other admiral in the navy. Myself included. I’ve spent too many years flying a desk.”
“Somebody had to do it. I’d rather have been there than here.”
His uncle made an impatient gesture. “I know, I know. Still, there are times I wish that it could have been different. For both of us. Maybe I should have encouraged you to spend more time in DC, build up a power base. If you had more friends here, it might lessen the impact of this whole mess.”
Tombstone didn’t know what to say. Privately, he knew he would never have survived his uncle’s career path. Sure, there were plenty of officers who did, including his oldest friend. Batman — Admiral Everette Wayne now — had seen his share of combat, but had also spent the required tours at the Pentagon. If anyone was headed for the CNO job, it was Batman.
“What would you think about coming onboard my staff as a troubleshooter?” his uncle asked. “And I don’t mean administrative matters — I mean actual conflict.”
“What do you mean?”
His uncle smiled. “You’re a great straight man, Stony. That brings me directly to my second problem. Are you following what’s happening in Greece and Macedonia?”
Tombstone nodded. “Mostly through CNN, but I’ve seen some of the classified traffic as well. The Republic of Macedonia may be independent, but Greece isn’t acknowledging the fact. Not as long as they’ve got the word Macedonia in the name. I know they’re worried about Greek Macedonia and the coast, too. From what I heard, it sounds like it’s getting bloody.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Two hours ago, the Greeks knocked a news helicopter out of the sky.”
“They shot it? Was it ACN?” Tombstone asked. His mind started racing to the inevitable possibility.
His uncle met his eyes. “No missiles. Evidently some Greek Tomcat pilot caught them in a jet wash. But you’re right about the rest of it. It was ACN. Pamela Drake was onboard.”
Tombstone was stunned. Was it possible, after all these years? The seemingly invincible Pamela Drake, killed in a helicopter crash? It was, he thought, the way she would have wanted to go. On the trail of a hot story, in the middle of the action. Although Pamela had grown older gracefully, he suspected that she never would have been really comfortable as she aged. Her industry was peculiarly brutal to women, and he suspected Pamela Drake would be no exception.
“Is there any word on survivors?” he asked quietly, already offering up a private prayer for Pamela Drake’s soul.
His uncle shook his head. “Rescue efforts are under way, but it looks like they went down in a pretty rocky area. I have to say, Stony, I don’t think there’s much hope she survived. There have been no emergency beacons, nothing like that.”
Tombstone let out a long, slow breath, one that felt like he’d been holding for years. “I appreciate your telling me yourself, Uncle. You could have let me hear it on the news.”
His uncle made a dismissive gesture. “Don’t start thinking I’m getting soft, nephew.” He leaned forward, now evidently at the heart of the issue. “We’ve got problems in Greece, big problems. You know what happens when a member of the news media gets killed. Every other one jumps into the feeding frenzy, and a conflict gets blown all out of proportion.” He shook his head gravely. “The one thing all these people never seem to understand is that war is a constant. It’s always been with us, and I’m afraid it always will be.”
Tombstone nodded. “So what’s going to happen? There’s already a UN peacekeeping force in place. Not that they’ve been able to exercise much control over the Greek nationalist, I hear.”
“It’s not that simple. Sometime tomorrow, the UN will pass a resolution calling for peace and a negotiated cease-fire in Macedonia. There’s thought in some quarters that the Greeks aren’t going to be any too happy about that. They may even back down from the few compromises they’ve been willing to live with up until now.”
“But Greece is a member of the United Nations,” Tombstone said. “They’ve had members on every peacekeeping mission so far. They always support the UN.”
“Sure, but it’s different when it’s applied to your own country. You know how touchy they are. They don’t like having a peacekeeping force in their own country one little bit. And Macedonia is going to be even less willing to cooperate with anything that might possibly infringe on their new independence.”
“I can see how it’s going to be a problem,” Tombstone said thoughtfully. “But this doesn’t sound like a Navy problem. Macedonia is landlocked.”
“For now. That’s apparently part of the problem. Greece is claiming that there’s a camp of rebel insurgent nationalists conducting guerilla operations along the Aegean coast inside Greece itself. So they’re thinking that they’ll need more of a naval presence than originally planned. Besides, nothing’s as flexible as an aircraft carrier — and it’s a good deal more diplomatic to have an airfield outside the twelve-mile limit than aircraft on the ground inside Greece.”
“Makes sense,” Tombstone admitted. “So where do I come in?”
“How would you like to be a special advisor to the commander of the UN peacekeeping force that’s ordered into Greece?” his uncle asked. “Think about it for a moment before you answer. For one thing, it would be composed primarily of ground troops, although
Tombstone nodded. “After my little forays into Vietnam and Russia, I understand more about that aspect of war. They might not expect that. On the other hand, I might miss some subtleties a ground-pounder would pick up. An army or marine officer might be a better choice.”
“There’s one other factor involved. Remember who we’re talking about. This is Greece, the most ancient seagoing nation in the world. They were building combat fleets when our ancestors were still throwing sticks at each other. If there’s a conflict there, even with an inland country like Macedonia, naval warfare will play a big part. For one thing, there are islands scattered up and down throughout the Med and the Aegean. Perfect for remote supply bases and reinforcements. Any peacekeeping force in the area is going to have to do some island hopping just to keep things quiet.”
Tombstone nodded. “But still, the primary thrust of the battle is going to be on land.”
“Yes, it is. But like I said, this is a naval warfare country. Their land tactics are invariably influenced by their tactics at sea. You’ve seen that yourself at the Naval War College. It’s a way of thinking, an approach to operational art that’s different from our own. That’s why I thought you might be able to bring a unique perspective to the situation. You understand naval tactics and operational art better than any other officer I know. If anyone can outguess the Macedonians and puzzle out any hidden Greek agendas, it will be you.”
“What makes you think the other nations would buy into it?” Tombstone asked. Already the possibility of going to Greece was starting to appeal to him.
“That’s my end of the ball game, Stony. Trust me, I know how to handle the politics involved. But before I could go to bat for this — and I’m not doing it as a favor, mind you, I really think you’re the best man for the job — I have to know whether or not you want it. Because believe me, being on the inside when there’s ethnic warfare involved can eat at you. Brothers fighting brothers — it will be like the Civil War in the States was. Only uglier. And you’d have no real power to do anything other than report back to the States when something starts stinking to high heaven. The upside is that you can make a difference in the world. The UN’s got to work as it was intended, as a force for world peace, and Greece has got to go along with that.”
“Oh, I want it, make no mistake about that,” Tombstone said. “Tomboy’s onboard
His uncle stood. “Well, then.” He held out his hand. “Pack your bags, Nephew.”
THREE
