Chapter 1383
"Witness" Department
Chapter 1383 "Witness" Department
The sound of the explosion in Buddy still seemed to echo in my ears.
Song Heping sat on the edge of the bed, without turning on the light or taking off his dusty combat uniform.
That scene kept replaying in my mind.
The thermal image on the screen, the uniform orange-yellow heat source; the eerie smile on the old man's face as he calmly turned around; those unusually clear eyes, as if they had seen through everything; and the violent explosion at the very end.
It was almost like a ritual.
Clearly, the old man was prepared and knew that American special forces would appear in front of him.
He waited there, and with his life he put on a meticulously planned performance.
And those words—
"Witness it. Witness how the seeds you have sown will grow into thorns that will devour you."
This wasn't said to the Delta Force team members who rushed into the room; it was said to the people behind the camera.
Song Heping closed his eyes, pressing his fingers against his throbbing temples.
All the clues began to piece together in the darkness:
Three days ago, a USB drive mysteriously appeared under the door, containing some files about Masour and the "Sower" project.
Limited information reveals that the "Sowers" program, launched in June 2013, recruited Middle Eastern scientists to infiltrate extremist organizations.
The internal special department "Witnesses," directly controlled by the White House National Security Advisor, was disbanded in early 2016 due to the defection of Mesour.
What was the purpose of the mole who delivered the USB drive to him?
Choose yourself, because you are an outsider.
But who is that person?
Lemont?
Duke?
Or a third party other than them?
If it was Lamont, as the CIA's field coordinator for the operation, why would he expose a scandal within his own department?
If it was Duke, as a U.S. Army Major General and operations commander, why would he sabotage the operation he was leading?
If it was a third party, how did that person manage to get the USB drive into the heavily guarded base, how did they know the location of Song Heping's room, and how did they avoid all surveillance cameras?
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
The three tones, neither too light nor too heavy, are regular and restrained.
Song Heping did not respond immediately.
He glanced at his watch.
6:47 a.m.
Less than an hour after the explosion in Badi.
Who would come looking for him at this time?
Milos should still be on the outer perimeter, while Duke and Lamont should be dealing with casualties and the aftermath...
The knocking sounded again, three times in total.
Song Heping slowly stood up, placed his hand on the pistol at his waist, walked to the door, and looked out through the crack in the door.
The visitor surprised him.
It's Major General Duke.
He was alone, without an adjutant or guards.
Song Heping hesitated for a second, then opened the door.
Duke didn't speak, only nodded slightly, then stepped inside. Song Heping closed the door and locked it again.
The darkness in the room made Duke pause for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the light. Then he walked to the only chair in the room, sat down, and moved as slowly as an old man.
Song Heping did not turn on the light or sit down; he simply leaned against the wall, keeping a distance of three meters from Duke.
This distance is safe enough, and also enough to hear every word the other person says.
The two remained silent in the darkness for several minutes.
Only the faint noises from the base outside the window and the two people's soft breathing could be heard.
Finally, Duke spoke first:
"six people."
He paused for a moment, as if he needed to muster the strength to continue speaking.
"Six men went into Team A. Captain Marcus, 42 years old, with two daughters, one eight and one six. Sergeant Carter, 39 years old, with a wife seven months pregnant. Corporal Reynolds, 25 years old, just selected from the Rangers for Delta Force, this is his first combat mission. There's also Miller, Jenkins, and Chen."
Duke read out each name, and each name was like a stone, crashing heavily onto the floor.
"Now they're dead. Not in the crossfire, not from a sniper's gun, but from a carefully laid trap. The old man was waiting there, waiting for my soldiers to walk in, and then he pressed the button."
Duke looked up.
In the dim light, Song Heping could see something gleaming in his eyes.
Not tears.
Soldiers don't believe in tears.
It is something harder and hotter.
"Do you know what's the most ridiculous thing?"
For the first time, Duke's voice showed a fluctuation of emotion, an anger that had been suppressed to the extreme.
"All our reconnaissance, including drones, satellites, and ground reconnaissance teams, all the intelligence said there was only one person inside the building, no large-scale explosives, and no threat. We believed that intelligence. Because we believed in our technology, our analysis, and the intelligence system that the damned CIA had built up at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars."
He took a deep breath, and his voice became calmer again:
“But we were tricked. Completely tricked. That old man obviously knew we would come looking for him, and he stayed there deliberately to draw our attention, probably to buy Maisul more time to escape.”
Song Heping didn't speak, but just listened quietly.
He knew Duke didn't need his response, he just needed an audience.
"You reminded me before."
Duke continued speaking, his gaze fixed on Song Heping's face.
“You said the building was wrong, the heat source was wrong, the street was wrong. You were right. But I didn’t listen. Because I trusted the CIA’s intelligence, I trusted our professional plan, and I trusted that we wouldn’t make a mistake.”
At this point, he smiled bitterly.
Song Heping finally spoke: "Why are you telling me all this now, General?"
Duke did not answer immediately. He sat in his chair, leaning slightly forward, his hands clasped on his knees, as if making a difficult decision.
Silence fell in the room again, the air growing heavier and more tense, like a bowstring stretched to its limit.
“Because I’m the one who gave you the USB drive,” Duke said.
These words exploded in the darkness like a second bomb.
Song Heping's body tensed instantly, and his right hand instinctively moved towards the gun handle at his waist.
But he quickly forced himself to relax and remain still.
Duke noticed the subtle movement but didn't react; he simply continued to look at him calmly.
"Three months ago."
Duke began his narration.
"The White House, through the National Security Council, issued a directive requiring the Joint Special Operations Command to cooperate with the CIA in the capture of Messour. The directive was of the highest priority and came directly from the President's National Security Advisor. The reason was simple: Messour was a former CIA asset who possessed sensitive chemical weapons technology and may now be serving extremist groups; he had to be captured or killed before he could pose a greater threat."
“But you feel something’s not right,” Song Heping said.
“I feel something is very wrong,” Duke nodded. “First, Mesour has been missing for almost three years. If he really was working for an extremist group, with his capabilities, three years would have been enough for him to carry out several large-scale chemical weapons attacks. But there is no evidence that he was involved in any attacks. Second, the scale of the operation was abnormally high; it wasn’t a typical joint operation, but rather a direct order from the White House, led by the CIA, with Delta Force merely acting as an execution tool. Third, when I asked to see Mesour’s complete file, the CIA only provided a heavily redacted version, citing ‘sensitive sources and methods’ as the reason.”
Duke paused for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts:
“I’m a soldier, Song. I’ve been in the military for thirty-four years, from West Point to the Rangers, then to Delta Force, and finally to Joint Special Operations Command. I’ve seen too much dirty work, too much truth that’s been covered up. When an operation is unusually high-level, when intelligence is deliberately withheld, when everyone is urging you to act quickly and not ask too many questions, it usually means that there’s something wrong with the operation itself.”
“So you started investigating in secret,” Song Heping said.
“I used my connections within the military intelligence services,” Duke admitted. “I found a few old acquaintances, some in the Defense Intelligence Agency, some in the National Security Agency, and some who were retired but still had connections. I asked them to help me find the complete files for the Messour and 'Sower' programs. It was a difficult process; many files were encrypted or destroyed, but I still managed to piece together some fragments.”
Duke took something out of his breast pocket.
It wasn't a USB drive, but a folded piece of paper.
He stood up, placed the paper on the table, and then sat back down in his chair.
"Take a look. This is part of the organizational chart for the 'Sower' project, and also a list of personnel for the 'Witness' department."
Song Heping did not immediately go to get the paper.
He looked at Duke and asked, "Why did you elect me? Why didn't you give the information to the media? To Congress? To the oversight agencies?"
"Because none of those are useful."
Duke's answer was blunt and cold: "The media can be suppressed, Congress can be bought off, and oversight agencies can be infiltrated. And once I release this information, I'll be the next target. The CIA has a million ways to make a disobedient general 'die accidentally'—a heart attack, a car accident, a training accident, or even being 'friendly fire' in a war zone. I know their methods all too well."
“So you need an outsider.” Song Heping understood: “A PMC, a pawn that can be denied. If I find out the truth, you can claim that I acted without authorization; if I die, it’s just a mercenary leader dying in the line of duty, and it won’t cause any political upheaval.”
Duke didn't deny it: "This is the safest way, safe for both of us. Of course, it's riskier for you. But I know your capabilities; you know how to protect yourself. And..."
He paused for a moment, then said, “I think you have your own principles. I’ve seen your file and know that you served in the Dongda Special Forces. You and I are both soldiers.”
Song Heping walked to the table, picked up the paper, and unfolded it.
In the dim light, he could barely make out the contents:
Project Sower
Launch date: June 2013
Supervising Unit: CIA Special Operations Division
Ostensible objective: To recruit Middle Eastern scientists to infiltrate extremist groups and monitor the proliferation of chemical weapons.
Actual purpose: (Data missing)
Special Division: "The Witness"
Directly in command: White House National Security Advisor
Membership: 4 CIA operations officers, 2 representatives from the Department of Defense, and 1 representative from the State Department.
Operational method: Reporting directly to the White House, bypassing conventional intelligence channels.
Dissolution date: March 2016 (Official reason: Project restructuring; Actual reason: Dissolution to avoid risks after Maisour's defection)
Below is a partially blacked-out list, but a few names are still legible:
Vincent: then-director of the CIA.
Raymond: CIA Operations Officer, Field Coordinator
(Blacked out): White House National Security Advisor
(Blacked out): Representative of the Ministry of National Defense
(Blacked out): Representative of the State Council
At the very bottom of the list, there is a handwritten note:
“见证者部门运作期间（2013-2016），执行了至少三次‘实地测试’，地点分别为西利亚（2013年10月）、也门（2014年7月）、列比亚（2015年3月）。
The content of the tests is unknown, but involved chemical agents. All test reports were classified as 'Top Secret' and did not enter regular intelligence channels.
Song Heping put down the paper and looked up at Duke: "These tests are the reason for Maisu's betrayal?"
“Part of the reason,” Duke said. “Based on the information I’ve pieced together, the ‘Sower’ program had two layers from the beginning. Ostensibly it was infiltration and surveillance, but in reality it was testing the combat effectiveness of new chemical weapons. Scientists like Masour were recruited and told they were ‘studying defensive measures,’ but in reality they were tasked with developing and testing offensive weapons.”
“In the test in Seria at the end of 2013, Masour was on site and witnessed firsthand the consequences of the nerve agent he developed in a village. More than two hundred people died, most of them civilians. He broke down and demanded that the project be stopped and the truth be revealed. Of course, his demands were denied. The CIA gave him two options: continue to cooperate, or be ‘suspended’, which meant permanent silence.”
“But he chose a third path: defection,” Song Heping said.
“Take all the data.” Duke nodded: “Formulas, test reports, purchase records, meeting recordings, bank transfer records. Everything that can prove the truth about the ‘Sower’ program. The CIA has been looking for him, but they don’t dare to make a big fuss because if things are exposed, too many people will be implicated.”
"Then why are you suddenly making such a big fuss about arresting him?" Song Heping asked curiously.
Duke's expression became complicated: "Because of politics. This is an election year. Do you know who the 'Witness' department is involved with? It's the then Secretary of State, the former First Lady, and that person is now running for president."
A name flashed through Song Heping's mind.
He didn't say it, but Duke saw the change in his eyes.
“Yes, it’s her.” Duke’s voice dropped even lower: “Hillary Clinton. The plan was approved by him; she was Secretary of State at the time, but effectively controlled the ‘Witness’ department through the National Security Advisor. If the evidence in Messour’s hands comes out proving that during her tenure, the CIA conducted illegal chemical weapons tests in Syria, Yemen, and Lebia with her knowledge or lack thereof, resulting in civilian deaths, what do you think will happen to her campaign?”
"We will lose the election completely," Song Heping said.
“It’s not just about losing the election.” Duke shook his head. “This will be a political tsunami. The Democrats will do everything they can to cover it up, and the Republicans will do everything they can to expose it. The struggle between the two parties will escalate to a life-or-death level. And everyone involved, including CIA officials, military representatives, and State Department officials, will become victims. Ending their careers will be the least of their worries; many may face war crimes charges.”
“So we have to shut Maisour up,” Song Heping said, “before he hands over the evidence to anyone.”
“Or make him look like a terrorist,” Duke added. “That’s why the CIA insists that Mesour is Bakdadi’s messenger and his confidant. If he were a mad scientist working for the leader of an extremist group, then arresting or even killing him would be a legitimate counterterrorism operation. The evidence he has would also be smeared as fabricated and used for political propaganda to smear the United States.”
Duke stood up, walked to the window, and slightly pulled back the curtains, looking at the gradually brightening sky outside:
“But I didn’t expect it would cost the lives of six Delta Force members… I even suspect that the CIA already knew that Masour was no longer in Buddy, and that they needed the old man’s suicide to create a scene of ‘terrorist resistance.’ The old man’s suicide bombing would be described as ‘the madness of an extremist.’ All the focus would be shifted to the ‘war on terror’ rather than the truth of the ‘Sower’ program.”
He lowered the curtains, turned around, and looked at Song Heping:
"That's why I gave you the USB drive. That's why I chose you. Because I can't trust anyone right now. The CIA is untrustworthy, there might be their people inside the military, and the politicians in Washington are even less trustworthy. You're an outsider, you're capable, and most importantly, you've always been at odds with the CIA, and you're extremely competent."
Song Heping remained silent for a long time.
He was processing this information and weighing the risks.
Finally, he asked, "What's in it for me if I help you?"
Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!
(End of this chapter)