By Order of the President (Presidential Agent 1)

“It’ll probably be there in a couple of minutes,” Naylor said. “Are they going to find out what they can about the pilot, and the company . . . what is it, ‘Lease-Aire’?”

“They already knew something about them, General,” Willis said, “and—out of school—Jerry Lowell, the SAC, said we’d give five-to-one that Hartford is somehow going to be involved.”

“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand that,” Naylor said.

“Insurance, General,” Willis said, with a sly smile. “This Lease-Aire outfit has been stumbling along for a long time on the edge of bankruptcy. Their airplane is, quote, stolen, unquote, and they get paid.”

“You did tell him that the CIA guy said there was no indication that the pilot was checking out of his hotel?” Naylor said.

“That’s what they call ‘setting the scene,’ General,” Willis explained patiently. “It looks as if he wasn’t planning to leave. We decide he was forced to leave, to fly the plane. He turns up in South Africa, or someplace, and says, ‘Yes, that’s what’s happened.’ ”

“From our standpoint,” Naylor said, “if the airplane was stolen to collect the insurance . . .”

“He puts it on autopilot and aims it out over the ocean,” Willis interjected, “and then goes out the back door. By now, that airplane is probably on the bottom of the sea.”

“As I was saying,” Naylor said, a little sharply, “from our standpoint that’s a best-case scenario. The airplane will not be used in some kind of terrorist activity.”

“I know I’m speaking out of turn, Allan . . .” General McFadden said.

Yeah, you are. Shut up and wait your turn. And don’t call me by my first name in the presence of our subordinates.

“You have the floor, General,” Naylor said.

“I had a flash Armageddon worst-case scenario as soon as I came in here,” General McFadden said. “I mean, think about it. What’s missing is an old airplane without the range to make a nuisance of itself anywhere important. With one exception. Think about this: What these rag-heads are really trying to do is get all the other rag-heads united against us, right? And so far they’re not doing so hot, right? So what would really piss off all the world’s rag-heads? An American airplane crashing into that black thing—whatever it is—in Mecca . . .”

“They call that the ‘ka’ba,’ General McFadden,” General Potter interrupted. “Muslims believe that it was built by Adam, then rebuilt by Ibrahim and his son Isma’il. It’s a brick structure, a ten on the Holy Scale, where the Vatican is maybe a five, if you consider that at least the Catholics let others in to worship . . .”

“. . . to which,” General McFadden said, resuming the floor, “all the rag-heads make a pilgrimage.” He paused to glower at Potter for his interruption.

Potter, undaunted, smiled at him.

“Would the rag-heads believe another rag-head had done that? Hell no, they wouldn’t,” McFadden went on. “Especially when the plane was traceable to us and the body of an American pilot was found in the wreckage.”

“George?” Naylor asked.

“It’s a little far-fetched, sir,” General Potter said. “But it could be done, and I have to agree with General McFadden that it would indeed cause our Muslim brothers to think even less of us than they do now.”

“All of them, Potter,” McFadden said. “Every goddamned one of them!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Naylor saw activity on the laptop screen and dropped his eyes to it.

THIS JUST CAME BACK CHANNEL FOR GEN POTTER— SGTMAJ SUGGINS

SECRET

SATBURST 03 LUANDA 23 MAY 2005

FOR REGDIR SWAFRICA

SOURCES AT POLICIA NACIONAL LUANDA CONFIRM THAT SERGEI NOSTROFF (RUSSIAN NATIONAL AND KNOWN ASSOCIATE OF VASILY RESPIN, ALLEGED ARMS DEALER) AND PAOLO WALLI (ANGOLAN NATIONAL SUSPECTED OF VARIOUS CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES) ARE KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN IN LUANDA IN PAST WEEK. PRESENT WHEREABOUTS OF EITHER ARE UNKNOWN.

UNDERSIGNED SUGGESTS POSSIBILITY THAT BOTH MAY BE INVOLVED WITH DISAPPEARANCE OF LA- 9021. RESPIN REPORTED TO OWN AT LEAST THREE BOEING 727 AIRCRAFT. LA-9021 MAY BE FLOWN ELSEWHERE, POSSIBLY TO SHARJAH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, WHERE RESPIN CONTROLS THREE OR MORE AIRLINES EITHER FOR USE WITH FALSE IDENTITY NUMBERS OR TO BE STRIPPED OF USABLE PARTS FOR OTHER AIRCRAFT.

STRONGLY RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE AND WIDESPREAD USE OF SATELLITE, AWACS, OTHER SURVEILLANCE ASSETS, AND HUMINTEL ON ALL POSSIBLE ROUTES BETWEEN LUANDA AND SHARJAH, AND OTHER POINTS IN MIDDLE EAST.

MORE TO FOLLOW. STACHIEF LUANDA

Naylor read it twice. It sounded slightly less far-fetched than General McFadden’s worst-case scenario.