Tom Hull was stepping out of the shower when he received John Anderson’s email.
TH: meeting first thing this morning. Come to office ASAP.
-JA
Tom read the message and put his phone down. It feels like a new mission, he thought. Urgent meetings on Monday morning usually meant new missions. He started getting dressed.
Tom worked at the CIA’s Special Activities Division, known as the SAD. The general public occasionally read about traditional espionage activities. Many knew that traditional spies work with diplomatic cover while they recruit assets in foreign cities. But the SAD was a unit that few knew about. Tom’s group carried out covert missions in dangerous places where traditional spies could not go. Often acting as a paramilitary force, SAD operators were on the frontier of the CIA’s intelligence gathering operations. In hostile countries, SAD operators were on the ground, fighting with rebels, undermining military facilities, or capturing high-level targets. There was a popular term that described the SAD’s activities: black operations. SAD operators were recruited from the already elite special operations units in the military. The group included desk analysts who supported the operators. The desk analysts combed through information and intelligence from the rest of the CIA and helped the SAD operators plan missions.
Tom had been a Navy SEAL before joining the SAD. After college he joined the SEAL teams as an officer and after several years was recruited into DEVGRU, the counter-terrorism unit formerly known as SEAL Team 6. He was approached to join SAD after years as a DEVGRU officer. Over the course of his career he traveled extensively around the world. He had visited the most unwelcoming places.
John Anderson was the head of the SAD. He looked younger than his 50 years. Trim, neat, and thin he was the presentable face of the group that some within the agency saw as a secretive gang. As director of the group he oversaw the operators and their missions. Tom could see in his eyes during briefings that he thought of operators more than just as assets or weapons. Anderson could have been an SAD operator himself at one point – Tom was never sure, and he never asked.
As Tom was buttoning his Hawes & Curtis shirt, he glanced at his TV, which was on BBC World News.
“Tensions rose again today on the Korean peninsula, as North Korea made further threats of nuclear war. The South Korean President spoke today, saying his nation’s military was on high alert and any provocation from the North would be answered with overwhelming force. The North meanwhile has been threatening to test-launch missiles that it said were capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. Fear of nuclear war has spread to the US, where the President held an unscheduled meeting with his national security team.”
The left corner of Tom’s lip curled up. He had a feeling he knew what would be on his calendar for the next few days. SAD operators could be called away any moment, and what BBC World News reported frequently correlated to the missions they were sent on. Tom’s life as a bachelor in DC was frequently interrupted with these trips, often to undeveloped countries. The endless swapping of civilization’s comforts with environments that had no basic necessities provided something to look forward to constantly. Tom took advantage of his time at home to enjoy what was unavailable during his travel. He pulled his small cup from his Nespresso machine with the Kazaar blend of coffee and typed out an email back to Anderson.
Got it. See you soon. –TH
As he drank his coffee, BBC World News turned to the next story.
“Today the American President is meeting with a Chinese delegation including President Wang Wei as well as Zhang Ming, Lo Jie, and Huang Ping – all either ministers or representatives of the Chinese military. They plan to discuss among other things, cooperation to relieve tension on the Korean peninsula. The Chinese President has stated he wants a peaceful resolution to tension.”
Tom switched off his TV and left his apartment. Outside the early morning sun bathed the city as he got in his car. He was not sure when he would see his apartment next. He knew there was a chance he never would.