By the time Rickel arrived, the intelligence substation's analysts had already processed some of the photographs.

The incident happened suddenly, and Rickel didn't say much about it, and immediately asked the person in charge of the substation to give a briefing.

"These are two photographs taken by reconnaissance satellites: the former was taken by the STSS 'Bright Eye' space-based infrared reconnaissance satellite in low orbit seven minutes ago, and the latter was taken by the DMSP-2 defense meteorological satellite in high orbit five minutes ago."

Rickel looked intently at the two photographs, trying to find the differences.

Although he is the deputy chief in charge of operations, Ricker has decades of experience in intelligence work, is very good at intelligence analysis, and is very aware of the more than 100 military satellites managed by the CIA.

The STSS program is part of the Department of Defense and is effectively managed by the CIA and the Pentagon.

The system consists of thirty satellites and requires more than a dozen launches. Used by the Department of Defense to monitor ballistic missile and rocket launches around the world, it can track more than 100 targets simultaneously and identify missiles and warheads from price lists, space debris, scattering interference and noise. When used by the CIA, it is used to detect ground targets and can carry out 24-hour uninterrupted monitoring of important targets in hot spots.

A few years ago, a US cargo ship was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, and it was precisely with the intelligence support provided by STSS that the US special forces accurately grasped the distribution of pirates on the cargo ship without using helicopters and reconnaissance planes, and successfully rescued the hijacked crew members.

The accuracy of the STSS in detecting ground targets is very high.

When used for accurate imaging, the resolution of infrared photographs can reach 10 centimeters from north to south and 15 centimeters from east to west, which is enough to locate hidden persons in complex backgrounds.

Because the STSS is mainly used to monitor missiles, in order to reduce costs, the satellite only has infrared cameras, unlike the "keyhole" series of reconnaissance satellites, equipped with visible light cameras and synthetic aperture radar, so in order to compensate for this shortcoming, the CIA invested in the development of the DMSP-2 project.

The DMSP-2 national defense meteorological satellite system is developed on the basis of DMSP, which is composed of 12 high-orbit radar imaging satellites, making up for the shortcomings of 44 DMSPs deployed in low orbit, and forming a more complete satellite network with a wider monitoring range.

Unlike the STSS project, the DMSP-2 is completely dominated by the CIA, only borrowing the cloak of the Ministry of Defense.

Combined with DMSP, the two satellite systems are capable of real-time monitoring of various regions of the world, with a resolution of up to 0.3 meters on ground targets, and can basically identify people.

In addition, the "keyhole" reconnaissance satellite, which is independently mastered by the CIA, constitutes an all-round and full-time reconnaissance satellite network.

In terms of space reconnaissance capability, the CIA, which has more than 100 military satellites, is definitely the best among the intelligence agencies of various countries, and it is not a little bit higher than Russia's KBG, Israel's MOSSAD, and Britain's MI5.

It is a pity that reconnaissance satellites are not omnipotent, otherwise countries would not have vigorously trained espionage personnel.

There is indeed a difference between the two photos, and at a glance, the difference is quite large, but most of them are due to the difference in image quality caused by different imaging methods. Connoisseurs who know how to read satellite photographs will see that the difference in information contained in the two photographs is very small, only a little.

"What's going on?" Rickel is an expert and can be seen at a glance.

The person in charge of the substation pointed to the bright spot on the second photo and said, "On the previous photo, this object did not appear. Initially, we thought it was a small robot or a small device. But after comparing it with a few photos that followed, we thought it was a person. ”

"People?" Rickel frowned.

On synthetic aperture radar imaging photos, the gap between personnel and equipment is very obvious. Ordinary radar can only detect metal objects, not people. Although synthetic aperture radar solves this problem, the signal is still very weak when it comes to detecting people.

This makes it possible to distinguish between people and equipment.

Judging from the intensity of the electromagnetic wave reflection marked on the photo, it is obvious that it is a metal device, and it is a device made of ferrous metals such as stainless steel or alloy steel.

When Rickel was suspicious, the person in charge had his men pull out a few more photos.

With just one glance, Rickel knew why the person in charge was saying it was a person, not a device.

In these photographs, that "thing" has been moving for decades, and in two of them, it appears on either side of a helicopter. In the last photo, it was already a few dozen meters away.

Rickel's brow jumped a few times, as if he had thought of something.

The person in charge of the sub-station also said at this time: "A few years ago, we received news that Ben had mastered the human genetic map and was secretly developing genetic weapons. Later, we learned that this was not a genetic weapon, but a genetic modification project similar to the 'Future Soldier', codenamed FPF. In order to understand the specific situation of the FPF, we have built a new intelligence network in the city. Unfortunately, a few days ago, several spies from the network were arrested. Although the personnel have been returned, the spy network has been damaged, and we have not been able to achieve the expected goal. ”

"Don't have any other clues?"

"There's one more clue." The person in charge of the sub-station did not dare to hide it, and said, "Before our spy personnel were arrested, we obtained an extremely important piece of news. Over the past few years, the authorities have secretly obtained radioactive elements such as iodine-137 from several companies that operate nuclear power plants, including the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which coincides with the experimental data we have, and trace amounts of radioactive elements must be used in modified genes. ”

Rickel nodded, indicating that he understood what the head of the substation meant.

The United States also has the "Future Soldier" program, which is nominally under the responsibility of the Weapons Administration under the Department of Defense, but in fact is secretly run by the CIA. The main reason is that the development work is in the initial stage, many technical problems have not been solved, and a large number of experiments that are not supported by the law or even contradict the law need to be carried out. The Department of Defense does not want to get its hands dirty, and funding from the Department of Defense must go through Congressional approval. With the C.I.A. in charge, funding can be obtained from a secret budget that does not require a detailed list of expenditures to be submitted to Congress, bypassing legal hurdles.

Rickel knew about the project and was a participant in it.

Over the years, the CIA's operations department has been using foreign-related operations as a cover to collect and provide materials for the project, that is, [***] experimental subjects.

The biggest challenge of the project was how to change the genes at the molecular level without destroying them.

Scientists have come up with many solutions, but changing genes through tiny amounts of radiation is the most reliable and realistic one.

The FPF program is derived from the "Future Soldier" program in the United States, and the basic technology of the two has a lot in common, so it is not surprising that similar methods are used to change genes.

"Is there any progress in the investigation?" Rickel asked again.

"It's just a little bit, before the spy was arrested, it was already found, and the order was issued by the senior management."

"How tall?"

The person in charge of the sub-station hesitated for a moment and said, "Maybe it's from the Prime Minister's Office." ”

Rickel frowned, which meant that the prime minister was in charge of the project himself, or the officials around him were in charge.

"Thankfully, we have gained a lot from today's events and gained a new understanding of the progress of the FPF." The head of the substation asked his subordinates to adjust the resolution of the photo to show the entire island. "Comparing the photos taken before and after the incident, it is almost certain that the experimental base has not been attacked by outsiders, and the problem is inside the base. Judging from the last few photos, the FPF has achieved the results of the stage surname, and the party has completed the primary transformation and obtained the first experimental results. The person photographed by the satellite is likely to be the subject of [***] experiments. ”

"It's not enough, it's not enough." Rickel let out a long breath and looked over to the head of the substation.

"When we got the news, we came up with a plan of action." The head of the substation knew that Rickel didn't want to listen to his nonsense, he wanted results. "We have transferred several radiation detectors from China and converted them into aerial reconnaissance pods, preparing to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the abnormal radiation situation in our territory while the fighters stationed in Taiwan are conducting training. The equipment has been refitted, the garrison is ready to cooperate, and the fighters can take off at any time. ”

Rickel nodded and said, "Immediately let the fighter take off, tell the Ministry of Defense, and say it's an intelligence operation." ”

"Need to be clear?"

"It's good to make it clear, so as not to be suspicious. But don't give out anything related to today's events to make them think we're still tracking down stolen engines. After a slight pause, Rickel added, "You should be able to find this person with the use of radiation detectors, and whatever you do, you must catch this person before I leave Ben, put him on a plane, and return to the United States with me." ”

The head of the substation nodded, indicating that he understood what Rickel meant.

A living "specimen" is absolutely priceless. By capturing him, we will not only be able to fully grasp the progress of FPF experiments, but also help the "Future Soldier" project.

"Do you have a panoramic photo of the area?"

"Yes, the STSS satellite took pictures before the incident, and the island is at the exit of Mikawa Bay, eight kilometers away from the Atsumi Peninsula......"

Rickel waved his hand and told the head of the substation not to be wordy.

The photos of the bay taken by the satellite appeared on the big screen and were very clear, but the infrared imaging photos were very different from the visible photos, and ordinary people could not understand them at all.

In order to make it easier for Rickel to judge the situation, the head of the substation asked his subordinates to display a map of the bay on a small screen next to him.

After looking at it for a while, Rickel walked up to the big screen, picked up the laser pointer, pointed to a bright spot in the western part of Isewan on the screen, and said, "What is this?" ”

"A freighter, which has been here for three years, belongs to a fishing company."

"Fishing company?"

"Vessels used to sub-pack and process seafood."

Rickel frowned, Ise Bay is one of the fishing centers of the city, and there are not many ships like this that are parked outside the port and are specially used to process seafood, but it is not normal to stop for three years and several kilometers offshore. In general, it should be as close as possible to the shore to facilitate the transfer of the finished product.

At this time, an intelligence officer walked in and whispered in the ear of the head of the substation.

Seeing Rickel coming over, the person in charge of the substation didn't say much, and personally went up and called up a satellite photo that had just been received and that the analysts had not had time to process.

Seeing the photo, Rickel didn't need to ask this and that.

(To be continued)