Drone

“Once you open the Pentagon door, you’re begging for trouble. First of all, you have army, navy, Marine, and air force units that all operate various drone and robotics systems. Many of those systems aren’t compatible and they certainly don’t all coordinate or communicate with one another, with the limited exception of the JCE, and that’s just the army and the air force and that’s just for UAVs. And then you have all of the command and control problems that come with the jurisdictional bullshit. But that’s just the beginning of your woes. Once you activate the U.S. military, they’re going to draw on other national intelligence assets like the NSA and all of the DoD resources. Once you’ve done that, you’ve triggered congressional oversight and micromanagement. There are over one hundred congressional committees that have jurisdiction on homeland security alone. Add in subcommittees on intelligence, defense, Latin America—you’re just warming up the big brass tubas for a gigantic Hungarian cluster dance.”

Myers laughed.

Pearce had never heard her laugh before. He was charmed.

“I’m not much of a dancer, Hungarian or otherwise, so what would you propose?”

“Like many other areas of modern life, you should imitate the Germans. Go find your best war fighter and form a separate operational structure under him. Call it ‘Robotics Command’ or ‘Drone Command.’ Let him pick and choose the best weapons systems and the best operators wherever you find them. If they’re military, pull them out of their respective service hierarchies, at least temporarily, the way NASA does for their astronaut cadre. Keep everything lean and nimble. This can’t be about medals or pulling rank or promotions. It’s about getting the job done fast and efficiently.”

“How about you? You’d be perfect for the job.”

“No, thanks. Desks and paperwork make me itch.”

“Then whom?”

“Have Early contact Dr. T. J. Ashley. She’s the current assistant director of National Intelligence for Acquisition, Technology, and Facilities. She’s former navy with combat experience and has the technical chops for the job.”

“How do you know her?” Myers asked.

“In 2007, Early was going to run an op in the Persian Gulf near Iranian waters and he’d requested one of the new UAV support teams for an intel assist, but the local commander turned him down.”

“But Dr. Ashley stepped in?” Myers asked.

“It was a good thing she did. Her drone disabled an Iranian patrol boat and saved the lives of Early and his team, but it nearly earned her a court-martial. She told Early she didn’t care because she thought she had done the Lord’s work. That makes her good people in Early’s book.”

“Mine, too,” Myers said.

“Early pulled a few strings and got her off the hook. In fact, he even got her promoted. But she resigned her commission right after that and took a research position with the University of Texas. That’s when I tried to hire her into my firm, but she turned me down. She’s a dyed-in-the-wool patriot and wanted to get back into government service.”

“Sounds like she’s the one,” Myers said.

“She won’t say no to Early.”

“Okay.”

“One more thing. Please tell me that Jackson didn’t turn off DAS.”

“You’d have to speak with him about that.”

“He needs to get Stellar Wind rolling, too, if it isn’t already. And we can’t keep pointing both of them in just one direction, if you catch my drift.”

“Stellar Wind?” She wasn’t expecting that. The libertarian in her struggled with the idea of using warrantless antiterror search technology on her fellow citizens, even the rotten ones.

“Dillinger said he robbed banks because that’s where the money was. A lot of the bad guys you’ll be hunting are running around up here.”

“You’re right. Still…”

“Something else bothering you?” Pearce asked.

“It’s ‘Big Brother’ technology. I just hate the idea of the government knowing everything there is to know about everybody.”

“You’ll hate not knowing where your targets are even more.”

“I’ll tell Mike I’m authorizing Stellar Wind. Thanks again for your help. Your country owes you a great debt.”

“Yeah, it does. Early still hasn’t cut me a check for the last job. So, how about that favor?”

Myers was caught between a rock and a hard place. She wanted to help her friend, but the nation came first. “How about a compromise? I can’t redeploy any of our intelligence assets away from our search, but I can give your people full access to everything we generate in the data stream. Will that work for now?”

“I’ll take what I can get. Thanks.”

“But it’ll cost you,” Myers said.

“Why am I not surprised?”

“I need you to talk to somebody for me.”

Myers posted Cruzalta’s name and address to Pearce.

Pearce read it. “In person, I take it?”

“I’ve found that face-to-face is always more effective.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

She smiled coyly. “It worked on you, didn’t it?”

Pearce remembered his first meeting with Myers with a grin. “Apparently.”

She turned serious. “Just be sure you realize that without him, we can’t move forward.”

Pearce’s grin faded. “Yes, I believe I do.”