President Harwell and Christopher Westin waited in the basement with Heath for the Secretary of Defense to arrive. If previous meetings with the man had established any pattern at all, it was that he would be early for the scheduled eight o’clock rendezvous of Monday the twenty-fourth of January.

Punctual as always the Secretary, who during the previous week had become the twentieth person to learn the true condition of Agent Bishop, was escorted through the door by Mrs. Dawson at seven fifty-five.

After nodding slightly in the direction of both the Chief of Staff and Heath, he said, “Good morning Mr. President.”

The President replied, “Good morning to you as well Mr. Secretary. Do you have some information for me?”

“Yes sir I do. And based on the intelligence that Agent Bishop provided us last Friday morning, I believe that what we are undertaking will be most enlightening.”

During that most recent briefing of January twenty-first, Heath spelled out in detail the amount of progress which had been made with relation to the confessions of Lieutenant Royce. Beyond her explanations throughout the previous several days of why she had been tasked with his elimination, and the inclusion of her various roles and specific objectives during many other missions, Kristen provided Heath with the names of several numbered operatives and their underlings. Many of those held positions of power within Texas, but there were others like her who maintained their covert status and operated in Washington D.C. That list included her most direct contacts; so as a result, Heath had logically begun his vetting process into the truth or falsehood of her claims with the two local numbered operatives. What he had subsequently uncovered from that deeper investigation was shocking, and when he informed the President, his Chief of Staff, and the Secretary of Defense of those findings, none of them had taken it well.

The President had known that Nathan Pearson, the former United States Senator from Texas, had been appointed as Ambassador to the United States for the fledgling republic. That information came his way more than a year prior and within hours after the Secretary of State had first learned of it in early January 2027. There was also the vivid memory that Nathan Pearson had stood on the senate floor and formally presented the inconceivable declaration for Texas that it intended to legally fracture away from her parent nation. Then shortly after, in the wake of bewilderment that his announcement had created, he and his staff vanished into thin air.

At the time it was believed that the then Senator Pearson had slipped into hiding because it would be easier for him to avoid receiving a summons to the White House than refusing one. He must have been aware that President Harwell would want to confront him on the matter at hand; as it was logical to assume that he would undoubtedly demand an explanation as to the motives of the Senator and those within the Austin hierarchy.

Now in the midst of the current information from Agent Bishop, the President pondered over the implications of that day of more than thirteen months prior. If those memories weren’t difficult enough to stomach, Heath had now also established proof that Ambassador Pearson maintained a separate identity. The information given by Lieutenant Royce had checked out completely, so Heath could positively confirm that the Ambassador was also known as number eleven within a traitorous Texas based organization. In addition he could also prove that the commanding officer of Lieutenant Royce, a Commander Calvin Foster, was an operative for the organization with the designation of number twenty-nine. Sadly, Kristen had been a member of his staff within the Pentagon for over two years.

Upon hearing that news the Secretary of Defense had raised an eyebrow, but it went unnoticed by the others in the briefing. Although the contact had only been during a few meetings within a Pentagon conference room, the Secretary believed that he may have met Lieutenant Royce when she was present to provide documents and refreshments. Such a mundane duty for the young officer would be easy enough to check for accuracy, but would it be worth pursuing? Some issues which were discussed during those meetings could have been forwarded to the organization by way of the Lieutenant and Commander Foster, and if so, then the Secretary understood that he could be implicated as a potential source.

Throughout the weekend Jordan Harwell had on more than one occasion turned his thoughts toward Ambassador Pearson. As a consequence he realized that many concessions, for the sake of establishing and maintaining friendly neighboring relations, had been granted toward Texas during the first year of their independence. Within that reflection it occurred to the President that the Secretary of State had perhaps been skillfully outmaneuvered by the Ambassador during several deliberating occasions. Then in order to be fully truthful, President Harwell also realized that he, although indirectly, had to share some of that responsibility. After all, the blame couldn’t fall solely and squarely upon the Secretary of State for what Texas had been able to procure.

Although some of his predecessors who once occupied the White House may have been willing to take the easy way out by implicating a subordinate, Jordan Harwell didn’t want to operate that way if at all possible. Therefore the President had determined that the fate of the Secretary could wait, as a decision made in haste to remove someone from their lofty position could prove to be a costly mistake. Regardless of which direction would eventually be taken, the President chose to protect the Secretary for the time being.

Returning to the present moment, President Harwell broke the silence in the room as he smiled and said, “Your point is well taken. I also believe that we will learn much from the surveillance. Now will you and Heath please proceed with your briefing?”

As instructed, the Secretary began with an understanding that Agent Bishop might have additional information to convey. He informed the President that he had ordered covert and secretive around the clock surveillance on Commander Calvin Foster, who as they now knew him to be, was number twenty-nine. There had already been a search conducted into which computer files the man had accessed during the past two years, and the surveillance would include the monitoring and tracking of all files that he attempted to access in the future. The office phone lines of Commander Foster had been tapped as of the previous evening, and any cell activity, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, would be traced with each conversation recorded in its entirety. From a distance his residence would be observed on a continuing basis for both arrivals and departures, with the ever increasing amount of cameras designed in part to monitor public activity providing support. Those probing eyes of big brother upon society would include any cameras which had been mounted on traffic lights, parking garages, businesses and store fronts, or any other position where they had been placed to provide a misleading level of reassurance to the public that they were somehow both safe and able to enjoy unchecked personal freedom of movement.

As for Ambassador Pearson, similar measures had been initiated to monitor his daily life. However they would not be as easy to maintain, and would demand more care on several fronts. Common practice dictated that any foreign diplomat would have their offices and phone lines swept regularly to discover and eliminate any listening devices. Therefore such devices would be nearly impossible to establish, and doing so in defiance of that fact would accomplish nothing other than revealing to the Ambassador that he was being surveilled. With that understood, various options such as powerful long-range microphones placed in obscure locations were being employed for the time being. Differing angles of intrusion would be explored and incorporated, and the Secretary stated that his handpicked team sworn to secrecy would provide a more suitable long-term solution in the near future.

Then there was the glaring difference in the surveillance of his residence as opposed to that of Commander Foster. Unlike the latter that lived in a townhome within Washington D.C., the Ambassador still maintained the suburban high-end residence which he and his family lived in while he served as a United States Senator. There had never been a call to place listening devices in the residence of someone who was both prominent and thought of as a patriotic government servant, and it would be most difficult to do so now. It was true that an agent posing as a repair man or something of that nature could gain entry into the house under false pretenses, and once there, attempt to install listening devices. However that course of action might jeopardize the intended operation, as the Ambassador, based on his more devious designation, could be wary of such a ploy.

Fortunately there was a storm drain opening within the curb on the opposite side of the street from his house, so the Secretary had ordered his team to quietly access it through a series of tunnels. Once in position, they were to mount a tiny camera within that would be able to monitor the driveway and front door. If nothing else it could be determined when the house was theoretically empty, and attempts could be made to plant listening devices along the exterior when a solid opportunity presented itself. In closing the Secretary added that as of two hours before the current briefing, his team had returned safely from a late-night installation of the storm drain camera.

Nodding his head in approval, the President said, “That’s good work Mr. Secretary. And are you confident in the ability of your team to keep this information contained?”

“Yes sir, as they will report only to me. Since you will have no idea as to whom or how many of them there are, you can without question maintain plausible deniability.”

“I understand Mr. Secretary, and I thank you for the protective measure on my behalf. Now what is the hopeful gain of monitoring the exterior of each residence if we can’t hear what’s going on inside?”

The Secretary glanced at Heath, who in turn stepped forward to add, “Mr. President. We believe that the meetings involving Lieutenant Royce, number eleven, and number twenty-nine could not have taken place at any of their respective residences.”

“And why do you believe that Heath?”

“It seems highly unlikely based on the amount of risk involved. The appearance of an Ambassador, possibly recognized as a former Senator, entering the apartment of a young female Navy Lieutenant in a highly populated area of the city could cause alarm. The same could be said if either of them visited the townhome of Commander Foster. And low to mid-ranking officers would never randomly visit the neighborhood where the Ambassador lives.”

“Alright Heath, I can see how that would all fit. Now please continue.”

“Yes sir. There is also no record of the Ambassador visiting the Pentagon for what could have been a clandestine meeting, and frankly sir that would have been very risky to attempt given the security measures within the building. Therefore it seems logical that in order to ensure secrecy they must have been meeting somewhere else. Although we have certain phones tapped if number eleven and twenty-nine were to communicate in that manner, they may still meet at that secret location. Therefore the Secretary and I feel that it would be prudent to keep tabs on their vehicles, as comparing when and where they move could lead us directly to their meeting place. If we could determine where that location is, then it would be possible to install a series of surveillance devices within and they would probably never suspect that it had been done.”

Nodding once again, the President responded, “Alright Heath, I understand the motive behind it now. Let’s keep pressing forward on this matter without tipping our hand, as Lieutenant Royce confessed to knowing the identities of many operatives other than the two men discussed today. Of course that information will need to be vetted for authenticity just like number eleven and twenty-nine were. In the meantime Mr. Secretary, have your team put an ear to the wall if need be, and keep me posted on any pertinent findings.”