He arrived at NATO HQ, in the Boulevard Leopold III in the northeast of Brussels. As the car swept up to the main entrance, guarded by the flags of the twenty-eight member nations, he was met by one of SACEUR’s forward-based liaison team, an improbably tall, former professional basketball player, who had signed up to serve his country in the US Army following the attacks of 9/11.

“Hi, Sir. I’m Dan Rodowicz. I’ll see you through security.”

Two minutes later he was on the first floor of the utilitarian building and was shown into the Secretary General’s conference room.

Already waiting in the room was General Knud Vahr, Chairman of the Military Committee, a lean, wiry Danish cavalry general wearing parachute wings and with the piercing blue eyes of a latter-day Viking. “Greetings David. Thank you for making it over here so quickly.”

With time so short, McKinlay came straight to the point. “How do you recommend I play it with the Sec Gen and the NAC?”

“Play it straight. Sec Gen will open the meeting, commiserate with the Americans on the loss of their soldier, then ask me for the formal advice of the NATO Military Authorities. I’ll make a couple of points and ask you to brief us on the plan. Then Sec Gen will ask the ambassadors for their comments and questions and then there’ll no doubt be the usual lengthy discussion. As you know only too well, these guys just love the sound of their own voices and they’ll want a say. Just remember that you are a military professional and they are not. Do what you always do and stay in your lane and you’ll have no problems. And anyway, Sec Gen will keep a tight grip on the meeting. He thinks he’s running a government and that the ambassadors are his cabinet who’ll do as they’re told.”

At that moment the Secretary General entered. Radek Kostilek was a former prime minister of Poland. Gray-haired, high-cheekboned and with a humorous glint in his eyes, he was inclined to wear his heart on his sleeve and prone to overreact emotionally—particularly where Russia was concerned.

He sat down. “The Americans have got themselves into a hell of a fix this time and the Russians will use this as an excuse to have a go at NATO. On top of this kidnapping crisis, this American proposal for a combined NATO training team is just not going to run. The Germans for a start will see it as a knee-jerk reaction to the kidnap and they will push back. They pontificate about the importance of Alliance solidarity and then undermine it the moment the Americans really need their support. And as for the usual backsliders . . .”

The three men looked at one another and said nothing. Each knew the depth of frustration the others felt.

“General, what does SACEUR think?”