syndrome. He is very helpful in The Hades Factor, The Paris Option, and The Utopia Experiment. He also makes a short appearance in The Ares Decision and The Janus Reprisal. Peter Howell: Howell is a British national, a former-Special Air Service officer and known for working with a number of intelligence agencies, including the CIA and MI6. He is an old friend of Jon Smith's, appearing in six novels, but absent from The Altman Code, The Moscow Vector, The Arctic Event, and The Utopia Experiment. He has a secluded home in the U.S., which contains a command center and a sizeable armory. Like Randi Russell, Howell usually encounters Smith purely by chance, except in The Hades Factor and The Ares Decision, where he is recruited by Smith for a mission. Nathaniel Frederick 'Fred' Klein: An obscure government agent with experience with the CIA and the Pentagon, Fred Klein is selected by President Sam Castilla to set up Covert-One, after the devastating effects of Victor Tremont's Hades Project. Klein is an extremely secretive man, and almost nothing is known about him. He often counsels the president directly, advising him on what to do. Samuel Adams 'Sam' Castilla: Castilla is the President of the United States in all Covert-One novels, an experienced and wise diplomat and politician. After he and his numerous intelligence agencies failed to prevent the Hades Project before it killed thousands, Castilla orders Fred Klein, an old college friend, to set up Covert-One, an elite agency and the personal action arm of Castilla, to combat such national security threats. Though several have their suspicions, Castilla is the only man outside of Covert-One who knows of its existence. Maggie Templeton: Ex-CIA, she is Fred Klein's sister-in-law and secretary, executive assistant and second in charge of Covert-One. She first appears in The Cassandra Compact. Major General Oleg Kirov: Kirov is a former officer of the KGB, a self-proclaimed 'new Russian', who now operates as a senior intelligence officer at the Federal Security Service. Kirov appears in The Cassandra Compact, and also in The Moscow Vector. In both cases, he assists Lieutenant Colonel Smith in succeeding, even though in his second appearance, the enemy Smith is fighting is Kirov's own government. Professor Valentina Metrace: Metrace is a professor of Warfare at Cambridge who is a special weapons expert and a skillful Covert-One agent. Her only appearance is in The Arctic Event. Star: