Rogue Forces

“We’re setting up an evacuation center here in town,” Kris said. “The colonel plans to join up with friendly forces in Mosul. I’ll get you out of here and then we’ll figure out a way to get you to Baghdad.”

Ten minutes later, they met up with some of the survivors from Nahla, including Patrick McLanahan, Hunter Noble, Jon Masters, and a handful of contractors and soldiers, most of them injured. “Glad you made it, Mr. Vice President,” Patrick said.

“Where’s the colonel?”

“Supervising the evacuation,” Patrick said. “He’s going to send us down to Mosul and await a convoy out. Just about every building that was still standing after last night isn’t standing any longer.”

“Your plane, the XC-57?”

“They got all the hangars, even the one we were using as the morgue.”

Ken Phoenix motioned Patrick to walk with him, and they stepped away from the others. Phoenix reached into his pocket and pulled out the plastic carrying case containing the Secure Digital card Patrick had given him. “What about this?” he asked. “Can we still do this?”

Patrick’s eyes widened. He thought quickly, and his head began to nod. “We won’t have the netrusion systems running,” he said, “and I’ll have to check the status of the Lancers in the UAE—”

“Find a phone and do it,” Phoenix said. “I’m going to talk with the president.”

THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, ÇANCAYA, ANKARA, TURKEY

A SHORT TIME LATER

“He said what?” Hasan Cizek shouted. “Is Gardner threatening war with Turkey?”

“What did you expect him to say, Hasan?” Turkish Prime Minister Ays¸e Akas asked. With them was former Turkish chief of the general staff General Abdullah Guzlev. “You killed a lot of Americans today, after Turkey declared a cease-fire! Did you expect him to say ‘I understand’ or ‘It’s no worry’?”

“What I did was retaliation for what he, his robots, and his Iraqi goons did to my troops!” Cizek cried. “They killed thousands!”

“Calm yourself, Hasan,” Akas said. “The president said he’s going to set up a no-fly zone in northern Iraq, and he doesn’t want you to cross it. If you try, he’ll consider it an act of war.”

“He’s threatening war with Turkey? Is he crazy, or just suffering from delusions of grandeur? He doesn’t have enough forces in this part of the world to take on Turkey!”

“Does he plan to use nuclear weapons against us?” Guzlev asked.

“Hasan, be quiet and think,” Akas said. “We’re talking about the United States of America. They may be less strong because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they are still the most powerful military machine in the world. You may be able to get away with attacking two or three bases in Iraq, but you can’t withstand the full force of their military power. They can flatten this building a hundred different ways in the blink of an eye. You know this. Why are you denying it?”

“I’m not denying it, but I’m not backing away from my mission until it’s completed,” Cizek said. “The United States will have to use their vaunted military power to stop me.” He paused to think for a moment, then said to Guzlev: “The quickest way he can set up a no-fly zone in northern Iraq is with carrier-based aircraft flying out of the Persian Gulf.”

“Yes,” Guzlev said. “The Mediterranean and bases in Europe are too far.”

“How long?”

“Fighters, tankers, radar planes—it’ll take a few hours to get them briefed and ready to deploy, maybe longer, then at least an hour or two to fly to northern Iraq,” Guzlev said.

“That means we have only a few hours, maybe five or six, to act. Can we do it?”

“About half the force is just recovering at Diyarbakir and Malatya,” Guzlev said, checking his watch. “The other half is being armed. If there are no delays or accidents…yes, I think we can have them airborne again in five or six hours.”

“What do you intend to do?” Akas asked.

“I’m not going to violate the American no-fly zone; I’ll just be sure to have my tasks completed before they set it up,” Cizek said. To Guzlev: “I want every available plane loaded and launched to attack the final target sets in Irbil, Kirkuk, and Mosul. Every known or suspected PKK and peshmerga base, every known PKK supporter, and every Iraqi and American military base that might threaten Turkish occupation of Iraq gets destroyed as soon as possible.”

OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN, THREE HUNDRED MILES WEST OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

A SHORT TIME LATER

“Stand by for release,” the mission commander said. He was aboard a Sky Masters Inc. Boeing DC-10 carrier aircraft, high above the Pacific Ocean. “Let’s make this a good one, and I’ll buy the first round.”