The Delta Solution Page 40

  In just a couple of days Delta Platoon had brought an end to piracy in the southern part of Somalia. No other gangs of brigands would push off from that benighted Haradheere beach to rob, steal, and petrify seafarers and tourists.

  Haradheere was finished. And there was a discernable sense of fear and unrest throughout southern Somalia. If Uncle Sam was capable of smashing into an operation as well-financed, well-armed, and well-organized as Salat’s most certainly had been, then Uncle Sam could come blasting into the attack against anyone.

  Politically it created a hot potato. Russia immediately declared that any Russian ship, naval or civilian, was perfectly at liberty to strike back against piracy any way it wished. Moscow stated that pirates, when captured, would be transported back to Russia, where they would face life sentences, probably to be served in Siberia.

  The Brits were plainly ashamed of themselves and, with equal urgency, proposed a new set of laws concerning British citizens attacked by pirates.

  Even Westminster, battered by thirteen years of half-crazed, left-wing doctrine, muscled up under a new and more right-wing government. And in the mother of Parliaments, the squeals of the liberal European Union would no longer be heeded in the matter of piracy.

  The Royal Navy was informed that henceforth they must be prepared to attack enemies of the people, precisely as citizens of the UK expected. And fraudulent lawsuits citing the human rights of the international villains of the high seas would be dismissed as derisive.

  Uncle Sam had shown the way, and Mack Bedford had taken the lead, ripping a line out of his all-time favorite country-and-western song, Kenny Rogers’s “Coward of the County” . . . Sometimes you gotta fight when you’re a man.

  EPILOGUE

  UNDER THE PERMANENTLY CLASSIFIED RULES OF US MILITARY Black Operations, the Pentagon never released details of the two naval actions off the Maldives and on the Somali mainland. In response to media inquiries, the press office stonewalled with a slightly mischievous bewilderment.

  I’m sorry, sir, but you know perfectly well we cannot disclose details of any activities by Special Forces . . . Yes, I do understand that your readers have a right to know, but I am afraid this office has not been told anything about the subject of your inquiry.

  The mystery went on for several weeks, if not months, even when passengers from the Ocean Princess regaled their local newspapers with stories of the sensational smash-and-grab raid of the Navy SEALs on that sunlit late afternoon in the One and a Half Degree Channel.

  The shipping companies were reluctant to disclose the story of the rescue. Thus nothing was ever confirmed or denied. And every senior naval officer, when questioned, replied in the same monotone, “Sorry. Can’t help. No one’s told me anything about it. Sounds pretty unlikely to me.”

  It was a frustrating time for the media, seething with the certain knowledge that something big had broken out but equally certain that no one was ever going to tell them anything official.

  And there were no hard clues. The CIA never even prosecuted Peter Kilimo for his alleged role in the Somali pirate operation.

  There was not a solid truth upon which to base a major national story. Nothing confirmed. Nothing in writing except for one short official letter from the US Navy. It was a private letter. And would remain private since SEALs are permitted no public recognition of their work. But this letter had a special glory of its own.

  Dear Mack,

  On March 2nd next, I will personally accompany you to the White House, where you will be awarded the Navy Cross for combat heroism. This is, as you know, the highest honor the Service can bestow on anyone. It’s a fabled decoration, its dark blue ribbon slashed down the center with a white stripe, signifying selflessness.

  In my long naval career, I have not met anyone who deserved it more.

  With kindest personal regards,

  Andy

  Rear Admiral Andrew M. Carlow

  C-in-C SPECWARCOM, Coronado

  The envelope was stamped with the seal of the United States of America and was addressed in big, red letters:

  FOR YOUR EYES ONLY:

  CAPTAIN MACKENZIE BEDFORD

  Commanding Officer

  Team 10

  United States Navy SEALs

  Copyright © 2011 by Patrick Robinson

  Published by Vanguard Press

  A Member of the Perseus Books Group

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information and inquiries, address Vanguard Press, 387 Park Avenue South, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10016, or call (800) 343-4499.

  Set in 11 point Minion Pro by the Perseus Books Group

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Robinson, Patrick, 1939–

  The Delta solution : an international thriller / Patrick Robinson. p. cm.

  eISBN : 978-1-593-15663-3

  (e-book) 1. Pirates—Somalia—Fiction. 2. Hijacking of ships—Fiction.

  3. United States. Navy. SEALs—Fiction. 4. Special operations

  (Military science)—Fiction. I. Title.

  PR6068.O1959D45 2011

  823’.914—dc22

  2010044323

  Vanguard Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com.