Chapter 11 Chapter Nine Howling Wolves in the Distance

Glovoko had read Ambassador Lemonsov's report and had no sympathy for its subject matter.Lane looked dizzy and uncomfortable, overwhelmed, and downright tired; that was to be expected.His speech at President During's funeral was viewed by those in diplomatic circles (and by the American news media, which had tried to be moderate and polite) as unpresidential.Of course, anyone who knew Lane knew he was emotional, especially when it came to child welfare.Glofko could easily forgive this, because most Russians were like that too.He should have done it another way (Glovko read the official speech, and it was a good one, full of promises to all audiences), but Wren has always been what Americans call Mavericks.This makes Wren a figure both easy and impossible to analyze for the Russians.Wren was an American, and Americans, from Glofoko's point of view, were highly unpredictable; throughout his career as a field intelligence officer and then his meteoric rise to staff officer positions in Moscow He tried his best to estimate what the United States would do in various situations, but he could only avoid mistakes, so he always put forward three possible courses of action in his reports to his superiors.

However, Ivan.Ermitovich.Ryan is unpredictable.To brighten his mood, Glofko imagined Ryan as a friend, perhaps a little too much, but the two men had played a game that was mostly opposing, and played very well on both sides. There are skills.Gloverko is the more experienced professional, while Renne is the gifted amateur, blessed by a system that tolerates his own way.They respect each other. What are you thinking now, Jack?Sage whispered to himself.Of course, the new president of the United States is sleeping now, and the time in the United States is exactly eight hours behind Moscow; where the warm winter sun is just beginning to rise.

Since Ambassador Lemonsoff did not know Wren very well, Glofolk had to add his own notes to the report, lest his government put too much faith in that assessment.For the Soviet Union, Rennes was already a skilled enemy, one that could not be easily conquered under any circumstances.The problem is that Lemonsoff wants to put Rennes into a category, but Ivan.Ermitovich is not so easily categorized.Russia has no one like Wren, because such a person is unlikely to have survived the Soviet environment that still permeates the Russian Republic, especially its bureaucracy.He was easily bored, and though kept under tight control most of the time, Grovek had seen it pop up more than once, though only heard of a few outbursts.Those rumors were leaked from the CIA and reported to Dzerzhinsky Square.

But that wasn't Glofko's problem. He had enough problems of his own to solve.He hasn't completely loosened his grip on foreign intelligence agencies, and President Glushev has no reason to trust the agency that was once the party's sword and shield, and needs someone he can trust to keep an eye on the tethered beast , and that person, of course, was Glofko.But at the same time, Saji was the Russian president's main foreign policy adviser.Russia's internal problems were too numerous for the president to assess foreign affairs, so the former spy's advice on practical targets was almost invariably followed.The Chief Minister (that is his position, title or not) takes his job seriously.Glushev had to deal with the country's henchmen, who, like the mythical hydra of ancient times, always had heads that could not be chopped off.Glofko had less to contend with, a job given to him by his prestige and talents.As far as his own wishes are concerned, he hopes to return to the old National Security Council.Only a few years ago, it was a child's play, just pick up the phone, say a few words, and the criminal would be caught, which would, if not really, make things more peaceful and more predictable , more order; his country needed order.However, the secret police of this second chief director of the agency no longer exists and has been spun off into an independent bureau, its power is further weakened, and its popularity with the public has disappeared.His country was not as under some degree of control as the West had hoped, and now it is even worse.The Russian Republic is teetering on the brink of anarchy, and its citizens are groping for what is called democracy.It was this anarchy that propelled Lenin into power, because Russians craved strong rule and rarely understood anything else.But Glofko didn't want that. As a senior official of the National Security Council, he knew better than anyone else the damage that Marxism-Leninism had done to his country. He desperately needed the backing of an organized country, because internal problems would cause external problems.His unofficial position as chief minister of national security has thus become a haven for all kinds of problems.

Because of that, he didn't have much sympathy for Wren; Wren's country might have taken a blow to the head, but it was otherwise strong.However, Glofko knew better that the situation might be different in other countries, so he asked Ryan for help. China.The Americans defeated Japan, but the real enemy was not Japan.He had a desk filled with high-altitude photographs just obtained from the reconnaissance satellites.There are so many PLA divisions conducting field exercises, and the nuclear missile force is still on some kind of high alert.Only a few months ago his country gave up its ballistic missiles despite threats from China, and huge development loans from US and European banks have made the gamble all the more tempting.In addition, his country still has bombers and cruise missiles like the United States, which can be equipped with nuclear warheads, so this disadvantage is only theoretical; China also agrees with this view.The Chinese will keep their armed forces at a high level of combat readiness under any circumstances, while the Russian Far East Army is at a historically low ebb.He comforted himself by saying that with Japan withdrawing from the game, the Chinese would not take any action.Probably won't do anything about it, he corrected himself.If Americans are incomprehensible, then the Chinese may be aliens from other planets, remembering that Chinese political influence was as far as the Baltic Sea.It seemed to Sage that he was lying in the snow with a club in his hand, healing and driving a wolf away; his arms were still strong enough, and his club long enough to keep the wolf's teeth at a distance, but What if another wolf comes along?The file to the left of these satellite photos was the first warning of the event, like the distant howl of wolves on the horizon, a creepy, blood-curdling howl.

Strange that it took so long.Defending an important person from assassination is a complicated exercise at best, and it becomes even more complicated when one makes enemies everywhere.Taking people off the street and making them disappear has a certain deterrent effect, and the effect is even more pronounced when it's not just a single person but a whole family, or even a clan.People elect people who should disappear through the intelligence agencies to disappear, which is an inappropriate wording from Argentina; intelligence agencies, that is a euphemism for whistleblowers.Whistleblowers report inflammatory conversations and provide intelligence, and their reports often reflect personal contempt and jealousy, corrupting power over life and death alike for the small and the great.

The colonel had risked his life more times than he could remember, just to get noticed, to become a small part of a larger machine, and to be promoted.It took him a long time to rise to a position close to the leader.In fact, it took him eight years; during that time, he tortured and killed countless men, women and children with his cold and merciless gaze.He raped their daughters before the fathers, and their mothers before the sons; he has wickedly broken the spirits of a hundred men.All of this he did in the name of God, praying for forgiveness, telling himself desperately that it was his destiny.No, he didn't take pleasure in it, he killed those people in order to accomplish some greater plan, they were going to die anyway, and dying at his hands in this way was doing a good job for a The holy cause does its best.

He knows that he and everyone around him have been trained to put horror above all else.All the conversations and boisterous drinking parties with fellows would come back to the same thing, their missions and the dangers of those missions.He is the enemy that every security guard in the world fears, whether drunk or sober, on duty or off duty, or even in his sleep. The leader is what he says is the goal.He is not alone at all, but a traitor before Allah, who has blasphemed Islam without scruples, such a serious criminal deserves a new cell in Hell.From a distance, the leader appears not only powerful but also invincible, but up close it is not.His bodyguards know this better because they know everything.They saw doubts and fears, and undeserved meanness and cruelty.He'd seen the leader kill for fun, watched him stare out the window of a white Mercedes at a young woman before issuing orders to use the unfortunate girl for a night.Afterwards, the lucky ones went home with money and shame, while the unlucky ones were floated down the Euphrates with their throats slit.As smart and cunning as he was, it was time for him to meet Allah.

The leader emerges from the house, appears before the wide porch, and greets the assembled crowd with outstretched right arm, followed by his bodyguard.The crowd in the square gathered together rapidly and shouted words of respect for him, which made the leader feel ecstatic, like a flower fully nourished by the sun.Then, at a distance of three meters, the colonel drew his automatic pistol from his leather holster, took aim and fired, the bullet directly into the back of the target's head.The crowd at the front saw a bullet burst from their dictator's left eye, and a historic moment ensued, as if the entire earth stopped turning and hearts stopped beating, even those who The crowd that had shouted their allegiance to the dead man just a second ago was silent now.

The colonel need not bother to fill another shot.He was a skilled sharpshooter who practiced almost every day, and his open, blank eyes had seen the effect of his shot.He didn't turn around, and he didn't waste time in fruitless self-defense. He had no reason to kill the partner with whom he drank and raped children.The others might have been quick to try to defend themselves, but he didn't even smile, though that would be pretty ridiculous, wouldn't it?The leader had looked at this square full of people, looked down on the people who were paying homage to him, and then he looked straight at Allah and didn't know what happened.He watched his target intently before he felt his body jerk with the impact of the first bullet, and now there was a pool of blood on the stone level in front of the porch before more bullets struck he.Strangely, he could feel the bullets, but not from the pain they caused as they penetrated.In his final moments, he prayed to Allah for forgiveness and forgiveness for all the crimes he had committed in the name of God.In the end, what he heard in his ears was not the sound of gunfire, but the incessant cries of the people, who had not yet realized that their leader was dead.

who?Ren looked at the clock and asked.Damn, if only I could get another forty minutes of sleep. Mr. President, this is Major Cannon of the Marine Corps.said a strange voice. Very good, major, who are you?Wren blinked, forgetting to be polite, but maybe the officer could understand that. Sir, I'm the Signal Officer, and we have a highly classified report that the President of Iraq was assassinated about ten minutes ago. source?Ren asked immediately. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, sir.Iraqi TV had it live, and we had people monitoring their TV over there.A tape has now been transmitted to us; preliminary information is that the pistol hit the head directly at close range.There was no regret in the officer's tone.Look, they finally killed that bastard! All right, Major, so what's our next move?The answer came quickly.Ryan put the phone back. What's the matter?Kathy asked. The President of Iraq has just been killed. His wife almost said yes, but stopped herself immediately.The death of such a person is no longer a distant concept like it used to be.How queer, to have the feeling that someone leaving this world would be the best service to the world. Does that matter? In about twenty minutes, they'll tell me.Ren coughed and continued, my God, I used to work in those places.Yes, that is very important.With that, he headed to the bathroom before his wife, as every American man would do in the morning.Casey picked up the remote control and turned on the TV in the bedroom, and was surprised to find that CNN did not report any relevant news, but reported that the airport was not operating as planned. Any news?her husband asked and came out. not yet.This time it was her turn. Wren had to think about where his clothes were, and how a president should dress.He found his robes that had been moved from their home to the Marine Barracks, then from the Marine Barracks to the Naval Observatory, and from there to the damn thing, and opened the bedroom door.An operator in the corridor handed him three morning newspapers.Thanks. Kathy saw this and paused, belatedly realizing that someone had been at her bedroom door all night.She turned her face, showing a smile as if seeing the mess in the kitchen. Jack? What's the matter, dear? If I kill you in bed one night, will the men with guns kill me right away, or will they wait until morning? The actual work is being done at Fort Meade.Images have been sent from monitoring stations on the Kuwait-Iraq border, known as the Palm Bowl and the Storm Track, which were set up to record signals from Baghdad, and in Saudi Arabia. The former is responsible for monitoring the area around Basra in the southeastern part of the country.From these two places, the intelligence information was transmitted via fiber optic cables to a small disguised building belonging to the National Security Agency in the military city of King Khalid, and then uploaded to the communication satellite, and then transmitted back to the headquarters of the National Security Agency via the satellite.In the monitoring room, a low-ranking officer gathered ten people, and they were huddled in front of a TV monitor to receive images.Meanwhile, a more senior group of officers sipped coffee slowly in a glass-enclosed office. OK!An Air Force sergeant, looking at the footage of the shooting, commented, Straight hit!Several people raised their hands and gave each other high fives.A senior duty officer connected to the White House signal and nodded in acquiescence.He sent raw feeds down the road and ordered digital enhancements. It only took a few minutes, only a few important frames, and they had big Cray supercomputers to process it. Kathy was arranging for the children to go to school, and she was getting ready for an eye operation, while Lane quietly watched the instant video of the murder in the signal room.Wren's designated national intelligence officer remains at the CIA, conducting his morning intelligence reception, which he will then present to the president at his morning intelligence briefing.The position of national security adviser is currently vacant, and that's another thing to discuss today. oh!Major Cannon said softly. The president nodded, as if returning to his old career as an intelligence officer.OK, tell me what I already know. Sir, we know someone was killed, possibly the President of Iraq. substitute? Cannon nods: Possibly, but the storm track reports many high-frequency signals, all bursty, coming from police and military radio networks, and this activity is spreading out from Baghdad.The Marine Corps officer pointed to his computer monitor, which was displaying instant messages from various NSA outposts.It takes some time to translate, but I did an information analysis for realism.That looks pretty real, sir.I think that might be fake, but I don't, look here! A translation is being sent, from the military command communication network.He's dead, he's dead, hold on to your regiment, get ready to go into town immediately, the receiver is the Special Operations Regiment of the Republican Guard stationed at Salmon Park, and the answer is: I'll do it, I'll do it, who's sending it order what is my order There are many mistakes.Ryan commented. Sir, for our people, it is very difficult for us to translate and type at the same time.Usually we start by sorting out typos. Never mind, Major, I can only hit with three fingers myself.Tell me what you think. Sir, I'm just a junior officer here, so I'm monitoring the message while it's being received, and. If you were stupid, you wouldn't be here. Kannon nodded in agreement.He really is going to hell, sir, Iraq needs a new ruler.We have images and an unusual amount of signaling traffic that fits perfectly with this type of anomalous event.This is my guess.He paused, and then, acting like a competent Secret Service operative, continued, unless it was a deliberate exercise to detect government disloyalties.That's possible, but it's unlikely at the moment because it won't be in public. Kamikaze-style behavior? Yes, Mr. President.Some things can only be done once, and the first time is dangerous. agree.Ryan went to the coffee pot, poured two cups of coffee and came back, handing one to Major Cannon.The action is fast.Please say thank you to the people who worked on this for me, please? Yes, sir. Who do I talk to to get things working here? We have multiple telephones here, Mr. President. I want Adler here, as soon as possible; the director of the CIA; anyone else?The department of the State Department and CIA responsible for Iraqi affairs.The Defense Intelligence Agency's assessment of their military situation.Check to see if Prince Ali is still in town; if he is, ask him to come; if possible, I will speak to him this morning.Is there anything else?Ren's voice slowly lowered. Commander, Central Command, sir.He has the best military intelligence personnel stationed in Tampa, I mean most of them are familiar with that area. Ask him to come here no, we can use landcomm and have him briefing. We'll take care of that for you, sir.Ryan patted the officer on the shoulder and walked out of the house.In Charles.Before Major Cannon could speak again, the heavy door closed behind Ren.Hey, NCA knows what the hell he's doing. Am I wrong?asked Price, coming down the corridor. Have you slept yet?Then he thought about this, I want you to be a part of this. why me sir i am not You should know a lot about assassination, right? Yes, Mr. President. Then you are very valuable to me now, more important than being an operator. The timing could have been arranged more appropriately.Da Yelan was very surprised by the news that had just arrived. Except that the timing might not be right, the news didn't make him unhappy at all.He paused for a while, and then whispered a prayer to Allah to express his gratitude, and then prayed for the soul of the unknown assassin?he asked himself.Perhaps the term inquisitor would be more appropriate for this man; he was one of many who infiltrated Iraq years ago while the war was still going on.This whole mission had been his idea, and it wasn't dramatic enough for professionals working in intelligence agencies.For years, Tayelan had wondered whether the target of his concern had been blessed by some absurd Allah. That had been a more hopeless question, unwise and unfaithful; even Tayelan was subject to human frailty.It is believed that the Americans must have tried for him, and tried to detect those military commanders who wanted to fight for power, and incited them to stage an armed coup that they often did elsewhere.But, to no avail, the target was all too familiar with it all, and became more experienced with each incident.So the Americans failed, the Israelis failed, everyone failed.All failed except me. Eleven men who would do anything to get it done were sent to Iraq for this specific purpose, told to go deep into hiding, trained to forget their past, with no officers to contact or control, all Records of their existence had been destroyed, so that even an Iraqi spy in his own secret service could not discover the mission of the Nameless Man.Within an hour some of his cronies would be in the office, praising God and the wisdom of their leader.But even they didn't know all the things he did, and all the people he sent out. Although he now has a more professional opinion, the digital translation of the incident has not changed much. Mr. President, a guy with a graphics workstation could have faked this, and this national intelligence officer told him that you saw the movie, and the reel of film is much higher resolution than the TV set.Almost anything can be faked these days. Good, but your job is to tell me what happened.Lane pointed out.So far, he has watched this video of only a few seconds eight times, and he is getting more and more tired of this kind of instant replay. We cannot say with absolute certainty. Maybe it's the lack of sleep this week, maybe it's the stress of the job, maybe it's the stress of having to deal with his second crisis, maybe it's because Wren himself is still a qualified national intelligence officer. For the sake of the officer, he said with a stern face: Pay attention, I will only say once, your job is not to leave a way out for yourself, but to leave a way out for me! I understand, Mr. President.That's why I'm going to tell you all the information I have. Ryan doesn't need to listen to him. He's heard it hundreds of times before. In some cases, he himself said something like However, when Ryan does this, one of the possibilities is always selected. Scott?Wren asked the acting secretary of state. The animal was indeed dead.Adler replied. Have a different opinion?President Wren asked the others in the room.No one objected to this comment, and everyone agreed with it. Even the national intelligence officer did not disagree with everyone's views. He had expressed his estimation anyway.If anything goes wrong now, it will be the Secretary of State's problem. Who is the shooter?Andrea.asked Price.The answer came from an officer in the CIA's Iraq division. Don't know yet.I'm having tapes of his past public appearances played to confirm that this killer has been around before.See, from all appearances, that was a high rank member of his guard, with the rank of colonel, and And I know everyone in my guard all too well.Price finished the sentence for him, so whoever he really was and where he belonged, it meant someone was trying to get someone in by all means to get close enough to fire the shot and be willing to Pay for it.All this must have taken many years.The continuing tape they had just watched five times showed the man beaten out of shape after a bout of point-blank shooting.This left a strange impression on Operator Price.If it were me, I'd take this man alive, because a dead man can't say anything, and an execution can always be arranged.Unless he was killed by other members of a cabal, but could more than one assassin have done it?It then occurred to Price that one day she might ask Mrs. Gandhi, since her entire bodyguard had turned against her in the garden.From Price's point of view, it's the most embarrassing thing you can do, to kill someone you've sworn to protect.Another thing on the tape caught her attention: Did you spot that body language? What are you referring to?Ryan asked. The way he draws his gun, the way he shoots, and the way he stands there watching.Like a golfer, that's called a follow-through.He must have been waiting for an opportunity for a long time, must have been delusional about it for a long, long time.He wants to make this moment perfect, he wants to see it happen and get pleasure from it before he collapses.She shook her head slowly, a focused, dedicated killer.Despite the fuzzy subject of the conference, Price had a great time talking.Because more than one president has treated Secret Service agents like furniture, or at best, as good pets.These bigwigs don't often seek advice outside of their area of ​​expertise, for example, where the bad guys are in a particular group of people and that sort of thing. go on.The CIA said. He must have been an alien, a guy with no records, not connected to any famous people in Baghdad.This isn't a guy who's looking for revenge on someone for his matricide, is it?Here's a guy who's trying to figure out a way to climb inside the institution, slowly and carefully. Iran, the CIA said, was the best guess and based on religious motives.This kind of shooting is not an easy task, so it must be a person who puts life and death above all else.While that could also be pure revenge, Ms. Price is right.Anyway, he won't be Israeli, and he won't be French, and the British have long since stopped doing it.If it was due to domestic factors, it might have been discovered by their review process long ago.So, it's not about money, it's not about personal or family factors, and I think we can leave politics out of the discussion, so it's just about religion, so Iran is the most likely one. I dare not say that I am familiar with all intelligence work, but from the analysis of the tapes I have seen, it is indeed the case, Andrea.Price agreed, the way he killed the guy looked like he was saying a prayer.He just wants to make this moment perfect and doesn't care about anything else. Anyone looking into this?Ryan asked. The FBI, their behavioral science professionals are very good at analyzing the human mind, and we work with them a lot.Price responded. Good idea, the CIA people agreed, we're going to find out who the shooter is, but even if we get good intelligence, it probably won't tell us anything. What about time control? Timing is key if we can be sure the shooter was there for a while.We have enough tapes that we can use to judge this.The CIA man said thoughtfully. Ah, that would be great.The president made a comment saying, Scott, so what else? Bert?the secretary of state asked his department officials.Burt.Weiss is a senior official of the department in charge of that country's affairs in the State Department.He concentrated as much as he could on getting acquainted with everything about a particular country, like a trade expert. Mr. President, as we know, Iraq is a Muslim country dominated by Shiites, but a small number of Sunnis through the Baath Party (Editor's Note: Baath Party, the full name is the Arab Baath Socialist Party, which advocates the establishment of a single Arab socialist countries) to rule.One thing that has been under the spotlight, the disappearance of our friends over there will overturn it. Tell me what we don't know yet.Ren interrupted him. Mr. President, we have absolutely no idea of ​​any opposition forces that may or may not exist.Today's ruling regime does a good job of cutting grass and roots early.A handful of surviving politicians defected to Iran, but none of them were high-ranking, and none of them had the opportunity to establish a stable political base. Only two radio stations broadcast from Iran to Iraq.We know the names of the defectors who shouted out to their countrymen, but don't know how many people were listening or heeding it.We don't know the strength of the opposition, nor what kind of organization exists to take advantage of an opportunity like this one. The CIA man nodded in agreement.Burt is right.The opponent is very good at finding potential enemies and eliminating them.During and after the Persian Gulf War, we tried to aid the opponents, only to get people killed.Make no mistake, no one there trusts us. Ryan drank his coffee and nodded in agreement.Back in 1991, he had suggested this, but it was never implemented.Alas, it's only because he was only a lowly senior executive at the time. Do we have any options for action?the president asked next. Honestly, no.Weiss replied. The people at the CIA agreed: There was no suitable candidate.The few people we had operating in that country were mainly on the weapons development side: nuclear, chemical, and whatnot, and no one was on the political side.In fact, we have more people working on political tasks in Iran; we can find some information there, but not in Iraq. It's unbelievable, Ryan thought, that any country can enter or not enter the most sensitive area in the world, but I, the most powerful country in the world, can't do anything except watch TV news reports.This is the power that the President of the United States has. Arnie? Yes, Mr. President.The chief of staff responded. We left Marie Fu off the agenda a few days ago.If we can get the schedule right, I want her to be here today. I'll see if I can arrange that, but But when something like this happens, the President of the United States should have more power to decide anything.Ren paused.Will Iran start taking action?