Screw it. He wanted a cola and he wanted someplace to sit and talk with Mac. They ignored the looks, got their drinks from a coin-operated machine near the compartment's forward door, and found themselves a table. The compartment was not too crowded at this hour of the morning. Two sailors were bent over a couple of arcade games aft, and several more were sitting on a sofa, watching television.
"They seemed pretty bent out of shape, Skipper," Mac said as they sat back in their seats. "They were hitting me with questions about the firefight at the monastery, and about you capping that guy who tried to surrender. How the hell did they find out about that?"
"Easy," Murdock said. "I told 'em. Hell, I'm not going to lie about something like that."
Mac shook his head. "Sometimes, Boss, you're just too much the frigging straight arrow."
"Hell, I didn't like doing it, but there was no way I was going to risk the mission screwing around with prisoners," Murdock said. "But I don't think that was what was bugging them. It was more like they were worried about, I don't know. What evidence we might have left behind."
"What, like our IBS? Boomer's piece? That stuff's all sterile."
"I know. It's just-"
Murdock stopped in mid-sentence, staring at the television monitor across the compartment.
"Lieutenant? What is it?"
Murdock gestured toward the TV. Nassau sported her own TV studio on board, but most programming was picked up from Armed Forces Network broadcasts and piped through the ship's closed-circuit network.
At the moment, an attractive, dark-haired, professional-looking woman was on the screen. Visible behind her was the familiar-looking facade of the St. Anastasias Monastery. "Oh, shit," Murdock said.
"Hey, son," Mac called to the sailors watching the program. "Could one of you turn that up, please?"
A second class obliged, and Murdock listened to the newscaster's words, comprehension dawning.
"… ian officials claim that American commandos carried out the predawn raid as a deliberate provocation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. One observer had this to say."
The woman was replaced on the screen by a military officer, an older man with the single star of a Serbian brigadier general on his gold-heavy epaulets.
"We are convinced this, this unprovoked attack is part of American campaign to win UN approval for further air strikes against Serb forces in Bosnia," the man said in heavily accented English. A subtitle appeared at the bottom of the screen, identifying him as General V. Mihajlovic. "We invite United Nations to come here, come see evidence of American aggression in Serbian internal affairs."
The general's face was replaced by a shot of the burned-out trucks in front of the monastery. Greasy black smoke was still curling from the wreckage. "So far," the woman reporter continued in a voice-over, "American officials here have refused to answer any questions about the incident, or to confirm that American aircraft took part a few hours later in an air-strike against Yugoslavian ground troops near the coast.
"For ACN, this is Marsha Shakarian, Mjini, Yugoslavia."
"That explains it," Murdock said. "The news networks got the story before the CIA."
"It's happened before, Boss."
"But that means they're going into ass-covering mode. I think the shit's about to hit the fan."
7
A chilly wind had been blowing all morning, whipping down off the Khortiatis Mountains with a bitter reminder that winter wasn't quite finished yet. The sky, contrary to the usual blue-sky standards of Greece, was low and overcast, and prone to periodic flurries of snow.
Despite the unpromising weather, however, Congresswoman Ellen Louise Kingston had found an audience for herself. The reporters had been waiting for her just outside the passenger terminal, and as she emerged through the big double doors onto the painted walkway leading to her plane, they started shouting questions to her.
"Congresswoman! What do you think the chances are for peace in the Balkans?"
"Congresswoman Kingston! Does your government plan to launch new air strikes against the Bosnian Serbs?"
"Will the United States bomb Belgrade?"
"Have you consulted with America's NATO allies?"
Kingston stopped, smiling and waving for the cameras that clicked and whirred with each gesture, each motion she made. She was tall, with a regal and aristocratic bearing. Though she was only in her early fifties, her once-dark hair had turned to lustrous silver years before, and she'd left it that way to emphasize her maturity. She faced the cluster of eager reporters, the ranked microphones, and the glaring lights of cameras with practiced ease, a general marshaling her troops. Her tail — her escort of Greek security officials, two American Secret Service men, aides, secretaries, and staffers — piled up behind her in a confused huddle.
"Ms. Kingston," her chief aide said. "We really ought to board the plane."
"There's time, Bunny," Kingston told her, still waving. The reporters were crowded up against a metal railing that held them back, but camera lenses and microphones snaked across, probing toward her face.
"Congresswoman! Please!" a woman reporter shouted. Kingston recognized her — Marsha Shakarian, one of ACN's top foreign correspondents. "What about those bombing raids against Serbia?"
"Ladies and gentlemen," Kingston said, holding up both hands. "As I told you all in my press conference last week, I am just here in Greece on a fact-finding mission. I knew nothing about these terrible atrocities taking place in Bosnia during my visit. No, I've not consulted with NATO, though certainly I've discussed the situation with members of the Athens government and Greece, of course, is a NATO member."
A man with a BBC press card pinned to his lapel shoved a microphone toward her. "Madam Congresswoman, what do you say to General Mihajlovic's charges that the United States is deliberately provoking an international incident?"
"The United States does not want war in the Balkans," Kingston replied. "Indeed, any national interests we have in the region would be best served by peace. The attack on that Yugoslavian monastery was carried out without the knowledge of Congress and without the sanction of the American people. The moment I get back to Washington, I intend to look into this whole situation and demand a full accounting. The Cold War is over. So is the era of cowboy politics and shooting from the hip. I believe America has a very constructive role to play in the Balkans, and that role does not include bombers, aircraft carriers, and commandos!"
"Does that mean that Americans were involved in the attack?"
"No comment. Yes — in the back."
"Madam Congresswoman. There are unconfirmed reports that the raid the other night was carried out by American Special Forces. Officials in Belgrade have suggested that one of our heavily armed gunships fired on one of their patrols, killing thirty men and wounding many more. That's not the sort of thing that can be covered up, is it?"
"No, it isn't. And as I said, I am going to launch a full investigation when I get back."
"A follow-up, if I may. There are also reports that the operation may have been carried out by either Marine Recon forces or the Navy SEALS, operating off one of our Marine amphibious ships in the Adriatic. In view of your public position on these elite units in the past, would you care to make a statement?"
"Certainly. I have no information about what units may or may not have carried out this aggression in Yugoslavia. However, as soon as I return to Washington, I shall demand answers. If Americans were involved, this represents a shocking misuse of force. It is high time that these, these elite murder squads like the SEALs and the Rangers were disbanded. We do not need them any longer. They are the direct cause of a disproportionate drain on the tax monies allocated to the military. I might add that most senior officers in the Pentagon are united in their feeling that elite units such as the Navy SEALs funnel the best men, the most expensive equipment, and the lion's share of the money away from our regular forces. At best, this is an unproductive use of precious national assets. At worst, it's a potentially dangerous and terribly misguided attempt to circumvent clearly established national policy. I would like to see this insanity ended and I intend to do all in my power to make that happen."