Chuck Versus Agent Insanity
Chapter III
A Very Troubled Protector
Special Agent Sarah Walker was walking down the corridor of a CIA underground facility located several hundred yards away from the main HQ building at Langley. It was especially equipped against any form of electronic espionage, no electrons allowed out, as they joked there. The Vegas Bubble. "What happens in the bubble, stays in the bubble."
Several layers of special material isolated the rooms for secret deliberations on the government's black projects. Black operations involved only those who indeed needed to know. If the Secretary of Defense, the CIA Director, the DNI didn't need to know, he or she simply wouldn't.
It was at the president's wishes that his Chief of Staff would contact the right people to set up such a black op. This time it was about Iran's nuclear ambitions. Or rather Israel's ambition to undo Iran's nuclear ones.
The newly elected Israeli prime minister had just informed the US president that sooner, rather than later Israel was going to take out Iran's nuclear facilities, starting with the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.
"The threat is existential and we simply cannot live with that, case closed', the Israeli PM had said.
All the US President could do was to win some time and try figure out another less risky and controversial solution to the issue.
That's how a very small group of CIA, MI6 and German BND operatives were assigned to a special task force. They were supposed to sabotage the Natanz facility or find whatever way to stall Iran's progress by 5 to 10 years. So that the diplomats and the politicians could find a way for a permanent, peaceful solution later on.
Sarah didn't have her mobile with her now. It was against the rules. She knew that Chuck would be trying to call but this was the least of her problems at the moment.
She placed her face in front of the biometric security device. It scanned her left eye. No green light yet.
Then she moved to the left, so the electronic scanner repeated the procedure on her right eye. Another sensor had already sent molecular data to a computer analyzing whether the eyes were still alive. An operator was watching through a hidden camera to make sure that the subject checked wasn't disabled and held by others just to pass security.
This black op's head was taking no chances.
Sarah saw the green light coming from the device. The door was opening now for her. She sighed. Damn. She wished she had failed that check. For a third time today.
She was chosen to take part in this operation for two reasons. Her close contacts with Mossad agents were to be used to check if the Israelis were keeping their part of the deal. But that was the microscopic one. The big reason was elsewhere and that's what was giving her the headache. Chuck.
The black op chief, a guy who called himself Agent 20, was adamant. Although a lot of the information locked in Chuck's head was available on the computer systems of various agencies, they couldn't be sure that they had all of it. What if it was Chuck's head only that contained the name and dossier of a Iranian student of 25 years ago, that should be now their key target with regards to the Natanz?
And Chuck, with his flashes was able to retrieve the info on site, at the moment. So, if he hanged around somewhere in Tehran or Natanz, undercover, he could identify the right man for their so delicate needs.
'How could you do that with a computer database, stored somewhere in the US?' Agent 20 had asked Sarah.
The human intersect was indispensable for such a mission.
Sarah couldn't think of anything to counter Agent 20 on this. In fact, she knew better than anybody else how spot on Agent 20 actually was. She saw Chuck in action, in real-life operations and knew his real value. It was hers and Casey's mission reports that obviously had sealed Chuck's fate.
She so didn't like this whole Iranian thing.
Now, that the Asset had additional karate skills, he would have better chances to survive, Agent 20 maintained. And there was nothing for Sarah to say. She could make the opposite point, but she wouldn't be that sure about it herself. Agent 20 had been beating her every time they had an argument.
Worse, she knew he was right. And even worse, she realized that she was making her arguments because the Intersect happened to be a person who she developed intimate feelings for, and she was just trying to protect him. She had failed as an agent, again. Maybe it was time for her to quit?
Nah, they wouldn't let Chuck go anyway. Without her, he'd still need protection, he'd be heartbroken if she were out. No, it would be way, way worse. They had to somehow get through, survive this crazy Iranian thing and then think of some reasonable solution.
Reasonable and satisfactory to each side, the government, Chuck and her.
"Satisfactory" sent her back to the Barstow hotel where "no satisfactory end" trademarked the whole event. They were just about to make love. She finally let her defenses down. For God's sakes. She couldn't believe she had done that finally. She had gotten so used to the emotional torture.
And then Chuck left to look for a condom. Why did she let him go? Was it that time of the month for her? She frowned, thinking. Maybe that's why she let her guard down. The human body has its own intricate molecular mechanisms that tell you when to do a certain thing and when not to or so she read somewhere. Did she want a child with Chuck? She couldn't think about this now.
Why did she let Chuck go look for a condom? She wasn't sure. Yeah, she was just too overwhelmed by what was going on of course. She didn't have the time to think it through. She just let him go look for protection and this might well be the most fatal mistake in her life.
What if she'd gotten pregnant then? How different would things be now? Tomorrow?
She had no time to think about all this now.
Sarah sighed again, put her mask on and walked into the bubble room.
There was a large conference table, made of special composite material. Of course. Everything here was some special composite or plastic, everything competing to absorb the audio waves that were about to come out. No electronics. No cables. No electricity. Lighting was provided by candles. The CIA knew better than any other organization how to gather signal intelligence and they weren't taking any chances.
It's like you are on a romantic date here, so where's the wine, Agent 20 used to joke about the candles.
Sarah liked his jokes as much as she hated his operation.
Sarah approached the table. "Good afternoon everybody". They nodded back to her.
"Take a seat Agent 4."
Even the numbers didn't matter here. They were randomly picked. Those people were crazy about secrecy. She was 4, the boss was 20. She knew that there were two other people with a higher rank than hers but she had no idea about their numbers. They were not supposed to know each other at this point. Only after a concrete plan was to be developed, would each of them be introduced only to those who they needed to know in order for the operation to be successful.
Who was on the British side. Barker?
All were wearing masks, all were sitting on chairs at places that weren't well lighted. Compartmentalization. The first, second and third law of the damned spy business.
Only agent 20 knew them all and which number corresponded to which operative. After all, it was his operation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have important business to do here. Let's not waste any more of our precious ...
**
Eleanor Fay Bartowski, now Mrs Devon Woodcomb, was screaming in her bed. She was in a hotel, in a luxurious resort, thousands of miles away from her brother. Some honeymoon. It was the same afternoon Chuck flashed his kung fu skills on and kicked Casey's butt.
Ellie was supposed to rest and sleep after all morning of sunbathing and swimming. But she had just had a terrible nightmare. Chuck was locked in a cage in the jungle. Held as a hostage. They were torturing him. He was bleeding from his ears. The doctor in her wondered about what could be behind such symptoms.
"What's the matter, babe? Please, wake up Ellie!" Devon was up, next to her, trying to figure out what was going on.
But she was already full awake.
'Nothing Devon, I was just having a nightmare."
Ellie, is it about Chuck again?', asked Awesome, chills crawling up his back. He just remembered about Chuck's double life. A spy. Casey and Sarah, just handlers and protectors.
'Hmmm,' Devon wondered.
'What about Chuck and Sarah then? Were they a real couple? "Joining the hip" as he used to say? Or she is just a protector, a cover girlfriend?'
Hmmm, now it started making sense, their weird relationship, that is. Not awesome. No hips together.' Now he knew. Devon frowned.
Ellie wanted to lie, but just couldn't. Devon was her husband now. They were about to build a family. Working hard on the next generation of Bartowskis. How could she start this with lies?
'Yes, it's about Chuck, I'm so sorry, Dev. He was bleeding. I don't know why I worry so much. You know I'm not superstitious. Not at all. But I read somewhere that when a close relative, your blood, is suffering or dying somewhere, even far, far away, you feel it somehow. Science hasn't discovered everything yet, you know that as well as I do. We are doctors remember? We still can't explain gravity, you know, what kind of waves or particles are causing it, so ....' Ellie was totally unable to stop.
'Babe, babe, calm down, I know. I believe you. You know what. I'll call the operator, put me through to Chuck. Let me talk to him, ok?'
"Please, Devon, do that for me.", Ellie was holding her hands pressed on her belly.
'What was that?', she wondered. 'An instinctive reaction?' Was she already pregnant? She and Devon had spared no effort in that direction recently.
Devon was strolling back and forth in the next room, talking to somebody.
'Sorry, bro, just Ellie and I wanted to hear from you. Then, he walked into the bathroom, so Ellie couldn't hear. "Hey, everything ok there with you and the guys? Awesome. Rooting for you here, Chuck. Are you kicking some badass asses there, bro? This is soooo awesome!
Xxx
Agent 20 went on:
'As you well know, the United States doesn't have an embassy or any sort of consulates in Iran, no diplomatic relations whatsoever. The Swiss embassy is out of question as well, as they officially represent us vis-a-v-s Iran. We'll have to rely on some of our other European allies as a base of this op, those who actually have healthy and productive business relations with the Mullahs. This is actually why the president invested so much effort in patching up our relations with the NATO allies …'
Sarah really struggled to concentrate on what Agent 20 was saying.
So much worries, so much on her shoulders. She had just decided to open up to Chuck and start building her new life with him. And now all this big, big trouble. She wasn't even convinced this crazy Iranian project would be very successful. If at all. They, both Chuck and she may well end up in Iranian jail or die without achieving their mission.
"…so we have determined that the best embassies to position part of our team would be our invaluable allies from the cold war times, Germany and …"
Sarah was still thinking about Chuck. She already knew his part of the mission. How on earth would they be able to place him at the Tehran State university, from what country? Did Chuck know another language fluently, so he could pretend to be an Austrian, Italian? No.
His family name was Bartowski. Wasn't that a Polish name? Couldn't he have picked up some Polish from his grandparents?
She made a mental note to check out his origin.
She had a close friend, a Polish girl at high school. At one of the many high schools actually. It was in Boston. She stayed there for 10 months or so before she and her father had to run. Again. Yvonne something. Family name was totally unpronounceable. Strzhe .... She had never been able to pronounce the crazy name.
Her friend was an exchange student from Australia. Funny accent, Australian. They made great friends, however.
She could ask her if Bartowski was Polish. She still had her AOL email.
She remembered Yvonne. They were close friends, feeling like sisters sometimes. Sarah frowned again. Yvonne was beautiful, like a supermodel. Sarah was such a nerd then. She hated high school so much.
Yvonne dreamed about becoming an actress or something.
"With this funny Australian accent?", Sarah wondered. "Only in Australia, dear, only in Australia'.
'She hadn't talked to her for ages. Interesting, what might she be doing now?' Sarah wondered.
'… we certainly can't use our Polish friends' embassy.' agent 20 went on. 'Poland has become a very good ally of the United States and agreed to deploy some missile defense components. Moreover, components of a system that is supposed to stop Iranian missiles, so ….'
So much for Chuck's Polish cover story.' Sarah thought. Was Agent 20 reading her thoughts? So weird. Can they do that now?
Agent 20 had been right again. Sarah just hadn't thought about the politics. With all her pressures, personal worries, LA mission, she hadn't been able to adequately process the information a good agent should have. Always must.
Sarah Walker, you've just failed again.
Xxx