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THIRTY-TWO

Tuesday, 4:30 a.m.

Washington, B.C.

Mike Rodgers joined Paul Hood in his office to await word on Striker's deployment. Shortly after Rodgers arrived, Steve Burkow phoned with news from the White House. Hood hoped the call was only to give him the news. The hawkish National Security chief had a way of using calls like these to push the President's agenda.

According to Burkow, the king of Spain had phoned from his residence in Barcelona and spoken with the President. Officers loyal to the king had confirmed that General Rafael Amadori, head of military intelligence and one of the most powerful officers in Spain, had relocated his command center to the throne room of the Royal Palace.

Hearing that. Hood and Rodgers exchanged glances. Without a word, Rodgers went to a phone by the couch to inform Luis at Interpol that they had positively located their target. Hood allowed himself a little smile. He was pleased that they'd gotten that one right.

"There's now no doubt about what this General Amadori is planning," Burkow continued. "The President has informed the king about the presence of the Striker team in Madrid. His Majesty has given us his approval to take whatever action is necessary."

"Of course he did," Hood said. The President's action was expedient and probably necessary, but it made him uneasy.

"Don't be so quick to judge the king," Burkow said. "He has also acknowledged that it probably won't be possible to hold Spain together. He said that too many long-simmering ethnic demons have been let loose. He also told the President that if the U.N. and NATO will assist in an orderly disassembling of the nation, he will abdicate."

"What good would that do?" Hood asked. "The king's powers are only ceremonial."

"That's true," Burkow said. "But he's prepared to use his abdication as a gesture to the people of Spain. He wants to show them that if they want autonomy, he won't stand in their way. However, he's adamant about not handing over power to a tyrant."

Hood had to admit that even though the king probably had a fortune hidden in foreign banks, there was an admirable if grandstanding logic to what he had proposed. "When will the king be making this gesture?" Hood asked.

"When Amadori is no longer a threat," Burkow replied. "Speaking of which, what's the status of your team?"

"We're awaiting word," Hood said. "Striker should be arriving at the target any mo-"

"They're there," Rodgers said suddenly.

"Hold on, Steve," Hood said. "Mike, what've you got?"

"Darrell just heard from Colonel August," Rodgers said, the phone still pressed to his ear. "Striker has successfully deployed along the east side of the opera house. They have the palace in view and so far no one has bothered them. The soldiers seem to be concentrating on the palace and nothing more. Colonel August is awaiting further instructions."

"Thank Darrell for me," Hood said, and repeated the information to Burkow. As he spoke, he brought up the mission profile McCaskey had filed a half hour before. There was a map of that section of Madrid as well as a detailed map of the Royal Palace, along with various assault and infiltration configurations. According to McCaskey, the estimate from the Interpol spotter put the palace strength at four or five hundred troops. Most of them were clustered outside the southern end, where the throne room was located.

"What would the plan and timing be if they had to go in now?" Burkow asked.

Rodgers had come over to the desk. He looked over Hood's shoulder. Hood put the phone on speaker.

"There's a sewer on the northwest corner of the Plaza de Oriente," Hood said. "It connects to a catacomb which used to be part of an old Moorish fortress. It's used to store rat poison now."

"Hold it," Burkow said. "How do they get into the sewer?"

"They use an old French Resistance trick," Rodgers replied. "Create a diversion and hit the main target. Nothing lethal-just lots of smoke."

"I see," Burkow said.

"The catacomb connects to a palace dungeon, which hasn't been used for that purpose in over two centuries,"