“There are forces who would consign us to a fiery end in the blink of an eye. I fear they are marching to our door. This cannot be left unanswered.” Shavit coughed dryly. “I know you are with us, Jack. But are your masters? That I’m not so sure about.”

“They also obliterated our people, and hundreds of thousands more. We’re all in this together now. If this is a new form of tactical device and delivery methodology, then our military bases in the Middle East are at risk, as well as all of Europe.”

“This is true,” Shavit said, coughing dryly.

Hammerson winced, wishing the guy would take a sip of water. He waited, but the old warrior didn’t continue. Hammerson had a sudden thought – they’d already gone in by themselves. He took a gamble. “General, we know you’re already on the ground in Iraq. You need our support on this.”

There was a hoarse laugh. “Your Intel is good, Jack. But support is a capricious thing. We cannot afford to be constrained by our supporters when it comes to our own backyard. You get to go home, and we are left to clean up the mess, before it becomes everyone’s mess.”

“We’re going in, General. We’d like your assistance, but with or without it, we’ll be there in a few hours.” Hammerson had nothing to lose, so gambled some more. “We’ll see you in Mosul.” He smiled as he waited.

The silence stretched until there came a long, weary sigh.

“General, you won’t be taking orders and you won’t be constrained,” Hammerson said evenly. “We’ll be working together as partners.”

“And if we find anything … provocative?” The general’s voice held a challenge.

Hammerson knew this was the final test. “If we find anything, then we destroy it. We leave zero capability.”

Once again there was silence, and then another soft exhalation of breath. “We have sent three agents. Their orders are immutable, and will not be swayed by your own people. Too much is at stake now, Jack. We will seek and destroy. Join us in this mission, or stay away from us.”

“Then we have similar mission objectives. Where can we rendezvous?”

Hammerson heard some ruffling of papers. “There is a town in the Ninwa Province, called Jurn. I will send you the coordinates. We will be there in six hours, Jack.”

Hammerson looked at his watch and whistled. “Give us ten.”

Shavit laughed. “You were never really on your way, were you?”

“We are now.” Hammerson sat back and smiled.

CHAPTER 4