Rogue Forces

“I’d appreciate it if you’d decline access on all of them, General,” Thompson said stonily. Patrick nodded to Jon, who entered some instructions. The video feed disappeared. “That was not wise, General. If there’s a security problem after this, I’ll have to look at you as a probable source of the breach.”

“Understood,” Patrick said. He turned to look at the security chief. “But there obviously is some sort of breach, because there is someone on Nahla Air Base shooting at friendly aircraft. Since we’ve been hired to enhance security around this whole sector, I can argue that I can legally access something like video feeds.”

Thompson peered concernedly at McLanahan, his mouth rigid. After a few rather chilly moments he said, “The colonel said you were the kind of guy who’d rather ask forgiveness than ask permission.”

“I get more done that way, Kris,” Patrick said matter-of-factly. But a moment later, he got to his feet and faced Thompson directly. “I apologize for that, Kris,” he said. “I didn’t mean to sound so flippant about security matters. It’s your job and your responsibility. I’ll notify you the next time we stray across something like that again, and I’ll get your permission before I access it.”

Thompson realized that if Patrick had hacked into the security system once, he could just as easily do it again, with or without his permission. “Thank you, sir, but frankly I don’t believe that.”

“I’m serious, Kris. You tell me to shut it down, and it’s done…period.”

What if he didn’t shut it down? Thompson asked himself. What recourse did he have against a private contractor? He vowed to research the answer to that question right away. “I’m not going to argue about it, sir,” Kris said. “But you are here to assist me in securing this sector, so you can tie back in if you think it’s essential to your job. Just tell me when you’re back in, why, and what you’ve found.”

“Done. Thank you.”

“What other security-related areas were you able to access?”

“Colonel Jaffar’s internal security network.”

A cold sweat popped out under Kris’s collar. “Internal security? He doesn’t have an internal security staff. You mean his personal bodyguards?”

“That may be what you think it is, Kris, but it looks to me like he’s got an entire shadow J-staff—operations, intelligence, logistics, personnel, training, and security,” Jon said. “They do everything in Arabic, and there’s no foreigners on it that we can see.”

“That means that he has his men in charge of the entire regiment’s departments and command structure,” Patrick summarized, “so he’s kept abreast of everything you do, plus he’s got an entire J-staff operating in the background, paralleling the regimental staff functions.” He turned to Kris and added, “So if, for example, something were to happen to the Triple-C…”

“He’d be able to take over right away and continue operations himself,” Kris said. “Pretty fucking scary.”

“It could be suspicious, or it could be smart on his part,” Jon said. “He could even argue that your Status of Forces agreement allows him to have his own separate command staff.”

“Besides,” Patrick added, “you guys are trying to wind down military operations in Iraq and turn it over to the locals; this could just help facilitate that. No reason to automatically think something nefarious is going on.”

“I’ve been in security long enough to know that if the ‘oh shit’ meter starts twitching, something bad is happening,” Kris said. “Can you plug back into Jaffar’s network and advise me if you see something unusual, sir?”

“I’m sure we can link it up again, Kris,” Patrick said. “We’ll let you know.”

“I feel bad about giving you the hairy eyeball about hacking our security systems and then asking you to spy for me, sir.”

“Not a problem. We’re going to be working together for a while, and I do tend to jump first and ask questions later.”

A few minutes later the mission briefing commenced. It was very much like the mission briefings Patrick had conducted in the Air Force: time hacks, overview, weather, current intelligence, status of all the units involved, and then briefings by each unit and department on what they were going to be doing. All of the participants sat at their stations and briefed one another over the intercom system, while putting PowerPoint or computerized slides up on the screens in the back of the Tank and on individual displays. Patrick saw Gia Cazzotto at one of the consoles farthest from the dais, taking notes and looking very serious.

“Here’s the rundown on the Iraqi army’s operation, sir,” the “Battle Major,” Kenneth Bruno, began. “The Iraqi Seventh Brigade is sending the entire Maqbara Company of heavy infantry, about three hundred shooters, along with Major Jaafar Othman himself in the headquarters element. Maqbara Company is probably Seventh Brigade’s only pure infantry unit—all the rest are focused on security, police, and civil affairs—so we know this is a big deal.