A sinking feeling began to grow in llvanich's stomach while they walked.
The image of the dead prisoners stacked against the wall in Tabriz came to mind. Hesitantly he asked, "What, Comrade Major, is the nature of the mission?"
The major, serious now, spoke slowly, guardedly. "It is a matter of great importance to the State. Much depends on its success."
Everything, Ilvanich thought, is a matter of great importance to the KGB.
I wonder how many children we must kill this time.
The briefing, the atmosphere and the collection of rank overwhelmed Second Lieutenant Cerro. As he sat there, he wished he could slither under the table he was seated at and low-crawl out the door. That option, however, was definitely out. There were too few people in the room. His absence would be noticed. Besides, the corps commander kept watching him, almost as if he knew of Cerro's plans to escape. At the table, along with the corps commander, there were several full colonels, a Special Forces major, a naval officer whose rank Cerro didn't know, and two other airborne-company commanders from Cerro's battalion. Cerro had never seen this side of the Army before. Earlier, as he walked through the corps headquarters with the other company commanders and waited for the meeting to start, he had watched majors and lieutenant colonels scurrying about like office boys, scribbling on paper, posting maps, answering phones. Cerro wondered whether there were any second lieutenants in the corps headquarters and, if there were, what their jobs were.
Once the meeting began, behind closed doors with MPs posted at them, Cerro became more bewildered and, because of the subject, frightened.
As the briefers went through their presentations, a story that sounded more like a poor made-for-TV movie plot began to unfold: In a sweep of the battlefield on 13 July, the wreck of an Iranian F-4 fighter-bomber had been found just north of Saadatabad. Shot down on the ninth, the plane was carrying a crude atomic bomb.
Despite the fact that everyone except Cerro seemed to know about the "Device," as they called it, all present still were visibly uneasy every time it was mentioned. When the corps intelligence officer presented his suppositions on what the plane with the Device was up to, several of the colonels questioned him. A lively debate was cut short by the corps commander, who stated, "Gentlemen, I really don't give a damn what they were going to do with it. What I want to know is what we are going to do to find out if they have more and how we are going to keep those fanatics from using them."
The intelligence officer, using a map, explained that by reviewing Air Force records of all air battles fought on the ninth, they had been able to locate where the F-4 had originated. When information obtained from other sources, including a Special Forces team dropped into the area, was added to this, it had been determined that a secret, well-secured base was being operated by the Iranians near Robat-a Abgram in the Dasht-a Lut. Since the F-4 had first been detected by AWACS in that area, the connection was made that the Devices were being either stored or manufactured there. Other than that, intelligence had nothing to offer.
The corps operations officer followed with his report. He stated that CENT COM apprised of the matter, had given the corps the mission of following up on the theory that the Device had probably come from either Robat-e Abgram or one of two other sites. It was the task of the 10th Corps to find the real site and take it out. The operations officer presented to the corps commander all possible options available to accomplish the mission, recounted all pros and cons for each option and presented a coordinated staff recommendation. It had been decided that ground attacks, led by Special Forces A teams and supported by an airborne company hitting each site, were best. By going in on the ground, they could confirm whether or not the secret site was in fact the storage place or the plant where the Device was manufactured. In addition, a ground attack would ensure complete destruction of all critical elements, personnel and Devices.
It suddenly dawned on Cerro why he was there. His company would be one of the airborne companies. When the Special Forces major spoke, Cerro listened intently. His suspicions were confirmed when the major casually mentioned that A Company, 2nd of the 517th Parachute Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Cerro, would provide fire support and security for the Special Forces assault team in the raid against Robat-a Abgram. At that instant, all faces in the room turned to Cerro. He could feel their eyes drilling through him, wondering if he could pull it off.
For the balance of the meeting, Cerro was lost in his own thoughts. How in hell did I get into this one? he pondered. Don't they know about the anti armor ambush I blew? Isn't there a unit with a more senior commander?
These and similar questions swam through his mind until the meeting broke up. As the people in the room began to rise, the corps commander's aide called to Cerro. The corps commander wanted to see Cerro in his office.
When the door was closed and they were alone, Lieutenant General Weir told Cerro to be seated and relax. "I suppose you're wondering why your company is going in."
Cerro responded, "Yes, sir."
"Well, Lieutenant, you're doing it because your unit is ready, it's proven in battle and, most importantly, you've been ordered to. What do you think about that?"
Cerro looked up at the General for a moment. He thought about giving him "Can do, airborne, sir" yell but decided against that. The General asked what he thought. Fuck it, Cerro thought. He asked, I'll tell him. "Sir, I think you have the wrong unit. You obviously weren't told about the ambush I blew on one July."
A smile flitted across the General's face. "On the contrary, Lieutenant Cerro, I know everything about that action. I also know about your conduct on eight June at Kuhha A Ye Genu, the air assault on Tarom on eleven June and the three successful ambushes your company did pull off. In fact, it was because of your actions when the ambush on one July was blown that I decided your unit should go on the mission."
Cerro stared at the General with a puzzled look.
"Another man in your spot would have tried to pull the ambush off despite the error in firing the wrong star cluster. You made the right choice. In an instant you saw that the ambush could not be salvaged and pulled out, saving your men and equipment for another day. Most second lieutenants would not have done that. Believe me, I know. I used to be one."
Cerro thought about that for a moment. In his wildest imaginings, he could not picture the General as a second lieutenant. Yet, once he had been one, just like Cerro. "Sir, if you're sure, I know we can do it."
"Lieutenant, if I had any doubts, you wouldn't be here."
With that, Cerro jumped to his feet, snapped to attention and shouted, "Airborne!" as he saluted.
A sandstorm from out of nowhere had sprung up and turned the clear night into a swirling nightmare. The M-8 helicopter carrying Lieutenant Ilvanich and most of Junior Lieutenant Malovidov's platoon, Ilvanich's old platoon, was bucking and being tossed about. Visual contact with Captain Lvov's and the other helicopter had been lost shortly after the storm began. The pilot, worried about midair collisions or crashing or losing his way, wanted to abort the mission.
Ilvanich, cradling his AK assault rifle, "encouraged" him to continue.
Ilvanich was not overly concerned. Even if the helicopters dropped everyone off at the wrong landing zone, they still had twenty-four hours to rally everyone at an obscure and well-hidden oasis in the hills southwest of their objective in Robat-a Abgram.
As in the Kerman operation, Ilvanich's greatest concern was not with the enemy or how his soldiers would perform. They would do their duty, as always. His concerns were with his company commander. Captain Lvov had become more overbearing since llvanich was promoted. Ilvanich, experiencing great difficulty in controlling himself in the presence of his commander, had volunteered for every patrol that took him away from Lvov. The other officers in the battalion and the regiment saw his actions as a dedication to duty and a love of battle. Both he and Lvov knew better.