Third Echelon's been trying its best to collect data on the Shadows. Because they're so new it's been pretty difficult. No one knows if they represent a particular country. They're a lot like al Qaeda and other nomadic, independent terrorist factions. They've probably got a sugar daddy somewhere who provides all the cash. What we do know is that they've claimed responsibility for a rash of bombings over the last year. There was a really bad one in Nice, France, just a couple of weeks ago. Same kind of thing--a truck pulls up in some public place and blows up. Goddamned bastards. It's a shitty, evil thing to do.

"It's too early, isn't it?" I ask. "For them to issue a claim of responsibility, I mean?"

"Yeah. It'll be tomorrow. But I'll give you ten to one it's them."

I nod. "You're probably right."

"The interesting thing about all this is that there's a connection."

"How so?"

"That sheet of paper from the Gerard Bull file--the one from the copier?"

"Yeah?"

"It also mentions the Shadows."

"Really."

"The implication in the wording is that they're the Shop's biggest customers right now and possibly the group behind whatever it was that Benton was chasing in Belgium."

I sit back in my chair. "If we could establish a connection between the two groups--and identify the major players in each--"

Lambert smiles. "You catch on quick."

"So you want me to go to Belgium?"

"No. I want you to go to Iraq."

Iraq. Shit.

Lambert continues. "I want you to pick up Benton's trail there. Find out what he was investigating. He was sure suspicious about something, and damn it, he died before he could tell us what it was. You'll be drop-shipped to Baghdad." Lambert reaches into a briefcase and pulls out a manila envelope. He slides it across the table to me. "Everything you need to know is in there. Be ready to leave by army transport tonight at twenty-two hundred hours from Dulles. That should give you enough time to get home, make your preparations, and be back at the airport by twenty-one hundred."

Yeah, just barely enough time.

I nod and tap my fingers on the envelope without opening it. That can wait until I get back to Towson.

"Okay," I say. I have nothing else on the calendar.

6

I never pack much when I'm going OCONUS on assignment. An important component of my uniform is a slim custom-made Osprey backpack that fulfills a zillion functions. I can fit two or three changes of clothing inside, plus an assortment of Third Echelon equipment that I can pull out at a moment's notice. I have a medical kit that contains painkillers, bandages, antiseptic, and atropine injections to combat exposure to a chemical attack. I have a limited supply of flares--both chemical and emergency--for various uses. Chemical flares glow in the dark when you crack the inner containers. They're useful for attracting and distracting enemies. Emergency flares are standard road flares that emit heat, which can distract sensors like the ones found on automated turrets. I also keep a few frag grenades handy. These 14-ounce M67 babies consist of 2.5-inch steel spheres surrounding 6.5 ounces of high explosive. When these things go off, you don't want to be close, believe me. The high-velocity shrapnel will rip you to shreds. In addition to the grenades I usually carry at least one wall mine. This is a motion-sensitive explosive device that can be attached to almost any surface. I'm able to improvise in the field, too--I've found that I'm pretty good at deactivating enemy mines and adding them to my inventory if I need more.

Other tools of the trade include a standard set of lock picks, wrenches, and probes for bypassing basic cylinder locks. For more difficult enclosures, such as safes, I use what we call disposable picks that can be adjusted to different strengths, depending on what it is you want to open. They contain microexplosive charges that deliver a quick impact to any standard lock cylinder, shattering the pins. The downside of these things is that they're sometimes a little noisy. I've also got a nifty little camera jammer that emits microwave pulses. This is useful for disrupting the characteristic signals used in the microcircuitry of surveillance cameras. The only problem with the jammer is that it operates off a capacitor that you have to recharge. Then there's the optic cable--kind of like those things doctors use to stick up your ass to look around with when you're a lucky colonoscopy patient. It's very flexible and I can slip it under doors and through holes to see what's on the other side. There's even a night-vision enhancement.

My standard issue weapon is a Five-seveN tactical handgun with a single-action trigger. The twenty-round magazine comes equipped with a silencer and flash suppressor. I've already told you a little bit about the gun, but I don't think I mentioned that it has a T.A.K. integrated inside it. The Tactical Audio Kit is a laser-operated microphone that enables me to read the vibration off certain surfaces, mainly glass windows. The laser mic provides a zoomed camera-like field that can be aimed at different objects. It's great for listening to conversations, but I have to be careful to make sure I use it only when I'm concealed. The damn thing lights up red when it's on.

My uniform, which I've already described, folds up neatly and fits in a special pouch in the Osprey. My goggles are a lifesaver. They have two modes of operation--night vision and thermal vision. Night vision, of course, allows me to pick up illumination at the lower end of the infrared spectrum. This is great for exploring in the dark--the only drag is that the image is slightly grainy, so fine details are difficult to see. Thermal vision is an essential tool in darkness as well, for it captures the upper level of the infrared spectrum, which is emitted as heat rather than reflected light. This allows me to discern warm bodies through visual obstacles such as smoke and gas. One cool thing it does is that if I happen to examine a computer keyboard or keypad immediately after someone has touched it, the keys that were pressed will have a faint heat signature still on them. No well-equipped spy should be without thermal vision. A special fluorescent mode allows me to see fingerprints, stains, and dust disturbance that is normally invisible to the naked eye. This is useful when I'm searching for secret compartments.

My favorite weapon and tool has to be the standard issue SC-20K, a modular assault weapon system. This is something I can't carry with me when I travel. It usually needs to be drop-shipped by the NSA--along with my toy-filled Osprey--and left someplace where I can pick them up. Sometimes that can be a tricky maneuver in a country where we have no embassy. The SC-20K looks like a stocky rifle, but it's much more than that. The Bull Pup configuration makes it light and compact without sacrificing firepower (it uses 5.56x45mm ss109, 30 rounds, and it can be fired in semiautomatic or full automatic modes). There's a flash/sound suppressor combined with a multipurpose launcher that makes it an ideal appliance in the field, and for long-distance shots I can use the scope. The launcher is beneath the main barrel and it utilizes a number of different devices. I can shoot off a ring airfoil projectile, which incapacitates an enemy rather than kills him. A good head shot will knock a guy out, or if I hit someone in the torso, it'll stun him. I can launch sticky cameras that attach themselves to surfaces I can't climb to. These miniature cameras have full pan and zoom functionality plus night and thermal vision modes. The images are fed directly to my OPSAT. An adaptation of the sticky camera is the diversion camera. This honey has had its zoom motor as well as its vision enhancement apparatus replaced with a noisemaker and a CS gas canister. I can trigger it with my OPSAT from a distance, attracting enemies with sound and then dispensing the gas to stop them in their tracks. Similar to the sticky cameras are the sticky shockers, high-voltage discharge devices coated in adhesive resin. They stick to enemies and give them an incapacitating shock. Smoke grenades come in useful as well. These are standard CS gas canisters that stop groups of enemies cold. I like to treat them like bowling balls and aim for strikes. I have additional smoke grenades without CS that just produce black smoke to cover my tracks.