Line of Control - Tom Clancy [64]
"Of course," Apu agreed.
"Patriotism has a way of dulling the senses," Friday told him.
"That's why soldiers sometimes throw themselves on hand grenades. If your granddaughter helped the SFF frame the Pakistanis for the destruction of a Hindu temple, she has to tell that to the Indian people."
Apu seemed surprised and gravely concerned.
"Do you think that is what she's done?" he asked.
"We do," Friday told him.
"Poor Nanda," Apu said.
"We're not just talking about Nanda," Captain Nazir said.
"If she does not tell what she knows then millions of people may die."
Apu rose.
"Nanda could not have known what she was doing. She would never have agreed to such an outcome.
But I will help you," he said.
"What do you want me to do?"
"For now, get some warm clothes together and wait," Friday said.
"If you have extra gloves and long Johns, bring them too." Apu said he would and then hurried to the bedroom. Friday walked over to a small table and pulled the maps from his pocket.
"Captain?" he said. It was a command, not a question.
"Yes?" Nazir replied.
"We need to make plans," Friday said.
"Flight plans?" Nazir said, noticing the charts.
"Yes," Friday replied.
But that was just the start. Whatever the mission and however it turned out, Friday would be in good stead with the Black Cat Commandos and his own friends and advocates in the Indian government. He was sure Hank Lewis would allow him to remain here when this was all over.
And then Ron Friday would be free to nurture his ties to the nuclear and oil industries. That was where the nation's future lay.
That was where his own future lay.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.
Siachin Base 3, Kashmir Thursday, 9:16 a. m.
The call from Commander San Hussain did not surprise Major Dev Puri.
Ever since he was informed of the top-secret plan to use the Pakistani cell, the major had been expecting to hear from the Special Frontier Force director at about this time. However, what Commander Hussain had to say was a complete surprise. Major Puri sat in his bunker for several moments after hanging up. For weeks, he had been expecting to play an important part in this operation: the quick and quiet evacuation of the line of control.
But Puri had not anticipated playing this role. The role that was supposed to have been played by the SFF's MEAN-Mountain Elite Attack Nation. That was the name of the original resistance force that worked to overthrow British imperial rule on the subcontinent.
The most important role.
Puri reached into a tin box on the desk. He plucked out a wad of chewing tobacco and placed it beside his gum. He began to chew slowly.
Puri had been expecting to hear that the Pakistani cell had been captured in their mountain headquarters.
After that. Pun's units were supposed to begin preparing for retreat.
The preparations were supposed to be made quietly and unhurriedly, without the use of cell phones or radios. As much as possible should be done underground in the shelters and low in the trenches. The Pakistanis would notice nothing unusual going on. Devi's four hundred soldiers were supposed to be finished by eleven a. m. but they were not to move out until they received word directly from Hussain.
Instead, Commander Hussain had called with a much different project.
Major Pun was to take half the four hundred soldiers in his command and move south, into the mountains.
They were to carry full survival packs and dress in thermal camouflage clothes. Hussain wanted them to proceed in a wide sweep formation toward the Siachin Glacier, closing in as the glacier narrowed and they neared the summit.
"Wide sweep" meant that the militia would consist of a line of men who came no closer than eyesight. That meant the force could be stretched across approximately two miles. Since radio channels might be monitored, Hussain wanted them to communicate using field signals.
Those were a standardized series of gestures developed by MEAN in the 1930s. The Indian army adopted them in 1947. The signals told them little more than to advance, retreat,