Read Able One for Free Online Page A

my conclusion.”
    “Bullshit!” Scheib scoffed.
    But Coggins asked, “Why would they do this? What do they hope to gain?”
    “It’s the Sarajevo scenario,” Jamil replied. “We’ve run the analysis dozens of times back at Langley.”
    “Sarajevo?”
    “It’s how World War I started. Some Austrian archduke got assassinated in Sarajevo, in Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. Russia had a treaty with Serbia, so they declared war on Austria-Hungary. Germany had an alliance with Austria-Hungary so they declared war on Russia. England and France had an alliance with Russia so . . .” Jamil spread his hands. “World War I.”
    Higgins shook his head ponderously. “I don’t see how that connects with what we’ve got here.”
    His brows knitting slightly, Jamil explained, “North Korea hurts us. We hit back at North Korea. The Chinese don’t like that, so they attack us. We counterattack China. Russia comes in, and once that happens NATO gets involved.”
    “Full-scale nuclear war,” Higgins’ civilian aide breathed in an awed voice.
    “Armageddon,” someone whispered, loudly enough for them all to hear it.
     
    Elmendorf Air Force Base
    “The GPS is off-line?” Lieutenant Sharmon looked shocked.
    The iron gray-haired tech sergeant standing behind the counter made a face that was halfway between apologetic and disgusted. He was more than twice the lieutenant’s age and had spent most of his time in the Air Force making young shavetails look good.
    “The system went off-line a couple hours ago, sir. All the satellite links are down. Must be those damn northern lights.” Then he added, “Sir.”
    From the other side of the flight control center, Colonel Christopher could see the alarm on Sharmon’s face. She walked across the worn tile flooring toward him.
    “Something wrong, Lieutenant?”
    Sharmon shook his head, his brows knit into a tight furrow. “The GPS is down, ma’am.”
    Christopher almost smiled, but she held herself in check. “Then you’ll just have to navigate without it.”
    “I guess I will, ma’am.” Sharmon clearly was not happy with that prospect.
    Christopher stepped away from the counter and the listening tech sergeant, motioning Sharmon to follow her.
    Lowering her voice, she asked, “Do I call you Eustis? And you don’t have to be so formal; you can drop the ‘ma’am’ business while we’re on duty together. Just call me Colonel. Unless there’s bigger brass around, of course.”
    She remembered how some of the wiseasses at the Academy used to call her Chrissie, just to rile her. She had kept her temper under control, hidden, until graduation day. That’s when they found their shoes had been glued to the dorm ceiling, all of them. They had to attend the graduation ceremony in bedroom slippers and flip-flops and got reprimanded for being out of uniform. They never tumbled to the possibility that five-foot-four Karen Christopher could reach the ceilings of their rooms while they slept.
    Lieutenant Sharmon made an effort to smile. “Thank you, ma ... uh, thank you, Colonel. My middle name is Jon. Without an aitch. My friends call me Jon.”
    “All right, Jon. That’s what I’ll call you. We’re not friends yet, but maybe we will be.”
    He did smile, faintly. “Thank you, Colonel.”
    “Now, don’t sweat this GPS business. It’s just a crutch anyway. You’re a trained navigator. You can get us to our correct position out over the ocean without it, can’t you?”
    “Yes ... uh, Colonel. But I’d feel a lot better with the GPS to back me up.”
    Christopher said, “You’ll do fine, Jon. This is just a milk run anyway. We run a racetrack pattern while the nerds play with their laser. So don’t sweat it.”
    “Thank you, Colonel.” Sharmon still looked unconvinced.
    Christopher nodded at him once, then turned and headed for the meteorology desk. Poor kid looks scared to death, she said to herself. Then a voice in her head warned,