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Character Dialogue

…. Annie tapped the side of a Parmesan cheese shaker, nodded, and said, “John worked up some things with some embassy personnel that work with The Fort.” Annie’s reference to The Fort was a casual way of referring to the National Security Agency, located at Fort Meade, Maryland.

…. Annie decided tapping the shaker was not working and unscrewed the top. “We’ve looked at some of the efforts in the past, and what we think is there was a lot of missed exploitation and a lot of duplicated effort.” Annie poured cheese onto her pizza and continued.

“There was a great deal of work, but there wasn’t that much understanding as to what the real potential was when it came to drilling into more with The Fort.” ….

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…. Annie looked at her pizza, took a sip from her glass, and said, “We would like to try to bring the underutilized resources of The Fort into play and operationally blend it with ….

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…. Donovan held his palms up, rocked back in the chair, leaned forward again, and said, “I’m not really sure how things went, but I got an email from a guy in the upper echelon at The Fort that said I’m staying in Basra.”

Ashton and John smiled and waited for more. 

“I’m still looking into exactly how that happened…I think the Brits leaned into it. And there was a reference to working hostage events…and working with the British…you know…partnerships, and all of that.” ….

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…. Annie turned and asked, “How often are you guys getting rocketed?”

Nathan shrugged, held out his palms as they got to the door at the T-wall, and said, “…Ummm, maybe two to six times a day. Sometimes they miss a day, lately they have hit us at night. That’s smart. It disrupts sleep, and they know it.”

John turned and looked at Nathan. “Are you talking about rocket launches or actual impacts in the perimeter?”

Nathan looked at John and shook his head. “We don’t usually bother counting the launches—that’s an intelligence bean-counter thing. Who cares about a rocket or an impact if it wasn’t in the perimeter?” Nathan’s question was rhetorical…

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…. Buzz was the epitome of arrogance. He simply assumed …

…. Annie looked at him and projected clear disgust. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”

“Relax, honey, it was just a question,” Buzz spit into the Gatorade bottle and wiped his lip. Buzz played his man-card way too hard—Annie was about to tear it up.

“Honey?” Annie asked. “Honey? Did you just fucking call me ‘honey?’”

Buzz inadvertently swallowed a little tobacco juice, paused slightly, and said ….

The opinions expressed in this book are the writers and not that of the FBI or the US government.

Copyright 2023 Joseph Niland