immediately”
“I won’t accept it, Jim” the president said. “But I am sending McGarvey across. To rescue Dr. Abbott. We cannot simply abandon her”
“He’s an assassin”
“Yes, he is”
“And Baranov, if Roland is correct, is waiting for him. Expecting him to come across”
“That’s true as well” the president said. “Can he pull it off, General”
“I honestly don’t know, Mr. President. But I suspect that if anyone can do it, he can. He’s motivated” Baldwin was shaking his head angrily.
“If it gets back to us, it could topple your administration”
“Well, it’s my administration, Jim. And it’s a risk I’m willing to take, this time”
The 8200-ton Leahy-class guided missile cruiser stood off about twenty miles to the west of the MV Stephos. The sun. was just coming up over the eastern horizon. McGarvey squinted his eyes against the glare as the Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon minesweeper helicopter came in low and slow.
From where he stood on the after bridge deck with Executive Officer Tom Nielson, he could see the Tomahawk missile in its sling fifty feet beneath the belly of the chopper. Nielson, a tall lanky man with bright red hair and freckles, smiled grimly. “That’s that” he said. He glanced over at McGarvey. “Hell of a job you did out there, Sir” McGarvey nodded, but he didn’t take his eyes off the incoming helicopter. “Any word on the Indianapolis and her crew yet”
“No, sir. The Pigeon won’t be sending down the DSRV until later this morning. But it doesn’t look good”
“No” McGarvey mumbled. None of it had looked good from the beginning.
It had been a blood bath from start to finish. The carnage aboard the Stephos was hard to comprehend. Kurshin’s Russian crews had done their jobs, and their reward was a bullet in the brain. There will be no witnesses, Baranov had undoubtedly told Kurshin. And that’s exactly what had happened. Ainslie had been killed outright, most of his skull destroyed, and when they had gotten to Potok, half of his left arm blown away; Newman was dead and they had had to pry his body away from the Israeli’s iron-hard grip. Potok had been brought here to the Worden where the ship’s doctor had stabilized his condition and had patched up his arm as best he could under the circumstances. As soon as the Tomahawk was safely aboard he would be flown up to Tel Aviv. The comms speaker blared. “Mr. Nielson, is Mr. McGarvey with you, sir”
“Aye, aye”
Nielson said, keying the comms. “Admiral Delugio is on the radiotelephone, he would like to speak with Mr. McGarvey. Afterward, the captain would like you both in the wardroom”
“We’re on our way” The Sea Dragon hovered over the landing pad at the stern, and the loading crews were guiding the Tomahawk onto a mobile cradle. There was only a light swell running, and the crews were expert, so the transfer went smoothly. When the missile was finally down, McGarvey went with Nielson into the bridge, where one of the ratings handed him the telephone. “Kirk McGarvey, is that you” Delugio shouted.
“Yes, sir”
“The Navy wants to thank you. Admiral O’Malley sends his personal thanks”
“Too little too late, Admiral” McGarvey said. He didn’t feel much like celebrating. He wanted only to go to bed and sleep for a week, get roaring drunk, and fetch Lorraine Abbott from West Berlin-not necessarily in that order. “But you stopped the bastards, McGarvey”
“Yes, sir” McGarvey replied. “Was there anything else”
Delugio hesitated for a beat. “Not from this end. But I have an urgent message for you from your boss. You’re to meet with Trotter ASAP. “There on Crete”
“Negative. He’s gone to Athens. He said you’d know where.
We’ll get you there this morning via Tel Aviv. The Israelis want to talk to you first.
How’s Major Potok”
“I haven’t talked to him since he came out of the operating room. But I’m told he’ll live”
“Listen up, McGarvey” Delugio said, a note of caution in his voice now.
“As I’ve already said, you did a hell of a fine job for us out there.
But you’re going to have to watch what you say to the Israelis. They’re going to want to know a lot more than you’re authorized to tell them.
That comes from the top, the very top. I hope I’ve made myself clear”
“Don’t worry, Admiral, your secrets are safe with me. Besides, I don’t know anything”
“I’m sorry, Mcgarveydelugio said after another beat. “I take my orders too. II “Yeah” McGarvey said, and he hung up the telephone. He stood there for a long moment, looking through the forward windows toward the long bow of the ship. Time to get out now, he thought. But the job wasn’t finished. Trotter was waiting for him. There was very little mystery about what he would say. “Sir” Nielson said. McGarvey looked up.
“Right” he said. He followed the executive officer below to officers’ territory. There was a lot of activity aboard the ship. The Navy SEAL unit that Admiral Delugio had sent out was back from the Stephos, and Marine guards, sidearms at their hips, seemed to be everywhere.
Nielson knocked once on the wardroom door and then they went in.
Lieutenant Commander Bruce Mcdonald was seated at the highly polished mahogany table with the Worden’s missile officer, Lieutenant Sam Nakajimathey both looked up. “Did you speak with Admiral Delugio)”
Mcdonald asked. He was a sharp, compact man with thinning, ashbrown hair. “just now” McGarvey said, taking a seat across the table from him.
“How is Major Potok doing”
“Just fine. In fact, better than we expected he would. He’s awake now and he’s asking for you. We’ll be flying both of you to Tel Aviv as soon as the Tomahawk is secured belowdecks
“What about the Stephos” they’re taking
“The Israeli Navy has taken her under tow
“Ib her up to their Kishon Naval Base at Haifa” Mcdonald said. “And we owe you another debt of gratitude. The SEALS found and disarmed the Labun gas cylinder, as well as the explosives. it would have made quite a mess had they gone off” He shook his head. “Your Russian was some s(noia bitch”
“Yes, he was” McGarvey said. “This is probably no time to tell you this, Mr. McGarvey” Lieutenant Nakajima said. “But you were damned lucky you pulled out the right wires. The only right wires had you grabbed the bundle a half an inch to the left, the missile would have exploded.
it was the self-destruct circuitry”
“I didn’t have much of a choice”
“Well, sir, you’ve got balls” Nakajima shook his head there was nothing to say’are you hungry? Do you want something to eat before you go”
Mcdonald asked. McGarvey shook his head. “All right, then” the captain said, getting to his feet. He stuck out his hand. McGarvey got up and shook it. i’ll add my personal thanks, McGarvey, you did great”
“That’s what they’re paying me for, Captain. Thanks for your hospitality”
“I’ll take you down to Major Potok in sick bay now, sir” Nielson said.
“We’ll have you out of here within twenty minutes” Mcdonald said. “Good luck” Below and farther aft, McGarvey was shown into Potok’s room. The Israeli’s left arm was in a cast from the shoulder down, and he looked pale and very drawn. But he was dressed and sitting up on the edge of his cot. The Navy doctor with him was checking his eyes with a tiny light. When he was finished he straightened up and turned to McGarvey.
“I’ve given Major Potok a stimulant that should keep him mobile for another few hours. But no longer. When he crashes he damned well better be in a medical facility”
“I’ll see to it. Thanks, Doctor” McGarvey said. The doctor glanced down again at Potok, and then he and Nielsen withdrew from the room. “How do you feel, Lev” McGarvey asked. “Like dreck, but at least I’m feeling”
Potok said. His voice was weak. “They’re moving you by chopper to Tel Aviv in the next few minutes. Apparently I’m to go with you. But you have to know from the start, Lev, that I’m not going to be able to tell your people very much more than they already know. “We don’t want much from you, Kirk. But we have something to say to you. Something … something very important. We owe you”
“But not now” McGarvey asked. “No.
