Shadow Command

Iran, about a hundred and twenty miles northwest of Herat, Afghanistan.”

“Thank God.”

“No indications if anyone inside made it yet, but the module is intact and still pressurized. We’ve got an Army Special Forces team in Herat gearing up for a rescue mission.”

“The bombers will be in maximum SkySTREAK launch position in sixty minutes, and overhead in ninety — if they’re not jumped by Russian fighters again,” Rebecca Furness said. “We’ll be on the lookout for them this time.”

“That’s probably the same amount of time it’ll take the Special Forces team to chopper in — if they get permission to launch,” Luger added.

“I’ll speak to the commander myself,” Patrick said. “I don’t have much pull with the Army, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute — are you boys forgetting something?” Rebecca Furness interjected. “We just took over a Turkish-NATO military base by force and ignored direct orders from the commander-in-chief. You guys are acting as if that’s no big deal. They are going to come after us, all of us — even the general, even though he’s up on a space station — and they are going to haul us off to prison. What do you propose we do about this?”

“I propose we rescue our crewmembers on the ground in Iran, then hunt down any parts of that anti- spacecraft laser the Russians fired at us, General Furness,” Patrick said immediately. “Anything else is background noise at this point.”

“‘Background noise’? Do you call the Turkish and U.S. governments — possibly our own military — coming after us just ‘background noise’? We’ll be lucky if they just send in an infantry battalion to drag us out of here. Do you intend on continuing to disregard orders and take down anyone who gets in your way, General? Are we going to war against our own people now?”

“Rebecca, I’m not ordering you to do anything — I’m asking,” Patrick said. “We have crewmembers down in Iran, the Russians blasting away with a laser, and the President doing nothing about any of it except telling us to stand down. Now if you don’t want to help, just say so, recall the Vampires, and call the Pentagon.”

“And tell them what, Patrick — that you forced me to launch those planes? You’re two hundred miles up on the space station, probably on the other side of the planet. I’m already committed, General. I’m screwed. My career is over.”

“Rebecca, you did what you did because we have friends and fellow warriors on the ground in Iran, and we wanted to save and protect them if possible,” Patrick said. “You did it because you had the forces standing by and ready to respond. If we’d followed orders, the survivors would be captured, tortured, then killed — you know it, and I know it. You acted. That’s more than I can say for the Pentagon and our commander-in-chief. If we’re going to lose our freedom, I’d rather it be because we tried to make sure our fellow airmen kept theirs.”

Rebecca fell silent for a long moment, then shook her head ruefully. “I hate it when you’re right, General,” she said. “Maybe I can tell them that you threatened to blast me with Skybolt if I didn’t do as you ordered.”

“Maybe they’ll laugh so hard they’ll forget what we did.”

“We need a plan, General,” Rebecca said. “The Turks are going to send a force to retake Batman Air Base, and if they don’t there’s an entire U.S. airborne division in Germany that could be dropping on our heads within half a day. We’ve only got three CID units and four Tin Men at Batman, plus the security and maintenance troops. And we all know that Battle Mountain and probably Elliott will be next.”

“We should move the Air Battle Force units to Dreamland,” Patrick said. “We can hold that base a lot easier than Battle Mountain.”

“Do you hear what you’re saying, Patrick?” Rebecca asked incredulously. “You’re conspiring to organize and direct U.S. military forces against the orders of the commander-in-chief, illegally marshal them under your own command without any authority, and directly oppose and engage with American military forces. That’s sedition! That’s treason! You won’t go to prison, Patrick — you could be executed!”

“Thanks for the legal primer, Rebecca,” Patrick said. “I’m hoping it won’t come to this. After the survivors are rescued and the Russian anti-spacecraft laser is destroyed or at least discovered, all of this will be over. I understand if you don’t want to do as I suggest, Rebecca. But if you want to take the Air Battle Force and assist, you can’t stay at Battle Mountain. They could be rolling up outside to take you down as we speak.”

Everyone on the secure video teleconference could see the tortured expression on Rebecca Furness’s face. Out of all of them, she probably had the most to lose in this, and it was obvious she didn’t want this. But just a moment later, she nodded. “All right. In for a dime, in for a dollar — in for twenty to life. Maybe the court-martial will take pity on me because I’m a woman. I’ll get the planes moving right away, Dave. Make room for me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Dave Luger responded from Elliott Air Force Base. Then: “What about the personnel and equipment at Batman Air Base, Muck? The Turks and our own guys could be waiting for them to return…if Turkey doesn’t try to shoot them down when they cross back into Turkish airspace.”

“I’ve got an idea for them, Dave,” Patrick said. “It’s going to be risky, but it’s our only chance…”

PRIVATE RESIDENCE OF LEONID ZEVITIN, BOLTINO, RUSSIA

THAT SAME TIME

“Calm yourself, Excellency,” Leonid Zevitin said. He was in his private study with Foreign Minister Alexandra Hedrov, making phone calls and sending secure e-mails to military and diplomatic units around the world alerting them to the events unfolding over Iran. The phone call from Iranian supreme leader Hassan Mohtaz happened much later than expected, but that was undoubtedly because it was probably very hazardous for anyone to wake the guy up with bad news.

“Calm myself? We are under attack — and it is because of you!” Mohtaz cried. “I allowed you to put your weapons on my soil because you said it would protect my country. It has done just the opposite! Four bombs have destroyed one of my Revolutionary Guards Corps bases, and now my air defense forces tell me that American bombers are flitting freely across our skies!”

“There are no bombers over Iran, Excellency — we have seen to that,” Zevitin said. “As far as your base: remember that Russia paid to refurbish and disguise that base so we could use it temporarily, and we agreed that it would be turned over to you after we were done with it…”

“And now you are done with it because the Americans have destroyed it!” Mohtaz said. “Will you leave us a smoking hole in the ground now?”

“Calm yourself, Mr. President!”

“I want anti-aircraft weapons, and I want them now!” Mohtaz screamed. “You told me six units of the S-300 and another dozen Tor-M1 missile vehicles were waiting for pre-delivery checkout in Turkmenistan. How long ago was that, Zevitin? Eight, ten weeks? How long does it take to unpack a few missile launchers, turn them on, and see if all the pretty lights come on? When are you going to deliver on your promises?”

“They will be delivered, Mr. President, do not worry,” Zevitin said. He didn’t want to deliver missiles, especially the advanced S-300 strategic anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missile system, until he was sure he could not get any more concessions from American President Joseph Gardner in exchange. Zevitin was perfectly willing to let Mohtaz rant and rave if he could get the Americans to agree not to put troops in Poland or the Czech Republic, or agree to veto any resolution in the United Nations that might allow Kosovo to break away from Serbia, in return. Those negotiations were in a critical stage, and he wasn’t going to let Mohtaz screw them up.

“I want them now, Zevitin, or you can take all of your planes and tanks and radars back to Russia!” Mohtaz said. “I want the S-300 and Tor protecting Mashhad tomorrow. I want an impenetrable shield of missiles around that city when I return in triumph with my exiled government.”

“That is impossible, Excellency. It takes time to test those advanced weapon systems properly before deployment. I will have Minister Ostenkov and chief of staff General Furzyenko brief your military advisers on —”

“No! No! No more briefings and wasted time!” Mohtaz shouted. “I want them deployed immediately or I will see to it that the entire world knows of your duplicity! What would your American friends say if they learn that you agreed to sell Iran anti-aircraft missiles, chemical weapons, and anti-personnel rockets?”