“Correct, Sir,” responded Teteris. “The mission is currently operating out of Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania. We need to talk to the Operations Center to work out the details.” He then turned to Bertinetti. “Come, I will take you.” They saluted and left Balderis’s office.

As Bertinetti entered the Operations Center, he couldn’t help but notice a tall, dark-haired young man, wearing what looked like British combat uniform, sitting apart from the Latvian officers and talking to a slim, blonde-haired girl.

The young man saw Bertinetti’s flying suit with its US flag on the shoulder and stood up.

“I’m Tom Morland, UK Liaison Officer to the Latvians. You must be here with the first F-16s?”

“Sure thing, Tom. Good to meet you.” Bertinetti extended his hand and introduced himself. He glanced inquiringly at the blonde girl.

Krauja looked him in the eye. “Marina Krauja. I’m with the Latvian Interior Ministry.”

Teteris led them all into the Operations Center, on the wall of which was a digital map showing Latvia and its borders. On the Latvian side of the Russian border, blue icons indicated Latvian army positions. Further east, inside Russia, Bertinetti could see the concentration of red icons around Pskov, with more to the south around Opochka and Ostrov.

“All part of the snap exercise the Russians have been conducting,” commented Teteris.

In front of the map, staff officers and watch keepers sat at rows of desks in front of computer terminals. Headsets on and speaking quietly into remote microphones, they issued orders, digested and passed on situation reports. As subordinate units reported locations, icons were automatically updated on the digital map.

“I see you’ve got over the cyber problems,” said Bertinetti.

“We have been expecting such problems—they are as much a part of modern warfare as close air support or an artillery fire plan before an attack. We’ve learned from the experience of our Estonian friends. They established a cyber home guard, manned by civilian computer experts. Most of them are hackers and teenagers. Our people were able to get most of our key systems back up and running. They’re still working on the problems. But at least Joint HQ can still operate from here.”

“Come,” he said to Bertinetti, “I’ll show you the air operations center where we coordinate with the Baltic air policing mission.”