“Has the President made a decision?” “Not yet,” said Burkow, “but he’s leaning toward it. He’s waiting for intelligence to determine whether American interests are, in fact, in danger.
Paul? Mar his his Do either of you have anything to say about that?” Being the senior official. Hood answered first.
“Except for the attack against Martha-or perhaps because of it-there have been no reports of additional hostilities against American tourists,” he said.
“Nor do we expect there to be. The people of Spain will be extremely sensitive about straining relations further. Besides, whatever the region, Spain’s economy depends upon tourism. It’s very unlikely that they’ll want to do anything to jeopardize that. As for additional political attacks against Americans, we all know that Martha was assassinated because she worked for Op-Center. We believe that she was murdered as a singular warning to the United States not to do exactly what we’re discussing: become involved in Spanish politics.
As long as we keep our distance, politically and militarily, we don’t expect any more such attacks.” “Paul’s on the money about the tourist situation,” Marius said. “We’ve been very carefully monitoring the actions of the Spanish police and military. They respond very quickly to put down violence in popular tourist centers. Of course,” he added, “that may change if the conflict takes on a life of its own or if the police are provoked the way they were at the Traitor’s Gate.” “Which,” Burkow interrupted, “is the heart of the matter. It’s the reason the President is considering sending troops. There’s a point in every internal conflict when protest becomes open warfare. When emotion takes over from common sense.
When expectations change from ‘I want to preserve my economy” to “I want to preserve my life.” When that happens-was “If it happens,” Manni pointed out.
“Fine,” Burkow said. “If it happens, tourists- American and otherwise-will have no one looking out for them.” As Burkow was speaking. Hood received a secure e-mail message from McCaskey. He motioned Rodgers over as it came through. They read it together.
Paul, it read.
Field Ops report Basque yacht bomber murdered by Catalonian team. FO’S going to talk to hit squad. Assessment: motive was revenge, not politics. I “we warned FO’S that one of them may still be in danger if she’s recognised as survivor of the MM situation. She doesn ‘I think these people are carrying on that agenda. I’m inclined to agree that circumstances have changed. Inform if you want her recalled.
The yacht bomber apparently was backed by army general named Amadori. Checking on him now. Not surprisingly, local NATO files on the general appear to have been purged.
Hood sent an acknowledgment along with his congratulations to Aideen and Maria for their intelligence work. He didn’t like the idea of her being out there with members of the team that had had Martha killed. Especially after having inadvertently left her and Martha open to the attack in the first place.
But Maria was a crack agent. With her there to back Aideen-and vice versa-Hood informed Darrell to let the women make the call.
“Mr. Burkow,” Manni said, “your concerns are well founded. But I believe we should wait to see whether the Spanish government can put this down themselves.” “So far, they haven’t exactly instilled confidence,” Burkow said. “They couldn’t even keep Deputy Serrador alive long enough to interrogate him.” “Mistakes were made,” Manni agreed.
“Everyone was caught off guard. But we mustn’t compound those mistakes.” “Paul Hood here. What do you recommend, Mr.
Secretary-General?”‘” “My advice, Mr. Hood, is to give the prime minister another day to work things out. He has called in his military advisor on civil unrest and they’re drawing up a plan to deal with all possible contingencies.” Rodgers leaned toward the phone. “Sir, this is General Mike Rodgers, Deputy Director of Op-Center. If the prime minister or his officers need any military or intelligence support, my office is prepared to offer it very, very quietly.” “Thank you. General Rodgers,” said Manni.
“I will certainly inform Prime Minister Aznar and General Amadori of your generous offer.” Hood was looking at Rodgers as Manni spoke.
Something passed between them at the mention of Amadori’s name-a rapid and unexpected deflation of spirit visible in their eyes, a moment of numb paralysis in their limbs. Hood felt like a predator who suddenly realized that his prey was much smarter, more feral, and far deadlier than he’d expected.
The paralysis passed quickly. Hood hit the mute button. “Mike-was “I know,” Rodgers said, already rising. “I’m on it.” “If it’s the same man,” Hood said, “they’ve got some very serious problems over there.” “Spain does,” Rodgers said, “along with every nation that’s going to want to get its people out of there in a hurry.” As Rodgers hurried from the office Hood listened, disinterested, to the political jabber between Manni, Burkow, and Lanning. They agreed about how they needed to let Spain solve this situation themselves but with a level of vocal support from the U.s. which would be heard by the feuding factions and could be ratcheted up to a military presence if necessary. A military presence that could become defensive action but that was actually offense designed at helping to preserve the legitimate government of Spain- It was all very necessary. Hood knew, but only in terms of posturing-like the United Nations itself. The real work was going to be done over the next few hours as they tried to figure out whether Amadori was behind the unrest. And, if so, how far he had gone in undermining the government. If he hadn’t gone too far, U.s. intelligence and the military would have to work with Spanish leaders to figure out how to stop him. That would be difficult to do quietly, but it could be done. There were templates for that kind of containment in Haiti, Panama, and other nations.
But it was the alternative that concerned Hood. The possibility that, like a cancer, Amadori’s influence had spread far into the workings of the nation. If that were the case, then it might not be possible to remove the general without killing the patient. The only model for that was the collapse of Yugoslavia, a struggle in which thousands of people died and the sociopolitical and economic ramifications were still being felt.
Spain had nearly four times the population of Yugoslavia. It also had friends and enemies in neighboring nations. If Spain came apart the unrest could easily spread throughout Europe. The breakup could also set an example for other melting-pot nations such as France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Perhaps even the United States.
The call ended with an agreement that the Secretary-General’s staff would provide hourly updates to the White House, and that Burkow would inform Manni of any changes in administration policy.
Hood hung up the phone feeling more helpless than he had since he’d first joined Op-Center. He’d had missions go right and missions go wrong. His team had thwarted terrorists and coups. But he’d never faced a situation that threatened to set the tone for a new century: the idea that fragmentation was the norm rather than the exception and that nations as the world knew them could very well be on the brink of extinction.
TWENTY Tuesday, 4:45 a.m. Madrid, Spain Word of Adolfo Alcazar’s brutal death traveled quickly from Maria Comeja to Luis Garcia de la Vega to Darrell McCaskey. As he was required to do by law, Luis conveyed news of the homicide to the Ministry of Justice in Madrid.
There, a high-ranking officer on the night staff quietly passed the information to General Amadori’s longtime personal aide, Antonio Aguirre. Aguirre-a former staff officer to Francisco Franco-personally went to the General’s office, knocked once on the door, and waited until he was invited in. Then he gave the news to the General himself.
Amadori did not seem surprised to learn of Adolfo’s death. He also did not mourn Adolfo. How could he: the General had not known the man. It had been imperative that the two men be together and communicate with one another as little as possible. That way, if Adolfo had been arrested and forced to talk, there was nothing but his own testimony to link him to the General.
There were no telephone records, notes, or photographs. To Amadori, Adolfo Alcazar was a loyal soldier of the cause, one of the many revolutionaries whom the General did not and could not know.
But what the brave and devoted Adolfo Alcazar had done was a flashpoint that had helped to make this revolution possible. The General vowed aloud to Antonio Aguirre that his murder would be avenged and his killers eliminated. He knew exactly who to go after: the Ramirez familia.
No one else would have a reason or the means to eliminate Adolfo. Their deaths would be an example to others that he intended to treat resistance with terminal force.