Air Battle Force pm-11

by Dale Brown

  “Good. I’ll tell her you’ll be accompanying us. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”

  “I do have one question,” Martindale said.

  “Fire away.”

  “What are your rules about disclosing conversations discussed during the trip?”

  “You mean are we going to allow you to talk to the press about what you see and hear on this trip?”

  Martindale said nothing, but Hershel knew his silence meant yes.

  “President Thorn believes in completely open and honest disclosure with all American citizens, even potential political adversaries. We may exclude you from some discussions, but if you see or hear anything, you’re free to discuss it or mention it to anyone you choose.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate the president’s position.” I would never allow the same, he thought, but if Thorn wanted to deal his cards faceup like this, all the better. “At the same time I assume that the president will make as much political hay as he can about my participation in this trip.”

  “I suppose it’s possible — to the extent that the president makes any political hay at all,” Hershel said. “But who knows? Maybe you’ll see something in this administration that appeals to you, and we can convince you to support the president’s reelection campaign?”

  “If the president wanted my help, he could have asked me.”

  “The president doesn’t often ask for help, especially from those he considers political rivals,” Hershel said. “Perhaps he was wrong in this case?”

  “It sounds as if you’re heading up Thorn’s reelection campaign, Maureen.”

  “If the president asked me to do so, I’d be honored.” Hershel smiled and nodded. “Very good. I’ll leave you to head back and get ready for the trip. A car will pick you up.” She shook hands with him. “I think this will be an educational journey for both of us.”

  He shook her hand and then, as they were heading for the door of her hotel suite, asked, “Miss Hershel, Turkmenistan is a… rather dangerous place right now. Do you think it’s wise to be going there at this time?”

  “I suppose if we go and we come back safe, folks will say it was a successful and worthwhile trip — and if we get hurt or killed, they’ll say it was a stupid move,” she replied. She shrugged. “I can’t really answer that question, Kevin. I know we have work to do out there, and I think at this stage in the game, a personal visit is warranted. I guess we can’t always go on diplomatic missions like this only when it’s safe, can we?” She shook his hand again. “It’ll be fine, Kevin. I’ll see you on the plane.” She hurried off, leaving him alone in stunned silence.

  What in hell did I just get myself into? he thought grimly.

  * * *

  “Pompous ass,” Maureen Hershel said to Isadora Meiling as she returned to her makeshift office in an adjacent room. “Still, I have to give the bastard credit. He agreed to go on the trip, even though he knows how dangerous it is.”

  “I’m wondering if you fully understand how dangerous it is, ma’am,” Meiling said. She held up a red-covered folder marked classified. “Latest intelligence reports state that Russian transports are arriving in the capital, offloading a lot of Russian officers and communications equipment. CIA speculates the Russians are putting together a wartime command infrastructure. And there’s something about Iranian troops moving toward the borders, maybe preparing for some kind of military action.”

  “Izzy, I let myself get sucked into this. It’s too late to back down now,” Hershel said.

  “You most certainly do have options — starting with canceling this trip. Deep down inside, Martindale will be breathing a sigh of relief if you cancel. Then he won’t be putting his tight ass on the line.”

  “But then he’ll be publicly slamming me for backing down in the face of the war threat and not doing enough to stabilize the situation,” Hershel said. “I have to go.”

  “Please bring along some security,” Meiling said. “At least a couple platoons of Marines, in addition to the security staff at the embassy. We’ll request the reinforcements right away.”

  Hershel thought for a moment, then smiled. “No. I’ve got a better idea. Get General McLanahan at Battle Mountain Air Reserve Base on the line for me. Tell him I need some security support right away.”

  “Battle Mountain is an Air Reserve base. They don’t have troops stationed there. You mean Quantico or Cherry Point—”

  “No. McLanahan has the forces I want,” Hershel said. “And he won’t need another logistics flight to move them, either. He’ll have them ready and waiting for us in Washington by the time we get back, you’ll see. We’ll need diplomatic credentials for them. Make sure they have those ready for us.”

  “That’ll take time. Turkmenistan doesn’t process those kinds of requests quickly — no one in Central Asia does.”

  “But I predict Mr. Martindale won’t have any difficulty getting a visa,” Hershel mused. “Credential McLanahan’s people as embassy security personnel.”

  “That’ll use up our only allotted short-notice personnel-changeover slot for this year.” To help prevent introducing spies into their countries and to help the nation’s internal security apparatus to track foreigners, Turkmenistan, like many other countries, allowed embassy security personnel to change only once per year if there was less than thirty days’ notice.

  “That can’t be helped,” Hershel said. “I don’t think Turkmenistan will be a very friendly place in the near future anyway. We might end up pulling everyone out soon. And if we can ultimately help that country, they’ll agree to give us all the personnel we want.”

  “You’re going to take a supplemental security force to Turkmenistan on board your own plane? That’s impossible. An embassy-reinforcement team usually deploys in a separate C-141 or C-17….”

  “They’ll come in our plane,” Hershel said with a smile, “and they’ll look like the rest of us — until they get inside the embassy. Get Patrick — I mean General McLanahan — on the line for me right now.”

  “ ‘Patrick,’ huh?” Izzy Meiling asked with a mischievous smile as she used a secure telephone to dial the communications center at the federal building in San Francisco. “Someone out there in Nevada made an impression on you, I see.”

  “He’s definitely off-limits until I can find out what’s happened to him over the past few months — something very tragic and horrible,” Maureen said. “The guy might have scar tissue in place of his heart, and that’s the last thing I need in my life.”

  “But you care enough to find out?”

  “I want him to tell me what’s happened, not some Pentagon intelligence wonk,” Maureen said. “But… yes, I think he’s worth pursuing. Anyone who can stand up to the president of the United States when he’s on the warpath has got some nerves of steel.”

  “Not to mention a big pair of you-know-whats,” Izzy said.

  “Get him on the phone and wipe that smirk off your face, sister, or I’ll sic Kevin Martindale on you again.”

  “Hey, I can put up with a lot of nonsense for the kind of money that guy has,” Meiling said. “A whole lot.”

  Five

  CENTRAL TURKMENISTAN

  That same time

  For the thousandth time in just the past few days, Jalaluddin Turabi asked himself why he was there, why he chose to march with Zarazi’s army into the heart of this godforsaken country. Why in hell was he standing on this armored personnel carrier, protected only by several thousand acres of cotton — while what appeared to be the entire Turkmen army was marching toward them? Wakil Mohammad Zarazi’s campaign to capture the western half of Turkmenistan and turn it into a training ground for Muslim holy warriors did indeed seem to be blessed. Except now the blessings of Allah were going to be severely put to the test.

  Up to that morning their campaign seemed to be not only blessed but plainly miraculous. They captured Gaurdak with barely a shot fired. After their victory at Kerki, the Turkmen soldiers at Gaurdak fairly rushed into their
arms. Their army nearly doubled in size overnight. They had over six thousand fighters plus dozens of attack and scout helicopters, weapons of all kinds, from pistols to self-propelled artillery pieces, and vehicles ranging from motorcycles to main battle tanks.

  Turabi was simply caught up in the emotion of their victories. When the army started marching westward along the Amu Darya River, he couldn’t help but come along. His original idea was to remain behind at Gaurdak, in charge of the “rear guard,” and then prepare to bug out at the first sign of a Turkmen army counterattack. However, they had captured the hearts and souls of not just the Turkmen army, but the people there as well — there was clearly no need for a rear guard. Zarazi’s army started moving westward, and Turabi could do nothing but march as well.

  When Zarazi’s brigade was one day’s march away from Chärjew, the largest city on the Amu Darya River and a major nexus for oil and gas transshipments across Central Asia, an armored personnel carrier, its fifty-seven-millimeter cannon removed and a white flag flying in its place on the turret, came out onto the main highway to meet them. A young man wearing a leather jacket, a bump helmet over a pair of headphones, and knee-high tanker boots was standing in the APC’s cupola. Zarazi, Turabi, and Orazov — the Russian-speaking Turkmen traitor was now seemingly inseparable from Zarazi — rode out in their own APC, with the cannon installed, to meet him.

  “I am Captain Rizov,” the young Russian officer said. Orazov translated the Russian for Zarazi. “I am aide-de-camp for the commander of the Turkmen Seventeenth Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Colonel Yuri Borokov.”

  “Why couldn’t the colonel come out here himself?”

  “Colonel Borokov does not negotiate with terrorists,” Rizov said. He was remarkably calm, Turabi noticed — the confidence and fearlessness of youth, no doubt. Rizov had probably never been in battle and thought he was invincible sitting in that little APC. “He is busy planning his operation to grind your little band of raiders into the sand. I offered to negotiate on behalf of the colonel and the people of Chärjew.”

  “Then your colonel is a coward for sending a junior officer to do his dirty work for him,” Zarazi said. “You have shown great courage by coming out here alone and unarmed. I admire that. You do not deserve to die. You may withdraw; I guarantee your safety.”

  “Thank you for the compliment, sir, but I don’t need your guarantees. What I need is your cooperation to avoid any violence,” Rizov said. “If you move your forces any farther west, Colonel Borokov will attack without warning. That is my guarantee.”

  “I could use a young, courageous fighter like you in my force, Captain,” Zarazi said. “You could command one of my tank companies.”

  “Then I’d be commanding a company of corpses,” Rizov said. “You cannot hope to win an assault against Turkmen regulars. The Seventeenth has a total fighting force of eight thousand soldiers in seven combat battalions—”

  “My intelligence says the Seventeenth has a total of thirteen thousand soldiers in eleven combat and three support battalions, Captain,” Zarazi interrupted. “Elements of the Twenty-second Infantry Brigade from Mary joined up with you yesterday, along with three reserve battalions — old men and youngsters, hardly real fighting men, but still a fairly successful call-up of reserve forces for a country with virtually no army at all. In addition, the Fourth Attack Wing from Ashkhabad, with one squadron each of MiG-23 and Sukhoi-25 bombers, has reportedly been deployed to Mary and should be ready to begin close air-support operations by tomorrow. I am told you moved an artillery company to Khodzhayli, but even my most conservative intelligence estimates cannot tell me if the unit is ready to fight or even if the batteries are real or just fakes. I congratulate you for trying to disguise your numbers, but I am very well informed of Turkmen troop movements. Is there anything I’ve left out, Captain?”

  Rizov fell silent for a moment. Zarazi had indeed left a few things out, but Rizov was amazed at what the Taliban fighter did know. “What is it you wish in Chärjew, sir?”

  “If you join my army, Captain, you will learn everything,” Zarazi said. “Because of your courage, you may still withdraw with safety if you refuse to join me. But I warn you: If you do not join my army, you will be killed the next time we meet.”

  “Sir, I did not come here to listen to threats,” Rizov said. “I agreed to come out here like this to learn what you want. We know that TransCal company officials are prepared to offer you large sums of money to keep their pipelines safe. I understand their concern. They make more money if the lines are undamaged and their product is flowing. Frankly, I believe that the Turkmen government thinks similarly. If you agree not to harm the lines and withdraw, the Turkmen government will see to it that you are paid, promptly and generously.”

  “So your commander will pay me not to fight? What kind of soldier is he, Captain?”

  “A practical one, sir,” Rizov said. “If it is money you are after in Turkmenistan, then we offer it to you. I am carrying a sizable amount with me right now. Withdraw your forces immediately, and by the time you reach the Afghan border, I will deliver it to you.”

  “How much are you carrying?” Jalaluddin Turabi shouted.

  “Quiet, you idiot, or I will have you shot,” Zarazi growled, speaking out of a corner of his mouth and not turning toward Turabi so as to not indicate that there was any discord in their ranks.

  “We are here to gather funds for our tribe and for the Al Qaeda cells that we support,” Turabi said in a low voice. “If he is offering money, we should take it.”

  “I said shut up, Colonel. Now,” Zarazi ordered.

  “I am authorized to pay you one hundred thousand dollars in gold bullion if you agree not to move any farther west,” Rizov said. He still had his tanker’s helmet on, but Turabi could tell by his expression and by his tone of voice that he had indeed heard Zarazi’s angry comment and was pleased that they were arguing. “A helicopter from Ashkhabad will deliver another two hundred thousand dollars in gold to the town of Mukry, on the Afghan border south of Gaurdak. You may even have the helicopter to transport the gold out.”

  “One hundred thousand dollars just to hold our position?” Turabi exclaimed to Zarazi. “Offer to do it for five hundred thousand, Wakil, and it’s a deal.”

  “I said be quiet,” Zarazi snapped.

  “We’ll take two hundred thousand now, and three hundred thousand when we reach Mukry!” Turabi shouted to the Russian. “All in gold bullion. If we see anyone but you, the deal is off and we will lay siege to Chärjew.”

  “I warned you, Turabi…!”

  “Done!” Rizov shouted back. “I have fifteen kilos of gold bullion on board right here. Stand by, and I will unload it.” Rizov motioned to someone inside the armored personnel carrier, and soon a young soldier carried what looked like a steel footlocker out of the APC and started walking toward Zarazi’s vehicle.

  Orazov was visibly shaking in excitement. “General, let me go get the money,” he said. “When I bring it back, let’s kill that bastard and take his APC.” He leaped off the APC and headed for the steel case.

  “Stay where you are, Orazov,” Turabi said. “Can’t you smell a trap?”

  “A trap?”

  “Do you really think the Turkmen carry fifteen kilos of gold around in military vehicles, you fucking idiot?” Turabi asked. “It’s a trap.”

  The Turkmen soldier carried the steel case several meters in front of his APC, then laid it on the highway, undid the latch, opened it, and stood up. Turabi could see something sparkly inside. “There’s your down payment,” Rizov shouted, “and that is also the line over which you may not cross. The deal is off if you move past that box.” He gave an order, and the soldier started heading back to his APC.

  “Thank you, Captain,” Turabi said. “Now, if your man there would be so kind as to dump the contents of the box on the pavement?”

  “Excuse me, sir?” Rizov asked. He barked another order, and the soldier started running back to the APC. />
  Turabi reached over to the twenty-three-millimeter cannon beside him, cocked the action, aimed, and pulled the trigger. The steel box jumped and danced on the pavement — and then a gush of thick white gas began to stream out of the shattered steel box.

  “Gas!” Orazov screamed. “They booby-trapped that case!”

  “Get us out of here!” Zarazi shouted. As Turabi laid down machine-gun fire on the Turkmen APC, the driver threw the transmission into reverse, and they roared backward. The gas was spreading quickly, probably with some sort of aerosol propellant to disperse it faster.

  The Turkmen soldier was hit in the leg by Turabi’s machine-gun fire, and he pitched forward, screaming in pain. Rizov’s APC was in full reverse by now, too. Soon the white gas reached the soldier — and within seconds he was flopping and writhing on the ground like a fish caught in a gill net. Just when Turabi thought he was going to break his neck with the force of his convulsions, he lay still. “Allah have mercy…!”

  “I don’t think we’ll be facing any untrained Turkmen border guards or conscripts from here on out,” Wakil Zarazi said as they roared away from the area. “The Russians play to win.”

  They soon found out that the artillery batteries set up at Khodzhayli Airport southeast of Chärjew were not fakes when the barrage started, just after midnight. The attack was initiated with strings of starburst illuminators over their positions, followed by rounds that appeared to miss them by very wide margins. “Good thing the Turkmen can’t shoot,” someone remarked.

  “Have you never seen an artillery attack before?” Zarazi said. “The illuminators were dead-on. If they fired standard rounds, we’d have been chewed up pretty bad. The rounds that are falling short are not high explosives — they are seeding the area with mines.”

  “Mines?”