Clancy, Tom - Op Center 02 - Mirror Image by Clancy Tom

Author:Clancy, Tom [Clancy, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

at Coffey. "For people operating on fault lines, we appear to be

doing some pretty good spy work. How about working on

getting those clearances we'l need as soon as Striker is

airborne again, which wil be--he looked at his computer clock-

"in about an hour."

Coffey looked numb. He nodded as he rose, then tugged his

cuff links again and looked at Rodgers. "One more thing, Mike.

As an attorney and a friend, I should point out to you that

according to our charter, section seven, 'Accountability of

Military Personnel to Civilian Commanders,' subsection b,

paragraph two, Striker reports to the ranking military officer.

That's you. The Director can't countermand an order you've

given."

"I know the charter almost as wel as I know Cae- sar's

Commentaries on the Gal ic War. What's your point, Lowel ?"

Coffey said, "If I fail to get congressional approval and Paul

takes their thumbs-down seriously, the only way he can recal

Striker is by dismissing you and appointing another Deputy

Director. If he needed to do that quickly, he could go to the duty

officers."

"I wouldn't put him in that position," Rodgers said. "I'd recal Striker if he asked me to. But in here--he stood and touched his

gut-"I don't think Paul wil do that. We're a crisis management

team, and as long as we do everything we can to ensure the

safety of our Striker force, we're going to manage this crisis."

"You guys may end up out there al alone," Coffey told him.

"Only if it doesn't work out," Darrel McCaskey observed. "Our asses were supposed to be grass after North Korea, but we

won that and no one complained."

Rodgers patted Coffey on the arm and returned to Hood's desk.

"Don't go writing any epitaphs, Lowel . I've been reading

Churchil lately, and something he told the Canadian Parliament

in December 1941 seems appropriate. He said, 'When I

warned them that Britain would fight on alone whatever they did,

their Generals told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinet:

In three weeks England wil have her neck wrung like a

chicken."' Rodgers smiled. "Churchil 's answer, gentlemen, may

just become Op-Center's new motto: 'Some chicken! Some

neck."'

THIRTY-FOUR

Monday, 11:44 P.M., Helsinki

The StarLifter landed on a remote runway at the comer of the

Helsinki airport, and Major Aho was there to meet it. The tal

weight lifter introduced himself in fluent English to Lieutenant

Colonel Squires as "a token, blackhaired Lapp" in the military.

As the representative of Defense Minister Niskanen, he said he

had specific instructions to give the Americans whatever they

needed.

As they stood in the open door of the aircraft, the cold wind

swirling in from the dark night, Squires told him the only thing he

wanted was to close the door and wait for the I -76T.

"I understand," said Aho, whose sonorous voice, like his

carriage, had great dignity.

Leaving an aide behind to work as a liaison with the ground

crew, Aho waited while Private George accepted and tendered

a round of good-luck wishes, then escorted him to a waiting car.

Both men sat in the back.

"Have you ever been to Finland, Private George?" Aho asked.

"Sir," said the soldier, "until I joined the Army, I'd never been out of Lubbock, Texas. After I joined, I never got out of Virginia til

now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.