Lana spoke next in her usual haughty tone, “I have been considering this reassignment, and before we rush him back to Pakistan, it seems to me that we could take advantage of his being here while also helping his credibility and standing with his leaders back in the mountains of Pakistan. I propose to the Council that we have him take out some of the more capable officers in the US’s leadership ranks. If he kills a few senior folks, then it ramps up the US’s anti-terrorism work, which takes the focus off Pakistan for a while, softening it for attack when Shahim returns there in due course. Of course, it also helps with my own progress up the ranks here, especially if I end up being the one who identifies him.”

Pei Leong-Lam asked, “What targets would you want Shahim to consider taking out?”

Before Lana could answer, the voice of Shahim interjected. Because of the machine speed the conference was being conducted at, compared to the slow speed of his laser communications, Shahim was only just now responding to the AI’s original question.

“Fellow Agents, it is clear that I have the most … irregular assignment among us all. The process of promotion within a guerilla army is far from predictable, and this detour to America is a direct result of that lack of predictability. Maybe it is time to rethink our strategy here? If the Council approves, I could easily make some minor adjustments to my appearance and join the Pakistani army as a junior officer as you have all done in your respective countries. With my knowledge of the insurgency, I could quickly get promoted simply by helping the regular army defeat the remaining Al Qaeda forces.”

The AI responded as soon as Shahim finished talking. <As we know from our initial analysis, the threat of the insurgency has lead the Pakistani government to institute a policy that no member of the military is allowed access to their nuclear deterrent for a minimum of fifteen years after joining the service. There are many other stipulations, but that time limit alone prohibits our achieving our goals in Pakistan before the Armada arrives.>

Most of the team decided to wait and allow Shahim the time he needed for his inevitably delayed response to come back. Most of them.

“Listen,” Lana said, “this conversation is moot. Of course we are not going to reassign Agent Shahim now. Instead of simply looking at the downside, I wish to discuss what this might buy us. We have an opportunity here and I think we should use it. Shahim can do what I cannot: start to disrupt the defenses of one of our three greatest threats right now. With the US’s responsiveness damaged, we can then focus more of our efforts on China and Russia. I, for one, am very afraid of the sheer scale of China’s war machine. Can one Agent really disable such a leviathan alone?”