Free Black Ghosts by Victor Ostrovsky

and he trusted me. So I was loaned to the NSC. The official reason was that I was to handle an investigation for which my experience was needed. Since the NSC is only an advisory body, this was not an unusual request, and therefore promptly approved.
    â€œI became the head of a one-man task force in charge of uncovering the activities of the Patriots and exposing the links they had created with the intelligence community. The final objective was to sever such ties, with a minimum of commotion and damage to the community.”
    Larry paused to take a sip of water. Edward looked at Natalie. She seemed to be listening intently. Edward guessed that she had never heard the full story before.
    Larry was briefed by the secretary of defense, in the presence of Bud Hays. He was given access to a bank account which held a well-concealed slush fund for just that sort of activity. He was given almost unlimited credit and as much latitude as he could ask for, as long as he was discreet.
    After the first week on the job, Larry found out that the Patriots had a legitimate front in the form of a think tank, based in London, called the Wish Foundation. The name was supposedly derived from its motto: “Wishing for a better world is the first step.” The truth was that the name had a much more sinister meaning.
    Requests for executive action or other terrorist-style activity would be discussed hypothetically in seminars organized by the Foundation. There would be some tongue-in-cheek negotiations, using such phrases as, “supposing such an action were legal, how much would it cost?” Then, if the subject of the discussion happened to meet with some unfortunate accident, a donation would be made to the Foundation by the agency making the “wish.”
    Larry got lucky on his first dig into the Foundation’s structure, when he realized he had struck gold. An old source he had once worked with in British Intelligence, a gentleman named Herbert Donoven, was now employed in the Foundation. By greasing up the man with a handsome monetary gesture and a promise of more of the same, while reminding him that the illegal activities he had once performed for Larry were still regarded as such by his former employers the British Intelligence, Larry managed to net himself a ready-made mole inside the Foundation. Unfortunately, Donoven was employed at a very low level, as a gofer, a sort of delivery man, which inevitably resulted in information which was of no real value.
    It took Larry four months to map out the Foundation’s structure. He then suggested Donoven have a minor car accident, hoping he would be moved during his recuperation to a desk job, which would most likely give him access to a computer. And this, Larry pointed out to Donoven, would mean more cash.
    The accident was a success and they got their computer. From that point on, things began to fall into place. Even though Larry got most of the information after the fact, he was able to tie the Foundation and its thugs to several assassinations. That in itself would have put most of the Foundation’s operatives behind bars for a very long time. What he didn’t yet have, however, were the Foundation’s friends in the intelligence community. And he realized that unless he could get rid of them, the Foundation would simply find other contractors to do its dirty work.
    Then came the big break Larry was hoping for. Donoven learned that the Foundation had been contacted by someone in Russia, someone from the Soviet equivalent of the Patriots, known as the Chornia Gostia, or Black Ghosts. They had been referred to the Foundation by an American.
    â€œHow did he know that?” Edward spoke quietly, so as not to overexcite his friend.
    â€œThe Russian contact said so in his introductory communication. He also made it very clear that he was not an official with the ruling body and he requested that his contact be kept secret.”
    â€œBut I thought the