Flight of the Pawnee by Marc Liebman

Author:Marc Liebman [Marc Liebman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Military Fiction, thriller
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2021-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12—ESCAPE

Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 0739 local time, Washington, D.C.

Inside the Oval Office, the president waited until the briefer was finished with the last item on his agenda, a note about an al-Qaeda bomb maker spotted, and undocumented Arabs being captured in a raid in Plano, Texas along with Sinaloa Cartel members and a local gang leader. When his National Security Advisor said the CIA was looking into a possible connection to al-Qaeda and the drug cartels, the president asked if they had any more evidence. He was told they had nothing concrete.

Even though the president was skeptical that cartels and terrorists would work together and threaten the United States, he wanted an analysis to determine the possibility of terrorist groups aligning with the major Columbian and Mexican drug cartels. Whether they trusted each other long enough to make it work along with conflicting goals, he noted, would probably be the biggest issue.

The same day, 1455 local time, Langley, VA

While the CIA likes to think all its headquarters conference rooms are secure, some are more so than others. The most protected are called “skiffs” which have nothing to do with a small boat with a sharp bow and square stern. It is an acronym and spelled SCIF, short for Sensitive Compartmented Intelligence Facility, and pronounced like the boat.

The more senior one got in the CIA, the more likely one’s assigned conference room was “certified” as a SCIF. As a director, Don Sanderson allowed his staff to use his conference room/SCIF as long as (a) the individual scheduled it with his administrative assistant; (b) it didn’t conflict with his need to use it; and (c) it was only used for official business.

Therefore, it was no surprise when two men—John Tennyson and Aubrey Toqueville—approached Molly Guinness’ desk requesting to use his SCIF for a short meeting. She was a long-term CIA staffer who had been Don’s admin for three years.

Guinness checked Don’s schedule and nodded yes. Once they closed the door, she picked up the phone. “Don, Tennyson and Toqueville are using your conference room for a few minutes. They will be out before the 1600 briefing on the Plano raid.”

“Thanks.” Out of paranoia, she flipped the switch on a control panel to turn on the room’s recorders. Don wanted meetings recorded for record keeping purposes and so he didn’t have to take notes. Unless he asked her to make a transcript, Molly would add a note on the CD providing the time and date and a summary of the contents before sending it to the agency’s archives.

The same day, 1810 local time, Allen

Harun was chopping vegetables, half watching the local ABC affiliate WFAA, when he saw the mug shots of Vega and his bodyguards pop up on the screen. He listened to the report and when it was over, he scoured his unread copy of the Dallas Morning News for information.

With a growing sense of alarm, Harun packed his laptop and anything remotely related to his plans along with two suitcases full of clothes.

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