departments in the city, everyone here was on the same page.
'What's happening?' Hood asked.
'There has been an unusual amount of radio traffic at the Air Wing of the Botswana Defense Forces,' Herbert said.
'Define unusual,' Hood said.
'An across-the-system jump from ten to fifteen communications an hour to more than three hundred,' Herbert replied.
In the United States, that kind of increase would signify a Defcon One state of readiness.
'We've picked it up here, and the CIA noted it, too,' Herbert went on. 'Their frequency scanners at the embassies don't
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react unless there's a spike of at least one hundred percent.'
'Do we know what the increased traffic is about?' Hood asked.
'Not yet,' Herbert said. 'The signals are all encrypted. We're collecting it and breaking it down here. Viens is trying to get us some satellite visuals of the bases. He's scraping together all the satellite time he can for us. The thing is, Jody Cameron at NAVSEA intelligence just told me they're also starting to get radar blips. One of their destroyers is picking them up from the Mozambique Channel.'
NAVSEA was the Naval Sea Systems Command. The intelligence division was comprised of a worldwide deployment of cutters and destroyers. These ships were responsible for monitoring land and sea activities inaccessible by U.S. or allied bases. The intelligence collected by these ships determined whether vessels of the Maritime Preposition Force needed to be sent to a region. These were ships that provided military support prior to the arrival of main expeditionary warfare ships. The ships that patrolled the Mozambique Channel were responsible for covering the region from South Africa to Somalia.
'What did the blips suggest?' Hood asked.
'Chopper traffic,' Herbert replied. 'More than they've ever seen in the region.'
'Are they doing search grids or heading somewhere?' Hood asked.
'The helicopters are heading north from the airfield outside Gaborone,' Herbert said. 'NAVSEA is saying this is either an action or a drill.'
'We've got to assume it's not a drill,' Hood said.
'Of course,' Herbert said. 'Hold on-Matt Stoll's shooting me some of the data from the encrypted transmissions.'
There was a short silence that felt very, very long.
'Shit,' Herbert said. 'Son of a bitch.'
'What is it?' Hood demanded.
'They've got a destination,' Herbert said. 'Okavango Swamp.'
'Damn,' Hood said.
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'They also say it was Edgar Kline who gave them that destination,' Herbert added.
'How the hell could Kline have given them a target?' Hood asked. 'We didn't know it ourselves.'
'I don't know,' Herbert admitted.
It had been more than an hour since Hood had called Kline on his cell phone and given him the location for the rendezvous between Op-Center's teams and the soldiers from the Unidad Especial del Despliegue. And there was no way the Vatican Security Office could have extrapolated Dhamballa's location from what Hood told him. Op- Center did not even know for sure where the Vodunists were based.
'Get him on the phone,' Hood said.
'With pleasure,' Herbert said angrily.
Hood was uncharacteristically impatient as he called Mike Rodgers. He brought the general up to date, then conferenced him into the discussion. The two men waited as Kline's voice mail picked up on the cell phone.
'Goddamn him!' Herbert said. 'He's ducking us.'
Hood was frustrated, too, and angry, but he forced himself to stay cool and on target.
'Bob, do we think Kline's still at the Mission of the Holy See in New York?' Hood asked.
'That's the only secure place Kline could use to monitor a military action,' Herbert told him. 'Kline definitely would not have left if something is brewing.' Before Hood could suggest it, the intelligence chief added, 'I'm calling over there now. I'll find him.'
'If you do, I'll do the talking,' Hood said.
'You got it,' Herbert said. 'Only if I get to break his freakin' nose when this is all over. Screening calls,' the intelligence chief went on. 'That's so frigging low rent. You want to impede someone, do it like a man. Use diplomatic doublespeak. Face-to-face, toe-to-toe.'
