Tom Clancy's op-center_ acts of war - Tom Clancy [35]
"Good morning, Paul," Bugs said, his voice coming from speakers mounted on the side of the monitor.
"Morning, Bugs," Hood said. "Would you please get Mike Rodgers for me? He's still at the ROC."
"Right away," Bugs said. His image winked off.
Hood glanced at Herbert. "What's Mike doing to find that missing helicopter?"
"Same thing we are," Herbert replied. "Analyzing data. He's in a better position to scan communications in the region, so I'm sure he's doing that too. He'll be following all the procedures we wrote up for ROC operations."
"What's the minimum security requirement you established for the ROC?" Hood asked.
"Two Strikers when the facility is in the field," Herbert said. "That's what they've got now."
Bugs reappeared on the screen. "General Rodgers is not available," he said. "He's gone out to do field work."
Hood's mouth tightened. He knew the general well enough to smell a euphemism when he heard one. "Where did he go?"
"Mary Rose said he took Colonel Seden and left about ten minutes ago," Bugs told him. "They took the Turkish officer's motorcycle."
"Uh-oh," Bob Herbert said.
"What about the computer cell phone?" Hood asked. "Can you reach Mike on that?"
"The general phoned Mary Rose to check reception a few minutes after he went out into the plains," Bugs said. "The satellite uplink worked fine, but he told her not to call unless it was an emergency. Just in case anyone was listening in."
"Lots of cross talk in open spaces like that," Herbert said. "Zero security."
Hood nodded at Herbert. On military missions, Op-Center personnel typically carried secure TAC-SATs. They had their own parabolic dishes which allowed them to uplink securely with satellites, then broadcast directly to Op-Center. But those units were relatively cumbersome. Though the ROC carried one TAC-SAT, Rodgers obviously wanted to travel light.
Hood was angry with Rodgers, and deeply concerned about him being out without Striker backup. But he couldn't pull anyone from the ROC without compromising security procedures, and he didn't want to recall Rodgers. The general was his own man and he hadn't broken any rules. Besides, it wasn't Hood's place to second-guess his Deputy Director from nine thousand miles away.
"Thanks, Bugs," Hood said. "Stay in touch with the ROC and let me know at once if they hear anything."
"Will do, Chief," Bugs said.
Hood clicked Benet off and regarded Herbert. "So. It looks like Mike's gone off to do some first-hand recon."
Herbert absently punched the keys on the speakerphone of his armrest. "Yeah. Well, that's Mike's style, isn't it?"
"Why wouldn't he have taken the ROC?" McCaskey asked. "At least then he'd have been able to do a thorough job."
"Because he knew he was going into a dangerous situation," Hood said. "And you know Mike. He wouldn't want to jeopardize the facility or the crew. That's also his style."
Hood looked at Herbert, who was looking at him. The intelligence chief shut his eyes and nodded.
"I'll find him," Herbert said. He speed-dialed the NRO on his wheelchair phone. "I'll see if Viens can push everything else aside again and get us a nice clear satellite snapshot of Rodgers of Arabia."
"Thanks," Hood said. He looked at McCaskey.
"The usual?" McCaskey asked.
Hood nodded. The former G-man knew the drill. If a group claimed credit, McCaskey would have to run a check through other domestic and foreign agencies to see if they had the resources. If not, who were they covering for and why? If so, he would have to run their modus operandi through the computer to determine what their next likely move was and how long they'd wait. Then McCaskey and his advisors would have to ascertain whether diplomacy would forestall other attacks, whether the perpetrators would have to be hit militarily, and what other targets they were likely to strike.
"Put Liz in on this," Hood said.
McCaskey nodded as he left. Psychological profiles of Middle Eastern terrorists