Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 10 by Wings of Fire (v1.1) Read Free Book Online Page A

Goff, Kercheval, or even Busick any
day,” Patrick said. “But there is no way in hell I’d ever serve under Thom.”
                 “Why?”
                 “We
don’t just disagree—I feel his views of the military and America ’s role in the world suck,” Patrick said. “ America has the moral wisdom to use its military
forces to protect peace and freedom around the world. This ‘stick-your-
head-in-the-sand’ attitude is causing widespread uncertainty in the world, and
scumbags like Pavel Kazakov are crawling out of the woodwork and taking
advantage of it.”
                “Then why wouldn’t you go to the
White House and tell Thom what you think?”
                 “Because
you can’t talk to guys like Thom. He’s a fanatic, an extremist ideologue. I’d
be arguing real-world situations and alternatives to crises that require fast
responses, and he’d be quoting Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. No,
thanks.”
                 “You
would decline to accept the nomination?”
                 “Loudly
and publicly,” Patrick said finally.
                 Martindale
nodded. “Good. You’re the heart of this team, Patrick—I hope you know that,” he
said sincerely. “We’d exist without you, but we wouldn’t be the same— not
nearly as dedicated, not nearly as hard-charging. I’d move heaven and earth to
keep you here.”
                 “Thank
you, sir,” Patrick said. “That means a lot.” Patrick and Hal followed
Martindale into a secure conference room in the main headquarters building of
the Sky Masters Inc. campus, a large industrial and research center in what was
the old Blytheville Air Force Base in Arkansas , now called the Arkansas International
Jetport. They warmly greeted Patrick’s brother Paul, one of the first members
of the Night Stalkers and the most experienced Tin Man battle armor user, along
with Chris Wohl, a retired Marine Corps master sergeant and Hal Briggs’s
longtime partner. Martindale took his place at the apex of the conference table
while Patrick secured the room, then motioned for Chris Wohl to begin:
                 “We
are closely monitoring developments on the border between Libya and Egypt ,” Wohl began. “ Libya has recently sent several thousand troops
to the Sudan , on Egypt ’s southern border, supposedly to support the president of the Sudan against rebel insurgents that are using Chad as a safe haven. However, the insurgency
was crushed last year, and Libyan forces remain deployed in three Sudanese
bases—all within a day’s armored vehicle march of five major Egyptian oil
fields. Egypt has reinforced its armed forces in the region and maintains a rough
parity with Libyan forces.”
                 “So Libya wants to take Egypt ’s oil fields?”
                 “That’s
nothing new,” Martindale said, “although they’ve preferred in the past to try
to form a partnership with Egypt in developing its oil reserves. However, Egypt wants to form a consortium with some Western
oil companies to tap its oil fields.”
                 “Lots
more money that way, I’d guess,” Briggs offered.
                 “Exactly
right—and ExxonMobil and Shell don’t bring troops with them to the
contract-signing ceremonies,” Martindale said. “The consortium wants to build a
four- hundred-and-sixty-mile-long pipeline from southern Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea capable of shipping two million barrels of
crude per day, along with building refineries. It’s a three-billion-dollar
project that Libya desperately wants to get involved with.”
                 “Doesn’t Libya already export oil?” Paul McLanahan asked.
                 “Yes,
but with U.S. sanctions still in place, they don’t ship much to the West,” Martindale
replied. “The new president of Libya , who calls himself King