found the same thing - seventy-two hours was the limit. After that, your people became almost worthless. Cognitive skills were drastically reduced, hallucination set in, and the body began to shut down. As with everything, of course, there were a few exceptions.
Elite warriors, like the ones produced by Delta Force and the SEAL teams, could push beyond the seventy-two-hour mark in extreme circumstances, but not much further. They taught their men to grab an hour or two of sleep whenever they could - even during a prolonged firefight. If the manpower was available, it was crucial to rotate teams. Three teams were ideal, each one working an eight-hour shift, but Kennedy didn't have that luxury. As it was, the Go Team that had been assembled was barely sufficient to operate in two twelve-hour shifts, and that was to handle the Rickman crisis. That team was weakened when she pulled people off it to start looking for Hubbard. Then she had to deal with the aftermath of the police shooting and now with the release of Rickman's interrogation, more of her attention was put into damage control. It was no longer just about Joe Rickman.
Even though it felt like it, Kennedy knew from the start that it had always been about more than just Rickman. Rickman's brain possessed hundreds of names, and those names represented real people who were assets of the CIA. Some of them were Americans, deep-cover operatives who were operating in foreign countries without the aid of diplomatic cover. If these people were exposed, the likelihood was that they'd be killed. And then there were the agents - the men and women who worked for foreign governments. They came in every stripe from politicians to bureaucrats, to scientists, to financiers, to military personnel, to intelligence operatives and janitors and secretaries.
More than any satellite or listening device, these men and women were the eyes and ears of the CIA. They offered snippets of information that when pieced together aided Kennedy and her people in understanding the intent of their foes and sometimes, when needed, the ability to predict their next move. These assets were the lifeblood of the CIA. Without them, the Agency would cease to become an effective intelligence agency. If Rickman continued to crack, Kennedy would have no choice but to begin pulling out her network of spies. It would take at least a decade to rebuild the network, possibly longer.
Despite the urgency Kennedy knew what had to be done. Hayek looked tired. They all looked tired. They understood what was at stake, so they were all eager to prove the doctors wrong and push past the seventy-two-hour mark. Kennedy held up her palm and stopped Hayek's rambling apology. "When was the last time you slept?"
The question caught her off guard and she took an unfocused look at nothing and tried to recall the last time she'd closed her eyes for more than a few seconds. "I think I got an hour or two last night."
Kennedy looked at Coleman and asked the same question.
"As much as possible, I've stuck to a schedule. Ten on and two off."
Kennedy thought of Coleman's six-man team. "Starting when?"
"From the very beginning. I made sure everyone grabbed at least four hours on the flight over." He shrugged. "There wasn't much for us to do until we landed."
Leave it up to the retired SEAL to maintain discipline in the midst of chaos. He'd done this countless times. Kennedy was embarrassed that she hadn't maintained better discipline over the schedules.
"I'll be honest," Coleman said, "I could use some sleep. I've been up for thirty-plus hours straight. With everything that went down two days ago and losing Reavers, that put me down one man, and I didn't bother to reshuffle the schedule."
Kennedy placed a hand on his arm but looked at Hayek. "Don't be so hard on yourself. We were understaffed to start with and then the shootout with the police threw us all for a loop. We have another twenty-six people due to land in about three hours. Once they're in position, I don't want anyone working more than a sixteen-hour shift. Scott, keep an eye on Wilson until he's in the air and then stand down your whole team. Don't set any alarms, just sleep. We're going to need you at some point and you guys need to be fresh."
Kennedy considered her own schedule for a second. She'd been able to grab four hours of sleep overnight, and all things considered, she felt