State Of The Union

“The opening scene in the movie is the speech Patton gave the Third Army before the D-Day invasion. I should have thought of that earlier. It’s probably the greatest speech Patton ever gave.”

“You’re welcome,” said Herman who went back to reading his catalog.

“Bingo,” exclaimed DeWolfe. “The scheduler is asking us to enter a code. What now?”

“Let’s start running through some of the numbers we came up with. Try Leighton’s stein number and subtract the amount of days the third army was in Europe, plus today’s date.”

Harvath waited until DeWolfe looked up from the transmitter and said, “Negative.”

“Okay, Leighton’s number minus the 1913 sword classification, plus today’s date.”

Once again, DeWolfe responded, “Negative.”

“Patton’s sidearm was a.45-caliber Colt Peacemaker. How about substituting 45 for 1913?”

DeWolfe ran the equation, but still came up empty. “Zip,” he said.

“Damn it,” replied Harvath, his frustration mounting as the minutes ticked away. “I know Patton believed in reincarnation and really identified with Hannibal, the Carthaginian general. Hannibal began his march on Rome in 218. Try that.”

“Scot, you’re reaching way far here.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“No, but-”

DeWolfe was interrupted by a snort from Herman.

“What’s so funny?” snapped Harvath. “You got a problem with Hannibal?”

“I wasn’t laughing about Hannibal,” replied Herman.

“What were you laughing at then?”

“Never mind.”

“No. What is it? I want to know.”

“In the beginning of The King George, Gerda Putzkammer apparently offered her customers printedmenus, just like in a restaurant. And no matter what it was, every price ended in sixty-ninepfennings. Very kitsch.”

Harvath was just about to tell Herman he wasn’t helping, when he got that ping in his head again and this time it shook something loose. “Take 68 and subtract Leighton’s 0712, plus today’s date,” he said to DeWolfe.

“But what’s 68?” asked the communications expert.

“Just do it.

Harvath was sitting literally on the edge of his seat until DeWolfe looked up with a smile and turning the transmitter toward him said, “We’re in.”

“We are?” said Herman, setting down his the materials he was looking at and walking over to the desk. “Where the hell did the number68 come from?”

“Don’t ask me,” said DeWolfe. “Ask Harvath. He finally figured out the code.”

With his eyes glued on the burst transmitter, Scot replied, “When we were driving back to the hospital, DeWolfe and I were talking about how burst codes needed to be easy to remember. That made me think about Patton and how he said that when he wanted his men to remember something and really make it stick, he used eloquent profanity. Sometimes, so did Gary. You just reminded me of an old joke of his that I hadn’t thought about in a long time.What’s a 68? It’s like a 69, except you do me and I owe you one.”

“Are you sure Gary wasn’t a SEAL?” laughed DeWolfe. “How much time do we have left?”

“Three minutes.”

“Then you’d better get cracking on your message. Take the stylus and tap the icon for the keyboard. When it comes up, type it out just like we talked about and put it into thewaiting to be sent folder. When it’s time to burst, you just tap the send icon. Okay?”

“Seems easy enough,” answered Harvath who wrote out the message as quickly and as succinctly as he could.

Less than three minutes later, Frau Putzkammer’s telephone rang. Herman and DeWolfe were completely silent as Harvath picked up the receiver and said, “This is Norseman.”

After a second of what could only have been shocked silence, Leighton said. “So you made it.”

“I told you I was for real.”

“That may be, but you’re not home free yet.”

“And neither are you. Are you ready to receive my transmission?” asked Harvath.

1200 kilometers away in the Gulf of Finland, Leighton checked his burst transmitter and said, “Go ahead.”

As the message appeared on his screen, Leighton was stunned by what he was reading:

Your mission has been compromised. Entire Dark Night team terminated. Gary Lawlor seriously wounded. Prognosis unclear.

Mission parameters now changed. We are coming to you. Will explain at your location. Hold position and exercise extreme caution. You are being watched.

The entire team has been terminated? They think I’m being watched?Though a million other questions were racing through Frank Leighton’s mind, he knew he would have to wait to get his answers and so typed a concise and professional reply:

Message received and understood. Will continue to hold position. What is your ETA?

Harvath read through Leighton’s response and typed:

Within next twenty-four hours. Keep all weapons on safe. We will be making covert insertion and don’t want any friendly fire. Leave package in place until our arrival. Be ready to move.

As Harvath was about to tap thesend icon with his stylus, the lights dimmed and then went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.

“What the hell is going on?” asked DeWolfe.

“Maybe too many vibrators recharging at the same time,” replied Herman.