Contents ( 55)
- In Memoriam
- Epigraph
- Cast of Characters
- Americans
- Russians
- Canadian
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Weapons and Acronyms
- Weapons
- Acronyms
- About the Author
- Also by Dale Brown
- Copyright
- About the Publisher
“Sensible,” the DNI agreed. His eyes narrowed slightly. “What kind of aircraft are we talking here? One of their new Sukhoi fighters?”
She shook her head. “Bigger than that. In fact, the experimental version of their brand-new stealth bomber.”
“Jesus,” Murphy said in surprise. “You’re kidding me.”
“That’s the word I’ve been given.”
Murphy considered that for a few seconds. “Okay, so what’s the motivation of this HUMINT source of yours?” he asked. “Is it something ideological? Personal? Or just plain mercenary?”
“Purely mercenary, I think,” Reynolds admitted, feeling a measure of surprise that he knew enough to ask that particular question. Understanding the impulses that drove those willing to betray their country’s secrets to the United States was a vital part of assessing their overall credibility and possible value as agents and sources. Those motivated by a desire for revenge for past crimes or slights or by gauzy ideals like freedom and world peace were more mercurial, and often harder to handle. Prospective agents who were primarily interested in money were usually more reliable—at least until greed got the better of them . . . or their own side made it more valuable to stay loyal.
The DNI sat back again. “Okay, Miranda, in your best judgment, what are we really looking at here?”
“You mean, is my source’s claim about a possible defection true? Or is it just a piece of pie-in-the-sky bullshit peddled to score some quick cash from Uncle Sam?” Reynolds asked with a wry smile.
“That’s about the size of it,” Murphy agreed.
She shrugged. “Frankly, I’d put the odds that this is a genuine defection at only around one in four. But I figure it’s better to be prepared . . . just in case this Russian is telling the honest-to-God truth.”
Murphy considered that for a long moment. Then he nodded again. “Okay, that makes sense. I can sell both the alert and pulling a team of specialists together as a reasonable precaution.” His gaze sharpened. “You say your source is all about money. If so, what’s our exposure so far?”
“Minimal.” Reynolds spread her hands. “But if it pans out, we’ll need to dip pretty heavily into our black funds to secure exclusive access to the aircraft.”
“‘Heavily’ is a pretty vague word,” he said coolly. “What kind of real numbers are we talking about here?”
“My source is pushing for something on the order of a couple of billion dollars,” she admitted.
“Holy crap!” Murphy blurted out in astonishment. He shook his head firmly. “That’s considerably above my authority. There’s no way in hell I can authorize anywhere close to that figure. Not without direct approval from the president himself.”
Reynolds nodded. “Yes, sir, I know.” Legally, the DNI could unilaterally transfer up to $150 million between different intelligence agency budgets. Securing anything above that amount would be far more complicated. “And that’s why I want a security and evaluation team ready to pounce on that plane as quickly as possible.”