Taylor continued, “It was a big story at the time, 2013, and then it kind of went away. Edward Snowden had released a slew of classified NSA surveillance documents, one of which revealed that the National Security Agency had been eavesdropping on Merkel’s private communications since shortly after 9/11. And that they did it from the U.S. Embassy.”
Taylor produced a printed satellite image from the folder, this one a tight three-quarters perspective on the U.S. Embassy building. She’d highlighted a small structure on the roof. Taylor continued, “The SCS, or Special Collection Service, is a joint NSA-CIA operation tasked withelectronic eavesdropping on sensitive and difficult-to-access targets. Intelligence experts believe that the SCS operates out of this rooftop structure.” She pointed to two beige rectangles on the walls of the structure that were a slightly different color than the rest of the outer walls. “These are concealed windows that have lines of sight toward major government and business centers in the heart of the city. It’s believed that the SCS eavesdropping equipment has a range of up to a mile in any direction.” She flipped back to the larger map and pointed to various buildings within the circled radius. “Look how much is within that range. The Reichstag. The Chancellery. Here’s the offices ofDer Spiegel. Also, lots of foreign embassies, and the Adlon Hotel, where important people stay.” She pointed to an expanse of green. “And the Tiergarten, where spies, diplomats, and politicians go for private phone conversations. You couldn’t ask for a better perch for electronic espionage.”
Brodie looked at the map. The American Embassy was truly in the heart of Berlin, less than a block away from the Reichstag and mere steps from where the Berlin Wall once bisected the city in front of the Brandenburg Gate. “This is all public knowledge?”
Taylor nodded. “To anyone who cares to know it. Which means most people don’t.”
Right. The Internet was an incredible resource, and the information revolution was supposed to have brought a new breadth of knowledge, and therefore power, to the average citizen. Unfortunately—or fortunately—most people were lazy and stupid, and to the extent that they even bothered to try to learn things, they had a hard time discerning truth from bullshit. But Taylor was discerning, and she’d clearly done her homework.
Brodie asked, “If the existence of this listening station is known, why would the SCS still use it?”
Taylor shrugged. “It’s probably hard to give it up. Also, there wasn’t much fallout when the German Chancellor learned that the Americans had been intercepting her and her inner circle’s phone calls and text messages for the better part of a decade. That tells me that there was some sort of deal struck between the two governments. The Americans could continue their illegal surveillance program in the interests of counterterrorism if they stopped eavesdropping on German government officials, and in return wewould share intelligence with the Germans that pertained to any security threats against their government.”
Brodie nodded. “The SCS will be combing their signals intelligence for anything related to the Vance murder.”
“I’m sure of it.”
And Brodie was sure the SCS would be monitoring the communications of every American official involved with the Vance investigation—including the communications of Mr. Brodie and Ms. Taylor. Why? Because they could. That’s the problem with the surveillance state. It’s built to suck up vast quantities of information, and that power becomes addictive and self-perpetuating.
This was disturbing to Brodie from a civil liberties standpoint. More importantly, it could also become a personal problem if the CIA decided that this was a good opportunity to get rid of two nosy warrant officers who knew too much. It’s not paranoia if someone really wants you dead. At the very least, the CIA would know if Brodie and Taylor were violating their narrow mandate and use that knowledge to blackmail them into continued silence about what they had stumbled on in Venezuela. So they’d have to watch what they said in and around the embassy. The Art Hotel in Neukölln was looking better.
Aside from all that, how would the existence of a spy den within the embassy materially affect their investigation? Maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe it would actually prove useful. Assuming all the players on this case stayed on the same team and shared information. Miracles do happen.
Yet justice is a story that society tells itself to maintain order, and if those in power don’t like how the story is going, they will rewrite it. Brodie and Taylor had found that out the hard way on their last case.
Harry Vance had found that out too, all those years ago at Guantanamo Bay. He was witness to interrogation by torture that he tried to stop. But he failed. And his objections were not even a footnote in history.
“Where’d you go?”
He turned to Taylor. “Venezuela.”
She didn’t respond.
“We uncovered American war crimes. Then we played ball with the devil. But I am never doing that again.”
Taylor processed that. “Are you anticipating we will be asked to?”
“I don’t know. I’m just telling you if it ever comes to that again… I’m burning it all down.”
She looked at him. “All right.”
“All right?”
“I’m with you, Scott.”
Well, that was settled. Or was it? He recalled being given similar assurances by Ms. Taylor on their last assignment that turned out to be lies. But if he only judged people on their worst moments, he’d never trust anyone.
He watched as Taylor put her research materials back in her satchel. She turned and looked out the window as they glided over a thick sheet of clouds.
They were on their way to the land of Nietzsche, who had famously said that what does not kill you makes you stronger. They’d both narrowly survived their last mission, and before that, the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. And they had gotten stronger. And through her own mistakes and naïveté, Ms. Taylor seemed to have learned the hard lesson that Scott Brodie had known for a while: A good soldier must know the enemy, and sometimes that enemy flies the same flag as you do. And while you might get screwed and betrayed, the least you can do is not be surprised.
Or as he used to tell his troops in Iraq: Those who stay alert stay alive.
CHAPTER 7
Brodie and Taylor got through passport control quickly and proceeded to baggage claim.
They passed through a small, crowded food court lit by fluorescent bulbs hanging from a low ceiling. Brodie vaguely remembered Tegel from his visit in 2000, and he was surprised that a world-class city like Berlin still didn’t have a better airport. “This place is kind of a dump.”
