umbrellas.
She removes her ear buds as she enters the cafe and heads for the coffee counter where a body-pierced barista greets her.
Adriana smiles at the barista. "An orange juice and a five shot espresso, no whip."
The barista gives the heated runner her orange juice and retreats to prepare her coffee. Adriana downs the orange juice and throws the bottle in the trash as the server returns with her espresso.
"That will be five thirty-seven, please."
Adriana fishes for some cash out of her hat and hands the girl a ten. "The change is for you guys." The girl smiles and thanks her as Adriana walks with her steaming brew to the patio and takes a seat among the morning crowd.
Several men take notice of her as she places her ear buds and scrolls for NPR radio. Adriana ignores their attention and looks across the street to the park, sipping at her cup. The familiar voice in her ear finishes their piece and the news comes on with a terrorist alert. The White House press secretary recites the press release with an urgent tone.
Adriana listens to the broadcast expressionlessly as she sips her steaming brew.
Chapter Seven
That morning across the country at the Department of Homeland Security building, Homeland Security Director Karen Satriano leaves her office and heads into the executive briefing room. She walks knowing this meeting is crucial to her career and she must gain the trust and confidence of all of those attending today. She knows her career could be determined based on the success or failure of this operation.
She enters the briefing room where three men are seated; they are silent as she enters.
There are four large monitors at the edge of the room. One is an interactive world map displaying conflicts and operations abroad, and another is an interactive U.S. map displaying all border activity with all land, air, and sea operations presently underway in real time. The third is the Al Qaeda and Jihad web sites translated into English highlighting the recent posts.
Present at the table is the director of the National Security Agency Jack Hayward, and the Central Intelligence Agency Chief Intelligence Officer, Leonard (Leo) Matz.
Also present is the assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kevin Anderson, the nation's second-in-command top cop.
Karen Satriano knows that normally the interagency politics of this group would be thick with the hoarding of information, and cooperation would be limited and somewhat adverse and competitive.
She begins with a strong voice. "Gentleman, thanks for coming on short notice. I appreciate your time and we will make this as short and concise as possible."
She passes a file marked "Top Secret" to each man.
"For the record, this meeting is being monitored and the results of that monitoring shall be classified and considered top secret status. This meeting is a result of a directive issued by the president of the United States."
"The purpose of this meeting is to prepare a presidential briefing to assess all and any intelligence by the various intelligence agencies that are represented by the officials present here today. We are gathered here regarding what has been determined as an imminent threat and clear and present danger to the national and international security of the United States and/or its allies."
"These threats by various known and possibly unknown terrorist groups are believed to have ties and/or alliances with the terrorist organization known as Al Qaeda. From this point forward, this cooperative effort shall be called and only referred to as 'Operation Pot Luck,' as set forth by directive of the president of the United States to ensure all agencies cooperation in this matter."
She looks around the table. "As you well know, each agency has received the same presidential directive. Copies of which are included in each participant's file submitted here today by the Department of Homeland Security and again are considered top secret. Let the
She removes her ear buds as she enters the cafe and heads for the coffee counter where a body-pierced barista greets her.
Adriana smiles at the barista. "An orange juice and a five shot espresso, no whip."
The barista gives the heated runner her orange juice and retreats to prepare her coffee. Adriana downs the orange juice and throws the bottle in the trash as the server returns with her espresso.
"That will be five thirty-seven, please."
Adriana fishes for some cash out of her hat and hands the girl a ten. "The change is for you guys." The girl smiles and thanks her as Adriana walks with her steaming brew to the patio and takes a seat among the morning crowd.
Several men take notice of her as she places her ear buds and scrolls for NPR radio. Adriana ignores their attention and looks across the street to the park, sipping at her cup. The familiar voice in her ear finishes their piece and the news comes on with a terrorist alert. The White House press secretary recites the press release with an urgent tone.
Adriana listens to the broadcast expressionlessly as she sips her steaming brew.
Chapter Seven
That morning across the country at the Department of Homeland Security building, Homeland Security Director Karen Satriano leaves her office and heads into the executive briefing room. She walks knowing this meeting is crucial to her career and she must gain the trust and confidence of all of those attending today. She knows her career could be determined based on the success or failure of this operation.
She enters the briefing room where three men are seated; they are silent as she enters.
There are four large monitors at the edge of the room. One is an interactive world map displaying conflicts and operations abroad, and another is an interactive U.S. map displaying all border activity with all land, air, and sea operations presently underway in real time. The third is the Al Qaeda and Jihad web sites translated into English highlighting the recent posts.
Present at the table is the director of the National Security Agency Jack Hayward, and the Central Intelligence Agency Chief Intelligence Officer, Leonard (Leo) Matz.
Also present is the assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kevin Anderson, the nation's second-in-command top cop.
Karen Satriano knows that normally the interagency politics of this group would be thick with the hoarding of information, and cooperation would be limited and somewhat adverse and competitive.
She begins with a strong voice. "Gentleman, thanks for coming on short notice. I appreciate your time and we will make this as short and concise as possible."
She passes a file marked "Top Secret" to each man.
"For the record, this meeting is being monitored and the results of that monitoring shall be classified and considered top secret status. This meeting is a result of a directive issued by the president of the United States."
"The purpose of this meeting is to prepare a presidential briefing to assess all and any intelligence by the various intelligence agencies that are represented by the officials present here today. We are gathered here regarding what has been determined as an imminent threat and clear and present danger to the national and international security of the United States and/or its allies."
"These threats by various known and possibly unknown terrorist groups are believed to have ties and/or alliances with the terrorist organization known as Al Qaeda. From this point forward, this cooperative effort shall be called and only referred to as 'Operation Pot Luck,' as set forth by directive of the president of the United States to ensure all agencies cooperation in this matter."
She looks around the table. "As you well know, each agency has received the same presidential directive. Copies of which are included in each participant's file submitted here today by the Department of Homeland Security and again are considered top secret. Let the
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