Rainbow Six Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  CHAPTER 1 - MEMO

  CHAPTER 2 - SADDLING UP

  CHAPTER 3 - GNOMES AND GUNS

  CHAPTER 4 - AAR

  CHAPTER 5 - RAMIFICATIONS

  CHAPTER 6 - TRUE BELIEVERS

  CHAPTER 7 - FINANCE

  CHAPTER 8 - COVERAGE

  CHAPTER 9 - STALKERS

  CHAPTER 10 - DIGGERS

  CHAPTER 11 - INFRASTRUCTURE

  CHAPTER 12 - WILD CARDS

  CHAPTER 13 - AMUSEMENT

  CHAPTER 14 - SWORD OF THE LEGION

  CHAPTER 15 - WHITE HATS

  CHAPTER 16 - DISCOVERY

  CHAPTER 17 - BUSHES

  CHAPTER 18 - LOOKS

  CHAPTER 19 - SEARCHING

  CHAPTER 20 - CONTACTS

  CHAPTER 21 - STAGES

  CHAPTER 22 - COUNTERMEASURES

  CHAPTER 23 - OVERWATCH

  CHAPTER 24 - CUSTOMS

  CHAPTER 25 - SUNRISE

  CHAPTER 26 - CONCLUSIONS

  CHAPTER 27 - TRANSFER AGENTS

  CHAPTER 28 - BROAD DAYLIGHT

  CHAPTER 29 - RECOVERY

  CHAPTER 30 - VISTAS

  CHAPTER 31 - MOVEMENT

  CHAPTER 32 - BLOOD WORK

  CHAPTER 33 - THE GAMES BEGIN

  CHAPTER 34 - THE GAMES CONTINUE

  CHAPTER 35 - MARATHON

  CHAPTER 36 - FLIGHTS OF NECESSITY

  CHAPTER 37 - DYING FLAME

  CHAPTER 38 - NATURE RESORT

  CHAPTER 39 - HARMONY

  EPILOGUE

  John Clark is used to doing the CIA’s dirty work. Now he’s taking on the world . . . Rainbow Six

  Number-one bestselling author Tom Clancy goes beyond anything he has done before in Rainbow Six. It is his most shocking story to date—and closer to reality than any government would care to admit . . .

  At its heart is ex-Navy SEAL John Clark, now the newly named head of Rainbow, an international task force dedicated to combating terrorism. In a trial by fire, Clark is confronted with a violent chain of seemingly separate international incidents. But there is no way to predict the real threat: a group of terrorists like none the world has ever encountered, a band of men and women so extreme that their success could literally mean the end of life on earth as we know it . . .

  “ACTION-PACKED . . . chock-full of munitions experts, sharpshooters and all-around daredevils . . . meticulously researched and carefully plotted.”—The New York Times Book Review

  “ATTENTION ON DECK! Ex-Navy SEAL John Clark and his son-in-law Domingo “Ding” Chavez, who locked and loaded in previous Clancy blockbusters Clear and Present Danger and Without Remorse, are back in action, defending freedom and playing fast and loose, as always, with any rules that get in the way . . . a gripping plot . . . bolt-action mayhem.”—People

  “CLANCY IS A NATURAL STORYTELLER . . . Rainbow Six shows how much [he] has improved his character development. He still provides the thrills. But we also identify with Clark and his Rainbow colleagues.”—USA Today

  “MR. CLANCY IS IN HIS ELEMENT. His description of special-forces operations is as exciting as anything a reader will find . . . When the door blows open and the shooting starts, nobody does it better.”—The Dallas Morning News

  “[A] FAST-PACED, RETRO-CLANCY TALE . . . A leaner, meaner novel that allows Clancy’s undeniable story-telling talents to come to the fore.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

  “THE PACE RARELY SLACKENS in this well-crafted, very readable thriller . . . a terrific yarn.”

  —The San Francisco Examiner

  “A RIPPING READ . . . a strong premise and world-class action sequences . . . All of Clancy’s fans . . . will revel in the writer’s continued mastery at action writing; Rainbow’s engagements . . . are immensely suspenseful, breathtaking combos of expertly detailed combat and primal emotion.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “VINTAGE CLANCY.”—San Antonio Express-News

  “RAINBOW SIX MOVES FAST AND FURIOUSLY AND KEEPS YOU IN SUSPENSE FROM BEGINNING TO END.”—Bookpage

  “ONCE I GOT INTO RAINBOW SIX, I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN . . . As always, Clancy tells a dandy story. His fans will storm the bookstores to snatch up Rainbow Six, and they will get their money’s worth . . . splendid technical detail and expert pacing.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  “I PRONOUNCE MYSELF A BORN-AGAIN CLANCY FAN . . . taut, well-constructed and eminently readable . . . Clancy manages to keep things moving. Heck, the book starts with a hijacking and things only get more interesting.”

  —Lexington Herald-Leader

  “EXPLOSIVE.”—Kirkus Reviews

  The Bestselling Novels of

  Tom Clancy

  The Bear and the Dragon

  A clash of world powers. President Jack Ryan’s trial by fire.

  “HEART-STOPPING ACTION . . . CLANCY STILL REIGNS.”

  —The Washington Post

  Debt of Honor

  It begins with the murder of an American woman in the back streets of Tokyo. It ends in war . . .

  “A SHOCKER CLIMAX SO PLAUSIBLE YOU’LL WONDER WHY IT HASN’T YET HAPPENED.”

  —Entertainment Weekly

  The Hunt for Red October

  The smash bestseller that launched Clancy’s career—the incredible search for a Soviet defector and the nuclear submarine he commands . . .

  “BREATHLESSLY EXCITING.”—The Washington Post

  Red Storm Rising

  The ultimate scenario for World War III—the final battle for global control . . .

  “THE ULTIMATE WAR GAME . . . BRILLIANT.”

  —Newsweek

  Patriot Games

  CIA analyst Jack Ryan stops an assassination—and incurs the wrath of Irish terrorists . . .

  “A HIGH PITCH OF EXCITEMENT.”

  —The Wall Street Journal

  The Cardinal of the Kremlin

  The superpowers race for the ultimate Star Wars missile defense system . . .

  “CARDINAL EXCITES, ILLUMINATES . . . A REAL PAGE-TURNER.”—Los Angeles Daily News

  Clear and Present Danger

  The killing of three U.S. officials in Colombia ignites the American government’s explosive, and top secret, response . . .

  “A CRACKLING GOOD YARN.”—The Washington Post

  The Sum of All Fears

  The disappearance of an Israeli nuclear weapon threatens the balance of power in the Middle East—and around the world . . .

  “CLANCY AT HIS BEST . . . NOT TO BE MISSED.”

  —The Dallas Morning News

  Without Remorse

  The Clancy epic fans have been waiting for. His code name is Mr. Clark. And his work for the CIA is brilliant, cold-blooded, and efficient . . . but who is he really?

  “HIGHLY ENTERTAINING.”—The Wall Street Journal

  NOVELS BY TOM CLANCY

  The Hunt for Red October

  Red Storm Rising

  Patriot Games

  The Cardinal of the Kremlin

  Clear and Present Danger

  The Sum of All Fears

  Without Remorse

  Debt of Honor

  Executive Orders

  Rainbow Six

  The Bear and the Dragon

  SSN: Strategies of Submarine Warfare

  CREATED BY TOM CLANCY AND STEVE PIECZENIK

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Games of State

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Acts of War

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Balance of Power

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: State of Siege

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Cent
er: Divide and Conquer

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Line of Control

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Hidden Agendas

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Night Moves

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Breaking Point

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Point of Impact

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: CyberNation

  CREATED BY TOM CLANCY AND MARTIN GREENBERG

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Politika

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: ruthless.com

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Shadow Watch

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Bio-Strike

  NONFICTION

  Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship

  Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment

  Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

  Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit

  Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force

  Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier

  Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces

  Into the Storm: A Study in Command

  (written with General Fred Franks)

  Every Man a Tiger (written with General Charles Horner)

  This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the

  settings and characters are fictitious and not intended to represent

  specific places or living persons.

  RAINBOW SIX

  A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with

  the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  G. P. Putnam’s Sons edition / August 1998

  Berkley edition / September 1999

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 1998 by Rubicon, Inc.

  Photograph of the author by John Earle.

  This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,

  by mimeograph or any other means, without permission.

  For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is

  http://www.penguinputnam.com

  eISBN : 978-1-101-00229-2

  BERKLEY®

  Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY and the “B” logo

  are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  FOR ALEXANDRA MARIA

  lux mea mundi

  There are no compacts between lions and men, and wolves and lambs have no concord.

  —HOMER

  PROLOGUE

  SETTING UP

  John Clark had more time in airplanes than most licensed pilots, and he knew the statistics as well as any of them, but he still didn’t like the idea of crossing the ocean on a twin-engine airliner. Four was the right number of engines, he thought, because losing one meant losing only 25 percent of the aircraft’s available power, whereas on this United 777, it meant losing half. Maybe the presence of his wife, one daughter, and a son-in-law made him a little itchier than usual. No, that wasn’t right. He wasn’t itchy at all, not about flying anyway. It was just a lingering . . . what? he asked himself. Next to him, in the window seat Sandy was immersed in the mystery she’d started the day before, while he was trying to concentrate on the current issue of The Economist, and wondering what was putting the cold-air feeling on the back of his neck. He started to look around the cabin for a sign of danger but abruptly stopped himself. There wasn’t anything wrong that he could see, and he didn’t want to seem like a nervous flyer to the cabin crew. He sipped at his glass of white wine, shook his shoulders, and went back to the article on how peaceful the new world was.

  Right. He grimaced. Well, yes, he had to admit that things were a hell of a lot better than they’d been for nearly all of his life. No more swimming out of a submarine to do a collection on a Russian beach, or flying into Tehran to do something the Iranians wouldn’t like much, or swimming up a fetid river in North Vietnam to rescue a downed aviator. Someday maybe Bob Holtzman would talk him into a book on his career. Problem was, who’d believe it—and would CIA ever allow him to tell his tales except on his own deathbed? He was not in a hurry for that, not with a grandchild on the way. Damn. He grimaced, unwilling to contemplate that development. Patsy must have caught a silver bullet on their wedding night, and Ding glowed more about it than she did. John looked back to business class—the curtain wasn’t in place yet—and there they were, holding hands while the stewardess did the safety lecture. If the airplane hit the water at 400 knots, reach under your seat for the life preserver and inflate it by pulling . . . he’d heard that one before. The bright yellow life jackets would make it somewhat easier for search aircraft to find the crash site, and that was about all they were good for.

  Clark looked around the cabin again. He still felt that draft on his neck. Why? The flight attendant made the rounds, removing his wineglass as the aircraft taxied out to the end of the runway. Her last stop was by Alistair over on the left side of the first-class cabin. Clark caught his eye and got a funny look back as the Brit put his seat back in the upright position. Him, too? Wasn’t that something? Neither of the two had ever been accused of nervousness.

  Alistair Stanley had been a major in the Special Air Service before being permanently seconded to the Secret Intelligence Service. His position had been much like John’s—the one you called in to take care of business when the gentler people in the field division got a little too skittish. Al and John had hit it off right away on a job in Romania eight years before, and the American was pleased to be working with him again on a more regular basis, even if they were both too old now for the fun stuff. Administration wasn’t exactly John’s idea of what his job should be, but he had to admit he wasn’t twenty anymore . . . or thirty . . . or even forty. A little old to run down alleys and jump over walls. . . . Ding had said that to him only a week before in John’s office at Langley, rather more respectfully than usual, since he was trying to make a logical point to the grandfather-presumptive of his first child. What the hell, Clark told himself, it was remarkable enough that he was still alive to gripe about being old—no, not old, older. Not to mention he was respectable now as Director of the new agency. Director. A polite term for a REMF. But you didn’t say no to the President, especially if he happened to be your friend.

  The engine sounds increased. The airliner started moving. The usual sensation came, like being pressed back into the seat of a sports car jumping off a red light, but with more authority. Sandy, who hardly traveled at all, didn’t look up from the book. It must have been pretty good, though John never bothered reading mysteries. He never could figure them out, and they made him feel stupid, despite the fact that in his professional life he’d picked his way through real mysteries more than once. A little voice in his head said rotate, and the floor came up under his feet. The body of the aircraft followed the nose into the sky, and the flight began properly, the wheels rising up into the wells. Instantly, those around him lowered their seats to get some sleep on the way to London Heathrow. John lowered his, too, but not as far. He wanted dinner first.

  “On our way, honey,” Sandy said, taking a second away from the book.

  “I hope you like it over there.”

  “I have three cookbooks for after I figure this one out.”

  John smiled. “Who done it?”

  “Not sure yet, but probably the wife.”

  “Yeah, divorce lawyers are so expensive.”

  Sandy chuckled and went back to the story as the stews got up from their seats to resume drink service. Clark finished The Economist and started Sports Illustrated. Damn, he’d be missing the end of the football season. Tha
t was one thing he’d always tried to keep track of, even off on a mission. The Bears were coming back, and he’d grown up with Papa Bear George Halas and the Monsters of the Midway—had often wondered if he might have made it as a pro himself. He’d been a pretty good linebacker in high school, and Indiana University had shown some interest in him (also for his swimming). Then he’d decided to forgo college and join the Navy, as his father had before him, though Clark had become a SEAL, rather than a skimmer-sailor on a tin can . . .

  “Mr. Clark?” The stew delivered the dinner menu. “Mrs. Clark?”

  One nice thing about first class. The flight crew pretended you had a name. John had gotten an automatic upgrade—he had frequent-flyer miles up the yingyang, and from now on he’d mainly fly British Airways, which had a very comfortable understanding with the British government.

  The menu, he saw, was pretty good, as it usually was on international flights, and so was the wine list . . . but he decided to ask for bottled water instead of wine, thank you. Hmph. He grumbled to himself, settled back, and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. These damned flights always seemed overheated to him.