Philippines Connection

Chapter 2: Lafayette, Indiana. November 3rd, 2023. 16:30 hours

When Jim Stan stepped off the Amtrak train and onto the platform at 200 N 2nd St. Lafayette, Indiana at around 8:30 p.m., he felt as if the bitter November wind would cut through him. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground and still more falling. The downtown area had a pleasant, small town feel that brought back childhood memories from back in Texas, before the rise of the big box stores that decimated small town Main Streets all over the U.S. It was a refreshing feeling for him to realize a few of those places still do exist. The area was busy with the hustle and bustle of people Christmas shopping. Most were headed home as the shops were all closed or closing soon. I don't know how I ever stood this kind of cold before, he thought as he felt, and was indeed far removed from where he had been stationed for the better part of the past two years, at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jim had been assigned to the embassy, which was run by Ambassador Crocker under the guise of 'technical systems administrator.' In reality, even Ambassador Crocker had no idea that Jim was probably the most highly trained and experienced black ops operatives the U.S. government had ever employed.

The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) has case officers working in embassies and from safe houses throughout the world. These case officers usually pose as U.S. diplomats and they have diplomatic immunity, which means they're rarely in enough trouble that can't be resolved diplomatically.

The CIA also has agents involved in a program known as NOC (Non-Official-Cover Clandestine Intelligence Program). These agents typically pose as businessmen in high-risk places and do not have diplomatic immunity, which inevitably puts them in higher risk situations, but they answer to and take orders directly from superiors. They don't make a move without approval.

Then, we have agents involved in Black Operations. These operatives are truly on their own. They're often selected from regular special operations units such as Navy SEALs, Marine Recon, Delta Force or Army Rangers and have extensive combat experience. Their true identity isn't even known by many people within any of the intelligence agencies, except for a few senior officials. Logistics and support personnel know them by a code name or number only. Jims code name was 'Ghost'. These operatives have a reputation as being outlaws because, well, they are. They conduct highly clandestine intelligence operations that the government and the operator's superiors sometimes don't even know the details about. They break many international laws and are particularly good at getting away with it undetected. They're typically fluent in several languages, have extensive combat and various weapons training and are taught the arts of disguise, deception, infiltration, and evasion, along with a few more skills they pick up along the way. Often the methods and tactics used to retrieve information and achieve the end goal would be considered illegal if sanctioned by the U.S. Government, so, for the Governments own safety and credibility, black ops operatives aren't required to disclose how they conduct missions. If these operatives make a mistake, the U.S. not only won't help them, they wouldn't even acknowledge their existence. This small, yet highly trained and experienced group of operators tend to prefer working alone as individuals and have direct, but unofficial access to the head of the CIA, and the President himself in extreme cases. Ambassador Crocker correctly suspected Jim was possibly a member of black ops, as he hadn't received an employee profile for him, which was routine for Washington to send for new assignments, so, he preferred to not even know what Jim was up to. He didn't want any knowledge of day-to-day operations as he knew it could get him in a diplomatic mess that could prove career ending for the Ambassador.

Jim had conducted and participated in many undercover operations and raids against terrorist training camps, hideouts and high value targets in Malaysia and neighboring countries. On one such operation he discovered some information that led him to believe a lot of people's lives were in danger, approximately 9.4 million lives in the greater Chicago area but he didn't know exactly how or when. For the time being, at least until Jim had enough proof that such a large-scale attack on American soil was indeed imminent, he was to answer to only one person, CIA Director James Baghardt but if and when he deemed necessary, President Banner himself.