Rogue Forces (36 page)

T
HE
S
ITUATION
R
OOM
, T
HE
W
HITE
H
OUSE
W
ASHINGTON
, D.C.

A
SHORT TIME LATER

President Gardner hurried into the Situation Room, a high-tech conference room in the West Wing used for high-level national security meetings, and he took his place. “Take seats,” he said. “Someone talk to me, right
now
. What happened?”

“Turkey declared martial law and executed a number of air strikes throughout northern Iraq,” National Security Adviser Conrad Carlyle said. “The Turkish minister of defense, Cizek, says he was placed in charge of the military and ordered to launch a full-scale attack against the PKK and their supporters in Iraq and Turkey.” An electronic map of northern Iraq was displayed on the large wall-size computer monitor in the front of the room. “Twenty cities and towns were hit by fighter-bombers, including Kirkuk, Irbil, Dahuk, and Mosul. Three joint Iraqi-American military bases were struck in Irbil, Kirkuk, and near Mosul. Casualty reports are coming in now. The bases had just minutes of warning time.” He paused just long enough to draw the president’s attention to him fully, then added, “And the vice president’s aircraft is missing.”

“
Missing
?” the president shouted.

“The vice president took off for Baghdad just minutes before the attack took place,” Carlyle said. “The pilot was executing evasive maneuvers and looking for a place to make an emergency landing when they lost contact. The commander of Allied Air Base Nahla has organized a search and rescue team, but that base was hit hard and almost destroyed. It had already been hit last night by a Turkish air raid. An Air Force search and rescue team is being dispatched from Samarra but it’ll take a few hours to get there.”

“Good God,” the president breathed. “Get Hirsiz or Cizek or whoever’s really in charge in Ankara on the phone. I don’t want any
more Turkish planes flying over Iraq—
none
! Where are the carriers? What can we get up there?”

“We have the Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group in the Persian Gulf,” chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Taylor Bain responded. “It’ll be a stretch because of the distance involved, but we can start setting up air patrols over Iraq with E-2 Hawkeye radar planes doing C4I and pairs of F/A-18 Hornet fighters in patrol orbits.”

“Do it,” the president ordered. “Keep them over Iraq unless they are attacked.” Secretary of Defense Miller Turner picked up his phone to issue the orders.

“Turkey has a very large air force, with a lot of surplus American warplanes and weapons,” Carlyle pointed out. “Some of them, like the F-15 Eagles, can be a match for the Hornet.”

“If Turkey wants to get into a shooting war with the United States, I’m ready to play,” Gardner said angrily. “What about land attack assets? Tomahawks?”

“The conventional sea-launched cruise missiles in the Persian Gulf are out of range,” Bain said. “We would have to move the ships and subs in the Mediterranean closer to get within range of the eastern Turkish air bases.”

“Any ships or subs in the Black Sea?”

“No submarines, per treaty,” Bain aid. “We have a single Surface Action Group on patrol in the Black Sea, also per treaty, and they do have T-LAMs, but they’re also the most vulnerable ships out there right now. We would have to assume that if the Turks want to fight, they’d attack that group first.”

“What else do we have?”

“We have some tactical air based in various places in Europe—Greece, Romania, Italy, Germany, and the U.K., but those wouldn’t be quick-strike options,” Bain said. “Our only other option is conventionally armed B-2 Spirit stealth bombers launched from Diego Garcia. We have six surviving planes ready to go.”

“Get them armed and ready,” the president said. “That’s all we have? Six?”

“Afraid so, Mr. President,” Bain said. “We have two XR-A9 Black Stallion space planes that can launch precision-guided weapons, and they can be armed and hitting targets within hours, and we also have a few conventionally armed intercontinental ballistic missiles that can hit targets in Turkey quickly.”

“Get them briefed and ready, too,” Gardner said. “I don’t know what Ankara has in mind, or if they even
have
a mind, but if they want to take us on, I want everything ready to go.”

The phone beside White House chief of staff Walter Kordus blinked, and he picked it up. “Turkish prime minister Ays¸e Akas for you, sir.”

The president picked up the phone immediately. “Prime Minister Akas, this is President Gardner. What in hell is going on out there? Twelve hours ago you announced a cease-fire. Now you’ve attacked three American military bases! Are you out of your minds?”

“I’m afraid Minister of National Defense Cizek and General Abdullah Guzlev may be, Mr. President,” she said. “Last night they arrested President Hirsiz, engineered a military coup d’état, and took over the Presidential Palace. They were unhappy about the president’s decision to pull back to the border before the PKK and their supporters were eliminated.”

“So why attack American bases?”

“Retaliation for the defeat near Tall Kayf,” Akas said. “Two thousand Turks were killed or wounded in that battle. Cizek and the generals thought it was cowardly to retreat to the border after such a loss.”

“Are you still prime minister, Mrs. Akas?”

“No, I am not,” Akas said. “I was allowed use of my cellular telephone, which I am sure is being monitored, but I am not free to travel or go to my office. Under the state of emergency, the National Assembly has been dismissed. Cizek and the generals are in charge.”

“I want to speak with them immediately,” Gardner said. “If you can get Cizek a message, tell him that the United States is going to set up a no-fly zone in northern Iraq, and I warn them not to violate
it or try to attack any of our planes, or we will consider it an act of war and retaliate immediately. We are readying all of our military resources and will respond with everything we have. Is that clear?”

“It is clear to me, Mr. President,” Akas said, “but I do not know if it will be seen by Cizek as anything more than a clear threat of imminent attack. Are you sure you wish me to deliver this message, sir?”

“I don’t have any intention of attacking Turkey unless they violate Iraqi airspace again,” Gardner said. “All of our other responses will be by other means. But if Turkey intends to fight, we’ll give them a fight.” And he hung up.

O
UTSIDE
T
ALL
K
AYF
, I
RAQ

A
SHORT TIME LATER

The two Humvees rushed to the scene of the CV-22 crash and immediately surrounded the area with security forces while Kris Thompson and a medic rushed to the tilt-rotor aircraft. Fortunately the Osprey’s fire suppression system had stopped a major fire, and Iraqi citizens put out the others. They found the vice president, the flight crew, and a Secret Service agent being treated by a local doctor, with another Secret Service agent covered by a rug. “Thank God you’re alive, sir,” Kris said.

“Thanks to these people,” Ken Phoenix said. “If they hadn’t helped, we probably would’ve all been killed in the fire. What’s happened?”

“The Turks bombed the base—again,” Kris said. “Pretty much destroyed it this time. A few casualties; we got just enough warning. The Turks are carrying out bombing raids all over northern Iraq.”

“So much for the cease-fire—if there ever was one,” Phoenix said.

“We’re setting up an evacuation center here in town,” Kris said. “The colonel plans to join up with friendly forces in Mosul. I’ll get you out of here and then we’ll figure out a way to get you to Baghdad.”

Ten minutes later, they met up with some of the survivors from Nahla, including Patrick McLanahan, Hunter Noble, Jon Masters, and a handful of contractors and soldiers, most of them injured. “Glad you made it, Mr. Vice President,” Patrick said.

“Where’s the colonel?”

“Supervising the evacuation,” Patrick said. “He’s going to send us down to Mosul and await a convoy out. Just about every building that was still standing after last night isn’t standing any longer.”

“Your plane, the XC-57?”

“They got all the hangars, even the one we were using as the morgue.”

Ken Phoenix motioned Patrick to walk with him, and they stepped away from the others. Phoenix reached into his pocket and pulled out the plastic carrying case containing the Secure Digital card Patrick had given him. “What about this?” he asked. “Can we still do this?”

Patrick’s eyes widened. He thought quickly, and his head began to nod. “We won’t have the netrusion systems running,” he said, “and I’ll have to check the status of the Lancers in the UAE—”

“Find a phone and do it,” Phoenix said. “I’m going to talk with the president.”

T
HE
P
RESIDENTIAL
P
ALACE
, Ç
ANCAYA
, A
NKARA
, T
URKEY

A
SHORT TIME LATER

“
He
said
what
?” Hasan Cizek shouted. “Is Gardner threatening war with Turkey?”

“What did you expect him to say, Hasan?” Turkish Prime Minister Ays¸e Akas asked. With them was former Turkish chief of the general staff General Abdullah Guzlev. “You killed a lot of Americans today, after Turkey declared a cease-fire! Did you expect him to say ‘I understand’ or ‘It’s no worry’?”

“What I did was retaliation for what
he
,
his
robots, and
his
Iraqi goons did to my troops!” Cizek cried. “They killed thousands!”

“Calm yourself, Hasan,” Akas said. “The president said he’s going to set up a no-fly zone in northern Iraq, and he doesn’t want you to cross it. If you try, he’ll consider it an act of war.”

“He’s threatening war with Turkey? Is he crazy, or just suffering from delusions of grandeur? He doesn’t have enough forces in this part of the world to take on Turkey!”

“Does he plan to use nuclear weapons against us?” Guzlev asked.

“Hasan, be quiet and think,” Akas said. “We’re talking about the United States of America. They may be less strong because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they are still the most powerful military machine in the world. You may be able to get away with attacking two or three bases in Iraq, but you can’t withstand the full force of their military power. They can flatten this building a hundred different ways in the blink of an eye. You know this. Why are you denying it?”

“I’m not denying it, but I’m not backing away from my mission until it’s completed,” Cizek said. “The United States will have to use their vaunted military power to stop me.” He paused to think for a moment, then said to Guzlev: “The quickest way he can set up a no-
fly zone in northern Iraq is with carrier-based aircraft flying out of the Persian Gulf.”

“Yes,” Guzlev said. “The Mediterranean and bases in Europe are too far.”

“How long?”

“Fighters, tankers, radar planes—it’ll take a few hours to get them briefed and ready to deploy, maybe longer, then at least an hour or two to fly to northern Iraq,” Guzlev said.

“That means we have only a few hours, maybe five or six, to act. Can we do it?”

“About half the force is just recovering at Diyarbakir and Malatya,” Guzlev said, checking his watch. “The other half is being armed. If there are no delays or accidents…yes, I think we can have them airborne again in five or six hours.”

“What do you intend to do?” Akas asked.

“I’m not going to violate the American no-fly zone; I’ll just be sure to have my tasks completed before they set it up,” Cizek said. To Guzlev: “I want every available plane loaded and launched to attack the final target sets in Irbil, Kirkuk, and Mosul. Every known or suspected PKK and
peshmerga
base, every known PKK supporter, and every Iraqi and American military base that might threaten Turkish occupation of Iraq gets destroyed as soon as possible.”

O
VER THE
P
ACIFIC
O
CEAN, THREE HUNDRED MILES WEST OF
L
OS
A
NGELES
, C
ALIFORNIA

A
SHORT TIME LATER

“Stand by for release,” the mission commander said. He was aboard a Sky Masters Inc. Boeing DC-10 carrier aircraft, high above the Pacific Ocean. “Let’s make this a good one, and I’ll buy the first round.”

The aircraft, initially built by McDonnell Douglas Aircraft before that company was purchased by Boeing, was highly modified for many purposes, including aerial refueling and instrument tests, but its major modification gave it the ability to launch satellite boosters into space. The booster, called ALARM or Air Launched Alert Response Missile, resembled a large cruise missile. It had three solid rocket motors and folding wings to give it lift while in the atmosphere. ALARM, in effect, used the DC-10 as its first stage engine.

The ALARM boosters carried four satellites internally. The satellites, called NIRTSats, or Need It Right This Second Satellites, were washing-machine-size multipurpose reconnaissance satellites designed to stay in orbit for less than a month; they carried very little maneuvering fuel and were meant to stay in one set orbit, with only a few minor orbit changes or realignments allowed. These satellites were being placed into orbit to serve field commanders in Afghanistan.

“Pretty friggin’ amazing,” the mission commander, a U.S. Air Force major from the Thirtieth Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, said. “Less than twelve hours ago I got the call to launch this constellation. Now, we’re about to do it. Normally it takes the Air Force a week to do something like this.”

“That’s why you should just call on us from now on,” the aircraft commander, a civilian working for Sky Masters Inc., said proudly.

“Yeah, but you guys are too expensive.”

“You want the job done fast and right, you gotta pay for the best,” the pilot said. “Besides, it’s not your money, it’s the Air Force’s.”

“Well, however you guys do it and however much we’re paying you, it’s worth it,” the mission commander said.

“We aim to please,” the pilot said. He flipped a page on his multifunction display when he received a blinking message annunciation, read the incoming satellite message, cleared it back to the main navigation page, switched his intercom to “private,” and spoke.

“What was that?” the mission commander asked.

“Nothing, just a fast request to the release crews,” the pilot said. The Air Force major didn’t notice him, but the flight engineer sitting behind him was suddenly pulling out charts and typing on his mission planning computer. “How much longer to release?” the pilot asked.

“Sixty seconds…now,” the mission commander said. He checked his own multifunction display, where he had the mission data displayed. They were flying to a precise location and a particular heading that would put the ALARM booster on the perfect trajectory for a successful insertion. Because the NIRTSats carried so little fuel, the closer they could shoot the booster into the perfect orbit, the better.

“Stand by, flight crew,” the pilot said. “Report checklists complete to the MC.”

“Flight deck configured and ready to go, MC,” the flight engineer said.

“Cabin deck ready, MC,” the civilian in charge of the cabin reported after getting a thumbs-up from his Air Force counterpart observing the release. The cabin of the modified DC-10 was split into pressurized and unpressurized compartments. In the pressurized compartment was a second ALARM booster, suspended on loading cables; the compartment could hold two ALARMs, plus one in the unpressurized compartment.

The first ALARM booster was already loaded into the unpressurized launch compartment, where it would be ejected into the slipstream underneath the DC-10. After release, its first solid rocket motor would fire, and it would fly under, then ahead of the DC-10, then start a sharp climb. Its second and third stage motors would
fire in turn until the booster had accelerated to orbital speed and was at the proper altitude in space—in this case, eighty-eight miles above Earth—and then it would begin releasing the NIRTSats.

“Stand by,” the MC said. “Five…four…three…two…one…drop.” He waited for the brief pitch-down caused by the ALARM booster dropping free of the DC-10 before the fuel and trim systems could rebalance the plane. That was always the trickiest part of these releases; if the aircraft didn’t rebalance itself and the plane started rapid pitch motions, and if the ALARM booster was caught up in the disrupted slipstream, it could fly off course or out of control. That was a rare occurrence, but…

Then the MC realized he didn’t feel the pitch movement. He looked at his multifunction display…and saw that the ALARM booster hadn’t released! “Hey, what happened?” He checked his indicators…and saw that the pilot’s launch override was engaged. “Hey, you stopped the launch! You overrode the release! What’s going on?”

“We got orders,” the pilot said. “We’re going to get refueled, and then we’re going to change to a different launch axis.”

“Orders? Different launch? You can’t do this! This is an Air Force mission! Who told you to do this?”

“The boss.”

“What boss? Who?
Masters
?
He
can’t change this mission! I’m going to advise my command post.”

“You can tell them what we did after we launch this booster.”

“This booster, this mission belongs to the U.S. Air Force! I’m not going to let you hijack an Air Force missile.”

“I’m sorry to hear you say that, Major,” the pilot said kindly…just as the flight engineer reached up behind the MC, stuck a stun gun on the Air Force officer’s neck, and pressed the switch, instantly knocking him unconscious.

“How long will he stay out, Jim?” the pilot asked.

“Couple hours, I think.”

“Long enough,” the pilot said. He clicked the intercom: “Okay, John, send him up.” A few moments later the Air Force technician
assigned to monitor the launch entered the flight deck, and he, too, was stunned unconscious by the flight engineer. “Okay, while the NIRTSats are reprogrammed by the front office in Vegas by satellite, I need a potty break before we rendezvous with the tanker. Double-check the new launch plan. Good job, everyone. Thanks for thinking on your feet. We’ll all deserve a raise after this…if we’re not in prison, that is.”

“Where’s the new tasking?” the launch deck technician asked.

“Turkey,” the pilot said. “Looks like the shit is hitting the fan out there.”