“Doucette is irresponsible,” Von Drexler snapped.
“We abort if the weather goes below two thousand and five,” Mado said, ending it. “We have other things to cover. First, Captain Kowalski and her crew do not go. We cannot send women into combat. Second, decide which four F-15s will escort the C-130s and which four stay on station with the tanker as a backup. Third, select which two F- Ill s will attack the prison and which one will hold on the tanker.”
“General, we’re one C-130 short since the crash,” Stansell argued. “We need to send six on the raid. I had planned on using Captain Kowalski to insert Romeo Team tonight. That way we’ll have six fresh C-130 crews for the raid and we can use her plane as a backup after she returns.”
“Why her?”
“She’s maybe the best pilot I’ve got,” Mallard said. “She’s a hell of a lot better than I am and she’s got the second best navigator.”
“And she’s a good cover if anything goes wrong.” This from Thunder. “Dewa says they can claim to be part of the air defense exercise that’s going on and that they got lost. Their being women, the Iranians will believe that.”
“And they were going to drop the Rangers in Turkey on a night exercise …” Even Mado was warming to it. “And that type of mission doesn’t quite cross the line into combat. Okay, I’ll buy it.”
“I plan on sending the F-15s and the F-111s in as we rehearsed,” Stansell told him. “We do a systems check just before we depart the tanker and make the final decision then about who goes—”
“I want to change the F-111 lineup,” Von Drexler interrupted. “Doucette and Contreraz hold at the tanker.”
Stansell could not believe what he was hearing. “Why?”
“Like I said, Doucette is irresponsible. The flight to Stonewood proved it. He was out of crew duty time and should have been in crew rest. Then he flew back here. I don’t trust people who play fast and loose with regulations.” The way he looked at Stansell insinuated that he was also accusing Stansell along with Doucette.
“Colonel Drexler,” Stansell said, “I made those decisions, not Doucette. It worked out, and Doucette is now in crew rest and will be ready for the mission. I take calculated risks when I have the people who can hack it …”
“Doucette flies backup,” Mado ruled, making a chopping motion with his hand, ending further argument.
“General, there’s some good news,” Thunder said, breaking the tension. “The AWACS controlling the air defense exercise is reporting the Iranian’s early-warning radar site at Maragheh is off the air. That opens up one hell of a corridor for us.”
Mado didn’t respond at first. Then: “That’s only good if it stays down.” He stood there, staring at the status boards on the walls of the command post. Finally: “Colonel Gregory, brief your men on their true objective just before they board the C-130s. Colonel Stansell, monitor the weather and tell me immediately if any problems develop. H-hour will be when I launch Kowalski. Command Post manned, AWACS on station, Kowalski’s C-130 and Romeo Team ready to launch at 1700 hours local this evening. Rest of Alpha ready to go at 0100 local. Any questions?” There were none. Mado motioned for Von Drexler to follow him, and they left the command post.
“I can’t figure that man out,” Jack said, more to himself than Stansell. “You win one with Kowalski and lose one with Doucette. It’s like he’s trying to keep everyone happy … playing it both ways.”
Stansell didn’t answer him. He’d seen other commanders, especially cautious yet ambitious ones, do the same thing. Press ahead with the mission but try to keep all options. He wondered what Mado would do when they were on the ground at Kermanshah and he had to make a fast decision, never mind the consequences …
CHAPTER 36
For a moment Stansell could hardly breathe. He had experienced it all before — the words, the tension, the very atmosphere … He was not in Incirlik’s command post but in the one at Ras Assanya waiting for a hostile fleet to sortie across the Persian Gulf. He turned, half expecting to see Muddy Waters sitting beside him, waiting to die … “Damn,” he breathed, relieved to see Thunder Bryant instead.
“Like old times,” Bryant said, acknowledging the same feeling. “Colonel, I never said thanks for what you did that Friday night. I was really strung out over my divorce and close to doing something stupid. You kept me on track.” Stansell only nodded. “There’s something else, sir.” Bryant hesitated. “You shouldn’t be going on the mission.” There, it was out.
Stansell looked at him. “Why? Because I’m an escaped POW, not an evader, and if the Iranians capture me again it’s up-againstthe-wall time? Come on, it’s late in the game for that kind of stuff. And please don’t mention it to anyone, especially Mado. He’ll cancel me out in a flash … Look, Bryant, Waters gave me the job of getting the 45th out of Ras Assanya. I’ve got to finish it. I watched them shoot four wounded men in the command post when I surrendered the base. I don’t know who said that revenge is a dish best served cold, but I damn well want to serve it. Okay?”
Thunder nodded. “Okay, let’s do it good, Colonel.”
The weatherman, a skinny, weasely-looking first lieutenant, was updating the weather map on the front wall. The northerly winds they needed at altitude over Iran were almost there. “How strong, Lieutenant?” Stansell asked.
His answer was reassuring. “Forty to forty-five knots and building.”
“Ceilings and visibility in the Zagros Mountains?”
“Our last satellite coverage indicated low clouds in the valleys. I’m forecasting five hundred to a thousand foot ceilings, two to three miles forward visibility. Should start to lift after midnight. Iran doesn’t report weather, and our next satellite coverage won’t be until tomorrow morning.”
That wasn’t what Stansell wanted to hear. “It’s important, Lieutenant. Keep on top of it.”
Mado walked into the command post and studied the weather map. “Not good. Unless we see an improvement, no go.”
“General, the lieutenant is calling for the ceilings to lift. He won’t have anything to go on until the morning when new coverage comes in. If we’re going to insert Romeo Team you’re going to have to make the decision now. We’ve got to catch the airliner and the winds.”
“I don’t make decisions based on forecasts by lieutenants—”
“Sir, let’s find out what the lieutenant’s track record is. Why don’t we talk to the pilots who’ve been flying on the air defense exercise here?”
Mado didn’t respond, but Thunder was already on the telephone talking to the ops center controlling the air defense exercise. He hung up and looked at Mado. “They say the lieutenant is shit hot.”
A hard silence came down over the three men. Stansell kept thinking about the lesson Waters had taught him about listening to his young officers and trusting them to do their job. Now he had to convince Mado. “Sir, can we talk, in private?”
Mary heard the guards’ footsteps coming down the corridor. “Stop shaking,” she told herself. “Don’t let Mokhtari use anticipation …” The noise of Landis’ cell door opening did not break the tension. Was she next? She heard the dull thud of a body being dropped on the floor and the squeak of the door closing.
She curled up on her bunk, her ear pressed against the wall, listening. She tapped out a message and waited for a reply. It never came.
“I’m the Joint Task Force Commander, Colonel. Go-No-Go is up to me.” Mado was pacing, making a path over the floor of the small briefing room in the rear of the command post.