The Shadows of Power: A Novel

376 Pages·2002·8.38 MB·English

by  James W. Huston

THE
SHADOWS OF
POWER
(cid:1)
A NOVEL
JAMES W. HUSTON
For Nita
We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready
in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.
—George Orwell

contents
Epigraph
Chapter 1
LieutenantEdStovicstaredathisnameontheflight
scheduleinhissquadron’sreadyroomaboardtheUSS . . .
Chapter 2
The phone rang in the studio apartment in Georgetown
with a loud, demanding ring that Ismael had grown to . . .
Chapter 3
You were saying?” Kendrick said to St. John, who was
running the meeting, much to the distress of Stuntz, . . .
Chapter 4
Lieutenant Ed Stovic and Karen, his wife, stood on the
tarmac in front of VFA-37’s hangar at Oceana Naval . . .
Chapter 5
The escort arrived at 10:00 a.m., just as Dr. Mohammed
Nezzar had said, right after the muezzin cried their . . .
CHAPTER 6
Ismael walked up the stairs to his room at the Motel 6. He
was in Virginia overlooking the beltway, the circular . . .
CHAPTER 7
Don Jacobs was furious. Rat hadn’t known him for long,
but long enough to know that he was furious.
CHAPTER 8
Stovic and Pete Walters—the other new Blue Angel,
whom they called Link—climbed into the . . .
vi | JAMES W. HUSTON
CHAPTER 9
Brad Walker sat heavily in the chair in Sarah St. John’s
White House office just down the hall from . . .
CHAPTER 10
Rear Admiral Don Hooker walked down the passageway
of the Pentagon.
CHAPTER 11
Secretary of Defense Howard Stuntz sat in his burgundy
leather chair in his plush office at . . .
CHAPTER 12
So, Bradley,” the Secretary of Defense said. Stuntz sat in
his leather chair and leaned back slightly, . . .
CHAPTER 13
Rat and Stovic showered quickly and joined the others in
the lobby, Stovic in his invincible superhero . . .
CHAPTER 14
The Blue Angels had changed into jeans and polo shirts
and were standing around small tables in the bar . . .
CHAPTER 15
”Carl, Sarah.”
Carl Dirks, the Attorney General, was taken aback.
CHAPTER 16
Stovic turned away from the window and drew the heavy
curtains, throwing the room into unnatural dimness.
CHAPTER 17
Rat went to Langley to see Jacobs directly after the
funeral. It had been a good funeral.
CHAPTER 18
St. John sat straight up in her bed. She was sure she had
heard the doorbell.
THE SHADOWS OF POWER | vii
CHAPTER 19
Ismael bent over, gasping for breath. He had always
thought of himself as being in good shape, but . . .
CHAPTER 20
Ismael and Madani walked into the back room of an
apartment above a discount camera store.
CHAPTER 21
Stovic sat in his hotel with his feet up on the beautiful
antique French settee.
CHAPTER 22
Lew paced back and forth. Stovic and Rat sat at the same
conference room table where Lew and . . .
CHAPTER 23
Ismael had slept in the back of his van in an industrial
section of Paris, blending in easily with the other . . .
CHAPTER 24
Stovic awoke with his stomach in turmoil. He skipped his
usual morning run and ordered . . .
CHAPTER 25
The French continued to arrest every known Algerian
troublemaker and even many of whom they . . .
CHAPTER 26
The Blue Angel diamond pulled up into their loop. White
smoke streamed behind them as the Admirals . . .
CHAPTER 27
Stovic and Oden rendezvoused three miles west of the
airfield.
viii | JAMES W. HUSTON
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books by James W. Huston
Credits
Front Cover Image
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter
1
L
ieutenantEdStovicstaredathisnameontheflightschedule
in his squadron’s ready room aboard the USSHarry S. Tru-
man. He was listed as the wingman for Commander Pete
Bruno,thesquadroncommandingofficer.Stovichardlyeverflewon
Bruno’s wing. His eye quickly scanned over to the mission—covert
escortofanEP-3.ThebigslowEP-3wastoflydowntheMediter-
raneancoastofAlgeriaand“listen.”Collectintelligence.Therehad
been some talk that the Algerians were getting testy about the
American battle group crossing into Algeria’s newly claimed two-
hundred-mileeconomiczone.Itwasjustthesortofthingthatmight
stimulatearesponsefromthenewAlgeriangovernment.
Stovic tried to contain his surprise as he looked around the
ready room. All the other pilots were watching, some smiling, some
giving him looks of feigned anger for having scored the only good
hop on the schedule. He was to launch before the official first
launch.
Stovic briefed with Bruno and manned up. The excitement was
noticeable in the crisp movements of everyone involved in the spe-
cial launch of the two fighters. It came off beautifully. The two F/A-
18E Super Hornets rendezvoused with the tanker above the carrier
to top off their fuel tanks. They pulled off the tanker and flew low
and fast to their rendezvous point, a random latitude and longitude