Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 10 by Wings of Fire (v1.1) Page B

of
the rockets you destroyed were nuclear. The bad news is, we also detected VX
nerve agents, also consistent with a number of warheads, maybe as many as a
half-dozen.”
                “Holy shit,” Hal Briggs breathed.
“With an SS-12 they could hit Rome, Athens, Istanbul, Tel Aviv .. .”
                 “Or
Cairo, Alexandria, or the Suez Canal,” Patrick added. “And Libya has a number
of ex-Russian long-range bombers, tactical fighters, coastal antiship, and
ship-borne weapon systems capable of delivering those warheads too. They could
hold all of southern Europe at risk.” Patrick looked at his intelligence
briefing notes. “Our private intelligence sources told us there might be as
many as six other bases, including two more secret bases like Samah, hiding
ballistic missiles armed with nuclear or chemical warheads. I’d like to set up
a complete reconnaissance schedule with as many FlightHawks as we can, scanning
every square foot to try to locate the other missiles.”
                 “Agreed,”
Chris Wohl said. “We can have a strike team standing by either offshore or in
Egypt to move as soon as targets are located.”
                 “We
should also push to upgrade the sensors on the recon FlightHawks,” Wendy added.
“We can put an ultrawideband radar on a FlightHawk to let us scan for
underground bunkers and communications lines under the sand.” The
ultra-wideband radar, or UWBR, was one of the most significant advances in
surveillance and reconnaissance: a radar capable of seeing through some medium-
density objects. The system normally fit only on a full-size aircraft, but Jon
Masters had redesigned it to fit on board a small, unmanned aircraft. “The
FlightHawks will have only a few hours’ loiter time because of the size of the
UWBR system, but we’ll be able to scan the country quicker and more
efficiently.”
                 “Then
let’s get it all moving this way immediately,” Patrick said. “I don’t want to
give the Libyans a chance—” Just then, an electronic warning tone sounded—the
collision warning. Everyone in the briefing room immediately shot to their feet
and headed out to their emergency stations. At the same moment the phone from
the bridge sounded; Patrick picked it up before the second ring. “Go ahead,
Brian.”
                 “We
got a situation, General,” Brian Lovelock, the captain of the Catherine , responded. “We’re receiving
distress signals from two vessels within thirty miles of our position, saying
they’re under attack from unidentified aircraft. No warning given. The
attackers appear to be moving from east to west—in our direction.”
                 “Got
it,” Patrick replied. He pressed another button, this one hooked directly to
the Combat Information Center and his longtime friend and partner, David Luger.
“Dave, what do you have?”
                 “We’re
just now picking up four high-speed aircraft bearing one-zero-five, altitude
less than one thousand feet, heading west at four hundred eighty knots,” Luger
responded. The Catherine had an
entire combat radar system hidden aboard the salvage ship, disguised as
standard navigation radars—it was as combat-capable as many world navies’
warships. “Sorry we didn’t pick them up earlier, Muck, but they are right down
on the friggin’ deck. Their ETE is four minutes.”
                 “Sound
general quarters, everyone to air defense positions,” Patrick ordered. “Better
start a complete data dump to the satellite and then destroy the classified.
Someone’s on the warpath out here, and I think we’re next.” On his subcutaneous
microtransceiver, he said, “Patrick to Wendy .. . Wendy, I want you aboard the
Pave Hammer, along with the civilians.”
                 “I’m
staying,” Wendy said. “I can have a FlightHawk armed with air-to-air missiles
airborne in three