Battlecraft (2006)

'The problem is that we don't know if he made it back to his al-Mimkhalif buddies or not,' Paulsen said. 'That Northwest Frontier is dangerous as hell. Along with all the natural perils of snakes, scorpions, and hyenas, there're bandits to boot. And let's take the Pathans or the Pashtuns or whatever the hell they call themselves into account. Those are some real bad asses. They'd slit a guy's throat just to listen to him gurgle.'

'If he's dead, then Operation Deep Thrust is over and done,' Carey remarked.

'I'm afraid so,' Koenig agreed, 'and I'll take that kind of personally.'

'Koenig has been the guy picking up Mike's intel reports from the dead-letter drop,' Paulsen explained. 'He's been playing the role of a UN agricultural advisor in the area. But Mike hasn't been sending anything lately, so we pulled Koenig out. There was a lingering chance everyone and everything was compromised.'

'I don't see that we can do a lot from where we sit,' Koenig remarked.

'I've arranged it so that the instant he makes any kind of contact, we will be notified here on the Dan Daly' Paulsen said. 'If the circumstances warrant, I'm authorized to get him the hell out of any mess he might be in.'

'How the hell are you going to do that?' Carey asked.

'Commander,' Paulsen said with shrug, 'I don't have the slightest fucking idea.'

.

ROYAL YACHT SAYIH

GOLF OF ADEN

VICINITY OF 13deg NORTH AND 48deg EAST

1345 H0URS

COMMODORE Muhammad Mahamat led the way as he stepped from his gig onto the platform of the yacht's accommodation ladder. He was closely followed by Hafez Sabah, Mike Assad, and their two young companions, Imran and Ayyub. The sheikh's trio of bodyguards--Alif, Baa, and Taa--stood at the apex, looking down at the visitors to the ship as they came aboard.

As soon as Imran and Ayyub were aboard, the bodyguards whipped out their pistols and aimed dead at the ex-baker apprentices who carried AK-47s. Alif growled, 'Haram-forbidden! No one may bring weapons aboard the yacht!'

Sabah was angry about the discourtesy. 'These two young men are mujahideen! As soldiers of Islam they are expected to be armed at all times. And they are our bodyguards.'

Alif, with his eyes peering intently at the two armed boys, nodded his head toward Taa. 'See Sheikh Omar about this.' He scowled at Mike and Sabah as Taa hurried away. 'Are you carrying weapons?'

'La' Mahamat said, shaking his head. 'We left our personal arms aboard the flagship.'

Mike stepped off to one side and gave Alif and Baa a close professional scrutiny. Not too bright; highly dedicated; willing to die to protect the sheikh; fully trained; physically fit; and extremely aggressive with guard-dog personalities well imbedded within limited human intellects. To sum it up: They would be the deadliest of adversaries. That would be something to keep in mind.

Moments later Taa reappeared, going up to Alif and whispering in his ear. The head bodyguard lowered his weapon and Baa followed the example in a monkey-see-monkey-do reaction. Alif said, 'The sheikh gives your bodyguards his kind permission to keep their weapons. Please come with us.'

The four visitors followed their surly escorts aft to where the sheikh held court while ogling his consorts between periods of inflicting sexual battery on them. When the visitors stepped onto the stern deck, both Imran and Ayyub let out gasps of astonishment. The sight of bare-breasted European women wearing only thongs was almost more than the two country boys could endure. To them this was a situation expressly forbidden by the Holy Koran, and they looked away, then back, then away, back, and finally turned to stare across the water at the flagship Harbi-min-Islam, fearful that having gazed upon the naked temptresses, they would be banished to the fiery depths of Hell forever. Sabah, amused by their discomfiture, laughed at them.

'All right, boys,' he said jokingly. 'Go forward and take up posts on each side of the yacht. Make sure no submarines surface to fire at us.'

The two apprentice bakers, both red-faced with shame and fear, rushed off to their posts.

The sheikh invited his guests to sit down after sending the women away. He lit a Turkish cigarette and expelled the smoke, as he looked at Mahamat. 'Introduce your colleagues to me.'

'Of course, Sheikh Omar,' Mahamat said. 'You already know Brother Hafez Sabah '

'Indeed I do,' the sheikh said. 'You are doing a superlative job as you continue to direct our program of transport and supply.'

'I am most honored by your kind compliment, Sheikh Omar,' Sabah said.

'And this,' Mahamat said, pointing to Mike, 'is Mikael Assad from America.'

The sheikh laughed loudly. 'So! You are the clever fellow who escaped from the Americans in Pakistan, are you?'

'I come back for to fight,' Mike said.

Mahamat switched languages. 'It might be better if we spoke in English. Brother Assad is still in the process of improving his grasp of Arabic.'

'Of course,' the sheikh said. 'In what part of America did you live?'

'Buffalo, New York,' Mike replied, falling back on his cover story. 'I was not happy there.'

Sabah interjected, 'When Brother Mikael joined us, he knew very little Arabic and had no serious instruction in the tenets of Islam. However, he has proven to be an apt student and his growing faith inspires all of us as does his bravery and resourcefulness '

'Ajib--wonderful!' the sheikh exclaimed. 'You have returned to the bosom of your culture and are now winning glory, Mikael.'

'Yes, sir,' Mike replied.

'You must address the exalted one as Sheikh Omar,' Mahamat instructed.

'Yes, Sheikh Omar,' Mike said, correcting himself.

'Now, Commodore,' the sheikh said. 'I understand that you had contact with the American air-cushion vehicle. How did it go?'

'In one way it was a glorious victory,' Mahamat said. 'We destroyed two American planes by blasting them from the sky.'

'Mmm,' the sheikh said. 'And in what way was it disappointing?'

'The air-cushion vehicle was better armed than we anticipated,' Mahamat admitted. 'However, this is not an insurmountable problem. The next time I go out to do battle with the infidel vessel, I shall bring along all six of my fast-attack craft. They are heavily armed and capable of hitting speeds of one hundred twenty kilometers an hour.'

'I see,' said the sheikh. He reached down and picked up a folder on the table next to him. He opened it and studied a paper it contained. 'According to Saudi intelligence, the American air-cushion vehicle can travel faster than one hundred forty kilometers an hour.'

'From what I saw of it, I believe that to be true,' Mahamat said. 'But there is only one of them. When it meets with my squadron, it will cease to exist within a quarter of an hour. It cannot be in all places at once, in spite of how fast it skims the ocean.'

'Do you have any special tactics in mind?' the sheikh asked.

As Mahamat began explaining his battle plans, Mike Assad's mind went into an analytical and evaluative mode. He now realized he was in the presence of the supreme leader of the al-Mimkhalif terrorist group. And the son of a bitch was a Saudi Arabian. Actually, that was no great surprise.

That vital information, combined with knowledge of the Zauba Fast Attack Squadron, had to be sent back to Paulsen, or the entire operation was doomed to a catastrophic failure that could affect the entire campaign against Middle Eastern terrorism.

Man! Mike mused in his mind. This is some heavy shit

Mahamat finished his report, and the sheikh seemed pleased with his plans for confronting the ACV. He looked over at Hafez Sabah. 'And how is our old friend Harry Turpin?'

'His cooperation is assured as long as he makes money off us,' Sabah answered. 'He betrayed Abduruddin Suhanto's treachery to us, but only because al-Mimkhalif is the better customer.'