Satan's Spy (The Steve Church saga Book 2), André Gallo [ebook reader color screen .txt] 📗

SATAN'S SPY

André Le Gallo

 

Also by André Le Gallo

The Caliphate

The Red Cell

SATAN’S SPY

Copyright © 2021 André Le Gallo

Original copyright © 2014

All Rights Reserved

Published in the United States of America

by D Street Books

a division of Mountain Lake Press

Cover design by Jutta Medina

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, except for certain historical figures, is unintentional and coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote brief excerpts in a review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Cathy, Thérèse and Craig,

Elise, Brittany and Preston

for your support and encouragement

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

1. Manama, Bahrain

2. Tehran: Detention Center for Revolutionary Guard Corps

3. Tehran: Early January 1979

4. McLean, Virginia: The Present

5. Marin County, California

6. Langley, Virginia: CIA Headquarters

7. Langley: National Clandestine Service

8. Tehran: Former American Embassy Grounds, Mousavi’s Office

9. Alexandria, Virginia: Old Town

10. Langley: Office of the Director

11. Tehran: Hotel Tehran, Chamber of Commerce Breakfast

12. Washington: Four Seasons Hotel

13. Shemīrān, Iran

14. Tehran: Imam Khomeini International Airport

15. Navārān, Iran

16. Tehran: The Persian Esteghlal International

17. Tehran: Canadian Embassy

18. Langley: Director’s Office

19. Tehran: Mousavi’s Office

20. Washington: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

21. Tehran: Farah’s Apartment

22. South Tehran

23. Tehran: Canadian Embassy

24. Tehran: Al Quds Safe House

25. Tehran: National Computer Center

26. Tehran: Tuesday

27. Tehran: Ministry of Intelligence Compound

28. Tehran: Esteghlal Hotel

29. Washington: Tribune Building

30. Washington: White House Situation Room

31. Tehran: Ketaki Restaurant

32. Tehran: Swiss Embassy, U.S. Interests Section

33. Tehran: Al Quds Safe House

34. Tehran: Grand Bazaar

35. Tehran: Farah’s Apartment

36. Tehran: Friday-Saturday

37. Tehran: Al Quds Safe House

38. Tehran: Swiss Embassy

39. Persian Gulf: Aboard the U.S.S. Allen Dulles

40. Washington: U.S. Capitol Building

41. Tehran: President’s Office

42. Outskirts of Tehran

43. Tehran: Crossley Residence

44. Tehran: Farah’s Apartment

45. Tehran: Crossley Residence

46. Langley: Director’s Office

47. Yazd, Iran

48. Yazd: Yazdi House

49. A Street in Tehran

50. Yazdi House

51. Persian Gulf: U.S.S. Dulles

52. The Qanats

53. The White House: Oval Office

54. On the Road to Shiraz

55. Shiraz, Iran

56. Andrews Air Force Base: CIA Hangar

57. Firuzabad, Iran

58. Qashqai Camp, South of Firuzabad

59. Nayband Marine Coastal National Park, Iran

60. Manama: U.S.S. Dulles

61. Zagros Mountains, Iran

62. Zagros Mountains

63. Manama

64. Zagros Mountains

65. Persian Gulf: U.S.S. Dulles

66. Persian Gulf

67. Tehran: Mousavi’s Office

68. Persian Gulf

69. Mousavi’s Office

70. The White House: Oval Office

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Foreword

 

André Le Gallo’s Satan’s Spy is a refreshing break from the usual pattern in American pop culture when dealing with American espionage. We are spared the usual cartoon of bumbling incompetence or anti-Constitutional malevolence. Rather, here we get to see a CIA that, despite its fair share of human failings, is generally populated by conscientious, capable citizens. We see a fair measure of courage and intelligence, along with some lesser virtues and an occasional vice. And we see how the agency must operate in the dangerous and morally ambiguous world created by clashing personalities, policies, cultures, and politics.

     Le Gallo is able to do this because he has been there. A career case officer, the details of his plot are at times vaguely autobiographical, adding operational realism to the twists and turns of his story line.

     And what a story line! Le Gallo allows himself to paint boldly, with bright colors and a wide brush. Beginning with a terrorist attack in a Gulf Hotel and ending with a daring escape attempt at sea, Satan’s Spy more than fills its quota for adventure. There is a botched Iranian election, cyber combat, and even an exquisitely timed act of God to complicate events.

     But with all of its twists and turns, and even with the occasionally unexpected plot event, Satan’s Spy is anchored in reality: a dangerous Iran with aggressive ambitions and deeply felt internal dissent; a cyber menace that threatens catastrophic destruction; an American intelligence community struggling with democratic demands for transparency even while dependent on secrecy for its success. As that reality seems to shape and reshape itself daily in the Middle East, Satan’s Spy gives its reader more than a small edge in penetrating the meaning of current events. Clearly Satan’s Spy does not try to say it all, either about global crises or about espionage. But it does lift the veil a bit and that’s a service, especially since it does it in a way that both informs and entertains.

—General Michael V. Hayden

     Former Director, National Security Agency

     Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence

     Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency

  Introduction

“Are you keeping Steve and Kella in your new novel?” I was asked at a book signing for my first novel The Caliphate. When I said I was, the middle-aged man who had asked the question said, “Great! That Kella is a beautiful girl!” His wife pulled on his sleeve to have him sit down and, in a stage whisper, said, “Arthur, she is only a fictional character.” With encouragement like that, I had no choice but to revive Steve and Kella for Satan’s Spy.

     “Write about what you know” goes an old saying, so the background tapestry for Satan’s Spy is drawn from personal experience. Intelligence operations do not exist in a vacuum, and the story provides a glimpse into some of these external factors: the friction between the CIA and the Department of