business.”
“That’s exactly my business, Commander.”
“Cuban television is all over this deal of yours like stink on shit,” Weiss said. “They’re reporting that our people opened fire on nine unarmed prisoners. They’re calling it a massacre, and The New York Times, The Washington Post, and just about every other fucking news organization in the world has shown up in San Juan wanting permission to come here.”
“They must have had help,” Gloria said.
Weiss’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“They knew that the Frontier Brigade would be on the opposite side of the base making a racket, which gave them a clear shot at coming ashore, which means at the very least they had the Cubans on their side. But how’d they get past the tower guard?”
“They took him out. One shot to the head.”
“No one heard anything?”
“There was a lot of noise,” Weiss replied, his lips compressed.
Gloria felt a bit of compassion for him. Although the Army MPs ran
Delta and the other detention centers, the overall security and intelligence mission belonged to the Office of Naval Intelligence, and Weiss was the officer in charge. Last night’s fiasco had definitely landed on his lap, and he’d already felt a lot of heat, with a whole bunch more to come. “I’m sorry, Commander, but I didn’t make last night happen. Bob and I just stumbled into it.”
“And you got him killed, Ibenez,” Weiss said. “What the hell were you doing up there at that hour of the night? There weren’t any interrogations on the schedule.”
Gloria refused to look away, even though her innards were roiling, and she kept seeing Bob’s face in death. “I had a hunch.”
“About what?”
“The Cuban probe on the perimeter went on longer than normal, it was way up north, well away from Delta, and it was happening in the middle of the night.”
Weiss was looking at her as if he was watching a lunatic who was babbling nonsense and didn’t know any better.
“I think that Bob and I might have been made, our mission compromised.”
Weiss nodded as if he’d come to a conclusion. “One of the prisoners realized that you were CIA, made a quick phone call to bin Laden himself, and in just ten days arranged an attack on the base so that you and your partner could get in the middle of it and be taken out.” He smiled. “Have I covered everything?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Gloria flared. “You know goddamned well that there’ve been unauthorized sat phone emissions out of here.”
“Not for the last ninety days.”
She reached for her satellite phone on the nightstand. “Maybe you missed one.”
“No,” Weiss said flatly. “We picked up your encrypted transmission a couple hours ago. I just came over to tell you that you’ll be leaving on the first available transport.”
“You don’t have that authority.”
“General Maddox does,” Weiss said. “I’ll talk to your doctor about releasing you this morning. Short of that I can arrange a medevac back to Washington. But you’re out of here today. Get back to the BOQ, pack your things, and go home, and let us do our job.”
Weiss turned to go, but Gloria sat up. “Why those specific prisoners? And why were they killed?”
“I don’t know yet, but we’re looking into it,” Weiss said. He shrugged. “Who the fuck knows what those people are thinking?” He gave her a baleful look. “While you’re at it, you’d best pack Talarico’s things as well. His widow will probably want them.”
After Weiss left, Gloria telephoned Rencke again, to tell him that she would be ordered out of Gitmo sometime today.
“Adkins thinks it’s for the best,” Rencke agreed. “I’m going to take a quick peek into ONI’s system to see what shakes loose.”
“See if you can find out who the five prisoners were in Echo, and why they’d been transferred out of Delta, if that’s where they came from. Al-Quaida was concerned enough to spring
“That’s exactly my business, Commander.”
“Cuban television is all over this deal of yours like stink on shit,” Weiss said. “They’re reporting that our people opened fire on nine unarmed prisoners. They’re calling it a massacre, and The New York Times, The Washington Post, and just about every other fucking news organization in the world has shown up in San Juan wanting permission to come here.”
“They must have had help,” Gloria said.
Weiss’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“They knew that the Frontier Brigade would be on the opposite side of the base making a racket, which gave them a clear shot at coming ashore, which means at the very least they had the Cubans on their side. But how’d they get past the tower guard?”
“They took him out. One shot to the head.”
“No one heard anything?”
“There was a lot of noise,” Weiss replied, his lips compressed.
Gloria felt a bit of compassion for him. Although the Army MPs ran
Delta and the other detention centers, the overall security and intelligence mission belonged to the Office of Naval Intelligence, and Weiss was the officer in charge. Last night’s fiasco had definitely landed on his lap, and he’d already felt a lot of heat, with a whole bunch more to come. “I’m sorry, Commander, but I didn’t make last night happen. Bob and I just stumbled into it.”
“And you got him killed, Ibenez,” Weiss said. “What the hell were you doing up there at that hour of the night? There weren’t any interrogations on the schedule.”
Gloria refused to look away, even though her innards were roiling, and she kept seeing Bob’s face in death. “I had a hunch.”
“About what?”
“The Cuban probe on the perimeter went on longer than normal, it was way up north, well away from Delta, and it was happening in the middle of the night.”
Weiss was looking at her as if he was watching a lunatic who was babbling nonsense and didn’t know any better.
“I think that Bob and I might have been made, our mission compromised.”
Weiss nodded as if he’d come to a conclusion. “One of the prisoners realized that you were CIA, made a quick phone call to bin Laden himself, and in just ten days arranged an attack on the base so that you and your partner could get in the middle of it and be taken out.” He smiled. “Have I covered everything?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Gloria flared. “You know goddamned well that there’ve been unauthorized sat phone emissions out of here.”
“Not for the last ninety days.”
She reached for her satellite phone on the nightstand. “Maybe you missed one.”
“No,” Weiss said flatly. “We picked up your encrypted transmission a couple hours ago. I just came over to tell you that you’ll be leaving on the first available transport.”
“You don’t have that authority.”
“General Maddox does,” Weiss said. “I’ll talk to your doctor about releasing you this morning. Short of that I can arrange a medevac back to Washington. But you’re out of here today. Get back to the BOQ, pack your things, and go home, and let us do our job.”
Weiss turned to go, but Gloria sat up. “Why those specific prisoners? And why were they killed?”
“I don’t know yet, but we’re looking into it,” Weiss said. He shrugged. “Who the fuck knows what those people are thinking?” He gave her a baleful look. “While you’re at it, you’d best pack Talarico’s things as well. His widow will probably want them.”
After Weiss left, Gloria telephoned Rencke again, to tell him that she would be ordered out of Gitmo sometime today.
“Adkins thinks it’s for the best,” Rencke agreed. “I’m going to take a quick peek into ONI’s system to see what shakes loose.”
“See if you can find out who the five prisoners were in Echo, and why they’d been transferred out of Delta, if that’s where they came from. Al-Quaida was concerned enough to spring
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