“Madam President, Admiral Howard was talking in his capacity as COM EUCOM… forgive me, ma’am.” MacWhite apologized for his free use of acronyms. “That’s Commander European Command. SACEUR is double-hatted as a national, as well as a NATO commander. He reports that USAFE, that’s US Air Force Europe, have managed to get a pair of F-16s out of Riga. They were the advance flight of the eight due to land last night, following your approval of the mission on Thursday. They took off from Lielvārde Air Base in Latvia as it was being attacked by Russian aircraft, as a prelude to what we must assume will be an airborne assault to seize the airfield.”
“What happened to the other F-16s we ordered to Latvia?” Dillon looked anxious, obviously expecting bad news.
“We turned them around in mid-air when we picked up the first intel reports of an imminent Russian attack. There was no point in risking them when any deterrent effect had already been lost.”
Dillon nodded.
“The F-16 flight commander, Major Bertinetti, was ordered to return to his base at Aviano to prevent the Russians capturing any US fast jets, but shortly after takeoff he destroyed two Russian aircraft, probably Su-25 Frogfoots. He was attacked as he was on the runway. So it was self-defense. But the really bad news is that we had around three hundred men from the Four-Thirty-Fifth Contingency Response Group on the ground at Lielvārde. We’ve lost contact with them and we have had to assume they’re either dead or prisoners.”
Dillon looked puzzled and MacWhite explained. “We had to send them there to set up the operating base before the F-16s could land.”
“But the F-16s are no longer there,” Dillon exclaimed in annoyance.
No one had thought to explain the logistical complexities of the operation to her and Bear guessed from her frown that she must have assumed the fighter planes could just fly in and bug out, as and when required.
“Exactly…”
Bear could see that MacWhite had decided to bludgeon through this issue as they had discussed in the helicopter. The President was the Commander-in-Chief and it was MacWhite’s duty to brief and advise her, but she also had to take some responsibility for learning the basics of the way things worked on the ground. This crisis was already developing a dynamic of its own; a dynamic that was speeding up, and MacWhite did not have the time to explain every detail of what was planned and the consequences. That way nothing would get done.
“We weren’t able to pull them out in time. They will inevitably have been involved in defending the air base alongside the Latvians. So it is highly probable that American military personnel have either been, or are currently, in ground combat with the Russians. There’s no way they would have been able to put up more than a token resistance, as they were only carrying their personal weapons. I guess we can expect to see the survivors paraded on Russian TV pretty soon.”
MacWhite paused to let the words sink in.
“So, on top of the US aircraft shot down over eastern Ukraine, we’ve now had US aircraft in combat and shooting down Russians, and US military personnel are on the ground in Latvia and probably also in combat with Russians.” Dillon had recovered her poise. “Sounds to me like we’re in it… like it or not.”
“Dead right, ma’am. But don’t forget one thing… in each case the Russians fired on us first. But it’s not only Latvia, ma’am,” continued MacWhite, as Bear brought up a different file of satellite pictures on his laptop. “The Russians have also attacked the international airports at Tallin in Estonia and Vilnius in Lithuania. As you will see, the intelligence picture we are building suggests that we may well be witnessing a full-scale invasion of the Baltic states. Put bluntly, it makes no strategic sense for Russia to bite off chunks of these small countries. The President has always made it plain that he wants the Baltics back and I fear that is what we’re seeing here.”
MacWhite, who could also see the screen, paused to let Dillon study the pictures on Bear’s laptop. As he scrolled through the grainy, indistinct images of Russian troops and aircraft, Dillon looked at the screen intently, saying nothing.
“Next photo please, Bear.”
Bear clicked the mouse.
“We’re pretty sure that this is an amphibious task force en route out of St. Petersburg. Most likely destination? The west coast of Estonia or the Gulf of Riga to reinforce the land invasion. The Russians will be keeping their options open, depending on where they enjoy most success or where they meet resistance. So far, and be under no illusions,” concluded MacWhite in his characteristic drawl, “it’s slam dunk to the President.”
