"Roger that, General," the air traffic controller said. "Ready one to stand by." Banking again, Saud pushed his throttles forward and flew farther down the pipeline. Once the pipeline was framed in his heads-up display he, stared at it for a moment, then climbed straight in the air.
Arcing around in a 7 G-force turn, Saud again lined up perpendicular to the pipeline. Pushing his firing button with his thumb he loosed a single high-explosive missile. Saud broke left to avoid the shower of burning oil and smoke. The charge blew a hole in the pipeline ten yards wide. A cloud of black smoke rose high in the air. With a single missile remaining, General Sultan had struck oil. In Israel, defense forces began to search the homes of suspected Palestinian terrorists as the bombings continued. In Tel Aviv, the explosion of a bomb outside a department store killed ten Israeli citizens. In Jerusalem, an Islamic religious service was interrupted by the blast of a bomb. Eighteen Palestinians were killed and wounded. The Israeli prime minister declared a state of emergency and suspended travel between cities. The mobilization of American forces to the Middle East moved swiftly. U.S. Air Force planes were ferried from Japan, Korea, Diego Garcia, Guam, and Taiwan to bases in the region. Army and Marine units were deployed from Asia, Europe, and the United States. The ready response troops landed at a base in Sudan, just across the Red Sea from the conflict, and began to set up camp. The U.S. Navy ordered the Seventh Fleet redeployed from the South China Sea and the Philippines. The ships of the fleet began racing toward the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea while vessels from Norway, Great Britain, and Italy were ordered to the Mediterranean.
In Beijing, Tao arrived for his meeting with the prime minister.
"Our plan is working perfectly," Tao noted. "The U.S. Navy is steaming toward the Middle East just as we had planned."
"And the Einstein papers?" the prime minister inquired.
"We should have them in our possession in the next twenty-four hours. The courier has made contact and the plans for extraction are in motion."
It would take a miracle now to save Taiwan.
CHAPTER 40
A warm wind blew the fall leaves from the carefully assembled piles the groundskeepers had raked outside the office of the Special Security Service in Maryland. Sandra Miles leaned forward across her desk. She handed the report detailing the theft of Enviorco's microbes to her partner, Chuck Smoot.
"Do me a favor and read through this before I file it with Allbright," Miles said. "And be sure and tell me what you really think." She began to check her E-mail while Smoot read.
Smoot read quickly through the seven-page report, then set it on the desk in front of him. "Reads good," he said, "but you left out any theory about what the people who stole the microbes might try to do with them."
"I did that on purpose. I'm not even sure who's in possession of them now," Miles said, "except that I'm reasonably sure it was the Chinese that had them stolen."
"Chinese government or Chinese gangs?" Smoot asked.
"No idea," Miles said.
"I can't see why the Chinese government would want them," Smoot hypothesized.
"Or the Chinese Triad gangs — unless they had someone who wanted to buy them," said Miles.
"We might as well start finding out," Smoot said. "Somebody's going to be assigned to retrieve or destroy those bugs. You can bet on that. I would also imagine Allbright will want more technical information about the microbes themselves."
"So you think the report is lacking?" Miles asked.
"There's a lot of questions left unanswered," Smoot said, "that's for sure."
"Technical Division can supply those," Miles said, rising. "I'm going to drop this off at Allbright s office."
"I'll go with you," Smoot said.
"But I thought you felt this report sucked," Miles said, smiling.
"It does," Smoot said, "but I know you, Sandra. And I know what you're up to."
"And what might that be?" Miles asked as the pair started off down the hall.
"You want to leave Allbright enough doubt so we have to continue to investigate and are assigned to the case," Smoot said as they rounded the corner.
"Little old me do that?" Miles said. "That makes it sound like I planned it." Smoot paused at the door before knocking.
"Only because you did."
Dick Allbright perused the report that was filed by CIA agent Jeff McBride and forwarded to the NIA. The report described his surveillance of the Carondelet and included photographs of the vessel. Allbright finished, then reached for the phone and dialed Benson's extension.
"General Benson's office."
"This is Allbright."
"Hold one minute, Mr. Allbright," Mrs. Mindio said sweetly. Benson was concentrating on the missing Einstein documents when Allbright telephoned. He was sitting at his desk with a pair of Special Security Service analysts, studying maps of the highways and rivers around Washington, D.C.
"Yeah, Dick, go ahead," Benson said.
"I just read a report from a CIA agent. He was watching a Chinese spy vessel disguised as a fishing boat. The vessel left Norfolk, Virginia, last night. The agent claims the vessel was steaming north."
"You think the vessel might be coming here?" Benson asked.
"It's worth checking out," Allbright noted.
"Makes sense. Combined with that call to the embassy the NSA intercepted, it's pretty obvious what's happening," Benson noted.
"You must be thinking what I'm thinking," Allbright said. 'The ship from Norfolk is being ordered north to pick up the courier who's holding the Einstein papers."
"Just might be. What is the name of the vessel the CIA man was watching?" Benson asked.
"The vessel is named Carondelet." Benson wrote the name down on a slip of paper.
"I'll call you right back, Dick. Let me see what I can find out." Benson dialed the number for the regional commander of the Coast Guard. His call was put through immediately.
"Commander Wright," the Coast Guard officer said.
"General Earl Benson. I'm the head of the Special Security Service. I have a priorityone request."
"How can the Coast Guard help you, General?" Wright said smoothly.
"I need to locate a ship named Carondelet. It left port in Norfolk last night steaming north."
"We can do that for you," Wright said. "Do you want us to detain the vessel after we locate it?"
"Not yet," Benson said. "I just need to know the Carondelet's current location."
"I can have a Coast Guard chopper off the ground from Virginia Beach in twenty minutes to start the search. Luckily, Chesapeake Bay is not the easiest place to hide. What's your number there, General? I'll call you as soon as we have a sighting." Benson recited his direct number to Wright.
"I should be able to get you an answer within the hour," Wright said. Tsing slammed on the brakes of the stolen car. Back in the trees, off the road, he'd spotted a tumbledown barn. He waited until there was no traffic, then turned off the main road and drove down a road long overgrown with weeds and underbrush. Tsing stopped at the side of the barn and climbed from the car. Glancing at the barn, he noticed that painted on the faded and flaking red paint of the barn was an advertisement for Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco. He could smell cut hay from a field nearby and he flicked his hand at a fly that was buzzing around his head.
Tsing pried open a side door to the barn. The barn was mostly empty. Several piles of trash were heaped in the far comer. Along one side, in a grain bin, was piled ears of corn, now almost petrified. He walked to the doors.
Tsing surveyed the main barn doors and found them secured with a cheap lock. Returning to his stolen car, Tsing retrieved a tire iron from the trunk. Back inside the barn, he slid the tire iron under the lock and popped off the rusty clasp. Leaning the full weight of his body against the barn doors, Tsing managed to wedge the doors open far enough. Then he got the car and drove it inside the barn. After closing the barn doors, he wiped his hands on his handkerchief, then made his way back to the road and started hitchhiking.