Chapter Three
Dar looked up as the unknown number flashed up on his cell. He answered it as he placed his brandy down to the side.
"Yes" he greeted with a sigh.
"Mr Adal- I have a message for you" a German accent spoke to him.
"And what that might be?" he asked, his attention grabbed.
"I have been told to say the word 'Maximum" Astrid told him, and knew he was listening when she heard his intake of breath. "He believes that they have been compromised" she continued.
"What's happened?" Dar asked, knowing immediately who the conversation related to.
"I have been told to tell you that Omar was on 'the list'" Astrid stated, hoping that it would make sense. Dar sighed, unfortunately understanding exactly what the message meant.
"Are they ok?" he asked.
"For now they are, I am to make contact later this evening with an update from you" the German operative told him. "He didn't want to risk the outgoing call to you" she added.
"Peter's right, that's too risky. Thank you Astrid- can I contact you on this number?" he asked after a moment.
"Yes, I will await your update" she responded and disconnected immediately. Dar rested his head in his hands, this was supposed to be a relatively simple intelligence gathering mission to ease Peter back into operational duties, but instead the unthinkable had occurred and one of their assets had been turned by the other side. He downed the rest of his drink and got to his feet- he needed to update his technical team and hope that they could do some digging, and run some sources to get some more information for his men in Syria.
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Saul looked up as Dar stepped through the door, he had known the other experienced man for many many years and knew him as well as anybody ever would- so the expression on his face was easy for Saul to decipher.
"What's happened?" he asked, sitting up straighter in his chair.
"The team have been compromised in Damascus, we need to come up with a plan and fast or this will all be for nothing" he instructed. "Can you get the team gathered?" he asked. It was unusual for him to have so many people read in on a mission- he was used to working in the shadows and excluding as many people as possible, but this was too multi-faceted and the people here deserved to be involved. They were all so invested in making sure that the correct outcome was achieved that he needed them on board.
"Carrie too?" Saul asked in surprised.
"We might need some of her sources Saul" Dar replied with a sigh- he was all too aware of the vast amount of time the case officer had spent in the middle east and that knowledge could prove invaluable in this situation, as much as he hated to admit it.
"Thirty minutes in the conference room?" Saul suggested. Dar nodded, and moved back out of the office without another word.
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"It's as secure as its getting" Quinn stated with a shrug to Rob as he uploaded the images he had got so far to the company tablet and sent them through the encrypted network to Astrid- hoping against hope that as it wasn't going to the States it would go without incident.
"That's assuming she even managed to contact Dar" Rob commented with a sigh.
"Well aren't you the chirpy one" Quinn said with a roll of the eyes. "Astrid will have contacted him, now if she gets this through to him straight away he can come back with a plan by morning'
"And then what?"
"Then we move- either withdraw or take them out and go back to the original plan" Quinn stated, his voice toneless as he focussed on the job at hand.
"You make all of this seem so easy" Rob commented, seeing his friend in a new light. He watched as Quinn laid kit out on the small dining table in the corner of the kitchen, and sat back as he began connecting wires randomly together, before moving the finished device over to the front door. "Expecting trouble?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Better safe than sorry" Quinn warned, the small explosion would be enough to take out whoever came through the door first and give him and Rob enough time to hopefully dive out of the window. "Just make sure you don't forget it's there and blow yourself up" he warned playfully. Rob laughed as he thought of the embarrassment of blowing himself up on their own bomb after all that they had been through in their service.
"If I do- you can't tell anybody" he joked. "You have a plan don't you" he half asked and half told, he knew his friend well and he knew when he was up to something.
"I always have a plan Rob" Quinn replied with a grin, for the first time in a long time having faith that he was exactly where he needed to be, doing exactly what he was destined to do.
"Feel like sharing with the class?" Rob taunted.
"It's simple, we take them out- that will bait Haqqani to come out of the woodwork- and then we snatch and run like fuck" Quinn explained.
"That all sounds very simple, glad that's sorted" Rob replied sarcastically. "Assuming Dar is happy to run with that, how are you planning on doing it?"
"There's me and you and all these supplies, what more do we need?" Quinn stated, a grin plastered on his face. Rob couldn't help the slight shiver that it pushed through his spine at the image.
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"These just came through" Max stated, bringing up the photographs that had been forwarded through to them.
"Anything on facial search?" Saul asked.
"Lots" Max replied with a sigh. He wasn't happy. His friend was yet again in the middle east with no support or backup and was apparently in a potentially sticky situation. They had only just managed to get Quinn out last time- he was barely even recovered as he boarded the plane to return to the warzone, and now it appeared they had been betrayed. Saul looked through the documents and shook his head- Omar was clearly working for Haqqani, it was just a case of how much had been disclosed to him.
"Wait for Dar- he needs to see this" he advised as he sat down and looked at the screen in front of him, horrified and suddenly worried about his friend.
"I'm here" a new voice joined the conversation, closely followed by Carrie Mathison, who looked fraught with worry.
"Hey" she greeted the men that sat in front of her. "Any update?" she asked, her face drawn and her tone grave as her mind processed the trouble Quinn could currently be in.
"We have just received a number of photographs and copies of documents- we think Quinn must have got them to Astrid somehow" Max told her.
"Smart move" Carrie commented approving of Quinn's cautious approach. "Anything of use?"
"We have managed to identify several of the men on the protection party- they are mid level members of Haqqani's faction- he is taking this threat seriously by using these guys" Saul briefed them quickly. Carrie ran her hand through her hair as she absorbed all of the new information.
"How do we get in contact with them?" she asked, hoping that she would get the chance to speak with her friend.
"We don't- we can't risk it being intercepted. The boys will find a way to get the information to us, we just need to wait" Dar stated, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"And in the mean time?" Carrie asked, desperately holding on to her self control- she needed to be calm and prove she could be trusted to stay on the team. Dar was saved from answering by his phone chirping in his pocket, he noted the number and smiled.
"This could be the answer to that question" he stated, before pressing the green button and answering.
"Did you get the files?" Astrid asked, cutting straight to the chase.
"Yes- I don't even want to know how Peter got them to you" Dar stated.
"He's a resourceful chap" Astrid quipped "I ran the images through our intel systems, so I think we will both be on the same page. Do you have any drones that could fly over the co-ordinates I have sent you?" she asked.
"Carrie will speak with the Damascus field office" Dar instructed, and Carrie nodded acknowledging the task.
"Do you have any ground teams you can send in support?" Astrid asked, concerned for her friend.
"No, it's too risky. Peter is fully aware of that" Dar responded.
"They are awaiting further instruction" Astrid prompted and Dar sighed.
"Omar didn't know the specifics of who he was meeting, but he knew the location of the two agency safe houses for if he was compromised. The Damascus office will cleanse the one they utilised, but they must avoid all contact. We will check the existing drone footage and recontact you. We need to be in a position to grab Haqqani and get out, so timing will be everything" Dar stated, knowing that this was going to have to be planned to perfection if he was to get the team out safely.
"And in the meantime? Is the other source compromised?" Astrid asked, wanting all of the information so that Quinn could come up with a plan of action.
"They shouldn't be- the other asset was only recruited six months ago so wouldn't have featured in the stolen item" Dar assured her. "I would still advise caution though- there is clearly lots of activity in the city, we don't know who else we can trust" he cautioned her, not wishing to lead his men into danger when it was avoidable.
"I will keep you updated' Astrid stated as she disconnected the call, she had work of her own to do.
"I will contact Clive" Carrie stated, getting to her feet and heading out of the room to get in touch with the senior agent at Damascus, coming up with a story for the use of the safe house to get it cleaned and to see what the drone contained. She was persuasive as ever and within an hour the footage was loaded and on the big screen, the small team gathered around to watch it.
"Well this doesn't tell us much" Max commented under his breath, his frustration showing.
"That isn't a bad thing" Saul stated. "There is no mass movement, no suggestion of disturbance, no flashes and no bombs" he continued, and Max nodded grateful for that small mercy.
"We need to weigh up our options" Dar stated as he paced the room.
"We need to get reliable, credible intelligence in order to decide what our options are" Saul commented.
"That as maybe, but we still need to make sure they can take Omar out and still grab Haqqani" Dar told him, leaving them in no doubt that the mission would continue right through until Haqanni was secured and being downloaded- no matter what the cost. Carrie sighed, this was exactly what she had feared as Quinn had been deployed, and proved her point that she really didn't know if she could live like this. Still at least she was involved and knew exactly where he was and what was happening.
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"Get some god dam sleep Pete" Rob hissed at his friend as darkness came and the man had been up all day and all night.
"Astrid might call" Quinn argued, not looking away from the window.
"If and when she does I will wake you up" the team leader promised, gesturing towards the bedroll and leaving no further room for discussion. Quinn sighed dramatically feeling very much like a small child being sent to bed by his parent- or what he imagined that must feel like anyway, he had no personal experience of it. He moved across to the makeshift bed and took his boots off laying down and closing his eyes. His body betraying him by proving Rob's point as he drifted off to sleep instantly as exhaustion claimed him.
"Stubborn bastard" Rob muttered in amusement as he watched his friend drift to sleep very much against his will.
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Less than an hour after Quinn had finally surrendered his phone began to vibrate. Rob sighed in frustration, he had been hoping his still recovering friend would get a good amount of rest, but he also knew how important this call could be so he didn't hesitate to grab it and walk across to where the other man laid, and gently nudge him awake with his boot. As soon as blurry blue eyes blinked at him he handed him the phone wordlessly and watched as he pressed the button to answer the call.
"Yeh" he greeted, his voice croaky with sleep.
"Peter?" Astrid queried, not recognising the voice at first.
"Yeh- sorry it's me" he replied. "Did you manage to make contact?" he asked, rubbing his hand over his face.
"Yes, and I sent those files for you. The second asset should be secure, he is a new source and wouldn't have appeared in the book" she told him quickly. "Although you are still advised to be cautious" she added.
"It's my middle name" he told her with a tired smile. "Any further instruction?" he asked, hoping that there was some idea of which direction they were to go in.
"No- Dar is wanting a more accurate picture painting before the decision is made" she told him and he sighed knowing it meant they would have to meet the other asset and establish exactly what information he had.
"Fine- I'll call you when we get more" he told her, she sighed on the other end of the line, having a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach as she considered her friend's position.
"I'll be here" she said and disconnected. Quinn sat down, suddenly feeling very old and very tired.
"Wrong number?" Rob quipped as he sat down beside him. Quinn rolled his eyes at his friend.
"We need to pay a visit" he said with a groan.
"Are they sure he isn't also compromised?" Rob asked in concern, grasping exactly what Quinn was telling him.
"He wasn't on the list" Quinn replied with a shrug. He got to his feet and headed to his bag reaching for his agency issued burner.
"What are you doing?" Rob asked him, fearing he already knew the answer.
"Arranging the meet" Quinn responded, his voice making it perfectly clear that he thought Rob should have just known that.
"It's the middle of the night Quinn" Rob warned.
"Exactly- catch him off guard, get it done before he can arrange any back up if he is compromised" Quinn explained and Rob nodded, he had to admit it did make sense.
"Fine, lets get kitted up though, you never know what he could have immediately to hand" Rob stated, thinking on the negative side. Quinn nodded and as soon as he had made the contact he turned and grabbed his own kit before sitting back and waiting for the response that they needed.
End Chapter Three
