Read Online Splinter Cell (2004) by Tom - Splinter Cell 0 Clancy - Free Book Online

encryption overwhelmed Second Echelon. NSA experienced its first system-wide crash. As communications became more digital and sophisticated encryption more expansive, passive collection was simply no longer efficient. So the NSA launched a top-secret initiative—Third Echelon—to return to more, shall we say, “classical” methods of espionage powered by the latest technology for the aggressive collection of stored data. In other words, it was back to the nitty-gritty world of human spies out there in the field, risking their lives for the sake of taking a photograph or recording a conversation or copying a computer hard drive. Third Echelon agents are called Splinter Cells, and I was the very first one. We physically infiltrate dangerous and sensitive enemy locations to gather the required intelligence by whatever means necessary. Our prime directive, in a nutshell, is to do our jobs while remaining invisible to the public eye. We’re authorized to work outside the boundaries of international treaties, but the U.S. will neither acknowledge nor support our operations.
    Thus, Third Echelon, a sub-agency of the NSA, consists of an elite team of strategists, hackers, and field operatives. We respond to crises of information warfare—a war that is hidden from the media and the ordinary man on the street. You’re not going to see our battles on CNN. At least I hope not. If you do, then we’ve failed.
    “How’s it going, Sam?” Lambert asks, chewing a bite of burger.
    “Can’t complain, Colonel,” I reply, sitting at one of the plastic tables across from him. He once told me to call him “Irv,” but I just can’t bring myself to do that. “Colonel” is fine with me. It always strikes me as incongruous, us meeting like this. Here we are, two innocuous middle-aged men meeting in a shopping mall for fast food—yet we’re about to discuss things that might affect the security of the United States.
    Lambert gets right to the point. “Sam, another Splinter Cell has been assassinated,” he says, looking me in the eyes.
    I wait for him to continue.
    “Rick Benton. Stationed in Iraq, but it happened in Brussels.”
    “I’ve heard of him. Never met him,” I say.
    “No, of course not. We keep you guys apart for a reason.”
    “What happened? Do we know?” I ask.
    Lambert shakes his head. “Details are still coming in. The Belgian police are all over it, so we have to get the information through ordinary diplomatic channels, and you know how slow that can be. But we’re getting cooperation from the Belgian Military Intelligence and Security Service. One of their guys was killed with Benton.”
    “What do we know?”
    “Benton was in the process of obtaining some sensitive information from his contact in Brussels, an intelligence officer named Dirk Verbaken. Unknown assassins murdered both men in Benton’s hotel room during the lunch hour. Apparently Benton and Verbaken got together for a face-to-face, but someone else knew about it. They were both shot, and there’s every reason to believe that it’s the same MO as what happened in Macau to Dan Lee. Same ballistics—caliber and so forth.”
    “You think it’s the Shop?”
    “It has to be. I can’t think of another enemy organization that has an inkling that we exist. The Shop has been on notice for over a year now, and they know the NSA is on to them. Whether or not they’re completely aware of Third Echelon and what we do is anyone’s guess. Mine is that they are aware of us. How else would they be able to target two Splinter Cells in a three-month period?”
    I shrug and venture, “They’ve tapped into our personnel records? Maybe they have talented hackers, too.”
    “Our firewall is impenetrable,” Lambert replies. “Carly’s too good at that stuff. We’d know if we were being hacked.”
    “There was the security breach that occurred nine months ago.”
    Lambert nods. “I’ve thought of that. It’s a possibility. A remote one, but yeah,