"Tempting, but not quite yet," Khan said. "What are the pretty Mrs. Salaam's whereabouts, anyway?"
"Last report had Mrs. Salaam and General Baris in National Democratic Party headquarters, meeting with district political chairmen and major supporters to organize her election campaign," Gheit reported, reading from a notebook. "We have a list of those supporters. Wiretaps, surveillance, and financial investigations can begin on all of them as soon as you wish."
"Very well. Get them moving," Khan said. "And if you can't find the information you need, invent it."
"Yes, sir," Gheit said. He continued glancing at the report. "This is interesting, sir: It is reported from interviews with the flight crew that Mrs. Salaam had flown in to the People's Assembly meeting from Mersa Matruh military base in the west."
"Mersa Matruh? What was she doing there?"
"It is apparently where she evacuated to after the assassination, sir," Gheit said. He read on, shaking his head as he did so. "There is no mention of it in here."
"Mention of what? What are you muttering about, Major?"
"There was some sort of emergency at Mersa Matruh days ago-the base commander, Vice Marshal Ouda, reported that there was some sort of incident, a mutiny or some other violent action, aboard one of his ships," Gheit replied.
"Major, that does not concern me," Khan said.
"If I may, sir, I will contact Vice Marshal Ouda and see if he has anything to report on Salaam or Baris's presence there," Gheit said. Khan dismissed him with a wave of his hand, and he departed, leaving Khan wringing his hands and shaking his head at his desk. But Gheit excitedly returned several minutes later. "Holiness..!"
"What is it now, Major?"
"I have Vice Marshal Ouda on the line," Gheit said. "He has something incredible to report. Salaam and Baris were indeed there-and so were some unidentified foreign commandos. Salaam and Baris spoke to them, after which they offered the use of base facilities and other assistance."
"What?" Khan exclaimed. "What commandos? Who were they?"
"It is not known, sir-but Ouda thinks they are Americans."
"American commandos are on one of our bases?" Khan exploded. "Who authorized this? Why wasn't I notified? Why wasn't anyone in Cairo notified?"
"General Baris ordered Ouda not to report it," Gheit replied. "Baris is still national security adviser and Ouda's superior officer."
"Not for long," Khan said angrily. "Issue an order to the Ministry of Defense, stating that the Supreme Judiciary dismisses Baris from his post immediately in the interest of national security. He is suspected of masterminding the assassination of President Salaam and inciting a military coup. Have him arrested and Mrs. Salaam arrested as well…." Then he thought better of the political ramifications of that and said, "Better yet, have her taken into protective custody. Do it right now." Khan picked up the telephone. "This is Ulama al-Khan, chief justice of the Supreme Judiciary. Is this Vice Marshal Ouda?"
"Yes, Holiness."
"You will tell me everything you know about what has gone on out there, Vice Marshal, and you will do it quickly" Khan ordered.
He did-and Khan couldn't believe what he heard. "They are still here, Holiness," Ouda concluded. "They have virtual free run of my base, thanks to General Baris. He has ordered my intelligence directorate to turn over the latest intelligence information on hundreds of military sites in Libya. They fly aircraft in and out of here almost hourly, everything from light jets to medium transports. These are the same men who commandeered one of my warships! How dare Salaam and Baris give them all that material and then harbor them on my base without even consulting me?"
"Baris and Salaam gave them classified information?" Khan couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Yes, Holiness. The latest information we have. Mountains of it! Most of the data dealt with Libyan defenses and installations-"
"Anything on Egyptian installations?"
"Some, Holiness. Overhead photos of some of our bases, easily obtainable commercially."
"But are they classified photos?"
"We classify all photos we obtain for three months, sir."
"Then Salaam and Baris gave the Americans classified information?"
"Well, technically, the photos are not-"
"Yes or no, Ouda?"
"Yes, Holiness. We classified the photos 'Confidential,' but only because-"
"It doesn't matter," Khan said. "General Baris violated the law by turning over classified information to foreign nationals. You will do everything you can to stop those men, Vice Marshal. They are a threat to Egypt and to our peace and security. Use every man and woman on your base, or get more men-I don't care if you take every soldier in your district, but you will not allow those men to leave. And if Salaam or Baris returns to your base, you will place them both into custody. Do you understand?"
Khan didn't wait for Ouda to respond, but hung up the phone. "Major! Get in here!" he shouted. When-Gheit returned, he said, "Get the king of Libya on the phone immediately-and have Salaam and Baris found and arrested immediately!"
The security checks and identification procedures took unusually longer than normal for one simple reason: None of the security officers or their U.S. Air Force supervisors had ever processed a security clearance on a nine-year-old before. But Kelsey Duffield kept her amused, sincere smile and bubbly personality despite all the probes, pat-downs, questions, and the double and triple takes as they proceeded past the several layers of security.
Helping occupy Kelsey's attention was one of the female security guards, who identified herself only as Sandy, a small but very beautiful woman appropriately dressed in sand-colored battle dress uniform, web harness, desertweight boots, desert hat and aviator sunglasses, and carrying an Uzi submachine gun. Accompanying Sandy was her partner, one of the largest Doberman pinschers Kelsey had ever seen. It was lean, muscular, angular, and lithe in every movement it made. Its face never changed expression, but it was soon evident that the dog's demeanor could be judged by the position of its long, regal, pointed, cropped ears: When the ears were pointed straight up and motionless it was locked onto its prey; when they swiveled around like radar dishes it was hunting, searching; and when the ears were down, it was sorry for not paying attention.
Kelsey saw the big dog and instantly fell in love. When she tried to go over to it, the big dog's ears drooped, and its little stubby docked tail actually seemed to wag, but Sandy motioned her away. "Stay away, little girl," she said sternly.
"But why?" Kelsey asked.
"We call her the Alpha Bitch," Jon offered. Sandy made a scolding expression toward him, and he smiled back. "Not Sandy; the dog, Sasha. She was trained by the best military working dog schools in the world-right here at Tonopah. She is the most protective dog I've ever seen-I think she'd kill anyone who tried to lay on hand on Sandy. I've seen her in training: She can climb a two-story-tall vertical ladder, drag a two-hundred-pound man, and open doors with her jaws. I've also seen that dog eat-she devours two cans of dog food in two bites." He smiled at Sandy again and quipped, "Still can't find a date yet, eh, Sandy?" The guard said nothing, only smiled evilly. Kelsey waved good-bye to Sasha as they proceeded on, and Sasha seemed to be disappointed she was leaving.
With Kelsey was her mother, Cheryl, being escorted by Jon and Helen Masters. Although Cheryl was patient throughout the several-hours-long process, at the end of it all her patience was definitely wearing thin. "Is all this security absolutely necessary?" she asked as they finally cleared the last checkpoint and walked inside the facility toward one of the large steel hangars.