Mike returned to the office to find that a rough version of the program that he had requested had been installed on his computer. The first thing that he did was run the program on the data he had tried to analyze earlier. The results were a lot clearer, but there was still a lot of missing links. He added the data collected during the week that he had traveled the Middle East with the President.
The picture generated by the program showed a structure with eleven high level leaders, three dozen aides, and two hundred messengers. There were names associated with most of the nodes. Using the program he was able to track the flow of communications among the high level leaders. Unfortunately there were no names attached to the men at the top.
Working patiently, Mike was able to eliminate all but eight names from his list of suspected leaders. It took half a day to associate the eight names to eight of the top level nodes. The problem was that the results showed that there were at least eleven men leading the Jihad. Mike stared at the three nodes that were without names with a frown. He wanted all of the leaders, not just eight of eleven.
The hours passed as he attacked the problem of the three unknowns. He chipped away at the problem until quitting time. He was prepared to spend the entire night looking for them except Cathy tapped him on the shoulder and said, "I'm pretty sure that what ever you are working on will wait until tomorrow."
"You're probably right," Mike said finding it difficult to pull himself away from the computer.
"What are you working on?" Cathy asked.
Mike looked around and saw that they were alone. He said, "I've found eight of the eleven leaders of the Jihad. I'm not talking Mohammad bin Laden and others at his level. I'm talking about the ones giving them orders and coordinating actions across all of the terrorist organizations and states hostile to us."
Surprised, Cathy sat down and stared at the computer. She asked, "You've found them or you think you've found them?"
"I've found them. I know who eight of them are and I know where they are," Mike answered.
"The last three?"
Mike shook his head and said, "I've queried our biographical databases for Muslims fitting the parameters that I've identified and no one shows up."
"Why Muslims?" Cathy asked.
Laughing, Mike answered, "It's Jihad."
"Not really. Jihad is probably just a way of motivating the soldiers. The leadership doesn't need to believe in the cause," Cathy said.
Mike spun around and looked at the computer. Too excited to type, he said, "I need your fingers."
Smiling, Cathy sat down and started typing as Mike gave her the keywords to use in the search. The query took five minutes to return results. There were six names on the list. The hair on the back of Mike's neck stood on end when he read one of the names. He knew without a doubt the identity of one of the leaders.
For five of the names, Mike told Cathy how to request that they be put under surveillance. He also added another fifty names to the list just in case there was a leak. After she had finished typing, she asked, "What about that last name?"
"That gentleman is an American citizen. He is very rich and powerful. We won't be able to go at him through normal channels," Mike said thoughtfully.
"What are you going to do?" Cathy asked.
Mike picked up the telephone and dialed a number. When the person on the other end answered, Mike said, "This is Mike. Bethesda Hospital, room 10, at seven tonight. Call our mutual friend. It is an emergency."
After Mike hung up the phone, Cathy asked, "Who did you call?"
"You're not cleared to know that," Mike answered in a sharper voice than he intended. Seeing the hurt expression on her face, he said, "I'm sorry, Cathy. There are some things that I have to keep secret. Believe me; you already know far more than you're cleared to know."
Cathy realized that it was a matter of national security rather than a lack of trust on his part. Nodding her head, she said, "I understand."
Mike said, "I have a meeting to attend. I'll be home late."
"Alright," Cathy said understanding the significance of what Mike had discovered. Then it dawned on her just how dangerous it was. She reached out to him and said, "Be careful."
Jack Lancer walked into the meeting room of the hospital and looked at Mike. In a tone of voice that conveyed his irritation, he asked, "What's this about? My wife and I had a special evening planned."
"I understand. I'm a newlywed with my bride at home waiting for me. I'd rather be there, but this is an emergency," Mike answered.
"So tell me what's up," Jack said.
"We have to wait for Tim," Mike said.
Jack noticed the pile of equipment in front of Mike and frowned. He recognized it and asked, "Are you expecting the room to be bugged?"
Holding up the remains of a bug, Mike answered, "Not any more."
"Not any more?" Tim asked as he entered the room.
"The room isn't bugged any longer," Mike answered.
Tim looked at the bug and said, "Don't worry about that. I always sweep the room before and after a meeting. I find one every time. Our guys have been bugging this room for decades."
"I guess I'm glad to learn that," Mike said. He wasn't even going to ask why someone would bug the meeting room of a hospital. He didn't really want to know why.
"So what's so important that you call us down here in the middle of the month?" Tim asked after shutting the door to the conference room.
"I found one of the primary leaders of the Jihad," Mike answered.
"So have him targeted with a missile," Jack said taking a seat. He hoped that the meeting would end in a few minutes. It was possible that he might be able to salvage his evening.
"It's Stanley Roberts," Mike said.
Jack stood up from his chair and shouted, "What?"
"I said that one of the primary leaders of Jihad is Stanley Roberts," Mike answered looking Jack in the eye.
Tim stared at Mike for a full minute. Shaking his head, he said, "That mother fucking son of a bitch. I knew it. You can't trust a capitalist who claims to be a socialist."
Correcting him, Mike said, "A billionaire capitalist who claims to be a socialist."
"That bastard has been behind every anti-war effort in this country for the past fifteen years. He talked the previous President into dismantling the military," Jack said hitting the table with his fist. He paced around the room for a second and asked, "You are convinced that he's one of the leaders?"
Nodding his head, Mike said, "That's right."
"How solid is your proof?" Jack asked returning to his seat.
Mike said, "It is pretty convincing, but not solid enough to act on; at least, not yet. I've got major communication links between him and ten of the other leaders. I know the identities of eight of the others. I'm in the process of collecting the data that will allow me to identify the other two."
Jack smiled at how calmly Mike was reporting that he had found the leaders. He said, "Well, I guess it won't be long before we have Mohammad bin Laden."
"He's not one of the leaders," Mike said with a smile.
"Sure he is," Jack said.
"No. He's one of the Generals, but he's not a leader of the Jihad movement. I'm talking about the guys above him," Mike said.
"What?" Tim asked unable to believe what he had just heard.
Jack stared at Mike wondering if he had lost his mind. Mike asked, "Did you ever wonder how it was that we would destroy some organization and another one that was fully trained, armed, and operational would pop up, literally within months? I mean, it was like the group already existed and was just waiting to be activated.
"We saw that with al-Sadr. Saddam fell and within a month al-Sadr had a substantial militia ready, willing, and able to fight us. He wasn't even a supporter of Saddam. There's no way that Saddam would have allowed him or any other rival to his power to arm so many of his followers. So where did al-Sadr get the money for all of those weapons? Where did his people get the training?"
"I've asked myself those same questions, but... ," Jack started to say. All of the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place. He sat back in his chair and said, "You're right. We've been fighting this war by going after the chess pieces without ever considering the chess master pushing them around on the board."
Nodding his head, Mike said, "That's right. When we took out the terrorists at the Jamal bin Laden funeral, we accidentally killed the reserve army that was going to move into place to take over for him. I imagine that half of the masked men who attended the funeral were members of the reserve. That's why it was so quiet after the funeral."
"Our little march across the Middle East tore up their forces faster than they could replace them," Tim said nodding his head.
The significance of what Mike had unearthed was staggering. Jack had no doubt that the men were busy trying to rebuild their forces even after the American Army had destroyed their armies. Thinking about Mexico, Jack said, "There are probably a dozen armies just waiting to be activated in South America."
"There's probably one in Mexico getting ready to be activated," Mike said. He looked at the other two men and then asked, "So what do we do about Stanley Roberts?"
"I'll take care of him. He'll be dead by tomorrow night," Jack said.
Mike shook his head and said, "He's got people working for him. They'll have to be dealt with as well. His aides and messengers can't get away. Some of them are Hollywood types. I'm still working on putting the entire story together."
"I'll take care of him and all of the others. Just let me know who they are," Jack said looking Mike in the eye.
"It has to be coordinated with the efforts to take out the other ten along with their aides and messengers," Mike said. He didn't want the loss of one to spook the rest.
"I'll need a week to get people in place and then a three hour lead time to coordinate our attack," Jack said.
"You'll have it," Mike said.
Looking over at Mike, Tim said, "If any of those leaders learns about this, you're a dead man. You do know that, don't you?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Mike said, "They already want me dead. Once I distribute my report on them, it will be too late for them to save themselves by killing me."
Wearing his jogging clothes, Mike kissed Cathy and said, "I'm going for my morning jog."
"We'll have breakfast ready for you when you get back," Cathy said meaning that Kim would have breakfast ready for them.
"I'll be back in thirty minutes," Mike said walking over to the door.
Cathy went with him to door in order to wave goodbye to him. Mike opened the door and froze. Cathy peered around him and saw a dozen Marines standing in the front yard complete with weapons. Curious, she asked, "Did you ask for Marines?"
"No, I didn't. Stay here until I find out what is going on" Mike answered although he had a pretty good idea.
Knowing better than to argue, Cathy stepped back into the house. She moved to the window where she could watch what was happening. Under her breath, she said, "There are at least a dozen Marines out there. They didn't even provide one Marine when someone was trying to kill him. This has got to be pretty bad."
Mike stepped outside and asked, "What in the hell is going on?"
"We're under orders to protect you, sir," a Sergeant said while walking over to Mike.
"From what?"
"I don't know sir. I have my orders and I'll follow them. Ours is to do or die, not to ask why," the Sergeant answered.
"Can I have my morning jog?" Mike asked looking around. He spotted two more Marines by the side of the house. He figured there were more in the backyard.
"My men can keep up with you, but I'd prefer if you wouldn't, sir. It's a little more difficult to assure your safety."
"Okay. I guess I can miss this morning," Mike said.
"Thank you, sir."
Mike stood there for a moment and then gestured towards Bob's house. He said, "My neighbor is a nice guy. Don't hassle him if he comes over to find out what's going on."
"What's his name?"
"Bob and his wife is Ellen," Mike answered.
"Okay."
"I'll be ready to leave for work in an hour," Mike said.
"The car is ready for you, sir," the Sergeant said gesturing to a limousine.
Cathy sat in the back of the limousine with Mike amazed at the feeling of safety that she had. She had just been told that it was bullet proof. Someone was going to extreme lengths to assure that Mike was not harmed. She said, "This is about last night, isn't it?"
"Yes," Mike answered.
"How long are they going to be protecting us?" she asked turning to look at the Hummer that was following behind them. It looked just like the one that was ahead of them.
"At least a week," Mike answered. He figured it would be closer to two weeks. It would take him a couple of days to identify the last two leaders. Jack needed at least a week to set up the operation on Stanley Roberts.
As they pulled up to the Internet Café, Cathy noticed that there were three times more Marines on duty than normal. Frowning, she asked, "Where did all of these Marines come from?"
"I imagine that they are all from Quantico," Mike answered. He glanced at the driver paying specific attention to where their unit insignia should have been in an attempt to establish their unit. He noticed that all of their patches had been removed. That little detail convinced him that they had to be from the Marine Special Operations Battalion. He added, "Or Camp Lejeune."
The Marine driving the car looked back at Mike impressed that he had figured it out. He said, "We're from Camp Lejeune. All of us served under your father, sir."
Cathy stared at the Marine wondering if Mike's father had something to do with them being there. She asked, "Where?"
"I can't say, ma'am," the Marine answered.
When they entered the building everyone turned to look at them. Joe said, "We beefed up security here. I hope you don't mind."
"And if I do?" Mike asked.
"Well, that would be another great hope smashed, but I'd survive the disappointment," Joe answered with a smile. He comment brought about a chuckle from everyone in the room.
"I'm sure you would," Mike said with a smile. He looked around and noticed that he was the center of attention. He said, "Let's get to work people. There are bad guys to catch."
Looking over at the coffee pot, Cathy said, "I guess with so many people here I'll be busy today."
"I'll need your fingers from time to time," Mike said sitting down at his workstation. His statement brought a smile to Cathy.
Cathy went to start the coffeemaker while Mike logged into his computer. As he worked, the people in the room kept glancing in his direction wondering what was happening. Cathy delivered a cup of coffee to him and then went out to give coffee to the Marines stationed outside.
Mike had been hard at work for ten minutes when there was a call. He answered the telephone and listened as the voice on the other end said, "We caught an oriental woman coming out of your house."
Mike said, "Let her go. She's our housekeeper."
"Housekeeper?" the Marine asked.
Mike shook his head imagining the scene at the house and said, "Yes, she's my housekeeper. I also have an oriental gardener. His name is Sun Yung."
"Thank you, sir. I'll add him to the list of acceptable visitors," the Marine said.
"Do that," Mike said before hanging up the phone. He imagined that he was going to get an earful about this from Kim when he got home from work. Glancing over at the telephone, he was going to recommend to Cathy that they work late that night.
It was approaching noon when Mike typed in a query on his computer. He smiled when he saw the result. Sanjay was working at the office that was only ten miles away. He picked up the telephone and dialed Sanjay's number. When Sanjay answered, Mike said, "Hey, Sanjay. It's Mike."
"How are you doing Mike?" Sanjay asked.
"I'm fine. Cathy and I were thinking of going out to the Indian Buffet for lunch. We know that you don't get to eat Indian very often and we thought you might want to join us there," Mike said.
Sanjay said, "Yes, I would be most happy to go. You can tell me all about your honeymoon."
Mike smiled at the thought of telling him all about his honeymoon. Cathy would never forgive him if he told the full version and the censored version wouldn't be very long. He said, "I'll let Cathy tell you all about it."
"Okay. You are going to the one by your primary office?" Sanjay asked.
"Yes. We'll be there around twelve fifteen or so," Mike answered glancing down at his watch.
Mike and Cathy, followed by four Marines, entered the Indian Restaurant. Sanjay, seated at one of the tables, waved to them. When they came over to the table, he said, "Go ahead and get something to eat. I've ordered already."
"I was sure that you'd order your favorites," Mike said with a laugh. Mike went there for the buffet, but Sanjay went there for the specialty dishes that he couldn't get at home.
Cathy smiled at Sanjay and, in a teasing voice, said, "I guess I'll have to call Teva and let her know where you spent lunch."
Sanjay laughed and said, "She will smell the curry and know exactly what I ate for lunch."
Having spotted a gun, two Marines crowded behind Sanjay. One of them put a hand on Sanjay's shoulder as he said, "You had better have a permit for that gun."
Rolling his eyes, Mike said, "He's a Section Chief in Homeland Security. Of course he's got a gun and the permit to carry it."
"Sorry, sir," the Marine said backing away from Sanjay. Half of the people in the restaurant had turned to watch what was happening.
Sanjay looked at the pair of Marines standing behind him and the pair that was returning to their seats at a nearby table. Nonplussed, he asked, "Friends of yours?"
"Guards," Mike answered.
Knowing that Mike wasn't under arrest, Sanjay guessed that someone was trying to kill him. He asked, "Who is after you now?"
"No one is, as far as I know. Some mutual friends of ours want to make sure that I'm safe for the next few days," Mike answered.
There was only one group of mutual friends that could get Mike protected like that. Bobbling his head, Sanjay said, "I understand."
Frowning at the exchange, Cathy said, "I'm glad that one of us does."
"It is sometimes dangerous to be around Mike, but if you stay close to him you'll be safe. He's very good in an emergency. Just do what he says and it will all turn out okay," Sanjay said.
Cathy recalled a couple of near death experiences for Mike. She glanced at his stubby finger and said, "I've heard that, but I'm not sure that I believe it."
Bobbling his head, Sanjay said, "It is true. He has saved my life more times than I can count."
Cathy knew that Sanjay wouldn't say anything too descriptive about what Mike had done in front of Mike. The two men had an understanding about that. Smiling, she said, "I'm sure that Teva knows exactly how many times he's saved your life."
"Yes," Sanjay said bobbling his head. He added, "She is much smarter than me and can count very well. I get confused after three."
Cathy laughed at the joke and knew that she wasn't going to get any more information out of Sanjay. Gesturing over at the buffet, she said, "I'm going to get some food."
After filling their plates, Mike and Cathy returned to the table. On sitting down, Mike gestured in the direction of the Marines and said, "I fear that we are going to have to cancel the fishing trip this weekend."
"Why?" Sanjay asked and then looked over at the Marines realizing that it was a stupid question. He realized that there was no way that they could carry that many Marines in his boat and he figured they probably didn't have another boat in which to follow them. Sanjay said, "Never mind. You're right. Marines take all of the sport out of fishing."
Cathy looked confused when Mike and Sanjay started laughing at what had to be an inside joke. Wanting to understand the joke, she asked, "How would they take all of the sport out of fishing?"
Mike turned to one of the Marines and, in a tone of voice that left no doubt that Mike was a Marine, he said, "Marine."
"Yes, Sir," the Marine answered. He sat up straighter in his seat.
Continuing in the same commanding tone of voice, Mike asked, "What is the easiest way to catch a fish?"
"A hand grenade, Sir."