While the sleeping world awakes to one more CNN story, the real world’s underbelly of terrorists, intelligence agents, military specialists and highly-paid mercenaries is already abuzz. They know that Palankoor must be replaced – and that every second counts.

Enter “the Interrogator.” He is a man without a name; a man without a history. In a world full of highly-trained, highly-specialized, highly-paid mercenaries, he is the silent rock star playing a concert of one. When the highest bidder pays him to find out who Palankoor’s replacement might be, he provides a powerful lead: interrogate Tarik Maloof, Palankoor’s highest-ranking “accountant.”

Did I say the Interrogator had no history? None but this: back when he was still a wet-behind-the-ears Air Force Academy cadet, the Interrogator was placed undercover – far too soon and not quite “under” enough – when a just-as-young Maloof was in Colorado to illegally purchase two rarified falcons from the Air Force Academy’s mascot training program. When the deal goes bad and the Interrogator’s cover is blown, Maloof takes great pains in torturing a young Interrogator – all under the limitless protection of diplomatic immunity.