Without remorse - Tom Clancy [252]
Wait. Two of them limped, Kelly realized. Veterans. That was good news and bad news. People with combat experience were simply different. The time would come for action, and they'd react well, probably. Even without recent training, instincts would kick in, and they'd try to fight back effectively eveт without leadership - but as veterans they'd also be softer, disdainful of their duty, however cushy it might be, lacking the awkward eagerness of fresh young troops. As with all swords, that one cut in two directions. In either case; the plan of attack allowed for it. Kill people without warning, and their training was a moot point, which made it a hell of a lot safer.
Anyway, that was one wrong assumption. Troops on POW-guard duty were usually second-raters. These at least were combat troops, even if they had sustained wounds that relegated them to backup service. Any other mistakes? Kelly wondered. He couldn't see any yet.
His first substantive radio message was a single code group which he tapped out using Morse Code.
'easy spot, sir.' The communications technicians tapped out an acknowledgment.
"Good news?' Captain Franks asked.
'It means everything is as expected, no major news,' Admiral Podulski replied. Maxwell was catching a nap. Cas wouldn't sleep until the mission was concluded. 'Our friend dark even delivered it exactly on time.'
Colonel Glazov didn't like working on weekends any more than his Western counterparts, even less so when it was because his administrative assistant had made a mistake and set his report on the wrong pile. At least the boy had admitted it, and called his boss at home to report his error. He couldn't very well do much more than chide the oversight, at the same time he had to praise the lad's honesty and sense of duty. He drove his personal car into Moscow from his dacha, found a parking place in the rear of the building, and submitted himself to the tiresome security-clearance procedures before taking the elevator up. Then came the necessity of unlocking his office and sending for the right documents from Central Files, which also took longer than usual on this weekend day. All in all, just getting to the point at which he could examine the damned thing required two hours from the unwelcome phone call that had started the process. The Colonel signed for the documents and watched the file clerk depart.
'Bloody hell,' the Colonel said in English, finally alone in his fourth-floor office. cassius had a friend in the White House National Security Office? No wonder some of his information had been so good - good enough to force Georgiy Borissovish to fly to London to consummate the recruitment. The senior KGB officer now had to chide himself. cassius had kept that bit of information up his sleeve, perhaps in the knowledge that he'd rattle his ultimate control officer. The case officer, Captain Yegorov, had taken it in stride - as well he ought - and described the first-contact meeting in exquisite detail.'
'Boxwood Green,' Glazov said. Just a code name for the operation, selected for no particular reason, as the Americans did. The next question was whether or not to forward the data to the Vietnamese. That would be a political decision, and one to be made quickly. The Colonel lifted the phone and dialed his most immediate superior, who was also at home and instantly in a foul humor.
Sunrise was an equivocal thing. The color of the clouds changed from the gray of slate to the gray of smoke as somewhere aloft the sun made its presence known, though that would not be the case here until the low-pressure area had passed north into