Air Battle Force

“The number changes with the threat,” McLanahan said. “The more troops you send in to Turkmenistan and the more targets we uncover during our reconnaissance, the more stealth aircraft we’ll send.”

“For what purpose, sir?” Kasimov asked. “What is your intention?”

“First of all, Colonel General, the Russian Federation just declared war on the United States,” McLanahan said. “So we damned well will destroy any Russian aircraft, vehicle, or warship we encounter. For example, I’m looking right now at a squadron of eight Mi-28 attack helicopters parked outside a hangar at Krasnovodsk Airport. It appears they’re being fueled and readied for a mission.”

“We have no such helicopters at Krasnovodsk, sir.”

“Ah… well, you certainly don’t anymore, Colonel General — because they’ve just been destroyed,” McLanahan said casually.

Kasimov motioned to an aide, who immediately lifted a radio to his lips. They did indeed have Mi-28s at Krasnovodsk, and they were indeed getting ready to deploy them, first to Ashkhabad to cover the occupation of the city, then to Mary to start hunting down the Taliban. “You find this humorous, General McLanahan?”

“It’s certainly an unusual way to go to war, isn’t it, Colonel General?” McLanahan responded. “Now I’m looking at an intelligence-gathering vessel several miles off the coast from Krasnovodsk in the Caspian Sea. My intelligence officers tell me that it is a Type 394B-class spy ship and that it was probably responsible for trying to spoof our diplomatic-mission aircraft into going off its flight plan, where your fighters would then have a reason to shoot it down. The ship has Cyrillic characters and the number five ninety-one on the side — yes, that checks, it’s a Type 394B, the Kavkaz, if my information is correct.”

“The Kavkaz is an unarmed communications vessel, sir, not a spy ship!”

“Your ‘unarmed communications vessel’ just fired two heat-seeking missiles at our stealth warplane, Colonel General,” Patrick said. “And… it appears our aircraft was just hit… yes, we’ve just lost that aircraft.”

“You don’t seem too upset, General.”

“I’m upset to lose any aircraft, sir, even an unmanned one.”

“Unmanned…?”

“Yes, General. Tell your sailors on the Kavkaz good shooting — and then tell them to prepare to abandon ship. Because I’ve just committed two more stealth aircraft to sink the Kavkaz.”

Kasimov covered the mouthpiece of the telephone when he saw two of his aides grabbing the radio from each other, their eyes wide in surprise. “Well? What in hell is happening?”

“Krasnovodsk is under attack, sir!” one of his aides said.

“What?”

“Several helicopters and transport planes were destroyed, and the command post, a power facility, and the radar site were heavily damaged. The air defenses all came under attack by precision-guided weapons and cluster bombs.”

“Are you still there, Colonel General?” McLanahan asked over the phone.

“I demand to know what is going on here!” he cried.

“You declared war on the United States, Colonel General, and the United States is responding,” McLanahan said. “May I make a suggestion? You should undeclare war on the United States — right away.”

“Are you insane, General McLanahan? What kind of nonsense is this?”

“Colonel General, you tried to intimidate President Thorn by making this ridiculous declaration of war, thinking that the president was going to be cowed into not acting while you moved more troops and heavier weapons into Turkmenistan,” Patrick said. “Well, it didn’t work. The United States is already in Turkmenistan, and we have stealth warplanes orbiting your military installations in Ashkhabad and Krasnovodsk right now. Unless you call off this declaration of war, we will continue to locate and attack Russian military targets that we feel are a threat to U.S. forces and interests.”

“I… I must report your demands to General Gryzlov and the general staff—”

“You’ve got sixty seconds to do so, Colonel General,” McLanahan said, “before two of my stealth aircraft launch missiles at the Kavkaz. The next target will be your office in Ashkhabad. We are obviously not in your office at this time, but I would warn any staff members you have in your headquarters building to evacuate within the next two minutes.”

“What is it you want, General? What are your intentions?”

“The United States has no intentions, Colonel General,” Patrick replied. “It is Russia who declared war on the United States, Russia who fired on the deputy secretary of state’s aircraft, Russia who has assassinated President Gurizev of Turkmenistan, Russia who is threatening to imprison and execute Americans in Turkmenistan, and Russia who is invading Turkmenistan on a pretext of protecting it. Russia’s intentions are clear: You want to take Turkmenistan, and you’re willing to kill anyone who gets in your way.”

“That is not true, sir! Russia wants only to protect the peace and sovereignty of an important ally and friend. It is the Taliban insurgents that threaten the peace! We have an obligation to—”

“Excuse me, Colonel General,” Patrick interrupted, “but we just put four mini-Maverick missiles with thermium-nitrate warheads into the Kavkaz. Our aircraft will come around for another pass, and that should do it for the Kavkaz—it’s already listing pretty well to starboard. You have ninety seconds before I put four missiles into Twenty-eight President Niyazov Avenue, southwest facade — that is the address of your headquarters in Ashkhabad, isn’t it?”

General Kasimov banged the telephone receiver down with a half-furious, half-terrified, half-human cry. “What is going on with the Kavkaz?” he shouted.

“No contact with the ship as of yet, sir,” an aide replied.

“This is a nightmare!” Kasimov shouted in complete frustration. “This cannot be happening!”

“Shall we order an evacuation of the headquarters building?”

“Yes, damn it, get everyone out of—”

Just then there were several bright flashes of light from outside, like flickers of lightning. Seconds later there were several loud, sharp explosions that rattled the windows and caused the lights to flicker. “Oh, my God!”

Kasimov’s aides ran to a window. Kasimov didn’t need to look for himself — their slumping shoulders told him everything. “Fires have broken out in the headquarters building!” someone shouted. “Shit… another one! Another explosion!” The rattling windows and reverberating explosions were like hammer blows on Kasimov’s skull. “We’re under attack!”

Kasimov picked up the telephone, but it was dead — and moments later all the lights went out in the office as well. “Get the damned power back on immediately! And then get me General Gryzlov in Moscow— right now!”

CHARJEW, REPUBLIC OF TURKMENISTAN

That night

“Peace be unto all true servants of God.

“My friends and neighbors of the Republic of Turkmenistan and any within the sound of my voice, my name is Jalaluddin Turabi. I am not Turkmen. I was born in Afghanistan, raised as a true servant of God. I believe in the oneness of God; I believe that Mohammad is His true prophet; and I believe with all my heart in the Day of Judgment and the resurrection of the faithful in the arms of God.

“I am also Taliban. I know this immediately brands me and my people as fanatical, fire-breathing murderers. But I tell you this: We are what we are, and that is as our name says, ‘seekers of the truth.’ We do not know the truth; we do not profess the truth; we do not attempt to impose our knowledge or opinion of the truth on others.

“The knowledge that we have is passed along to us from a council of elders, chosen from each of a province’s clans. This council of elders directs activities of each clan or groups of clans. These activities are organized into either siyaehiyya, or tasks, and jihads, or sacred missions. In my case I was appointed to undertake a jihad to secure weapons, equipment, and funds for the council. My friend, Wakil Mohammad Zarazi, was my leader. We trained together in Iran and Sudan as members of Hezbollah to employ military and commando-style weapons and tactics to fulfill our missions and to train others in those tactics.

“Our mission inside Afghanistan was not successful. We lost many men, but Wakil Zarazi survived a deadly