Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Books 7-12 (307 page)

“Not yet,” the groggy voice replied. “I have asked my supplier about it.”

“Very well, but as I said, my customer is quite anxious.”

“I will see what I can do. Good-bye.” And the line went dead.

Don Selig lifted his cellular phone, dialed headquarters, and gave them the U.K. number for a quick check.

“Lights just came on,” Agent Scott said. “Looks like it woke our boy up. Heads up,” she said into her portable radio. “Subject is up and moving.”

“Got the lights, Sylvia,” another agent assured her.

Five minutes later, he emerged from the front door of the garden-style apartment building. Tracking him was not the least bit easy, but the agents had taken the trouble to locate the four closest public phones and had people close to all of them. It turned out that he picked one at a combination gas station/convenience store. The computer monitor would tell them what number he called, but through a long-lens camera he was observed to drop in a quarter. The agent on the camera saw him hit 3-6-3 in rapid succession. It was clear a few seconds later, when another tapped phone rang, and was answered by a digital answering machine.

“Mr. Sloan, this is Mr. Alahad. Your rug is in. I don’t understand why you do not call me, sir.” Click.

“Bingo!” another agent called over the radio net. “That’s it. He called Raman’s number. Mr. Sloan, we have your rug.”

Yet another voice came on. “This is O’Day. Take him down right now!”

It wasn’t really all
that
hard. Alahad went into the store to buy a quart of milk, and from there he walked directly back home. He had to use a key to enter his apartment house, and was surprised to find a man and a woman inside.

“FBI,” the man said.

“You’re under arrest, Mr. Alahad,” the woman said, producing handcuffs. No guns were in evidence, but he didn’t resist—they rarely did—and if he had, there were two more agents just outside now.

“But why?” he asked.

“Conspiracy to murder the President of the United States,” Sylvia Scott said, pushing him against the wall.

“That’s not so!”

“Mr. Alahad, you made a mistake. Joseph Sloan died last year. How do you sell a rug to a dead man?” she asked. The man jerked back as though from an electric shock, the agents saw. The clever ones always did when they found out that they had not been so clever at all. They never expected to be caught. The next trick was in exploiting the moment. That would start in a few minutes, when they told him what the penalty was for violating 18 USC § 1751.

THE INSIDE OF USNS
Bob Hope
looked like the parking garage from hell, with vehicles jammed in so closely that a rat would have had a difficult time passing between them. To board a tank, an arriving crew had to walk on the decks of the vehicles, crouching lest they smash their skulls into the overhead, and they found themselves wondering about the sanity of those who’d periodically had to check the vehicles, turning over the engines and working the guns back and forth so that rubber and plastic seals wouldn’t dry out.

Assigning crews to tracks and trucks had been an administrative task of no small proportions, but the ship was loaded in such a way as to allow the most important items off first. The Guardsmen arrived as units, with computerized printouts giving them the number and location of their assigned vehicles, and ship crewmen pointing them to the quickest way out. Less than an hour after the ship tied up, the first M1A2 main-battle tank rolled off the ramp onto the quay to board the same tank transporter used shortly before by a tank of the 11th Cav, and with the same drivers. Unloading would take more than a day, and most of another would be needed to get WOLFPACK Brigade organized.

THE DAWN PROVED to be a pretty one, Aref Raman saw with satisfaction as he pulled into West Executive Drive. It would be a clear day for his mission. The uniformed guard at the gate waved hello as the security barrier went down. Another car came in behind him, and that one went through as well. It parked two spaces from his spot, and Raman recognized the driver as that FBI guy, O’Day, who’d been so lucky at the day-care center. There was no sense in hating the man. He’d been defending his own child, after all.

“How are you doing?” the FBI inspector asked cordially.

“Just got in from Pittsburgh,” Raman replied, hefting his suitcase out of the trunk.

“What the hell were you doing up there?”

“Advance work—but that speech won’t be happening, I guess. What are you in for?” Raman was grateful for the distraction. It allowed him to get his mind into the game, as it were.

“The Director and I have something to brief the Boss about. Gotta shower first, though.”

“Shower?”

“Disinfec—oh, you haven’t been here. A White House staff member is sick with this virus thing.
Everybody
has to shower and disinfect on the way in now. Come on,” O’Day said, carrying a briefcase. Both men went through the West Entrance. Both buzzed the metal detectors, but since both were sworn federal officers, nothing was made of the fact that both were carrying side arms. The inspector pointed to the left.

“This is a treat, showing you something in the place,” he joked to Raman.

“Been in a lot lately?” The Secret Service agent saw that two offices had been converted into something. One marked MEN and the other WOMEN. Andrea Price came out of one just then, her hair wet, and, he noted as she passed him, smelling of chemicals.

“Hey, Jeff, how was the drive? Pat, how’s the hero?” she inquired.

“Hey, no big deal, Price. Just two rag-heads,” O’Day said with a grin. He opened the MEN door and went in, and set his briefcase down.

It had clearly been a rush job, Raman saw. Some minor functionary had had the office, but all the furniture was gone and the floor covered with plastic. A hanging rack was there for clothing. O’Day stripped down and headed into the canvas-enclosed shower.

“These damn chemicals at least wake you up,” the FBI inspector reported as the water started. He emerged two minutes later and started toweling off vigorously. “Your turn, Raman.”

“Great,” the Service agent griped, removing his clothing and showing some of the lingering body modesty of his parent society. O’Day didn’t look at him and didn’t look away. Didn’t do anything except dry off, until Raman was behind the canvas. The agent’s service pistol, a SigSauer, had been set atop the clothing rack. O’Day opened his briefcase first. Then he pulled Raman’s automatic, ejected the magazine, and quietly worked the action to remove the chambered round.

“How are the roads?” O’Day called.

“Clear, made great time damn, this water stinks!”

“Ain’t that the truth!” Raman kept two spare magazines for his pistol. O’Day saw. He put all three in the lid-pocket before unwrapping the four he’d prepared. One he slid into the butt of the Sig. He worked the action one more time to load a round, then replaced it with a new, full magazine, and two more for the agent’s belt holder. Finished, he hefted the gun. Weight and balance were exactly the same as before. Everything went back in place as O’Day returned to dressing. He needn’t have rushed. Raman evidently needed a shower. Maybe he was purifying himself, the inspector thought coldly.

“Here.” O’Day tossed over a towel as he put his shirt on.

“Glad I brought a change.” Raman pulled new underwear and socks from his two-suiter.

“I guess it’s a rule you have to be all spiffy when you work in with the President, eh?” The FBI agent bent down to tie his shoes. He looked up. “Morning, Director.”

“I don’t know why I bothered at home,” Murray grumped. “Got the paperwork, Pat?”

“Yes, sir. This is something to show him.”

“Damned right it is.” And Murray doffed his jacket and tie. “White House locker room,” he noted. “Morning, Raman.”

Both agents completed dressing, made sure their personal weapons were tucked in the right place, then stepped outside.

“Murray and I are going right in,” Pat told the other in the corridor. They didn’t have to wait long for Murray, and then Price showed up again, just as the FBI Director reemerged. O’Day rubbed his nose to tell her all was done. She nodded back.

“Jeff, want to take these gentlemen into the office? I have to head to the command post. The Boss is waiting.”

“Sure, Andrea. This way,” Raman said, leading O’Day. Behind them, Price waited and did not head toward the command post.

In the next level up, Raman saw TV equipment being prepared for installation in the Oval Office. Arnie van Damm buzzed out the corridor entrance, trailed by Callie Weston. President Ryan was at his desk in the usual shirtsleeves, going through a folder. CIA Director Ed Foley was in there, too.

“Enjoy the shower, Dan?” the DCI asked.

“Oh, yeah, I’m losing the rest of my hair, Ed.”

“Hi, Jeff,” the President said, looking up.

“Good morning, Mr. President,” Raman said, taking his usual place against the wall.

“Okay, Dan, what do you guys have for me?” Ryan asked.

“We’ve broken an Iranian espionage ring. We think it’s associated with the attempt on your daughter.” While Murray talked, O’Day opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder.

“The Brits turned the connection,” Foley started to say. “And the contact here is a guy named Alahad—would you believe the bastard has a business about a mile from here?”

“We have him under surveillance right now,” Murray put in. “We’re running his phone records.”

They were all looking down at the papers on the President’s desk and didn’t see Raman’s face freeze in place. His mind started racing, as though a drug had been injected into his bloodstream. If they were doing that right now ... There might still be a chance, a slim one, but if not, here was the President, the directors of FBI and CIA, and he could deliver them all to Allah, and if that weren’t sacrifice enough ... Raman unbuttoned his jacket with his left hand. He eased off the spot on the wall he was leaning against and closed his eyes for a quick prayer. Then, in a rapid, smooth movement, his right hand went to his automatic.

Raman was surprised to see the President’s eyes move and stare right at him. Well, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Ryan should know that his death was coming, and the only shame was he’d never quite understand why.

Ryan flinched as the pistol came out. The reaction was automatic, despite the briefing on what to expect, and the sign from O’Day that it was okay. He dodged anyway, wondering if he could really trust anyone, and saw that Jeff Raman’s hands tracked him and pulled back on the trigger like an automaton, no emotion in his eyes at all—

The sound made everyone jump, albeit for different reasons.

Pop.

That was all. Raman’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. The weapon was loaded. He could feel the added weight of the live rounds in it, and—

“Put it down,” O’Day said calmly, his Smith out and aimed now. An instant later, Murray had his service weapon out.

“We have Alahad in custody already,” the Director explained.

Raman had another weapon, a telescoping billy club called an Asp, but the President was fifteen feet away and ...

“I can put one right through your kneecap if you want,” O’Day said coldly.

“You fuckin’ traitor!” Andrea said, entering the room with her pistol out, too. “You fuckin’ assassin! On the
floor now!”

“Easy, Price. He’s not going anywhere,” Pat told her.

But it was Ryan who nearly lost control: “My little girl, my baby, you helped plan to murder
her?”
He started around the desk, but Foley stopped him. “No, not this time, Ed!”

“Stop!” the DCI told him. “We have him, Jack. We’ve got him.”

“One way or another, you get on the floor,” Pat said, ignoring the others and aiming at Raman’s knee. “Drop the weapon and get down.”

He was trembling now, fear, rage, all manner of emotions assaulted him, everything but the one he’d expected. He racked the Sig’s action and pulled the trigger again. It wasn’t even aimed, it was just an act of denial.

“I couldn’t use blanks. They don’t weigh the same,” O’Day explained. “They’re real rounds. I just tapped the bullets out and dumped the powder. The primer makes a cute little pop, doesn’t it?”

It was as though he’d forgotten to breathe for a minute or so. Raman’s body collapsed in on itself. He dropped the pistol to the rug with the Seal of the President on it and fell to his knees. Price came over and pushed him the rest of the way. Murray, for the first time in years, snapped the cuffs on.

“You want to hear about your rights?” the FBI Director asked.

59

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

D
IGGS HAD NOT RECEIVED proper mission orders yet and what was even more disturbing, his Operation BUFORD did not really have much of a plan yet, either. The Army trained its commanders to act swiftly and decisively, but as with doctors in hospitals, emergency situations were not as welcome as planned procedures. The general was in continuous contact with the commanders of his two Cavalry regiments, the senior Air Force commander, the one-star who’d brought the 366th over, the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, and various intelligence assets, just trying to get a feel for what the enemy was actually doing, and from that to determine what the enemy might be planning—from which he would try to formulate some sort of plan of his own aside from mere ad-hoc reaction.

The orders and rules of engagement arrived on his fax machine around 11:00 Washington time, 16:00 Zulu time, and 19:00 Lima, or local time. Here was the explanation he’d lacked. He relayed it at once to his principal subordinates, and assembled his staff to brief them. The troops, he told the assembled officers, would learn from their Commander-in-Chief. Their officers would have to be with their people when
that
word came down.

Things were busy enough. According to the satellites, the Army of God—as the intelligence people had determined the name to be—was within one hundred miles of the Kuwaiti border, approaching from the west in good order, and following the roads as expected. That made the Saudi deployment look pretty good, since three of their five brigades were covering the approaches to the oil fields.