Free Project Aura by Bob Mayer Page B

in Colombia inform the Ring that the team is coming," Boreas said.
    McFairn swung her chair around, no longer looking out the window at the flag. "That's treason."
    "Come now," Boreas said. "Certainly you've sacrificed smaller units before for the greater good. In war, sacrifices have to be made."
    "I didn't know we were at war."
    "Countries are always at war or preparing for war, which is essentially the same thing. Think of the power we are giving you with HAARP."
    "Who is we?"
    "I told you long ago not to concern yourself with our identity," Boreas said. "You are to do as you are told."
    "I know you work for the Priory."
    "But you have no idea what that word represents."
    McFairn knew she’d crossed her Rubicon long ago and there was no going back. She waited until he finally spoke again.
    "What about Psychic Warrior?" Boreas asked. "Do you have a new team ready to go to Bright Gate?"
    “I’ve selected the personnel from within my own agency."
    "Can they be counted on?"
    "Yes."
    "I want to meet the team leader before they go to Bright Gate."
    "I'll have Agent Kirtley fly in with General Eichen. He can get a feel for what's going on along the way and keep an eye on the general."
    "Good. Don't forget to make the call south."
    The phone went dead.
    McFairn sat silent for a long time. Then she pulled out her dog-eared copy of The Art of War . She thumbed to the page that listed the five dangerous faults of a general: The last one was over solicitude for one's men, which exposed a general to worry and trouble.
    She put the book down and picked up the phone, calling her station chief in Bogota.
    Despite the Sun Tzu passage, she didn't feel much better when she hung up.

Chapter Five
     
    "Eight thousand people are employed in the various phases of the MILSTAR program."
    General Eichen knew that last sentence was designed to impress politicians, the implication being that continued funding of MILSTAR meant eight thousand votes. The colonel giving him the briefing was obviously used to it and was just as obviously one of the MILSTAR people who had absolutely nothing to do with the actual operation of the program itself but was more involved with selling the program. This was typical of the entire defense establishment, from contractors to deployed units. The tooth-to-tail ratio of the Department of Defense was ten/ninety percent and shrinking every year. For every soldier on the ground fighting, there were nine people in support positions.
    Eichen was at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in El Segundo, California. He'd had his plane detour to California immediately upon receipt of Dalton's call.
    "MILSTAR is the future of communications," Colonel Braddock continued as he walked in front of a mock-up of one of the large satellites. "It is a joint service satellite communications system that provides secure, jam-resistant, worldwide communications to meet essential wartime requirements for high-priority military users. The multisatellite constellation will link command authorities with a wide variety of resources, including ships, submarines, aircraft, and ground stations."
    Eichen was seated in the front row of the otherwise empty conference room. His rank and his credentials from INSCOM had earned him this briefing, but he really wasn't sure what he was looking for, so for the moment he kept quiet and listened to Braddock's spiel.
    "MILSTAR is the most advanced military communications satellite system in the world. Once completely operational, the constellation will consist of MILSTAR satellites One through Four in geosynchronous orbit giving global coverage and a fifth, the system coordinator known as SC-MILSTAR. Each mid-latitude satellite weighs approximately ten thousand pounds and has a design life of ten years.
    "Each MILSTAR serves as a smart switchboard in space by directing traffic from terminal to terminal anywhere on the Earth. Each satellite processes communications signals and through the SC-MILSTAR can