Net Force - Tom Clancy [124]
You think hell go along?
We wont tell him, either. He works for me. If anything happens, its my head that will roll. What he doesnt know wont hurt him.
You think thats fair?
It protects him. He gets what he thinks is a legitimate order, hes covered.
Your decision.
Yes. About time I made a couple of decisions that do something.
Saturday, October 9th, 5:00 a.m. In the air over Hudson Bay
All right, Sergeant Know-It-All, lets hear it.
Howard knew the plan-he had devised it-but it never hurt to burn it into long-term memory. Another pass to spot any errors.
Julio Fernandez grinned and affected his recruit-to-drillmaster voice: Sir, Colonel Howard, sir! More quietly, he said, Chechnya is landlocked, bounded by Ingushetia on the west, Russia on the north, Dagestan on the east and Georgia on the south. The western border of the country is about three hundred kilometers east of the Black Sea, give or take. The capital and largest city is Grozny, of which the colonel will see detailed CIA maps of the surface streets in his flatscreen file, when and if he cares to look.
The population is largely Chechen or Russian, that is to say-
Skip the geopolitical history, Sergeant. Lets get to strategy and tactics, please.
As the colonel wishes. He grinned, relaxed. Our two vintage UH-1H Hueys are scheduled to be off-loaded at 1900 hours from jet transport at Vladikavkaz, in North Os-setia, a favor for which the locals hope to obtain certain reciprocal courtesies from the U.S. Since we want friends in that area, such courtesies will no doubt eventually be extended.
Once on the ground and operational, we will have to violate about fifteen kilometers of Ingushetian airspace to reach Chechnya. Our command post will be outside Urus-Martan, which is another twenty-five klicks inside Chechnya. All in all, were talking about flying over forty kilometers of unfriendly territory.
Of course, both countries have radar and something of an air force; however, at treetop level in the dark, it is unlikely that anybody but a few goats will even notice our choppers overflight. It should be a milk run, if a bit crowded.
We have a truck waiting in Grozny, which our four-trooper collection-team squad will reach from Urus-Martan upon the two Russian motor scooters well bring with us on the black copters. Vespa knockoffs, I believe. They arent very fast, but its only a dozen kilometers from Urus-Martan to Grozny, and theyll be coming back in a truck. Pretty good trade, actually, leaving the two scooters for one murdering Russian. The locals come out way ahead.
Howard made the keep-it-rolling sign.
We arrive, all things going well, at about 2200 hours, set up our tactical base in an old dairy farm owned by our friends the spooks. The spooks dont know well be using the place, as per our DTNS-policy on this mission.
Howard frowned. A new acronym. DTNS?
Dont tell nobody squat, Fernandez said. Especially the CIA. He grinned widely.
You just made that up, didnt you?
I am hurt that the colonel believes I would do such a thing.
Sergeant Fernandez, I believe you would give a polar bear a poodle cut and call him Fifi.
Fernandez laughed. Sir. This farm-theres no neighbors within shouting range. Everything going as planned, our CT squad putt-putts into town, collects their ride, grabs the Russky, comes back, and a few minutes after midnight, were all airborne and on the way back to this here comfortable 747, which is by then all gassed up and waiting for us at the Vladikavkaz Airport. As a gesture of goodwill, we leave the transport copters for our new friends the North Ossetians, climb on our ride and fly away home. Everything by the numbers.
If everything goes as planned, Howard said.
You worry too much, sir. Our squad speaks fluent Russian, and a bit of the local dialect. They got the proper travel and ID papers, they can shoot the balls off a gnat at ten paces. Theyll get him. And if there is any problem they cant handle, thats what the two dozen