“And you somehow believe these American commandos will help you?” Baris asked. “I must tell you, Sekhmet, I think it is dangerous to have those men in Egypt. We know nothing about them. The American government obviously knew nothing about them except to tell us that they are not part of the American government whatsoever. They are privateers, former military men who now work for whoever pays them.”

“Then they can work for us,” Susan said. “We have no military behind us now. These men are skilled enough to take one of our warships—they can do a lot of harm to al-Khan’s men, possibly even to the Libyans as well.”

“To what end? Do you expect them to kill al-Khan or invade Libya for you?” Baris asked. “That’s a fantasy, Sekhmet. They have obviously been paid by a very wealthy individual, company, or conglomerate to perform a task. If they don’t do the assigned task, they won’t get paid. As soon as they’ve rested and gathered some intelligence information, they’ll be gone—leaving you with whatever chaos they’ve created. I don’t think you want that.”

“What I want, General, is for Egypt to be free from murdering scum like al-Khan or terrorists like Zuwayy,” Susan said bitterly. “I sense something in McLanahan. He is in great pain, yes—losing both his brother and his wife in so short a time must be devastating for him. If he has a child, it must make the pain even greater. But there is something else about him. I sense another conflict within him.”

“He is certainly not like the others,” Baris agreed. “I would guess he is a trained soldier, but not necessarily a commando. And he knew of your background—specifically, he mentioned your Air Force background, with definite pride in his voice. If I had to guess, I would say he is a former American air force officer, perhaps even a high- ranking officer.”

“So if he is not a commando, perhaps he’s out of his element,” Susan surmised. “Maybe he doesn’t want to be where he is, fighting for money instead of for his country.” Susan turned to Amina Shafik. “Any information on McLanahan’s background, Amina?”

“No, Madame,” Shafik responded. “It’s very unusual. My contact in the American Air Attache’s office at the American embassy in Cairo has no record of a Patrick McLanahan in the American military. Their records go back about five years.”

“Can we search any farther back?”

“Not from the Air Attache’s office,” Shafik replied. “For that, we would need help from the Mukharbarat el-Aama.”

“The General Intelligence Staff is still loyal to me—I can get that information,” General Baris said. “But it may take some time. Should we trust this McLanahan and his men until we find out who and what they are?”