Assassin's Tripwire. Don Pendleton

Brognola explained. “He jumped between the President and a would-be assassin. Fortunately, the Secret Service was able to get to the few journalists on-site and preempt the story before it became…unwieldy. In a joint press conference later that day, the Man and Hahmir announced the dawn of a new era in US-Syrian relations.”

      “Sounds a little too easy.”

      “I thought the same thing,” Brognola said. “The Farm’s looking into it. But as you can imagine, the President and Hahmir have become fast friends. That has in turn prompted instant cooperation on the part of the United States. The Man has a personal stake in Hahmir’s regime. A Syria loyal to the United States is a tactical prize we simply can’t afford to pass up.”

      “I think I can see where this is going,” Bolan said.

      “Hahmir’s government will almost certainly come under attack from its former allies. Syria was no friend to the West, and now that it is, the region will destroy itself unless we do something to stop it. The United States has shipped an aid package to Syria that includes next-generation weaponry, particularly mobile missile systems.”

      “There’s a ‘but’ coming,” Bolan said.

      “But,” Brognola continued, “the weapons shipment has gone missing. It was stolen right out from under the Syrian authorities’ noses at the airfield. That, by itself, is suspicious enough. Hahmir is all apologies and, honestly, his regime is frantic to locate the weapons because they’re worried the loyalists might figure out how to deploy them first. His New Governmental Militia has been tearing up the countryside, torturing and strong-arming Syrian citizens.”

      “Storm troopers?”

      “Something like,” the big Fed told him. “The militia is the reason Hahmir took power in the first place, but it’s starting to look like Hahmir’s operatives within the military have ambitions of their own. Specifically, a vicious character named Sudhra ‘the Wolf’ Fafniyal. It’s Fafniyal’s secret police that your contact is supposed to be spying on the loyalists for.”

      “Can’t tell the players without a scorecard,” Bolan said drily.

      “They’re color-coded,” Brognola said. “The previous Syrian regime’s color was royal red. The loyalists wear red armbands as a result. Fafniyal’s troops wear black. Hahmir’s regular militia wears blue, if I remember correctly.”

      “And this Sabeen Yenni? What color does she wear, working for us while ratting out the loyalists to Fafniyal?”

      “It’s safe to say her loyalty is to herself,” Brognola admitted, “but her track record as a freedom fighter is well documented. It’s why she was approached by US Intelligence in the first place.”

      “Trust, but verify,” Bolan said. “I’ve got it. I’ll just have to watch out for knives at my back.”

      “And bullets. And grenades,” Brognola said.

      “So where does that leave us?” the soldier asked. “Any chance of support from the Farm?”

      “Able Team and Phoenix Force are otherwise engaged,” Brognola told him. “Although we do have the support of the cyberteam. We’ve been monitoring Syria with real-time satellite imagery retasked for this mission.”

      “That will help,” Bolan commented.

      “The Man is grateful to his new friend, but he isn’t stupid. The Farm was told to track that weaponry shipment through to its destination. Thermal imagery shows us multiple locations in remote areas of Syria where we believe the weaponry has been cached. It’s only a matter of time before the loyalists, without the benefit of US technical advisors, figure out how to deploy the missile systems. When they do they’re going to set that region on fire. We’re looking at all-out war.”

      “So I go in, find the weapons and destroy them, with Sabeen Yenni to show me all the local highlights.”

      “That’s the upshot, yes,” Brognola said. “But it’s more complicated than that.”

      “It always is.”

      “No matter what you do there, Striker,” the big Fed said, “it could touch off a war for control of Syria at the very least. The United States cannot be seen as interfering on the ground, or the resulting backlash could cause us problems almost as bad as losing a sympathetic government. Your presence in Syria isn’t sanctioned by Hahmir’s government, and we couldn’t allow them to know about it for fear of compromising you. That’s the official word. Unofficially, they know damned well we’re sending someone to track the weapons, even though everyone involved is going to play dumb. The Man has even shared some intelligence with them, as a good-faith gesture.”

      “That leaves me plenty vulnerable,” Bolan said.

      “There’s no other way to put a team, or even a single man, on the ground,” Brognola said. “Hahmir’s government claims it will play ball, at least off the books. But if they’re pressed, they, too, will claim they have no knowledge of your mission. They’ll treat you accordingly.”

      “You drop me into the nicest meat grinders, Hal.”

      “We need you to ferret out who has done what, if you can, but under the cloak of plausible deniability,” Brognola went on. “That means we’re giving you an internationally available electronic tablet that you can use for mission data and so on. There can be no way of tracing you back to us should you end up in enemy hands. And there’s no shortage of potential enemies who might want to put you down.”

      “Understood,” Bolan said. He understood, all right. It was a familiar story…as familiar as the thin ice on which he now stood.

      “Striker, there’s one more thing.”

      “Yeah?”

      “If you do find evidence of perfidy on the part of Hahmir or elements within his government, you do have one more option.”

      “And that is?” Bolan asked.

      “Option Zeta,” Brognola said. “It’s a file in your dossier. Read it thoroughly and memorize the codes. You might need them.”

      “Got it,” Bolan had said. “Striker, out.”

      And now he was here, in Syria, with his boots—and his back—on the actual ground. He would either return the weapons systems to Hahmir’s government or he would destroy them. And along the way he would determine, if at all possible, whether the President could trust the Hahmir regime. But right now, there was the matter of the dead men who had been lying in wait under the ground.

      “This is a problem,” Bolan said, indicating the bodies. He took Yenni’s hand when she offered it, and allowed her to help him to his feet. The freedom fighter draped her desert scarf around her neck, pocketed her lighter and crouched next to him.

      “They are dead,” she said. “And we are alive. This is not a problem.”

      “Not in the immediate sense,” he replied. “But the drop coordinates were known only to your network. These men were waiting for me. Right here.” He knelt and played the beam of his tactical flashlight over the nearest body.

      “Black scarves,” Yenni said. “These are the Wolf’s men.”

      “You’re supposed to be working as an operative for Fafniyal, right?”

      “Yes,” Yenni replied, nodding, “but it would not matter. There is very little trust between the Wolf’s people and all others. If they find us they will kill us immediately.”

      “So somebody knew about the meet,” Bolan said. “Which means our operation may be compromised before it begins.”

      “Someone in the network, or with access to it, intercepted coordinates,” Yenni said. “These men were left to conceal themselves beneath the dirt. They did not