Wickham leaned back and closed his eyes. After a moment he looked out of the window, then turned to Milligan. "Two questions. Why me, when we have a number of clandestine agents who are Hispanic? And, what am I looking for?"
Milligan frowned. "Steve, when the general gives an order, we pick up our packs and move out. You speak fluent Spanish, along with Russian, and you are the man."
"Fine," Wickham replied, "but what gives?"
"Your mission," Milligan said, enunciating each word carefully, "is to locate a missing B-2 Stealth bomber."
"What!" Wickham exclaimed, sitting upright. "The Cubans have a Stealth?"
"We have every indication that the aircraft is in Cuba," Milligan said as he opened a brown sealed packet.
"How in the name of God did a B-2 end up in Cuba?"
"Read this thoroughly," Milligan responded, "then we'll go over the details."
Wickham sat back again and studied the agency operations brief. His eyes grew wide at each new paragraph. Milligan sat patiently looking out of the window at the dull gray F-14 parked next to them.
Wickham rested the papers on his thigh and shook his head slowly. "This is incredible… absolutely incredible. I'm expected to snoop a military airfield?"
"You're going in tonight, Steve." Milligan had an unusually serious look on his ruddy face. "The president has made this his number one priority. The ramifications, in regard to relations with the Russians and the Cubans, are incalculable."
"But, Hamp," Wickham said, scratching the coarse stubble on his chin, "I can't just go waltzing around Cuba — hell, I'll stick out like a sore thumb."
Milligan, pausing to readjust his glasses, did not respond. "Hamp, I'm a green-eyed Caucasian."
The director of Clandestine Operations gave Wickham a blank stare. "A Caucasian who speaks Spanish and is very innovative under pressure."
The former marine officer was resigned to the inevitable, but the selection of an Anglo-Saxon to infiltrate Cuba and reconnoiter a military airfield did not track.
Milligan remained silent. The director continued to look Wickham in the face with an impassive gaze. Wickham knew the look — Milligan always did this when an issue was no longer open for discussion.
"Hamp, this is really stepping over the threshold." Wickham paused, looking at the expressionless face. "Shit… how are you proposing to insert me?"
"You will stage out of Cancun tonight." Milligan opened another envelope and handed it to the man considered to be the best clandestine operative in the CIA. "We have a Marine OV-10 en route to Cancun at this time. A young captain, who is regarded as one hell of a pilot, will fly you across the Yucatan Channel and drop you a mile off Bahia de Guadiana."
Wickham shook his head slowly as he looked at the drop location. "We're going to use an active duty pilot?"
"He's a volunteer," Milligan continued, "and he won't have any identification on him. He understands that if anything happens to him, we don't know him. The aircraft will be unmarked. You'll go in," Milligan stopped to point out the exact spot on the large Cuban map, "right here."
"What kind of surf conditions do they have?" Wickham asked, studying the map closely.
"Mild. That's the leeward side. of the island." Milligan pointed to San Julian military airfield. "This air base, as you saw in the brief, is the most likely hiding place for the B-2-if it's in Cuba."
"If it isn't there," Wickham said, tapping the map, "or I can't locate it, then what?"
"Wait," Milligan said patiently, holding up both hands. "I'll get to that."
Wickham, showing his disgust, shook his head again. "Hamp, this is goddamned insane."
"Steve," Milligan responded, finally showing some emotion, "you went through Quantico. We don't make the rules, we follow orders."
"Shit!" Wickham exclaimed. "Did the general come up with this plan?"
"Most of it…," Milligan trailed off, then added, "with some input from the National Security Agency."
"Unbelievable," Wickham responded. "Go on."
"San Julian is approximately eight miles inland." Milligan pointed to the map. "We figure you can make the base by sunrise, dig in for the day, then recon the field the following night."
"Wait a second," Wickham said. "Back to the drop. We're going to need some diversionary tactics."
"We're going to cram the channel with a plethora of aircraft." Milligan reached over and picked up the top secret message. "Sixteen, as a matter of fact. It will appear to be heavy drug traffic, and you'll be lost in the shuffle."
"Jesus," Wickham said softly.
"The captain-your pilot-is considered by his CO as the best." Milligan placed the message down. "He's going to be skimming the water all the way in. No way can they pick you up on radar."
Milligan paused when his SecTel 1500 secure phone rang. The director inserted his key that had the identity of the person using it, and pushed the secure button. The key code went to a National Security Agency computer for validation, then selected an encoding algorithm for this particular conversation. The process took fourteen seconds before the call was completed. Milligan heard Norm Lasharr's voice on the line.
"Yes, general," Milligan reported, "he's with me as we speak."
Wickham watched Milligan as he talked to the director of Central Intelligence. A vision of Becky in her bikini crossed his mind, but then his thoughts returned to the recon mission. I hope the general has another wonderful scheme to extract me, he told himself.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Milligan said sadly, "but we now have the answer… at least part of it." Milligan listened a moment longer and bid the director a good day. He severed the secure connection and turned to Wickham. "The Stealth is in Cuba, but the location is unknown."
"How did we confirm it was in Cuba?" Wickham asked, becoming more intrigued with the recon mission.
"I'm not sure of the exact connection," Milligan responded, "but we have… had an informant in Moscow fairly high up. The general didn't give me the particulars, but suffice it to say we lost our contact. The KGB had been watching him for quite a while."
Wickham remained silent, mindful of the implications.
"We've got a lot to do," Milligan continued, "so let's get under way. We're going to fly you to Cancun in a chartered cargo jet, then prepare you for the drop. By the way, don't shave… we're going to transform you into a gnarled farm worker."
The president walked briskly into the Oval Office, motioning for everyone to remain seated. "Please don't get up," Jarrett said as he crossed the room and sat down at his desk.
Kirk Truesdell and Bernie Kerchner noticed that the president's face was pale. They had become accustomed to this physical sign of trouble.
"Norm Lasharr just received confirmation," Jarrett said, grim faced. "Our B-2 is indeed in Cuba."
Truesdell and Kerchner exchanged stunned looks, then glanced at Brian Gaines, the president's national security adviser. Gaines was speechless for one of the rare moments in his life.
"God… damn," Truesdell said emotionally. "We're sitting on a powder keg."
Gaines studied the president before speaking. "Where in Cuba is it located, sir?"
Jarrett sighed, then looked directly at the tall, red-haired security expert. "The exact location is unknown."
"Unknown?" Kerchner asked. "If Lasharr knows—"
"Wait," the president interrupted, seeing Truesdell and Gaines forming words on their lips. "Wait a second, Bernie. We lost our priority contact — the air force general — before he could relay the entire message." Observing the shocked looks, the president poured a glass of water and waited for the gravity of the news to sink in before continuing.