Ballistic Force(95)
“Of course, if it comes to that, we’re talking all-out war,” Kissinger said, “so you gotta figure that’s a last resort.”
Brognola nodded. “I’ve already talked with the President. If need be, he’s ready to call an emergency session of Congress so he can get a green light to take action.”
“That could take a while, don’t you think?” Kissinger said. “What if the KPA sees what we’re up to and kicks things into high gear before we can cut through the red tape?”
“I think you know the answer to that,” Brognola said. “We’ll do what we have to and worry about protocol afterward.”
Carmen Delahunt was working within earshot of the conversation and interjected, “On the bright side, we might not have to go it alone.”
Brognola turned to the redhead. “You managed to get through to Hilldecker?”
“Indirectly,” Delahunt replied. “I’ve been online with this Corporal Michaels guy Akira was working with. He’s keeping tabs with Hilldecker, and she says she’s working the allies for some assistance. Japan and South Korea are already on board, and word is that China’s been more receptive ever since hearing about this possible coup. They might throw in if we sweeten the pot enough.”
Brognola shook his head. “That’s not likely to happen. We’re just looking to diffuse things, not take the place over and start divvying out slices.”
“I don’t know if they’ll thinking in terms of a land grab,” Delahunt said. “I think they’re just tired of refugees spilling over the border. If things calm down enough that people quit fleeing the country, that might be good enough for them.”
“That and some kind of softening on our trade stance with them,” Price guessed.
“Hey, whatever works,” Kissinger said. “Hell, if it’ll mean yanking nukes out of their backyard, even Russia’ll probably kick in before this is all over.”
A wan smile creased Brognola’s face. “Who’d’ve thought we’d ever be having a conversation where both Russia and China come off sounding like allies?”
“War’s the same as politics,” Kissinger said. “Makes for strange bedfellows sometimes.”
Brognola’s gaze strayed from the computer area to the far wall monitors. One of the screens was filled with a map focused solely on the Korean Peninsula around the 38th Parallel. Barring any flight disruptions, the cargo plane carrying Mack Bolan and the Army Ranger crew from Zane Island would soon be landing at Camp Bonifas to pick up Akira Tokaido and the ops force Colonel Michaels had put together. The fate of their hastily plotted mission across the DMZ would likely determine whether the world would be able to step back from the brink of a showdown with nuclear consequences not seen since the Cuban missile crisis nearly a half century ago.
“The ball’s in your court, Mack,” Brognola whispered ominously. “We’re counting on you.”
Camp Bonifas, Joint Security Area, South Korea
MACK BOLAN STOOD in the open doorway as Corporal Thomas Michaels’ hand-picked crew of Army Rangers scrambled up the mobile staircase into the passenger cabin of the Young-333 cargo plane that had landed just moments before on the runway at Camp Bonifas.
“Keep moving and don’t be picky about where you sit,” he told the soldiers, waving them in. “We’re on a tight schedule.”
Bolan wasn’t exaggerating. The Army had earlier dispatched a decoy plane from Osan Air Base to assume the Young’s flight path while it diverted to Bonifas, and for the sleight of hand to succeed, the 333 needed to take off as quickly as possible so that it could reclaim its air space before crossing into range of the KPA’s military radar. After that, of course, there remained the even more difficult challenge of straying off course a second time to allow for the insertion of the special ops teams miles inland from their charted destination of Kaesong. Bolan had checked in with the Farm while in the air, and it sounded as if they might be able to use the cloud cover as an excuse for the second diversion. It would be a moot point, however, if the KPA was given reason to believe that something was amiss with the flight supposedly carrying the captured members of the Kanggye nuclear team.
The Rangers boarded the plane and settled in alongside their counterparts from Zane Island. Colonel Michaels had already begged off the mission, feeling he’d be more useful working the intel angles and keeping Undersecretary of State Hilldecker supplied with any necessary updates. The female diplomat, along with the rest of the U.S. negotiating team, had been withdrawn from Panmunjom a few hours earlier and were cloistered in bunker quarters located beneath base’s the CRCC compound. In light of the heightening crisis, it had been decided that it would be wiser for them to carry on their negotiations from a safe distance rather than within firing range of North Korea’s DMZ security detail.