“Even in daylight? It’s daylight over there right now. They’re only like seven hours ahead of us.”
“For a mission like this, yes, the risk will be worth it.”
“How are you going to coordinate a daylight airstrike from this plane to the Israeli air force?”
Aaron said, “We have the Israeli prime minister on this aircraft.”
From the screen, Knuckles said, “Works for me.”
I said, “If we screw it up, if they suspect a trick, we could be cutting the timeline in half.”
Aaron said, “Let the prime minister decide that.”
Chapter 85
We’d briefed the prime minister first, with Amanda Croft listening in, and he approved. Next was George Wolffe, who’d taken it to the Oversight Council and the president. From there, everyone began to work their coordination for the operation, and I’d gone to sleep.
Now, rubbing the grit out of my eyes, I was amazed that all the coordination had actually happened. We needed the entire NSA and Israeli Unit 8200 focused on the far-end signal, an Israeli strike package loitering just outside Iranian radar range, including all the necessary aerial refueling assets, and ISR overhead in the form of satellites and high-altitude UAVs. Finally, we had to have the cyber skill to hack Sardar’s computer and initiate the conversation in the first place—withoutspooking the Iranians.
The president had given George Wolffe operational control on the United States side, which I’m sure caused CIA director Kerry Bostwick to bust a blood vessel, but it made sense, as we’d done all the groundwork and owned the computer. All Bostwick provided was his best Iranian expert, who could also speak Farsi.
I had no idea who was in charge of the Israeli tactical effort, but the only direct communication lines running out of the Rock Star Bird were the two in front of Amanda and the prime minister. Amanda was connected to the president and the rest of the principals in the Oversight Council and the prime minister had a direct link to someone in Israel.
The rest of the computers were passive, just tapped into the messagereflections without any ability to actually interject, like the difference between listening to an FM radio versus being able to talk on the airwaves.
The computer in front of Aaron was a split screen of the encrypted chat between the initiating squadron of the IDF and its higher command and a rotating video feed from various ISR assets. The one in front of Veep was a split screen of the actual Signal feed to Iran and the chat between Wolffe and the oversight council.
After putting the plan together, we were just spectators for the actual show.
The prime minister said something in Hebrew to his computer and Aaron said, “He just ordered them to start.”
I saw chats scrolling on his screen, all in Hebrew, and said, “What’s all that?”
“Just warning orders. They’re telling the loitering force to stand by.”
Veep’s screen on the left popped up with Farsi. The screen on the right said,First message sent. Waiting.
I said, “What did they come up with to determine success? How are they going to do BDA to determine if they eliminated the target set?”
Veep said, “The CIA guy is going to start asking them questions while the bombs drop. If they keep answering after impact, we know we missed.”
We sat waiting for five minutes, then another set of Farsi popped on the screen. I ignored it, looking at the right side.
Iranians have engaged. Searching for location.
The left side went back and forth in Farsi. The right remained blank. Finally, the right read,Iranians have taken the bait. Stand by. Still determining location.
I felt someone squeeze my arm and turned, finding Jennifer holding it with both hands, focused on the screen. She glanced at me, then let go, saying, “Sorry.”
I said, “That’s okay. I was thinking about doing the same thing with Veep.”
She smiled and replaced her hands.
The Oversight chat spit out,Location identified.Shahroud Missile Test Site. 36.2009°N 55.3339°E. Standing by for meeting.
The video split screen on Aaron’s computer flipped, and we were looking at a barren desert. It zoomed in, and a cluster of bland concrete buildings appeared with what appeared to be a large pad next to them.
Nothing happened for the next ten minutes, with the entire planeload of people seeming to hold their breath. Farsi appeared on the split screen.
