Executive orders - Tom Clancy [535]
Spasiba. I will be back to you. Mary Pat looked over at her husband. You have to love the guy.
I wish he was on our side, the DCI observed.
He is, Ed.
THE DOG HAD stopped barking, they noted in STORM TRACK. The three corps they were trying to observe had stopped using their radios around noon. Zero. As sophisticated as their computer-aided ELINT equipment was, nothing was still nothing. It was an obvious sign, and just as often overlooked. The direct lines to Washington burned constantly now. More Saudi officers were coming in, demonstrating the increased-alert state of their own military, which was quietly deploying to the field around King Khalid Military City. That was some comfort to the intelligence people in the listening post, but not much. They were far closer to the mouth of the lion. Being spooks, they thought like spooks, and by consensus they decided that the events in America had somehow started here. Elsewhere, such thoughts engendered a feeling of helplessness; here they had a different effect. The rage was real, and they had a mission to fulfill, exposed position or not.
OKAY, JACKSON SAID on the conference line, who can we deploy?
The answer was a brief silence. The Army was half the size it had been less than a decade before. There were two heavy divisions in Europe, V Corps, but they were quarantined by the Germans. The same was true of the two armored divisions at Fort Hood, Texas, and the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Riley, Kansas. Parts of the 82nd at Fort Bragg and the 101st at Fort Campbell were deployed to support National Guard units, but the units that had been kept back at their bases had soldiers who'd tested positive for Ebola. The same was true of the two stateside Marine divisions, based at Lejeune in North Carolina and Pendleton in California.
Look, FORCECOM said. We got the 11th ACR and a Guard brigade training up at the NTC. That base is totally clean, we can move them out as quick as you can whistle up the airplanes. The rest? Before we can move them, we have to sort everybody out. I don't dare move them before we've tested every soldier for this damned bug, and the kits ain't out everywhere yet.
He's right, another voice said. Every head on the conference line nodded. The pharmaceutical companies were racing to produce them. Millions of test kits were needed, but only a few tens of thousands were available, and those were being used for targeted people, the ones who showed symptoms, relatives or close associates of known cases, truckers delivering food and medical supplies, and most of all, the medical personnel themselves, who were the most exposed to the virus. Worse still, one clear reading wasn't enough. Some people would have to be tested daily for three days or more, because although the test was reliable, the immune systems of potential victims were not. The antibodies could start showing up an hour after a negative test reading. Doctors and hospitals throughout the country were screaming for the kits, and in this case the Army was sucking hind tit.
The UIR is going to throw a war, J-3 thought, and nobody's going to come. Robby wondered if some hippie from the sixties might find that amusing.
How long on that?
End of the week, at best, FORCECOM replied. I have an officer on it.
I got the 366th Wing at Mountain Home. They're all clean, Air Combat Command reported. We have the F-16 wing in Israel. My European units are being held hostage, though, all of them.
Airplanes are nice, Paul, FORCECOM said. So are ships, but we need soldiers over there in one big fucking hurry.
Cut warning orders to Fort Irwin, Jackson said. I'll have the SecDef authorize their release within the hour.
Done.
MOSCOW? CHAVEZ ASKED. Jesu Cristo, we are getting around.
Ours is not to reason why.
Yeah, I know the second part, Mr. C. If we're going to the right place, I'll take that chance.
Your carriage awaits, gents, Clayton said. The blue suits are turning the airplane over