Chapters (96)
- Cover
- Berkley titles by David Ricciardi
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- CHARACTER LIST
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“I thought the new government had stopped supporting these corrupt regimes,” said Pickens.
“They have, John, and that’s why we need a guy like Yaxaas. When the new president and PM took over, they had the support of the people and the regular army, but not the Revolutionary Guards. The IRGC under General Shirizani is still just as corrupt and as insidious as it ever was.”
“And just about the only source of hard currency they have is smuggling weapons,” Jake added, seeing Graves’s plan.
“That transfer is in direct contravention of at least two UN sanctions,” said Ted. “I’m sure half a dozen nations would leap at the chance to stop that ship, but that would embarrass the new leaders of Iran, who we want to succeed. Our issue is with the IRGC, not the civilian government.”
“It’s just like the Saudi oil,” said Jake. “We’re trying to force a rift between Iran and Sudan.”
“Exactly,” said Graves. “When those weapons don’t arrive, the Sudanese are going to be pissed because they’ve already promised them to the Janjaweed militia, who needs them to slaughter more non-Arabs in western Sudan, but the IRGC is going to say that the ship left on time and should be there. Maybe the Sudanese security services will believe the Iranians, but it’s more likely they won’t. The IRGC is going to expect Sudan to pay for a second shipment while the Sudanese are thinking they’ve been ripped off once and aren’t going to fall for it a second time. There aren’t too many countries that can supply what Sudan wants, and if we can sabotage their relationship with the IRGC, we’ll save thousands of lives.”
“I get realpolitik,” said Jake, “and I’m all for stopping that ship. I just think there has to be a better option than Yaxaas.”
“Jake, there have been alliances of necessity since there were three cavemen. Do you think Roosevelt and Churchill linked up with Stalin thinking they were taking the moral high road? How about your work with the Saudis last year? Do you keep in touch with the king—maybe get together around the holidays and behead a few dissidents? Of course not, but you did it because it prevented a war. Sinking this ship is going to fracture the relationship between two bad actors and put a shipment of weapons at the bottom of the sea. Allowing Yaxaas to steal a few tankers full of oil might save a hundred thousand lives in Darfur.”
“We could sink it with an aircraft.”
“We could, but then we wouldn’t know if we actually eliminated the weapons. Yaxaas’s men need to photograph the ship and the cargo before they send it to the bottom—just like the Amjad.”