Tanaka checked the fuel readouts and the strategic planning chart on one of his multifunction displays. The display showed the position and fuel status of their support aircraft, the Sky Masters Inc. DC-10, proceeding from Scotland to the refueling anchor over the Mediterranean Sea. The fuel status of both the tanker and the Megafortress were represented as large circles-as long as the circles overlapped, they could rendezvous. But the edges of the circles were getting closer and closer-they couldn't wait any longer.
"Castor, this is Headbanger."
"I see it, guys," Patrick McLanahan said. He was able via datalink to look at the same strategic chart as the flight crew-and in fact he had been looking at that very display. "You're about fifteen minutes to bingo with the tanker."
"Sorry we couldn't get those rockets for you."
"Maybe you did get them-we won't know until we go in there and check. You did a good job, guys. Have a good trip home."
"Roger that. Good luck down there. Headbanger out."
Patrick met the Mi-24 attack helicopter as it settled in for a landing at one of the many helipads at the airfield near Jaghbub. He removed his helmet as Muhammad as-Sanusi climbed out of the helicopter and approached him. "It is good to see you, my friend," Sanusi said, embracing him warmly. "And it is good to see this place still in one piece." "Two bombers got in, but they dropped well short of the airfield," Patrick explained. "No damage, no casualties on our side."
"And your bomber is heading home?"
"He is a few minutes from rendezvousing with a tanker aircraft as we speak."
'Too bad. I would have liked to learn more about that plane's capabilities."
"We struck targets in Zillah and Al-Jawf," Patrick said. "The runway appears to have been cratered nicely, so the bombers and fighters there should've had to move to Surt Air Base. We struck several targets at Al-Jawf, but we can't be sure we hit any rockets. I'm afraid that threat still exists."
"But you have given us precious time to finish capturing the weapons stored here," Sanusi said. "By tomorrow afternoon, we should be long gone, with several million dollars' worth of weapons-enough to keep our little army going another few months. Thanks to you, my friend."
They heard the sounds of an approaching heavy helicopter, and a few moments later a CV-22 Pave Hammer tiltrotor aircraft settled in for a landing. Patrick extended his hand, and Sanusi took it. "I wish you luck, Your Highness," he said. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I was glad to be on your side."
"You are a good man and a fine leader, Mr. McLanahan," Sanusi said. "I am sorry about your wife; I hope God protects her. You will go home now to see your son, I presume?"
"Yes. But I have a little unfinished business in Alexandria first."
"You do not seem to be the vengeful type to me."
"I really don't know who or what I am anymore, Your Highness."
"I think I do-and I like what I see. I hope your superiors see it the same as I." Sanusi looked carefully at Patrick, then said with a faint smile, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again, sir. I hope it is in happier times.
"I hope you're right, Your Highness," Patrick said. "But I don't think so."
From the seventeenth-floor high-rise apartment, one of the best high-rise condominiums in all of Egypt, Susan Bailey Salaam had an extraordinary view of Alexandria. From her living-room balcony she could see west all the way to the Corniche and Fort Qayt Bay, built on the site of the Pharos, the four-hundred-foot-tall lighthouse that was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. From her bedroom, she could see all the way down Abu Qir Bay, the mouth of the Nile, and at night even see the glow of Cairo far on the southern horizon.
That evening, Susan was standing on the living-room balcony, smoking a cigarette and letting the cool Mediterranean breezes wash over her. Inside, General Ahmad Baris was inside, sorting and organizing sheaves of documents. He was having a difficult time keeping her attention.
"The death toll at Mersa Matruh is… is enormous, Sekhmet," Baris said tonelessly when he joined Susan on the balcony a few minutes later. "They fear over eleven thousand perished in the attack. The entire Ramses Corps has been destroyed, and the Amun Fleet lost almost fifty percent of its men and ships, with the fatalities increasing by the hour."
"Bastards," she replied woodenly. "How dare they lay waste to our nation like this?"
'The weapon that detonated at Mersa Matruh was an enhanced-radiation thermonuclear device with an estimated yield of one to two kilotons, or one to two thousand tons of TNT. Everything within two kilometers was hit with a massive dose of radiation that killed them within a few hours, slowly and painfully. I'm sorry.
"In addition, Libyan and Sudanese ground forces have crossed our southern border and have surrounded the entire
Salimah complex," Baris went on. "They are obviously ready to stage an attack on the Salimah oil fields, probably within the next few days."
"Why haven't we searched for survivors at Mersa Matruh yet?" Susan asked. "Maybe Patrick is alive."
Aha, Ahmad Baris thought, it was Patrick McLanahan and his commandos that were occupying her mind. Could he be occupying her heart as well…? "Are you all right, Sekhmet?"
"Fine… just fine." She went over and sat down on the sofa.
Captain Shafik answered the phone in Susan Bailey Salaam's home office. Her eyes grew wide with surprise, and she gave the phone to General Ahmad Baris-and moments later, his eyes grew wide with shock as well. "What is it, General?" Susan asked, returning to the living room.
"I just heard from my sources in the Ministry of Defense. Two bases in Libya have just been struck from the air."
"What? Which ones? Which bases?"
"Zillah and Al-Jawf. Reports say that a number of Libyan aircraft were also shot down," Baris went on.
"The Americans…?"
"Dr. Kalir has been in contact with the American embassy, and they insist that no American forces are involved."
"Could it have been some of our air forces?"
"All Egyptian military air forces have been dispersed and brought in toward Cairo to protect the capital," Baris said. "But in any case, we don't have that kind of firepower, unless we massed every aircraft in our entire arsenal. Planning an operation of that magnitude would take weeks."
It was Patrick, she thought. It had to be. He must be alive! But where did he get the support? Where were his air forces? They couldn't possibly be in Egypt-Baris would have known about that. Certainly not in Libya. Israel? Offshore in the Mediterranean Sea somewhere? He might be able to sneak in one large "baby" aircraft carrier into the area without anyone knowing, but would that carry enough firepower to destroy two Libyan military bases? Impossible… or was it?
"Could it have been McLanahan and his men, General?"
"They must have died in the nuclear explosion," Baris replied. "The bunker they were based in was guarded by troops day and night, and all of those troops were killed by the radiation."
"But they were underground…."
"The radiation kills humans even in bomb shelters," Baris explained. "Besides, they were just high-tech infantry forces-even with their fancy suits of armor, they could not have destroyed two Libyan military bases in one night. Only a few nations have that kind of firepower-the United States, Russia, maybe Germany, perhaps Israel. But we certainly should have known something was going to happen. It had to be in retaliation for the explosion at Mersa Matruh-but who could have done it, and why would they not have consulted us?" Susan did not answer. Her eyes were darting back and forth, as if examining the scene of a terrible traffic accident just moments after the crash.