Line of Control - Tom Clancy [33]
He probably had some of those in his own computer files back in his room. But he wanted information that was incident-specific. Friday told her to phone back the minute she had the photo and text archives.
The American operative neared the roped-off bus site. Unlike the two buildings, where the walls had kept people and objects from the street, the bus debris had been strewn everywhere by the powerful explosion.
The bodies had been cleared away but the street was covered with metal, leather, and glass from the bus itself. There were books and cameras that the passengers had been carrying and travel accessories, clothing, and religious icons that had been packed in luggage.
Unlike the buildings, this scene was a snapshot of the moment of impact.
Friday's cell phone beeped as he neared the red tape. He stopped walking and took the call.
"Yes?" he said.
"Mr. Friday? It's Samantha Mandor. I have the photographs and information you asked for. Do you want me to send the images somewhere?
There are about four dozen color pictures."
"No," Friday said.
"When was the last attack in Srinagar?"
"Five months ago," Samantha told him.
"It was against a shipment of artillery shells that were enroute to the line of control. The attack caused one hell of an explosion."
"Was it a suicide bombing?" he asked.
"No," Samantha said.
"There's a microscopic image of liquid crystal display fragments that were found near ground zero. The lab analysis says it was part of a timer. They also said a remote sensor was found in the debris but that it was apparently not detonated."
That was probably part of a backup plan, Friday thought.
Professionals often included a line-of-sight device to trigger the explosives in case the timer did not work or if the device were discovered before the timer could activate them. The presence of an LOS receiver meant that at least one of the terrorists was almost certainly in the area when the device exploded.
"What about the personnel at the bomb site?" Friday asked.
"What kind of uniforms were they wearing?"
"There were National Security Guard officers as well as local police on the scene," the woman informed him.
"Any members of the Special Frontier Force?" Friday asked.
"None," she said.
"There were additional assaults against military targets in Srinagar.
They occurred six and seven weeks prior to that attack. National Security Guard officers were present there as well."
"Did anyone claim responsibility for those attacks?" Friday asked.
"According to the data file those two and this one were claimed by the same group," Samantha told him.
"The Free Kashmir Militia." "Thank you," Friday said. He had heard of them. Reportedly, they had the backing of the Pakistan government.
"Will you need anything else?" Samantha asked.
"Not right now," he replied and clicked off.
Friday hooked the cell phone to his belt. He would call his new boss later, when he had something solid to report.
He looked around. There were no Black Cat Commandos here. Maybe that was significant, maybe it was not. Their absence might have been a territorial issue. Or maybe the NSG had been unable to stop the terrorists and the problem had been turned over to the SFF. Perhaps a former SFF officer had been named to a high government post.
Appointments like that routinely led to reorganizations.
Of course, there was always the possibility that this was not routine.
What kind of exceptional circumstances would lead to a department being shut out of an investigation? That would certainly happen if security were an issue. Friday wondered if the NSG might have been compromised by Pakistani operatives. Or maybe the SFF had made it look as though the Black Cats had been penetrated. Because budgets were tighter there was even more interagency rivalry here than there was in the United