The two men stood face to face for several seconds. Asher's face was red beneath his tan, and he made a conscious effort to unclench his fists. Then his CO clapped him on the arm.
"See what you've done? You've turned me into an orator. That's the longest speech I've made in years." He smiled broadly. "Come. Let's see if we can cheer up poor Ari. Drinks on me."
Asher allowed himself to be pulled along. David was right; there's no room for doubt in a warrior's heart. But he could not shake the feeling. Something terrible was coming.
Ed Lawrence poked his head inside John Bennett's office. Rapping on the doorsill, the exec asked, "Skipper, can we talk?"
Bennett looked up from his paperwork. "Sure. Come on in." Lawrence stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and sat down in the vacant chair. "We got trouble, John." Bennett leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. He expected another supply problem or a bureaucratic snag. "Black Squadron gunned a parachute yesterday."
Bennett's easy posture evaporated. "That's for sure? No possible mistake?"
Lawrence vigorously shook his head. "Negative. We have the HUD tape. The pilot doesn't even claim it was accidental." The videotape showing the view through each plane's head-up display was intended as a debriefing tool. Whatever the pilot saw when he fired his guns or launched a missile was recorded for later analysis.
Bennett expelled a long breath. It spoke of infinite sadness. He looked at his friend. "All right. Who?"
"Ahmed Salim. Good stick, good kid from Class One. He was just cleared for flight lead. No disciplinary problems at all."
Spreading his hands, Bennett asked, "Then why'd he do it?"
"Well, you know we lost Karasi in that hassle. Salim was real close to him. Apparently they grew up together. Karasi was jumped by two F-16s at low level and got clobbered with twenty mike-mike. He ejected okay but he was only about 800 feet off the deck. The Israeli was close astern and pulled up directly over the chute. The 16 probably couldn't do anything else, but it collapsed the canopy and Karasi went in with a streamer."
"And Salim saw this happen?"
"Yeah. His wingman took on the other 16 and Salim went for the leader-did a good job and bagged him. When the pilot punched out, Salim honked around and hosed him." Sensing Bennett's impending outrage, Lawrence was quick to add, "The wingie told me the Israeli probably didn't mean to collapse Karasi's chute, but Salim thought it was intentional. He figured he was within his rights."
"Have you talked to Salim yet?"
Lawrence scratched his pockmarked face. "Yes. He seems kind of sorry now, but he's still shook about Karasi."
Bennett shook his head. "Damn it!" He stood up and paced his office. "I won't have my pilots killing defenseless men in parachutes-especially over our territory. We've discussed this in the military ethics portion of preflight. It's not just morality, Ed. There are practical aspects as well… "
"Sure, I know. You start gunning chutes and you open your own people to retaliation, and there's always the chance of mistaken identity. Either way, we could lose pilots we'd otherwise save or at least have them survive as prisoners."
Bennett's gray eyes bored into Lawrence. "What do you recommend?"
The exec shrugged. "In this case, heat of combat, retaliation for perceived enemy offense… I'd let it go with a warning."
"That's awfully damn lenient, isn't it?"
"It's pragmatic, John."
Lawrence saw Bennett bite his lip, as if stifling a retort. Lawrence shifted nervously in his chair. In all the years he had known John Bennett, the man seldom had allowed pragmatism to interfere with a personal code of behavior. Privately, Lawrence considered his friend an anachronism, a throwback to the era of single-combat warriors deciding affairs of state in the arena. The twentieth century was alien ground to such men.
At length Bennett said, "From now on, no Tiger Force pilot will even harass an enemy pilot in a chute or on the ground as long as it's in our territory. Violation will result in immediate grounding. I'll reconsider this policy only if the opposition makes a habit of shooting our parachutes, but any change must come from me. Write it up and distribute it to all squadrons."
"Okay. What about Salim?"
Bennett thought for a long moment. "He can keep flying, but he's lost his flight lead. He'll have to requalify."
"John, I don't-"
"That's my decision." Bennett's voice had an uncharacteristic bite.
Lawrence left the office. He felt, as Bennett did, that killing a defeated opponent who could be captured was bad policy. He was less certain he would allow an enemy pilot who ejected over enemy territory to get another jet and come back tomorrow, abler and wiser. Then he put the matter out of mind. Instead, he was more convinced than ever that John Bennett had been born five centuries too late.
The cabinet meeting had several domestic items on the agenda, but the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Middle East took precedence. The president and Secretary of State each referred to a set of contingency plans drafted against the increasing probability that the major war so long feared and predicted would have to be enacted.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Walter Arnold began. "You have before you a document which has been compiled by White House and State Department staffers and revised by Thurmon and myself. It deals with our possible options amid the very serious situation between Israel and the Arab nations." He glanced at the SC representatives in attendance, some of whom disagreed with the administration's neutralist Middle East policy. But Arnold had learned that he couldn't please everyone-nobody possibly could. Then, addressing the conferees in general, he said, "I earnestly solicit your comments and suggestions. Take your time. I've set aside the rest of the afternoon."
After several minutes of reading, most cabinet members put down the four-page appraisal and waited for others to speak. A couple of individuals, however, quickly penned notes to themselves. At length Secretary of Defense Ben Wake spoke up.
"Mr. President, my opinion has not changed significantly since discussing this with Thurmon last month." The two secretaries, never intimates, regarded one another cautiously. "I'm in full agreement with this thinking as far as it goes," Wake continued. "I share your opinion that we should not commit ourselves to a course of action which probably would earn further enmity from the Muslim world. Toward that end, an even-handed, neutral approach makes sense.
"However," the Secretary of Defense persisted, "I think we must have a clearer idea of our possible military posture in the region in the event of hostilities. This paper only provides for recall of nonessential diplomatic personnel from combatant nations and contingency plans for a crisis evacuation by air or sealift."
Arnold, though a strong advocate of the position paper, played moderator at most cabinet meetings. He threw the challenge to the Secretary of State for comment. ''Thurmon? Your thoughts."
Thurmon Wilson leaned forward to look down the table at Wake.
"Ben, there's more to it than that. Right there on page one, we state that rules of engagement now standing will remain in effect. Our people in the area are fully permitted to defend themselves. My God, your people and the Joint Chiefs have agreed we shouldn't jump in militarily but we have the right to a presence. So what's your objection?"