‘I can check,’ said Jed. ‘I’ll have to get back to you. There’s like a thirteen-hour difference between here and there. It’s past eight in the evening here in D.C., five in the afternoon where you are, and, urn, like past four A.M. there.’ Jed glanced at his watch, working out the differences. ‘Tomorrow. Four A.M. tomorrow.’
‘I can figure it out.’
‘If it took twelve hours to get Piranha ready, could you like, be there when? Tomorrow?’
‘I have to talk to some of my people first,’ said the colonel. ‘I would guess we could arrive sometime tomorrow night our time at the very earliest. I don’t know what sort of shape we’d be in to launch a mission. I’ll have to get this all mapped out.’
‘OK, Colonel. Anything else?’
‘How about tripling my budget and sending me a thousand more people?’
‘Afraid I don’t have that kind of pull,’ said Jed.
‘Neither do I,’ said Dog. ‘Dreamland out.’
Las Vegas 1715
Danny Freah waited as the server rearranged their forks. To call the restaurant fancy was to underestimate it by half; the entrées cost twice what Danny had paid for his watch.
‘You’re sure no drink?’ said Rosenstein as the server set down a single malt scotch.
‘Nothing for me. Thanks.’
‘Good. Very good,’ said Rosenstein, taking a sip. ‘I noticed you’re an NOE.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Not Otherwise Enrolled,’ said Rosenstein. ‘Your party registration. You’re not enrolled in a political party.’
‘I haven’t been involved in politics.’
‘Unlike your wife.’
‘Jemma’s always been pretty political.’
‘Nonpolitical is hot. The thing is, in that district, I’m pretty sure you could get both Democratic and Republican nominations. Conservative party as well. Not Liberal, but you’re not going to want that anyway, right?’
‘I don’t know that I want anything.’
‘Still playing hard to get, Captain?’
‘I’m not playing anything.’
Rosenstein took a long sip of his scotch, savoring it. ‘I’m not here to sell you on running for office. I’ll just lay out the time schedule for you. But …’ He paused, obviously for effect. ‘War hero, young, black, well-spoken – Congress can use someone like you.’
‘You had me until you said well-spoken,’ said Danny. ‘You’ve never heard me speak.’
‘We can work on that. Game plan: Form a committee January 2. Make the rounds until early February. Parties meet. Get the endorsements in March. Circulate petitions. This is New York, so there will be primaries. That’s not going to be the problem, as long as we’ve taken care of business in January and February. It’ll be in your favor, actually; help get your name around. The primaries are the real action in the city anyway. Money’s the only hiccup, and I think we can handle that without a problem. We usually break the donor lists down three ways to start. In your case we’ll add two more – veterans and military contractors, and black professionals. Obviously, you’ll do pretty well with those groups, and we want them to see you as their candidate right off. They don’t translate into many votes in your district, but they’ll ante up.’
‘Ante up?’
‘I’m sorry, it’s Vegas, you know? Look, I do this for a living, so sometimes I get to sounding pretty cynical. Don’t be put off. You won’t have to worry about any of that. That’s why we get a good financial chair. It’s his problem. Or hers. You’ll bring a different perspective to Congress, Captain. And I’m not blowing smoke in your ear. You can make a difference in Washington. Congress will be just a start. Mark my words.’
Danny had hoped that meeting Rosenstein would end his ambivalence about running for political office, one way or the other. But right now he only felt more confused. He’d expected the political operative to be cynical, so he wasn’t shocked that he spoke about people in terms of how much money they might be able to contribute. And by now so many people had told him that he ought to run that he was almost used to being called a ‘hero,’ even if from his point of view he was only a hardworking guy who did his job.
What confused him was his duty. Day by day in the military, in his experience, it was usually obvious: You followed orders, you accomplished your mission, you looked out for your people.
But there were higher responsibilities as well. If you had the potential to be a leader, then you should lead. That was one of the reasons he’d become an officer, and why he’d gone to college on an ROTC scholarship. Or to put it in the terms his mom would have used, ‘If you have the brains, don’t sit on them.’
So if he had a chance to be a congressman – to shape the country’s laws and maybe make a difference – should he take it? Was it his responsibility to become a congressman because he could?
‘Heads up, Captain. Here come our appetizers,’ said Rosenstein as the waiter approached.
As Danny started to sit back, the beeper on his belt went off. He glanced down at the face and saw the call was from Dreamland.
‘I have to go make a phone call,’ he told Rosenstein, getting up.
‘Colonel needs you,’ said Ax when he reached the base. ‘Said it might be a case of whiplash.’
‘On my way,’ Danny snapped.
Dreamland 1930
‘I don’t see the point of you deploying with us, Mack,’ said Dog. ‘There’s not going to be much for you to do.’
‘Piranha’s my project, Colonel. You put me in the slot, right? I have to liaison. Let me liaison.’
‘There’s nothing to liaison with, Mack. You’re needed here.’
‘I’m just twiddling my thumbs here.’
‘You’re supposed to be doing a lot more than twiddling your thumbs.’
‘You know what I mean, Colonel. I want to be where the action is. Hey – I’ll learn to drive the Piranha. We’re short on operators, right?’
‘I’m not going to train you on the fly. We have Delaford and Ensign English. Zen and Starship are already checked out as backups; that gives us four operators. We can do the mission like that for a while.’
‘Is it because of the wheelchair?’ asked Mack.
‘It’s not because of the wheelchair,’ said Dog. ‘But since you bring that up, I think frankly that you would be better served by continuing your rehab here.’
‘Ah, I’m doing fine with it.’
‘All the more reason to keep up with it. If you’ll excuse me, I have some packing to do.’
Near Karin, Somalia, on the Gulf of Aden 4 November 1997 0431
Ali Qaed Abu Al-Harthi stood on the bow of the small boat as it approached the rocky cut. It had been a long day and night, and while not without success, Ali focused now