“Yes, that’s my understanding as well. Since you haven’t been briefed, I’m going to assume that I’m not supposed to tell you all the details, but I can hopefully relieve your nerves a little bit. This is a fairly simple operation with the goal of catching a single individual. I don’t believe that anyone outside the operation is in any danger, if that helps.”
Colonel Abrams smiled. “It actually does,” she said. “Around here, our biggest fear is some sort of mass destruction event. All of my kids live around here and work in DC, so when I heard Delta was coming in, it was all I could do not to panic.” She suddenly lost focus and put a hand to her left ear, where Noah could see an ear bud with a curling wire going down into the collar of her jacket. “Roger that,” she said. She looked back up at Noah. “The buses just came through the gate. We’ve got a briefing room all set up for you inside, if you care to follow me.” She turned without another word and led them into the large structure.
Colonel Abrams showed them into what almost looked like an empty warehouse. There were several dozen chairs already set up, and a speaker’s podium with a microphone at the front of the room. A table on the side held several large coffee urns along with many boxes of doughnuts. Neil let out a yelp of excitement and headed for the table, with Moose right behind him.
Noah turned to Sarah. “Rosie, would you get me a cup of coffee and one of those doughnuts? I’d like to speak to the Colonel for just a moment.”
Sarah blinked and went to do as she was told. Noah turned back to Colonel Abrams.
“Colonel, I appreciate your assistance on this. I’ve never worked with Delta Force before. Is there anything you can think of I need to know, before they get here?”
The Colonel smiled at him. “I’ll give you the same advice that was given to me the first time I had to deal with them. These men are among the best of the best, but they are trained to follow orders. The only thing they ask is that whoever is giving those orders knows what he’s doing. Something about you tells me they don’t have to worry about it, this time. You’ve got an Army bearing about you.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Noah said, “but I’m afraid my military record is classified.”
Colonel Abrams nodded sagely. “You know, it’s funny,” she said. “You remind me of a young sergeant who was all over the news about eight months ago. He had the same blond hair and blue eyes as you, but your nose and chin are different.” She looked into his eyes for a moment, but then dropped her eyes to the ground. “As Forrest Gump might say, that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
EIGHTEEN
Noah kept his face straight and said nothing as Sarah slowly approached him with two cups of coffee and a couple of doughnuts on a napkin. It was taking both hands to carry it all and the look on her face told him the coffee was very hot. He met her partway and took one of the cups from her, then relieved her of a doughnut. He had just finished eating it when two buses pulled up outside and Colonel Abrams led the seventy men of Squadron A into the building.
A man with longish brown hair and beard looked at Noah and raised his eyebrows. “Camelot? I’m Captain Hayes.”
Noah extended a hand. “I’m Camelot, but you can call me Wyatt. They set us up with coffee and doughnuts. If you and your men want to help yourselves and then settle in, we can begin the briefing.”
“Yes, Sir,” Hayes said. He turned toward the table with the refreshments, where his men were already helping themselves. “All right, you mooks, get the goodies and take a chair. Five minutes, snap it up.”
It actually took almost 10 minutes, but finally everyone was sitting down and looking at Noah. Neil had found a digital projector and connected his computer to it, and Colonel Abrams had produced a table and chair for him. Once everyone was seated, she and the soldiers who had set up the room walked out the door, closing it behind them.
Noah nodded to Neil, and the screen on the wall behind him suddenly lit up with a photograph of Nicolaich Andropov. The photo was one that the CIA had managed to get of him a month earlier, showing him with an eye patch and a jagged scar on his left cheek.