// 845.371.2222 riding horses. “Thanks to the wide rims of their hats, their faces are completely hidden. From above, they appear to be typical Mexican peasants. Since it’s impossible for the satellite to catch a picture of their faces, there would never be a reason for us to suspect that they are really Arabs.” “They thought out every last detail,” the Secretary of Defense muttered. “Definitely,” the NSA confirmed. “Take a good look at the photograph. Do you see any buildings?” Everyone started carefully examining the photograph. There was a tense silence as each person tried to find some detail that might conceal a building. One by one, they raised their eyes in defeat. The NSA smiled. She knew they would never succeed in identifying a building. “The rocks are artificial. Turn the page to see a photo of the same location taken two years ago.” The rustling of pages being turned was heard. The third page contained a photograph of a hilly region, without any of the details that existed in the previous two photographs. was printed the words “Top Secret” in large red letters. The soldier handed a folder to each person at the table. After giving everyone a chance to leaf through the documents, the NSA opened her folder. “The first page,” she began, “contains a satellite picture of the military base. It was taken just a few hours ago.” It was a colored picture, obviously taken from a great distance. It was difficult to make out what was in the picture. The region was hilly. The green blotches scattered throughout the picture showed that there was some vegetation. Here and there, they could see white fissures in the greenery. These signified rocks. In the center was a large level area. “This picture will provide you with a general idea of the region where the base is located,” she explained. “It is safe to assume that our satellite capability is known, and that al Qaeda has taken steps to hide their existence from our satellites. In addition, we have had no reason to closely examine this area of Mexico. As you will see in the following pages, we would never have discovered this base if we hadn’t received information about its existence.” The statement was greeted by silence. No one could find anything suspicious in the picture. “The next page contains an enlarged photograph of the base.” The room echoed with the sound of pages being turned. “In this photograph, we can see people. Notice that they are all wearing wide rimmed straw cowboy hats. Several of them are also 179
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