But most times stupidity and ambition made for a pliant coconspirator, and that's what Zuwayy had in Khan. The Egyptian cleric thought it was in the best interest of all concerned for Egypt to join the Muslim Brotherhood-a loose confederation of Libya, Sudan, and Yemen, with major support in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon, and with some wealthy supporters in such pro-Western states such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and even Kuwait. Jadallah Zuwayy, as ruler of the most powerful military in the alliance, was the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Their sworn mission: to replace all of the secular governments in the Middle East with religiousbased governments firmly grounded in traditional Muslim beliefs. Egypt joining the Muslim Brotherhood would be the crown jewel in strengthening the organization and convincing other undecided nations to join-Egypt had the most powerful military force in the entire region, almost on a par with Israel quantitatively.
Zuwayy found a ready and willing ideological slave in Khalid al-Khan. Obviously the cleric never read anything but propaganda sheets-for he truly believed that Zuwayy was descended from the Prophet Muhammad and was the savior and sword of Islam. Zuwayy nurtured that fiction every chance he could, and Khan was obviously enjoying and benefiting from the attention. It did not take long to lodge al-Khan firmly under Zuwayy's thumb.
"I have a request of you, Ulama," Zuwayy said.
"Ask anything of me, Majesty," Khan replied devoutly.
"A sneak attack by unidentified commandos was perpetrated against Libya tonight."
"I have heard of this, Majesty. Are you safe?"
"Perfectly safe, Ulama."
"I swear this to you, Majesty, that the terrorists that did this deed will be hunted down like the dogs they are and punished!"
"You would tell me if these terrorists came from Egypt, Khalid?"
"Of course, Majesty!" Khan cried. "I would notify you the instant I found out, even if I risked violating state secrets. You are descended from the loving Prophet-none may seek to harm you! All true believers know this to be true!"
"Thank you for your words of comfort, Khalid," Zuwayy said. "But I need your help to find the terrorists."
"Anything, Majesty."
"I believe that the terrorists crossed into Egypt to make their escape. I need your military forces to provide me with radar and patrol data so that I may track them down."
"It shall be delivered to you by daybreak, Majesty."
"And whatever my military forces may do, Ulama, I do not want your military forces to intervene," Zuwayy said. "I will not attack Egyptian soil without first notifying you-but I do not want any Egyptian forces to respond to attacks elsewhere."
"I will give the orders myself, Majesty," Khan said. "It is easily done. The commanders of our largest military bases are friends to me and our cause."
"Very good, Khalid. My war ministers will be in touch with your office within the hour. On behalf of all the faithful, I thank you."
"It is my honor, Majesty," Khan said. "I am pleased to tell you, Highness, that I shall place my name in nomination before the People's Assembly for president of Egypt, insh'allah."
"Excellent, Ulama," Zuwayy said. His defense ministers and generals were entering the room-he had to shut this zealot off, quick. "You have my full support and blessings. Anything my government or I can do to support you, it is yours."
"Of course, joining the Muslim Brotherhood is my main goal, Majesty," Khan said. "I wish to strengthen ties with all of our Muslim brothers and force all of the foreigners out."
"The foreigners are draining the strength out of all the faithful. We need to formalize our union, Ulama. When you are named president, we shall work together to eliminate the Westerners from our land. The oil they pump from our land is ours, not theirs. Libya took control of our oil fields, Khalid-Egypt should do the same. I will accept any information you can give me, and God will tell me His wishes."
"As you wish, Majesty," Khan said. "It shall be sent to you without delay."
Good little tool, Zuwayy thought, good little tool.
"I apologize for having to do this," Patrick McLanahan said as he entered the briefing room. The other members of his team were already there, waiting. "I know none of us feel much like debriefing right now. But we have a report to file. Let's get to it." He looked over to his wife, Wendy. "What have you got for us?"
Wendy looked on her husband sadly, her eyes wet with tears. Concentrating on recovering the commando team, with the body of her dead brother-in-law aboard, was one of the most difficult things she ever had to do. But Patrick was all business-never shed a tear, never sulked, never really looked at his brother once they were brought aboard. He helped carry the litter off the CV-22 Pave Hammer tiltrotor aircraft until two other men took the body away, and then he got right back to work. She could feel the pain inside him, even though his face and features didn't show it.
Patrick issued a voice command, and his fibersteel exoskeleton automatically detached itself from his body. He stepped out of it and pressed a code into a hidden keypad, and the exoskeleton folded itself up into a package about the size of a small suitcase. He plugged the pack into a wall outlet to recharge it, set the exoskeleton aside, sat down at the head of the conference table, then plugged his battle armor into another available outlet. Patrick, Wendy noticed, still had Paul's blood on his hands, his wrists, his arms, and his face-he hadn't even slowed down long enough to wash it off.
"We launched a FlightHawk recon aircraft while you were on your way back, Patrick," Wendy began in a low monotone voice. "We did detect radioactive elements in the atmosphere over Samah consistent with a number of nuclear warheads, so some of the rockets you destroyed were nuclear. The bad news is, we also detected VX nerve agents, also consistent with a number of warheads, maybe as many as a half-dozen."
"Holy shit," Hal Briggs breathed. "With an SS-12 they could hit Rome, Athens, Istanbul, Tel Aviv…"
"Or Cairo, Alexandria, or the Suez Canal," Patrick added. "And Libya has a number of ex-Russian long-range bombers, tactical fighters, coastal antiship, and ship-borne weapon systems capable of delivering those warheads too. They could hold all of southern Europe at risk." Patrick looked at his intelligence briefing notes. "Our private intelligence sources told us there might be as many as six other bases, including two more secret bases like Samah, hiding ballistic missiles armed with nuclear or chemical warheads. I'd like to set up a complete reconnaissance schedule with as many FlightHawks as we can, scanning every square foot to try to locate the other missiles."
"Agreed," Chris Wohl said. "We can have a strike team standing by either offshore or in Egypt to move as soon as targets are located."
"We should also push to upgrade the sensors on the recon FlightHawks," Wendy added. "We can put an ultrawideband radar on a FlightHawk to let us scan for underground bunkers and communications lines under the sand." The ultra-wideband radar, or UWBR, was one of the most significant advances in surveillance and reconnaissance: a radar capable of seeing through some mediumdensity objects. The system normally fit only on a full-size aircraft, but Jon Masters had redesigned it to fit on board a small, unmanned aircraft. "The FlightHawks will have only a few hours' loiter time because of the size of the UWBR system, but we'll be able to scan the country quicker and more efficiently."