Night of the Hawk, page 27
part #4 of Patrick McLanahan Series
The President continued. “Along with the near-term military response is what we should be thinking about in the longer term, especially in light of the Byelorussians’ buildup and this nuclear arsenal. General Curtis has suggested the possibility of a land grab, and CIA concurs. What do we lose if this comes to pass? Why should we be worried about this? Dennis, what’s your thoughts on this?”
“Lithuania is one of those countries that, because of its strategic position, its climate, its arable soil, and its cultural mixture, will always be subject to whichever neighbor is most powerful,” Secretary of State Danahall replied. “It has seaports that do not freeze over, lots of fertile farmland, lots of potential wealth, a rich history, and strong, well-educated citizens. They also have a very strong national identity and a real desire to become independent, free, capitalistic, and democratic.
“The bottom line: we have an opportunity to help Lithuania grow. I’m not advocating that we occupy the country, but I think it would be in our best interests to help Lithuania resist occupation from outside forces counter to our own. Lithuania is democratic, they have a lot to offer us and the rest of Europe, and we can help them do it.
“There are other motivations for us as well: with the emergence of the European Community and the loss of American markets in unified Europe, Lithuania may become the first real trade toehold we can develop in Europe. The same holds true for the other former Soviet republics.”
“This sounds like stuff we need to discuss later on,” the President said. “But I gather you’re going to tie this in to the present-day situation. What is it?”
Curtis said, “You’re right, sir, this does tie in. We’ve received full overflight permission from President Kapocius of Lithuania, and his government seems pretty amenable to our military operations over there. They’re being threatened by Byelorussia, and the Commonwealth seems to be dragging its collective feet on withdrawing troops. This might be the time to suggest full military assistance to Lithuania. We should request Permission from Kapocius to send transports, fighters, attack helicopters, and antiaircraft missile batteries to Vilnius, Kaunas, and Liepaja, the three main cities.”
“Kapocius has already said he doesn’t want foreign military aircraft near his civilian airfields except in an emergency,” Secretary of State Danahall said. “We’ve got to respect that or we won’t get any more cooperation from him.”
But the President was intrigued. “What is it you’re after, Wilbur?” the President asked.
“A trip wire, Mr. President,” Curtis replied. “A way for the United States to get immediately involved in protecting Lithuania and the other Baltic states, and ensuring that our own interests are protected in the region in case the CIS or Byelorussia tries a quick strike into Lithuania.
“We’d set up a staged approach to sending military assistance and sweeten the pot with economic assistance,” Curtis continued. “My staff’s plan was to form first an evacuation center for Americans, then a relief center for Lithuanians, a civil-and-industrial-assistance center, and finally a military-training and cooperative-defense base, all at Vilnius International Airport. We’d use the Army’s Third Brigade from Germany—their troops, armor, aircraft, and air-defense systems-along with transports from 21st Air Force. The presence of several thousand American troops will certainly deter anyone from further aggression in Lithuania, and of course the hard-currency investment in Lithuania won’t hurt Kapocius or his government.”
“This sounds bad, General,” National Security Advisor Russell interjected. “It sounds like another Beirut ‘peace-keeping’ mission. These trip wire tactics never work—if a conflict breaks out, or if one side resorts to terrorism or fanaticism, our people get clobbered, and public opinion usually forces the Administration to pull forces out, not put more forces in. Soldiers die for no reason. I recommend against such a plan.”
The President considered the suggestion momentarily; then, after no other comments were put forth, said, “Let’s put that one on the back, burner for now, Wilbur. It’s a good idea, but I’m concerned about Kapocius. The man’s really under the gun—he lost his vice president, several foreign diplomats are killed in his capital city, he’s got foreign troops all over his country, he’s got inflation, he’s got shortages—and the last thing he’ll want to hear is our plan for an occupation force. For a near-term, though, what else are we going to need?”
“Right now I think all we need is more reconnaissance assets up,” Secretary of Defense Preston said. “General Curtis and I have discussed putting Special Forces troops on the ground trying to find those nude capable Scarab missiles and destroy them if necessary—I think we should talk about moving that plan forward. We also talked about more recon planes over Lithuania—with overflight privileges granted, we can keep pretty good eye on the Russians and the Byelorussians.”
“What kind of recon planes?”
“Sir, we’ve got pretty good satellite imagery of Lithuania,” Curtis said, “and we’ve got pictures of bases and large concentrations of troops, but not enough electronic-monitoring-and-analysis information and not enough near-real-time targeting-quality imagery, the kind of stuff we’ll need to give to air crews and fire-control computers if we ever have to go out and blow them up. A constellation of small radar satellites, like the NIRTSat system, would be perfect. Also photo-and-electronic-reconnaissance aircraft like an RC-135 RIVET JOINT, TR-l, or TR-2 stealth recon plane. We have a briefing prepared for you whenever you’d like.”
These days the President almost never haggled about sending out reconnaissance forces anywhere in the world. He had seen the value of constant, real-time intelligence during the Gulf War, and he had become a firm supporter of new state-of-the-art technologies in the field of intelligence-gathering. This was no exception: “Pencil in a briefing time on my calendar with Case, but consider your plan approved. Any other trouble so far?”
“Small problem with one of our Intelligence Support Agency units, sir,” Russell interjected. “They’re the ones that we sometimes call on to insert agents into a country when the normal military or CIA channels are being watched. One of the members of that unit, called MADCAP MAGICIAN, might have compromised himself. DoD is conducting an investigation.”
“Then bust him hard,” the Vice President chimed in emphatically. “Keep him incommunicado until this is over with. We don’t need anyone scuttling these operations before they get started. Lives are at stake.”
“The breach occurred at General Elliott’s unit at Dreamland,” Curtis said quickly. “So General Elliott is handling the investigation. If you want the doer scrambled, Mr. Vice President, Brad Elliott’s your man.”
The Vice President nodded in agreement. He and most of the Cabinet members present knew Elliott was one tough son of a bitch with security violators.
“I can brief you on the other Special Forces teams’ progress and the support units at any time,” added Curtis.
“Speaking of Elliott,” the President said, “he’s been very quiet lately. Has he been briefed on the progress of his people and the status of REDTAIL HAWK?”
“He’s not on the list for update briefings, sir,” Curtis said. He glanced at George Russell when he said that—it was Russell who decided that Elliott should be cut out of the information loop. “Do you want that directive modified?”
“Elliott can get the information on his own,” Russell said irritably. “I’ll bet you Elliott’s just as informed as we are—isn’t that right, General Curtis?”
Curtis did a slow burn. “His group designed the aircraft that’ll fly the Special Forces troops into Lithuania,” Curtis said. “He also designed the satellite-reconnaissance and mission-analysis system sitting down in the Situation Room. He’s got four of his top officers, including two men that saved his life, involved in a mission eight thousand miles from home. Now, apart from the fact that he and his unit could be of enormous assistance to us in case this situation blows up in our faces, Mr. Russell, I think the man deserves to be kept apprised of the status of this mission.”
“Okay, okay,” Russell said with resignation. “I didn’t know you two were once joined at the hip. Put him on the damn Priority Two notification list.”
“Let’s get at it, then,” the President said, thankful this meeting was over. “I can see already that this is going to be one hell of a night.”
TRAKAI CASTLE CHAPEL, NEAR VILNIUS, LITHUANIA
12 APRIL, 1213 HOURS (0613 ET)
It was the first funeral of a Knight of the Iron Wolf in over two hundred years—and today, twenty-three Lithuania knights were being buried. In the center of the chapel in the main residence section of Trakai Castle, the, coffins of the dead were draped with the red Grand Duke’s battle flags, the Vytis, and surrounded by tall candles on gleaming gold antique candleholders. As senior officer, Major Kolginov’s casket was at the head of the group, and it was his flag-draped coffin on which the Lithuanian Sword of State had been placed. Four fully armored knights stood guard, each with a long-handled ax in his hands. Slung over their shoulders and hidden, but within easy reach, they also carried AK-47 assault rifles. Tradition and ceremony were still observed in mourning the dead, but the army of Lithuania was on a war footing, even the honor guards.
Mass for the rest of the dead soldiers from the Denerokin massacre had been held earlier in the day, and the final Mass for the knights was scheduled for that evening, at midnight, as were all other rituals of knighthood. It was at the chapel, after the service for the other slain soldiers and citizens, that Anna Kulikauskas found General Dominikas Palcikas, kneeling in the first row of pews in the chapel. She genuflected when she reached the row, then stood silently and waited for Palcikas to look up at her. He was dressed not in his red cassock but in full black “midnight” battle-dress uniform, with a Makarov sidearm and full combat harness. He looked as though he were one minute from going ill battle. An American-style helmet, a walkie-talkie, and a loaded AK-47 were lying on the pew beside him.
“Your guards let me in,’ she said. “They recognized me from the other night.” No response. “I am very sorry for your loss, General.”
“So why are you here? You dislike our ‘perverse’ rituals so much— well, this is just another one of them. Or have you come to prefer charges against me for causing the deaths of these men?”
“Please don’t hate me, Dominikas,” Anna said. “I was in shock out there. I was terrified. You had represented all that was bad, all that was distrustful, in Lithuania. My God, I saw that dead child lying on the ground like a sack of wet garbage … please forgive me, Dominikas. I forgot that I had learned to trust the military … to trust you.”
He nodded, then turned to her and said, “I suspect you had something to do with the testimony before the Commonwealth Council of Ministers regarding the incident. I have you to thank for gathering those witnesses and testifying on my behalf.”
“I tried to identify the soldiers that launched those grenades—I was sure they were Lithuanians,” Anna said. “But after talking with other witnesses and examining photographs of all your men, we realized they were not. I was afraid of what they had done to you. I couldn’t believe they were actually clubbing you and dragging you away—you, a Lithuanian citizen and our highest military officer, being dragged away by foreign troops like a road kill! I had to do something. We took our information to the Commonwealth Council of Ministers and demanded your release.”
The Council of Ministers and the Inter-Republican Council for Security immediately sent representatives to Vilnius to investigate the incident. The Lithuanian government, led by Anna Kulikauskas, argued for Palcikas’ release; their pleas were punctuated by the people of Vilnius themselves, backed up by Self-Defense Force troops, who were ready to take to the streets if Palcikas was not let go. He was released shortly after midnight the following day. “Were you badly treated?”
“I think I would be dead right now if you had delayed any longer—or if you had continued to insist that I had something to do with the attack,” Palcikas said. Anna finally realized that if she had insisted that Palcikas was responsible for the attack, as she first surmised, the Byelorussians or the OMON Black Berets inside Fisikous would have killed Palcikas to “placate” the citizens of Lithuania. She had come very close to assassinating Palcikas herself without ever pulling a trigger.
“I was taken inside Fisikous by the Byelorussian and MSB soldiers. There was no interrogation, only complete isolation. They were looking for. the right opportunity to do away with me. If you hadn’t alerted the rest of the Self-Defense Force and the Parliament after my arrest, I might not have made it out of the stockade at Fisikous.”
“Those bastards! I’m so sorry about what I said, what I thought. I’m 50 fearful of all the bad things a strong military can do in a country that I forget about the good you can do as well. I know I can trust you now. I’m so sorry about Major Kolginov… my God, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment.” She paused, unable to continue as the memory of watching Kolginov die before her eyes returned.
“Thank you,” Palcikas said quietly. “Alexei was a good soldier and a good friend—he will not be forgotten.” He touched her hand, and that simple gesture made her smile. The bond between them had finally returned, even amidst the confusion and danger that surrounded them. “We will need your trust, and the trust of all the people and the government, to carry us through the next few days. We need to prepare to defend the country if the Byelorussians continue to insist that this riot was the prelude to full-scale terrorism against the Commonwealth. What have you heard lately, Anna?”
“The Byelorussian Army was conducting a search of the city,” Anna said. “An investigation for the Commonwealth, they called it.”
“It was a good opportunity for them to search for weapons that we might use against them, should they mount a full-scale invasion,” Palcikas said. “Unfortunately, my men have no evidence to link the weapons or the grenades to anyone. The MSB said they found several homes in Vilnius with stockpiles of blister-agent grenades.”
“Obviously planted by the Byelorussians or the MSB.”
“It is only circumstantial evidence, but it points to your organization as the cause of the riot,” Palcikas said. “The end result is that everyone is confused, which will mean the investigation will stall. Nothing will be done to avenge our dead. Meanwhile there are Byelorussian troops all over the countryside, gearing up for war. The time has come to act.”
Anna looked at Palcikas in surprise, her eyes wide and fearful. “What do you mean?”
Families of the dead had begun to file in, so Palcikas crossed himself, stood, and retrieved his helmet, radio, and rifle. “Come with me, Anna,” he said, then left the pew. He stopped to say some comforting words to the families, then departed the chapel and headed to his office.
Anna followed quickly behind.
Palcikas’ office had made a dramatic conversion since Anna had seen them last. Banks of telephones, radios, and computers were set up in the outer office. A large emergency-power generator was standing by in a corner of the outer office—Anna had seen several since coming to the castle—and stacks of small explosive charges could be seen piled everywhere so the staff could easily destroy all the computers and any secret documents if the castle was attacked. Charts of Lithuania, Latvia, eastern Poland, Kalinin, the Baltic Sea region, and northern Byelorussia were everywhere.
Several desks had been set up in Palcikas’ office along with a dozen large charts. Several clerks, all dressed in combat fatigues and wearing telephone headsets, were busy collecting information and entering it into the computers for processing by the General’s staff. An officer that Anna did not recognize threw a black cloth cover over one chart when he saw her enter the office. “Anna Kulikauskas, my new deputy commander, Colonel Vitalis Zukauskas. Colonel, Miss Anna Kulikauskas.” Zukauskas gave the woman a tentative nod, which she returned. “Anything come in, Vitalis?”
“Several items, sir,” Zukauskas replied, handling Palcikas a small handful of notes. He looked at Anna again and said, “I think we’d better ask Miss Kulikauskas to wait outside.”
“No. I brought her here to hear our plans.”
“Do you think that’s wise, sir?” Zukauskas asked, wide-eyed. “If I may speak candidly, Miss Kulikauskas’ antimilitary reputation is very well known.”
“All the more reason for her to hear our plans,” Palcikas said. “We need her support. If we can’t get it, we may have to rethink our plans. Anna, please sit right there. Colonel, if you don’t mind, give us an update on Operation Stronghold.”
Zukauskas still looked skeptical, but he stepped over to the large briefing board beside Palcikas’ desk and removed the black cloth cover. It revealed a chart of Lithuania. Slowly, carefully, he began to explain what Operation Stronghold was all about. …
Five minutes later, when the briefing was finished, Anna sat in shock. “Do you have the authority for an operation like this?” she asked.
“I think I do,” Palcikas said. “I was commissioned to protect this country and that’s precisely what I’m trying to do.”
“What if Parliament decides not to endorse your operation or the foreign assistance your colonel just said you’ll need?”
“If we don’t get foreign aid, we continue the operation anyway,” Palcikas said. “But if we don’t get unanimous approval from Parliament, we will withdraw. I’m not trying to stage a military coup or act without the sanction of the people or the government. If they tell me to stop, I will Stop.”
“What kind of assurances do we have that you will stop?” Anna asked. Palcikas raised his eyebrows over that remark. “Learning to trust me must be so very difficult for you, Anna,” Palcikas said. “What has the military done to you to make you hate us?”
“It’s a legitimate question, General,” Anna said, “and if you take it Personally, that’s your problem. But I’m sure the President and the Prime Minister will want an answer. What is it?”
