by Tom Clancy
“Your English is excellent.”
“Thank you, Peter. I am George.”
“Hi, George.” Henderson smiled without looking at his new friend. It really was like James Bond, and doing it here—not just in London, but in the historical seat of Britain’s royal family—well, that was just delicious.
George was his real name—actually Georgiy, which was the Russian equivalent—and he rarely went into the field anymore. Though he’d been a highly effective field officer for KGB, his analytical ability was such that he’d been called back to Moscow five years earlier, promoted to lieutenant colonel and placed in charge of a whole section. Now a full colonel, George looked forward to general’s stars. The reason he’d come to London, via Helsinki and Brussels, was that he’d wanted to eyeball CASSIUS himself—and get a little shopping done for his own family. Only three men of his age in KGB shared his rank, and his young and pretty wife liked to wear Western clothes. Where else to shop for them but London? George didn’t speak French or Italian.
“This is the only time we will meet, Peter.”
“Should I be honored?”
“If you wish.” George was unusually good-natured for a Russian, though that was part of his cover. He smiled at the American. “Your senator has access to many things.”
“Yes, he does,” Henderson agreed, enjoying the courtship ritual. He didn’t have to add, and so do I.
“Such information is useful to us. Your government, especially with your new president—honestly, he frightens us.”
“He frightens me,” Henderson admitted.
“But at the same time there is hope,” George went on, speaking in a reasonable and judicious voice. “He is also a realist. His proposal for détente is seen by my government as a sign that we can reach a broad international understanding. Because of that we wish to examine the possibility that his proposal for discussions is genuine. Unfortunately we have problems of our own.”
“Such as?”
“Your president, perhaps he means well. I say that sincerely, Peter,” George added. “But he is highly . . . competitive. If he knows too much about us, he will press us too hard in some areas, and that might prevent us from reaching the accommodation that we all desire. You have adverse political elements in your government. So do we—leftovers from the Stalin era. The key to negotiations such as those which may soon begin is that both sides must be reasonable. We need your help to control the unreasonable elements on our side.”
Henderson was surprised by that. The Russians could be so open, like Americans. “How can I do that?”
“Some things we cannot allow to be leaked. If they are, it will poison our chances for detente. If we know too much about you, or you know too much about us, well, the game becomes skewed. One side or the other seeks too much advantage, and then there can be no understanding, only domination, which neither side will accept. Do you see?”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
“What I am asking, Peter, is that you let us know from time to time certain special things that you have learned about us. I won’t even tell you what, exactly. I think you are intelligent enough to see for yourself. We will trust you on that. The time for war is behind us. The coming peace, if it does come, will depend on people like you and me. There must be trust between our nations. That trust begins between two people. There is no other way. I wish there were, but that is how peace must begin.”
“Peace—that would be nice,” Henderson allowed. “First we have to get our damned war ended.”
“We are working towards that end, as you know. We‘re—well, not pressuring, but we are encouraging our friends to take a more moderate line. Enough young men have died. It is time to put an end to it, an end that both sides will find acceptable.”
“That’s good to hear, George.”
“So can you help us?”
They’d walked all around Tower Green, now facing the chapel. There was a chopping block there. Henderson didn’t know if it had actually been used or not. Around it was a low chain fence, and standing on it at the moment was a raven, one of those kept on Tower grounds for the mixed reasons of tradition and superstition. Off to their right a Yeoman Warder was conducting a bunch of tourists around.
“I’ve been helping you, George.” Which was true. Henderson had been nibbling at the hook for nearly two years. What the KGB colonel had to do now was to sweeten the bait, then see if Henderson would swallow the hook down.
“Yes, Peter, I know that, but now we are asking for a little more, some very sensitive information. The decision is yours, my friend. It is easy to wage war. Waging peace can be far more dangerous. No one will ever know the part you played. The important people of ministerial rank will reach their agreements and shake hands across the table. Cameras will record the events for history, and people like you and me, our names will never find their way into the history books. But it will matter, my friend. People like us will set the stage for the ministers. I cannot force you in this, Peter. You must decide if you wish to help us on your own account. You will also decide what it is that we need to know. You’re a bright young man, and your generation in America has learned the lessons that must be learned. If you wish, I will let you decide over time—”
Henderson turned, making his decision. “No. You’re right. Somebody has to help make the peace, and dithering around won’t change that. I’ll help you, George.”
“There is danger involved. You know that,” George warned. It was a struggle not to react, but now that Henderson was indeed swallowing the hook, he had to set it firmly.
“I’ll take my chances. It’s worth it.”
Ahhh.
“People like you need to be protected. You will be contacted when you get home.” George paused. “Peter, I am a father. I have a daughter who is six and a son who is two. Because of your work, and mine, they will grow up in a much better world—a peaceful world. For them, Peter, I thank you. I must go now.”
“See you, George,” Henderson said. It caused George to turn and smile one last time.
“No, Peter, you will not.” George walked down the stone steps towards Traitor’s Gate. It required all of his considerable self-control not to laugh aloud at the mixture of what he had just accomplished and the thundering irony of the portcullised stone arch before his eyes. Five minutes later he stepped into a black London taxi and directed the driver to head towards Harrods Department Store in Knightsbridge.
Cassius, he thought. No, that wasn’t right. Casca, perhaps. But it was too late to change it now, and besides, who would have seen the humor in it? Glazov reached in his pocket for his shopping list.
25
Departures
One demonstration, however perfect, wasn’t enough, of course. For each of the next four nights, they did it all again, and twice more in daylight, just so that positioning was clear to everyone. The snatch team would be racing into the prison block only ten feet away from the stream of fire from an M-60 machine gun—the physical layout of the camp demanded it, much to everyone’s discomfort—and that was the most dangerous technical issue of the actual assault. But by the end of the week, the BOXWOOD GREEN team was as perfectly trained as men could be. They knew it, and the flag officers knew it. Training didn’t exactly slack off, but it did stabilize, lest the men become overtrained and dulled by the routine. What followed was the final phase of the preparation. While training, men would stop the action and make small suggestions to one another. Good ideas were bumped immediately to a senior NCO or to Captain Albie and more often than not incorporated in the plan. This was the intellectual part of it, and it was important that every member of the team felt as though he had a chance to affect things to some greater or lesser degree. From that came confidence, not the bravado so often associated with elite troops, but the deeper and far more significant professional judgment that considered and adjusted and readjusted until things were just right—and then stopped.
Remarkably, their off-duty hours were more
relaxed now. They knew about the mission, and the high-spirited horseplay common to young men was muted. They watched TV in the open bay, read books or magazines, waiting for the word in the knowledge that halfway across the world other men were waiting, too, and in the quiet of twenty-five individual human minds, questions were being asked. Would things go right or wrong? If the former, what elation would they feel? If the latter—well, they all had long since decided that win or lose, this wasn’t the sort of thing you walked away from. There were husbands to be restored to their wives, fathers to their children, men to their country. Each knew that if death was to be risked, then this was the time and the purpose for it.
At Sergeant Irvin’s behest, chaplains came to the group. Consciences were cleared. A few wills were drafted-just in case, the embarrassed Marines told the visiting officers—and all the while the Marines focused more and more on the mission, their minds casting aside extraneous concerns and concentrating on something identified only by a code name selected at random from separate lists of words. Every man walked over to the training site, checking placement and angles, usually with his most immediate teammate, practicing their run-in approach or the paths they’d take once the shooting started. Every one began his own personal exercise regime, running a mile or two on his own in addition to the regular morning and afternoon efforts, both to work off tension and to be just a little bit more certain that he’d be ready for it. A trained observer could see it from their look: serious but not tense, focused but not obsessive, confident but not cocky. Other Marines at Quantico kept their distance when they saw the team, wondering why the special place and the odd schedule, why the Cobras on the flight line, why the Navy rescue pilots in the Q, but one look at the team in the piney woods was all the warning they needed to mute the questions and keep their distance. Something special was happening.
“Thanks, Roger,” Bob Ritter said in the sanctity of his office in Langley. He switched buttons on his phone and dialed another in-house number. “James? Bob. It’s a go. Start pushing buttons.”
“Thank you, James.” Dutch Maxwell turned in his swivel chair and looked at the side panel affixed to his wall, blue aluminum from his F6F Hellcat fighter, with its even rows of red-and-white painted flags, each denoting a victim of his skill. It was his personal touchstone to his profession. “Yeoman Grafton,” he called.
“Yes, sir?” a petty officer appeared in his doorway.
“Make signal to Admiral Podulski on Constellation: ‘Olive Green.’ ”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“Have my car come around, then call Anacostia. I need a helo in about fifteen minutes.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
Vice Admiral Winslow Holland Maxwell, USN, rose from his desk and headed out the side door into the E-Ring corridor. His first stop was at the office in the Air Force’s section of the building.
“Gary, we’re going to need that transport we talked about.”
“You got it, Dutch,” the General replied, asking no questions.
“Let my office know the details. I’m heading out now, but I’ll be calling in every hour.”
“Yes, sir.”
Maxwell’s car was waiting at the River entrance, a master chief aviation bosun’s mate at the wheel. “Where to, sir?”
“Anacostia, Master Chief, the helo pad.”
“Aye.” The senior chief dropped the car into gear and headed for the river. He didn’t know what it was all about, but he knew it was about something. The Old Man had a spring in his step like the chief’s daughter heading out for a date.
Kelly was working on his woodcraft, again, as he’d been doing for several weeks. He’d picked his weapons load-out in the fervent hope that he would not need to fire a single shot. The primary weapon was a CAR-IS carbine version of the M-16 assault rifle. A silenced 9mm automatic went into a shoulder holster, but his real weapon was a radio, and he would be carrying two of those, just to be sure, plus food and water and a map—and extra batteries. It came out to a twenty-three-pound load, not counting his special gear for the insertion. The weight wasn’t excessive, and he found that he could move through the trees and over the hills without noticing it. Kelly moved quickly for a man of his size, and silently. The latter was a matter of where he walked more than anything else, where he placed his feet, how he twisted and turned to pass between trees and bushes, watching both his path and the area around him with equal urgency.
Overtraining, he told himself. You should take it easier now. He stood erect and headed down the hill, surrendering to his instincts. He found the Marines training in small groups, miming the use of their weapons while Captain Albie consulted with the four helicopter crews. Kelly was just approaching the site’s LZ when a blue Navy helo landed and Admiral Maxwell emerged. Kelly, by chance, was the first one there. He knew the purpose and the message of the visit before anyone had a chance to speak.
“We’re going?”
“Tonight,” Maxwell confirmed with a nod.
Despite the expectation and enthusiasm, Kelly felt the usual chill. It wasn’t practice anymore. His life was on the line again. The lives of others would depend on him. He would have to get the job done. Well, he told himself, I know how to do that. Kelly waited by the chopper while Maxwell went over to Captain Albie. General Young’s staff car pulled up so that he could deliver the news as well. Salutes were exchanged as Kelly watched. Albie got the word, and his back went a little straighter. The Recon Marines gathered around, and their reaction was surprisingly sober and matter-of-fact. Looks were exchanged, rather dubious ones, but they soon changed to simple, determined nods. The mission was GO. The message delivered, Maxwell came back to the helicopter.
“I guess you want that quick liberty.”
“You said you’d do it, sir.”
The Admiral clapped the younger man on the shoulder and pointed to the helo. Inside, they put on headsets while the flight crew spooled up the engine.
“How soon, sir?”
“You be back here by midnight.” The pilot looked back at them from the right seat. Maxwell motioned for him to stay on the ground.
“Aye aye, sir.” Kelly removed the headset and jumped out of the helicopter, going to join General Young.
“Dutch told me,” Young said, the disapproval clear in his voice. You just didn’t do things this way. “What do you need?”
“Back to the boat to change, then run me up to Baltimore, okay? I’ll drive back myself.”
“Look, Clark—”
“General, I helped plan this mission. I’m first in and I’m last out.” Young wanted to swear but didn’t. Instead he pointed to his driver, then to Kelly.
Fifteen minutes later, Kelly was in another life. Since leaving Springer tied up at the guest slip, the world had stopped, and he’d moved backwards in time. Now he was in forward motion for a brief period. A quick look determined that the dockmaster was keeping an eye on things. He raced through a shower and changed into civilian clothes, heading back to the General’s staff car.
“Baltimore, Corporal. Matter of fact, I’ll make it easy on you. Just drop me off at the airport. I’ll catch a cab the rest of the way.”
“You got it, sir,” the driver told a man already fading into sleep.
“So what’s the story, Mr. MacKenzie?” Hicks asked.
“They approved it,” the special assistant replied, signing a few papers and initialing a few others for various official archives where future historians would record his name as a minor player in the great events of his time.
“Can you say what?”
What the hell, MacKenzie thought. Hicks had a clearance, and it was a chance to display something of his importance to the lad. In two minutes he covered the high points of BOXWOOD GREEN.
“Sir, that’s an invasion,” Hicks pointed out as evenly as he could manage, despite the chill on his skin and the sudden knot in his stomach.
“I suppose they might think so, but I don’t. They’ve invaded three sovereign coun
tries, as I recall.”
More urgently: “But the peace talks—you said yourself.”
“Oh, screw the peace talks! Damn it, Wally, we have people over there, and what they know is vital to our national security. Besides”—he smiled—“I helped sell it to Henry.” And if this one comes off. . .
“But—”
MacKenzie looked up. Didn’t this kid get it? “But what, Wally?”
“It’s dangerous.”
“War is that way, in case nobody ever told you.”
“Sir, I’m supposed to be able to talk here, right?” Hicks asked pointedly.
“Of course you are, Wally. So talk.”
“The peace talks are at a delicate stage now—”
“Peace talks are always delicate, aren’t they? Go on,” MacKenzie ordered, rather enjoying his pedagogic discourse. Maybe this kid would learn something for a change.
“Sir, we’ve lost too many people already. We’ve killed a million of them. And for what? What have we gained? What has anybody gained?” His voice was almost a plea.
That wasn’t exactly new, and MacKenzie was tired of responding to it. “If you’re asking me to defend how we got stuck with this mess, Wally, you’re wasting your time. It’s been a mess since the beginning, but that wasn’t the work of this Administration, was it? We got elected with the mandate to get us the hell out of there.”
“Yes, sir,” Hicks agreed, as he had to. “That’s exactly my point. Doing this might harm our chances to bring it to an end. I think it’s a mistake, sir.”
“Okay.” MacKenzie relaxed, giving a tolerant eye to his aide. “That point of view may-I’ll be generous, does have merit. What about the people, Wally?”
“They took their chances. They lost,” Hicks answered with the coldness of youth.
“You know, that sort of detachment may have its use, but one difference between us is that I’ve been there and you haven’t. You’ve never been in uniform, Wally. That’s a shame. You might have learned something from it.”