and with more silver embellishments than a Christmas tree.
Now that he was about to engage in what promised to be a really hairy exercise, he was wearing a somewhat baggy tweed jacket and well-worn flannel slacks. Just before he had left Paris, he had been told to wear civilian clothing. What he had on was all that had come back from the dry cleaners.
There were five peers, most of whom he knew, at least by sight, all in civilian clothing in a none-too-fancy conference room in the U.S. Embassy, waiting for Colonel Sanford T. Felter and his staff. The whole damned continent had been socked in, and Felter’s plane had had to sit down in Scotland to wait for Brussels to clear to bare minimums.
He had heard of Felter, but he had never seen him in person and he was not very impressed with him when he walked into the room. Felter was small and slight, and wearing a baggy gray suit. He looked like a stereotype of a middle-level bureaucrat.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen,” Felter said. He threw a heavy briefcase on the table, then took a key from his pocket and unlocked the padlock that had chained—more accurately, steel-cabled—it to his wrist.
“My name is McCord, Colonel,” General McCord said, and went to Felter and offered his hand.
“I’m glad you were available, General,” Felter said.
As the others introduced themselves to Felter, McCord considered that. Felter knew who he was, and there was an implication that he had asked for him by name. That was flattering, unless you were rank-conscious, and thought that general officers should pick colonels, rather than the other way around.
“I think the best way to handle this, gentlemen,” Felter began, “is to give you a quick recap of what’s going on in the Congo, specifically in Stanleyville, and then to tell you what we intend to try to do to set it right.
“There are sixteen hundred people, Europeans, white people, held captive by Olenga’s Simbas in Stanleyville. A four-column relief force—in other words, four different columns—under the overall command of Colonel Frederick Van de Waele of the Belgian Army has been charged with suppressing the rebellion, which includes, of course, the recapture of Stanleyville.
“There have been some successes, as you probably know from your own sources, but there is no way that Van de Waele can make it to Stanleyville before the end of the month. That poses two problems. The first is the rebels’ announced intention to kill the hostages, a threat we consider bona fide, before Van de Waele can get to them.
“The second is that we have hard intelligence that since 20 October, at least two, and probably as many as four, unmarked Ilyushin-18 turboprop aircraft have been flying arms and ammunition into the Arau airbase in northern Uganda, from Algeria. Should they decide to do so, it would be easy for them to move the arms and ammunition to Olenga’s forces. The possibility of their doing so, it is believed, increases as Van de Waele’s mercenaries and ANC troops approach Stanleyville.
“The President has decided, in consultation with the Belgian premier, Spaak, that the first priority is to keep those sixteen hundred people alive. The Belgians have made available the First Parachutist Battalion of their Paracommando Regiment. I’m familiar with it. The First Battalion was trained by the British Special Air Service people in World War II, and they pride themselves now on being just as good. The regiment is commanded by Colonel Charles Laurent, who is a fine officer, and who I suspect will lead the First Battalion himself.
“They will be carried to Stanleyville in USAF C-130 aircraft. After the airfield is softened up with some B-26s, they will make a parachute landing and seize the airport. Part of the force will remain at the airport to make the airport ready to receive the C-130s, and the balance will enter Stanleyville, find the Europeans, and bring them to the airport. They will be loaded aboard the C-130s and then everybody leaves. No attempt will be made to hold Stanleyville. I don’t want any questions right now. I just wanted to give the rough idea.
“These gentlemen,” Felter went on, turning to indicate the men he had brought with him, “are Lieutenant Colonel Lowell, Captain Stacey, Lieutenant Foster, and Sergeant Portet. They’re Green Berets. Colonel Lowell is on the Strike staff, and wrote Dragon Rouge. Captain Stacey and the others have been practicing a somewhat smaller operation intended for Stanleyville, now called off.