Executive orders - Tom Clancy [621]
LEAD, TWO, I got a bunch to the east, a pilot told the Apache commander.
Get 'em, the flight leader ordered, and one of the attack choppers ducked south around the remains of the command post.
NOTHING TO DO. No place to flee. Three of his men shouldered their weapons and fired. Others tried to run, but there was no running and no hiding. Whoever flew those aircraft were killing everything they saw. Americans. Had to be. Angry at what they'd been told. Might even be true, the general thought, and if-
HOW D'YA SAY tough shit in rag-head? the gunner asked, taking his time to make sure he got every one.
I think they got the message, the pilot said, turning the chopper around and scanning for additional targets.
ANGEL-SIX, ANGEL-SIX, this is MARAUDER-SIX-ACTUAL. This sure looked like a CP, and it's toast now, the troop commander called. We are RTB for bullets and gas. Out.
WELL, GET HIM back! Daryaei shouted at the communications officer on the line. The intelligence chief in the room didn't say anything, suspecting that they'd never talk to the army commander again in this lifetime. The worst part was not knowing why. His intelligence assessment on arriving American units had been correct. He was sure of that. How could so few do so much harm ?
THEY HAD A pair of brigades-regiments, whatever-there, didn't they? Ryan asked, getting the latest upload from the battlefield onto his projection TV in the Sit Room.
Yep. General Moore nodded. He noted with some pleasure that even Admiral Jackson was pretty quiet. Not anymore, Mr. President. Jesus, those Guardsmen are doing just fine.
Sir, Ed Foley said, just how far do you want to take this?
Do we have any doubts at all that it was Daryaei personally who made all these decisions? It was, Ryan thought, a dumb question. Why else had he told the citizens that? But he had to ask the question, and the others in the Sit Room knew why.
None, the DCI replied.
Then we take it all the way, Ed. Will the Russians play?
Yes, sir, I think they will.
Jack thought of the plague now dying out in America. Thousands of the innocent had already died, with more yet to follow. He thought of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen at risk under his distant command. He found himself thinking, even, of the UIR troops who'd followed the wrong banner and wrong ideas because they hadn't had the chance to select their country or its leader, and were now paying the price for that mistake of birthplace. If they were not completely innocent, then neither were they completely guilty, because for the most part soldiers merely did what they were told. He also found himself remembering the look in his wife's eyes when Katie had arrived by helicopter on the South Lawn. There were times when he was allowed to be a man, just like other men, except for the power he held in his hands.
Find out, the President said coldly.
IT WAS A sunny morning in Beijing, and Adler knew more than the other people in the discussion. It hadn't been much of a detailed dispatch, just the high points, which he'd shown to the Defense attaché, and the Army colonel had told him to trust every word. But the information wasn't widely known. The TV reports had to come out over military communications nets, and because of the time of day in most of America, those hadn't reported much beyond the commencement of combat action. If the PRC was in cahoots with the UIR, they might yet believe that their distant friends held the upper hand. It was worth a try, Sec-State thought, sure that POTUS would back him up.
Mr. Secretary, welcome again, the Foreign Minister said graciously. And again, Zhang was there, silent and enigmatic as he tried always to be.
Thank