Part 33 (2/2)
Buddy sank back in his seat. Now the fat was really in the fire.
”However,” the minister continued as he turned back around to face the front of the car, ”my desk is extremely 300.
full just now, and it may take a while before I get around to preparing the paperwork necessary for such a complaint.”
”How long a while?” Buddy asked.
”Oh, a year . . . possibly two,” the minister replied. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at Buddy. ”Our friends the Iraqis are sticklers for protocol, the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. I must make sure the complaint is worded exactly right, and these things take time.”
Buddy looked at Stryker and grinned. They were in the clear after all.
”I am sure your report will be most accurate, your excellency,” Buddy said.”Yeah,” Stryker said, ”you wouldn't want to make a mistake and spell any of our names wrong.”
Back at base headquarters in the SUSA, Buddy shook hands all around with Stryker and his team. ”Good job, men,” Buddy said.
Stryker nodded. ”All in a day's work, sir.”
”And Matt,” Buddy added.
”Yeah?”
”I'm putting all of you, including the men who died, in for Bronze Stars for heroism.”
Stryker stood up straight. ”That's not necessary, sir. We were just doing what we were trained to do.”
”I know it's not necessary, Matt, but you and your men earned it.”
Stryker saluted, and left to report back to Mike Post about the mission and its success.
In Mike's office, Buddy filled him in on the mission, including the oil minister's reaction to their little deception involving the helicopters.
Mike grinned. ”That is a relief. I was more than a little 301.
301.
worried about how kindly Kuwait would take to being used in such a manner.”
”Evidently they don't have any more love for Iraq than we do, Mike,”
Buddy said.
”Well, you did a good job and your dad's gonna be proud of you,” Mike said. ”Now, why don't you take a couple of days of R and R. I've got to fly back to Indianapolis and fill Ben and President Osterman in on the details. This is too sensitive to trust to transmission over open lines.”
Mike was taken straight from the base's landing field to a meeting of Claire Osterman's cabinet and Ben and his team that was going on when he arrived.
”Ah, Mike, glad you got here in time to join us,” Ben said, waving him to a seat.
While he was getting settled, Coop got up from his chair, poured Mike a cup of coffee, and carried it to him.
”We were just discussing the progress Claire's country is making against the terrorist invasion,” Ben said.
General Maxwell G.o.ddard stood up. ”To continue,” he said. ”General Raines's Scouts along with our Rangers have stopped the invaders'
advance. They've been contained along lines that they had forty-eight hours ago and haven't moved significantly since then.””From reports I've received from my Scout commanders,” Ben said, ”the citizens have been more than a little help in containing the terrorists.”
The general cleared his throat and glanced at Claire. ”Yes, uh, that is my understanding also. While I still don't agree with your plan of arming the ordinary citizens, General Raines, it seems to have reaped big rewards in defeating the invaders.”
Ben grinned. ”Yeah. I seem to remember an old doc.u.ment that says there's nothing like a well-armed populace to make it tough for tyranny,” Ben said.
302.
”Well, as far as I can see, barring any reinforcements of men or materiel, we should have the last of the terrorists either killed or captured within a week at the outside,” the general said.
Ben glanced at Mike. ”You have any news for us concerning the possibility of reinforcements?” he asked.
Mike nodded. ”There will be no reinforcements of either men or equipment,” he said.
”How can you be so sure?” Claire asked, joining the conversation for the first time.
”The Farrar family has suffered a series of rather devastating setbacks recently,” Mike said, a small smile curling the corners of his lips.
”What sort of setbacks?” Claire asked.
”The main source of the family's income, a refinery at Al Basrah, was destroyed two days ago by an explosion of undetermined origin.”
”But surely they have other a.s.sets?” Claire asked, smiling at Mike's choice of words.
”Unfortunately, through an unexplained series of bank errors, all of their bank accounts have disappeared,” Mike said, openly grinning now.
”Disappeared?” Claire asked.
”Yes. It seems through a computer glitch of some sort, over three and a half billion dollars of their money was transferred to offsh.o.r.e accounts in the Cayman Islands, and no one seems to know what happened to it after that.”
”So, the men who started all this are broke?” Claire asked with a smile.
”Poor as the proverbial church mice,” Mike said. ”In fact, the Canadian government has rescinded their leases on the lands off your coasts due to nonpayment, and informed Iraq the men and equipment left there are to be removed immediately, if not sooner.”
”That's a relief,” Claire said, ”not to have them sitting there waiting to cause more trouble.”
303303.
”Claire,” Ben said, ”in light of this news, I'd like your permission to begin recalling my Scouts and replacing them with your regular troops.
I'd like to get my boys home as soon as possible.”
Claire glanced at General G.o.ddard, who nodded. ”Sure, Ben,” she said. ”I think the general can handle it from here on out.”
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