LANGLEY, VA - The terms mole, spy, informant all have negative undertones, which was why the press started calling them “whistle blowers” about the time of Watergate, when it served their interests. Then like now, the target was a sitting president. Truth was, the leaks only showed up in the headlines, cable and network news when they bolstered the position of the Democrats. The media always sought to destroy someone on the right side of the aisle.
No one would be able to call to mind the last time something similar happened to a Democrat candidate. If the press were forced to acknowledge some scandal, it would only occur when the facts could not be covered up. Just the same, the story would have only warranted page-three coverage. It would run once, maybe twice, and never be seen again.
It was lunchtime and almost everyone was away from their desks while the thirty-year-old Democrat political plant sat alone in his corner office behind his terminal busily paging through subject lines of memos originating from the office of President McKinley. The informant moved from screen to classified screen in rapid succession. The mole knew he did not have much time, as the Director was returning from vacation soon.
The political zealot bore every mark of your normal Ivy-League-educated political appointee. The bureaucrat wore expensive clothes, had the big bank account, wore a different suit for each day of the week and came across as nothing but an empty suit, all talk.
This was the big break the Democrat had been looking for. The President’s confidential directives were at his fingertips.
Subject: Operation Rugby, Update
Subject: Troubled Asset Relief Program, Presidential Position
Subject: Iranian Nuclear Weapons Development
One week earlier, while in a conference room forum, the mole had seen and memorized the keystrokes made by the Director to log in with Level 10 security access. What the man was doing could be considered treason and carried a life sentence, or at least that was what had been true ten years earlier. Today, this renegade was doing what many Democrats up on Capitol Hill believed was not only justified, but necessary to ensure they maintained their power.
A young woman knocked, opened the door and stuck her head in the doorway. “You really look like you’re busy. What's the deal?”
The mole stopped typing. “The brass is all over me to get this report out before the end of the day.”
“We’re going out for drinks tonight, are you going to join us?”
“No, not tonight. I’ll take a rain check though. Now, I need to get back to this work. If you don’t mind, shut that door.”
The pretty girl’s feelings appeared a little hurt, too bad.
What the young bureaucrat found most interesting were memos sent to a department called the Special Activities Division. The mole heard about the group through the news during Evenson’s administration. The media referred to it as an agency inside the CIA that supposedly carried out orders coming directly from the President. Nothing, however, was widely known about the missions this group had carried out; no one from his side of the ideological spectrum had ever gotten this far; no one had seen what the group had been up to under McKinley.
The bureaucrat kept on looking through the subject lines and came across one more referencing the group. The Democrat looked over the details of the memorandum.
Subject: After Action Report: Rescue Mission, SAD
To: The Office of the President
From: SAD Director, Derrick J. Mitchum
Mission a partial success. Flight crew discovered dead at crash site. Colonel Max Heston was rescued. Lieutenant Tim McFarland and Private Zach Stephens were found dead, alongside two Iraqi police.
Interrogation of surviving terrorist confirms Abu al-Zarqawi was present. Confirms Chinese Sang ground-to-air missiles were used to bring down the military transport and accompanying escort.
The informer sent the document to his printer, the one he had moved in and directly connected to his laptop. The mole would have much preferred doing this at home, but the collaborator did not have the clearance needed to get to Level-10 through the firewall.
The informant heard other people returning from lunch; his shirt showed signs of perspiration under the stress of getting nailed. Agency security discovered someone doing the same thing several years ago and that poor sap had not gathered enough dirt to make his career or life worth saving by the politicians.
The minutes ticked by, screens and screens of confidential information lay in the output tray of his printer. The mole needed something ‘big’ to get out of this shit hole!
The spoiled, rich kid peered at the next Presidential Order, the one that preceded an ‘after action report.’
Subject: Rescue Attempt, SAD
From: The Office of the President
To: SAD Director Derrick J. Mitchum
The President hereby orders SAD to carry out a rescue attempt of the captured U.S. Army officers suspected of being held by Quds-backed insurgents.
You are hereby authorized to use whatever means necessary to bring about the success of this mission. Interrogation is sanctioned. Use own discretion of means.
Shit, thought the fifth columnist, it doesn’t come right out and plainly state what I need. This is still not good enough! It only hints at the use of torture.
This was a major hot button for the Democrat leadership right now.
He typed “Shift + P” to print the record out just the same.
Who knows, the press can make something of nothing for most anything.
Finding evidence of torture would be like winning the lottery. Several of his college buddies had almost identical positions in federal bureaucracies with access to state secrets and they were doing much the same thing. “The hell with having to work hard to get ahead,” summed up their motto. What the renegade was doing was the way to get ahead in the Democrat Party, to become noticed by the powers that be.
One more factor was also worth consideration and that was the big money the media was willing to payout for the sole rights to ball-busting stories that threatened the right, especially those involving a Republican president.
The preppy-looking, fast tracker nearly jumped out of his chair when his desk phone all of a sudden buzzed. The young man quickly glanced at the extension.
Shit, it’s the Deputy Director! What the hell could he want?
The brat ignored the call; what he was doing was far more important, especially keeping in mind the memo that had just popped up.
Subject: Kill Order
From: The Office of the President
To: SAD Director, Derrick J. Mitchum
The President hereby authorizes SAD to carry out kill operations against terrorist strongholds operating inside the borders of known terrorist sponsoring countries. Acknowledged sponsors include Jordan, Syria and Iran. Top priority to be given to Quds-backed fanatics operating out of northern Iran.
Mission intended to reduce escalating attacks on civilian and military targets within Iraq.
All knowledge of any SAD members captured will be denied. You are authorized to use extreme force. Weapon systems will be made available from clandestine locations along Iranian border with Afghanistan.
You are hereby sanctioned to use whatever means necessary to bring about the success of this ongoing mission. Interrogation is approved. Use own discretion.