4:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
The Oval Office
The White House, Washington, DC
"The link should just take a moment," Kurt said.
In the meantime, an even smaller group than had been in the Situation Room stood around and waited.
Luke stood near the back of the semicircle of people. They were focused on the large flat-panel TV mounted on the far wall. Luke didn't love that thing. It was an ugly piece of anachronistic electronics, intruding on the stately elegance of the Oval Office. It reminded him somehow of the large black obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey, a high-tech interloper everywhere it appeared.
And to extend that metaphor, Luke and everyone else in the room were the apelike pre-modern humans surrounding and gazing up at it.
Luke glanced around the office. Three tall windows, with drapes pulled back, still looked out on the Rose Garden. The Garden was covered in snow, and the light was fading from the sky. Near the center of the office, a comfortable sitting area was situated on top of a lush carpet adorned with the Seal of the President. In the corner, the Resolute Desk-a long-ago gift from the British people-was still there in its customary spot. Standing at the double doors were two Secret Service agents.
The TV flickered, and on the screen appeared Army General Michael "Kip" Wellesley, Commander of the United States Africa Command. He was a round-jawed black man with a perfectly bald head. He looked young, though Luke knew he was in his late fifties. He had gentle and intelligent eyes, which was an oddity for a man of his profession, and in his position. He wore dress greens for the occasion, and was beaming to them across the skies from his headquarters at Kelley Barracks, in Stuttgart, Germany.
To Luke, Germany seemed an odd location for AFRICOM to be based, but then again, the locations rarely made sense. CENTCOM, which had authority over the strategically crucial Middle East, Persian Gulf, and Central Asia, was based in Florida.
"General Wellesley," Susan said. "Thanks for joining us."
The general smiled. "President Hopkins, it's an honor, and my pleasure, to speak with you."
Luke nearly smiled. The general was laying it on a little thick.
"Kip, we know you're busy," Haley Lawrence said. "We just want to give you a heads-up and run something by you. You may have been briefed by now about the freighter that was seized in the Gulf of Guinea today. A weapon of some kind appears to have found its way into Nigerian hands as a result."
"I'm aware of it," the general said.
"We're sending a civilian investigative team your way, coming straight from the President. They'll be covert operators from the Special Response Team, and they'll arrive within the next twenty-four hours, possibly within the next twelve. They're going to need the red carpet treatment, both at Agadez and at Diffa. Full cooperation. Carte blanche."
"Okay," the general said. His mouth said okay, but his eyes seemed to say something else.
"We also need three drop teams of special operators on stand-by, positioned very near the border of eastern Nigeria."
"Haley, am I to understand you're planning an incursion into eastern Nigeria?"
Haley shrugged. "Yes."
"With all respect due to yourself and the President, I'm not sure that idea is advisable." He shook his head and offered a half-smile. "In the parlance of infantry troops from my combat days, that area is hotter than hell."
Haley Lawrence shook his head. "Be that as it may, the President and I are expecting that you, working closely with General Loomis of the Joint Special Operations Command-"
"Hi, Kip," General Loomis said.
"Hi, Frank," General Wellesley said.
"We're expecting that you will select and deploy the best troops currently active in that region. General Loomis will fill you in on the details of the operation. We intend it to be a quick strike, on a location to be determined, very likely in the Sambisa Forest."
Luke got the sense that if this were a telephone conversation, Wellesley would have rolled his eyes.
"Understood," Wellesley said. "Do you have the identities of the covert team?"
"Yes," Luke said. Until he spoke, he hadn't fully decided who was going. Now he knew for sure. He tried to ignore the laser beams boring into him from Susan's eyes.
"It'll be myself and three others. You'll have their dossiers within the next hour."
Wellesley focused on Luke. "Ah, Agent Stone. There you are, hiding in the back. I was wondering where you were. What else do you need from me, besides carte blanche everything?"
"I need a local guide," Luke said. "Someone who knows everyone and everything in that region. If the missing item is there, in the forest or somewhere nearby, there are people on the ground who already know where it is, and what it is. I need someone who knows those people."
The general smiled, and it seemed a devilish sort of smile.
"I think I may have the perfect person for that."
