“First up,” said Sloane. “Mike Haney, USMC Force Recon.”
“Pleased to meet you,” the six-foot-tall, forty-year-old Marin, California, native said.
“Next, Tim Barton, US Navy SEALs, DEVGRU.”
The stocky fireplug of a man was in his early thirties. Despite only standing about five-foot-six, he looked tough as hell. He had reddish blond hair and a full beard to match.
“Then we have Tyler Staelin, Combat Applications Group, or simply CAG. Which used to be called Delta Force, but is still referred to as the Unit. I think. I can’t be sure. There may have already been another name change since we got on the plane.”
The thirty-nine-year-old from downstate Illinois smiled as he shook her hand. He stood five-foot-ten and had a book on the table in front of his seat called Beirut Rules by Fred Burton.
“I’ve heard of that book,” said Jasinski. “Is it any good?”
“That bearded refrigerator you met earlier today gave it to me,” he replied. “I’m only a couple of chapters in, but so far it’s excellent.”
“I’ll make sure to add it to my list. Thank you.”
Staelin smiled again and sat back down as Sloane introduced Monika to the plane’s final passenger.
“And last but not least,” she said, “we have Chase Palmer, also of Combat Applications Group, Delta Force, or whatever they’re calling themselves over the next half hour.”
“You forgot handsome,” Palmer stated, his voice identifying him as the one who had called Harvath a jackass.
He was in his early thirties and actually looked so similar to Harvath that the two could have passed for brothers.
“And what’s your background?” Jasinski asked, once Sloane Ashby had finished the introductions.
“U.S. Army, THTH,” she replied.
“THTH?”
“Too Hot To Handle,” Sloane explained. “The first soldier to ever be pulled from combat for being too damn good at her job.”
“You mean killing as many of the enemy as possible?”
“That’s what I thought I had signed up for, but being a woman in a—”
“Long story,” Harvath said, peeling Jasinski away from Sloane and steering her toward a seat near his up front. “Do you want anything before we take off?”
“Can I get a water?”
“Sure.”
Walking to the rear of the cabin, he pulled a bottle from the galley fridge, prepared another espresso, and returned as the jet began to taxi to the runway.
“Here you go,” he said as he handed the water to her.
“Thank you,” she replied.
Sitting down across from her, he placed his espresso atop the table between their seats and asked to see her cell phone.
“Why?”
“I’m going to give you a superpower of your own.”
“Smartass?” she asked, handing it over to him. “From what I hear, I’m already okay in that department.”
Removing a small piece of metal from his pocket, he popped open the cover for her SIM card and replied, “No. Invisibility.”
It only took him a couple of seconds to swap out her card and replace it with a brand new one that didn’t have a history and couldn’t be traced back to them.
“There you go,” he said, closing everything up and returning her phone.
“What about my original SIM card?”
“We’ll all swap back when we’re in the air on the way home.”
It seemed to her a pretty elaborate precaution — one that you would take only if you were doing something you shouldn’t be. “The Swedes know we’re coming, right?”
He took a moment before answering and when he did, it was his pause, not his words, that unnerved her.
CHAPTER 19
As the twin Rolls-Royce BR725 engines roared to life and the G650-ER began to race down the runway, Jasinski tried to get clarification. “Either they know, or they don’t know. Which one is it?”
Harvath picked up his espresso and settled back in his seat. “Like I said, the appropriate agency has been made aware.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they know.”
Jasinski doubted that’s what it meant, but she let it go and changed the subject. “Why Sweden?” she asked as the jet lifted off. “Technically, they’re not a NATO member.”
“Correct,” he replied. “But they are a NATO ‘affiliate.’ They’re also strategically important. In particular, Gotland is very important. If the Russians want to take and hold the Baltics, they have to control the Baltic Sea. To do that, they need the Swedish island of Gotland. It’s small, which means a large invasion force isn’t necessary. And its position near the middle of the Baltic Sea would allow Russia to prevent any NATO ships from reinforcing Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. If they control Gotland, they control everything.”
“But I thought Sweden was already handling concerns over Russia. Didn’t they bring back conscription?”
“They did. They have even permanently garrisoned several hundred soldiers on the island, but it isn’t nearly enough. Three years ago, thirty-three thousand Russian troops rehearsed an invasion of Sweden. Gotland fell in less than an hour.”
“So if Gotland is so important, why hasn’t more been done about it?” she asked.
“The Swedes have pumped a lot of money into infrastructure,” said Harvath. “But infrastructure isn’t their main problem. Troop strength is. We’ve been working with them, conducting joint training exercises and encouraging them to build up their forces on the island, but they simply don’t have enough soldiers to go around.”
“So what happens if Russia invades?”
“The Swedes think they can move troops in from the mainland.”
“In under an hour? You can’t even mobilize, much less move troops in under an hour.”
“That’s what we’re worried about. There’s a concern the Swedes might not even defend Gotland at all. They might choose to focus their resources on Stockholm and other key areas, in hopes of limiting the invasion and holding out until the United States and other NATO members come to their aid.”
“By which time, control of the Baltic Sea will have already been ceded to the Russians, giving them exactly what they want.”
Harvath nodded solemnly. “Swedish politicians may not think they fully need NATO, but NATO absolutely needs Sweden if it wants to protect the Baltic States. That’s why Russians can’t be allowed to take Gotland.”
“I still don’t understand why Sweden hasn’t joined NATO yet.”
“Russia has made it very clear that if Sweden does, it will be seen as an act of aggression against them.”
“So?”
“So, I think Sweden is spooked. They’re trying to remain neutral, if they can, and thread the needle in order to hopefully have their cake and eat it, too.”
“Sounds like a pretty dangerous gamble to me.”
Harvath nodded again. “Believe me, we agree. If war broke out with Russia, we couldn’t afford to have our forces divided, fighting on both sides of the Baltic.”
“Suppose the Russians did seal off the Baltic, then what?”
“To get to any of the Baltic States, NATO’s ground forces would have to move up through Poland. Normally, most of the equipment would be put on trains. There’s just one problem. Western Europe adheres to a standard gauge. Once you leave Poland and head up into Lithuania, the width of the tracks change. It’s a logistics nightmare.”
“Not to mention the transition points being prime targets for sabotage.”
“Exactly,” replied Harvath. “We’re looking at weeks, possibly even a month, before an effective response to a Russian invasion of the Baltics could be launched.”
“During which time, Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian forces would be cut to ribbons. Russian forces would have ample time to fortify their positions, dig in, and prepare for any NATO attack.”