Time passed, the afterglow of the setting sun dissipated in the sky, and the indistinctly visible stars loomed out of the mist.

At the end of a day of intense training, driving to the bustling downtown Cairo, when the young ALSA pilot and his newcomer entered the city together, ready to find a hotel to stay and rest, the sun was still shining on the other side of the ocean, at 11 a.m. EST, in Langley, a small city on the border between Washington, D.C. and Virginia, in an office in the CIA headquarters building, the atmosphere was as dreary and depressive as ever.

Monotonous and cold, the atmosphere that is commonplace in CIA headquarters, like the huge eagle-on-blue eagle head logo on the floor of the building's foyer, has become accustomed to all intelligence officers working here; However, unlike the usual sunless and slightly dreary atmosphere, there was clearly a strange atmosphere mixed with tension in the office of the President of the United States.

Got up from the long-sitting sofa, leather shoes "snapped" on the neat and shiny solid wood floor, Daniel Lee in a loose suit was frowning at this time, he looked at the desk from time to time in a cold sweat, the head of the CIA intelligence department who behaved in no order, the shirt collar was stained with sweat, and the middle-aged man who was muttering words in his mouth was still busy in front of the computer, calling out and coming in one by one, and the monotonous ringtones that rang from time to time made the deputy director of the CIA feel a little impatient, but at this time he couldn't care about venting his anger, All that filled my thoughts was a burst of uncertainty and a sense of inner confusion that I rarely experienced as a CIA employee.

Yes, it is a kind of confusion, caused by the investigation of an explosive scandal. Now it is beyond the imagination of all those involved. What the hell is going on?

“…… Feed. - What, I can't find Richard, what about the others? - yes, that's what I mean, you make a list of all the people who have left right now, and then send someone to check them one by one! ”

Before he could put down the phone, another telephone next to him began to make noise again, and the sunny office was filled with a noisy atmosphere again. The ringing of the bell made Daniel Lee and the head of the CIA's operations division, Kathleen Grant, frown slightly, and they could not imagine that the CIA, whose mission was to defend the national interests of the United States and to be vigilant and counter a threat, was still using such an antiquated wired telephone system.

Just after answering a phone call, although his eyes did not fall on the two people in the room, the middle-aged man who was busy was very self-aware, and he grabbed another telephone receiver with his quick probe, "Hello_this_is_Smith, - what?" I_told_you。 just_drop_files_into_my_mailbox！ ――Jesus，yes。 now_you’re_talking，but_ALL_I_NEED_IS_THE_FILE！ Don’t_phone_me_anymore。 (Hey, I'm Smith, - what?) I've said it, send the text to my mailbox! - Oh my God, you got to the point, but I'm going to have a document! Don't call again. ）

ended the call in a hurry, hung up the phone angrily, and faced a man in a tricky situation, but he didn't want to look directly at the expressionless strong woman Catherine Grant, he could only shrug his shoulders to the innocent CIA deputy director Daniel Lee, and the tone of his voice was also a little helpless:

"I didn't expect that, sir, why did the people in charge of this go wrong, it's not normal at all."

"It's not normal, uh...... So, what does this mean? ”

Faced with a mess of investigations, he was temporarily appointed by President Woodrow Wilson as the chief officer, and the thin deputy director of the CIA was a bit at a loss, which was not strictly his specialty.

But then again, at a time when such a crisis is imminent, it seems that the elite soldiers of the bureau are all gathered under the command of Ms. Catherine Grant, busy to investigate the matter of the YF-23 "ghost", how many people can devote themselves to the investigation of this matter?

Just a day ago, I received special attention from His Excellency the President, probably because I felt that this introverted and rigorous deputy director was quite suitable for keeping secrets, and it was necessary to add a reliable inside to the investigation process of Kathleen Grant, the head of the CIA's intelligence department, Daniel Lee would have a little posture of being ordered to organize another investigation under the instruction of Woodrow Wilson, and now he would cooperate with the sweaty head of the intelligence department in such a depressing office.

Having said that, since it is an investigation into the "waste area", that extremely mysterious area, but Catherine Grant next to her is also there, the deputy director feels very awkward, shouldn't she urge the CIA and FBI agents to step up their work at this time to track down the origin of the "ghost" fighter?

Speaking of "waste zone", the first time he heard this phrase, Daniel Lee, who has worked in the intelligence bureau for some years, knows almost nothing, he only subconsciously feels that this should be what the general public calls the "mysterious zone", or one of the top secrets that the country tries to keep and cover up outside the public eye. With this in mind, although he was not in an important position, he also had some ability to do things, and the deputy director immediately began to investigate the affairs assigned by President Wilson, that is, to check whether the CIA's response to the "waste area" was appropriate, and as a result, he encountered a great problem.

"So, Mr. Smith, the staff in charge of the management of the classified archives storeroom, the administrator of the R sequence, is he still unreachable?"

"Oh-yes, but we're sending agents!"

Daniel Lee's questioning was not tough at all, but the person in charge, who was sitting at his desk and nervously rubbing the gold pen in his hands, was a little jealous, after all, this was the commissioner designated by His Excellency the President:

"But right now, the most important thing is the materials, and we're sending people to clean up the R3 and R4 areas of the archives storeroom; But, frankly, due to the malfeasance of the previous administrator, the odds of surviving a water pipe burst after such a long time are slim. - Oh, of course, Thomas Spencer, the head of the technical department, called and said that their men had arrived, and the exact situation was unknown, Mr. Lee. ”

"Mr. Smith, with respect to the 'flooding accident' you just mentioned, I believe it is necessary to launch an immediate investigation in order to find out if it is related to the theft of the 'ghost' object material."

has been listening to the conversation between the two CIA personnel on the side, Katherine Grant, who is meticulous and calm, interjected at this time, as the person in charge of the YF-23 leak, the strong woman is very keen to detect the slightest sign, and naturally intends to follow the vine to investigate; However, this request was immediately rejected by the two in unison, and Daniel Lee, wearing a crumpled tie, raised his hand and shook it a few times while explaining the situation:

"No, Ms. Grant; No one is to approach or investigate, without the direct instructions of His Excellency the President or the Director of the CIA himself. ”

"So,—are you sure that there is no connection between the two?"

"What do you mean by 'theft of YF-23 project materials' and 'accident in the CIA headquarters archives warehouse'? Yes, I'm absolutely sure that these should be two separate things. ”

In the face of Catherine Grant's skeptical gaze, Daniel Lee replied without hesitation, he believes that the investigation is to quickly grasp the main contradiction, and then concentrate on breaking through the key points, as for the intervention of others, and even interference, of course, the less the better. With nothing to do in the office after the deputy director's verbal refusal, a stunned Catherine Grant strode out the door with a sentence before leaving, saying that "if there are any unexpected findings, be sure to share the information with the special services".

I don't like to deal with people too much, and I refused the request of a strong woman to intervene, Daniel Lee took a tablet to check the report, and quickly assessed the accident in the data storeroom, and now there is no other way but to wait for the report of the technical department. Putting aside the troubles of the CIA headquarters for the time being, and in accordance with the instructions of His Excellency the President, he next asked the Operations Department of the Intelligence Bureau some arrangements, about the "waste area", where is the specific person in charge, and how is the work of the secret team going?

Although he did not know the true face of the so-called "abandoned area", or even knew where it was, Daniel Lee seemed to be somewhat confident, even when he learned that the archival materials about "Area A" (Abandoned_Area, abandoned area) had been accidentally destroyed; He felt that since His Excellency the President had entrusted himself with this matter, he would definitely know the situation in "Area A" well, so as long as he searched for the map and found out the intersection between the four suspects in the YF-23 data theft case and the "abandoned area", this matter did not require him to go out personally, and it was most convenient to directly find the corresponding team leader.

With such a calculation, Daniel Lee learned from the person in charge that the leader of the secret response team against the "abandoned area" suddenly had "psychological problems" and had a verbal altercation with the CIA agents who went to investigate, and now he is being arrested in the local police station in Virginia for illegal use of weapons. (To be continued......)