Not only that, such had been the response from some nations that McKinlay had been called upon to exercise the wisdom of Solomon to avoid upsetting countries keen to offer what they could to the force being assembled to eject Russia from the Baltic states. He had even been happy to include contributions from non-NATO members, with Sweden, Finland, Australia and New Zealand figuring significantly. That said, there were other nations—the usual suspects—conspicuous for their lack of contribution and enthusiasm. That was a matter for another day, though.

“Thank you, DSACEUR,” said Secretary General Kostilek. “Are there any more questions?” He paused momentarily, and then continued, “I see there are none. SACEUR, the floor is yours.”

Admiral Max Howard got straight to the point. “Secretary General, ladies and gentlemen. I want to add my thanks and congratulations to DSACEUR’s. This has been a fine effort from the Alliance in generating the force levels we need for this operation. That’s the good news . . . but there’s bad news, too. It’s one thing to pull together the force, but it’s quite another to achieve victory. Sure, in line with your authority, we’ve been planning the detail of this very complex operation for the past five weeks. The Military Committee has been given a Top Secret briefing on the plan at SHAPE and your MILREPs—your Military Representatives—will have briefed you in detail. So you all know what is planned.”

He looked around the Council table at the twenty-eight ambassadors; most very capable diplomats but understandably, with very little comprehension of the complexities and mechanics of a military operation, particularly an operation on the scale of this one. He knew most of them personally and liked many of them as individuals. But he detected a certain smugness in the room; the knowledge that they were in the inner circle. They knew the plan and had the satisfaction of knowing that they were the ones who had given SACEUR authority to proceed. It was time to shake that self-satisfaction.

McKinlay knew that Admiral Howard had already cleared his line with the Secretary General and the Chairman of the Military Committee, General Knud Vahr, so he was guaranteed support from those two, as well as the American and British ambassadors, who both knew what was about to happen.