ICC- Episode 1 - The Fire in the Hole

[Mr. Handy]

Lee Shaftoe orders steak and eggs, then fills in the others as to his discoveries and catches up on theirs. "It definitely sounds like human trafficking was going on there," he says.

[Mr. Handy]

"Once that warrant comes back," says Miranda Waterhouse, "we'll be able to take a look inside that container. Whatever it is, the Saudis went to a lot of trouble to bring it here and secure it. It must be important."

[Snapper]

ICC - Gonzalez:

Gonzalez seizes every opportunity to grin at the slightly plump, New Yorker waitress, and always keeps her eye contact when he can.

He tries to summarise to his colleagues his interesting conversation with the black cowboy and his erudite friend.

"We got local meth dealing. We got a possible war between some kind of aggressive Islamic sect and an African Christian-ish church with maybe pagan influences. I'm thinking the church is good for a visit but I might need some back up."

"FBI might have some better info for us on this pastor of the church." Gonzalez looks expectantly at the FBI on hand.

[Snapper]

ICC - Conroy:

Conroy gives the CSI he's been dealing with his business card and exchanges phone numbers. "Anything that can be done to expedite, that'd be great. I've got to catch up with my colleagues."

He takes four small jar samples of the red dust. "What the Hell is this?"

Eventually, Conroy finds his way to the diner, hastily ordering just coffee. He has his portable forensic kit with him and pulls out a jar of powder. "Anyone got a clue about this?"

Experimentally, he dribbles a few drops of table water into the red powder slowly.

OOC:

Sorry for being slow team but I'm back now!

Can Conroy start making a few skill rolls too much around with this red dust?

[Mr. Handy]

"I can put in a call to ICE to check the immigration records for whoever we manage to identify," says Shaftoe, "as well as for the Saudi nationals involved."

[Snapper]

ICC - Gonzalez:

"Let's start with the First Church of Africa Zion, here in The Hole. And particularly a Reverend Milton Ingwenya."

[Philulhu]

IC - Harry Shibatu

Harry shook his head. What was happening with the world when priests were suspects in such cases?

[Mr. Handy]

"Do you know which country he came from?" asks Shaftoe.

[Snapper]

ICC- Gonzalez:

Gonzalez pauses mid bite of bacon and eggs to squint at Shaftoe.

"Hell if I know. Africa somewhere. How many immigrant Reverend Milton Ingwenyas can there be?"

Gonzalez refocuses on his prime task of casting admiring looks at the waitress.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'll put in a call," says Shaftoe. "Wherever he's from, there should be a record of it."

[Snapper]

OOC - Conroy:

This being a non-urgent moment (I hope) at the diner, Conroy has Science - Chemistry 30% and Science - Environmental 50% to use to make some initial assessment of the red dust.

ICC - Conroy:

As well as dribbling drops of water into the red dust, Conroy pulls a jeweller's eye magnifying glass out of his go-bag and peers at the dust through it. "Whatever this is, it's probably raining down on all the rescue workers at the site."

[welsh]

At the diner.

Wade has been pausing as the others catch up. When a break occurs, she says, " Reverend Milton Ingwenyas came over from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is on a Green Card but seems to have qualified as a refugee. No surprise given then turmoil in the Congo the past few years. So far we have no record of any criminal dealings but we do have some connection with other African Christian Churches and African-affiliated NGOs. Apparently he has also taken an interest in helping African immigrants with gaining nationalization as well as outreach, works with local refugee organizations as well. But it is a small church and, according to our records, does not make a considerable amount of money. "

Conroy places a small amount of the dust on the table and under the light it looks unremarkably red and flakey. When he drips water atop it, the dust seems to float to the top of the water droplets and cling there. There seems to be virtually no absorbtion at all.

Lapis shrugs, "Looks like it came from a desert. I used to see dirt due that during my time over in the big sandbox." The big sandbox is a reference to the Middle East- Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wade pauses again, and then cuts in, "Got some early toxicology results from those body parts. Genetic tracing suggests most of the children are either African American, Latin American or Caucasian, many had trace elements of some narcotics substance in the blood but all have some traces of various heavy metal pollutants and evidence of exposure to industrial chemicals. Looks like all of them had bodies exposed to or had consumed harmful environmental chemicals. Furthermore, most of the children had either been exposed to the Covid virus or were suffering some genetic illnesses."

"As for the Ruby Street Bangers or Ruby Street Mafia." Adds Wade, "Seems they were a bunch of meth heads and vagrants. Local kids getting into trouble. Lewis Carmichael, the dead kid, seemed pretty typical of a kid on the street. We'd need to check in on FBI Organized Crime databases or perhaps the local PD knows more, but they seem to be mostly small time meth heads committing petty crimes, to little to draw much attention."

"As for a motor cycle gang, could be that they are renting out some space in the Hole and using that space as a local meth lab before moving on. But we don't have a positive ID on such an outfit yet. That said, the Ruby Street Bangers could be providing some local muscle to a more significant presence."

As Wade is speaking a short rather heavy set bald man who looks somewhat like Seinfeld's George Costanza walks into the diner, sees the group sitting and approaches, orders coffee from the waittress and then sits down at the table at the others, who are surprised at this unannounced stranger.
https://media1.giphy.com/media/rtr4SdtSxbWXm/source.gif

He says "Calm down, cowboys. I am going to reach into my jacket and give you my ID. My name is Charlie Kromkowski, I'm with CIA, and I have to tell you that by law, but realistically, I am not even supposed to be here, but this case has international implications so...?" He shrugs his hands.

He reaches into his jacket and removes a card that identifies him by name and has a contact number. "Perhaps we can figure out what this Saudi connection is, yeah? First off, yeah, Red Wind's container will be broken into and you'll find inside something interesting no doubt, but truth is you can't touch Red Wind. Why? Well sometimes they work for them, and sometimes they work for us, and it does no one any good to go too deep a dive in their books."

"Second thing, we know that the Saudi's got a Tiger Squad in New York already. But we don't know who they are. And the Saudi operator-in-chief at the local Saudi consulate, Mohammed F. Al Jubier, hasn't left his apartment since yesterday, and was last seen entering the place with a young woman that we have yet to identify." He looks at them and notices some confusion, "A Tiger Squad is a Saudi hit team. As for Jubier, it's possible the woman he was with was either a high priced prostitute or perhaps a honey trap working for the Iranians."

Kromkowski looks at the dust and water drops. "As for that, you can do a soil test and you will find some salt content, but I'd bet the mineral content would reveal that it comes from the Middle East, and probably Iran."

[Mr. Handy]

"That's interesting," says Miranda. "Sounds like Iran may have gotten its hooks in Jubier. The Tiger Squad could be for him. They could have even killed him already. Of course, it could also be a different Saudi."

[Snapper]

ICC - Conroy:

Conroy looks mildly annoyed by the various suggestions as to the origin of the dust as he conducts actual scientific analysis. "If it is Iranian desert sand, or at least from somewhere in the Middle East, that raises as many questions as it answers. Starting with how did it get here? Someone just had to recreate the old country's desert in their basement? Which then blew up?"

"Off that topic, I wonder if the toxins in those dead kids indicate they're Hole residents? This entire area is an ecological disaster. Could be poor local kids with meth-head parents, and the kids have been drugged and abducted, maybe? Parents may not even have noticed they're gone, or have anyone they could report their kids missing to. The remains in the trunk are my priority unless anyone has a better idea."

[Snapper]

ICC - Gonzalez:

Gonzalez regards the Company Man with the wary professional scepticism of one who has been 'burnt' before. "The Company? Greaaat. To be clear though, whatever you guys got cooking, you can't explain great big bangs in the Hole and you don't mind us going after this local African church?"

"And if I don't have to, I don't think I want to tangle with international hit squads. Are these the guys that killed that journalist in an embassy then chopped him up to get rid of the remains?"

[Mr. Handy]

"That would be Jamal Khahshoggi," says Lee Shaftoe. "If Jubier was compromised by the Iranians, or if the Saudis just think he was, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes."

[welsh]

At the diner-

Kromkowski looks at Gonzales a long moment and shrugs it off without comments, a person use to disparaging views of his organization. "Yeah, it was a Tiger team that whacked, sliced and diced Khahshoigi a few years back. And he isn't the only one either. So you are already tangling with international hit squads. That's what I am here to explain."

He quiets as the waitress comes to the table bearing a tray of coffee and food, smiles as she gives him and others coffee, leaves a few breakfast dishes of those who orders. "I'll be back with the rest in a moment, anything else I can getcha?"

"Sure," Says Kromkowski, "Egg sandwich, two eggs, little runny, cheese, sausage and would you mind a spoon of Salsa?"

"Salsa? Sure. We got a decent Western Omelette?" She asks.

"Next time maybe, but I gotat eat and run so make it to go will ya?" He adds.

"Sure thing." She smiles at the others and turns back to the kitchen.

Kromkowski takes a sip of his coffee before he begins. "If you recall about 9-10 years ago the DEA uncovered an attempt to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in a restaurant in Washington? Well, had they pulled it off they wouldn't have just whacked the Saudi Ambassador but scores of high level government officials and politicians. The Iranians denied it and seriously, had they gotten away with it, that would have been an act of war, and think how that might have turned out? Anyway, the Saudi's took it seriously and raised their game because the Iranians were already doing it. The Iranians had been whacking political dissidents and opposition players all over the Middle East and in Europe, but the US had generally been off-limits. So the Iranians seem keen to increased their game. End of story, the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia over control of the Persian Gulf and the greater Middle East has spread to the US."

(OCC- about the plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in the US- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_alle ... d%20States ).

"This place you are investigating, this house that blew up? We thought it was a Saudi safehouse, placed in a convenient location where people don't often look. The Saudi's had set it up initially as a religious outreach facility, because of the connections between Saudi intelligence and their clerics, it made a convenient front. So no one really took much notice of it because that's something the Saudi's have been doing all over the US and cooperation between religious groups and governments is pretty common. Simply, no one really gives a fuck if the Saudi's want to open a religious outreach in a shithole part of town that no one gives a fuck about. But we think that that was just a cover, and once the religious folks moved out, the Saudi's turned the building into a safe house for their operators. Most people around here dont' care. Those who do could get paid off and if house drew too much official attention, they could look like some terrorist or drug running operation, and the Saudi's get plausible deniability- whatever connects the house to the Saudi's is embarrassing, but they aren't directly involved. Except.. maybe they are."

Lapis, a DEA agent, asks, "So they are running drugs and you know it?"

Kromkowski nods, "Yeah, and to be fair, it isn't that unusual either. Covert operations does dirty deeds in the dark and don't want to draw too much attention to themselves. So do drug dealers, terrorist networks, mob guys...we're here to make to make the citizens safe by keeping the dirt out. To do that, we got to get into the dirt with em otherwise we can't do our job. But you are DEA and you've been around, so don't give me any fucking guilt trip about it, because that's the job we signed up for and that's the price. For what it's worth, any drugs these guys were selling was mostly going to buyers looking to buy the high they got in the Middle East, and they were keeping it quiet and careful. Or that's at least what we thought. If you bust open that container you are likely to find, among other things, drugs from the Middle East."

"Here's the thing though. These folks using the house, they aren't all Saudi's but folks recruited from all over. Some of those you were able to identify came over from Europe and they are not religious with the usual connections. These look like contractors, not Saudi military or intel, but terrorists who are anti-Iran. Again, nothing unusual here. Fairly common for the agencies to higher outside contractors that they can refer jobs out to as necessary. But from what we can tell, this group is a bit odd."

Wade, who has been listening on the phone, asks, "The children we found?"

"Yeah, there's that. These fuckers are picking up kids and cutting them up? Why? And does that connect to that red dust?" Kromkowski shrugs. "I don't have those answers. But as I said, we keep an eye on Red Wind, the company, and they are a mover of cargo all over the Middle East. How the dust got here? My guess would be that they shipped it here on a ship by container. Someone went out into an Iranian desert, dug up the sand and shipped it here, and then they stuffed it into the house and even used it to reinforce the structure. That house is pretty old and survived here a long time, but old NY construction is pretty sturdy stuff and meant to last. They turned the house into a bunker not unlike people did in the Second World War in Russia and in France- they hid a bunker in a house. But why build a bunker at all?"

Wade chimes in as Kromkowski breaks to take a sip of coffee. "From early toxicology results, it seems that most of the children are New Yorkers, all exposed to some kind of toxic substances. Given the nature of the remains, it might take months to identify them. We got kids coming to New York all the time and disappearing, so we're not sure if their families are in the US. Could be the kids were brought to NY from out-of-state. We're running EZ pass records to track car movements in and out of the city, and it seems the cab remained in NY. But the sedan and the van left the city and the state on multiple occasions."

Kromkowski looks at Miranda, "More likely Jubier is running the Tiger, not their victim. As the local Saudi operator in chief, he's more likely to coordinate hits on Saudi targets. Saudi targets could include anti-Saudi Iranian operations, Iranian operations and possibly Iranian targets of opportunities, as well as anyone else the Saudi's want to keep tabs on. But it's mostly intelligence gathering in NY because of the UN and the Saudi's would want to keep their hands clean and distant from any wet work. More likely Jubier would be the target of the Iranians or whoever blew up the house."

"As for the church? Honestly, the priest is something of a phantom for us. Reverend Milton Ingwenya is out of Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that was dealing with a nasty war for years. He came over as a refugee. We got no records on him from the Congo that we can verify but that's no surprise given Congo records. But we got nothing that ties him to anything but a number of Congolese refugee organizations helping people come over from Africa and his connections to the local African community. Seems he also helps local kids, mostly African first generations, who get into some trouble with the police, usually over drugs. What I know of his religion is odd by my standards, but I am CIA, so really, what the fuck do I know about God? I understand there is a lot of mix of Christian and traditional African faiths in the African Zionists, and they are a bit like evengelicals- all about the spirit, but again, not my thing and the Agency hasn't considered him a person of any interest. There are ties between religious organizations and African politicians all over Africa, especially in West Africa and the Congo, but Ingwenya doesn't seem to have much political sway here. From what we've been able to draw, few real contacts back home, no family to speak of. Supposedly his entire family got wiped out by war or disease and he came over because he was the wrong ethnicity in the wrong place. In the US, he runs a small church to the local faithful. We checked his tax records and he's running on a shoe-string budget and not making a lot out of his church.
If he's up to something, it isn't on our radar but he'd be careful because he probably doesn't want to get sent back to DR Congo. That place is such a shithole it makes the Hole look serene."

The waitress come back to the table with more dishes including Kromkowski's egg sandwich in a bag. He smiles at her and nods, says, "Thanks." then watches her leave. He turns to others. "So if you got questions, ask. I don't have all the answers though. I can tell you that those contractors in the house were anti-Iran but I can't tell you what they were up to, why they brought that dust or even what was with the kids bodies. I can't tell you who lit the fire or why. I wish I had some answers for ya on that, but we want to know to because this one is strange."

[Snapper]

ICC - Gonzalez:

Gonzalez pulls a Cohiba cigarette out of its packet but just holds it, unlit, under his nose for a moment then sticks it behind his ear. He resumes demolishing breakfast and coffee.

"OK, so the BF hole in the ground was a safe house for some international collection of dangerous asshole hitmen working for the Saudis. Lawrence of Arabia meets Seal Team 6. They can get anything they like shipped to them by this Red Wind company. In their free time, they chop up little children and deal drugs."

"How long did the Company know there were a collection of Saudi hired psychopaths in that place?"

"And I guess that makes getting a warrant for the container a high priority. If it wasn't already."

"Back to the Big Bang theories, the international men of mystery could have accidentally set off one of their own toys, maybe? Or else the African church took them out? With a vengeance."

[Philulhu]

IC - Harry Shibatu

Harry mulled over what Kromkowski was telling them. ”So you knew it was a Saudi safe house and you knew they were pushing drugs?” he asked with a shake of his head.

”So the person or persons who wanted to do them harm could have been the Iranians or any of their affiliates or someone in the drugs trade who didn’t want them on his patch. Have I got that right?” It sounded to Harry as if there was no shortage of potential suspects.

[welsh]

At the diner-

Kromkowski shrugs. "What can I tell ya. Yeah, the Saudi's and Iranians are running covert operations against each other, and the Iranians willingness to sanction a hit in DC that would have taken out not just the Saudi Ambassador but a number of high profile American members of the political elite mean this is something we watch. So we got to watch the Iranians and the Saudis in the US. The problem is that there is a lot to watch."

"Most of this Saudi-Iranian conflict is not going to cause much notice. Neither side wants that. The Saudi's don't want to do something embarrassing in the US and the Iranians don't want to give Uncle Sam an excuse to use cruise missiles or drones on Iran. That doesn't stop them from running operations against each other in the US. And this is NY, home of the UN and a banking center of the world, so you can bet they are playing the game here as well. But both sides are not going to want to get directly involved in anything wet. They will first rely on contractors."

"What we know of this bunch is that they are anti-Iran, and for the Saudi's that means that they are potential allies and friendlies. We found out about them from a tail on Jubier who met up with that girl you found in the house at a restaurant in Manhattan. Then we tracked a Red Wind delivery to them, so we figured they were contractors. As for the Saudi's, it was token support. Money to run operations and keep them fed, a place to lay low, perhaps look the other way at customs, and when they need them to do something unpleasant, they will call in the favor. Like they were on retainer."

Yes, we knew about the drugs, but it never caused us much concern. First off, we knew they were bringing drugs in but weren't completely sure they were dealing on the street. It's a working assumption based on past imports, but it wasn't a lot of drugs and it wasn't going to make anyone independently wealthy. They are selling to other MENA expats, the kind of drugs that Americans don't use or have much interest in, but the expats want a taste from home. Whatever they are selling, its contained in small isolated communities and not a risk to the US public. So leave them alone, let them feel safe, and easier to pounce on when we need to."

Lapis signs, "Before Nixon's War on Drugs, the federal government could give a shit about heroin as long as it stayed in black communities. Same policy with MENA drugs?"

Kromkowski shrugs. "Bud, I don't make the policy. But busting their heads is not cost effective, especially if we are worried about bigger things." Kromkowski nods. "We send the local police or DEA down on these guys because they are moving a little Kwat, than they go to ground and we have no idea what they are up to. You want to catch fish, you got offer them a little worm, give them some confidence that they can bite, otherwise they'll just hide under some other rock."

Kromkowski seems content with this justification even if the others are not.

He continues, "So, we see these guys as contractors for the Saudi's, people they can bring in for doing a job they don't want to be officially tied to, so if it goes South, the Saudi's can claim no direct involvement or knowledge. Whoever these people were, first, they were not a Tiger team and they weren't official. In fact, from what we gather from what you folks found, most of these were people from Europe and not the MIddle East. We think any Arabs or Persians were recruited in Europe and not from the Gulf. Our IDs based on the bodies you found suggest these people ran anti-Iranian operations in Europe before coming here, and perhaps they were going to hiding here to return to Europe with less heat, Maybe. So yeah, we knew they were moving some narcotics into the country, but not in large amounts, and we figured this has Saudi permission because of the location and because it wasn't so much drugs as to cause a problem. If someone got caught, the Saudi's could intervene or let them go down, no big difference. We figure the Saudi's wanted them to keep a low profile and keep out of noticeable trouble, and if they used a little recreational narcotic to keep them happily locked away, so be it. As for us, better to watch than to go after em. Remember, the Saudi's are our friends in that region and the Iranians aren't. It's national security, so unless this gets embarrassing, we leave it alone."

Kromkowski puts down his coffee cup. "But we had no idea about the children being snatched. Honestly, we have no idea what that was about at all. What where they doing? No idea. Maybe harvesting and selling organ parts like the Chinese are doing with those Falun Gong folks? But as far as we can tell, there was no Saudi knowledge of that either. So these guys might have gone full rogue on the Saudis, but rogue in another country. Maybe the Saudi's didn't know. We don't think they did. But what if they did know? Well for the Saudi's that's not their problem, but then they still should have cut them loose to save the embarrassment. Contractors can be replaced. Given the Saudi's are their landlords, and then this business with the kids? It's a risky move that, if exposed, will draw in attention, my guess is the Saudi's didn't know what their contractors were doing. Had they know, Jubier probably should have cut them loose and save future embarrassment."

"And than there is what we don't know. What the fuck where they doing? Importing dust, cutting up children? They got a small arsenal and they are bringing in drugs. But they didn't get on the radar of the local police about the drugs, so... that wasn't what this was about. They are building a bunker in Queens? What for? Who torched the place and why did it blow up? Maybe one of their toys went bang in the wrong way. We have no idea, and we want to get to the bottom of this too. Fuck's sake, we are CIA and we don't have the answers."

Kromkowski turns to Harry. " You guys are a joint task force, but you are not the only one. This is the kind of thing that the FBI and CIA need to coordinate on and we're watching but there is a lot ot watch, and seriously, these contractors looked like they were just playing house for the heat to let off in Europe. We're playing catch up on this. We don't think that this was drugs related simply because whatever they were bringing in wasn't in such large quantities to challenge local organized crime, and what they were bringing in would, if sold, go to Middle East buyers. As far as we know there is no gang war over the middle east buyers in Queens or Brooklyn. New Jersey, maybe, but not here. Maybe they are moving some drugs to buy weapons, but more likely they are bringing them in by other ways. As for the Iranians, maybe. If the Iranians had been able to track these folks to NY and they were worth hitting in the US, but if that's the case, they would probably go through contractors to do it. I don't think the Iranians would have settled for spraying the place with flame accelerant and watching it burn. That would attract too much attention. So maybe these assholes just blew themselves up like the Weatherman did years ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich ... _explosion ) . Or perhaps the fire set off something that led to the explosion. Maybe the Africans set it on fire because they didn't like the possible competition from Allah. Honestly, we got no idea. But we want to know."