Satan's Tail

“There was also an attack on a Dreamland aircraft by Ethiopia,” Balboa went on. “Provoked by the Dreamland aircraft.”

“That’s not true,” blurted Jed.

Everyone looked at him. Jed felt his face shade red. He glanced at Freeman, who was frowning.

“Go ahead, Jed,” said the President. “What happened?”

“First of all, there were two encounters, one early in the evening with the Sudanese, and then several hours later with the Ethiopians. The Sudanese did a fly-by; it’s not clear how they knew that the Megafortresses were in the area, or even if they were military aircraft as opposed to, say, uh, civilians. They went away without incident. Several hours later the Ethiopians approached. They demanded that the Megafortresses identify themselves or be fired on. Since their mission was covert, they maintained radio silence.

Four MiGs then engaged the Megafortress that was commanding the Piranha probe. Two were shot down, one by the Megafortress and the other by a Flighthawk.”

“They could have identified themselves as a civilian aircraft if they wanted to avoid trouble,” said Balboa.

“Well, no, because no civilian aircraft is supposed to be in that area,” said Jed.

“I thought the Megafortresses are invisible to radar,” said Jerrod Hale, the President’s Chief of Staff.

“They’re not completely invisible,” said Jed. He explained SATAN’S TAIL

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that the low-radar profile simply made the aircraft “look”

smaller to the radar, which meant it couldn’t be detected at long range. But that profile grew exponentially when the bomb bay doors were opened, which would have happened when the Piranha buoys were dropped. In addition, the other Megafortress was using its radars to scan the surface and air; these could be detected and even used as a beacon by approaching hostiles.

“The, uh, the question is …” Jed couldn’t get his tongue untangled and stopped speaking for a moment. His stuttering had become an increasing problem over the past several months, growing in tandem with his responsibilities.

“Who—Who told the Sudanese planes they were there in the first place? Because they’d flown pretty far from their bases. Once they see the Megafortress, they might tell the Ethiopians, but who told them? C-C-Colonel Bastian thinks there may be a spy at the Saudi air base. Someone who’s passing information along. The same thing is probably happening with the pirates.”

“It’s definitely happening with the pirates,” said Balboa.

“They see all these small boats watching them from territorial waters. Every move they make is observed. What’s the use of a stealth design when there are spies everywhere?”

“Why are the Ethiopians and Sudanese cooperating with pirates?” the President asked Secretary of State Jeffrey Hartman. His tone suggested that the Secretary had ordered the countries to interfere.

“They claim they were on routine patrols,” said Hartman.

“That’s not good enough,” said Martindale.

“I didn’t say it was. Internal problems may be leading them to try and appease some of the more radical elements in their countries. That’s why we have to work with the UN.”

“The hell with that,” said Secretary of Defense Chastain.

“We should have sank these bastards a week ago.”

“Xray Pop needs more resources,” said Balboa. “And orders that allow them into the coastal areas.”

“What resources?” asked Chastain. Though in theory he 140

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was Balboa’s boss, the two men didn’t get along and hardly spoke.

“Give them the Dreamland people,” said Balboa, “and some Marines to work as boarding parties.”

“What good are the Marines going to do against pirates?”

Chastain asked.

“Board their ships. And attack their bases.”

“Wait now, let’s not put the cart before the horse,” said Hartman. “We need a UN resolution to operate and attack in territorial waters. Let’s be very clear about that. This is a small part of a larger picture. If we don’t work with the UN

here, we’ll never get the China issue settled. Or Korea. And that’s where the real problems are.”

“Your big picture is killing our people,” said Balboa.

“The issues at stake here are immense,” said Hartman.

“We have to handle this delicately. Which I have to say is not being done.”

“Then you shouldn’t have sent I-Take-Orders-from-No-Man Bastian out there,” said Balboa.

“Colonel Bastian takes orders from me,” said President Martindale, looking up from his coffee cup. “I think we have to cut him some slack here. I doubt he instigated the attack.”

“It’s important to get UN backing before we go into coastal waters,” Hartman told the President. “If we don’t, everything else will fall apart. And Congress will be all over you.”

“Congress is all over me already.” Martindale smiled faintly.

“We won’t be able to count on getting a UN peacekeeping force in Taiwan,” said Hartman.

“We can’t count on that now,” said Freeman. “China won’t accept it.”

“The hell with peacekeeping,” said Chastain. “I say blow the bastards up and let’s be done with it. We should have wiped the Chinese military out completely when we had the chance. With all due respect to the late General Elliott and his sacrifice—”

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“Let’s focus on the Gulf of Aden, shall we?” said Martindale. It wasn’t a question. “I have to agree with the Secretary of State. I want the UN resolution if at all possible before we act. That was the idea behind sending the Dreamland team to look for the submarine. They are doing that, aren’t they, Jed?”

“They’ve started. They haven’t found it yet. It may take quite a while.”

“It won’t be found, because it doesn’t exist,” said Balboa.

“It sank somewhere in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa.”

“The evidence was pretty persuasive that it was the same sub that was heard in the Indian Ocean,” said Jed.

“You’re not going to start lecturing me on submarines now, are you, son?” asked Balboa.

“No, sir.”

“Philip, what do you think of Dreamland working with Xray Pop?” the President asked National Security Advisor Freeman.

“It might work. It would give them an over-the-horizon capability and air support that they don’t have. It would make it easier to deal with the pirates, even in international waters. But I don’t know if they could do both missions at once. Finding the sub, I mean.”

“There is no sub,” said Balboa.

“It would be useful to find the submarine,” said Hartman.

“The more evidence that we can gather to convince the Security Council—”

“The fact that the terrorists killed a civilian crew and blew up their ship won’t do it?” asked Martindale.

“Similar incidents haven’t in the past,” said Hartman.

“Jed, can Dreamland support Xray Pop and look for the submarine at the same time?” asked the President.

“I don’t know. I’d have to check with Colonel Bastian.”

“The support mission has to be given priority,” said Balboa. “That task has to be rolled into Xray Pop’s mission, and the commander at the scene should make the final call on which resources go where.”

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“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Freeman.

“What’s the alternative? Put Bastian in charge of Xray Pop?” asked Balboa. “That won’t work—Captain Gale out-ranks him.”

“Knowing the Dreamland people, my guess is that they can find a way to do both jobs,” said Martindale. “The Whiplash team is just providing service, along the same lines as it did in Iraq and Iran when Razor was raising such havoc,” said the President. “Supporting Xray Pop will take top priority if push comes to shove.”

“And Captain Gale will be in charge,” said Balboa.

Martindale took a sip from his coffee cup and seemed surprised to find that it was empty. He went back over to the urn.