Secret of the Oil: Prequel to the Donavan Chronicles (20 page)

ADMIRAL KIDD

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING

6:15 PM - WASHINGTON

The President usually made a habit of chairing the National Security Council meetings when something important occurred, but he was out of town on a vote-getting tour. Most of the other members were present. The conference room at the old executive office building, across the street from the White House, where the National Security Council was meeting, had the atmosphere of an execution chamber. The “victim,” Admiral Kidd, a descendant of the infamous Captain Kidd of pirate fame, had not yet arrived.

The National Security Advisor was the de facto leader of the meeting when the President was absent. Avery stood at the head of the table. He had relayed to the members present what the admiral had revealed to him. The acrid tone used conveyed the great displeasure he felt for how the admiral had handled the situation. In addition, his facial expression glowed Turkey red with rage. He failed to mention that the President had not yet been informed.

When the admiral entered the room, he noticed all eyes turned toward him. In addition to the pure contempt emanating from Kent Avery’s eyes, those of the Secretary of State seemed to shoot fire darts, compared to the wait-and-see looks of most of the attendees. The Director of National Intelligence, John Neighbor, looked at the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for any indication that he knew what was happening in the field. Seeing a rigid face, he turned to look at the admiral.

“All right, Admiral, give us an account of what has transpired. How you received the message on possible atomic weapons and what is the current situation.” Kent Avery sat down and waited.

“Thank you, sir. This episode started for us at the NSA, yesterday morning.” The admiral gave a complete briefing of all that his agency accomplished in both deciphering the code to get at the text and the method used to translate the document. He did not touch on the operational aspect of the DIA team in the field. He guessed this was what Avery really wanted but he only relayed the facts that the NSA had uncovered. By doing so he gained some time, as Avery would insist that the DIA must answer the questions, but they were not present. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was aware of the overall operation but did not comment on the up-to-the-minute situation. The Secretary of Defense, James Carter, was another matter.

Kidd knew that operations conducted by the military were under the control of the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Unified and Specified Commands. The National Security Council was not in the chain of command, but not out of the loop either.

Upon concluding his presentation, which took nineteen minutes, the admiral asked if anyone had a question. He knew they would now be shooting at him, so he had prepared as many canned answers as he could and knew what to focus on.

“Where are the weapons now?” said the U.S. representative to the United Nations, who was sitting in on the meeting.

“Do we have someone there to stop them?” queried Secretary of the Treasury.

“Has the President been informed?” the Secretary of State asked.

“My duty, Madam Secretary, is to inform this body on the intelligence I receive that might be of high interest.” The admiral looked at Avery, recognizing in that man’s attitude that the President was not aware of this current intelligence. He had deliberately not answered the question on the President’s knowledge of the events. He should have answered the Secretary of State and his silence signaled something the admiral didn’t like.

“What is the current status of any operation ongoing against these terrorists?” Avery asked, retaking control of the meeting.

The admiral took some time to shuffle papers and, before he could respond, Secretary of Defense Carter spoke up.

“I think I should answer that.” The Director of the DIA had brought him up to date just prior to this meeting. “We are conducting a close-hold operation against the terrorists. There has been a setback in the last hour, as another group of terrorists, Hezbollah, presumably, attacked the group that we think has the weapons. We believe the terrorists who have these weapons are planning on using them in the way described in the transcript the NSA provided to each of you.”

The Secretary of State, Patricia Kennedy, a rotund woman broadcasting a stern look through her thick half moon glasses and pulled-back hair in a tight ponytail, projected a face that could have been taken for a buzzard. “We must inform the government of Saudi Arabia of this situation and ask for their help. We appear to be conducting a military operation by our troops on the territory of a friendly sovereign nation without their knowledge. This is unacceptable. It is a violation of International Law.”

The Secretary of Defense, ignoring Ms. Kennedy, looked directly at Avery. “I would state that we are conducting a military operation against armed terrorists bent upon using atomic weapons against the national interests of the United States. I do not believe we can turn that over to another government, especially one that may be in no position to control what happens to the weapons if they retrieve them. I recall that the majority of the terrorists involved in 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia. Your suggestion is not something I would advise the President to do.”

“Mr. Neighbor, do you have anything on this situation?” Avery said as he turned to the Director of National Intelligence.

“Only what the admiral has described. The location of the weapons is now known to us. The targets are in the document provided by Admiral Kidd. We are monitoring the actions of the strike team in the desert. I suggest we continue to do that.”

This statement was greeted with almost unanimous approval. The notable exception was the Secretary of State. Some more discussions between various individuals followed, but eventually Avery convinced her to go along for a short period of time and said, “Very well. With everyone on board now, we will closely follow the situation and the Secretary of Defense will keep us advised of the progress. We will reconvene tomorrow at nine o’clock or earlier if the SecDef has reason to request it. Until then.” Avery stood up to signal the end of the meeting and pointed to the admiral and the SecDef to remain.

After the room cleared, Avery said,” I think you two sandbagged me. You are trying to conduct a military operation without the President’s or my knowledge. I’ll not condone such action.”

The admiral viewed the SecDef, who stood tall and straight and then delivered his comments with a calm, even temper that belied his obvious struggle not to blast away at the pompous Avery. Carter said, “We had no such intention. I’ll not deny that we hoped to have this concluded and presented as an accomplished fact, but we’re only carrying out our duty to eliminate the terrorist and retrieve the atomic bombs, and to keep you advised of our actions. I believe we have done both of these in a timely manner. I do not see a need for you to threaten. I strongly suggest you do not want to do that even if so inclined.”

Avery’s face turned a little red, and without another word he turned and stomped out of the room.

“Admiral, I think we just drew the line in the sand. Neither one of us had better cross it. Avery has the ear of the President, but in many areas, I believe I also have his ear and Avery knows it. So, my infighting might cause you some grief by collateral spill over. Admiral, I want you to get as much information to that team as you can. They may not know what to request, but you have all kinds of assets that you need to employ now to assist them. Use everything at your command. Is that clear?”

The admiral was glad to hear this order and that there was not going to be a conversation between himself and the President since the Secretary of Defense had stepped up to the plate on this one. “Yes, sir. I do have some things that might assist them. They are experimental and this might just be the time to call them into use.”

AL-HANBALI CONVOY

28 OCTOBER – 5:42 PM

Al-Hanbali rode in the last vehicle as they sped away from the compound toward the main highway leading to Ras Tanura. Their confrontation with Faisal signaled a disaster for Fatimah. For years, that control group had been putting together a financial and human network in the worldwide effort of the Islamic Jihad. The betrayal of that trust by Faisal could have severe ramifications. Tewfik thought that Hezbollah would probably withstand the worst of the displeasure Fatimah would have to show for this breach of trust, but it would have to be demonstrated to the members of the Islamic Fundamentalist movement that no one could betray another with impunity. Reprisals against Faisal’s group, its leadership, and its finances were certain to follow.

Right now al-Hanbali’s major concern focused on the replacement of the Hezbollah men who were supposed to carry the weapons to the targets. They were now dead. He had to carry out his plan no matter the cost. Last minute substitutes would have to be used. The only ones available now were his own men. Damn, but that appeared to be the only way.

“Watch the rear view mirror, just to be sure we are not followed,” al-Hanbali instructed the driver.

“There have been cars behind us but they are not the same. It does not appear that we have anyone tracking us,” replied the driver.

Al-Hanbali made a call to Basam.

“Basam, I want to be sure no one is following us. We must’ve gotten all of Faisal’s people at one time. Now listen, we are going to stop about a hundred kilometers from here at a house owned by a friend. He is not there and we’ll be alone. Just as a precaution I want you to fall back to ensure there is no one following us.”

Basam pulled over to the side of the road and waited for al-Hanbali’s car to pass. He allowed the two cars to get a good kilometer ahead.

Over the radio Basam reported, “There is no one on our tail. I have waited for one minute and no one is coming behind us.”

“Rejoin us and take up the rear position,” Tewfik ordered.

After traveling for over an hour, al-Hanbali ordered the lead vehicle off on a small road to the right. They traveled for another ten minutes on this secondary road before al-Hanbali led them into a small compound area with a house located on the side of a hill. No lights shone even though it was after sunset, confirming his earlier information that the place was vacant. He led the cars to a shed next to the house. They parked the cars with the front end facing away from the building for a quick exit if it became necessary.

“Check the fuel gauges. I want to make sure we have at least a half-full tank to start in the morning,” ordered al-Hanbali. Inside the house he said, “We will be here until tomorrow morning. Then we will go to Ras Tanura and complete our mission. Basam, you take the first watch. I want someone walking around outside all night. We have experienced too many unexpected visitors lately and I don’t want any here.”

“Do you want us to bring the weapons into the house?” Basam asked.

“No. Just make sure the guards walk around often during the watch. Now let’s get some rest. We had a long day, but Allah is with us. You saw it back at the compound. He ensured that we destroyed our enemy, and he will help us destroy the economies of the West. In Sha’allah.”

The group settled down for the night. Basam established the guard order, and the rest went to get some sleep. In less than twenty minutes they were all asleep, except for Basam and Tewfik. Basam was on guard duty outside the house.

Tewfik sat down in a comfortable chair in the living room of the house. Nervous energy pulsated through him. He thought over the plan for tomorrow. It would be the greatest day of his life. He now had the weapon to strike the Satan, the Americans. They were the enemy, the devil on earth. He would do anything to destroy them. Allah would be pleased by his actions and would guide him to a successful conclusion.

* * * *

Bridget followed the three vehicles in a gray Land Cruiser. She was two kilometers behind their vehicles; there was no need to get any closer and risk discovery. The other two cars were following her a few kilometers behind. Bridget called Matt on the radio and suggested they switch positions to ensure none of the terrorists could possibly identify one type of car trailing them. Matt agreed. Bridget pulled over to wait for the next vehicle to take up the point position at the same exact moment Basam had pulled over and waited to see if anyone was following them.

Consequently, Matt’s team had successfully followed the terrorists from their last location and now observed the action at al-Hanbali’s new hideout. It was apparent that they intended to remain there for the night. He used his binos behind some desert shrubs to view the activity a half-mile distant. He could see his mission becoming more complicated by the minute as he realized the predicament he faced. He had to get the weapons but didn’t have the firepower to take them by force.

He turned to Bridget and said. “Looks like they’ll bivouac there for the night. We’ll watch and see what happens. I’ll have to inform center.”

“What do you think we can do? Do you have a plan?”

“Well, all we have to do is to wrestle the weapons from a superior force, preferably with no terrorist left to tell the tale, and get away without any of us getting hurt. I think that about sums it up,” he said with a little laugh. Matt knew his assets were stretched far too thin for that. The terrorists outnumbered them and he did not want to see his team decimated like what happened to Faisal’s group.

“From what I can see there is no way of determining the type of weapons they might have to use against an attack on their position. They are on the side of a hill with no easy approach routes for us to get into a safe assault posture,” Bridget said.

“Right. I think we must wait for them to be in separate locations, at least to where they couldn’t mutually support one another. At present, they don’t seem to be overly concerned about security; there’s only one guard. We couldn’t expect them to all be sleeping, especially after our first attempt on them, and then Faisal’s attack.” He could see only the single sentry walking around the house. As he watched, he started to revise his plan to get the weapons. There was no time to request that another team be assembled and flown in to assist. Even if there was, the amount of coordination would be awesome and a screw-up almost certain.

Matt realized it was time to check in with the center to see if there was anything new from their end and to give them an update on his situation and position. He speed dialed in the number for the center. It was late morning in Washington.

“Hello, Matt, what’s the latest?” Glenwood McDonald said.

“We have them in a small compound at these coordinates.” Matt gave the geographic coordinates from his GPS locator. “So that gives you everything I know. I think it would be stupid to try to attack the house with the force I have, especially after witnessing the destruction they heaped on the last group that tried to attack them. I’ll observe them until daylight. If no movement on their part by then, I’ll need another team to help me. If they don’t move at dawn, I would think they’re not going to move tomorrow and we’ll have a chance to get more firepower here to assault them.”

“Don’t make any moves. I’ll get the word from the general’s office on what she wants you to do next,” McDonald said.

“Wait a minute. If they start to move or do anything, I’m going to go after them, or at least keep them in sight,” Matt said.

“I’m telling you not to make any more moves. Out.” He hung up the phone and headed for the general’s office. After giving Mary Jean the latest situation report from Matt, he decided to give it his best shot on what to do next. “I could get a team ready to leave within two hours, arriving there by tomorrow morning. Our combined strength, plus the weapons I can take would give us the numerical and firepower advantage to take on the hilltop position Matt described.”

“It would take too long to get all that in place.”

“Actually, General, I have already notified a few members of the old team I served on to be ready to go on a moment’s notice. Six in all. I only did it informally with phone calls—nothing in writing. I have a tap on the air assets we would need and the air force liaison is willing to help. I only did it as a possible contingent plan.”

Mary Jean remembered the directive to get it done fast. Her career was on the line on this one and she had to have the mission succeed, not only for her sake but also for her country. She looked at McDonald. He appeared to have covered all the bases to support the team in Saudi. Besides, she didn’t want to go to other agencies for help on this matter. Too many questions would have to be answered. They would lambaste her for not informing them earlier and accuse her of grandstanding.

She gave a slight affirmative nod. “Go.” And reclined back into her brown leather chair. Now it was time to wait, pray, monitor the situation, and aid in any way possible.

Lieutenant Commander McDonald rejoiced at his command of a team going into combat. He would be in command over Higgins and finally he would avenge Tara.