Page 17 of Dead Fall

Once again, his friend cut him off. “I wasn’t joking. We can’t send you with your team.”

“Why not?”

“It’s complicated.”

Harvath took another sip of bourbon and sat back on the couch. “Explain.”

Nicholas exhaled and asked, “Do you remember when the Chinese hacked the OPM?”

“The Office of Personnel Management? The agency that processes the SF86 paperwork for top-secret clearances?”

“That’s the one,” the little man replied. “It happened around the same time that the Chinese hacked major health insurance companies like Anthem and Blue Cross Blue Shield. What wasn’t reported was that the Chinese also succeeded in a significant hack of the IRS. They were able to pull not only the names and Social Security numbers of those who had applied for clearances, but also their employment and health insurance histories.”

“Meaning they can cross-reference everything.”

Nicholas nodded. “That’s our problem. With enough digging, the Chinese can conceivably connect you and your teammates.”

“Why is that a problem?”

“Because it’s exactly the kind of information they’d be likely to share with the Russians.”

“And that causes trouble for us how?” Harvath asked.

“Not us. The White House. One former American Special Operations soldier choosing to go fight in Ukraine is deniable. A whole team, one that can be traced back to a private intelligence company rumored to conduct off-the-books black ops for the U.S. government, is a ticket to disaster. The Kremlin would claim the United States had officially put troops into the conflict and, as such, had declared war on Russia.”

“And thanks to China, they’d have plenty of receipts to prove it.”

“Correct,” Nicholas responded. “We obviously don’t want that and neither do the Ukrainians. They don’t want to give the Russians a reason to dramatically overreact.”

“Meaning tactical nukes.”

“Or worse.”

Harvath was familiar with the Russian strategic doctrine of “escalate to deescalate.” Essentially, it was a deadly form of brinksmanship. It meant detonating one or more lower-yield, likely battlefield nukes in order to push the world to the edge of global thermonuclear warfare.

Moscow believed that once it had done so, its enemies would capitulate and back down, rather than push their luck and risk further escalation. Though widely discussed, it had never been tried. Harvath more than understood the risks and most definitely didn’t want to see it attempted. The loss of life and attendant destruction from the smallernuclear devices would be bad enough. If, however, ICBMs started flying, it would be game over for everyone.

“So, it’d be just me. No support,” he stated.

“Actually,” said Nicholas, “the Ukrainians offered up a potential solution.”

Harvath leaned forward. “I’m listening.”

“Like us, they want this Wagner unit dealt with. The problem for them is that they can’t afford to assemble a proper hunting party. They need their best, most highly skilled people focused on the front lines.”

“It’s a war. I get that. But they can’t spare anyone?”

The little man held up his hand yet again. “This is where the potential solution comes in. If you agree, they’re going to provide you with a team.”

“From where?”

“The Ukrainian International Legion. English speakers with significant, in-country combat experience. They know the terrain; they know the enemy and they know the enemy’s capabilities.”

“How many guys?”

“Four.”

Harvath looked at him. “Four?You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s all they’re willing to put up?”