Read Online The Fourth War by Chris Stewart - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Chris Stewart
Tags: thriller
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for me.â
âI wonât have to tell him. Weâll get you back to the States. Very soon, I swear.â
The two men were quiet until Peter turned and walked from the room. Bradley watched for a long moment, then turned for the back door.
Tel Aviv International Airport
Israel
Twenty minutes later, Bradley was heading home. The engines were already running, and the small C-21 military executive jet started to roll before the air force lieutenant even had the door closed.
It took only minutes for the plane to climb to forty-one thousand feet. As the aircraft leveled off at trans-Atlantic cruise altitude, Bradley sat alone in the narrow cabin and stared out the window at the dark Mediterranean below.
Less than ten minutes later, an Israeli two-seat F-15 also took to the air. It too climbed to cruising altitude, but flew east, set on a course for southern India, more than two thousand miles away.
Leveling off and flying into the rising moon, the Israeli pilot adjusted his twin throttles to set his airspeed at just below subsonic Mach.
He had his instructions. And there was no time to spare.
Shin Bet Headquarters Compound
Tel Aviv, Israel
The man who commanded Shin Bet was a no-nonsense three-star general who had risen through the ranks of the intelligence community. Like the organization he headed, General Petate had a reputation for toughness and efficiency that was well deserved. An extraordinary military officer of Russian descent, the general was born on a moshav near the infant nationâs northern border ten years after the Second World War, where he spent his youth patrolling the hills and open rangelands around his small village, a watchman against raiders from the neighboring Arab villages. By fifteen he was initiated into the Palmach, the famed Jewish underground force, where he honed his skills in ranging and reconnaissance. By seventeen, he became the youngest officer in the legendary Unit 101, the nationâs first formal antiterrorist organization; at twenty-one he was the unitâs lead sniper, at thirty-two in command.
Unit 101, though highly effective and even more highly feared, was a nearly schizophrenic organization that vacillated in its approach between two distinct and completely divergent models of leadership: the traditional method, which stressed a strict chain of command, and the Wingate model (first taught by British officer Orde Charles Wingate), which emphasized individual initiative, speed, severe risk, high payout, and direct accountability. Petate was a huge believer in the Wingate model and made no bones about his appreciation for high-risk, high-value military and intelligence opportunities. The higher the better. No risk, no return.
Which was why he found himself in command of Shin Bet; these were dangerous times, and his nation needed him now. It also explained where he picked up the nickname he had. Blackbird, the famed American SR-71, was the fastest and highest-flying aircraft in the world, and Petate flew like the Blackbird when he got on a roll.
And though over time Shin Bet became somewhat known to the press, the general remained in the shadows, always working behind the lines; few of his countrymen would recognize his face, and for obvious reasons he rarely exposed himself. Instead, he spent most of his time at the compound, and traveled only when necessary. Indeed, his existence was not dissimilar to that of some of the prisoners he held, though he drank better whisky and slept in more comfortable beds. He was a fearsome and focused man, not religious but practical, a man who had resigned himself to only one purpose in lifeâprotect the state of Israel, whatever the cost. He considered it his mission, and he felt the special burden of loving his nation too much. The emotion burned, a hot coal, giving him the strength to do the things that he did.
General Petate sat alone in his office staring blankly at a coffee table containing some of his personal
âI wonât have to tell him. Weâll get you back to the States. Very soon, I swear.â
The two men were quiet until Peter turned and walked from the room. Bradley watched for a long moment, then turned for the back door.
Tel Aviv International Airport
Israel
Twenty minutes later, Bradley was heading home. The engines were already running, and the small C-21 military executive jet started to roll before the air force lieutenant even had the door closed.
It took only minutes for the plane to climb to forty-one thousand feet. As the aircraft leveled off at trans-Atlantic cruise altitude, Bradley sat alone in the narrow cabin and stared out the window at the dark Mediterranean below.
Less than ten minutes later, an Israeli two-seat F-15 also took to the air. It too climbed to cruising altitude, but flew east, set on a course for southern India, more than two thousand miles away.
Leveling off and flying into the rising moon, the Israeli pilot adjusted his twin throttles to set his airspeed at just below subsonic Mach.
He had his instructions. And there was no time to spare.
Shin Bet Headquarters Compound
Tel Aviv, Israel
The man who commanded Shin Bet was a no-nonsense three-star general who had risen through the ranks of the intelligence community. Like the organization he headed, General Petate had a reputation for toughness and efficiency that was well deserved. An extraordinary military officer of Russian descent, the general was born on a moshav near the infant nationâs northern border ten years after the Second World War, where he spent his youth patrolling the hills and open rangelands around his small village, a watchman against raiders from the neighboring Arab villages. By fifteen he was initiated into the Palmach, the famed Jewish underground force, where he honed his skills in ranging and reconnaissance. By seventeen, he became the youngest officer in the legendary Unit 101, the nationâs first formal antiterrorist organization; at twenty-one he was the unitâs lead sniper, at thirty-two in command.
Unit 101, though highly effective and even more highly feared, was a nearly schizophrenic organization that vacillated in its approach between two distinct and completely divergent models of leadership: the traditional method, which stressed a strict chain of command, and the Wingate model (first taught by British officer Orde Charles Wingate), which emphasized individual initiative, speed, severe risk, high payout, and direct accountability. Petate was a huge believer in the Wingate model and made no bones about his appreciation for high-risk, high-value military and intelligence opportunities. The higher the better. No risk, no return.
Which was why he found himself in command of Shin Bet; these were dangerous times, and his nation needed him now. It also explained where he picked up the nickname he had. Blackbird, the famed American SR-71, was the fastest and highest-flying aircraft in the world, and Petate flew like the Blackbird when he got on a roll.
And though over time Shin Bet became somewhat known to the press, the general remained in the shadows, always working behind the lines; few of his countrymen would recognize his face, and for obvious reasons he rarely exposed himself. Instead, he spent most of his time at the compound, and traveled only when necessary. Indeed, his existence was not dissimilar to that of some of the prisoners he held, though he drank better whisky and slept in more comfortable beds. He was a fearsome and focused man, not religious but practical, a man who had resigned himself to only one purpose in lifeâprotect the state of Israel, whatever the cost. He considered it his mission, and he felt the special burden of loving his nation too much. The emotion burned, a hot coal, giving him the strength to do the things that he did.
General Petate sat alone in his office staring blankly at a coffee table containing some of his personal
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