State of the Union by Brad Thor

Author:Brad Thor [Thor, Brad]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3, pdf
ISBN: 9781451607925
Amazon: B005M4Z0S6
Barnesnoble: B005M4Z0S6
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2004-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

Can we just back up here for a second?” asked Harvath. “Rick, start this thing from square one for me, would you?”

“Okay, from square one. The secretary of defense and the president briefed me on Operation Dark Night as well as the situation concerning the man-portable nukes we’re facing at home. Being the tactician he is, the secretary kept making military references to chess. As you probably know, the president—”

“Doesn’t play chess,” replied Harvath, finishing Morrell’s sentence for him. “He’s a poker man. We played a lot when I was on his protective detail.”

“And what’s the one thing you can do in poker that you really can’t do in chess?”

Harvath thought for a moment and then said, “Bluff.”

“Right again. Though there are some feints and deceptive strategies you can pull in chess, all of your pieces are out in the open for your opponent to see.”

“But all of our pieces have been knocked off the board, at least that’s what the president has said.”

“That’s true. The president green-lit a series of tactical teams to go to the European locations where our man-portable nukes were hidden, only to discover that they had all been removed.”

“By the Russians, of course.”

“That’s what we’re assuming,” replied Morrell.

“So, where’s that leave us?”

“It leaves us with only one operational nuke.”

“Frank Leighton’s,” said Harvath.

“Correct.”

“But if the Russians knew the identities of all of the other Dark Night operatives and the location of their nukes, how’d they miss Leighton?”

“We don’t think they missed him,” said Morrell.

“Wait a second. You think they not only know who Leighton is, but where he and his nuke are?”

“Yes.”

“But why would they purposely let him slip through the net?”

“He isn’t all the way through yet.”

Harvath wasn’t following. “I can understand them wanting to get their hands on Gary. He was in charge of the operation. He had knowledge that could prove valuable to them. They might have even believed he knew about more than just his own op, but Leighton doesn’t make any sense. If they let him get this far only to grab him, then…”

Morrell almost could see the lightbulb go on over Harvath’s head as his voice trailed off.

“Then?” coaxed Morrell, leaning back in his chair.

“They would be catching Leighton, an American, in the act of actually trying to smuggle a nuclear device into their country,” said Harvath, the pieces beginning to tumble into place.

“And they could claim it was a covert attempt at a first strike by the United States.”

“But I’m sure we would disavow any knowledge of Leighton. It would be a tough sell, but one guy with one nuke couldn’t bring down an entire country. It would be somewhat embarrassing for us, but—” Harvath let the sentence hang in the air as he thought about it for a moment and then realizing, said, “Shit.”

“What?” asked Morrell.

“If the Russians’ plan to blackmail us failed somehow, they’d have a huge ace up their sleeves. With ten other American-made man-portable nukes in their possession, they could lie and claim they had found them hidden all over their country.

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