"Yes, sir," Brannigan replied. "She was a fast-attack ship; British Province-Class to be exact. I looked her up in the Jane's Warships of the World"
"Well, shit," Paulsen said. "That could cover more than one navy in this part of the world. Did you see her ensign?"
"She showed no national colors," Brannigan said. "We caught a fleeting glimpse of a scarlet flag with a white device of some sort. It didn't look like any national colors that I recognized." He glanced at Veronica Rivers. "What about your observations, Lieutenant?"
"I just saw blips on my weapons scopes, sir," Veronica reported. "I read the launch against the Hornets; then they turned on us. They brought us under fire and we went into a quick evasion mode waiting for orders. However, I was locked on solid on the attacker when the order to disengage was received." She paused, almost glaring at Carey. "We could've blown the son of a bitch out of the water in less that a half minute, sir."
"I realize that, Lieutenant," Carey conceded. He turned his eyes on Paulsen. "Do you have any comments?"
"Well," Paulsen said, "only that we're keeping a tight lid on this until the State Department can sort through the mess. Meanwhile, we're not going to be sitting on our asses. I have official permission to inform you folks you're authorized to go out armed and angry. Therefore, in the future you are to retaliate against any hostile action with extreme prejudice-- I say again--extreme prejudice no matter the attacker. Losses of American lives will not be tolerated no matter the circumstances."
The two SEAL officers and Veronica exchanged looks of grim satisfaction.
"All right then," Carey said. "Now I have some highly classified matters to discuss with Mr. Paulsen and Mr. Koenig. Since this a need-to-know situation at this point in time, you are all dismissed. Sorry if I don't give you more information on their backgrounds, but I'm sure you appreciate the situation as it now stands. My two colleagues and I are staying aboard the Dan Daly until this operation is brought to completion."
Brannigan gestured to his lieutenants. "Care to have some coffee in the wardroom before you go back to work?"
"Sounds like a winner, sir," Veronica commented.
Paulsen waited until the three left the room, then turned his attention to Carey and Koenig. "I haven't mentioned our secondary mission here to anyone yet. But I think you guys probably already know what it is."
"I would say finding out about Mike Assad's location and health," Carey said.
"That may be a real problem," Koenig said. "He's disappeared off the face of the earth."
Paulsen pulled a packet of papers from his briefcase. "Here's the latest poop we have on him, and it ain't much, guys. He made his so-called escape in Rawalpindi on sixteen October as planned. He must have been delayed somewhat, because he didn't turn up anywhere until twenty October, when he was picked up by the local cops in the Northwest Frontier Province."
"How did you get the word on that?" Carey asked.
"We've got informants scattered hither and thither within Pakistani police organizations," Paulsen explained. "Their reports filtered in from different points and the one from the Northwest Frontier rang a bell. The prisoner picked up from a routine bus inspection matched Mike's description."
"As I recall, Mike looked pretty nondescript in his duty costume," Koenig said. "That could have been just about anybody."
"Well, this prisoner managed to escape from the local lockup," Paulsen said. "And he took along some field gear, ammunition, and a pistol that belonged to the cops."
Carey laughed loudly. "Oh, man! That's Mike Assad all right! Only a SEAL could pull off that caper."
'The problem is that we don't know if he made it back to his al-Mimkhalif buddies or not," Paulsen said. "That Northwest Frontier is dangerous as hell. Along with all the natural perils of snakes, scorpions, and hyenas, there're bandits to boot. And let's take the Pathans or the Pashtuns or whatever the hell they call themselves into account. Those are some real bad asses. They'd slit a guy's throat just to listen to him gurgle."
"If he's dead, then Operation Deep Thrust is over and done," Carey remarked.
"I'm afraid so," Koenig agreed, "and I'll take that kind of personally."
"Koenig has been the guy picking up Mike's intel reports from the dead-letter drop," Paulsen explained. "He's been playing the role of a UN agricultural advisor in the area. But Mike hasn't been sending anything lately, so we pulled Koenig out. There was a lingering chance everyone and everything was compromised."
"I don't see that we can do a lot from where we sit," Koenig remarked.
"I've arranged it so that the instant he makes any kind of contact, we will be notified here on the Dan Daly" Paulsen said. "If the circumstances warrant, I'm authorized to get him the hell out of any mess he might be in."
"How the hell are you going to do that?" Carey asked.
"Commander," Paulsen said with shrug, "I don't have the slightest fucking idea."
.
ROYAL YACHT SAYIH
GOLF OF ADEN
VICINITY OF 13deg NORTH AND 48deg EAST
1345 H0URS
COMMODORE Muhammad Mahamat led the way as he stepped from his gig onto the platform of the yacht's accommodation ladder. He was closely followed by Hafez Sabah, Mike Assad, and their two young companions, Imran and Ayyub. The sheikh's trio of bodyguards--Alif, Baa, and Taa--stood at the apex, looking down at the visitors to the ship as they came aboard.
As soon as Imran and Ayyub were aboard, the bodyguards whipped out their pistols and aimed dead at the ex-baker apprentices who carried AK-47s. Alif growled, "Haram-forbidden! No one may bring weapons aboard the yacht!"
Sabah was angry about the discourtesy. 'These two young men are mujahideen! As soldiers of Islam they are expected to be armed at all times. And they are our bodyguards."
Alif, with his eyes peering intently at the two armed boys, nodded his head toward Taa. "See Sheikh Omar about this." He scowled at Mike and Sabah as Taa hurried away. "Are you carrying weapons?"
"La" Mahamat said, shaking his head. "We left our personal arms aboard the flagship."
Mike stepped off to one side and gave Alif and Baa a close professional scrutiny. Not too bright; highly dedicated; willing to die to protect the sheikh; fully trained; physically fit; and extremely aggressive with guard-dog personalities well imbedded within limited human intellects. To sum it up: They would be the deadliest of adversaries. That would be something to keep in mind.
Moments later Taa reappeared, going up to Alif and whispering in his ear. The head bodyguard lowered his weapon and Baa followed the example in a monkey-see-monkey-do reaction. Alif said, "The sheikh gives your bodyguards his kind permission to keep their weapons. Please come with us."
The four visitors followed their surly escorts aft to where the sheikh held court while ogling his consorts between periods of inflicting sexual battery on them. When the visitors stepped onto the stern deck, both Imran and Ayyub let out gasps of astonishment. The sight of bare-breasted European women wearing only thongs was almost more than the two country boys could endure. To them this was a situation expressly forbidden by the Holy Koran, and they looked away, then back, then away, back, and finally turned to stare across the water at the flagship Harbi-min-Islam, fearful that having gazed upon the naked temptresses, they would be banished to the fiery depths of Hell forever. Sabah, amused by their discomfiture, laughed at them.
"All right, boys," he said jokingly. "Go forward and take up posts on each side of the yacht. Make sure no submarines surface to fire at us."
The two apprentice bakers, both red-faced with shame and fear, rushed off to their posts.