Sahara (Dirk Pitt 11)

"First let me ask you, Mr. President, have you been briefed on the latest developments on the Fort Foureau operation?"

The President looked at Willover. "I was told that your men, Pitt and Giordino, had managed to escape into Algeria and that they provided vital information regarding Yves Massarde's corrupt and unscrupulous hazardous waste operations. . ."

"May I ask what your response is?"

"We're calling for an international environmental tribunal of European and North African legal representatives to meet and discuss a plan of action," answered Willover.

"Then you don't plan to. . . I believe you said, Mr. President. . . `go in and take the place out ourselves'"

"Cooler heads have prevailed," said the President, nodding at Willoven.

"Even now, with proof that chemicals leaking from Fort Foureau are causing the expanding red tide, all anyone is going to do is sit down and talk about it?" Sandecker said, controlling his exasperation.

"We'll discuss this another time," said the President, turning to return to his bedroom upstairs in the White House. "Earl will set up an appointment."

"Did Earl also brief you on the Tebezza gold mines?" asked Sandecker suddenly.

The President hesitated and shook his head. "No, I'm not familiar with the name."

"After Pitt and Giordino were captured at Fort Foureau," Sandecker went on, "they were taken to another one of General Kazim and Yves Massarde's sinister enterprises, a little-known gold mine where opposition and dissident prisoners are enslaved and worked to death under the most barbaric and inhumane conditions. A number of them were French engineers and their families Massarde imprisoned so they couldn't return home and expose Fort Foureau. My men also found the missing World Health Team that was supposedly killed in a plane crash, all horribly starved and exhausted from overwork and little food. . ."`

The President gave Willover a cold stare. "It seems I'm kept in the dark on a number of matters. . ."

"I try to do my job fielding priorities," Willover offered hastily.

"So where is this leading?" the President asked Sandecker.

"Knowing it was useless to ask you for a special force," Sandecker continued, "Hala Kamil again came to the rescue and volunteered the United Nations critical response team. With Pitt and Giordino to guide them, Colonel Levant and his force landed in the desert near the mines, conducted a successful raid, and rescued twenty-five foreign national men, women, and children--"

"Children were forced to work the mines?" the President interrupted.

Sandecker nodded. "They belonged to the French engineers and their wives. There was also an American, Dr. Eva Rojas, who was a member of the World Health Team."

"If the raid was successful, what is the urgent problem?" demanded Willover.

"Their transport, the aircraft they flew from Algeria, was destroyed on the ground at the Tebezza airstrip by fighters of the Malian air force. The entire force along with the rescued captives are trapped in the middle of Mali. It's only a matter of hours before Kazim's military finds and attacks them."

"You paint a bleak picture," said the President seriously. "Is there no way they can safely reach the Algerian border?"

"It would matter little if they did," explained Sandecker. "Kazim won't hesitate to run the risk of a confrontation with the Algerian government to stop the captives from exposing the atrocities at Tebezza and dangers of Fort Foureau. He'll send his military deep into Algeria to destroy them and guarantee their silence."

The President went silent, studying the canapés without biting into one. The implications of what Sandecker had told him were not to be brushed aside as he knew Willover was about to advise. But he could not stand by and do nothing while a backwater despot murdered innocent foreign citizens.

"Kazim is as bad as Saddam Hussein," muttered the President. He turned to Willover. "I'm not going to hide under the covers on this one, Earl. Too many lives are at stake including those of three Americans. We've got to lend a hand."

"But Mr. President," Willover protested.

"Contact General Halverson at Special Forces Command in Tampa. Alert him for an immediate operation." The President stared at Sandecker. "Who do you suggest to coordinate this thing, Admiral?"

"General Bock, commander of the UN Critical Response and Tactical Team. He's in contact with Colonel Levant and can provide General Halverson with constant updates on the situation."

The President set the canapés aside on a credenza and. placed his hands on Willover's shoulders. "I value your advice, Earl, but I've got to act on this one. We can kill two birds with one stone and take half the flak if the operation goes sour. I want our Special Forces to secretly infiltrate Mali, rescue the UN tactical team and the captives. Then get the hell out before Kazim and Massarde know what hit them. Afterward, perhaps we can figure a way to neutralize the Fort Feureau waste project."

"You get my endorsement," Sandecker smiled broadly.

"I guess nothing I can say will change your mind," Willover said to the President.

"No, Earl," said the President, retrieving his canapé tray, "we're going to close our eyes and bet the bankroll on an inside straight."'