Cauldron

Larry Bond, Patrick Larkin Cauldron

To our grandparents, Ruth & Dewey Bond,

Don, Sr. and Beth Larkin,

L. A. (Pete) and Mildred (Mil) Peterson,

and Lawrence and Irene Thornton

We had a lot of help with this book. We would like to thank:

Chris Carlson, Don Hill, Jason Hunter, Ferdinand Irizarri, Lt. Col. Jerzy Janas, Polish Army, Don and Marilyn Larkin, Duncan and Chris Larkin, Erin Larkin-Foster, Marshall Lee, Gary C. “Mo” Morgan, John Moser, Bill Paley and Bridget Rivoli, Barbara Patrick, Tim Peckinpaugh and Pam McKinney-Peckinpaugh, Laurel Piippo, Steve St. Clair, Pat Slocomb, Thomas T. Thomas and Irene M. Moran, George Thompson and Dr. Tom Thompson (no relation), and Leonard Wong.

They all can take some of the credit, and none of the blame.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Cauldron is the third book that Patrick Larkin and I have written in tandem — working from the faintest flicker of a glimmer of an idea to the final draft of a finished manuscript. Collaborations, especially such close collaborations, are not supposed to be easy. This one was.

Over a period that lasted nearly two years, we plotted out this story, created its characters, and worked together to bring them to life.

Although our styles sometimes differ, and continue to evolve, we both have strengths and skills that complement our work as a team. Each of us has favorite types of action and settings. Each of us has special areas of expertise.

Many people write books by themselves, but I cannot understand why anyone would want to. Pat and I spur each other on, bounce ideas around, and help each other out of tight corners. He has been not only my partner in this enterprise but a good friend as well.

For simplicity, we have used the standard Anglicized spellings and alphabet for Polish and Hungarian place and proper names. For the same reason, we have identified Russian-made military equipment in Polish service with its Russian designation, although the Poles have their own names for them.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

AMERICANS

Corporal Tim Adams, U.S. Army — radiotelephone operator, Alpha Company, 3/187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

Alex Banich, aka Nikolai Ushenko — senior field operative at the CIA’s Moscow Station

Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Colby, U.S. Army — commanding officer, 3/187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

First Sergeant Andy “Steady” Ford, U.S. Army — Alpha Company, 3/187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

General Reid Galloway, U.S. Army — chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Mike Hennessy — CIA field operative assigned to Moscow Station

Joseph Ross Huntington III — advisor to the President

Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Irizarri, U.S. Army — liaison officer serving with the Polish 11th Mechanized Division

Colonel Gunnar Iverson, U.S. Army — commanding officer, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

Len Kutner — CIA chief of station, U.S. Embassy in Moscow

John Lucier — Secretary of Defense

Erin McKenna — analyst and investigator for the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement, assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow

Walter Quinn — director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Captain Michael Reynolds, U.S. Army — commanding officer, Alpha Company, 3/187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

Clinton Scofield — Secretary of Energy

Major General Robert J. “Butch” Thompson, U.S. Army — commanding officer, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

Harris Thurman — Secretary of State

Stuart Vance — intelligence officer assigned to the CIA’s Berlin Station

Vice Admiral Jack Ward, USN — commander, U.S. Second Fleet and later commander of U.S., British, and Norwegian Combined Naval Forces

GERMANS

Colonel Georg Bremer — commanding officer, 19th Panzergrenadier Brigade, 7th Panzer Division

Major Feist — one of the 7th Panzer Division’s staff officers

Major Max Lauer — commanding officer, 7th Panzer Division’s reconnaissance battalion

General Karl Leibnitz — commanding officer, 7th Panzer Division

Jurgen Lettow — Minister of Defense

Lieutenant Colonel Klaus von Olden — commanding officer, 192nd Panzergrenadier Battalion, 19th Panzergrenadier Brigade

Special Commissioner Werner Rehling — European Confederation liaison officer with the Hungarian National Police

Heinz Schraeder — Chancellor

Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm “Willi” von Seelow — operations officer, later commanding officer, 19th Panzergrenadier Brigade

Lieutenant Colonel Otto Yorck — commanding officer of the 191st Panzergrenadier Battalion, 19th Panzergrenadier Brigade

FRENCH

Nicolas Desaix — director, General Directorate of External Security, or DGSE, later Minister of Foreign Affairs

Major Paul Duroc — DGSE special operative

General de Corps d’Armee Claude Fabvier — commanding officer, EurCon IV Corps