Chapter Eight
Reaction
CIA Headquarters
Fort Eustis, CD
March 4, 2028
1040 hours
"Well, Danielson," Director Beckett sighed, "I've been ordered by the Commons Committee on Intelligence to let you come back on a regular basis."
Avery exhaled slowly. Beckett stared intently before continuing. "I want you to know we're keeping an eye on you. But at the same time, you're getting to go up to testify before the committee. They want to know about Heartbreak."
Avery was confused. First, he was just now actually being allowed to work, and no longer needed to resort to sneaking around, now Beckett was going to let him testify about something that could potentially ruin the career of not only himself, but many of his management colleagues, and possibly the President? There has to be some pressure here, Avery half-thought, half-muttered.
"Sure. I'll do it, I'm not going to say no to a Federal Council committee."
Beckett nodded. "Well, I suggest you get some early lunch, then. They plan on holding a hearing at thirteen-hundred."
Commons Council Committee Hearing Chamber
Oured
March 4, 2028
1325 hours
"The committee will now hear from Doctor Avery Danielson, a special agent with the Central Intelligence Agency."
Councillor Jay Stever, a Federalist from Bayshore District, was not particularly imposing, had no intelligence or military background, and was better known for his social campaigning than his understanding of the intelligence community. But here he was, a third-term Councillor, and many expected him to run for the Higher Council seat for the State of Atlanta in 2030.
Avery took the stand and swore that he would testify as accurately as possible.
"Doctor Danielson," the councillor began—adjusting his glasses in a way that Avery detected to be a feeling of intimidation—"describe for us how you discovered these documents?"
Avery retold the story. There were some murmurs among the committee, but Councillor Stever continued his line of questioning. After several minutes of questions and answers, the councillor appeared more confident as he moved to ask his damning question.
"Doctor Danielson, this question is of utmost importance—can you or can you not independently confirm that the President himself authorized this operation?"
He knew the question would come at some point. Avery had stood up in Council hearings to even men as powerful as Directors of Central Intelligence and two Councillors. But to question the integrity of the President of the Osean Federation? Even for a man who had flown against his own country for a greater good, this was a tough moment to take in.
The tension in the chamber was palpable. Men and women who stood to gain much or lose much based on Avery's answer anxiously awaited it. Their eyes betrayed them. Finally, Avery broke the silence.
"Councillor Stever, under oath and consequent threat of perjury, I can state with the fullest confidence that I can confirm that the President authorized this operation."
The silence was deafening. Even though the President did not yet know what had happened, Avery had put him in a reactive, rather than proactive stance. It was a dangerous position, but Avery was in no mood to lie.
Councillor Stever, visibly shaken, informed Avery that he had no further questions and was free to take his leave.
Even as he closed the door, Avery had not heard another word spoken in the chamber.
244 Gant Drive
Margate, Nassau
March 4, 2028
1830 hours
Taylor came back downstairs to the living room. Avery was glued to the television. The repercussions of his afternoon at the capitol were now clattering around the inside of the Commons Council's main chambers.
"Today, the Common Council passed a resolution of no confidence against President Nathan Donilon, a resolution only passed twice in the Osean Federation's history. Many observers are calling the move largely symbolic, as this is an election year, and thus no new election will be called. To join us for analysis, we have private political analyst Stephen Goldberg…"
Taylor wrapped her arms around Avery's neck and asked him the obvious question.
"Was that you?"
Avery could only nod. He had never expected something this extreme. Too shocked to watch the real news anymore, he finished dinner.
2300 hours
For almost four hours, Avery had come back and watched more commentary on the subject. To take his mind off it all, Avery flipped over to a comedy station. The Nightly Show with Josh Daniels was on. Maybe there would be some funny or weird news to take in. Daniels went into his opening monologue after the intro sequence.
"Welcome to tonight's broadcast of The Nightly Show With Josh Daniels. Tonight, I want to speak directly to you, the audience. Usually, this introductory monologue is reserved for a satirical or otherwise humorous commentary on the state of Osean political life, but tonight, I want to talk about something positively revolutionary—and it's good news, too.
Today, in a hearing held by the Commons Council Committee on Intelligence, it was revealed that our President—the man we entrusted with upholding our constitution and our laws—attempted to carry out a military operation in which Osean aircraft were to kill Osean citizens who not only were not committing any crimes, but were actively working in favor of our national interests abroad.
Less than six hours ago, this culminated in a nearly unprecedented move by our Commons Council. The Council voted for the first time since 1873 to pass a resolution of no confidence in a sitting President. Our Commons Council didn't just pass this resolution. It voted in favor of the resolution six hundred and eighty one to zero, with four abstentions. Those abstentions were three Federalist councillors and the Leader of the Commons Council. Ladies and gentlemen of this audience, the Donilon administration effectively ended this afternoon. There will still be an election. One he may not even participate in, with Nassau governor Daniel Maroney looming so menacingly.
But today, in spite of our fears that maybe our government doesn't care to protect us, the Commons Council stood resolute and said 'we will not stand for this.' That is something we as Oseans should admire.
So to those who voted for this resolution, thank you. To the as-yet unnamed CIA agent who revealed all this, God bless you. I'm a Jew! I never say 'God'! But God bless you. And to the rest of you—our government isn't really that evil."
The show went on, but Avery felt left behind. In spite of the praise being heaped upon him, something was empty. Maybe it was the airman in him demanding that more be done. After all, there was more…
•••
OCIA Headquarters
Fort Eustis, CD
March 5, 2028
0900 hours
"Long morning?"
"Yeah," Avery replied. "And it's only nine."
"Well," the intern proclaimed with a cheeriness that only served to further upset Avery, "I've got a whole bunch of reports that the folks downstairs typed up about the Lakeshore raid."
"Fan-fucking-tastic," Avery muttered under his breath. Stanton from NSA had already sent him a few documents of interest. Probably time to go pay Uncle Keith another visit. Never hurts to close the gaps.
Nothing was new. It just further proved the connection between Fleischer and the nuke that had killed thousands in Indus. It was better suited to IUN duty than a CIA desk. Avery made a note to that effect and dropped the entire stack of reports into his out box. Too bad, the little nerds had probably worked their asses off to carefully detail a bunch of information the Agency already knew.
Avery turned to his workstation instead. He wanted to look at the technical aspects of this project that Fleischer had access too. It didn't take long to notice something.
A stamp. Belkan intelligence. This wasn't a root document. No, someone had a different one like this, somewhere in Belka, and this one he was looking at now had been copied elsewhere. Avery picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Hey Uncle Keith," Avery said, "you free for lunch today?"
•••
Allen Hubert Veterans Care Facility
Suburban Oured, CD
March 5, 2028
1145 hours
"So, kid, I know you're not here to talk shit. What's my present today?"
Keith Danielson had learned from clear back when Avery was just sixteen how to pick out the pussyfooting. Kid never was a good hider.
"Well, it's not much, it's just—was there ever more to the Fleischer story?"
"Was there more?!" Keith seemed incredulous. "You better fuckin' believe there was. Fleischer was one of our most hunted guys for awhile. But to know about Fleischer, I'm gonna have to backpedal for you. There was an arms dealer, Karl Braun, who was his teacher of sorts. Braun was running weapons from Yuktobania to the Belkans. That's how we had so many Belkans being caught with Kalashnikovs in their hands, instead of G3s. 'Course, it wasn't just guns. He was running vehicles and even whole goddamn fighter jets. All the while, he was teaching that Fleischer kid."
"So, did you ever catch Braun?" Avery asked. Keith just shook his head. "What about chasing Fleischer?"
Keith sighed deeply. "See…that's the kind of question that bothers me. Fleischer was a runner. Even as a little punk-ass kid. I tailed that son of a bitch to every war zone imaginable. It all finally caught up to me."
•••
Osean Diplomatic Mission
Gorga Oblast Conflict Zone, Kaluga
September 6, 1998
1130 hours
"So, John Norton, huh? That's the pseudonym?"
Keith could only growl in response.
"Well, I got word from the rezident. He told me to tell you to meet him for lunch in the caf at noon. Says you should recognize him no problem."
Seven years as a CIA agent and twelve more as an OMDF SEAL had taught Keith better. Even if he recognized the rezident, getting to that point was always easier said than done.
Jonas Fleischer was still a newcomer to the arms trade scene, but he had a long client list. These days, word was he was moving guns to the rebel movement in Kaluga, a Muslim minority that was trying to form a breakaway state around Lake Gorga, an oil-rich part of the country.
That made the mission in Gorgasali a dangerous place to be, especially for Osean personnel, as the government was being aided by the Osean government as part of its shadow war against religious radicals.
Keith walked into the main foyer of the mission. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a man moving suspiciously, wearing a large coat. Before Keith could even react, the man flung open his coat and screamed "FOR GORGA!"
•••
"Can you fuckin' believe it? Hurt by the assholes I was trying to stop, and they didn't even know I was there. There's my luck." Keith shook his head. "But hey, you don't want war stories. Fact is, we knew these guys were getting their hardware from somewhere else. Maybe go check the archives. Who knows?"
Avery nodded solemnly. Another day, another trip downstairs.
OCIA Archives
Undisclosed location
March 5, 2028
1400 hours
There it was. "Gorga Oblast Conflict." Just a bunch of shit-scrubbing terrorists as far as anyone else knew. But a quick leafing through the latter pages of the documentation relating to CIA involvement in Gorga Oblast suggested differently.
Avery knew that Osea and Yuktobania weren't getting along well, even in the wake of their cooperation against Belkan aggression. But this was almost unreal to read, even for a history student.
But that's not what he was here for. No, it was the files on Jonas Fleischer.
Avery scanned page after page, looking for the magic name. Finally, he found it.
"…Fleischer is believed to be involved in nationalist movements globally, from San Martin to the furthest reaches of Karabastan and beyond. Fleischer was something of a protege for Karl Braun, a Belkan veteran and arms smuggler. While unconfirmed, sources claim Braun indoctrinated Fleischer with nationalist dogma before his death in 1997…"
The more he read, the more Avery was enthralled. It was like a floodgate of understanding had been opened.
"All these nationalist movements…" Avery muttered, and ran back to the shelves. He pulled off ream after ream of documents relating to nationalist movements. The same names, dating back to the mid-1980s. Braun. Fleischer. They were everywhere, seemingly in multiple places at once.
He pulled a stack of papers relating to the Estovakian Civil War. Fleischer was there, investing in a program run by General Resource. In North Sotoa, he was giving rifles to child soldiers in the Sotoan Army of God. In Valverde, communist guerillas were flying Belkan-made helicopters, supplied by a David Fleischer—Jonas' early alias.
Then it was financial documents. One of General Resources' first investors: Jonas Fleischer.
But what did it all mean?
••••
International United Nations Headquarters, Security Council Chamber
Port Edwards, FCU
March 6, 2028
1100 hours
Six men solemnly entered what defense wonks called "The Business Room." A small, stuffy room for all six Security Council delegates to sit down and discuss important international peace matters. The Council has three permanent members, the victors of the Great Eastern War and the Great Usean War: Osea, Yuktobania, and what was then the Kingdom of Usea, but later became the Federation of Central Usea. The other three members rotate. Now, it was Brasalium, Perfanesia, and Wielvakia.
The members took their seats as the Secretary of the Security Council rose and began his presentation.
"We are now here to discuss the affair in the Indo-Vedian region. Now, it appears a peace settlement may be reached soon, however, it is in the best interest of this body to determine what will happen should that not come to pass. There needs to be a stern reaction from the international community to the atrocities that have occurred. We believed some thirty years ago that this would not be a problem in our time, but it is now evident that we no longer can rely on the lessons of history."
The delegates looked at each other with annoyed expressions. Secretary Kent Dunwoody had a tendency to drone on. He continued on anyway.
"The drafted resolution reads as follows: 'Finding that the use of nuclear weapons as an act of war is generally considered abhorrent; determining that this action was taken without proper deference given to the risk posed to civilian lives; and holding that all parties involved should reach a peaceable agreement, here resolves the Security Council of the International United Nations: the nations of Indus and Vedia have been wronged, and thus it is in the best interests of all parties concerned to be brought to the negotiation table. In the event that this resolution is not followed, the Council shall issue a further resolution to move that peacekeepers be deployed to the Indo-Vedian region without delay. Resolved this day, March the Sixth, Two-thousand and Twenty-eight."
Dunwoody paused before sharply inhaling. "Now then, is this resolution text agreeable? All in favor, say aye."
All six delegates replied: "aye."
"Then it is resolved," Dunwoody replied. "Meeting adjourned."
••••