"None of this smells right," Rodgers said.
"No, it doesn't," Herbert said. "And there's something else. The farmer's daughter and son-in-law were resistance fighters who died fighting the Pakistani invasion."
"So the farmer certainly had a reason to be part of a conspiracy against the Free Kashmir Militia," Rodgers said.
"In theory, yes," Herbert said. "What we're looking at now is whether there is a conspiracy and whether it could have involved the district police station that was home for the cell phone. Matt Stoll's gotten into their personnel files and my team is looking at the backgrounds of each officer. We want to see if any of them have connections with antiterrorist groups."
"You realize, Bob, that if you find a link between the police and the Pakistani cell, we may have an unprecedented international incident on our hands," Rodgers said.
"I don't follow," Herbert replied. "Just because they might have known about the attack and decided not to prevent it—"
"I think it may have been more than that," Rodgers said. "There were three separate attacks. Only one of them conformed to the established m.o. of the Free Kashmir Militia, the bombing of the police station."
"Wait a minute," Herbert said. "That's a big leap. You're saying the police could have planned this action themselves? That the Indians attacked their own temples—"
"To coincide with the FKM attack, yes," Rodgers said.
"But an operation like that would have to involve more than just the police in Kashmir," Herbert pointed out. "Especially if they're tracking and going to attempt to capture the cell, which is apparently the case."
"I know," Rodgers replied. "Isn't it possible they do have help? From a group that is a little more involved than usual?"
"The SFF," Herbert said.
"Why not? That could be the reason they wanted the bazaar sealed and the Black Cats kept out," Rodgers said.
Herbert thought for a moment. "It's possible," he agreed. "But it's also possible we're getting ahead of ourselves."
"Better than being behind," Rodgers pointed out.
"Touche," Herbert said. "Look. Let's see what Ron Friday and his partner turn up in the morning. I'll bring Paul up to date and let you know when we have anything else."
"Sure," Rodgers said. "But while we're getting ahead of ourselves let's go one step further."
"All right," Herbert said tentatively.
"Striker is going in to Pakistan to look for nukes," Rodgers said. "What if we don't find very many or even none at all? Suppose the Indian government authorized the Srinagar attack just to rouse their population and pick a fight. A fight Pakistan cannot possibly win."
"You think they'll respond with a nuclear strike?" Herbert said.
"Why not?" Rodgers asked.
"The world wouldn't stand for it!" Herbert replied.
"What would the world do?" Rodgers asked. "Go to war against India? Fire missiles on New Delhi? Would they impose sanctions? What kind? To what end? And what would happen when hundreds of thousands of Indians started to starve and die? Bob, we're not talking about Iraq or North Korea. We're talking about one billion people with the fourth largest military in the world. Nearly a billion Hindus who are afraid of becoming the victims of a Muslim holy war."
"Mike, no nation on earth is going to condone a nuclear strike against Pakistan," Herbert said. "Period."
"The question is not condoning," Rodgers said. "The question is how do you respond if it happens. What would we do alone?"
"Alone?"
"More or less," Rodgers said. "I'm betting Moscow and Beijing wouldn't complain too loud, for starters. India nuking Pakistan leaves Moscow free to slam whichever republics they want with a limited nuclear strike. No more long wars in Afghanistan or Chechnya. And China probably wouldn't bitch too loud because it gives them a precedent to move on Taiwan."
"They wouldn't," Herbert said. "It's insane."
"No, it's survival," Rodgers said. "Israel's got a nuclear strike plan ready in case of a united Arab attack. And they'd use it, you know that. What if India has the same kind of plan? And with the same very powerful justification, I might add. Religious persecution."
Herbert said nothing.
"Bob, all I'm saying is that it's like the house that Jack built," Rodgers said. "One little thing leads to another and then another. Maybe it's not those things, but it's nothing good."
"No, it is nothing good," Herbert agreed. "I still think we're overreacting but I'll get back to you as soon as we know anything. Meantime, I have just one suggestion."
"What's that?" Rodgers asked.
"Make sure you sleep on the flight to India," Herbert said. "One way or another you're going to need it."
NINETEEN
Ron Friday was annoyed that the call did not come from Hank Lewis. It came from Captain Nazir. To Friday, that meant on this leg of the mission Friday was reporting to New Delhi and not to Washington. That suggested the Black Cats would be watching him closely. Perhaps the Indian government did not want him talking to the NSA or anyone else about whatever they might find here. At least, not before they went on the mission.
They were to go to a chicken farm in the foothills of Kargil. Apparently, an intelligence officer at Op-Center found a possible link between that location and the bazaar bombing. Op-Center did not tell Hank Lewis or their Black Cat liaisons why they thought the farm might be significant or what they believed that significance to be. All they said was that the situation in the bazaar was "atypical" and that the terrorists had to be taken alive. To Friday that translated as, "We aren't sure the terrorists did this and we need to talk to them."
The pair flew to the farm in a fast, highly maneuverable Kamov Ka-25 helicopter. Captain Nazir was at the controls. The compact sky-blue chopper was one of more than two dozen Ka-25s India bought from Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed and the military began cutting costs. Friday was not surprised to be riding in a military bird. A black National Security Guard chopper would stand out. But the skies here were full of Indian military traffic. Ironically, taking an air force craft was the best way to be invisible on Pakistani radar.
The men flew north at approximately two hundred feet, following the increasingly jagged and sloping terrain. Though their unusually low passage caused some agitation among sheep and horses, and curses from their owners, Nazir explained over the headset that it was necessary. The air currents here were difficult to manage, especially early in the morning. As the sun rose the lower layers of air became heated. They mixed violently with the icy air flowing down from the mountains and created a particularly hazardous navigation zone between five hundred and two thousand feet up. It troubled Friday that a single Pakistani operative with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher could take out the Ka-25 with no problem. He hoped that whatever information Op-Center had received was not what the intelligence community called a "TM," a "tactical mislead," a lie precipitated by the desire to slow down pursuit by smoking out and eliminating the pursuers.
The two men reached the farmhouse without incident. Before landing, Captain Nazir had buzzed the small barn and then the wood-and-stone farmhouse. An old farmer came out to see what was happening. He seemed surprised as he shielded his eyes to look up at the chopper. Nazir came in lower until he was just above the rooftop.
"What do you think?" Nazir asked. "Is the farmer alone?"
"Most likely," Friday replied. Hostages who had been kept a short while tended to be highly agitated, even panicked. They wanted to get to someone who could protect them. Even if there were other hostages at risk, including close family members, self-preservation was their first, irrepressible instinct. Hostages who had been held a long while were usually just the opposite. They had already bonded with their captors and were very standoffish, frequently antagonistic. The man below them was neither.