Secret of the Oil: Prequel to the Donavan Chronicles

by Tom Haase

  “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.

  CHAPTER 32

  AL-HANBALI’S FINAL INSTRUCTIONS

  OUTSIDE RAS TANURA

  29 OCTOBER – 6:35 A.M.

  Dawn broke over the eastern horizon at 6:36 a.m. The barren desert reflected the light into al-Hanbali’s eyes as if it were a mirror. No obstructions, no trees, not even a decent sized shrub to block the intensity of the light coming in. He awoke to the most important day in his life. After all the preparations, all the planning, and all the deaths and treachery, and even the satanic attack by the Americans, he prevailed over all. Now he held a position to complete his mission in just a few short hours. He would show Fatimah and the world that Tewfik al-Hanbali could do this. This mission remained the will of Allah.

  As he gazed out over the sandy landscape, he reveled in the thought that this was his country, he loved it, and he hated the Americans for their invasion. Today he would strike a blow against them from which no recovery would be possible.

  Time to start.

  “Everyone up. Let’s get going. I want to leave here in ten minutes. Check your cars and ensure they are ready.” Tewfik turned and signaled for Basam and Yuri to join him. Then he led them outside.

  “This is our day. We’ll set off the atomic weapons. We can do it. I want you, Basam, to take Yuri with you from now on. He is the one who will have to go to either location if there are any last minute difficulties. Don’t follow me when I turn off into the desert; the others are going to get their orders in just a minute. I’ll go to place the bomb into the shaft of the oil well. Any questions?”

  “I am ready to do as you ask, but I would rather be the one to take the other weapon into Ras Tanura,” Basam said.

  “I know, my brother, but this job I have given you is the one I need you to do.” He turned to the Russian and said, “Yuri, we’re near the end of your time with us. Before we left my house I kept my word and I transferred the remaining money into your account. I know you do it for the money, where we do it for honor. But realize that when this is over you may become the most wanted man in the world.”

  “Maybe, but I’ll have enough money to hide for a long time, or at least till the next time you need me. Good luck today,” Yuri said.

  Al-Hanbali could see the fear and trepidation Yuri once had in Moscow had vaporized. He was enjoying this. The monetary gain that Tewfik had put into Yuri’s account had trumped all the other concerns the Russian had ever shown.

  As they reentered the room where the others waited, al-Hanbali raised his hands and thanked Allah for the men here and the chance to do the will of Allah today. They held morning prayers. Then, as leader, he recapped the entire operation and issued his final orders.

  “I want Ibrahim to be in the vehicle with me.” This man had worked in the oil fields for years as an engineer. Two weeks ago he had gone to the site he selected and prepared the oil rig’s cavity to accept the package that contained the weapon for the subterranean detonation. The atomic bomb could be slid down the shaft to a depth of three hundred feet on the cables he had pre-rigged for the purpose.

  “You four will the take the first car and go into the center of the city. At exactly 11:50, you will enter the Najib building.” Al-Hanbali reached into a small briefcase he carried and produced a map showing the location of the building. “I have called ahead to the old partner of my father, a Mr. Yasir, in the trading business, and told him you would be delivering a personal gift from me to him. You will go directly to the elevators; there is no security checkpoint as it is an office building. Go to the top floor. When you arrive at that floor, the doors will open into his office. There is a security guard there. You will now be at the top of the tallest building in the city,” al-Hanbali looked at Yuri who nodded in approval.

  Yuri had stressed that the higher the bomb when it detonated the larger the area of coverage.

  “As soon as you get into his office area, you will kill anyone who opposes you. I’ll call you at exactly twelve. You will hear the
phone ring in the container you take with you. Do not attempt to answer the phone; it is my signal for you to clear out of there. You will have thirty minutes from when that phone rings to be out of the city. Meet back here after dark. Any questions?”

  They asked him what would happen after thirty minutes. Al-Hanbali told them the entire building would be destroyed. That was all they needed to know. He knew there was no way for them to escape after the assault on the office and then to get to a safe distance before he intended to detonate the bomb.

  When al-Hanbali looked at Yuri, the man turned sideways and looked at the ground. Yuri surely knew that al-Hanbali had not told the truth. When that phone call was made, there would be less than ten seconds until a fifty-kiloton atomic weapon exploded and killed everyone within ten miles, wiping out the oil port and all the facilities at the same area.

  The thought of the destruction and the mayhem to follow pleased Tewfik. The immensity of the destruction and the death toll did not concern him in the least. He did not care that many followers of Islam would die: the ones in Ras Tanura were in league with, and profiting from, their association with the evil of the West. The great number of unbelievers in the area was of no concern at all. This was going to work and there was no one who could stop him. The attempts on his mission by some American special operations team, the betrayal of Faisal and his attack on his house, and the possible listening to his phone calls by a hostile intelligence agency, nothing could stop him. This was to be his day.

  I’ll succeed. I have outsmarted all of my enemies. Now it is time to go.

  CHAPTER 33

  STRIKE TEAM ONE

  OUTSIDE AL-HANBALI’S LOCATION

  6:42 AM – 29 OCTOBER

  Matt observed the house in the dawn light. He shivered as the sun broke over the horizon, not yet able to shake off the chill. It would be another hour before the temperature warmed enough to make it comfortable and then in a few more hours it would be unbearably hot.

  At three this morning his phone had rung. The Center operations officer informed him a team headed by McDonald would arrive in a few hours. He took it as a slap in the face. Why was he coming? If the general had decided to reinforce the team, all she had to do was send in a few more soldiers to augment his strength. Why McDonald? The man must have convinced her that Matt was screwing up the job. It had to be. Could McDonald have been the one to cause the delay in getting out of Turkey and squashed their chances for getting the mission accomplished on the first day? On arrival, McDonald would take over the entire mission as the senior officer on the scene; that must have been his goal from the start. Some things were starting to crystallize in Matt’s head. The second or bravo team wouldn’t arrive before nine according to the latest estimate by the Center and many things could happen before that time.

  Things immediately started to change as he observed the house; the targets went to their cars. Matt watched their preparations to depart through his binoculars. This would change the parameters of the orders he had received. His orders were to observe until reinforcements arrived. That presupposed al-Hanbali would remain at the present location and that McDonald would take over on his arrival. Now things were rapidly changing. He would follow his orders to keep them under observation and do whatever it took to keep them in sight—but it might not be at this location. He called the team together.

  “Listen up. We are ordered to observe the bastards until a team from D.C. arrives to reinforce us. They think we’ll have the firepower and manpower to take them on at that time. I think the guys in that house are preparing to leave right now. We’re only sixty miles from the major port of Ras Tanura, where all the oil from Saudi goes onto ships from the pipelines coming in from the oil fields. These guys have stayed out of the city during their whole operation. I think they are preparing to go into the city and set the thing off. They have been edging towards the city for the last two days. It must be the target. There is really no other place to go in this area. If they start out this morning toward the city, we will take the first opportunity to change from observing to attacking them. I don’t care what it takes, we cannot let them get to the city and detonate an atomic weapon or somehow put it on a ship to go to America.”

  He sensed the agreement from the members of his team. They had pursued these maniacs for days without achieving the objective of securing the bombs. Sure they had been close but never close enough. Now it appeared they would get their chance. He knew they all could feel that the end would have to come soon. This was the first time the terrorists showed any inclination to go into a built-up area. Logically, there could only be one reason for that–-they were ready to set off the bomb, or to hand it over to someone else.

  “We’ll follow them the same as yesterday. You three follow the green car, Bridget follows the red and I’ll follow the gray. If they split up, stay with your assigned vehicle. We stay in contact at all times,” Matt concluded.

  “Sir, what if we think they’re placing the bombs or look like they are ready to detonate it?” Lucien asked.

  “If they appear to be ready to set it off, we have no choice but to attack at that moment. Let’s be sure to concentrate your firepower if that is the case.” Matt opened a large-scale map of the area. They examined the most likely routes into the city.

  “They are starting to move,” Peter said while looking at the house on the hillside.

  “Okay, mount up and let’s follow. Keep your distance, as they don’t seem to think anyone is on to them from the minimal security I saw last night. Play it cool.” Matt grabbed his gear and headed for his vehicle.

  Once they started after the terrorists, there was no difficulty in following them on a major road. The traffic going into the city in the morning was moderately heavy. It also allowed them to travel unobserved by al-Hanbali’s men as they blended into the morning flow.

  On the outskirts of the city, the traffic became a snarling morass of jeeps, SUVs, camels and motorbikes. They approached a major intersection. One road was signed to lead into the heart of the city; the other went south toward the desert.

  The lead vehicle of Tewfik’s convoy turned into the city. “We have the lead vehicle and will follow it,” Peter said over the radio.

  The other two vehicles turned south. Bridget and Matt followed them.

  “Bridget, do you have any idea why they would split up?”

  “Negative. But the ones going into the city may be going to position the bomb and then get away before it blows. I think the ones going to the desert are likely to have the detonator. They wouldn’t have that with the bomb, I don’t think.”

  “Okay, just stay on your men and we’ll see. Peter, keep us informed of what the guys you are following are up to.”

  “Wilco,” Peter responded.

  Peter, Lucien, and Gary continued to follow their prey into the city. The terrorists seemed to be just driving around and not going anywhere in particular. After an hour of this, Peter called Matt.

  “They seem to be going in circles. They don’t appear to have a destination in mind, at least not yet. Any orders?”

  “Just keep on their tail. They may be waiting on a signal or a specified time to do something. We’re still following the other two who appear to be going out into the oil fields. Don’t know their destination either.” Matt ended the call.

  He and Bridget had to stay a good distance behind their quarry, as there were only a few cars on the road going away from the city. The route through the city and then the turnoff to go out to the desert had taken over an hour and a half. It was pushing eleven o’clock.

  Matt was now in a pursuit that was shaping up to give them an advantage. The terrorists had divided for the first time since the team parachuted into Saudi. This was his chance to take action. Eventually, the terrorists would have to act. They were not in a fortified or defensive position, and they were vulnerable out in the open. He had confidence the training the team had endured and successfully completed would allow them to handle this s
ituation without any outside help. The arrival of McDonald would signal the end of his command. Finally, he realized that McDonald was not his friend. Some things had bothered him: the delayed plane in Incirlik, the command not to do anything coming from McDonald, the impending arrival of McDonald to take over the operation. Matt smelled a rat.

  The reinforcement had likely arrived at his last position by now. He was supposed to be there. Matt considered what he was doing as more important than sitting and waiting on some more firepower. McDonald would undoubtedly call to find out what was going on and why he wasn’t at that location. After days of pursuing the terrorists, Matt was finally in a position to act. His full concentration was on following and then engaging the targets.

  The secure satellite phone rang. Matt didn’t answer it. The phone continued to ring and then stopped.

  CHAPTER 34

  ADMIRAL KIDD’S QUARTERS

  FT. MEADE, MARYLAND

  29 OCTOBER

  In his quarters on Ft. Meade, Admiral Kidd could not get to sleep. The old house, built in 1944 during WW II, was now the residence of the head of the National Security Agency. The blue flag of an admiral, with three white stars upon it, was centered behind Kidd’s private desk where he now was pacing on the blue carpet.

  It was 3:30 a.m. in Washington, 11:30 a.m. in Saudi Arabia. The problem he faced would put him in direct conflict with Avery and the SecState. He was fully aware that they would eventually want or order him to reveal all his sources and inform the government of Saudi Arabia of all the U.S. government knew about the terrorists and the operations they were conducting against them. The last thing he wanted to do was reveal to them the existence of atomic weapons on their soil.

  He picked up the phone to call Avery and ask him again to leave the situation alone until the military option was completed or no longer possible. Stopping short of letting it ring, he slammed the earpiece into the cradle. After a few more minutes of sitting behind his desk, he again picked up the phone and dialed Mary Jean.