Warriors

students we're getting are barely more than kids, so their minds are relatively open and I'm assured there will be a minimum of culture shock. But get this: We're receiving the cream of this country's crop. I guarantee, if you produce for these boys, they'll break their hearts trying to please you.

'Overall, just one thing to remember tonight. The Arabs will respect strong, quiet men who lead by example. Polish up your Gary Cooper impersonation and you won't go far wrong.'

Bennett looked around the room. He was confident he'd made his point. 'All right. Last one to the bar buys the first round. '

Colonel Bennett made sure he was the last to place his order.

Washington, D. C.

Secretary of State Thurmon Wilson was angered by the Israeli ambassador's suggestion that some obscure retired naval officer might be breaking the U. S. Code. Wilson pressed the button of his desk phone and asked his secretary to put him through to the Secretary of Defense.

'Ben, good afternoon. The Israeli ambassador just left my office in a huff about some of the U.S. citizens under contract to the Saudis. You recall it was discussed at the cabinet meeting last time.'

The defense secretary listened to Wilson's New England accent with controlled petulance. Oh, Christ, he thought. The Israelis again . 'Yes, I remember. We decided there was no harm in the arrangement. '

'That's right,' Wilson said. 'But the Israelis seem especially interested in one man, apparently the leader. He's a retired Navy commander named John L. Bennett.' Wilson spelled the name. 'He's from the San Diego area. The Israelis seem to know a lot about him, and they suggest he may be in violation of U. S. Code.'

'In what way?'

'Employment by a foreign military power, which technically could define him as a mercenary. But that's the broadest possible interpretation. If some lawyer wanted to push it, he'd make a case against every instructor or civilian tech rep we have outside the country. It wouldn't stick, of course, but that's the theory.'

Benjamin Wake interjected. 'Did the ambassador make reference to the Saudi F-20 buy?'

Wilson paused, uncertain of the aircraft designation. 'Is that the airplane we discussed previously?'

'Yes, it's designed by the Northrop Corporation. Long ago we gave permits for export to most of the friendly third world countries and it's also in production abroad. It's called the Tigershark.'

The Secretary of State remembered Tom Wolfe's description of the macho appellations given to combat aircraft: a mixture of sharp teeth, cold steel, cosmic warlords, and evil spirits. 'Yes, that's the one. The Israelis are trying like hell to slow down the Middle East exports. They're lobbying heavily in Congress, you know.'

Wake knew where this conversation was leading. 'I know. But do you know how many people are employed by that company? The president said last week that with our balance-of-payments deficit and with the unemployment in Southern California, there was no way we could reduce foreign military sales. It's politically as well as economically unfeasible.'

“So what about this Bennett character?'

'I just wondered if your Navy people could check up on him. You know, give me something to show the Israelis and prove we're trying to cooperate.'

The defense secretary inhaled, held his breath, and closed his eyes. Just what I need-another project. 'Thurmon, what the president said about national economics also applies to geopolitics. The Saudi organization that Bennett is building gives us leverage and political influence we may need badly in that region. Especially with the way things are going with the radical Moslem states.'

Wilson decided on a direct appeal. 'Can't you just go through the motions? Give me something to throw the Israelis and show our good faith.'

'All right, Thurmon. I'll have one of my people get back to you in a couple of days. But I can tell you right now, we can't tell you any more about this guy than the Israelis already know. Christ, they probably can tell you what toothpaste he uses.'

'Well, thanks. I appreciate it. Do you have any suggestions about the Israelis' concern regarding the Tigershark?'

Wake's tone was that of a schoolmaster lecturing an earnest but dull student. 'You can tell them exactly what we said in the cabinet meeting. The Saudi versions have no radar so far and no radar-guided missiles. That makes them less capable than almost anything the Israelis already are flying. After all, that's why we approved the bird for export.'

'Yes, well, thanks again, Ben. Always good to chat with you.'

Tel Aviv

Lieutenant Levi Bar-El felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment. His chief and other intelligence executives had been polite, but he had been lectured on the importance of a sense of perspective, of establishing priorities. His section chief had hinted at that very topic not long ago, he recalled. But Bar-El had pressed right along, sending up smoke signals which had made their way to some very nervous politicians, already edgy about the international reaction to Jordon. He hadn't violated military etiquette, and he had only nudged the borders of military-diplomatic propriety. Now he realized that the people he talked to had in turn spoken to others.

'Lieutenant-' the colonel had begun.

Levi knew right then he was in trouble. Ordinarily Chaim Geller used first names.

'I agree with you that the foreign pilots and the new aircraft are a matter of potential concern. But you have other projects more pressing. Therefore, please do not allow the Saudi situation to become an obsession. Remember, we have the finest air force on earth. No matter how many American and British instructors the Saudis hire, our fighter pilots will handle the situation.'

Still, Bar-El could not shake a sense of premonition. He knew that a good intelligence officer developed a sixth sense, and more often than not it proved accurate. He had studied the official color photograph of the man named Bennett, concentrating on the man's gray eyes. They held… what? Dedication, tenacity? That, surely, but something more. Bar-El inhaled. He wondered if the colonel had used the very word to describe this man. Obsession.

Chapter 5

Bahrain

John Bennett approached the sleek fighter with his helmet tucked under his left arm. He wanted time alone to preflight the aircraft by himself, for in the two weeks since his briefing to the king and the Saudi ministers he had been too busy for his obligatory visit to the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh. But today he would fly an F-20-his F-20-to the capital. Bennett noted the name elegantly painted on the canopy rail; the king was as good as his word.

The weather was warm, even at 0700, and Bennett perspired under his Nomex flight suit, G-suit, and torso harness. The ambient temperature was heightened by a hot wind. But he hardly noticed. He stood beside the two- seat Tigershark, aware of his heart beating slightly faster than normal. He savored the smells of the aircraft-a heady mixture of jet fuel, hydraulic fluid, and rubber. Almost self-consciously he glanced around to see if anyone was watching. He was supposed to be a detached professional, and such men aren't expected to be sentimental about the tools of their trade. That's what the groundlings think, he mused. But they don't know, not unless they're aviators. It was a point of pride that the U.S. Navy produced aviators while almost every other service in the world merely produced pilots.

God, it had been good. The sights, the aromas, the feelings all came rushing back. Sensations half remembered-or half forgotten-from his youth. Bennett had been out of the cockpit more than a decade, but many things had not changed. The tension of the G-suit around his thighs and abdomen, the good tightness of the gloves, even the irritation of a helmet pressing one's ears and forehead, and the flesh creased by the oxygen mask. Girding for battle. He imagined warriors had always felt these things, since the days they wore animal skins or chain mail.

But there was more. To impart to young men the skills that only a few ever master. To do something in his own nation's interest in this critical part of the world, Bennett felt an urgency and a newfound sense of excitement