by affiliation against conviction. What sorts of infractions?”

“Gosh, I’m guessing assault, second-degree murder, maybe extortion, maybe rape, the kinds of crimes you’d find in a war zone. Wouldn’t be crimes against property, but excess violence, a tendency to shoot, things that would get someone in trouble even in a wild and woolly town like Baghdad or Kabul. Maybe cross-reference with the authorities there, maybe check with State, Department of the Army, the marines, and so forth.”

“Okay. I’ll get right on it.”

“And maybe also check with State as to whether or not any of them have recently reentered the country. I’m looking for a hard-ass guy with lots of combat experience, a real operator who’s shady on the criminal front at the same time. I’m sure a lot of these guys are straight-on professionals, doing a very hard job in a crappy piece of the world. But the guys capable of that sort of thing over the long term, the guys who enjoy the action, who love to carry the black rifles and wear the watch caps low over their heads, the tactical freaks addicted to the rush of pulling the trigger-there’s got to be a kind of pool of them available for various odd, dirty jobs in those towns. The washouts, the screwups, the just fired, the embittered. Those are the guys I’m looking for, and I’m real curious to see if any Tommy Tactical heavy hitters have come back recently.”

“I’ll get right on it, sir,” she said.

“And this is just between you, me, and the bull dyke who stole your wife.”

95 SOUTHBOUND TO VEGAS

1040 HOURS

THE NEXT DAY

She drove listlessly if proficiently. The desert slipped by, unremarkable in its repetitiveness as the rental ate up the miles between Creech and Vegas and the hotel beds that would give them a few hours’ rest after an all-nighter talking about and watching missiles blow up vehicles mainly, the odd mud shanty, now and then an unidentifiable gun position, a spot on a ridge, a copse of trees, a wall off the road.