A Touch Of War: A Military Thriller Novel

by Isaac Stormm

  “I’d like to go in now and get some rest. Think they’ll let us?” Huffman said.

  The same feeling applied to Carlson. “I’ll ask. But don’t be surprised if they say no.” A sliding door opened as they passed the swimming pool. There, in an Egyptian military uniform, stood the banker smiling, a pipe drooping from the corner of his lip.

  “Welcome, my friends.” He extended a hand grasping Carlson’s firmly. “Who is your commanding officer?”

  “That would be me.” They released hands. “Would it be all right if my men freshened up and rested easy? We don’t know when we will be called.”

  “Of course. All of them may come in.” He went to shaking the hand of each man as they passed by. Soon they were all gathered in the opulent living room already becoming stained from sand and detritus picked up at the outpost. Those that sat down pulled off their body armor and leaned back, leaving a silhouette of their bodies in outline in sweat on the plush furniture.

  Two male servants carrying bottled water on trays emerged and began passing them out. Carlson twisted the lid off his and downed a huge gulp. Deer Park brand. He loved the stuff. Not all bottled water was equal, he knew. Some you could taste the impurities or additives. This just tasted fresh from the spring, and within a few seconds he had downed it all and was wanting another. He motioned for the servant.

  “I want to show you something,” the banker said. “They’ve been replaying it.” He walked over and turned on a large 70-inch TV and he turned the volume up on the Israeli prime minister.

  “The Israelis have invaded Lebanon. Poison gas has been used.” The banker took some bottled water of his own. “A pity for all the innocents that are going to die.” He swallowed then added, “I must warn you that I’ve never been much of an Israeli fan. With the radiation cloud already into Saudi Arabia, Israel has caused more harm these last few days than all the wars ever fought in its history. I know you are allies and don’t like such comments, but I needed to say that someone. Please forgive me if it offended you.”

  “Don’t care,” Carlson responded. “I just hope you don’t feel that way about us Americans.” He waited before saying anything else and wanted to see if the man would dare.

  “No. I was trained in America. I share many American values. Especially capitalism. I apply those principles to my life, to my work. My country is in dire need of someone strong to lead them. I plan on announcing my candidacy for president in just a few weeks.”

  Carlson wondered if their visit would be used to that affect. Taking back the Embassy, a part of which he still knew little about would look magnificent on a future leader’s resume. How he invited the D-boys into his home and treated them as family. Wonderful propaganda.

  “I need to communicate with my people. Have you arranged for us to have communications from here?” Carlson asked.

  “Of course. Come with me.”

  Carlson swigged down another gulp and follow the man through a cavernous kitchen for a flight of stairs on the other side. Up they went into a posh bedroom, where turning the light on revealed a super large bed with a fur covering. Next to it, instead of a nightstand, there was a table and what look like a ham radio or something that would be found back in the U.S. in use by preppers, the doomsday scenario type.

  “This radio may be old but it is ultra-secure. I use it many times myself. No one has ever traced it to me, at least no one that I don’t want to. If you give me the frequency, I’ll connect you.”

  No way would he do that. “I’m sorry but this must be kept confidential.”

  “Very well. I’ll leave you. You can come back and join us when you’re done.”

  The guy probably had cameras watching every angle and microphones in the walls to hear what he said. He looked around at the walls, seeking the tiniest pinholes that could serve as cameras. A quick sweep found none. Lifting the lamp up next to the radio, he looked for any telltale signs of wires descending into the floor. Nothing but that which went into the electrical outlet. Satisfied as he could be, he sat down and turned on the radio and donned the headset. His fingers played with the number pad beneath the LCD screen. A series of four numbers, almost like the combination to a lock, began lining up.

  “CENTCOM, this is Starling. In place but requesting backup. Need schematics of target.”

  “Starling, all will be provided to you in the coming hours. Until that time, remain in position.”

  “Request we rest in the meantime.”

  “Of course.”

  Tel Aviv

  6:10 A.M.

  “Any clue when the declaration will come?” Grozner inquired.

  “We’re still making overtures,” Philpot said. “Maybe that’s the reason it hasn’t come yet.”

  “Wishful thinking. We’ll be at war before sunset.”

  A youthful looking man in uniform entered the room. He handed a letter to Grozner, then exited.

  Grozner unwrapped the letter. It was a weather report saying that the radiation cloud was dissipating, that it would not travel as far inside Saudi Arabia as first expected. Good news? Maybe. There were still going to be those affected such as in the UAE and along the coast. Cause for a little bit of rejoicing? Not even in private. He had an invasion to worry about.

  He had just sent ten brigades, the bulk of them armor into southern Lebanon. Their goal was to press to Beirut, reach its outskirts and wait until he gave the final word of whether to attack it or not. He didn’t like the idea of a siege but felt that politically it might be more enticing for negotiating over. That’s what he was debating before the letter. Problem was with the radiation cloud, Israel had a great big strike against it. And he knew that the strained relations with their allies, especially America, would only be pulled more taut to breaking if they did. Still, it was something to consider and well within the realm of possibility.

  They were closing in on the infamous battleground that in 2006 provided Hezbollah with a multitude of opportunities to destroy Israeli armor. That they did and caused the attack to peter out. But the Israelis really had no intention of going much further back then. Now they did and as they approached the battleground, Grozner planned on listening to the advances over the radio. If they were stopped again, the Israelis would’ve had a monkey throwing in the wrench at the worst possible time. His only recourse would be to land paratroopers behind the area. These would not just be standard paratroopers, they would be Depth Corps with Foxmann leading again, something he knew his allies in his cabinet and government were silently criticizing him for since the Saudis were so close to declaring war.

  Three blue arrows equal in length stretching just over the edge of a map of Lebanon synced to the laptops. There were no reports of overrunning any of the rocket launchers. Surprising. Not even finding some abandoned. They needed to find the stockpiles of gas so they could show the world just how much the Iranians escalated. Though with millions affected by radiation, at best the role would be considered minor in comparison.

  “What is happening here?” Grozner’s voice raised in anger. “Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong with this whole endeavor.”

  Philpot didn’t dare interrupt. He knew what he was inferring. He was breaking.

  Grozner rattled on. “Something no one foresaw has put this country’s survival in great jeopardy and I feel that I’m only adding to it. But I’ve no choice.”

  “Compared to two thousand years in exile, “Philpot said, “it’s just an inconvenience.”

  “Biblical times don’t count.” Grozner felt his brain swimming, looking for the next rational thought, but to no avail. “This may well go down as one of the great tragedies in human history. Done for the right reasons mind you, but overwhelmed by the circumstances that followed.” He clenched his fists together, rubbing his thumbs over them.

  “You still have the support of the government.” Grozner turned around. It was Houser standing in the doorway.

  “What are you doing up so early?”

&nbs
p; “Mr. Grozner, I may be your political adversary but I’m as much a patriot as you are. And believe it or not, I believe that what you’re doing so far has been right.”

  He sat down and Grozner reckoned he’d been standing in the doorway long enough to see the meltdown. He now had fodder to hurl at him in case a no confidence vote happened.

  “Have you been satisfied with being kept appraised of the operation?”

  “Oh, yes. I’ve also looked at the casualty report from the kibbutz that got gassed. It’s amazing that no one was killed. Just some hospitalization, mainly for panic.”

  “We may not get so lucky if we don’t wipe out all the launchers. I suspect their longest-range missiles are tipped with gas. Probably being kept in reserve.”

  “We must be doing something right, cause they’ve knocked off the rocket attacks for the last three hours.” Houser tapped the keyboard, zooming in on the map. “Tell me, do the Al-Fajrs have a range that they could be positioned in Beirut? I mean using buildings or houses as concealment?”

  “They did the last time. Only the cease-fire took effect before they could try it out.”

  “I’ve been thinking about our alternatives,” Houser added. “And I’m just going to tell you ahead of time that when it comes to Beirut unless they flee, there are no good options. Assault is going to be bloody and surrounding it will be bloody. The latter may raise a stink with the Knesset as being inhumane. The world will definitely not be on our side for that.”

  “I’ve counted the world out since that damn cloud appeared.”

  “I have an idea that you might want to consider.”

  Grozner took another look at the screen. The arrows had progressed very minutely forward. “Tell me.”

  “Israel can be a staging point for any aid coming into the Middle East. As always food, medicine, doctors, stuff like that we should offer it. It may not get us far, but at least it’s a gesture that no one can deny is sincere.”

  “That’s a bold assumption. I think it would blow right past the West, especially the Americans.”

  “The United States will be with us. It may be bumpy at times. But they got too much invested in it for us to fail.”

  “Don’t be too sure. They abandoned South Vietnam, didn’t they? If it’s politically expedient, they will abandon us no matter what rhetoric is being spoken.”

  “Prime Minister. I’m going to venture a guess here. I think that you know what it’s about. When this whole thing started, you had problems believing the U.S. would stay with us. Am I right?”

  “After the Iran nuke deal fiasco, I did. This particular administration I don’t necessarily think it’s anti-Semitic, but it is anti-Israel. I’ve seen it and how they want us to redraw our borders back to the 1967 ones. They just thought it up and said that’s what we should do. Follow the Muslim plan. They never asked for anything that we had to offer. It didn’t take long for me to get a sense that they don’t understand that the wolf is at the door. They’re too politically correct. And that’s what will be our downfall. They keep trying to please the wrong people, and Iran has a chain around their neck pulling it taught at this moment.”

  Safe house outside Cairo

  1 hour later

  “There’s twenty-four of us. We need at least forty before I’m comfortable with this assault,” Carlson said, taking the rolled up tube of the embassy schematics from the young captain.

  “I’ve been told that you can be assured that they will arrive later this morning.” The man seemed to be nervous in the presence of the D–boys, probably from all the lies that he’d bred over the years of their employment in hotspots around the world and their almost superhuman strength. Or maybe he was just seeing that they were nothing like that at all and they were a big disappointment. Mere men like him given extremely dangerous jobs and expected to carry them out with no concern. “I’d also like to say, sir, that the terrorists have given a deadline of three p.m. this afternoon or they will behead one of the hostages. I’m afraid I have no news on exactly how many are being held captive. I was just supposed to deliver the schematics for you to base your assault around.”

  “Very well. But if the reinforcements don’t get here within the next two or three hours, let them know we’ll have to find some other way to go in.”

  “I’ll tell them, sir.” He saluted smartly and turned on his heel and headed back for the waiting car.

  “I’m coming with you. I want to do a basic recon of that building from a distance,” Carlson said. He turned and told Huffman, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. If the reinforcements show up before I get back, all of you start studying these.” He pulled out his cell phone. “I’m gonna get pictures in case we have to go in on foot. Find us a good avenue of approach.” He turned and left Huffman at the front door and walked to enter the dark blue SUV shining bright in the day’s early sunlight.

  He didn’t bother slipping on his seatbelt. “How has the negotiations been? The TV says nothing.”

  “Contact has been made. They have not released any demands.”

  The Oval Office

  7:34 A.M.

  “Could this be ISIS taking advantage of a situation?” the president asked, looking at the newsfeed on the laptop.

  “There’s a possibility. Not likely, though.” Mitchell began thumbing through the papers on his lap. All contain information on known terrorist groups in Egypt, the photographs of a few and even thumbprints of a few more. Men who had been held in Egyptian jails and were released for one reason or another, likely due to sympathizers in the government.

  “I want to get this thing resolved as soon as possible. When do you think we can hit them?”

  “Before dark. Their time.”

  “Good. Although I might have to write something to say if this fails.” He rubbed his temples with a little scratch. “If we find out it’s Iranian backed, I’m going to have to give the order to hit them. You know that.”

  “Mr. President. I’m going to let you in our little secret. Most secretaries of defense have believed that presidents can be too cautious. I have the same feeling about you. But in a good way. You’re more pragmatic, willing to look at all the different angles. Not hell for leather into something and hope it turns out all right. We lost way too much blood and treasure these last years doing that. I have no doubt that your choice will be the right one.”

  “I wish it made me feel better. I’ve got our ambassador in a special meeting with the Saudi monarchy. He is doing everything short of crawling on his legs for them to try to get them to take back their pledge to go to war with Israel. I don’t know if he’s had any success. I haven’t heard from him in two hours. With that amount of time that’s passed, I can tell he was probably to the point of pleading.”

  Cairo

  “Well, now we’re getting somewhere,” Carlson said as he saw the MH-6 Little Birds parked together about a hundred meters from the house. “Where are the Black Hawks?” The car pulled into the driveway and took a slight curve to the front of the residence.

  “We will be using Egypt’s.”

  Carlson’s exuberance dropped like a stone. “With American pilots, I presume.”

  “No. There was simply not enough time to get them here.”

  “Not good.” Something wasn’t right. They had plenty of time to get the Black Hawks here if they were priority which they had to have been. He can only surmise that it was their politics at play. He did want to separate themselves from the perpetrators if they were linked to the Muslim brotherhood or any other faction inside the country.

  As things go, the Black Hawks he knew, were not nearly as important as the Little Birds. They just needed to transport them to near the embassy. The plan would involve a typical rescue style assault on a building where the Little Bird would deposit men on the roof. And the rest assault on the ground level. They would work their way up until they cleared every room and secured everybody. Then they would egress out the front, hopefully with all hostages.


  Carlson opened the door and saw the living room was standing room only with the rest of the men having arrived. At once, all heads turned to him like he was the star of the show. He nodded briefly then pulled out a sheet of paper that he had drawn during the hours he spent casing the embassy. “I wish this was bigger but we’ve all done this enough in practice that we don’t need a chalkboard-sized map.”

  He pulled a small table away from the end of a large sofa and placed it in the middle of the room. “This is going to be the embassy.” He looked up and saw the Egyptian enter the room. “This is private, I’m afraid.” No longer. With his hand, he summoned someone out of the kitchen. “This is General Nalini. He will provide reinforcements to this assault. He must know in the ins and outs of how it’s going to happen, if he is to help.”

  Beruit

  10:26 A.M.

  “How far have the Israeli’s pushed?” Zarin asked Itaya. The two looked over a paper map draped over a table.

  “They just entered along a broad front. Possibly about five miles maximum is their advance. Our anti-tank missiles have slowed them considerably. I have word that their infantry is bogged down as well.”

  “Very good.” He took a deep breath. “Well, my friend, now is the time. Unleash the drones.”

  “With pleasure.”

  As Itaya walked away, Zarin bent down closer to the map. Everything he had ever worked for arrived at this moment. He would prove his theory was correct that the Jews could be beaten with ingenuity and technology, or go the way of so many military commanders and national leaders in the past as a footnote in history of another attempt at defeating Israel and failing.

  He wanted to watch it happen even though he knew he couldn’t leave. He imagined himself at this moment turning one of the drones on and tossing it into the air, watching it fly south, joining up with thousands of others on their way like a great migration to inflict justice upon the hated enemy. Allah himself must be smiling right now. At last, a worthy and faithful servant that he would guide all the way to the end.