“It is what the customer ordered, President Martindale,” Buzhazi’s translator said. “We shall be conducting trials in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, possibly with a cruise up the Red Sea to a port call in Libya first; then, we shall transfer the ship first to Victoria, then on to Ningbo. I trust the United States will not interfere with the transit.” Victoria was to be the newest Chinese naval base on the island of Hong Kong, about to be transferred to Chinese control.
“We strongly object to that ship carrying nuclear weapons,” the President said, “and we will urge all nations through which this vessel will pass to prohibit you from entering their waters.”
“And I object to the United States flying its stealth bomber across our sovereign airspace, attacking our airfields, and killing our citizens,” Buzhazi interrupted hotly. “The United States has sailed nuclear-armed warships past our country for over forty years, in your ‘national interest’ and ‘defense’ interests—now we shall do the same. Is there anything further, Mr. President?”
“I should like to inquire about President Nateq-Nouri’s condition and his political status,” Martindale said.
“I regret to inform you, sir, that President Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri was found dead in his home in Tehran not too long ago,” Buzhazi said, completely without emotion. “He was found with a single bullet wound to the head, made by an Italian-made Beretta Model 92 handgun—I believe it is the standard issue to American military forces, is it not …?”
“You son of a bitch!” President Martindale snapped. “You murdered President Nateq-Nouri!”
“An investigation is under way, but we believe the incident may have been a murder by foreign assassins,” Buzhazi said matter-of-factly. “The President may have been coerced into using his office to release a foreign prisoner from a military prison facility, then killed. Such a regrettable incident. I hope Allah has no mercy to those who did such a deed.”
Martindale slammed the telephone back on its cradle in absolute anger and disgust. “That bastard!” he shouted.
“That insane bastard! He had Nateq-Nouri killed for helping Paul White escape from Tehran!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. President,” Philip Freeman said. “I’m sorry my guys got him in this predicament. I take full responsibility for Nateq-Nouri’s death.”
“Bullshit, Philip, it had to be Buzhazi himself who did it,” Secretary of Defense Chastain said. “He was looking for a way to off the President for a long time—it’s no secret that Buzhazi wanted the presidency, but he’d be completely unable to stand for an election. He’s a power-crazy madman.”
“And right now, he has the ear of the mullahs, including Khamenei,” Secretary of State Hartman said. “If he survives the scrutiny of the Leadership Council, his power will grow exponentially—especially if he helps cement a strong relationship between Tehran and Beijing. He will be quite unstoppable then.
He may gather enough strength to weaken or even topple the religious leadership.”
“Our problem right now is that carrier,” the President said. “I don’t want it to leave the Gulf of Oman. Philip, can your boys stop that thing without starting a war in the Middle East?”
“We had trouble in our last sortie, sir,” Freeman said. “The Iranians have apparently figured out a way to detect the stealth bomber.”
“They what?” Chastain retorted. “What happened?”
“Three radar sites—land, sea, and air—perfectly synchronized,” Freeman explained. “Each one receiving the other’s radar signals and combing them on one display. The off-axis lobes created by the stealth design are picked up by other sites and reported to the master radar site. It’s enough to get a weak return. After that, just vector a fighter close enough to that blip to get a visual or infrared signal, and he’s yours. An Iranian fighter got close enough to fire a missile at our secret B-2A bomber—the missile was diverted by the bomber’s active countermeasures, but one engine was shot out. Jamieson and McLanahan barely got away.”
“Thank God,” the President breathed. “So what’s the solution?”
“The solution, Sir, is to knock out the synchronized radar sites,” Freeman said. “We have anti-radar missiles that can destroy the radar sites from five to ten miles out. The problem is that Iran has got every air machine they have in the air, and they’re sure to intercept the missile shooters at long range. The other problem is that the only anti-radar missile shooters we have in the region right now are on the Lincoln—the EA-6 Prowlers, the A-6 Intruders, and the F/A-18 Hornets. It’ll take just about every one of them to take out all the Iranian radars.”
“And now we’re talking about an invasion force,” the President said, “something I want to avoid. Iran hasn’t declared war on anybody—if we shoot first, we’re the bad guys.”
“And after all that, our chances of success will be low,” Freeman admitted. “The shooters would be outnumbered ten to one by advanced Iranian fighters, and they’d be detected long before they got within firing range. And because the Lincoln is so far from the Gulf of Oman right now, fighter coverage would be minimal or nonexistent.”
“I take it you have an alternate plan, or else you wouldn’t be here right now,” the President said to Freeman. “Let’s have it.
“The plan involves considerable risk to Air Vehicle Eleven, the B-2A bomber Jamieson and McLanahan are flying,” Freeman said.
“It’ll be sent in against the Iranian air defenses all by itself, armed with non-lethal weapons. It involves much more risk—not just to the crews, but to you politically as well. If it fails at a critical time, you’ll be totally exposed—there’ll be no doubt about what you attempted to do. If it succeeds, we’ll be able to meet your original criteria: the mission will be totally deniable, it’ll involve no or minimal loss of life, and it won’t look like an invasion force is out to destroy Iran.”
“Then let’s do it,” the President said. “Brief me on the plan, and let’s get started.”
“You should think about this for a time, Mr. President,” Freeman said. “The plan involves great personal political risk.”
“Philip, this job is nothing but a long list of great personal political risks,” President Martindale said. “But I told you, I want that carrier stopped. If you got a way to do it without starting a general war in the Middle East-“
“Or Asia, sir?” Freeman interjected.
The President hesitated—Freeman and the other advisers could see the President avert his eyes, thinking hard, perhaps reconsidering …
“Or Asia,” the President said. “Let’s hear it.” And with that, Philip Freeman began outlining his plan to the President and his advisers.
TEHRAN, IRAN THAT SAME TIME Smiling, General Buzhazi hung up the dead phone. “Your threats will do you no good, President Martindale,” he said. To Air Force General Sattari, Buzhazi’s acting chief of staff, he asked, “Is the mission ready to proceed, General?”
“Yes, sir,” Sattari responded. “Backfire bombers from Esfahan and attack planes from Bandar Abbas will attack the United Arab Emirates’ bases at Taweela, Mina Saqr, and Mina Sultan, and the Omani naval base on the Musandam Peninsula; six fighter-bombers from the Khomeini will attack Sib Air and Naval Base near Muscat in Oman. Six fighters from the Khomeini will provide primary air cover to the east, backed up by fighters from Chah Bahar; Bandar Abbas and Abu Musa will provide air- and ground-based air defense cover for the western attackers. The attack will be perfectly coordinated so that all attacks are simultaneous and that air defense fighters will launch and cover the strikers’ retreat, without alerting anyone that an attack is imminent.”
“And what about the Americans?” Buzhazi asked. “The Americans patrol the Arabian Peninsula almost all the way to the Gulf of Oman.”