The ISIS Gambit Read online

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Our SERE instructors didn’t exactly have the highest ethical standards. I remember a few times when I thought they’d crossed the line.”

  “You think so, huh?” Dani asked, somewhat rhetorically. “As a woman, imagine being held captive, completely naked. Then, we were water boarded, naked, and held down by four men. I’m not sure how long your SERE ‘captivity’ lasted but ours lasted close to a week—and we remained naked for the duration—always in the presence of our male captors—and our teammates, as of course, everyone gets ‘captured.’ And . . . , at one point, someone learned of my relationship with Tamir—no one likes a teacher’s pet, right?”

  “Uh-oh, this doesn’t sound good—they didn’t rape you, did they?” Jackson asked rather reluctantly.

  “Oh, no, they couldn’t do that. But, Zivah and I were the first women in this ‘Boys Club’ and . . . to drive home our vulnerability, and humiliation, they actually shaved me—and I’m not talking about my head.”

  “They WHAT?!?” Jackson blurted out.

  “Oh, yeah, and they did this in front of the rest of my team—and mind you, I’m an officer. Obviously, in this training, there’s no distinction between officer and enlisted—everyone’s treated the same, except the women. And, of course, the focus was on humiliation, and do you have what it takes to get through everything. Fortunately, Zivah didn’t have to go through that, but being completely naked for several days served to remind both of us just how perilous of a position we could be in. We both knew that if we were ever captured, we’d be in store for much worse.”

  “Wow! And I thought we had it bad.”

  “Oh, I’m sure yours was bad, and I’m sure requalifying was no cake walk,” referring to Jackson’s need to requalify to lead his team after losing an eye in Iraq. “But women have it just a little bit tougher. I’m not complaining as Zivah and I both knew what we were getting into, well, kind of anyway.”

  Arielle’s – Stonewall’s Apartment, Tel Aviv

  7:30 AM Local Time

  “Sounds like we might be out for a bit. I’ll get working on what might be our last decent meal for a few days,” Jackson said to Dani as they walked into their apartment. By mutual agreement, Stonewall was the cook so when they picked out their apartment, he had insisted on a gas range. He did all of the cooking with cast iron and the two just seemed to go together better than an electric stove top would. He grabbed a ten inch pan from the hanging rack situated over the kitchen island, set it on the stove top and then began looking through the refrigerator and the cupboards for breakfast ideas. “I really need to shed this shirt,” Jackson added as he took his sweat-stained T-shirt off and threw it around the corner into the laundry room. “Thought it would have at least dried out by now.”

  “I wouldn’t think we’d be out for more than a couple days, three at the most,” Dani replied. She sat down on a bar stool on the opposite side of the kitchen island and just watched Stonewall as he seemingly danced about the kitchen. Clearly, the kitchen was his world and she a mere spectator. However, she had to admit, watching Stonewall in the kitchen without a shirt was very seductive.

  “Have to agree with you there. Just how far is it up to Camp Yitzhak?” Stonewall asked.

  “It’s something like two, two and a half hours, but we’ve got plenty of time. I think I’m going to wash up real quick. I’ll be right out,” Dani said over her shoulder to Stonewall as she walked into their bedroom.

  “You sure about that?” Stonewall replied with his back to her as he continued with breakfast, setting out a carton of eggs, half a dozen potatoes, and a New York steak they had planned on having that evening.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” she replied in a much more subdued voice and coming from their living room, clearly catching Stonewall off guard.

  He turned around to see her leaning against the end of the ebony baby grand piano in the corner of the living room, wearing nothing but the Lion of Judah Mezuzah pendant necklace he had given her when they moved into the apartment, and acutely aware of the picture she presented. The sterling silver pendant, which hung vertically from a silver chain and featured an inlaid eighteen karat gold lion, hung just above her breasts which, while not large, accentuated a perfectly sculptured figure with her washboard abs and perfectly toned legs. Her olive complexion, which still retained some of her workout glow, and long thick raven hair, now cascading down behind her shoulders, accented a figure that rivaled that of Artemis.

  “My God, you’re beautiful,” Stonewall exclaimed as he approached her. “Sure your name isn’t Diana instead of Dani?”

  “Well, you’ll just have to find out for yourself. But, you’re quite the Adonis, yourself, you know,” Dani replied as she reached to untie his shorts.

  “Does that bother you much?” Dani asked Stonewall as they reclined on their bed.

  “What’s that?”

  “Your eye and the scar across the left side of your face?”

  “Nah, I mean, initially, it sure did but that was more fear of the unknown. I got hit in northern Iraq and Ferro patched me up as best he could but I was really banged up. At some point, I lost consciousness and then woke up in Landstuhl, Germany, with the entire left side of my face covered in bandages. Of course, my left arm and shoulder were totally immobilized as well. As you can tell, they got carved up pretty good, too. But now, a few years later, I don’t even think about it. People are going to accept me for who I am regardless. However, I would think, from a woman’s perspective, that scar across your left arm and side here,” Stonewall said, as he traced the scar that ran below her left breast with his fingers, “would be more of an issue than mine. I mean, your Victoria’s Secret modeling career is over,” he teased.

  “Oh, please, I need something a little more challenging than that,” Dani replied as she threw a pillow at him. “But you’re right, every time I’m in a bikini at the beach, there’s no escaping it. And, yeah, at first it was an issue but now, it’s just part of the job. Well, I’m going to hit the shower,” she continued as she got off the bed and walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open.

  “Yeah, we probably need to get going,” Jackson agreed as he headed into the kitchen and put the steak and eggs back in the refrigerator. He then headed back into the bedroom.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Dani playfully asked him as he joined her in the shower.

  “Well, we both need a shower.”

  “I see,” she replied wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a rather passionate kiss while the water flowed over the two of them.

  “Okay, we really need to get going,” Dani said as they both exited the shower.

  “I’ll finish up with breakfast and then work on getting everything ready. I still need to check in with Jim as well and see how things are back home. It doesn’t sound good.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Okay, I’ll give him a call as soon as I’m finished in the kitchen.”

  “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be out.”

  “You got it,” Jackson replied. Five minutes later, Dani emerged from the bedroom wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a black T-shirt.

  “Good timing, breakfast is almost ready. So, Hezbollah. Have you worked on them that much?” Jackson asked.

  “No, I haven’t. We took our team into Lebanon several times looking for any information we could dig up on Iran in the past few years but I’ve never spent much time studying them. Why?”

  “I haven’t spent a lot of time on them, either, but how does a regional terrorist group like Hezbollah get the moxie to send a couple hundred scuds on four container ships and then coordinate an attack like this? Something’s not adding up. Tamir’s statement that ‘they have connections’ is pretty loaded.”

  “That it is but Tamir knows what he’s talking about. He wouldn’t even mention something like that if he didn’t have some solid evidence. However, if it is Hezbollah, you can bet they had help. There
goes your phone. I bet its Jim.”

  “You’re right,” Jackson said checking his cell phone laying on the kitchen island. “Jim, we just left Tamir. He filled us in on everything.”

  “Anything solid?”

  “Dani seems to think so,” Jackson replied.

  “Hi, Jim,” Dani said. “Tamir’s convinced its Hezbollah and that they obviously had some help. He hasn’t indicated who helped them but I think he has a pretty good idea.”

  “Does he have any evidence?” Jim asked rather abruptly.

  “He didn’t say, but I wouldn’t think he’d have even mentioned that without something to back it up,” Dani replied.

  “Okay, thanks Dani. I’ll be talking with Tamir shortly. Stonewall, what are you up to right now?”

  “We’re heading up to Palmyra looking for four Israeli pilots shot down last night. Not sure how long we’ll be up there but don’t expect to be too long.”

  “Okay, as soon as you’re back, clear your schedule and give me a call. I need you digging into this, probably up in the Latakia area.”

  IV

  The White House Oval Office

  9:00 AM Local Time

  “Mr. President, I’m terribly sorry to hear of what happened yesterday,” Russian Ambassador Dimitri Chekov said as he entered the Oval Office.

  “Thank you for that, Dimitri,” President Barre replied.

  “I’d offer any assistance you might need but I’m sure you have things well under control.”

  “I appreciate that, and in that spirit, I’d like to know why two of the ships involved in yesterday’s attack were Russian. As you can see from these photos, the two ships here, the MV Admiral Ushakov and the MV Tibor Szamueli, which each launched fifty missiles, are clearly flying a Russian flag.”

  “Mr. President, I can assure you, my government had nothing to do with this attack,” Chekov replied, clearly surprised by the photos.

  “Yet, the fact remains that these two ships are clearly flying your flag.”

  “Yes, I see that. In spite of these pictures, I can assure you that my government was not involved in this. Obviously, the same cannot be said for those in our merchant marine. And for that, you have my sincere apology. Just how bad is it?”

  “It’s bad, real bad. The ‘kind-of-bad-that-countries-go-to-war-over’ bad. There were approximately 150,000 spectators combined in attendance at the four events in Boston and New York and all four facilities were practically demolished. Right now, we are estimating over 15,000 fatalities and several thousand more are in various hospitals throughout New England and New York. And two of these ships had Russian captains, Dimitri. I find it very hard to believe that two ships, each with a Russian captain, decided on their own to take part in something like this.”

  “Mr. President, I can assure you that I will be taking this to my government and we will get to the bottom of this. I assume it’s too much to ask to speak to each of these captains?”

  “Are you kidding? Not a chance. We’ll get to the bottom of this, Dmitri, and let you know what we find out. In the meantime, I believe you are aware of our little energy crisis.” President Barre referred to the recent Iranian attack on the US refineries and electrical infrastructure that brought the US west coast to its knees.

  “Of course,” Ambassador Chekhov replied.

  “Well, I’ll be announcing this afternoon that I’ve approved the development and construction of an additional pipeline out of Canada. The Keystone Pipeline has already started construction and once completed will help supply the US east coast. This will be another one similar to Keystone, though this one will terminate in California instead of Texas. In addition to filling the need for the west coast, I’m hoping that the additional oil supply to California and the rest of the west coast will ensure cheap energy prices for years to come. I realize that it’ll take some time to complete this, especially given that repairing several of our refineries will come first, but I think the mere announcement of this will help to lower the seriously high prices we’re facing right now. I’m sure you can appreciate the significance of this.”

  “Mr. President, I understand your need to develop an energy policy in the wake of recent developments. I trust that this is truly part of your energy policy and not a reaction to anything else,” Ambassador Chekhov replied, knowing full well that any increase in the world’s oil supply—which is what a new pipeline implied—would have a dramatic impact on Russia’s economy. Oil and natural gas served as the only real exports that Russia had—and any corresponding price decrease on the world oil market would strike a serious blow to the Russian economy.

  “Mr. Ambassador, I can assure you that this is all a part of developing a national energy policy. Many of my predecessors have campaigned on such an idea but none of them ever developed one. Well, that is going to change. I’ll make sure someone on my staff keeps you up to date on the status of our investigation of the Admiral Ushakov and the Tibor Szamueli,” President Barre added to conclude the conversation.

  Headquarters Combat Air Force and Missile Air Defense Command

  Eskisehir Air Base, Turkey

  4:30 PM Local Time

  “Kemal, thanks for making the trip over from Ankara this afternoon,” General Aydin Tilki said to Kemal Atatürk, chief of staff to Turkey’s President.

  “Not a problem, General, with the first squadron of F-35s to be fielded very soon, I wanted to be a part of the discussion.” General Tilki served as the commanding general of Turkey’s Air Force and he wanted Atatürk to know where he intended to base their first F-35 squadron. “We see these as a new first line of defense against any untoward Russian aggression out of Syria and we’d like them based as close as possible to the border. However, we need to make sure that these planes work as advertised. The first generation of something like this always has some quirks to work out. As such, I believe President Demirel would like them based here at Eskisehir where we can have a firsthand look at them rather than anywhere else.”

  “And that’s one thing I wanted to discuss with you. Every one of the pilots and planes have been through thorough testing back at Luke Air Force base in Arizona. As such, I’m planning on basing all of them out at Erhac with the 7th Air wing. I have no intention of basing . . .” and that was all the general got out before a massive explosion ripped through the building. Out in front of the building, a delivery truck had parked extremely close to the building. The driver had parked the truck, set the timer on the bomb, and then proceeded into the building as if he was looking for someone to ask about a delivery. The driver had promptly vacated the building via another exit. Word of this meeting of the Air Force high command had reached Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS’s supreme leader, and he saw a golden opportunity to strike at some of the key leadership of not only Turkey’s military, but to take out a key aide to President Demirel as well. The removal of both posed an important part of Baghdadi’s plans for the very near future of Turkey. If this strike was successful, they just might be able to carry out another one real soon, it’d be a little riskier, but one that offered so much more to gain.

  Quneitra Crossing, Golan Heights

  5:00 PM Local Time

  “Have you been through here before?” Jackson asked Dani as they crossed into Syria from the Golan Heights.

  “No, I haven’t. This border crossing just recently opened up,” Dani replied. “I figure we’ll take this through Damascus. The last real town we’ll pass through before Palmyra will be Ad Dumayr which is about 120 miles southwest of Palmyra. At some point between the two, we’ll pass under ISIS’s control. At that point, I’ll put on the burka and look like a good Muslim wife. Figure we’ll get there about the noon hour.”

  “A ‘good Muslim wife,’ huh?” Jackson replied.

  “What? I just need to appear that way.”

  “Just don’t show your independent side to anyone,” Jackson added.

  “I can be submissive. You just haven’t had much chance to see that part of me yet,” D
ani replied rather sheepishly, and which brought a chuckle from Stonewall.

  “No, I really haven’t.”

  “You don’t need to laugh.”

  “Well, let’s face it: I’ve known you for close to two months now and you are the most fiercely independent and competitive woman I’ve ever met. I thought my sister was independent, but you’ve got her beat in spades.”

  “Ah, that’s right, I’m sure it took a little independence for her to become a B-1 pilot, right?”

  “You bet it did, and a little determination, but nothing like what you’ve done. Don’t get me wrong, I like strong, independent women.”

  “Well, that’s good, ‘cause I don’t plan on giving up my independence,” Dani added. “On another note, I know you’ve been with the 5th Group your entire career and have several years in the region over here but Tamir’s was right about this mission—you’ll blend in perfectly: your fluency in Arabic and that light brown hair and those brown eyes of yours have Chechen written all over it. Plus, that eye patch says you’ve taken one for the cause. You’re not sporting the black eyeball underneath with the gold Special Forces logo, are you? That would not go over very good.”

  “I wasn’t too worried about blending in. I’ve been over here enough that it’s almost second nature by now. And, yeah, I left that eyeball behind. Okay, back to my original question. You haven’t been through here before. Have you been in Syria before?”