To the Death

Patrick Robinson To the Death

Books by Patrick Robinson:

NOVELS

Ghost Force

Hunter Killer

Scimitar SL2

Barracuda 945

Slider

The Shark Mutiny

U.S.S. Seawolf

H.M.S. Unseen

Kilo Class

Nimitz Class

NON-FICTION

Lone Survivor (written with Marcus Luttrell)

Horsetrader: Robert Sangster and the Rise and Fall of the Sport of Kings (written with Nick Robinson)

One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander (written with Admiral Sir John Woodward)

True Blue (written with Daniel Topolski)

Born to Win (written with John Bertrand)

The Golden Post (written with Richard S. Reeves)

Decade of Champions: The Greatest Years in the History of Thoroughbred Racing, 1970–1980 (written with Richard S. Reeves)

Classic Lines: A Gallery of the Great Thoroughbreds (written with Richard S. Reeves)

CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

United States Senior Command

Paul Bedford (President of the United States)

Professor Alan Brett (National Security Adviser)

Admiral Arnold Morgan (Personal Adviser to the President)

Rear Admiral George Morris (Director, National Security Agency)

Lt. Commander Jimmy Ramshawe (Assistant Director, NSA)

Vice Admiral John Bergstrom (C-in-C, SPECWARCOM)

United States Navy

Commander Rick Hunter (SEAL team leader) (recalled)

Commander Bob Wallace (USS Grabber)

CPO Mark Coulson (SEAL dive chief)

LPO Ray Flamini (SEAL diver)

Commander Hank Redford (USS Cheyenne)

CPO Skip Gowans (Sonar, USS Cheyenne)

U.S. Police Officers

Pete Mackay (Boston Police Department)

Danny Kearns (Boston Police Department)

Mike Carman (NYPD)

Joe Pallizi (NYPD)

American Travelers

Donald Martin (Boston financier)

Elliott Gardner (President, Boston corporation)

Middle East Jihadists

General Ravi Rashood (C-in-C, Hamas)

Mrs. Shakira Rashood (Hamas field agent)

Ramon Salman (Boston-based Hamas chief)

Reza Aghani (Boston terrorist)

Mohammed Rahman (Palm Beach insurgent)

Commodore Tariq Fahd (First Minister, Hamas)

Major Faisal Sabah (2/IC, Hamas, Gaza)

Colonel Hassad Abdullah (Hamas field officer)

Fausi (Jordanian attaché/chauffeur)

Ahmed (Jordanian embassy cultural attaché/spy)

Captain Mohammed Abad (CO, Iranian submarine)

Lieutenant Rudi Alaam (Navigation Officer, Iranian submarine)

National Air Traffic Control

Steve Farrell (Radar Operator)

Northeastern Air Defense

Colonel Rick Morry

Major Scott Freeman

Washington Writers

Anthony Hyman (White House Presidential Staff)

Henry Brady (Washington Post)

Israeli Personnel

Ambassador David Gavron

Colonel Ben Joel (Mossad team leader)

Lt. Colonel John Rabin (Explosives Chief)

Major Itzaak Sherman (Israeli patriot)

Abraham (Bodyguard and hitman)

Brockhurst, Virginia

Emily Gallagher (Mother of Mrs. Arnold Morgan)

Jim Caborn (Manager, Estuary Hotel)

Detective Joe Segel (Murder inquiry)

Matt Barker (garage owner) (dec.)

Fred Mitchell (Doorman, Chesapeake Heights)

Ireland

Detective Superintendent Ray McDwyer (Skibbereen Police) Officer Joe Carey

Jerry O’Connell (West Cork farmer) (dec.)

Patrick O’Driscoll (Central Milk Corporation)

Mick Barton (Shamrock Café, Skibbereen)

Bill Stannard (Captain, Yonder, Crookhaven)

London

Reggie Milton (Dover Street doorman)

George Kallan (Admiral Morgan’s bodyguard) (dec.)

Al Thompson (Chief bodyguard)

Scotland

Admiral Sir Iain and Lady MacLean

CHAPTER 1

Logan International Airport, which sits atop a zillion-ton concrete promontory, hemmed in by runways, tunnels, and the harbor, was heaving with travelers. Thousands of them, packed into lines for tickets, lines for check-in, lines for security, lines for coffee, coke, donuts. They even had lines for cheeseburgers, and it was not yet 8 A.M. on a gloomy, freezing January morning.

South. South. The demand was always south. South to Florida. South to Antigua, Barbuda, St. Barts, south to the islands, any island, anywhere to get the hell out of this cold, snow, sleet, and ice. It was the peak of the season. High fares. Ruinous hotel bills. Nobody cared. This was the ice-bound airport of the winter-grim northeastern city of Boston, Massachusetts. Beyond the departure terminals, a bitter easterly wind howled straight off the slate-gray waters of Massachusetts Bay. A mile to the west stood the frozen granite towers of the downtown area.

All this had once been home to a battle-hardened race of New En-glanders who accepted the cold, fought it, and shrugged it off. Not any more. Modern prosperity, air travel, and a sense of indignation and entitlement pervaded. Goddammit, I don’t need this tundra crap. Get me out of here.