Delta Green - страница 42

“You’ve stopped resupply launches?” Mays asked.

“For the time being, yes. We may have to detail a MakoShark to accompany them if we need to make a launch or two. McKenna had already given orders to not ship ordnance. We don’t want to lose a shipment of Wasp II missiles.”

“But they could still utilize other missile types,” Mays said.

“True. Phoenix, Sidewinder, AMRAAM can all be mounted on the missile rack in the payload bay, though not on the pylons. Only our modified missiles like the Phoenix II and the Wasp II, with the heat shields, can be hung externally. And the standard missiles won’t fly in space, either. They won’t fly true, at any rate.”

“So,” Cross said, “we have one advantage. Any engagement in space leaves Delta Green practically unarmed. They’ll only be able to rearm with atmospheric ordnance.”

“Eventually, maybe,” Brackman said. “She’s still got three Wasp IIs, two Phoenix IIs, and a Chain Gun.”

Brackman walked back to the small conference table and sat down. He refilled his coffee cup from the Thermos pitcher in the middle of the table.

“That’s all we know for now, then?” Cross asked.

“Yes sir. McKenna will let me know if anything else develops. He’s trying to set up for an intercept if she comes out of orbit, but he doesn’t have much hope for it.”

“All right, then, back to the agenda.”

The agenda was short, and they had already covered the first item. The next day, at one o’clock, the SecDef, with the President’s concurrence, was going to the armed services committees of both houses to report the hijacking. Though both Mays and Brackman wanted to hold off for another two or three days, they had been overruled by the Secretary.

“Number two,” the admiral said, “the identity of the aggressor.”

“David Thorpe has talked to Lieutenant Colonel Pearson several times,” Brackman said. “She has a theory that whoever stole the bird must have had prior experience in it. Or at least in the Mako. She’s got it pinned down to about thirty possible names, with six that are highly suspect.”

“And those six are out of the Russian training program?” Mays guessed.

“That’s right, Harv. I think she’s probably on the right track.”

“I don’t read this program as the work of one maniac pilot,” Cross said.

“No, Hannibal, I don’t think so, either. There’ll be an organization of some kind. And there’s got to be some big bucks involved.”

“Political considerations?” Cross asked.

“I’ve talked to the people at Langley and to Defense Intelligence,” Mays said, “but they haven’t heard anything out of the ordinary. They say they’ll refocus their efforts toward obtaining data about any maverick political or criminal organizations that might have the capability of pulling this off.”

“What’s the geography the agencies are talking about?” Brackman asked.

“Right now, just because it took place in Borneo, they’re concentrating on Southeast Asia, the subcontinent, Africa, and South America.”

“The whole damned southern hemisphere,” Cross said.

“We don’t have much to go on,” Mays said.

“Anyway,” Brackman said, “I believe Pearson will point us in the right direction soon.”

“Okay,” Cross said. “We’ve got about as much as we can get right now. The SecDef will meet the honchos on the Hill tomorrow and give them the facts we have as of noon tomorrow. McKenna and Overton are on top of a search program. We have one sighting, and McKenna’s taking a stab in the dark at an interception. Pearson and Thorpe are narrowing the suspects. That about it on the MakoShark, Marvin?”

“That’s it.”

Cross waved his copy of the agenda at them. “The rest of this got shoved back from our regular meeting. Any reason why we can’t delay it?”

Brackman said, “I’d like to deal with number six, and I’d like to add one item.”

“Six? That’s yours. Del Cartwright?”

“I want him off Merlin Air Base. Yesterday would have been a good time for it.”

“Now, hold on a second, Marvin,” Mays said. “He’s a good commander.”

“For a wing, maybe. You foisted him off on me, Harv, and he’s not working out. He wanted to make his imprint on the base right away, and he changed programs and systems to make that imprint. Without analyzing them.”