“You’ve never met either Yosef or Noa?” Stonewall asked Dani as they walked towards the Ozsut Café Tamir had indicated where they could meet up.
“I have not but it sounds like they’ve been here for quite a while and I’ve never had the chance, or the need, to get to Turkey.”
“I think I see them, there at the table by the tree that’s growing through the patio roof.”
“Yeah, that’s them,” Dani said, grabbing Stonewall’s hand and walking up to them.
“Yosef? Stonewall Jackson, this is Arielle. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise, this is Noa. Welcome to Adana.”
“Thanks, we’ve never been here before,” Arielle replied. “Tamir mentioned you’ve been here a little while.”
“That’s right. We’ve both been here for something like five or six years now. It’s been a nice posting.”
“Can you tell us anything about what’s going on? Not sure how much Tamir mentioned but we’re trying to get a feel for the area in the wake of the attack at Incirlik yesterday afternoon.”
“Can’t tell you much about what goes on at the base but here in the city, ISIS’s doing everything they can to incite the local populace,” Yosef replied.
“You sure it’s ISIS?” Jackson asked.
“We’re pretty sure,” Noa replied. “They don’t advertise what they’re doing up here but there is definitely a fundamentalist sect up here stirring things up. I think you might have heard about the demonstration they had up here last week. A big part of it took place at the end of this street here. This part of the city completely shut down. They had literally thousands of people protesting in the streets. It’s amazing there wasn’t any more damage than what actually happened. However, the tone of the crowd was unmistakable — definitely pro ISIS. The Turks are doing their best to cover this up but it’s pretty clear that ISIS is behind this.”
“From the intersection right down the street here,” Yosef continued, “the crowd marched to the large mosque over by the river. It’s a relatively new mosque but one of the largest in Turkey. We’ve never been in there but a lot of those that attend have sure been radicalized in there. It’s a big problem for the current administration, though the media in the West never reports this.”
“Just how big of a problem?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t think they’ll topple the government as President Demirel has a lot of support in western Turkey, but in eastern Turkey, and now more and more in the south central region of the country, the radical Islamic movement is gaining a lot of steam.”
“Tamir, is that you?” Dani asked as she answered her satellite phone, recognizing the number.
“Yes, it is. Is Stonewall with you?” Tamir asked.
“Yes, he is. We’re at the Ozsut café with Yosef and Noa right now. What’s up?”
“Tell Stonewall to contact the base immediately!” The sense of urgency in Tamir’s voice surprised her. “It seems word has leaked out that the Americans are moving their nukes.”
“Good Lord! Stonewall, it’s Tamir. There’s been a leak.”
“Tamir, I’ll let you speak with Stonewall, he’s right here,” Dani continued, handing her phone to him.
“Tamir, what’s up? Dani said something about a leak.”
“We intercepted a phone call from someone on General Van’s staff. He was calling someone in Raqqa with word that the nukes were being moved. He had very specific information.”
“Have you let Jim know?”
“No, I haven’t. Since you are up there, I called you first.”
“Very well. We’ll head back to the base right away. I’ll let Jim know we’re heading back to the base. Thanks, Tamir.” Handing the phone back to Dani, Jackson simply said, “We gotta go.”
“Noa, Yosef, thanks for the information but we need to run.”
“Not a problem. Take care.”
“Dani, try and raise either Cadonau or Todd. I gotta call Jim.”
“On it.” Dani replied as Stonewall was dialing Carmichael.
“How are they coming Major?” General Van asked his aide.
“From the looks of it, they must have most of them loaded up. Most of the trucks have already left the plane,” Major Aksoy replied.
“Very good, it’s time to move. Cut power and comms to the base and close the gate. I don’t want anyone in or out and I don’t want anyone calling in or out. Lock ‘er down. Let’s go.”
“Understood, General. Doing that now.”
“Very good. Let’s move out. We can’t afford to miss this,” General Van told his aide as the two of them climbed in their Humvee and joined five other Humvees racing towards the parked C-130.
“Jim, Stonewall. We’ve got a problem. We just received a call from General Pardo. The Israelis intercepted a phone call from someone on General Ahmet Van’s staff — he’s the Turk commander at Incirlik. It seems whoever made this call had very specific information on when, and how, we were removing the nukes from the base.”
“Was anything specific relayed as to any plan to block or obstruct their removal?” Jim asked.
“Nothing in that regard, but why would information this detailed be passed on if something wasn’t in the works? Dani and I are heading back to the base right now, we’re almost there actually.”
“Stonewall, I can’t raise either Todd or Cadonau,” Dani interrupted. “It almost sounds as if the comms have been cut.”
“Jim, Dani hasn’t….”
“I heard. Get on that base and let me know what’s going on! Axelsson’s in Abu Dhabi with Secretary Johnson. Let me get ahold General Kaufman and our Ambassador in Ankara. If the Turks are closing the base down, we’re going to be pissed! Let me know what you find out when you can. Thanks.”
“Looks like everything’s ready to go, Colonel,” Todd said to her boss.
“I think so, and I’m not sad to see those things go,” Cadonau replied. “There’s simply no reason for us to store close to a hundred nukes here. I know it’ll probably mean a reduction in your forces and probably a transfer for you as we won’t need half the personnel that you have now.”
“That’s okay. I could do with a little less excitement when it comes to guarding those B-61s. Hey… what the hell?” Todd said almost rhetorically as she saw several Humvees speeding down the runway towards the C-130.
“What’s that?” Cadonau asked, having his back to the window in his office.
“There’s half a dozen Humvees surrounding the ‘Herc’.”
“Colonel, the front gate just called,” Sergeant Gomez announced, bursting into his boss’s office. “It sounds like the Turks have closed the main entrance and Colonel Jackson and his friend just crashed through it!”
“What!?!” Cadonau barked out, completely surprised at both the news that the Turks had closed the base and then by the news that Jackson had crashed through the main entrance.
“You going to stop at the base ops or head straight to the apron?” Dani asked as they approached the base ops building.
“You carrying your H&K?”
“Always,” came the quick reply. “And a couple spare mags.”
“Okay, the plane’s straight across and it looks like something’s already going down over there,” Jackson replied as he sped right past the base operations building. “Someone has the plane surrounded,” he continued, noticing half a dozen Humvees parked around the C-130.
“Who’s that?” Cadonau asked, as a car went speeding past their window.
“I think that was Colonel Jackson. What the hell’s going on?!?” Todd added, running out the door to her own Humvee. “Hop in, Colonel! I’m going to find out!” she hollered at Cadonau as she backed away from the building.