“Dammit, I gave explicit orders,” Batman stormed. “What the hell-“
His sentence broke off as he listened to the report from the S-3 coming over the speaker. His anger seeped away as his face turned pale. Everyone in TFCC felt the deck shudder as the aircraft carrier tried to slow eighty-four thousand tons of metal through the water at twenty knots. The General Quarters alarm was barely audible over the shuddering through every structural member of the ship.
Pamela slipped a hand into her pocket and surreptitiously thumbed the power switch on her cell phone on. Her fingers sought out the speed-dial codes, and she punched the code in for ACN Istanbul. She could hear the busy signal sound faintly as the officers in the conference room dashed for TFCC.
She hit the disconnect switch but left the power on, intending to try again in a few minutes. She’d overheard the conversation from TFCC, and ACN was going to be the first to break the news of another attack on the aircraft carrier.
Her telephone rang. Annoyed, she thumbed the answer switch. “Drake.”
“Pamela, don’t hang up,” Packmeyer said. His voice was frantic.
“Listen, you’ve gotta listen for just a minute. I’ve got evidence that Turkey is mobilizing for a full-scale attack on American forces and assets around here. Jesus, Pamela?they machine-gunned my office. Nobody was hurt, but-“
“What did you say?” Pamela said, cutting him off. “About the mobilization. Give me the details.” Her voice was hard and uncompromising.
“My sources say that every military force in Turkey is mobilizing. They’re pissed, Pamela?real pissed. I’ve never seen anything like it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that they were not behind the first attack on the USS La Salle?but they will be behind the next one. You can count on it.”
“I think they just were.”
Pamela briefly described the gist of the conversation she’d heard over the radio circuit. “Where are you now? We need to get this out immediately.”
Packmeyer laughed. “Not in my office, that’s for sure. The story’s out here, Pamela?and I’m on scene.”
Pamela thought for a moment. “Why are you calling me?” she asked finally.
“Because you’re on the carrier. And if anybody needs this, the battle group does. Pamela, please?you’re an American citizen,” he said, almost pleading. “Our viewers?yes, we work for them. But we’ve got other responsibilities as well, whether you admit it or not.”
“Of course I know,” she snapped. “Just what the hell-“
“Pamela, for once in your life, think about something besides the story. Think about the sailors who may get killed, the soldiers who are going to be dead on some battlefield if we don’t stop this. I don’t know what started this?it has something to do with Russia or Ukraine, I know?please, Pamela.”
“Hold on.”
Pamela looked at the phone thoughtfully, trying to assess the emotions warring inside her. The story was breaking, probably one of the biggest she’d ever covered, and she was in a perfect position to report it. Yet, as Packmeyer had said, she had other responsibilities as well.
If it ever got out that she’d known about this?known, and deliberately endangered U.S. troops by keeping her information to herself?ACN would never have access again to any military reporting pool.
Tombstone had often taunted her about her driven need to get into the middle of the action, saying she put the story above everything.
“Maybe above my love life?but not above my country.”
She stood up and walked into TFCC and handed Tombstone the telephone. “I think you may want to talk to this fellow?his name’s Mike Packmeyer.”
10
“It’s working?there’s no doubt about it.” The Naval Aviation captain first rank looked pleased.
“But the Americans? We believe they’re headed toward our facilities for an examination of their catapult.” Yuri spread his hands to indicate his lack of comprehension. “How does that show that we have been successful?”
The captain’s smile broadened. “You have not heard the news, obviously. The foolish Turks have done exactly as we anticipated. They have activated the minefield in the Strait.”
The captain’s voice turned grim. “Unfortunately, the first casualty was our submarine.”
“Then the Americans-” Yuri started.
“Are trapped in the Strait. An excellent tactical position?unless you are an American.” The captain chuckled lightly. “It certainly makes our targeting and anti-air-defense problems much simpler, does it not?”
Yuri nodded, letting a smile settle on his face. It would not do to appear anything other than completely enthusiastic at this point. It was clear that there were circles within circles, aspects of this plan that he had never been briefed on.
But since when had they bothered to brief him on anything of relevance?
Even the details of this weapon hung on his wings were classified. A ridiculous state of affairs, not to even know what weapon you were firing.
“Moreover, I believe a window of opportunity is now opening,” the captain continued, evidently satisfied with Yuri’s expression of understanding. “We have many sources of information?two nations cannot be this close together without developing certain sources.”
“Sources?” Yuri immediately wished he could call the question back.
An officer was told what he needed to know?he did not question. It was all too easy to see how his one-word query could be taken as a sign of political unreliability, particularly in these unstable times.
Evidently, however, the captain was in a garrulous mood. “The entire Turkish command structure,” he confided, “is riddled with spies. Our spies. We know exactly what they’re going to do moments after they decide themselves.”
A self-satisfied look spread across his face. “Many of these sources I helped develop myself.”
“Impressive.” Yuri breathed a sigh of relief. A brief expression of admiration always went well with the captain.
“And we now know that they are planning to avenge their honor?that is how they put it.”
The captain laughed. “As if they had any. And they certainly won’t after today.”
“They never did,” Yuri commented idly.
“They will be launching an air attack on the aircraft carrier. An air attack?imagine it. It will be devastating to both sides. The aircraft carrier already has many of its fighters airborne, and it can rely on the weapons aboard the Aegis cruiser Shiloh. If the Turks have any sense, they’ll hold until the aircraft are running low on fuel, then launch.”
Yuri could see the picture now, unfolding in all of its complexity.
By shooting a tactical nuclear weapon at the Americans while pretending to be a Turkish aircraft, he had provoked the aggressive stand of the Americans. At the same time, Turkey was outraged that the Americans believed she had provoked the attack. To avenge Turkey’s honor?he nodded his head, now understanding. Yes, that would have been a cultural certainty. And based on his experience with the Turkish air force, he would bet that they would have considered the question of fuel.
“So you will prepare to launch in one hour,” the captain continued.
