Dean was seated at a table in one of the building's cafeterias with Lia DeFrancesca and Carolyn Howorth when William Rubens walked in. 'Don't get up,' he said as Dean started to rise. 'Stay off of that ankle.'
Dean grinned ruefully and patted his cane. 'That's something they never covered in boot camp,' he said. 'Do not jump off a twenty-foot ladder.'
'Remember that next time,' Rubens said. 'How is it?'
'Bad sprain, nothing more.'
'The idiot could have killed himself,' Lia said. But she was grinning.
'Good. Thought you'd like to hear, Charlie,' Rubens said. 'David Yancey has a good chance. They're putting him through a series of bone marrow transplants.. but they say that the truck beds themselves gave him a measure of shielding. He's young; he's strong; he should make a full recovery.'
'I'm glad to hear it,' Dean said. 'He deserves the Medal of Honor.'
'That might be a problem,' Rubens said. 'Technically he's a civilian. I plan to nominate him for the Congressional Gold Medal, though.'
Dean chuckled. 'That's one way to get the 'Congressional' bit in there legally.' The Medal of Honor was often, but incorrectly, referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor, since it was awarded by the President on behalf of Congress. The Congressional Gold Medal, however, was one of the two highest medals to be awarded to a civilian, 'for an outstanding deed or act of service to the security, prosperity, and national interest of the United States.'
'How about a medal for every man on the Neptune strike force, and every SEAL off that submarine?' Carolyn Howorth said. She'd arrived from New York that morning on a business commuter flight.
'They all did a hell of a job,' Charlie Dean said. 'Medals aren't the same, though, as knowing the job got done.'
'And done with so little collateral damage,' Lia added.
'We got lucky,' Dean said. 'Very lucky, in fact; only one passenger and one crew member killed in the assault. And… what? A dozen wounded out of thirty-three hundred?' That didn't count the one passenger and several members of the ship's crew killed before Neptune had gone in, of course. Still, total casualties — collateral damage, as Lia put it — had been incredibly light.
Poor David Llewellyn. He'd died before they'd reached the Ike.
'I'm glad you're just interested in the job,' Rubens said, 'since this op will be so highly classified, you boys won't be allowed to show your medals off.'
'It's being buried?' Dean asked. 'Why?'
'Interests of national security. Translated as… 'the politicians don't want anyone to know how close we came to losing New England.''
'I'd think the people would be dancing in the streets. Judging from the news footage I've been seeing, they are dancing in the streets!'
'The official story is that the Atlantis Queen and the Sandpiper were still 'several hundred miles off the coast.' Not thirty miles from Martha's Vineyard.'
'I don't understand that,' Howorth said, shaking her head.
'Some folks think it's better that we stay fat and happy. And that we not know about our politicians playing cover-your-ass.'
'In light of that,' Dean said, 'you might want to reconsider your resignation letter.' Rubens had confided in Dean shortly after he'd gotten back aboard the Eisenhower
Rubens snorted. 'I don't know yet. I'm not sure I want the job anymore, not when I spend more time fighting with the people who are supposed to be on our side. Since you pulled off Neptune, the NSC probably won't want my head on a platter. Not this time, anyway.'
'I'm glad to hear it.'
'It helps that we caught so many of the hijackers alive. A half-dozen or so prisoners from the Atlantis Queen, and another twelve from the Sandpiper We're already learning a lot of new stuff about the Islamic Jihad International Brigade and how it fits in with al-Qaeda. And this new Japanese group, the KKD… that's going to bear watching. Fuchida has been talking. Looks like al-Qaeda's trying to branch out, forge new alliances.' He grinned. 'The Japanese have already disavowed the group. They want nothing to do with them.'
'Moderate Muslims have been disavowing al-Qaeda for years,' Dean pointed out.
'Oh, Lia,' Rubens said. 'You might be interested to know that your op in Lebanon has drawn some official attention.'
'Oh? Are they after my head?'
'Not at all. Remember your friend Colonel Suleiman?'
'Scorpio. Sure.'
'Guess who Yusef Khalid's contact in Lebanon for the two-billion-dollar ransom was supposed to be?'
'Suleiman?' She looked puzzled.
'None other. We found out about it through that back door you planted in the Syrian network for Collins.'
'What does Syrian Air Force intelligence have to do with al-Qaeda?' she asked.
'Normally nothing. There's a perception in the Islamic community at large, though, that al-Qaeda has gotten too violent, that it's, out of control. Some other Islamic militant groups may be trying to rein them in. Seems that their biggest, flashiest ops tend to alienate moderate Muslims, not inspire them. Suleiman was acting as the IJI Brigade's money man in hopes of getting control of the group. Apparently he didn't know that Khalid had no intention of accepting the ransom, that he was going to try to blow those ships no matter what we did.'
'Makes sense,' Carolyn Howorth said. 'A few out-of-control crazies make it harder for everybody.' She slapped Dean's shoulder. 'Attracts tough old birds like this one to come in and kick arse.'
'I still think it would be better to publicize what happened,' said Charlie Dean. 'Show the bastards that we can fight back. That we'll stop them, no matter what they try.'
'Oh, I imagine the word will get out,' Rubens said. 'The passengers are being processed in New York City now. Among them are three CNE news team people — the ones who first broke the story.'
'I ran into them at the end,' Charlie Dean said. 'Filming the final takedown.'
'The news services already know there's more to it than the government is saying,' Rubens said. 'I imagine the powers-that-be will have trouble covering it up. We'll have to see how it plays out over the next few days.'
'Meanwhile,' Reubens said, '… I don't speak for you, Ms. Howorth. You don't work for me. But these two have some leave coming.'
'Sounds good,' Lia said, grinning. 'You know, I've been thinking for some time, Charlie, that I'd really like to go on a vacation cruise.'
Somehow, Dean managed to keep a straight face. 'Sure. The Persian Gulf, perhaps?' Playfully she punched him.
