Chapter 15
Clint walked into the darkened room as Kayla was explaining their process.
“Sometimes, you just have to go back to basics. We found using computers wasn’t as accurate as the actual photographs and images.
When expanding a photograph, for instance, a computer will fill in what it thinks that a shadow is exactly that: a shadow.
On the other hand, when you look at the same satellite picture at twenty times its original size, you can see it’s a man, or a deer.
” She looked directly at him with a raised eyebrow, so he tilted his head toward a dark corner of the room.
“Ladies, please go back to the station you were at before the conference.” Kayla wiggled her fingers, as if stretching them, but Clint saw it as a signal.
“Gentlemen, feel free to walk around and ask questions. If you find a table that interests you, feel free to stay.” She headed toward the darkest corner.
Clint met her there. “Ashlin went to her office to ask permission to do a deeper dive on Shawn Beck. I’m positive my company has already gone far beyond résumé-level, or they wouldn’t have sent him to me. But she pointed out that Homeland has vetted each and every one of us except him.”
“Good thinking,” Kayla complimented.
“I’m going to work my way around the room. Is everyone working on the same location?” Clint asked.
“Not exactly.” Kayla’s gaze swept the room. “Each table is looking at a possible site within Montana.”
“How reliable is your intelligence that there’s a camp in Montana?”
Kayla hesitated, shrugged, and then said, “We were informed that last week, Border Patrol picked up a couple of guys crossing the northern border of Idaho, carrying two manpad missiles. He knew he was headed to a camp in Montana but didn’t know anything beyond his next pickup location.”
“You’re fucking kidding me?” Clint said in a low voice.
“No. And the man confessed that several others had crossed our borders already.”
“So, we need to identify the location of the camp, figure out its size and number of people, and the best position for observation and possible attack. Did I miss anything?” Clint was trying to get the order of things and expectations established in his mind.
“You got it,” Kayla said with a single nod. Then she smiled. “And we have to get this completed and ready to brief by Friday afternoon, two days away.”
Clint nodded. He’d planned missions in less time. It was doable. “Which table has the strongest likelihood of accuracy?”
“Follow me.” Kayla led him to Ashlin’s table. “What do you have?”
“I’m pretty sure we have the location.” Piper stood back and pointed to an area of dense trees next to a water source.
She overlaid the thermal and then explained, “This is a small lake with a stream leading out of it, but this layer doesn’t do us much good.
Lake is a hot spring. We’ve determined the lake is approximately one hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit. ”
Kira stepped up and pointed to an area in the trees.
“This is far enough away from the heat source to better identify objects. If you look closely, you can see four men lying in a clinic formation. These four have been there consistently on every satellite pass. It makes sense that they have put their clinic away from the base camp, or at least on the outer perimeter.”
“Once we identified the clinic, we were able to differentiate colors, and if you look closely.” Ashlin tapped several places.
“You can see other tents, and depending on what time these were taken, you can actually see people in their beds.” She extended her hand with a thirty times magnifying loupe to Kayla, who waved it off and pointed to Clint.
He took it and bent over the table. “I’ll be damned. You really can’t see a camp formation.” He slid it around several times. “How recent is this image?”
“Three hours ago,” all four women answered.
“Is this the best picture you can get?” Clint asked without looking up.
“No.” Kira paused before she answered, “Our next step is to send a drone. That request will have to go all the way to the top. And before you ask, yes, Homeland has RQ-4 drones, but we share them with other departments and other teams within Section 7. Those drones cost over two hundred and twenty-five million each. Even our department has a budget. I don’t even know whether we have any within the United States right now. ”
Clint lifted his head and looked at Kayla. “Order the drone. We don’t have time to fuck around.”
“What makes you so sure this is the place?” Piper questioned.
“Because this is exactly where I would put camp.” He glanced at the light tables.
“I’ll look for other possibilities, but I have a good feeling about this one.
” He spent the next hour looking at the other maps and listening to why they were considered possibilities before returning to the first table.
“This is the strongest possibility.” He couched his statement in humility by adding, “in my opinion.” He glanced around the room for his team. “Men, your opinions.”
“I have to agree with Lady Cougar,” Coyote approved. “That certainly looks like a hospital set up, and since it’s on the fringe of the camp, it makes it more believable. All the camps I’ve seen in the Middle East were laid out this way.”
“I think it’s fucking genius to put it next to a hot spring, especially in Montana.
” Mick stroked the bottom half of his goatee.
“Somebody knew that the heat from the hot spring would fuck up any thermal imaging. The fact that they don’t have permanent structures makes me think they haven’t been there long.
They’ve obviously never spent a winter there yet. ”
“You’re fucking right,” Shadow piped in. “My dad and I used to elk hunt in that part of Montana. I can tell you, it’s fucking cold in those mountains even in mid-September, and it can snow several feet overnight even as early as Labor Day.”
“Out of the options I’m seeing here, that one seems to be the most logical,” Boomer noted. “Personally, I’d like to see more detail before I commit to putting a team in there.”
Dog nodded. “I agree with Boomer. I think we need the drone images before we go any further.” He smiled at Clint. “Once we’re on the ground, do you think we could use those little bees that we used on the op with Xena? They would be perfect in this environment.”
Clint grinned. “I wish I had thought of that before we left. We’d need Dell if we use those.”
All five women had been silently standing against the back wall, watching Clint and his men as they gave their assessments.
“Should we clap?” Mia asked sarcastically.
“Certainly not. That would be rude,” Ashlin scolded.
Kira stepped forward. “Congratulations, gentlemen. You have reached the same conclusion that we did ten minutes before we were called into the conference room to meet you.”
Kayla moved next to their team doctor. “I was set to submit the drone request, but we were ordered down the hall.”
Piper joined the others, stepping out of the shadows. “I guess we should thank you for justifying our conclusion.”
Ashlin moved between the line of men and the line of women. “This is excellent. It took just over one hour, and we’re all on the same page. Let’s move on to the next step together. As lead pilot, I’ll handle the logistics of getting us there.”
She looked down the line of men and smiled as though she knew a secret that they were going to like.
“Gentlemen, we’ll be flying cross-country in our plane.
No one but our team is allowed to fly it or use it.
It’s plenty big enough for us all and any gear we need.
I’ll take care of finding a base nearby. Any other logistics will start there.”
Clint had a whole new appreciation for his wife. He really liked the commanding side of her. “We usually decide our approach before we decide equipment.”
Kayla nodded. “Same. Mia—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a map of the United States appeared on the huge screen, practically filling the end wall. A second later, Montana filled the screen, but before his eyes could focus, the Northwestern quarter of the state had replaced it.
“We’ll fly into Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls,” Ashlin announced.
“That’s within easy flight distance for our little blackbird,” Piper noted. “Do we want to bring it?”
Clint raised one eyebrow and looked at Kayla. She simply nodded.
“I didn’t get a good look at her.” His glance slid to Ashlin before he continued, “But my brother Van was extremely impressed with your little blackbird. I definitely think it would be an asset. If you don’t have a means of transporting it across the country, I can contact Van.
We have a modified C5 that I think is still in the country.
” He’d trust his brother before anyone else in the world, especially on a mission.
Kayla agreed. “Sure. That’s a great idea, Lady Leopard. I also agree with the idea of using Van. We like your brother. I’ll submit the request right now to contracting.”
He’d forgotten about using codenames. “Thank you, Lady Lion.”
By the end of the day, the five women and five men were working cohesively. They had worked through several options, but no decisions had been made.
“Gentlemen,” Katlin said by way of announcing herself.
“I have arranged transportation for you from and to your hotel and back here every morning.” She handed Clint a piece of paper with the contact number.
“Your ride will be waiting for you in fifteen minutes outside the west entrance, which is down this hall, take your first right, and it is at the end of the hall.” She then smiled. “I hope you’ve made good progress.”
Men and women alike answered in the affirmative.
“Excellent.” She continued, “Ladies, I’ll see you in five minutes in the conference room.” The director of Section 7, the operational division, turned and walked out of the room.