“That pretty much fills in most of the blanks for me. Do we know how many people died from this attack?”
“It’s only been a couple days but the last numbers I’ve heard are north of 16,000.”
“So, what are we going to do about this?” Arielle asked — almost demanded, her ire more than a little worked up hearing this news on what amounted to her adopted country. “Jim mentioned a joint operation of some sort.”
“We are, and it’s multi-faceted at that. Our overall goal is to literally drive the Russians out of Syria by simply making it too expensive for them to maintain a presence there. You see, the Russians have a strong and relatively advanced military — just ask the Ukrainians about that. However, while they pose an enormous risk to their immediate neighbors, maintaining what amounts to an expeditionary force is something entirely different, and that is what they have in Syria. Your State Department is working on one aspect of this plan. We’ll be working on a more direct role.”
“So we’re looking at some sort of operation against either the Latakia naval base or their airbase at Khmeimim?” Dani asked. “And, I’m guessing you’re talking about some sort of commando raid as an airstrike, even with ballistic missiles, might not be effective.”
“That’s right. We’re planning an operation at Khmeimim for the day after tomorrow. This will be a joint operation with your Navy SEALs. This air base is only a mile from the coast, and while they’ve seen several uncoordinated attacks from some local guerillas, they’ve never seen anything like the hurt we have planned for them. You both said you’re ready to go, right?”
“Ah, that we are,” Jackson replied.
“Good, as we want you up there by morning. I’m sorry for the short turn-around time on this but we want to hit them right away before something leaks out about just how much we know. Go home, get something to eat and get cleaned up. I’d like you back here by 6:00 to give you both a walk-thru of the mission. We’ll get you on a C-130 by eight tonight. Yoni and the rest of your team is already up there, as is the commander of your SEAL team. Your SEALs have actually trained for a similar mission as this, as I understand it. This won’t be as complicated as you might think, definitely easier than Tehran was for you — certainly easier than Entebbe was for me, and we never actually practiced that operation in full detail.”
“I assume we’re jumping in then?” Jackson asked.
“Yeah, we’ve done this before,” Dani confirmed. “We’ll jump from a C-130 that will appear to Russian radar to be on a normal commercial airline route. From there a sub, not sure in this case if it’ll be one of yours or ours, will pick us up and get us within a few hundred yards of the coast. We’ll swim in from there and someone from the team will pick us up.”
“It’ll be one of ours picking you up. Your Jimmy Carter is already enroute, as I understand it, with two, maybe three, platoons from one of your SEAL Teams. You’ll meet up with them sometime tomorrow.”
“Go ahead and hit the shower while I get something ready for a quick dinner,” Jackson said to Dani as they entered their apartment.”
“Sounds good. I won’t need much time,” Dani replied. “What?” noticing Jackson’s expression. “I’ll just need a quick shower. It’s not like you’re taking me out on the town.”
Ten minutes later, Dani emerged from the bedroom wearing a pair of gym shorts and a loose fitting white cotton T-shirt that revealingly clung to her damp skin underneath. Her long thick raven hair still dripped down her back. “That smells wonderful,” Dani said as she entered the open kitchen area. “Your turn,” she added as she towel-dried her hair.
“Be right out.”
“And, I’ll keep dinner warm for ya,” Dani replied as she rifled through her gear getting ready for the night’s mission.
Five minutes later, Jackson had showered and emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but his black eyepatch. “You know, I think I’m going to have to take back that comment from this morning,” Dani said to him as she looked admiringly at his nude physique.
“Huh? What comment was that?”
“You know,” she replied looking as serious as she could. “There’s no way you’d be mistaken for Mars.”
“And, why’s that?”
“Simple. Mars doesn’t wear an eyepatch,” she added, trying — and failing — to keep a straight face.
“Oh, aren’t you the funny one,” Jackson replied as he reached for her as she ran out of the bedroom and into the living room. “You know what happens when you mess with the god of war, don’t you?” he asked, as Dani couldn’t help laughing.
“No, I don’t, you’ll have to show me,” she said to Stonewall across the couch.
Stonewall quickly grabbed her, swinging her over the couch and removing her T-shirt in practically the same motion. In seconds, he had her completely wrapped in his arms on the couch as she playfully resisted.
“Eric, what do you have for us?” President Barre asked his defense secretary.
“Mr. President, as I mentioned yesterday, we have the Abraham Lincoln passing through the Suez on its way home from the Persian Gulf and the George H.W. Bush in the Med right now on its way to the gulf to replace the Lincoln. With these two carrier battle groups, we’ll have more than enough firepower to do the job, actually, the Lincoln group should suffice. However, it all depends on the SEALs taking out that Russian Air Defense Network (ADN). If that’s still operational, this will be a very expensive proposition.”
“Mr. President,” General Stan Kaufman, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff began, “the Israelis have had a plan for neutralizing the Russian ADN for some time. They’ve just never had the opportunity, the moxie if you will, to take it out on their own. The Navy also drew up a plan for a SEAL assault on this place shortly after the Russians introduced this system into Syria. However, with a combined assault, we’ll get the job done. Plus, we’ll be doing more than simply taking out this missile system.”
“Understood, General, and the SEALs are on their way?”
“Yes, they are. We have three platoons from SEAL Team 8 currently on board the sub Jimmy Carter. The Carter is uniquely qualified to deliver SEALs for a mission of this type. They’ll pair up with the Israelis, who will have three teams from the Unit as well. These commandos will be targeting the airfield and, more specifically, the S-400 missile system that’s been installed there. This is the system that shot down three of their F-16s.”
“What about retaliation?” National Security Adviser Pam McDowell asked. “This is, after all, the first time we have both directly targeted the Russians in Syria.”
“Ma’am, there won’t be any retaliation in Syria as they won’t have anything to retaliate with,” remarked General Kaufman.
“Remember, Pam,” Axelsson added, “the Russian government is the one that began this—we are the ones retaliating. However, to your point, any retaliation will most likely come either in the Ukraine or the Baltic states or, more likely, on the cyber front, and we are prepared whatever the eventuality.”