to me we ought to account for the possibility this pair is just a decoy,” Manning said. “Barb’s right about Spain being a terrorist group haven, but we could be headed on a wild-goose chase.”
“I agree,” Encizo added.
“Well, it’s not a bloody democracy here,” McCarter said, “and that means we’ll go with Barb’s plan. If we’re chasing our tails, then we’ll damn well find it out soon enough.”
“It’s a risk, but it’s one you’ll have to take,” Price said. “I’m sorry, but it’s the best lead we have right now and we should pursue it.”
“I’ll get you the information as quickly as I can on these prototypes, David,” Kissinger added. “That should at least help you be better prepared.”
“Having been close enough to see the abilities of those weapons firsthand,” Hawkins announced, “I can tell you we don’t stand a chance against this Resurrected Defense League if they decide to turn even the prototypes on us.”
“Then we’ll have to make sure we don’t give them that chance,” McCarter replied.
All of the Phoenix Force warriors nodded in agreement.
Cartagena, Spain
WALLACE DAVIDIA KEPT one eye on the door leading from the shipping warehouse and the other on his men as they unpacked the crates containing the prototypes for repackaging in new boxes.
Once they made their escape from Adelaide, they traveled to a remote location, quickly disassembled the weapons using specifications purchased from a former employee at Stormalite Systems, and then smuggled them as various parts of the ATVs. Triggers and firing mechanisms were stored in drained fuel tanks, barrels concealed in hollowed tail pipes. The electronic firing chips were removed and stored inside the instrumentation and the nonessential material was destroyed. Their engineers in Madrid could refabricate those parts. The ATVs were then sent to distributors throughout the city, and forged paperwork and purchasing documents called for them to be shipped to Cartagena by plane and boat. Originally, Boaz Rasham had suggested they ship the prototypes straight to Madrid, but Davidia disagreed. The more time wasted and false clues they threw any potential pursuers, the more difficult it would be for their enemies to pick up the trail. Thus far, Davidia’s plan had been successful, and he was proud of that.
But pride cometh before the fall, Davidia reminded himself.
“Wallace, I have to protest one more time my concerns about your plan,” Rasham said, intruding on Davidia’s introspection. “This is not efficient in any way. We’re wasting precious time. The sooner our engineers get these prototypes, the sooner we can move forward with this.”
Davidia turned, smiled and placed a firm hand on Rasham’s shoulder. “You are like a brother to me, you know this, but you have this annoying quality about you that tries me at moments. You need to learn patience.”
“I have tolerance,” Rasham replied. “And tolerance is an adequate substitute for patience. You’ve said so yourself.”
“True, but I’ve said that in the context of training others in our ways,” Davidia reminded him. “During an actual operation, patience is a preferable and admirable quality.”
Rasham waved as if shooing away an annoying insect. “Either way, our goal is to get results. I haven’t seen any.”
Davidia’s eyes swept the small warehouse, one of many that dotted the shores of Cartagena’s wharf district. “We successfully escaped with the prototypes and at an acceptable loss. You don’t consider those results?”
“I won’t split hairs with you, Wallace,” Rasham said. “And I won’t draw lines in the sand. I am a man of truth and candor. You know that about me, as much as I know it about you. I will always speak my mind.”
“And this is what I admire most about you,” Davidia replied. “But I was elected the leader of our group, and you seem unwilling to accept my plan.”
“If blind obedience is what you expected when we elected you to lead us to the remembered glory of our nation, then you accepted your nomination under misguided pretexts and arrogant assumption. After all, you’re an American.”
Davidia smiled, but he lent no warmth to it. “You’re coming dangerously close to crossing a line with me now, my friend. I’ve neither said nor done anything to suggest my men should follow me blindly. However, we should not forget that obedience to orders is a part of military discipline. The outsiders call us terrorists, and that’s their opinion, but I consider us soldiers for a cause. Soldiers don’t follow their leaders blindly because of some idealism, Boaz. They follow them because they know it’s a matter of discipline, and they’ll expect the same courtesy from their subordinates one day when they’re tasked to carry on our fight.”
Davidia paused for effect. “So please, don’t presume I’ve lost my objectivity by suggesting I’ve gone through some twisted process of self-deification. Like you, I’m human and bleed, and like you, I’ve suffered at the hands of others. So I leave the god complex to the fanatics of history. I’m just a soldier who happens to be a leader of soldiers. My past and my lineage have nothing to do with that. I’m in the here and now.”
Rasham smiled and shook his head. “That was quite a speech, and I still disagree with your plan. However, I cast my lot with you, so I will stay faithful to our cause and follow you to my death.”
Davidia threw his arm around Rasham and kissed his cheek. “I will make sure it does not come to that, brother. I would prefer that none of us should die, but I know this is the cost of war. You know it, too.”
The matter now behind them, Davidia and Rasham turned to the packaging activities. If all went as planned, they would be able to transport the weapons to Madrid by no later than the following afternoon. They could have started shipping some of it by truck tonight, but they had to wait for two of their people to arrive in Madrid and make preparations.
A sleeper group awaited there, including the engineers they had hired to manufacture copies from the prototypes, as well as a rather large guard unit. The RDL’s largest difficulty in the operation had been funds. Fortunately, splinter group supporters in America as well as those from small Kach-Kahane Chai units had helped the cause in that light. The operation was expensive. Obtaining weapons and other material at rock-bottom prices had been the easy part—it was financing the forged passports and shipping manifests, bribes to customs agents all over the Middle East, Europe and North America, and payments to the technical people, that had cost them a significant amount of money. That was one of the reasons that Davidia was taking his time. He wouldn’t rush the operation simply because he couldn’t rush it. Some of his investors were quite powerful people in the international community of terrorism and he had no aspirations to lose his head over this. Careful planning was the key; strategy and stealthy movements were the mechanisms to carry out the plans. He’d accounted for everything to the last detail.
Once they had the weapons, Davidia planned to split the group into two teams: one would go to the United States and the other to Israel. Reports and rumors were already coming in that their first attack in New York had been successful, although there was talk that they had lost the group to N.Y.P.D. tactical units. That was fine. Davidia had considered the possibilities and the risks that they might encounter. Their instructions had been clear: do not be taken prisoner.
They still had other cities to hit. Davidia had managed to catch a television report of the New
