"Why does the project move so slowly?" he asked out loud. He knew that the science, the physics, of a nuclear bomb was no longer a secret. There were schematics of bombs on the Internet, and papers and manuals telling how to build a crude one.
They wanted one step up from crude, so it was taking longer. He dreamed of the day he would have the first operational bomb ready. He would tell the world about it, then threaten one neighbor with the total destruction of their capital city, if they did not surrender and become a part of the Greater Iranian Islamic Republic. What a day that would be!
There would be outrage around the world, but no nation would challenge him with its own nuclear weapons. He would use his if he had to, and the whole world knew it. Who would be the first Arab nation to capitulate and join forces with him? Iraq with its 25 million people? Maybe Syria with ports on the Mediterranean would be good. Then Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Yes!
He would put together a united nation of over 135 million people! That would be enough strength so the other world powers would have to recognize him.
Israel, with only 5 million people, would be a terrible problem. They never would capitulate. He might have to waste a bomb on them, or simply ignore them, and in time, bit by bit, drive them all into the sea.
He stared out the window, and dreamed his dream of great power and wealth. No one could stop him once he had the might of the nuclear bombs under his control. No one.
He looked back at his desk and saw the report on the dead Iranian who had been working for the U.S. Who had his control been? Where was the American CIA spy who pulled the man's strings? He had to find that infidel American spy quickly.
10
Murdock looked up as Jaybird Sterling came through the door. "You called, L-T?"
"Right, we've got traveling orders for two men, Douglas and Franklin. They're flying out of North Island at thirteen hundred riding shotgun in a pair of Tomcats."
"This is a workday. The platoon knows. Everyone to report at oh eight hundred."
"Cut some orders for those two going to Saudi Arabia."
"What uniform, what gear?"
"Send them in cammies. To take small arms. Give them both NV-5's and thirteen-round HK P7 automatics. They'll be going in by air, HALO, and will be outfitted with Iranian clothes, and I.D. in Saudi. They'll get rials there as well for cash, and changes of clothes. They can get ammo in Saudi, so don't bother with that. Get both of them in here as soon as they show up."
"Aye, aye, L-T. This have any bearing on our month of training?"
"Probably not, Jaybird. Unless they can help root out some vital intel that the bombs are farther along than the brass thinks they are. We'll keep to our sched for now at least."
Murdock paused and gulped at his coffee. "Seen DeWitt yet?"
"No, sir. Shall I get Doc Ellsworth up here just for laughs?"
"Better not. This could be a damn touchy situation. Depends on Milly."
"Right, Sir. I'll bring in the guys when they come."
When Murdock looked up from his desk a minute later, a pretty face surrounded by short brown hair poked around the door frame.
"Any room at the inn?"
"Kat, come in. How many sets of cammies do you have?"
"Two."
"I'll order you six more. You'll need them. You on for long-gun shooting today, right?"
"That's what Lieutenant DeWitt said."
"He should be here shortly. Jaybird has ordered a car, and has laid out enough weapons, and ammo to sink a battleship. How was the swim?"
"Fine, but I'm a little out of shape."
Murdock grinned. "Really? That's not what Jaybird said. You left him in your wake."
"He's not used to competitive swimming. When I get in the water, I hate to have anybody ahead of me."
"Even the men triathlon swimmers?"
"Especially them."
"Swimming shouldn't be a problem for you here. We'll go in by air, almost for sure, but I'd guess our only way out will be to fight our way to the coast of southern Iran and take a long swim."
Jaybird came in towing his two SEALS. "Captured a pair for you, L-T."
"Good. Kat, I want you to listen to this." Murdock went over what he knew about the mission.
"So, that's about it. You don't have to play spy, although you will be going in with civilian clothes and gear, international brand weapons, and lots of rial to spend judiciously so you don't attract attention. You'll be meeting a man named George at site B, wherever that is."
"So we back up this guy, as he tries to tie down the exact location of the nuke plant?" Douglas asked.
"Right. Iran is tough with its Secret Police. We lost our native contact there, and George is feeling lonely. CIA would rather risk some of us than send in two more of their own. So we get the assignment."
"We HALO in," Franklin said. "How the hell do we get out?"
Murdock waved them over to look at an eight-by-ten fax of a map of Iran.
"Advice on the wire this morning is that once your mission is over, you radio out the pinpointed location, and then exfiltrate out of the area. They say the least sensitive route is to the north of Tehran, to the Caspian Sea. It borders Iran and Russia. The water is about sixty miles from Tehran. Then you should be able to find a boat, or work your way along the coast north to the border with Russia, and get across.
"At Baku, in Russia, there will be a CIA man. Baku is about two hundred miles north of the border with Iran."
"Sounds like a walk in the park," Douglas said.
"Yeah, or a long hike," Franklin said. "We volunteered for this duty, right?"
"Right, Franklin, and brush up on your Farsi — you'll be the mouthpiece for your twosome," Murdock said.
Franklin laughed. "Grandma said I'd be glad someday that she taught me to speak the old country language."
"You fly out of here at thirteen hundred, so get moving," Jaybird said. The three walked out of the office.
At the stroke of 0800, Ed DeWitt came in the door. His uniform was crisp and fresh, his face cleanly shaven but showing traces of strain and fatigue.
"Well, shipmates, look what my pit bull dragged in off the beach," Murdock said. He grinned. "Or is it road-kill?"
"Road-kill is closer to it," DeWitt growled. He sat in the chair across the desk and glanced up at Kat.
"Good morning, Lieutenant Garnet. I believe we're going to be doing some long-gun shooting today."
"Looking forward to it, Mr. DeWitt."
Jaybird came in and motioned to Kat. "Ma'am, we didn't set you up with a locker for your gear and personal things. We even have locks to show you how much we are a family here. Let me get you set up before you go on your picnic."
Kat nodded, and followed Jaybird into the squad room.
"So, what did Milly say?" Murdock asked when they had left.
"About what I expected. She cried. She asked if I wanted her to move out. All the damn female emotional things. Then she seduced me three times last night. But the real surprise was this morning at five A.m. The alarm went off and she was all over me again. She said she'd totally satisfy my male libido so I'd think of Kat as nothing but another one of the guys. Oh, damn, she's right. It's really working."
Murdock chuckled. "One of Hollywood's leading men in the fifties had the same problem. His wife did him every morning before he went on the shoot. They were married for twenty-seven years."