After the meeting, I’d given Veep the task of coordinating with the pilots. They’d file a flight plan for maintenance checks in the Buenos Aires airspace, and he’d work the system so we could be up and running tomorrow morning.
I looked at the computer over Brett’s shoulder, it in turn plugged in to our own laptop and connected to the Taskforce Network Operations Center, the screen running a bunch of script like we were in the Matrix. I said, “What’s the encrypted sack tell us?”
Brett said, “Well, number one, like you said, it tells us the guy isn’t some oilman from Qatar, because he’s trying mighty hard to hide something, and I’ll bet it’s not a secret porn stash. Number two, given the encryption trouble Creed’s having, it’s a state system. I’m betting an Iranian Quds Force guy owns this thing.”
A third laptop was connected to an encrypted VPN, showing the Taskforce situation room, currently empty, which wasn’t surprising, given the time.
Brett saw me glance at it and said, “Believe it or not, the boss is still in the office.”
“At this hour? What for?”
“According to Creed they haven’t made any headway on the suspected Quds Force guy running around in the US. They’re starting to shit bricks, which may be why our stuff is taking a little longer than expected. He’s got all the horsepower split between the two targets.”
Shit.“I told him I’d send you and Knuckles up there to help, but he wasn’t having any of that.”
I caught a change on the computer connected to the NOC and focused on it. The matrix screen cleared, and I saw what looked like a bunch of Arabic text. The laptop with the VPN showed movement, and I recognized Creed’s bulbous head with his thick-framed glasses, a huge smile on his face.
I said, “I guess that means you cracked the encryption.”
Practically giddy, Creed said, “I sure did, and I found a Signal account on it. Unfortunately, he had the account set to auto delete, so we only got one chat. It’s the last one he sent, to a person in the United States two days ago. That’s the one on the screen.”
I said, “Creed, I can’t read Arabic.”
His face clouded, then he said, “Oh, wait. Sorry. It’s not Arabic. It’s Farsi. Translation coming up.”
The screen split in half, with the Farsi on the left and the translation on the right.
I leaned in, having to scroll to read it all.
Sender:How was your entry? Any problems?
Receiver:No. Came in through the ratline that we used with the Ghost. Made it to Tucson and got a rental with the Qatar documents. You?
Sender:We’ve had some issues. Someone is tracking us through our credit card account we used for infrastructure. We had to shift hotels. The police investigated but missed us. The Ghost recommends you switch cards as well, if you’re using any tied to Cyrus.
Receiver:Who was it? How did they find the card?
Sender:We don’t know, but we think the operation is secure. Someone knows we’re here, but doesn’t know anything other than that. They’re looking for us but have no idea where to search.
Receiver:If it was the Argentinian police, then it must be from a liaison service. Either Isreal or America. Watch your steps. Remember what Israel did to us in Lebanon and Iran. They have eyes everywhere.
Sender:We will, we will. How about your mission?
Receiver:I’m stopping in Nashville tonight. I’ll talk to Nomad when I get there. God willing, I’ll meet them in Washington the day after.
Sender:Did Nomad manage to get the truck?
Receiver:Yes. They have the truck. I still need to convince them to continue.
Sender:I said from the beginning we needed help there like we’re using here. We should have brought our own expertise.
Receiver:It won’t be a problem. Americans are greedy. They’ll kill their own people easily if there is enough money in it. They freed the Ghost after all.
I stopped there, realizing that the men—the Americans—helping Iran were the same ones who had murdered Sherrif Bob Marley. The realization sent a spike of rage deep inside. I forced the feelings aside and continued reading.
Sender:Agreed. What about the final mission? Did the material get infiltrated?
Receiver:I don’t know yet. I’ll find out tonight, but I know the Pasdaran took control of part of it. It will depend on their routes and contacts that remain in Syria to get it into Jordan and then into Palestine.
