Chapter 9 Unspoken Secrets

  Virginia, Langley

  Since yesterday afternoon, Wesley and thousands of intelligence analysts under him have been mobilized. After a day and night of hard work, Wesley finally figured out the situation and wrote a brief report. As soon as he lay down on the sofa, his eyes hadn't closed yet, the phone on the table rang.

  Wesley spent the entire morning reporting to the director.

  "Local time yesterday afternoon, Indian troops deployed in the northwestern border area entered a state of combat readiness and began to move forward to the front-line positions. Indian troops stationed in Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya also entered a state of combat readiness this morning local time."

  "Is New Delhi terror attack related to China?"

  "No, not yet." Wesley glanced at the document in front of him. "This is just a necessary precautionary measure. As of this morning local time, the Pakistani military has gone on high alert, with several field armies leaving their garrisons and beginning to assemble along the border."

  "Pakistan?" Jonassen pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Is this also a necessary precaution?"

  Wesley nodded and didn't waste words.

  As for the director in front of him, Wesley had a certain degree of disdain for him.

  Like his predecessors as CIA director, Goss is not an "intelligence professional" but a politician.

  Politicians care about the value of intelligence and the benefits it brings, while intelligence personnel place more emphasis on the accuracy and timeliness of intelligence.

  Five years ago, Jonathan's shortsightedness and opportunism led to the CIA suffering its worst defeat in history.

  The first to discover the "mysterious object" was a team of wildlife observers studying the migration routes of wild aurochs. The unusual radiation interfered with the tracking devices installed on the aurochs, leading the observation team to unexpectedly discover the "mysterious object". If they had taken decisive action at the time and dispatched the Marine Corps stationed in Djibouti to occupy the valley area, they would not have encountered the subsequent troubles. Johnson not only hesitated but also made a wrong decision, sending a CIA-controlled mercenary force instead. After things got out of hand, Johnson again panicked and made mistake after mistake, mobilizing military forces from the Pacific Command and Central Command with a presidential order, almost sparking an armed conflict with China and Russia, and causing military friction in the Sea of Japan and Korea.

  For this, Jonathan submitted his resignation to the President afterwards.

  Even if not for personal gain, Wesley hoped the President would approve Johansson's resignation application. The entire action was kept secret and all relevant documents were locked in a confidential file library. Johansson not only kept his job but did not even receive a warning.

  Wesley didn't want to challenge Jonathan, he just thought that the world's largest intelligence agency needed a better leader.

  "Are you saying that India is now targeting Pakistan?" Jonathan broke the silence, his tone still lacking confidence, as if the defeat five years ago had made him lose faith and morale. "Do you think India will declare war on Pakistan because of this?"

  "India is definitely suspicious of Pakistan, just like the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel terrorist attack that year. But...” Wesley shrugged his shoulders, “India's military mobilization can also be seen as a preventive measure, while also warning Pakistan not to take advantage of the situation and create more serious incidents."

  "Do you think the Huma Yunus bombing case is related to Pakistan?"

  "Motive," Wesley said. "If so, what is Pakistan's motive to go to war with India and fight the fourth Indo-Pakistani War? Both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers with hundreds of atomic bombs. What benefits can Pakistan gain from a war? Pakistan's national strength is far inferior to that of India, and its domestic conflicts are complex and its politics unstable. Will Pakistan provoke India at this time?"

  "Right, you're absolutely right. Maybe we should focus more on China."

  "China? Impossible, China has even less reason to manufacture the Hu Maoyuan tomb explosion case."

  "I'm saying we should pay attention to China's attitude."

  "Were you saying...?" Wesley hesitated for a moment, "India and Pakistan go to war, China will fulfill its promise and declare war on India?"

  Jonathan nodded and said, "China's national strength is superior to India's, and it also has the world's most advanced new energy and new power technologies. They will first apply these new technologies to military use. If China joins the war, India's situation will be very dangerous, otherwise they would not strengthen their defenses in the eastern region."

  However, China has no reason to go to war with India. China's military reform has just begun and it will take at least five to ten years for the technology to be transformed into results. After going to war with India, China's commercial shipping in the Indian Ocean will suffer a fatal blow, affecting 60% of its foreign trade. The reason why China can endure for decades is mainly because it does not have a fleet that can go to the Indian Ocean to perform combat tasks and defeat the Indian Navy. China's first aircraft carrier is still under construction and will take two years to complete, then it will take three years to form combat effectiveness. Before that, China has no reason to instigate Pakistan and drag itself into the quagmire of war.

  After finishing speaking in one breath, Wesley picked up the water cup on the table and took several sips.

  Jonathan fell silent again.

  As he set down the water glass, Wesley noticed a change in Jenson's expression. His intuition told him that Jenson wasn't sharing everything he knew with the deputy director of intelligence.

  "You're right, China has no reason to fan the flames." Jonathan rubbed his temples. "So what's the likelihood of India and Pakistan going to war?"

  "As long as the contradictions are not intensified and a major country mediates between them, giving both sides an exit, the possibility is almost zero."

  Jonathan's eyebrows twitched slightly, betraying his thoughts.

  Wesley believed more and more that Jonathan was definitely up to no good and wasn't telling anyone else.

  Perhaps only Jonathan in the bureau knows the truth.

  No. Johnson was just the president's "watchdog" and to mobilize CIA resources, Johnson had to have support from within the CIA, and that meant someone high up.

  Wesley immediately thought of Deputy Director Roger Pembleton, who was in charge of the operation.

  Throughout the CIA, Palmer's position was second only to Jonsson and above Wesley, and he had all the files on every field agent and operative, controlling everyone who worked outside. Whatever Jonsson wanted to do, if it required CIA resources, he had to get Palmer's support.

  Haven't they given up on that action from five years ago?

  Wesley found it a bit unbelievable. No matter how good the field agents were, they couldn't do without intelligence support. The fact that Jonassen and Parmel could bypass the deputy director of intelligence to deploy an operation indicated that there must be someone "defecting" under Wesley's command.

  At this time, the phone on the office desk rang.

  "Yes, I'm Jonathan..." After a moment of silence, Jonathan covered the receiver with his hand and said to Wesley, "That's all for today. Before I leave work, I want to see a detailed report."

  "No problem, I'll send someone over at 5:30."

  As Wesley left the director's office, he heard a sentence. The voice was low and muffled, and all Wesley could make out was "Sherry". This was the codename of a high-level spy that had first appeared in action files five years ago. Why would Jonathan mention this codename? Was he still investigating the whereabouts of the "mysterious object" under the president's orders?

  On his way back to the office, Wesley slowed down his pace.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, Pamuer hastily walked out of the Deputy Director's office and quickly headed in the direction of the Director's office.

  It goes without saying that Jonathan and Pamela have an "affair".

  "Lock the door." Jonathan said, pulling out an audio jammer from his drawer.

  "Your room is checked every day, it's impossible for there to be any eavesdropping devices."

  "Better safe than sorry." Jonathan activated the audio jammer. "Sit down, what have you found?"

  "The package has been sent out, Indian intelligence agencies are following the leads we arranged and there will be results within ten days." After finishing speaking, Parmel took out a cigarette, when he lit it, his hand trembled slightly. "Only, 'Sherry' lost contact with us."

  "When did it happen? Have you sent someone to search?"

  "This morning, the search work has been arranged, but no news has been received yet." After taking two puffs, Palmer pinched the cigarette between his right index and middle fingers. "Without 'Sherry', it will be difficult to carry out the next phase of action."

  "There are three days left." Jonathan stood up and paced back and forth, "Can we redeploy in time?"

  "There's no problem with time, it's just that the focus of the plan is on 'Sherry'. If redeployed, we'll have to adjust our action plan."

  "Make things more serious, pretend to be real."

  "Are you kidding me!?!" Parmel immediately showed a surprised expression, "This involves the head of state of another country, if we make too much of it, we can't afford to take this responsibility."

  "Does it require presidential authorization?"

  "It is necessary to obtain presidential authorization, otherwise resources cannot be mobilized."

  "Jonathan nodded slightly, thought for a moment and said: 'I will persuade the President to get authorization. You first make an action plan, deploy personnel, mobilize forces, try to find 'Xue Li'. If there is no result within two days, act according to the new plan.'"

  "This required Wesley's support, but he didn't know about this operation."

  "Don't tell him." Jonathan waved his hand immediately, "Wesley won't agree to do this. He's a stubborn and conservative intelligence analyst who can't understand the significance of what we're doing. Arrange other actions according to previous methods, find ways to obtain intelligence resources. Remember, never let Wesley know about our actions."

  "I'll try my best, I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

  After Patmore left, Jonathan sat down.

  He sat in thought for a while, picked up the phone receiver on his desk, hesitated for a moment, and then put down the receiver again.

  What really worried him was not Wesley, but whether the President would allow the scale of action to be expanded. It's still too early now, and when the rice is cooked, it will depend on the President.

  ****

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