Chapter 41

December Twenty-fourth 5:30 p.m. EST

Kelly Sullivan stood at the head of the table in one of the second floor conference rooms of the CIA's Langley headquarters. Seated at the table were the who's who of the intelligence community: the directors from her own agency's intelligence and NCS branches - the latter was new to the job as his predecessor had failed to survive his meeting with Arthur - two of the top members of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, three directors from various departments of the FBI, and, most notable of all, the Director of the CIA and the Director of National Intelligence. Despite the holiday, they had all assembled at the last minute to hear first hand the critical and urgent communication that she had intercepted and interpreted less than thirty minutes ago.

The intelligence had been fabricated. Arthur had made several calls to his servants in the Middle East and directed them to hold phone and internet forum conversations hinting at a major terrorist operation underway inside the continental United States and implying that the sudden rash of disappearing agents had been the result of a leak within Langley itself. Kelly had then made certain that she was the one assigned to translate and assess those exchanges. After she had brought them to the attention of her new supervisor, he had elected to have her present the material, as she had known he would. Should the information prove correct, he would still be able to take credit, but if it was false, he would be able to place all the blame on her.

As the ranking official, the DNI took charge of the meeting. Leaning forward to fix her with a baleful stare, he said, "Well, Ms. Sullivan, I understand that you have something important for us to hear. So important that it couldn't wait." His stern gaze promised dire consequences if it wasn't.

Checking her watch, Kelly replied, "Just one more minute, sir. I'm sorry for the delay."

The minute passed slowly as feet were shuffled under the table and the looks directed at her became increasingly unfriendly.

Setting a briefcase on the table, she addressed the group, "Gentlemen, again I apologize for the delay. I was supposed to tell you about some communications from the Middle East that were intercepted. However, something far more important has come up."

Opening the briefcase, she removed a small aluminum cylinder and placed it on the table. With the exception of the Homeland Security officials, who just looked at it blankly, the rest of the men at the table jumped backwards out of their seats.

"What in tarnation do you think you're doing, Ms. Sullivan?" the DNI shouted angrily, "Do you know what in the hell that is?"

"Yes, sir. I do," Kelly replied calmly. "It contains two precursor chemicals for sarin gas and another chemical to increase the vapor pressure at room temperature. When I pull the pin and push down on this button - like this - they mix together and release."