CHAPTER 3 Planning and Pastrami
"A disaster! An unmitigated DISASTER is what this is!" the Chief declared as he stormed into his office towards his desk, hands gesticulating in front of him.
He felt older than he was an hour ago and the nasal baritone voice that followed him along with its owner did nothing to alleviate his stress.
"Chief, it's not that bad!" Max insisted close behind the Chief, large paper bag from Benny's Deli in his hand while 99 followed behind him, hand still at her rib cage.
"How can you SAY that Eighty-Six?!" the Chief exclaimed dropping into his seat behind his desk.
"Well Chief," Max insisted sitting at the visitors chair in front of his superior's desk and setting the paper bag down, busying with its contents. "after all, we have almost ten KAOS agents in custody. That's a pretty good haul for a half day's work."
"Not just a half day's work Eighty-Six!" The Chief leaned forward scowling, hands knuckle white on his desk's edges. "MONTHS of work! Months spent trying to locate the KAOS smuggling network! And now, after all that work, all we have are a few arrests and STILL no idea how they were smuggling the stolen secrets out of the country! Based on what Ninety-Nine discovered today, the delis are clearly NOT the last stage in KAOS' new operation! We found NOTHING from the five delis we raided except hidden weapons! The delicatessens are likely just another link in the network. And in case you forgotten…MAX what are you doing?!"
Max continued unpacking the food from his bag without a millisecond of hesitation.
"Lunch chief. I missed it what with being shot at and everything."
"How can you think of FOOD at a time like this?!" the Chief shook his hands at Max before turning it into a pointed finger. "And need I remind you, the KAOS agents at Jordan's and Desalvo's all ESCAPED because Fifty-Eight and Forty-Five had to be pulled out to save YOU! So we didn't even GET all of them! You said you were SURE Krycek didn't' know you were watching him!"
"Well, I said I was sure." Max nodded at the Chief as he unwrapped the tin foil around his pastrami on rye. "I didn't say I was certain."
The Chief's eyes rolled down, face sagging as he let out a slow breath wishing it was his last and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head in dismay as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He realized he had been wrong. No pain caused by any elitist, greasy, overweight, political-connection-abusing lawyer could come CLOSE to what 86 was capable of.
99's modulated satiny voice floated down from his side, providing him some relief and comfort.
"Chief have we been able to get anything from Krycek and the other KAOS agents we arrested?"
The Chief sighed leaning back into his chair.
"I'm afraid not Ninety-Nine." The Chief replied spreading his hands. "They only knew their own part in the network. Krycek only knew he was to deliver the information to one of the five delis each time, the agents from the delicatessen fronts only knew they were to receive the information from Krycek and pass it on to—as you suspected Ninety-Nine, the deliverymen from the Fresh Food Express Delivery service which they confirmed is also a KAOS front. The remaining agent from the two cars decoying Max knew even LESS! Their only orders were to kill him!" The Chief scowled at this point at Max as though he envied the KAOS killers. "I wish we had been able to arrest the KAOS agents who ran that delivery service but by the time we got to their office, they had already closed down and disappeared! KAOS is getting much better at structuring their smuggling networks and informational compartmentalization. Someone truly in-genius is running their espionage operations here in the States!"
"Annie' ifear foo if if?" asked Max through a mouthful of pastrami and rye, mostly pastrami.
"Not yet. But that isnt' important right now." The Chief leaned forward again, elbows on table and stretched fingers of both hands inches apart at something he wish he could grasp but could not. "It's so FRUSTRATING! Every time—we take years and months, locating and taking down one of KAOS' communication and smuggling operations, they come right back with another one! We stop them from sending hidden messages in newspapers on paper routes, they switch to microfilms hidden in flowers and gifts! We stop them from smuggling government secrets out via export of electronic appliances, they use talking dolls with special cassette tapes from Bowers Department Store! We close down Bowers and now less than SIX months later, they're using food retail and we STILL don't know how they're doing it! Nothing we found inside the delis or the remnants of the delivery service offices points at any delivery method that reaches overseas! The point of egress for the information obviously comes AFTER the delivery service."
"Fy th' fay Ny-Ny." Max asked, mouthful and chewing. "Howf' dis you knof Kychef waf hafing th' inffomashn ofer?"
"Krycek asked Baroyev to toss his coffee cup for him and Heinrich took it all the way back into their kitchen instead of just tossing it into a waste basket they had out front at the cashiere which was empty at the time. That's why I wanted to check out the kitchen." 99 explained. "Anyway, I saw the cup again when I was in there and confirmed it had a false bottom."
"That means that doughnut stand is a KAOS front too." Max said between mouthfuls. "Boy Chief! Stealing our military secrets is serious, but at the rate they're taking over our food retail establishments, when they finally branch out to FAST food, we could be in a lot of trouble! Especially since their stuff tastes so much better!"
As the Chief closed his eyes, bowed his head to squeeze the bridge of his nose again, the automated sliding door to the office hisses aside to admit Hodgkins, the Chief's old, accountant-like, sad-faced and even balder assistant with 2 files marked Top Secret.
"Chief, these reports both marked urgent just arrived." Hodgkins announces.
"Thank you Hodgkins." The Chief said reaching out for them. "Hopefully there's some good news for a change. That'll be all."
Hodgkins nodded but paused as he saw the other half of 86's sandwich on the tinfoil on the table, piled so high with corned beef the 2 slices of rye bread were an afterthought.
"Corned beef on rye from Benny's?" he asked mildly.
"Nad's rife!" Max declared through a full mouth. "Puf, pashta-me! N no thi yof geffin any!"
"Just as well." Hodgkins sighed as he walked to the door. "Three weeks of that and the doctor confirmed my blood pressure went from normal da permanently sky rocket levels."
"I'll eat a bite for ya!" Max called after the departing assistant happily as he bit into his sandwich again.
"Maaaax." 99 scolded him softly before looking at the files the Chief was pouring over. "Are we clear to know about those Chief?"
"Of course Ninety-Nine." The Chief said without looking up from the files. "This is a report from CONTROL Central and these are updates from our intelligence sources behind the Iron Curtain, both CIA and our agents. And it's as I feared."
"Wha shief?" Max asked standing up and leaning forward to look as he bit into his sandwich again.
"CIA and CONTROL intelligence assets confirm at least three Iron Curtain countries have begun development of the biochemical weapon known as Super Sleep. And they…"the Chief stopped as 5-6 pieces of oil soaked pastrami landed on the document in one file. He slowly turned his fuming visage up to find it facing Max's face with cheeks bulging in a highly accurate imitation of a hamster storing food.
Max swallowed and sheepishly pulled back picking up the pastrami, leaving behind a huge oil stain and bits meat on the report.
"Sorry bout that Chief."
"Wait." 99 frowned as she lifted her left thigh slightly to sit on the edge of the Chief's desk on his right. "Isnt' Super Sleep one of…aaah!"
99 eyes closed in apparent pain as she quickly slipped away from the table edge holding her rib cage.
"Ninety-Nine are you alright?!" the Chief exclaimed concern replacing fury instantaneously.
"I'm fine Chief. Really, I'm…"
"You shouldn't' sit in this position with your injury." The Chief said standing up with a hand on her shoulder.
"That's right Ninety-Nine. You should rest in a proper chair."
"Eighty-Six, give Ninety-Nine your chair."
Max frowned sandwich nearing his mouth.
"I meant outside in the waiting area." He clarified.
"I need her here!" the Chief declared
"Chief I'm fine really…" 99 tried to assure her superior despite still holding her side.
"But Chief! I'm still eating—"
"MAX!"
"—which I will continue to do standing up." Max verbally swerved and stood up with his sandwich to let 99 slowly sink down in his seat and he took up his position at the side of the desk where she had stood.
"Thank you Max." Ninety-Nine smiled gratefully.
"Ninety-Nine, the doctor said the bullet bruised two ribs and cracked a third." The Chief said in his fatherly voice as he sat back down. "You need to be careful even with the bandages they've wrapped you in. If the situation wasn't so dire I'd order you home right now."
"I understand Chief." 99 assured. "I promise I'll be careful. Chief, Super Sleep is one of our military projects isn't it?"
"That's right Ninety-Nine." The Chief confirmed "Developed less than eight months ago by the Army. And that's not all. Our agents also confirmed two other Iron Curtain Countries developing their own versions of Star View!"
"The NSA's new prototype spy satellite?" 99 was startled.
"That's right!"
"Those are some of the military secrets that were reported stolen right Chief?" Max asked biting into his sandwich.
"Correct." The Chief tapped his finger on the report avoiding the oil stain. "And this is confirmation that KAOS International in Europe has been receiving those smuggled secrets and SELLING them off fast!"
"But that still doesn't' really help us find out HOW they're smuggling the secrets out." 99 pointed out.
"Uh." The Chief lifted a finger for emphasis before pointing it down at the other open file. "This might. You see CONTROL Central has been closely monitoring radio frequencies and transmissions all through the state for several months. There was never anything concrete that we could use till now…"
The Chief stopped talking as several oily strips of pastrami drops onto the other report, covering his finger. Again he slowly looks up at 86's bulging cheeked face. Max swallowed his latest mouthful of pastrami and sheepishly takes its fallen comrades off the Chief's finger.
"Sorry bout' that Chief."
The Chief satisfied himself with a blow out of air from his nose and focuses on trying to save the country instead of something much more satisfying at the moment.
"...CONTROL Central has detected a powerful radio frequency spike just above the medium wave. They occurred on several dates, always between midnight to two in the morning. But if you'll look at the spikes detected on these two dates and compare them with the reports of Super Sleep and Star View from our intelligence assets—"
"—They both occurred just a week or two before the reports from our agents!" 99 exclaimed.
"That's right Ninety-Nine." The Chief confirmed "And on each of the dates, our listening posts behind the Iron Curtain also confirmed detecting the same spike at the same time! So you know what this means."
"KAOS agents all over the world have a favorite radio station they listen to?" Max offered before asking "Uh, Ninety-Nine could you pass me the mustard."
"So it's shortwave?" 99 asked passing the condiment to Max as the Chief scowls at him.
"That's right." The Chief leans back into his seat again. "It's as we feared. KAOS has leant from their mistakes. They're circumventing the constraints of physically smuggling information out. Instead, they're trans-MITTING the secrets back to KAOS Headquarters! They must have some kind of secret radio broadcasting base here in the city with a high powered shortwave antenna array."
"But Chief if they're using shortwave, they could be transmitting from anywhere in the country." Max noted spreading mustard into the pastrami. "I mean who knows how many links their smuggling network had."
"True, but CONTROL Central believes that based on the strength of the signal spikes, the transmitter has to be within Washington D.C."
"Why couldn't' CONTROL Central track the transmission back to its source Chief?" this from 99
"The transmission is too heavily encrypted." The Chief answered with a furrowed brow "Our scientists have been unable to trace the signal or listen in at all. KAOS must have some form of highly advanced scrambling device for their transmissions."
"Why do the only transmit at midnight to two?" 99 wondered
"Several reasons I believe." The Chief raised a finger as he spoke. "As with all spies, they have a fixed schedule to report to their superiors. At other times, no one would be tuned in. Secondly, in order to transmit, their antenna array would have to be exposed. So where ever they're located, it's somewhere we would never think of looking but at the same time densely populated enough to warrant some caution. Which explains the late hour."
"Does CONTROL Central have any idea where they could be located?" 99 asked
"Yes." The Chief said flipping through the file. "They've enclosed a map of likely coordinates…it's…yes, here. It's somewhere within this area—" the Chief moved his finger tip around a red circle indicated on the map. "—where…"
Flop!
"…the giant pastrami and mustard is located.—MAX!" the Chief yelled gesticulating at 86 for the large mound of mustard coated pastrami that had dropped right inside the red circle on the map.
"Sorry bout' that Chief." Max said as the Chief grabbed some paper towels from the sandwich bag and grabbed the offending fallen culinary horrors while 99 noted.
"Chief, that's mostly a residential area. Lots of family homes. Really quiet. How could KAOS hide a secret radio station there?"
"It actually makes sense. Everyone there being in their home is relaxed, feeling safe and totally focused on mundane routines of life like sending their kids to school, cleaning their houses and cars, entertaining friends, instinctively tuning out anything out of the ordinary they may see." The Chief declared. "But they are there somewhere. And time is short. Now fortunately Super Sleep is just a tranquilizing agent and our military does have an antidote and the NSA assures us that Star View is far from perfected and at least five years from operational deployment."
"Which means, they've been using it to listen in on everything we say and do for the past TEN years." Max shrugged chewing away.
The Chief tilted his head in acknowledgement before continuing, stabbing the table with a finger for emphasis.
"But we can-not let them transmit Project Phalanx. It could compromise the defense of our country and our counter-strike capabilities for decades to come!"
"Chief what is Project Phalanx?" 99 inquired.
"Currently," the Chief explained gesturing with his hands. "our military's primary medium and high-altitude long-range air defenses lies in the Nike Hercules and the mobile Hawk missile systems. Project Phalanx is a highly improved prototype radar-guided surface-to-air-missile system with greater accuracy, range and mobility. If all goes well, it's primed to replace both the Nike Hercules and Hawk missiles. Now, while the research is still far from perfected, if our enemies got a hold of it, they could use it as groundwork to improve their own missile systems which will enable them to even the odds against the United States in any conflict, never mind how KAOS would apply it in their OWN operations!"
"Chief how is KAOS able to get hold of so many classified secrets in the first place?" 99 asked in disbelief.
"Well KAOS always had a wide spectrum of insidious, ruthless, despicable and terrifying intelligence gathering methods."
"You mean they pay the NSA to tutor them?" Max asked
"It's still under investigation!" the Chief snapped at Max before turning back to 99. "And despite the deep involvement of KAOS, I have as yet been unable to get the case handed over to CONTROL. More conservative elements in the cabinet including the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense have persuaded the President to keep it under CIA jurisdiction. It's all I could do to get the president to let us handle the smuggling network—WHICH based on this morning's outcome, might not be the case for much longer!"
"And worse—" Max added stuffing the last of his pastrami sandwich into his mouth and chewing on one side. "—we lost the best pastrami and corned beef on rye in Washington."
"So-I'm-TOLD!" the Chief yelled shaking in anger and clenching his fists at Max.
"What's our next step Chief?" 99 asked hoping to keep the Chief's blood pressure from following the footsteps of Hodgkins.
Her soothingly, velvety voice as always kept the Chief focused and calmed turning their superior back to the situation at hand.
"I need you and Max to head down to the area and start searching for the KAOS radio base. We have just learnt of this intel so we don't' have any advanced intelligence assets in that area. I need the two of you to try and spot anything out of the ordinary and once our agents are finished with the delicatessen clean ups, I'll begin sending more people to help. But for now you two are our advanced team. We have till midnight tonight."
"But Chief we can't just go knocking on every door. There's gadda be some way we can try narrowing this down." Max pointed out.
"Which I hope you'll find once you're there." The Chief said and stood up. "But you will have some help. Carleton should have something for us right now. Let's head over to the lab."