The Nsa Files, Code Name: Venusian in Black: Code Name: Venusian in Black from the Chronicles of the National Security Agency

By Adrian P. Stubbs

Inside the pages of The NSA Files, one of America’s most elite and relatively unknown agencies leads the war against all those that have as their main goal, the destruction of the United States of America. It is here where we find that the ultrasecret National Security Agency (NSA) is on the forefront of protecting America from its enemies, many of whom seek to destroy it with both conventional and nuclear weapons.

The NSA is working closely with covert and overt agents from the FBI, CIA, DIA, and operatives from the army’s special forces units, Delta Force and the U.S. Navy SEALs, to ensure that the country remains free from the threat of terror and its citizens enjoy life as they wish, without fear.

The NSA’s counterintelligence team is led by Philip King, a former lieutenant with the Norfolk (Virginia) Police Department. He quickly advanced up the ranks of this secret intelligence agency to become an assistant director (AD), with responsibility for electronic countersurveillance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 15, 2008
• ISBN: 9781462836017

Adrian P. Stubbs

Author’s Biography Adrian P. Stubbs was born in Nassau, Bahamas. He is an electronic engineer with over twenty-five years experience in the engineering and information technology sectors. He also has over eighteen years of law enforcement experience at the state, county, and city levels and served for a short stint as a marine. Adrian graduated from Norfolk State University with his first undergraduate degree and went on to obtain another and a graduate degree from Kennedy-Western University. He now resides and writes in the Metro Atlanta area with his family.

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Copyright © 2008 by Adrian P. Stubbs.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 47

CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 49

CHAPTER 50

CHAPTER 51

CHAPTER 52

CHAPTER 53

CHAPTER 54

CHAPTER 55

CHAPTER 56

CHAPTER 57

CHAPTER 58

CHAPTER 59

CHAPTER 60

CHAPTER 61

CHAPTER 62

CHAPTER 63

BEHIND THE BOOK

WHAT’S NEXT?

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to men and women of the intelligence services, armed forces, and law enforcement agencies within the United States of America, who are the thin line between a free society and that of terror and anarchy.

This book is also dedicated to Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, its staff, students, and alumni. My fond memories of my tenure at Norfolk State University were especially inspirational as I wrote this book.

A special acknowledgment is of the service and dedication of the officers and marines of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.

This is a work of fiction.

CHAPTER 1

The day began as a typical Monday morning in the Philadelphia office of the National Security Agency (NSA) as agents/investigators, military and civilian analysts went about their routine assignments.

The NSA had field offices in strategic locations throughout the country, but why this one was in the city of Philadelphia, as opposed to a Virginia suburb or Washington DC or even New York City, no one seemed to know. Most of the NSA’s employees, both civilian and military, are based at the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, which is near both Baltimore and Washington DC.

As the United States’ top cryptologic organization, the National Security Agency is charged with the responsibility of coordinating, directing, and undertaking highly specialized operations to protect the country’s information systems while, at the same time, intercepting and analyzing all foreign electronic communication streams.

For the past few weeks, the NSA was closely monitoring a vast growing military buildup on the Caribbean island of Cuba, the second time within several decades. Other U.S. intelligence agencies were also very interested in these events and were sharing intelligence with the NSA. There were daily reports coming in from the CIA, FBI, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Supervisory Special Agent Philip King, one of the agency’s top electronic intelligence analysts, was assigned the task of monitoring the military developments underway and to make daily reports to his superiors at the NSA for submission to the Pentagon and White House.

SSA King, a five-year veteran of the National Security Agency, had joined after a twelve-and-a-half-year career with the Norfolk (Virginia) Police Department. There, he had attained the rank of lieutenant and managed a police precinct. He had been working in the NSA’s Philadelphia office for fourteen months.

Former lieutenant King, in addition to having managed a police precinct, headed up a police intelligence unit. He was a member of this elite unit for five years prior to joining the NSA. This unit was charged with the responsibility of gathering intelligence on organized crime and terrorist-related activities in the Virginia Tidewater/Hampton Roads area. This mandate was carried out in conjunction with officers in similar roles in the Virginia Beach police, Chesapeake police, Portsmouth police, Hampton police, and the Newport News Police Department, via a regional task force. This task force also had federal representatives from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office as members.

King was also a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He had attended the academy along with two other lieutenants from the Virginia Tidewater area. One of his former session members was from the Virginia Beach PD, the second was from the Portsmouth Police Department.

The clock on the phone display read 09:45 AM when the telephone in the main office rang. SSA King was glued to his computer screen, busy reviewing the morning’s intelligence reports, and didn’t seem to notice. On the third ring, Special Agent Clarke picked up the receiver.

Agent Clarke speaking. He paused to listen and then said, He’s right here, please hold. SA Clarke pressed the Hold button.

King, the boss on line four, Clarke said.

Thanks, SSA King said. I wonder why he didn’t call me at my desk if he wanted to talk to me, he said to himself and picked up the receiver on his desk.

Special Agent King, he said and then paused to listen. He scribbled some notes onto a notepad that was to the right of his mouse pad. He was nodding in apparent agreement with the speaker’s words.

Yes, sir, we’ll be there at 1400 hours. Bye, King said, and he replaced the receiver on its cradle.

SSA King paused, looked up at the ceiling, and removed the receiver again. He dialed the numbers to the canteen. The telephone rang twice and was answered at the start of the third.

This is King. Is Agent Scott nearby and could take this call? SSA King said into the telephone and paused for a few seconds.

Scott, King here. Please see me in my office immediately, duty calls, he said after SA Scott had taken the call.

He replaced the receiver once again and stared at the notepad and then began reading the information on the computer screen as he awaited SA Scott’s arrival.

A few moments later, the door to the office opened, and in walked SA Scott with a cup of hot coffee.

What’s up, King? he asked as he sat down in one of the chairs in the front of SSA King’s desk.

King looked at him and asked, Where’s my cup?

You didn’t say that you wanted one, Scott said and began to rise from his chair.

Take it easy, Godfrey, I’m only kidding. You should know by now that I’m a tea man, replied King. He smiled before continuing. Scott sat back down.

A few minutes ago, I received a call from the chief, and he wants for both of us to attend a meeting at 1400 hours tomorrow at the Pentagon, he continued.

The Pentagon? SA Scott asked, somewhat surprised by the statement.

Yeah. We will be meeting with agents from the CIA, FBI, and DoD. I imagine that we’ll be also meeting with some military brass as well, since the meeting is at the Pentagon. From what the chief said, I think that it has to do with the military developments underway in Cuba.

I see… Scott said and looked intently at King.

Reservations are being made for us to leave here at 0900 hours tomorrow, with a return flight at 1000 hours on Wednesday. We should have the electronic ticket info this afternoon, King replied.

Gather up all the ‘intel’ that we have on the Cuban developments for our meeting tomorrow, King continued.

Will do, SA Scott replied. Is that it then?

Yeah, that’s it, SSA King replied.

Okay, I’ll get right on it, SA Scott said and then rose from the chair. He took another sip from his cup, turned in the direction of the door, and then walked to his desk.

CHAPTER 2

The temperature was in the midthirties on that February Tuesday morning. The sky was slightly overcast, and the wind was blowing at about fifteen miles per hour when a blue Cadillac Seville drove up to the pavement in front of Concourse 2 at the Philadelphia International Airport. Three suited figures emerged from the interior of the vehicle carrying black briefcases.

Thanks for the ride up, Wilson. We’ll see you when we get back from DC, SSA King said as he and Special Agent Scott exited the car.

Sure thing, King, replied SA Wilson and added, You guys take care and have a great trip.

The two agents took American Airlines Flight 937 to DC. It left at 0905 hours. Soon after takeoff, SA Scott opened his briefcase and extracted a folder and gave it to SSA King.

This came over the wire last night. I think that you should take a look at it, SA Scott said.

SSA King looked at him and then extended his left arm to retrieve the folder. He opened it and scanned the contents without saying a word. After reading its contents, he closed it and passed it back to SA Scott.

It seems as though they have been pretty busy down there in the past couple of hours. I wonder what’s up, SSA King said as he looked out of the airplane’s window before continuing to read the contents of his files.

By the time he had completed the second file folder, the aircraft was preparing to land at Dulles airport.

They disembarked the aircraft along with the other passengers and headed to the lounge. As they approached the main entrance to the lounge, a tall man dressed in a dark navy blue suit walked toward them.

Agents King and Scott? he asked and extended his right hand. Both agents looked at him and nodded.

The tall man displayed a small gold badge and ID card for their inspection and said, Special Agent Henderson, FBI.

Special Agent King took his credentials and inspected it and then gave it back to him. We were expecting Agent Moore, he said.

He couldn’t make it, so I was asked to collect you guys and take you to your hotel and then later to the Pentagon, replied SA Henderson.

No problem, King replied. Lead the way.

Okay, gentlemen, please follow me, SA Henderson said.

Sounds good to me, SA Scott said.

Tuesday Afternoon

At precisely 1330 hours, agents King and Scott were ushered into the main conference room of the Pentagon by Captain Edward of Air Force’s OSI (Office of Special Investigations). He pointed to the assigned seats and said, Gentlemen, these are your seats. Please be seated and make yourself comfortable. Refreshments are at the rear of the room.

Thank you, replied both agents. The captain nodded and smiled. He turned to his left and left the room.

Both agents sat down and made mental notes of the room and its rich furnishing. Photographs of the president, current and former military commanders donned the walls, together with a ten-foot map of the continental United States as well as seals of all the armed services.

This surely is nice, SA Scott said. Man, if our conference room could look like this.

That would be quite nice, wouldn’t it? Special Agent Scott, I presume, said a voice from their immediate rear and right. They both turned to face the direction of the voice.

Gentlemen, I’m Lieutenant General Samuel Armstrong, U.S. Air Force, said a six-foot, two-inch figure in full dress uniform. He was graying slightly at both temples.

Both agents rose to their feet as the general extended his right arm. They both shook his hand and introduced themselves. Other men walked in behind him.

The general continued while pointing to each person, Gentlemen, this is Admiral Jones of the navy; Brigadier General Andrews, U.S. Marines; Major General Harris, U.S. Army; Special Agent Jones of the CIA; Special Agent Bolan of the FBI; Captain Edwards, whom you’ve met already. Behind him are Lieutenant Commander Leroy Thompson and Senior Commander Jeffery Smith of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.

The general concluded with his introductions by saying, Gentlemen, this is Supervisory Special Agent King and Special Agent Scott of the NSA.

Each person took turns shaking SSA King and SA Scott’s hands prior to heading for their designated seats.

Gentlemen, please be seated, said General Armstrong.

He took his seat at the head of the large mahogany table and then everyone else sat down.

As they sat down, the secretary of defense walked into the room. The officers and agents began to rise.

Gentlemen, please keep you seats. I apologize for being late. I just got off the phone with the president, the Secretary said as he strode up the front of the room and sat to the left of General Armstrong. Special Agents King and Scott sat to his immediate left.

Mr. Secretary, we were just seated, said General Armstrong. You didn’t miss anything other than the introductions.

Good, please let’s continue, said the secretary.

The secretary knows most of us here, so I’ll dispense with those introductions and introduce him to agents King and Scott of the National Security Agency and commanders Smith and Thompson of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, said General Armstrong.

After the introductions were completed, General Armstrong turned the meeting over to the secretary.

Gentlemen, as you all know, we have a potential for a major crisis on our hands, said the secretary.

Captain Edwards, would you please brief the team on your findings, he continued.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary, Captain Edwards said as he rose from his seat. He retrieved a small silver laser pointer from his shirt pocket as he walked to the front of the room. When he got near to a small table that had some closed folders on it, he pressed a black button that was mounted on a control panel that was installed on the wall, left of the whiteboard.

A low, whirring sound was being emitted as a large map descended from a slot in the ceiling and the ceiling lights gracefully dimmed.

Gentlemen, this is a map of Cuba, which was correct up to, say, several weeks ago, said Captain Edwards. Our reconnaissance satellites have produced current data that totally nullifies this particular version. As you can see, there are five army bases—here, here, here, here, and here, he continued as he pointed with the small silver laser pointer. There are four air bases—here, here, here, and here, along with three naval bases—here, here, and here. The communications and air defense networks are situated in these areas." He quickly pointed to several points on the map.

He pressed a button on a small remote control in his hand, and immediately a video display from a computer was superimposed over the hard-copy map.

Gentlemen, what you’re now seeing is a major military buildup in the area of two of the five army bases, continued Captain Edwards. He pressed the button on the remote control again. We’re now looking at the air bases. No apparent changes. He pressed the button once again.

This view now shows the changes underway at the naval sites. I will now run some digital photographs from our satellites, Captain Edwards continued.

He pressed the red button mounted on the control panel on the wall, and the map retracted into its slot in the ceiling. He pressed a button on the small handheld remote control and a series of pictures were projected on the wall mounted 102-inch screen.

He continued, These shots indicate that the Cubans have increased their number of MiG aircraft on patrols and for some unknown reason have increased naval patrols along the coast using former Soviet frigates and minesweepers. This shot shows them off-loading several tanks and armored vehicles from large container ships at the naval bases. The next series of shots shows pictures of satellite communications equipment that has been installed within the past six weeks. All of these sites are heavily guarded by ground troops and rotary wing aircraft. We have not detected any changes in their missile defense program, yet. That’s my report. Thank you.

A few seconds later, he turned off the computer and sat down.

Thank you, Captain, said the secretary of defense.

Mr. Secretary, began SA Scott, I’m sure that the Cubans know that we’d be watching them, so why are they so blatant about their goings-on? This all seems to be a show just for us while the real issue may go about unnoticed.

You may be quite right, Mr. Scott. In fact, that is one of the reasons all of you have been selected to be here today, the secretary replied. Admiral, would you please share with the team your idea for gathering additional firsthand intelligence?

Thank you, Mr. Secretary, responded Admiral Jones. A few days ago, marines from the Royal Bahamas Defense Force made a fisheries arrest approximately ten miles south of the Bahamian island, Great Inagua. They reported a number of signal buoys in the water that weren’t there a few weeks ago. Furthermore, as they approached the sites, two Cuban MiG jets overflew their positions twice. The Bahamian marines reported that approximately forty minutes later, a Cuban 175-foot patrol boat approached the vicinity and maintained visual contact with them until they had effected the arrest and had left the area.

Do we know what the buoys are for, sir? SSA King asked.

Somewhat. We do know that they are signal beacons that are transmitting encrypted messages, the admiral replied. But we need to get closer to what’s happening down there without raising any undue suspicions, he continued.

That’s where you guys from the NSA come in. We’d like for you to work along with the Bahamian officials and investigate this further, said Admiral Jones.

We’d be happy to assist, sir, but we’re not field agents, we’re analysts, SSA King replied.

Agent King, we carefully reviewed our options, and it was decided that due to your military backgrounds and prior law enforcement experience, you make the best choice for what we have in mind, Admiral Jones said.

Gentlemen, we could have easily sent one of our SEAL teams or another special ops team down there to gather the intel, but that’ll only draw attention to our efforts. What we had in mind is that both you and Agent Scott assume your U.S. military ranks and work from a special operations patrol craft, continued the Admiral.

Both King and Scott frowned at that suggestion and looked at each other. King was wondering if, because this was such a political hot potato they were expendable and the entire thing could be blamed upon a shadow, rogue group of agents within the intelligence community.

This, continued the Admiral, is the perfect cover. We’d be under the guise of a Bahamian patrol craft, which normally patrols the Bahamian waters.

Sounds logical, said SA Scott.

SSA King looked at him and then looked at the admiral and said, Tell us more, but from what you’ve said thus far, all that intelligence work could be done remotely, using technology.

True, but we need some field confirmations, by having feet on the ground, so to speak, HUMINT, Admiral Jones said.

He continued by saying, We are planning for a 175-foot patrol craft outfitted with the most up-to-date intelligence gathering and surveillance equipment. Its armaments will consist of two computer-controlled twin four-inch rocket pods, two 20 mm cannons, two .50 caliber machine guns, and four 7.62 mm GPMGs.

Looks like we’re going to be fighting a small war with that amount of arsenal, sir, Agent King added.

You may have to, so it’s best that you be prepared, replied Admiral Jones. The crew has been selected from members of the U.S. Navy and the Bahamas Defense Force and is currently undergoing training as we speak. If you both agree, you will begin your crash course within a few days.

We want to assure you gentlemen that the Bahamas government is very nervous about what’s going on south of our borders and are just as anxious as the American government in getting to the bottom of this, Senior Commander Smith quickly added. Since this is to be an intelligence-gathering operation under the guise of a Bahamian patrol, we don’t expect that there’d be any problems. We stand with the U.S. government 100 percent on this operation.

Thank you, Commander, said Admiral Jones. Since this mission will be operated primarily from the Bahamas, it will be fitting that this mission be entitled ‘Operation Sunshine,’ he quickly added.

Senior Commander Smith smiled and looked at his junior officer, Lieutenant Commander Thompson, and said, Sir, on behalf of the Bahamas government, we would like to thank you for inviting us here and allowing us to play a role in this very important operation. We are looking forward to working even closer together as we undertake the actual mission.

Thank you, Commander, said Secretary Moore. Admiral, is that all?

Yes, Mr. Secretary, replied Admiral Jones. The details of the operation are in the folders in front of each of you. The specifics have been laid out very carefully, so please study them in great detail.

There was much discussion on the proposed plan for about forty minutes or so.

Are there any more questions at this time? Admiral Jones asked.

No one said a word.

Thank you, Admiral, said Secretary Moore. Gentlemen that concludes today’s meeting agenda. Thank you for coming, good afternoon.

The secretary walked out of the room, followed by Lieutenant General Armstrong, Brigadier General Andrews, Major General Harris, and Admiral Jones. The admiral signaled for commanders Smith and Thompson to join him, and they quickly got up and followed. The agents from the FBI and CIA soon followed.

Wow! That was fast and to the point, said Agent King.

Yeah, responded Agent Scott. Those guys from the CIA and FBI didn’t say a word, not a single word.

I take it that the only ones not privy to this operation, prior to now, was us, said King. But why us? I’m sure that the CIA has operatives that could easily handle this. The way I see this is that we’re expendable if anything goes wrong and the major fall guys for the good ole USA.

I have that eerie feeling too, said Scott. But our destinies have already been decided for us without our input.

I don’t know about destinies, said King, but I know one thing for sure—that we’re not going to fail, no matter what. And besides since we’re both military, we know what it’s like to carry out orders. I wonder who asked for us to be given this assignment.

Yeah, I wonder, Scott replied as he gathered up his files. At least, they’d be using some of the intelligence that we’ve provided.

I think that Captain Edwards’s presentation was great, King said.

Why thank you, Captain Edwards responded. Both agents turned in the direction of the responding voice. King smiled and nodded.

Gentlemen, how about us getting out of here and getting some dinner? Captain Edwards asked.

Agent Scott tapped his stomach lightly with his left hand and said, Sounds good to me.

Agent King said, Then, Captain, please lead the way. He glanced at his wristwatch and made a mental note of the time. It was 1725 hours.

"Gentlemen, there’s no need to be overly concerned. We’ve had CIA operatives on the ground for several weeks now, so we do have ‘feet on the ground,’ so to speak," Captain Edwards added.

Well that’s good to hear, SSA King responded. So why do they need us then?

You guys have the electronic expertise, Captain Edwards responded.

Like I asked before—why us? The CIA has a great electronic intelligence gathering unit, and so does the military, SSA King responded.

Gentlemen, all I know is it was decided far above our pay grade that all sections of the intelligence community will be involved in this operation, Captain Edwards said.

Fair enough, even though it may not be the best plan ever, SSA King added.

I agree, Captain Edwards said. By the way, everything that we just talked about is classified, he quickly added.

By all means, SSA King replied. He then turned his attention to another matter.

Hey, Scott, said Agent King as they walked down the corridor to the parking deck. I had been meaning to ask you why you left corporate America for the NSA and gave up all that good corporate money.

Yeah, the money was good. In fact, very good, responded Agent Scott. But I got to a point in my life that I needed to make a change that would have a lasting impact. I also knew that several of my former classmates from NSU were at the NSA and doing well, so I decided to give it a shot. I needed the challenges.

Just like that, poof, King said and laughed. Any regrets?

No, but ask me that in another couple weeks, Scott said and smiled.

Yeah, I know what you mean, King said as he glanced at the cars and pedestrians on the street below them as they walked on the glass-covered skywalk.

Wow! NSU, those were the good ole days, continued Agent King.

They sure were, Scott replied, and he smiled.

CHAPTER 3

Ten days after the climax of the meeting at the Pentagon, special agents Scott and King received files from the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, officially approving Operation Sunshine. That also meant that they were to commence their training within a few days. Also in the file folder was an approval letter from the director of central intelligence.

Agent King paid special attention to a four-page attachment from the DoD. It outlined their training and details of the operation. He read that their 175-foot patrol craft was being deployed from the Atlantic Fleet and from the Norfolk port. It has been given the name Hawk, with a naval designator of P199.

A fitting name, indeed, King said to himself as he read the file. The file indicated that the ship would be ready for sea trials on the following Monday after the special equipment had been installed and tested.

The patrol craft was a steel-hull vessel that had been outfitted with twin 3,500-horsepower diesel engines, giving it a top speed of approximately forty-five knots. A new type of sonar equipment known as the Dolphin was being fitted as well as other state-of-the-art surveillance and countersurveillance equipment. It featured a twin automatic 20 mm cannon station on the bow, a single automatic 20 mm on the stern, and stations for six 7.62 mm general purpose machine guns (GPMGs). Two-quad computer-controlled short-range missile pods were also installed.

Rear Admiral Patrick Eanes, U.S. Naval Intelligence, and Captain David Ray, U.S. Navy Operations Officer, Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Virginia, signed the letter accompanying the attachments.

I take it that we’ve gotten the green light on this one, said Scott as he stood near the entrance to the office.

Yeah, replied King. And our brief naval training will start next week.

It won’t be too bad, said Agent Scott. We will be schooled in naval terminology, how to develop sea legs, a brief navigational course, swimming, and some small arms training.

It makes sense since we’ll have to play the part, said King. It would have been easier to send some naval intelligence guys or SEALS to do this job and save time and money on the training.

Yeah, but that’s too logical, replied Scott. Remember that we’re dealing with bureaucrats and politicians.

Agent King nodded in approval.

Since it’s near quitting time, please contact our liaison officer in Norfolk to coordinate the plans for our training, SSA King said.

Will do, replied Agent Scott. He walked over to his desk and picked up the telephone.

Did you say anything to your family yet? King asked after walking to the door.

With the telephone receiver to his right ear and seated, Agent Scott said, I told Monique that we would be going down for two weeks of training, and then I’ll be overseas on a highly classified mission. She knows not to ask for any details, so she just shrugged her shoulders and asked, ‘Oh, for how long?’

What did you say? Agent King asked.

I said a couple of weeks, and she said, ‘I see,’ Agent Scott replied.

I take it that she was also not too thrilled either when you told her that you’d be leaving corporate America for a government job, King said.

She was upset with me and didn’t speak to me for almost a week, Scott replied.

What? King asked. Scott held up his left hand to signal that someone had answered on the other end of the phone call. King smiled and started gathering the files on the desk.

Agent King removed most of the files and other operations documentation from their desks and walked over to a large fire resistant file cabinet, unlocked a combination lock, and placed the files in a designated hanging folder. He closed the drawer and then reset the combination lock and then checked that it was secured.

As he walked away, he glanced briefly at the cameras monitoring the document retention room. He noted that Agent Scott was still on the phone as he returned to his office. SA Scott was making some notes on a notepad, and then he hung up.

Everything’s set, Scott said. We leave on Monday morning at 0730 hours for a flight to Norfolk. We’ll be met by a Lieutenant Commander Sarson, who will take us to the base. They said to pack light, because we’ll be issued with everything that we’ll need for the training and mission, except our army uniforms.

Okay, let’s get out of here while we still have a home to go to, said Agent King.

No argument here, Scott said as he rose from his chair.

They walked out through the main office and waved goodbye to the other agents who were still at work. Agents Hollis and O’Brian waved back, and Agent Benson lightly tapped Scott on his left shoulder as he passed near him and smiled.

You guys take care, he said as he walked back to his desk.

As they walked out of the office, Agent King saw a familiar person at the watercooler in the break room.

Scott, I’ll catch up with you later, said Agent King as he made his way in that direction.

Okay, I think I see a Carol move coming on, Agent Scott said and smiled as he continued toward the front of the building.

And you know that, Agent King replied and smiled as he walked away.

Agent Carolyn Delaney, a former resident of Los Angeles, California, graduated from UCLA with a BS degree in computer science and master’s degree in public administration. Agent Delaney was also a certified linguist. She fluently spoke three languages in addition to English. She read and spoke both German and Russian fluently and was almost as proficient in Arabic, including several dialects. Every time he saw her, he said to himself how much she reminded him of the actress Tracy Reed who played the role of Mona in the 1976 movie Car Wash. She also resembled the former Ohio beauty queen, Jayne Kennedy, when she was in her late twenties.

Agent Delaney relocated to the East Coast after she was recruited by the National Security Agency as an analyst, over six years ago. She completed a four-year tour of duty in the NSA HQ at Fort Meade, Maryland, prior to being transferred to the Philadelphia field office.

She stood at about five feet, eight inches tall and was approximately 135 pounds, light brown complexion, black hair that extended down her back past her shoulders, and a beautiful, hypnotizing smile to accompany them all. She had an oval-shaped face with large dark brown eyes and sharp facial features. She had a quiet disposition that could react with such fierce, venomous bites if she was not handled with lots of TLC. She frequently said that it would take a real man to tame the lady tiger in her.

Agent King knew that as fierce as she could be, she was still a woman—a real lady at that too. Some said that it was the California lifestyle that molded her, and others said that it was the agency that changed her. Who really knows? In fact, King didn’t care. He knew that she was in this moment and he was going to become a tiger tamer.

Agent King slowly entered the break room and said, Hi, Carol, how are you doing?

She looked in his direction and up from her cup and said, Fine, thanks, Agent King.

Agent King! Why so formal? SSA King asked while smiling and looking into her eyes. Without waiting for her to respond, he quickly added, And by the way, I’m glad that you’re doing well.

She stared at him briefly prior to taking another sip, and as she was about to walk away, he said, Hmmm, Carol, do you have any plans for this evening? as he watched her slowly walk out of the room.

She stopped, turned, and stared at him briefly before smiling. She then responded, Phil, did you really come in here for something in particular, or did you come over here to ask me out? She was now looking him directly in his eyes.

Well, King said as he extracted a cup and started to dispense some water. Both. Since we’ll both be leaving shortly, I thought that maybe I could walk with you to your car and talk to you a bit, if you don’t mind.

I see, Carol said and sighed while staring at him. Her beautiful eyes seem to burrow deeply into his. No, I don’t mind. You may walk me out to the parking deck. I am supposed to catch a ride home with Sheila. What do you want to talk about anyway?

Sheila? King asked, sensing an opportunity to even go further. Maybe I could give you a ride home instead, he quickly added. I’d like to talk with you about Norfolk and try to patch up some things and possibly pick up from where we left off, sometime ago. Things had changed so suddenly, and I want for you to understand why.

Carol looked at him from the corner of her eyes and smiled. She paused briefly before responding and said, Norfolk… I’d like that. I guess I better let Sheila know. I’ll be ready in about ten minutes. She smiled at him again and whispered, Bye, and waved to him as she turned away.

Phil, still on an emotional high, said, Bye, see you in a few minutes. He was beaming with radiant energy.

Carol walked out of the room, and he watched her walk away. He smiled as he continued