Sharab could not find anything else there. Not truth, not conviction, not selflessness. But she also did not see fear or hostility. And at the moment, that would have to be good enough.
'Samouel will run the operation,' Sharab told Friday.
Friday nodded vigorously. Sharab released him. Samouel held Friday up until he was sure the American had his feet under him.
'Wait here,' Sharab said, then turned.
With her back to the cliff wall Sharab edged toward Nanda. The Indian woman was crouched in a small fissure with her grandfather. She rose when Sharab arrived. She was wearing a heavy scarf across her face.
Only her eyes were visible.
Sharab told Nanda that she would be traveling in one group, with Samoeui, the American, and her grandfather.
'Why are you doing that?' Nanda asked.
When Sharab finished telling her everything Friday had said, she saw doubt and concern in Nanda's eyes. Perhaps the Indian woman did not know what the SFF and members of the military had been doing.
Unfortunately, Nanda's reaction told Sharab what she needed to know.
That the American's story could be true.
Nuclear war could indeed be just hours away.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR.
Washington, D. C. Thursday, 6:51 a. m.
Paul Hood was not surprised that Bob Herbert had been blunt with the woman on the radio. Herbert's wife had been killed by Islamic terrorists. Working with the Pakistani cell had to be ripping him apart.
But what Herbert had told the woman, that he opposed her and her profession, was also a smart and responsible alliance tactic. Strangers tend to be suspicious of indulgence and flattery. But tell someone that you don't like them and are only working with them out of necessity and they tend to trust whatever information you give them.
'You okay. Bob?' Hood asked.
'Sure,' he replied.
'She got in a good one, though.'
'So did you.'
'She never felt it,' Herbert said.
'Zealots have skin like a tank. But it's all right,' he went on.
'I'm a big boy. I know how this works.'
'Sometimes it just strikes a little close to the heart,' Hood said.
'Yes, it does,' Herbert agreed.
Hood had been through situations like this before with Herbert. The intelligence chief just had to work through it.
'We'll talk more about this later. Bob,' Hood said.
'Right now, I've got to brief the president. He'll need to know what we're planning.'
The intelligence chief was silent for a moment.
'I guess that's also bothering me, though. Whether we should really be doing this.'
'What?' Hood asked.
'Letting Striker go in?'
'Yeah.'
'Give me an option,' Hood said.
'Dump the problem in the president's lap,' Herbert said.
'Let him slug it out with the Indian government.' 'He won't do that without proof,' Hood said.
'I'll tell him what our concerns are and what we're going to do about it.
I know what he's going to say. He will okay having Striker on the ground for on-site intel, especially since the Indian government has authorized their being there. He's going to give us his blessings to go that far. The rest will be Mike's call.'
Herbert was silent.
'But you're still uneasy,' Hood said.
'Yeah,' Herbert told him.
'Let's just go over our command tent options again.' 'All right,' Hood said patiently.
'We've decided that the Indian government is probably out of the loop on this nuclear option,' Herbert said.
