glanced at Coop and made a motion of gagging at the syrupy sweetness of the talk between the two leaders.

Coop tried to keep a straight face, failed, and gave a short laugh.

Claire turned at the sound, spied Jersey, and unconsciously fingered the notch in her ear left by Jersey when she'd had Claire as a prisoner one time in the past.

"Oh," Claire said quickly, "I know you.""Yes, ma'am," Jersey replied, her face flat with no expression. "We met briefly a while back."

Claire nodded, but didn't speak further of the incident, obviously not wanting to put a damper on the new cooperation between the two countries.

When they got to the officers' mess, Claire hesitated, looking at Ben's team as if she didn't quite know how to tell them they would have to eat in the enlisted men's mess, until Ben told her quietly that his team stayed at his side at all times as a matter of precaution against a.s.sa.s.sination attempts.

She nodded, her face somewhat grim at the implied statement that he didn't feel safe on her base.

Once all of the partic.i.p.ants were seated, and Buddy had joined the group and been introduced, they began to eat.

After the meal, which had been accompanied by only small talk with no important things being discussed, Claire invited Ben and Buddy to join her and General G.o.ddard in her office.

On the way, Ben told his team to get their gear arranged in their quarters while he talked with Claire.

Jersey, who was Ben's self-appointed bodyguard, started to object, until Ben told her he was sure he'd be safe in Claire's office.

"Come on, Jerse," Coop said, taking her by the arm and physically leading her toward their new quarters. "Maybe 138.

we can find a room and bunk in together," he explained, a salacious leer on his face.

"That'll be the day," Jersey said, though she grinned as she said it.

In Claire's office, Ben listened as she went over the most recent happenings, including the news that a significant portion of the populace was joining the terrorists and giving them aid and comfort.

"Even a few Army and National Guard units have deserted to join the Freedom Fighters of America contingent in their support of the invaders," she told them.

"You think there's any chance of a widespread movement to join the terrorists?" Ben asked.

She shrugged, glancing at G.o.ddard.

"We just don't know yet, Ben," G.o.ddard said. "Times have been pretty rough since our last... hostilities. There've been widespread shortages of food and gasoline and other sundries, so there are quite a few citizens who may feel things will be better for them under a new government led by these Arabs."

"What do you think, Claire?" Ben asked."I think that if these terrorists do manage to take over the country, the FFA and all of those who went along with them will be in deep s.h.i.t,"

she said firmly. "This El Farrar and his followers aren't in this out of any altruistic motives to help the poor downtrodden people of the United States."

Ben nodded his agreement. "You're right, there, Claire," he said. "Our Intel says he's one of the rich Middle Eastern families who feel they were disenfranchised when the UN. took over the oil fields. His family evidently went from being one of the richest in the area to just regular citizens."

She raised her eyebrows. "But I understood the oil families were reimbursed by the U.N. for the loss of their oil revenues," she said.

139.

139.

Ben smiled grimly. "Oh, they were, but the levels of reimburs.e.m.e.nt, while extremely generous by any normal standards, were still far below what they'd been used to."

"Yeah," Buddy said, a smirk on his face, "I guess going from being billionaires to merely millionaires was quite a step down for them."

"Does your Intel have any idea of just how many troops this Desert Fox may be able to bring into this war?" General G.o.ddard asked Ben. "Our sources are rather vague on that."

"Our best estimate is he has access to well over a hundred thousand, and more will probably jump on the bandwagon and join up if he has some initial success here."

Claire stared at Ben, a worried look on her face. "But surely he won't be able to transport that many troops here. How would he do it without our knowing and being able to intercept them?"

"I'm afraid he has several options," Buddy said. "He can move them in relatively small numbers to Vancouver Island or Nova Scotia and boat them over, or he can load them on huge transport ships and keep them outside the three-mile limit until his terrorists can take over one of the coastal ports, and then bring them in late at night."

"But wouldn't we know about that and be able to attack the transports?"

she asked.

G.o.ddard shook his head. "Not if they stayed outside the three-mile limit. If we attacked them there, the U.N. would step in and cut our b.a.l.l.s off."

"Max is right," Ben said. "Your only chance to avoid a full-scale war is to crush this terrorist invasion quickly and completely before he has time to make any inroads."

"If you do that," Buddy said, "his support back home will evaporate and the other troops will never be sent, and any other Middle Eastern nations who might be thinking of joining in will have second thoughts."

Claire's lips compressed in a tight line. "Then I guess we'd better kickhis a.s.s right now," she said.

140.

Ben smiled. This was the ball-busting Claire he was used to dealing with.

"I couldn't agree more," he said.

"As regards that," G.o.ddard said, "just how do you plan to deploy your Scouts?"

Ben leaned back in his chair and nodded at Buddy, giving him the go-ahead to explain.

"We're gonna send them out in five-man groups," he said, leaning forward with his forearms on his thighs. "We'll spread them out all across the country in front of the places where the terrorists have already hit and, hopefully, in their direct line of march."

Claire frowned. "Five-man groups?" she asked. "But our information says the terrorists have at least fifteen to twenty men in their squads, not to mention the FFA fanatics who might have joined them. Won't they be seriously outnumbered?"

Ben grinned. "Not by a long shot, Claire. Every man in a Scout unit is an expert in guerrilla fighting, as well as demolitions, infiltration, and setting up ambushes. Each squad will be in constant communication with home base and able to call in air support at a moment's notice, and each squad will have the latest in firearms, and each squad will have a Thumper along."

"A Thumper?" Claire asked.

"An M-79 grenade launcher," Buddy explained. "So, even though there are lots more invaders than defenders, I think the terrorists are gonna have their hands full dealing with our Scouts."

"How do you plan to deploy them?" G.o.ddard asked. "By helicopter?"

Ben shook his head. "Not usually. That's too noisy, as your Rangers found out last week. It gives the locals too much notice the troops have arrived. I plan to send them in by HALO drop in the middle of the night.

That way, they 141.

141.

can be on location and dug in before the invaders even know they've arrived."

"HALO drop?" Claire asked.

"High-alt.i.tude, low-opening parachute drops," Ben replied. "The terrorists won't even be able to hear the airplanes as they go overhead to drop the Scouts."

"And when the Scouts attack, it will be a complete surprise to the terrorists," Buddy said."What about supplying them with ammunition, et cetera?" G.o.ddard asked.

Ben grinned slyly. "Oh, my men are also experts at living off the land.

What they can't steal, they'll take from the enemy and use against him later."

"General," Claire said, turning to G.o.ddard. "I want you to coordinate your Ranger deployments with Ben and make sure we box these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds in and take them out as soon as possible." : "Madam President," Ben said, "one more thing."

"Yes?"

"My Scouts are not going to be taking any prisoners, unless they're needed for intel. Their mission is to destroy the enemy, and they won't have time to baby-sit prisoners."

"You mean even if the enemy gives themselves up?" she asked, her eyes narrow.

"Let me know now if that bothers you, Claire," Ben said, " 'Cause my men ask no quarter and give none."

She thought about it for a moment, then asked, "Even the citizens who might be fighting with the Arabs?"

"They've got to learn a hard lesson," Ben said. "Don't mess with the buzz saw when it's busy cutting wood."

Claire leaned her head back and laughed out loud. "Good," she said.

"It'll serve the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds right for becoming traitors."

"Then we're a go?" Ben asked.

"Absolutely," Claire answered.

142 Twenty After the meeting in Claire's office was over, Ben and Buddy huddled with General Maxwell G.o.ddard in his office with a team of his intel specialists.

They poured over maps of the United States that had red pins stuck in them indicating areas already hit by the terrorists, and blue pins in them showing the suspected tracking south of each of the known terrorist units.

"How up-to-date is this intel?" Ben asked a junior officer.

"It's supposed to be accurate up to an hour ago, sir," he answered. He glanced at his superior officer, as if waiting for him to speak, and when he didn't, he added, "But we thought we had accurate intel when we sent our Rangers in a couple of days ago and they got their b.u.t.ts kicked."

Ben and Buddy glanced at G.o.ddard with upraised eyebrows, even though their own intel back in the SUSA had told them as much.

G.o.ddard cleared his throat and put his index finger in his collar and stretched it, as if it were getting tighter by the minute."Yeah, that's right, Ben. It seems we badly underestimated just how fast these small groups of men can move when they want to."

"You say a number of your Ranger units were ambushed?"

143.

143.

Buddy asked, stroking his chin with a thoughtful expression on his face.

G.o.ddard nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Is there any chance you've got a leak, or maybe even a traitor in your outfit who might've warned some of those units to be on the lookout for the Rangers?"

G.o.ddard, after thinking on it for a moment, shook his head. "Of course it's possible," he conceded, "but I don't think it's likely. For one, all of my men in a position to know the distribution of the Rangers have been with me for a long time, and for another, I don't see how they could get in touch with the invaders to give them the warnings you're talking about."

Ben shook his head. "General, as for the second, they could do it just like I plan to keep in touch with my Scouts . . . through a coded cell phone to the leader, who could then warn the individual units."

He glanced at Buddy and then back at the general. "As for loyalty, that could easily be circ.u.mvented in a number of ways."

"What are you talking about?" G.o.ddard asked.

"Well," Ben said, looking upward as he thought, "a close family member of one of your staff officers could have been kidnapped by one of those FFA guys, and as bits and pieces of their body were delivered, it might convince the officer to give them the information they wanted ... or perhaps a bit of blackmail for a past indiscretion, or even the most prosaic of all... money."

Now it was General G.o.ddard's turn to scratch his chin. "I never even considered...."

"That's because you're used to regular warfare, General," Buddy said.

"When you're dealing with guerrillas, especially when they have a built-in group like the FFA helping them, anything is possible."

G.o.ddard cut his eyes toward Ben and Buddy. "What do you suggest?"

144.

"There are two ways to go, one quick and one slow," Ben said.

"Go on," G.o.ddard asked.

"The slow way is to give each of your officers slightly different intel and to see which way the enemy responds, which could point to the one giving them the info," Ben said."What's the fast way?"

"Tell each of your officers there is a mole in headquarters and they're gonna have to undergo drug-induced questioning the next morning," Ben said.

The general's face fell. "I don't know if I could .. ."

Buddy held up a hand. "Don't worry, General, you won't have to. We'll have each of your officers under surveillance from the time they leave work until they show up here tomorrow."

"What good will that do?" the general asked.

"I have a feeling the guilty one, or ones, will not want to undergo drug interrogation," Ben said, "so they'll either bolt, or if they have a good reason for their treachery, they may even give themselves up."

"Either way," Buddy added, "you probably won't have to do any questioning."

"What if no one runs or gives themselves up?" asked G.o.ddard with a worried expression.