A/N: Owner...wait for it...ship.
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Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan
Durab Bukhari leaned back against the black SUV and waited for the plane to arrive. John Boland, a younger agent and the driver of the second SUV, stood next to him. Bukhari took a drag on his cigarette and felt the acrid smoke in his lungs. Intellectually he knew he should stop smoking, but figured he was more likely to die at the hands of some muj terrorist asshole than he was in a hospital bed with an oxygen tent. If he ever moved to a safer line of work, he'd have to seriously consider quitting smoking. In the meantime, he took another drag.
The Citation taxied as directed by ground control and ended up in the somewhat out of the way hangar. Not too many folks around to view the arrival of the legendary Carmichael team, which was according to plan. Bukhari dropped his cigarette to the cement floor and ground it out under his shoe.
The jet engines spooled down and the door in the fuselage swung open and down, creating the stairs. Colonel Casey was the first one down. Bukhari had met him once before, a few years ago at Fort Meade.
The rest of the team came down behind him. Two men in their late twenties or early thirties and two incredibly beautiful women. He had familiarized himself with their files for this pick-up and knew who was who. Right behind Casey was Carmichael, the leader of the team despite his young age. A curly haired lanky guy with a pleasant smile. Carmichael turned to extend his hand to help Agent Walker down the few steps. She smiled at him, somehow becoming even more beautiful. The rumor was that they were a couple and engaged to be married. Bukhari saw the ring on her finger and the looks they exchanged, both of which seemed to confirm the rumor.
Behind Walker was Agent Rizzo, new to the team, but not a new agent. As beautiful as she was, she had a no-bullshit expression and carried herself with a serious air.
Finally, the last one down the stairs was Agent Larkin. Larkin had a top reputation as a spy, even if he did come off as a bit of a pretty-boy.
Bukhari stepped forward with his hand extended to Casey. "Good to see you again, Colonel. Congratulations on the promotion. I'm Agent Bukhari. We met once at Meade."
Casey took Bukhari's hand in his strong grip and looked him in the eye. "I remember you. It was the briefing on the Turkmen warlords in Afghanistan. You asked good questions. Happy to have you with us."
"Thank you, Colonel. This is Agent Boland, also NSA."
Casey turned to the others and said, "We're going to be in good hands here. These guys are from a real intelligence agency."
Carmichael chuckled and said, "Oh, no kidding? National Geospatial?"
"NSA, Moron," growled Casey.
"Heeey. You know, I have feelings too," said Carmichael, looking aggrieved.
Laughing, Walker stepped forward to take Bukhari's hand and said, "Ignore them. They actually love each other. I'm Walker, this is Carmichael, Rizzo, and Larkin."
Handshakes and greetings were exchanged.
Bukhari said, "I understand from the General that the hunt for Orion has touched down in this little corner of paradise."
Carmichael said, "Maybe. Someone claiming to be Orion reached out. We traced the source of the engagement here to Karachi. An internet café. I doubt we could just walk in and find him there waiting for us, but it's the best lead we've had in years."
"If it's even him," said Bukhari.
"Yeah. That's right," said Carmichael.
"We got you hotel rooms at the Pearl Continental. Do you want to head there now? You've been traveling for almost a full day. Alternatively, we could take you directly to the target," said Bukhari.
"Let's check in and drop off the bags then head to take a look at the target, please," said Chuck.
"Sure thing, Agent Carmichael," said Bukhari.
"Call me Chuck, please."
"Will do. And I'm Durab," said Bukhari.
"Great."
Bryce and Boland loaded the team's luggage into the back of the two SUV's and they all piled in, Durab and Boland driving.
Chuck, Casey and Sarah rode with Durab, while Zondra and Bryce rode with Boland behind them.
Chuck noticed that they were driving on the left side of the road, like the British. When he mentioned it, Bukhari said, "Oh yeah. Pakistan inherited it from them. British Raj, don't you know." He said the last bit with a bit of an affected British accent. "This was all British India until 1947 and the Partition."
"The Partition?" asked Chuck.
"Yeah," said Bukhari. "British India. Muslims and Hindus. While the Brits were around to force the two groups to get along there was peace, or at least they all could agree that they hated the Brits more than they hated each other. After the War the Brits were pulling out and granting India independence. That led to civil war between the two groups. Eventually the civil war ended when the northeast and northwest corners of India were given to the Muslims. The Partition. Pakistan and East Pakistan, which eventually became Bangladesh, were the result. It's why you see all the signs in English. It's a holdover from those days. English and Urdu are the two official languages. Huge masses of people moved to avoid being on the wrong side of the new border. Muslims to the north and Hindus to the south. Crazy time, but I thank God my family avoided it."
"How so?" asked Sarah.
"My grandparents left soon after the War. They didn't wait for the Partition. Settled in Michigan," said Bukhari.
"So, you're a Michigander?" asked Chuck.
"Sure am. Michigan State. Go Spartans," said Bukhari with a grin.
"Of course, I remember now. You played ball for them," said Casey.
"Yeah. Wide receiver," he said.
"You think about going to the pros?" asked Casey.
"Naw, Colonel. I had good hands, but I wasn't fast enough for the pros. Not even close. Decided to try my hand at the spy biz," he said with a chuckle.
"And how's that working out for you?" asked Chuck.
Bukhari grinned and said, "So far so good. And, for obvious reasons, after 9-11 having someone who speaks both Urdu and Punjabi would come in handy here. On and off, I've been here for about three years. Supporting the hunt for OBL and helping our guys on the other side of the Afghan border. Dealing with the ISI guys."
"ISI," asked Chuck.
"Their intelligence guys. We're working closely with them. To be honest, they have the best contacts over there."
"No football here, though," said Casey with a chuckle.
"No. But I've been trying to get into cricket. Just to make friends. Contacts, you know."
"And?" asked Casey.
"Eww. Not a fan, to be honest. My body keeps trying to hit a home run, even if my mind tells me otherwise."
Casey laughed deep in his chest.
As befitting the largest and most commercially vibrant city in Pakistan, traffic was busy and borderline chaotic. Intersections were a scrum of the survival of the fittest, but somehow they made it past.
They pulled up to a large modern white building. Without fuss, Bryce took charge of getting them all checked in and having the bellmen deliver the bags to their rooms. Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Bryce were staying in a large two-bedroom four-bed suite. Zondra had a room to herself down the hall. Bryce was back after about twenty minutes and they were ready to go to the internet café.
Bukhari said, "Where to, Chuck?"
"It's called the Addiction Café. Its website says it's the top internet café in the city."
"Yeah," scoffed Bukhari. "I'll bet there are a couple of dozen that say the same. What's the address?"
Chuck told him and they took off.
Not more than ten minutes later, Bukhari's cell phone rang. He put it on speaker and said, "Yeah, John."
Boland, in the car behind them, said, "We have company. I think they were with us from the airport, but I wasn't certain until just now."
"What's it look like?" Bukhari asked.
"Very professional. Four or five cars. Maybe more. Shifting around us. I only noticed it because one is a late model jeep, and my brother has the same car."
"ISI?" asked Bukhari.
"Dunno. I'll call Mohammed and ask," said Boland.
"Yeah. Let me know what he says," said Bukhari. Team B put their heads on swivel, trying to identify the tail that they had acquired.
Sarah was almost certain she saw the jeep, but by then they had arrived at the café.
It was decided that Chuck and Bukhari would go in together.
The two spies approached the man at the desk. Bukhari said, "Salaam Alhaikum"
The man responded, "Alhaikum Salaam."
Chuck gave him a big smile. "Hi. I have some business to conduct and I need a reliable internet spot with some privacy. You came recommended by a friend."
The young man perked up and said, "Absolutely, Sir. Why don't you take a look around. We've never had a problem with the connections here and, as you can see, each of our machines are state of the art. Very secure."
"Thanks," said Chuck. "I'll look around. Like you suggested." He wandered off to take a look at the premises. From what Bukhari could see, there were enclosed cubicles with swinging saloon doors to give a modicum of privacy. He noticed a single security camera above the entranceway, but no others.
Chuck returned and said, with a smile, "Anybody come in here and use their own computer? You know...just use your connection?"
The man said, "Hummm, not really too often, Sir. To be honest, most people who have their own computer also have a connection. It might happen once in a while, but it's pretty rare."
"Can you remember the last time?" asked Chuck.
"A few months ago, I think. Why?"
"Oh, nothing. Just that my friend who recommended you, I think he's got a pretty high-end computer, that's all. I was wondering if he'd used it when he was here."
"Yeah. Well, he could have, I guess."
"Will you be around in the morning? Do you work mornings? All week?"
"Yeah. Monday through Friday. I start work at 8am. I'll be around tomorrow."
"Ok, thanks. We'll be back," said Chuck. "You've been very helpful." He reached out to shake the man's hand.
Chuck and Bukhari left the facility. The rest of the team, which had spread out along the busy road while the two members of their team were inside, reassembled at the cars. The cars were parked in an alleyway around the corner, near some rubbish piled beside the building.
They gathered around the cars and Chuck said, "Orion didn't reach out using any of the computers they had there, at least not the ones I could see. What he did required a very high-end powerful computer. None of those could have done it. The guy at the desk didn't admit to anyone coming in with his or her own machine for a while so either there's a machine hidden inside or the guy doesn't know that Orion brought in his own machine."
"Or the guy is lying," said Bukhari.
"Yeah, ok, but he seemed to be telling the truth," said Chuck.
"Yeah," admitted Bukhari with a shrug. "I agree."
"Let me check online. If the feed from the security cameras is on a connected server I can see what they have there."
"And if not?" asked Casey.
"I guess a black-bag job tonight to search the place. Then a stakeout maybe? In case he comes back," said Chuck.
Sarah looked at her watch and said, "The place is still open for a few more hours. Want to get some rest?"
"I could go for a meal," said Casey.
"Yeah," said Chuck. "If we all go and take naps we'll be dopey when we get back here. Eating is probably a better idea."
Bukhari said, "I have just the place." Boland grinned.
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A few hours later, back near the Addiction Café
Zondra and Bryce stood in shadows of the alleyway while Chuck and Sarah burglarized the internet café looking for any clues that Orion had been there. The footage from the security camera had not been kept on a server, or at least not one connected to the internet, so Chuck wasn't able to see who had been in the café during the time that Orion had been in touch with him. That was one of the tasks they had inside this evening, looking at the disks from the security footage.
Boland was stationed a bit down the block with the cars. Bukhari and Casey were in the shadows of the walls of the massive compound across the street. Zondra could see the glow from the former's cigarette in the shadows. She had to admit a nascent interest in the NSA man. She found her eye drawn to him from the moment she got off the jet. He was handsome, fit, and rugged looking, but cleaned up very nicely in his pale linen business suit and conservative tie. She wasn't thrilled that he was a smoker, but on the other hand, that wasn't a deal breaker either.
There was no sign of the team that had been shadowing them before. After Boland's call to ISI, they had disappeared (although his contacts at the agency had claimed ignorance of the operation, a claim which led both Boland and Bukhari to roll their eyes).
Although the street was still busy at the late hour, Zondra was getting bored. She tried counting the motor scooters passing by with their young male pilots, but there were more of them than cars so she soon gave up. She tried counting the maximum number of people riding on any one scooter and stopped at four (but two of those were children, so she wasn't sure if that counted). She thought back to dinner. Durab had taken them to a medium sized family restaurant where he was well known. The meal was delicious. She had sat next to Durab and spent a nice bit of the evening almost daring him and the waitstaff to produce food too spicy for her to eat. When she looked the waiter in the eye and told him to bring her the same spice level as he would for his brother, he had grinned and walked away chuckling. Her meal had arrived with just the right amount of heat, although she could take much more if motivated. Durab had found the whole experience entertaining and asked with laughter if she might actually be South-Asian.
It was now close to 11pm. The internet café had been closed for an hour and Chuck and Sarah had been inside for about twenty minutes. If there was a plus side, it seemed to be that the rubbish had been carted away from the alley in the meantime, so she wasn't standing with Bryce in the smell of garbage.
She looked around the alley idly. Plain brick along the wall. A couple of windows painted black. Power cables coming from the streetside poles and leading to a connection at the top of the building from which they were strung down the outside wall to enter into the building lower down. Something she was looking at niggled at her consciousness. Didn't seem right. She looked again and didn't see anything odd, but the odd feeling nevertheless persisted. Finally, she stopped herself and looked at the blank wall slowly, as if there was going to be a quiz.
"What's up?" asked Bryce.
"I don't know. Keep watch on the street. Something is … I don't know."
She stepped closer to the wall. Where there had been trash earlier in the evening, there was still some random garbage on the ground. A couple of empty plastic bags. An old potato chip can stuck on the high windowsill. Some assorted pieces of cardboard on the stained concrete at her feet. A candy bar wrapper. She looked at the assorted bits of detritus, wondering if she was losing her grip. Why was she looking at garbage instead of keeping watch with Bryce?
The potato chip can. Why was garbage sitting on the sill near the window? She jumped, trying to get a look inside it. It was a long can, from the Pringles brand, a longish tube. She couldn't see inside as it was too high. Moving around it, she saw that somehow, it was connected to the building's power cables running along the wall next to it.
"Bryce, come here a sec, will you?" When he came over she said, "Give me a boost, huh?"
He cupped his hands together and crouched for her to put her foot into his joined hands. She put her lit penlight in her teeth, put one hand on his shoulder and the other on the edge of the windowsill over her head. As she straightened her leg, he stood up, taking her weight in his hands and lifting her. With her light, she looked inside the can and saw an electrical device of some sort. Maybe an antenna? Looking to the side, she saw that, in addition to the electrical connection, there was a cable coming out the side and entering the building through a small hole in the window.
She stepped down and Bryce lowered her. "What is it?" he asked.
"I don't know. But I want to show it to Chuck when he comes out."
"Right," said Bryce.
It was another twenty minutes before Chuck and Sarah left the back door of the café and met with Bryce and Zondra in the alleyway.
"How'd you do?" asked Bryce.
"Nothing on their camera. And no computers inside with the power to do what Orion did. Strike out," said Chuck.
Zondra said, "Damn. That sucks. It's probably nothing, but I found something over here I want to show you." She pointed out the Pringles can.
Chuck stopped dead in his tracks and said, sounding excited, "Holy shit. That's it. That's it. You found it. That's how he did it. A Pringles can antenna...a cantenna. It can boost the wi-fi signal from the café and make it directional. In fact.." Chuck turned and looked across the street at the large compound. "...it's forwarding the signal right there." Chuck pointed to the large building behind the high wall.
As he watched, a security camera on the corner of the wall turned and pointed at him standing in the alley. Along the roof of the building, another camera turned and pointed at him. On the far corner of the high wall, another camera turned its black lens to him.
"Uh oh," Chuck said quietly.
There was a dull boom from behind the wall. Followed immediately by another and another. The series of booms continued. As he, Bryce and Zondra watched, the roof of the building began to sag. Shortly, the entire roof collapsed inward. A cloud of dust erupted and billowed into the air as the building disappeared from view. The sound of the explosions stopped and the large building was gone behind the high walls and the rising dust cloud.
"Oh shit," said Chuck, stunned for the moment.
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A/N2: A Pringles can as a wi-fi antenna directional booster. Yeah. Of course, it's a real thing. And, of course, Steelejay told me about it. But you knew that part, right?
A/N3: Orion blew up a building in a major city and so did I. In canon, he blew up a building in Hong Kong with some kind of airborne munition. As his weapon of choice for the rest of the episode is a missile from a hijacked Predator drone, I expect we are to understand that he used a similar weapon for that attack on Fulcrum as well. Here's the problem with that, though. To use an American drone firing a missile to destroy a building in Hong Kong (in China, for God's sake) invites World War III. American claims that the drone had been hijacked by a rogue actor would be a hard sell to the legitimately pissed off Chinese. Oh, and where would he have gotten an armed Predator in that part of the world? Americans were using them in Iraq and Afghanistan not Asia. And Orion could not have used a hijacked Chinese drone for the attack in 2008, as they didn't acquire drone tech until 2013 and didn't field their own prototype until 2015. Anyway, I avoided this problematic plot point by having the building in Karachi pre-mined and destroyed with conventional explosives.
A/N4: Well?