Collision (44 page)
Authors: William S. Cohen
“Can't, Sean. He can't be involved with this. No fingerprints.”
“Shades of Iran-Contra,” Falcone said. He had served on the investigation of that scandal when he was in the Senate.
“World of difference,” Carlton said. “You know that better than anybody. We're not saying one thing and doing another. And we're not diverting funds for any covert operation to destabilize another government. We're simply trying to extract an American citizen out of the claws of the Russian Bear.”
“And if this goes south?”
“You know the drill. âWe had no knowledge.â¦'”
“Sure,” Falcone said. He paused to drain his vodka. “President totally blindsided by a rogue operation conducted by an adviser he had to let go because he started getting wacky. A long-delayed PTSD case.”
“Not bad, Sean. You carry your own alibi. Sure, you might get hung out to dry. But the President needs you. You know what's at stake if we don't get the damn asteroid coordinates that Hamilton has tucked away. Or if he gives them up to the Russians.”
“So just how do you expect me to put this operation together?”
“You were involved with some of the DOD rendition operations in Yemen and Somalia. Guys with X Ops experience are pretty much out of work since we pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan. But some of them are working for private security outfits.”
Carlton took out a pen from his shirt pocket and wrote 800-555-7820 on the back of the coaster. “Call this number.”
“Funds? I hate to bring up money. But⦔
“This outfit will know who you are. No questions. No records. No funds. Sometimes they're philanthropists.”
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If accepting a loan of the time and psychic affirmation of others were contractually enforceable, I would stand in chains before a debtors' court magistrate.
First, I am grateful to Tor/Forge's publisher, Tom Doherty. From the very first day Tom approached me about publishing my novel
Dragon Fire
, I could sense the depth of his concern about the sustainability of life on our planet. In every discussion about possible themes, narratives, and story lines, Tom displayed a sincere and profound concern for man-made threats to the continuation of human and animal existence on Earth and urged me to ring alarm bells to arouse a citizenry that seems to have overdosed on lotus leaves.
Bob Gleason, Tor/Forge's editor extraordinaire, is a man on fire, obsessed with our lack of obsession about the existentially destructive nuclear weaponry that remains on hair-trigger alert in too many countries. Bob is an intellectually armed and dangerous manâa jazzologist and a Tarot-card mystic to bootâwhose imagination knows no limits and whose editorial pen, no mercy. He has been uncommonly patient and forgiving of my travel excursions and diversions even as he gently reminded me that deadlines are not made to be broken.
I am unquantifiably grateful to my friend Tom Allen, an accomplished author of fiction and nonfiction works. I first met Tom in 1983 when he was asked to edit
The Double Man
, a novel that I had coauthored with Senator Gary Hart and that became a Featured Alternate Selection of the Book of the Month Club. Ten years later, Tom and I decided that we should collaborate to write a mystery novel called
Murder in the Senate
, a story that we fervently hoped would always remain in the realm of fiction. Since that time, I have turned to Tom on multiple occasions to make sure that my hand remained steady as I tried to weave imaginary tales that both inform and entertain.
A special word of thanks to copy editor Terry McGarry, who has the eye of a jeweler. Terry caught every mistake and miscue in the many manuscripts she scrutinized, and her mastery of the story line was remarkable.
At my writing desk (iMac) I have a model of Yoda of
Star Wars
fame, whose buttons, when pushed, offer wise and ethical counsel. Tom is my Yoda, and he remains for me a repository of information about life on Earth and in the galaxies of the mind.
Enormous thanks go to Army Colonel John Urias (Ret.), who first alerted me to a research report that he helped write for the Air Force in 1996: “Planetary Defense: Catastrophic Health Insurance for Planet Earth.” The report is stunning and stark in the analysis of asteroid threats that most people have chosen to ignore.
I am indebted to one of America's best and brightest, NASA director Charles Bolden, a Marine Corps major general (Ret.) and former astronaut, who directed my script to Dr. Donald K. Yeomans, manager, Near-Earth Object Program, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and to Dr. Bill Barry, NASA chief historian. Both Dr. Yeomans and Dr. Barry provided me with very precise and insightful comments that contributed to the accuracy of the calculations and suppositions contained in the story.
I am also grateful to many of the extraordinarily talented colleagues with whom I am privileged to work, namely: Bob Tyrer, Jim Bodner, General Joseph Ralston (Ret.), Lieutenant General Harry Radugue (Ret.), General Paul Kern (Ret.), Admiral Jim Loy (Ret.), former ambassador Marc Grossman, and attorney Tommy Goodman, who offered so many constructive suggestions on both the substantive and legal issues involved in the story.
Finally, I must reserve the greatest share of my gratitude to my wife, Janet, an accomplished author and playwright. Patience is said to be a virtue, provided it is not eternal. Contrary to my every promise to seek moderation and balance in my life, there have been times when I simply disappeared for days into my man cave and lingered there with my Muse, a jealous and demanding mistress. To err is said to be human, but for Janet to forgive, well, that's divine.
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William S. Cohen
served as secretary of defense under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001, making him the twentieth U.S. defense minister. Born in 1940 in Bangor, Maine, Cohen was a member of the U.S. Senate and Congress for twenty-four years. He has written for
The Washington Post, The New York Times,
and
The Wall Street Journal,
and is the author of the
New York Times
bestselling
Dragon Fire
. Cohen lives with his wife in the Washington, D.C., area. You can sign up for email updates
here
.
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CONTENTS
Excerpt from the Sequel to
Collision
Forge Books by William S. Cohen
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
COLLISION
Copyright © 2015 by William S. Cohen
All rights reserved.
Cover art from Getty Images
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Forge
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2765-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-4943-9 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781429949439
First Edition: June 2015