Reagan sails with an amphibious squadron assigned-three to five ships, two thousand Marines. We also have an amphibious group assigned to the Med attached to the Stennis with twenty-one ships and approximately fifteen thousand Marines.'
'How far out are other forces?' Thorn asked. 'If we did have to go into Libya or Egypt in the next twenty-four hours, what other forces would we have to draw on?'
'Primary strike forces would be ship- or sub-launched cruise missiles, followed by carrier-based bombers,' Venti replied. 'Those strikes could be launched within six hours if needed and would be focusing on neutralizing air defense, surveillance, and antiship forces, softening up the beachhead in preparation for an amphibious landing. Bombers from the CONUS would then follow up and strike larger targets deeper inside Libya-infantry bases, ports, warehouses, docks, and supply lines, as well as defensive positions-concurrently with a Marine beach landing, well within twenty-four hours.
'I need a decision on whether or not to generate the nuclear forces to alert status, sir, and what targets you would like loaded up,' Venti added. 'The Peacekeepers can be reprogrammed for Libya-Sudan-Syria-Iraq target set in about two hours. The naval forces in the Med will take about a day to reprogram targets after they receive thenmessages-the subs take a little longer to decode valid messages. The B-2 stealth bomber fleet needs seventy- two hours to generate both squadrons, eighteen planes, to full nuclear alert status.'
Most of the President's advisers were surprised by the swiftness of the President's decision: 'I want a flight of B-2 bombers loaded up for nuclear strike sorties against Libyan, Sudanese, Syrian, and Iraqi targets,' he said.
'Then I want them launched to positive control orbits over the Med.'
'The subs and surface forces in the Med can be ready to fly nuclear sorties in half the time,' Secretary of Defense Goff pointed out.
'But then the whole world will think I'm ready to go to war,' Thorn said evenly. 'I want the carriers and subs on full alert, but I don't want them going nuclear unless this situation gets completely out of hand.'
'The rest of the strategic force, sir?'
'Get them warmed up and ready to go,' the President said. 'Russian and Chinese target sets-I think we'll have enough forces ready in the Med if it goes nuclear without the ICBMs.' General Venti nodded as he made notes to himself. 'What kind of reconnaissance do we have in place over the theater, General?'
'Strategic and theater recon is by satellite,' Venti replied. 'We usually fill in with U-2 spy planes and carrierbased unmanned reconnaissance aircraft when requested.'
'You said 'usually'?' Thorn asked. 'I take it in this current political climate that Egypt is not allowing us to use their bases or fly freely through then- airspace?'
'Yes, sir,' Secretary of State Kercheval said. 'Egypt has currently suspended overflight privileges for American military aircraft. Because of the upcoming elections and because of the confusing situation over the area now, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry says that no overflights by military aircraft or landing privileges by combat-coded aircraft of any kind will be allowed-only civil transport and humanitarian missions permitted.'
'When did this happen?' Busick asked.
'Just last night our time,' Kercheval said. 'Shortly after it was announced that those prisoners would be taken to Egypt. Their ministry claims they don't want to accidentally shoot down any of our aircraft.'
'Bullshit,' Busick snarled. 'It's that Muslim Brotherhood thing. Khalid Khan wanted to be elected and align Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood, so he cut oi» military access in Egypt. Whole lot of good that did him.'
'Egypt is an important friend of the United States, a moderate Arab nation, and one of the most powerful nations on the African continent,' Robert Goff said emphatically. 'It's also one of the most geopolitically and strategically important countries on the planet, for reasons almost too numerous to list. Whatever affects Egypt will eventually affect Europe and North America. I feel it's important to defend Egypt with everything we've got.'
'I agree, Mr. President,' Kercheval chimed in. 'Quite frankly, sir, the Libyan action, although horrific in the loss of life and the use of nuclear weapons, was relatively minor. We still have a chance to prevent them from attempting an invasion of Egypt or widening the conflict.'
'I agree with Secretaries Goff and Kercheval, sir,' General Venti said. 'The Libyan attack hasn't destabilized the situation in north Africa-yet. We need to get in there and tell the world that we won't tolerate any more actions like this.'
Vice President Busick waited for the President to respond; when he didn't, he turned to him and said in a low voice, 'I'm afraid I agree with your advisers here, Thomas. I know you don't go for things like this, but I'd like to slap Libya down hard. If you don't want to go in after Zuwayy and kick his ass for using nuclear weapons, at least park the Sixth Fleet right outside his front door and make our displeasure clear.' He paused, then added, 'And I know you're thinking of a second term. This would be a good time to exercise your military muscle. Libya is a pushover. If there's a shooting war, it'll be over quickly.'
The President nodded that he understood the veteran politician's view, then quizzically glanced at Doug Morgan. 'I have a feeling you have something else that might influence my decision, Doug,' he said.
Morgan produced another briefing folder, sighed, then opened it. 'I'm afraid I do, sir,' he began. 'I think our friends the Night Stalkers might be involved in this Libya-Egypt conflict.'
'Oh, for chrissakes…,' Busick moaned. 'Those bastards are going to get their butts kicked one of these days.'
'I think that might have already happened, sir,' Morgan said. 'I already reported on the unexplained attacks on that Libyan missile base where chemical weapons and possibly nuclear materials were detected. We thought it was the Israelis, and then Egyptian special forces-we still have no concrete evidence of either. I also reported that the Libyans attacked several ships in the Mediterranean Sea following that attack, apparently in retaliation or perhaps looking for the commando team's base of operations. The identities of all the ships were verified-two Greek, Italian, French, Moroccan, and a Lithuanian vessel, all sunk or heavily damaged. The Egyptian navy rescued crew members from four of the six ships, including over sixty men and women from the last ship that was attacked-the Lithuanian salvage vessel.'
'Salvage vessel?' the President asked. 'Lithuanian salvage vessel?'
'Yes, sir,' Morgan said. He could tell the President had been doing his homework-he recognized the clues immediately.
'Don't tell me,' the President said. 'The so-called survivors of the Lithuanian ship captured a helicopter right off the deck of an Egyptian warship and spirit off into the darkness.'
'Worse than that-I think the survivors captured the entire Egyptian warship.'
'What?'
'We intercepted some interesting radio traffic between one of the Egyptian frigates and their military base at Mersa Matruh,' Morgan went on. 'At first we thought a little mutiny had broken out between some rival factions on the ship. But then it occurred to us that someone else other than the crew had seized the ship. A couple days later, the vessel returned to port and everything else was back to normal.'
'And you think the guys that seized this frigate were Martindale's crew?' Venti asked.
'It fits,' the President said. 'Operating off a salvage ship-just like an Intelligence Support Agency cell, which a lot of those Night Stalkers once were. Martindale would certainly have the ability to get one of his ships flagged by Lithuania-he practically saved that country himself when the Russians attacked. And blowing up a Libyan missile base-that's signature Martindale; or, more accurately, McLanahan. Doug, did you…?'
'Ask about McLanahan? Yes, sir. We requested a report from the FBI, who still has Sky Masters under special surveillance.' Morgan turned to another page in his report. 'General McLanahan, his wife, Colonel Luger, and Colonel Briggs are not at the Sky Masters facility in Arkansas.'
'Doesn't mean they were involved in the Libyan attack,' the President said.
'Mr. President, I'll bet you my Orange Bowl box seats they're involved-up to their eyeballs,' Vice President Busick exclaimed heatedly. 'They have opportunity, and they certainly have the means. Are any of them traveling overseas?'
'Yes…'
'You see!' Busick exclaimed. 'I'm sorry, Mr. President, but I'm getting sick and tired of that bunch of wanna- be heroes creating a mess and then fading off into the sunset, letting someone else clean up their messes afterward.'
Thorn raised a hand to his vice president, silently informing him that his point of view was clearly understood and asking him to tone it down, then turned back to Morgan. 'You mentioned something about them getting their
