"You're sure the star was in the corner?" Miles said as Carlton opened the door.
"Yeah, pretty sure," Butler said.
Carlton handed the remaining pages to Butler, who slowly glanced at each page.
"There it is," he said, pointing to page nine. "That's the brand." Miles followed Butler's finger to a picture of a waterfall flanked by two panda bears. She swiveled the sheet around and read the caption below. Panda Giants brand. Country of manufacture was listed as the Peoples Republic of China.
"Thanks," Miles said, and she stood up.
"Make sure you tell the judge I cooperated," Butler said as Miles and Carlton walked from the interview room.
"It will be duly noted," Carlton said with contempt.
CHAPTER 38
Benson leaned back in his chair opposite his second-in-command, Assistant Special Security Director Richard Allbright.
The Saudi government received a threat claiming someone was planning to wipe out their oil fields?" Benson said, incredulously.
The written demand stated they must recognize the Israeli state or their oil reservoirs would be destroyed," Allbright said and then read from his note pad, The exact quote was, 'A divine wrath will befall your wealth. The curse of oil has provided you a means to oppose the Jewish state. If you do not recognize Israel's right to exist we will remove the curse forever.' End quote."
"What group claimed responsibility?" Benson asked.
"The Jewish Front for Recognition," Allbright said, glancing at his briefing sheet again. "We have no records of such a group."
Benson swiveled in his chair and glanced out the window. His thoughts were broken by the telephone buzzing. "Yes, Mrs. Mindio."
"Sorry to disturb you, sir. I know you left instructions to hold your calls, but this is important."
That's okay, go ahead and explain," Benson said.
"The duty officer just left a fresh communique. There has been a series of explosions in Israel. There was over—" Mrs. Mindio began to say.
"Bring it here, please," Benson said.
Mrs. Mindio entered Benson's office and placed the report on the desk. She quickly retreated back to the outer office. Benson read the papers rapidly, then handed them to Allbright.
"The NIA will be called in on this, Dick. Our agency's primary charter is antiterrorism. Begin a class-one file — I want you to pull out all the stops to gather information. Cull through all the other agencies' files and see what you can find. Next have someone get me a Defense Department reading on our possible military response—
I want to know what military units are being moved to the area to counter the threat. We may need to coordinate a joint operation if we send our agents into the area." Allbright rose from his chair as Benson's phone rang.
"Get me some real-time data, Dick, as fast as possible. We have some decisions to make before the president calls," Benson said as he grabbed the ringing phone. Allbright scurried from Benson's office.
Benson lifted the telephone receiver to his ear. "This is Colonel Thompson at the NSA. We just intercepted a telephone call from a pay phone in Maryland to the Chinese Embassy in Washington. The party at the pay phone asked where he should deliver the package. The party at the embassy replied the 'river drop-off.' That was the entire message."
"Where was the pay phone?" Benson asked.
"Near a town named Lanham," Thompson replied.
"Excellent," Benson said.
"We'll keep monitoring for you, sir," Thompson said and hung up. Benson leaned back in his chair. First China, now the Middle East. He reached in his desk drawer and removed an orange, which he peeled and began earing. It would turn out he would have no time for lunch.
Before he had eaten a slice of the orange he was already dialing his phone. "Get me a 7.5-minute topographic map of Maryland near the town of Lanham," he ordered his research division.
Benson dialed again.
"Dick," Benson said to Allbright, who had just entered his office, "I need an assessment of what countries would enter the fray if Saudi Arabia and Israel go to war."
CHAPTER 39
The call from Long to his supervisor brought swift action. A white-colored Bell Jet Ranger helicopter flew low over the desert to King Khalid Well No. 47. The sun was below the horizon and the remaining light cast a strange orange glow over the sand. In the rear of the helicopter, Tom Temple, a geologist employed by Aramco, the Saudi-American company that operated the oil field, checked his equipment once again, then tightened his seat belt.
The pilot spoke into the intercom strapped to his head. "We're five minutes out, Mr. Temple."
Temple watched from the window as they approached the well. The tiny dots on the ground became well pumps and trucks as they flew nearer. Temple could see the tracks across the sands the trucks had made as they drove to the well. It looked as if the service workers were a caravan of old, descending on an oasis. But King Khalid Well No. 47
was no oasis; it was the dusty wind that signals a drought is coming. The helicopter pilot flew straight toward the well and landed twenty yards away. Shutting off the engines, he turned to Temple. "Do you need help with that equipment?"
Temple glanced at several oil-field hands who were already running toward the helicopter. "I'll get one of the roustabouts to help."
"In that case," the pilot said, "I need to place sand covers over my air intakes. My instructions were to wait on the ground until you finish," he said as he climbed from the pilot s seat.
A light wind blew from the north, stirring the fallen leaves that were scattered around the grounds of the White House. Inside the Oval Office, Robert Lakeland glanced at his notes again, then continued the briefing.
"The Israeli government received a letter from a group calling itself the "Islamic Sword." They claim they are based in Saudi Arabia, and the bombings in Jerusalem were retaliation for, and I quote, 'The poisoning of our God-given source of wealth.' End quote.
"Poisoning of our God-given source of wealth," the president repeated. "What are they talking about?"
"We have a meeting scheduled with our ambassador in Riyadh in an attempt to determine what the Islamic Sword's talking about. However, Mr. President, that is still several hours away. Whatever the case is, we have a more pressing concern."
"What is that, Robert?"
"Both sides have begun to amass troops in preparation for war. The Israeli military is moving an armored column south to Elat, on the Gulf of Aqaba. From there they can initiate an amphibious assault on Saudi Arabia in a matter of hours. Or, if they choose, their troops can drive through the tip of Jordan and attack en masse," Lakeland said.
"What would be the Jordanian response if that happens?" the president asked.
"The analysts believe that Jordan would be drawn into the skirmish," Lakeland said.
"And the Saudis? What steps have they taken?"
They have moved a battalion of troops north toward the border. They are forming a defense perimeter from Aynunah on the Gulf of Aqaba in an arc to Tabuk, then on to the border with Jordan. They have asked for additional troops from Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait to assist them."
"What has the other countries' response been?" the president asked.
"It appears every country Saudi Arabia contacted agreed to help," Lakeland said, glancing at his notes. "Not only that, intelligence suggests that Egypt is mobilizing their armed forces without being contacted. It seems the Egyptians are just waiting to be asked to join the fray."
"What about the nuclear and biological capability of each side?" the president asked grimly.
"Our analysts are almost unanimous about that. They seem to feel both sides possess at least some of each type of weapon," Lakeland answered directly.