The Last Phoenix

499 Pages·2003·1.11 MB·English

by  Richard Herman

RICHARD
HERMAN
THE

LAST PHOENIX
In memory of my mother,

Mildred Leona Herman
The nation that will insist in drawing a broad line of
demarcation between the fighting man and the think­
ing man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and
its thinking done by cowards.
—Sir William Butler

Contents
Epigraph

iii
Prologue
Tel heard it first. “Captain,” he called in Malay,
“something’s… 1
One
The formal dedication ceremony of the Matthew
Pontowski Presidential Library… 11
Two
The Annex, the nondescript office building where the
real work… 22
Three
Butler leaned against the wall in the corridor outside the… 35
Four
Zack hunched over the chart spread out on the worktable. 48
Five
The shiny black 1956 Ford pickup eased into a parking… 60
Six
It only hurts a little, Pontowski thought as he pushed… 71
Seven
Maddy’s mother, Maura O’Keith, was fixated on
the TV as… 79
Eight
Kamigami dropped his bergen by the door of his quarters… 95
Nine
It was after midnight when the taxi stopped at the… 109
Ten
The tour bus was within walking distance of
Mentakab, a… 125
Eleven
Don’t jump to conclusions, Bloomy cautioned herself
for perhaps the… 133
Twelve
The guard at the security checkpoint on the Pentagon’s
main… 142
Thirteen
It was the little things that impressed Kamigami as he… 153
Fourteen
The woman noted the time the lights came on in… 163
Fifteen
Brian Turner stuck his head into Zack’s room.
“Going to… 174
Sixteen
The rain slugged down, working its way through
Tel’s poncho… 190
Seventeen
The dark green minivan pulled to a halt on the… 203
Eighteen
This isn’t as easy as it used to be, Pontowski… 211
Nineteen
The silver-haired senator followed the president
through the door of… 225
Twenty
Maddy Turner sat at the head table in the new… 236
Twenty-One
Turner was sitting in the battle cab surrounded
by generals… 245
Twenty-Two
The sure knowledge that the war had made her a… 259
Twenty-Three
Kamigami, Tel, and Waldo were with the battalion’s
headquarters company… 270
Twenty-Four
This is a win? Pontowski thought. He was sitting with… 283
Twenty-Five
The small group of officers from SEAC headquarters
deplaned quickly… 296
Twenty-Six
Zack and Brian arrived ten minutes early for the
afternoon… 311
Twenty-Seven
Tel wanted to warn the lieutenant that they were moving… 321
Twenty-Eight
The airliners formed an unbroken procession in
the night as… 329
Twenty-Nine
It was still dark when the pilots gathered at the… 338
Thirty
Kamigami maintained a relentless pace, pressing his
men to make… 346
Thirty-One
The first explosion shattered the two windows on
the end… 359
Thirty-Two
Smoke from the still-smoldering fire in the fuel dump
drifted… 373
Thirty-Three
Paul, a young airman called Spike, and Jake lined up… 382
Thirty-Four
The Army staff car bringing General Mike Wilding and
Secretary… 395
Thirty-Five
The six team leaders who trooped down the ramp and… 408
Thirty-Six
Janice Clark felt her heart pound as the C-130 taxied… 417
Thirty-Seven
“We got wounded coming across the runway,” Clark
said. She… 428
Thirty-Eight
Twilight in the tropics is very brief, and it was… 439
Thirty-Nine
The teams moving into position were little more
than shadows… 451
Forty
Waldo nervously paced the floor of Maintenance’s
deserted shelter, frustration… 466
Epilogue
Air Force One was parked at the western end of… 477
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Praise
Other Books by Richard Herman
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher