Carrousel before.'
'So Lia's helping MI5.' Dean's voice sounded hard, a bit cold. 'Where do you want me?'
'You're on your way to Spithead tonight. A COD is being readied to deliver you to the USS Eisenhower. You'll draw CQB gear and weapons on the ship and take charge of Black Cat Bravo when it comes aboard tomorrow morning.'
'Are we going to mount an assault, then?' Lia asked.
'Yeah,' Dean added. 'Did Saunders and the DSF come around?'
'Not yet,' Rubens told them. 'We're working on that.'
'Meaning, Charlie,' Lia said, 'that they're still trying to pick up the pieces after we walked out on a British general.'
'We didn't have a lot of choice,' Dean said. He sounded angry. 'Damn it, we were told that Saunders had been bypassed, that the Brits were going to accept American help. We go into that meeting, and there's Saunders telling us to keep our collective noses out of the UK's business. He wasn't going to play nice. So we left.'
'You did the right thing, Charlie,' Rubens told him. 'I would have done exactly the same if I'd been there.'
'What's Saunders' problem, anyway?'
'It's not him as much as us,' Rubens said. 'The real problem is that both we and London are getting mixed signals from our own people. The Pentagon wants us to go in whether the British want our help or not. A Broken Arrow alert requires a military response, and the Joint Chiefs informed London that we were prepared to handle the takedown and to safeguard the security of the Pacific Sandpiper's cargo. But the President and the State Department both want to leave this to the British.'
'Why?' Lia asked. 'The Brits are good, yeah, but shouldn't they be looking for all the help they can get right now?'
'More to the point, shouldn't we be offering it?' Dean added.
'Of course. But the President promised to disengage from Iraq and avoid foreign military interventions. And if someone's going to try to go in shooting and fails… well, both the President and State would rather someone else take the fall. Right now, things in Washington are more than normally surreal.'
'Hell, that's saying something,' Dean observed.
'So what's the story?' Lia asked. 'Are we going in or not?'
'This is classified, of course… but an SAS assault is going down tomorrow night.'
'Tomorrow! They're going with Saunders' plan?' Dean asked. 'A helo-borne assault?'
'We don't have the details yet,' Rubens said, 'but I would guess so. With luck, the commandos will get on board, take down the bad guys, and secure both ships.
'But if they don't, and assuming the terrorists don't push a button and blow both ships to bits, I want our people ready to launch a follow-up. Code name Operation Neptune. We need to find Ghailiani's family, the sooner the better, and we need to have a Black Cat team ready to insert off the Eisenhower if the HRT doesn't go down as planned. Understand?'
'Yes, sir,' Dean said.
'Absolutely,' Lia added.
'Good. Questions?'
There were none, and Rubens broke the connection.
Chapter 20
'Is the camera on?'
Doherty glanced at Petrovich, who had his camera riding on his shoulder, the small red light on. 'We're rolling,' he said. 'You're on the air.'
The terrorist leader actually looked a bit nervous. He pulled himself up straighter and held the microphone a bit closer to his mouth.
'I address the governments of the United States, of Great Britain, and of the world!' he said. 'I am Commander Yusef Khalid of the Islamic Jihad International. As our enemies will have guessed by now, Jihad forces have boarded and captured two vessels at sea, the cruise ship Atlantis Queen, of Royal Sky Line, and the plutonium transport ship Pacific Sandpiper, belonging to PNTL. We now hold some three thousand people hostage. As you see here, we are in control of the cruise ship bridge, and we have dozens of fighters dedicated to the cause of martyrdom, positioned at key points throughout the ship.' He gestured, leading Petrovich over to the starboard wing of the bridge, pointing down and aft. 'You see there,' Khalid continued, 'the PNTL ship, tied to the side of the Atlantis Queen. We could blow it up, and sink the Atlantis Queen with all of her passengers trapped and helpless on board.
'During the past several days, we have transported a part of the radioactive cargo from the Pacific Sandpiper across to the Atlantis Queen, in effect turning that ship into a gigantic floating nuclear bomb. Any attempt to attack either ship will result in the immediate destruction of both vessels, and the deaths of everyone on board.' He pulled Petrovich's arm, guiding the cameraman back into the main part of the bridge.
With the camera again on him, Khalid continued. 'The United States of America has committed itself to the path of destruction, with its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, its tortures and barbarities at Guantanamo and the ADX, the so-called 'Supermax' prison, in Colorado.
'In exchange for the release of our hostages, we demand the immediate release of all Islamic prisoners currently held in the West as a result of the illegal military invasions of Islamic countries by the United States and the so-called coalition forces. In particular, we demand the immediate release of the inmates of 'H-Unit,' including Ramzi Yousef, Zacarias Moussaoui, Richard Reid, Wadih El Hage, and the other Islamic fighters held at the ADX facility in Colorado.
'In addition, we demand the payment, within four days, of one billion American dollars to agents we shall designate in Beirut, Lebanon. Upon confirmation that these prisoners have been released and that this sum has been paid, we shall release the Atlantis Queen and all hostages aboard it.
'We shall, however, retain control of the Pacific Sandpiper; and of its crew. We shall relinquish control of that vessel, its crew, and its cargo upon the confirmation of the receipt of a second payment of one billion dollars by our agent in Beirut.
'We are monitoring the standard marine radio channels, and are awaiting your answer. Remember! The lives of over three thousand civilians are in your hands! Any attempt at military intervention will result in their immediate execution! Any attempt to damage this vessel's propellers or otherwise cripple the ship, and everybody dies!'
Khalid made a slashing motion across his throat, ending the speech, and Petrovich lowered the camera. One of Khalid's men took it from him.
'That was… dramatic,' Sandra Ames said, accepting the microphone from Khalid, then handing it to another of the uniformed terrorists standing on the bridge. 'Would you like an interview as well?'
'Why?' Khalid said.
'I don't know. To get your message out. To win… understanding. I could ask you questions on the air, about you, about your cause, and you could — '
'I do not want understanding, woman,' Khalid told her. 'I want only fear.' He gestured at the three CNE people. 'Take them back to their stateroom. Put their equipment back in the radio room.'
'Two billion dollars?' Doherty asked him. 'Do you really think they'll pay you that?'
'Actually,' Khalid said with a cold voice, 'I don't really care.'
And they led the news team back to their stateroom.
General Saunders was stepping onto the port flight deck elevator when his chief aide, Colonel Mabry, hurried up. 'Sir! Dispatch from HQ!'
God, Saunders thought, accepting the message flimsy. Now what?
