CARRIER 10: ARSENAL By: Keith Douglass

itself has never approached. Still, there was only one candidate on

the ballot. Do you feel that weakens your position any?”

“The people wanted only one candidate. This was their opportunity to

show their grateful support for our leader, not to engage in pointless

bickering.” The jeep ground to a halt unexpectedly, throwing Pamela

sideways against the hard metal strake. She hit her head sharply, felt

a flash of pain, then pushed it aside to zoom back in on the man she

was questioning. “So if the Cuban people feel that way, in the

majority, why is this revolution taking place?”

“It is not a revolution. It is treason.” He smiled coldly.

“And that. Miss Drake, is something you ought to understand.”

“But how will missiles help you deal with an internal affair?” she

pressed. “Surely if Cuba is capable of handling this issue herself,

the last thing you need is the United States annoyed and intervening.

Unless,” she said, pausing as insight flashed into her mind, “you’re

having a problem with your Libyan masters. Are they holding out for

more control over the legitimate government in exchange for quashing

the rebels for you? Is that it?”

Bingo. She knew she’d struck gold by the flash of annoyance in his

eyes. Exultation warred with an increasing feeling of uneasiness as

she contemplated her position. She was in Cuba illegally, neither

entitled to nor likely to get support from her own government, and

trapped between three warring forces. The so-called legitimate

government of Cuba, the Libyan “advisors” who were increasingly in

evidence, and the guerrilla fighters whom Leyta represented on the

mainland.

A hell of a story if she survived it.

1315 Local (+5 GMT) Washington, D.C. “I don’t know how you can expect

me to keep this up,” Admiral Loggins hissed. “There’s absolutely no

chance I can keep the aircraft carrier out of it. Not after what’s

happened down there. It’s not only impossible, but it makes no

tactical sense whatsoever. None.”

“You’re going to be lucky if you’ve even got any carriers left after

I’m through with you,” Senator Williams shot back. He pointed at the

TV broadcasting ACN headlines in the corner of the room. “That footage

of those SEALs is worth more during budget debates than five hundred

pounds of briefings and testimony. You think they ever read all the

material we send them? No they make their decisions based on sound

bites and shots like that. And you can bet they’re going to be hearing

from every Cuban constituent in every district over this one.”

“What you’re asking is unreasonable. With the Arsenal ship damaged, if

we need to take action against Cuba, it’s going to have to be with the

carrier. There’s no other way to do this safely; there’s just not”

“Safety’ is a relative term. And you’re going to be thinking longingly

about this conversation when the Senate subpoenas you about your

relationship with Miss Pamela Drake and the film footage ACN

broadcast.

Don’t cross me now, Keith. You’re in this too far.”

Admiral Loggins slammed his hand down on the desk and glared at the

senator. “Don’t you dare threaten me. Not me, not Pamela not ever.

I’ve gone along with your plans because they were what I felt was best

for the Navy, but you’ve gone too far this time. My relationship with

Pamela has nothing to do with her work, nor does she have anything to

do with mine. We’re just private citizens, trying” “The hell you

are!”

Senator Williams shoved himself out of his chair and leaned across the

desk to glare at Loggins, his hands planted and splayed on the blotter

in front of the admiral. “You gave up a private life the day you put

on those stars, and don’t you forget it. Just the way I did when I

took my first oath of office in Congress twenty years ago. What you

do, who you screw, all of it. It’s all career material.

And if you don’t understand that, then you’ve already been promoted two

times too many. You got me?”

The admiral stood up from behind his desk slowly, his shoulders

slumped. He stared out the window that gazed out across the Potomac,

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *