Just as the ground war in Desert Storm begins, the U.S. military must destroy the most deadly weapon in Saddam Hussein's arsenal. An air strike is too risky. An infantry charge is too slow. Next move––bring in the Navy SEALs!

The place itself is meaningless––a small island in the Persian Gulf. But on the island is a rocket full of anthrax. If it explodes, it is close enough to Kuwait to kill thousands of Kuwaitis and servicemen. If it is launched on a rocket, it is capable of reaching the U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia. Only one group can destroy the weapon––the Navy SEALs.

Using a secret U.S. submarine, the SEALs understand how dangerous their mission will be. Even if they are able to get past Saddam's Republican Guard to their objective, the objective itself could kill them all. But with thousands of lives and the war itself hanging in the balance, they know there is no room for even the slightest mistake.

Seals Sub Strike

Avon Books

Chapter One

1990
Iraq

When there was a difficulty in getting what hewanted, Saddam Hussein did not hesitate tothrow money at the problem in order to solve it.He had learned from his dealings with the Westand the rest of the world that there were few difficulties that couldn't be solved with a copious flowof cash. The bigger the difficulty, or the more desiredthe final product, the more Hussein waswilling to spend. This flow of wealth was not bottomless,and the eight-year war with Iran had almostbankrupted Iraq in spite of her huge oilreserves.

It didn't matter that the people of Iraq were sufferingin the aftermath of their long struggle withtheir neighbor to the east. The vast oil wealth ofIraq was available to Saddam alone -- to spend ashe saw fit. Anyone caught cheating Iraq, and byproxy Hussein himself, might find it very difficult to live long enough to enjoy their profits. Thatthreat did very little to stem the flow of people,and even countries, offering Saddam what hewanted.

With his thug's mentality, what Saddamwanted most of all was weapons -- the more powerful,the better. A nuclear weapon was the Iraqidictator's ultimate desire. But during the warwith Iran, chemical weapons had turned the tidefor the Iraqi forces facing the Iranian hordes. Inspite of his personal fear of disease, Saddam hadbeen assured that biological weapons couldcause even more damage than nerve gas. Andthat the psychological effect of a disease beingdelivered as a weapon would be even greater thanthe actual body count might warrant. His ownfears made it very easy for Saddam to believe otherswould feel exactly as he did.

The invasion and annexation of Kuwait hadgone smoothly and quickly just a few shortmonths before. The fact that the largest creditorof his war debts was being ground under his ruleshould have delighted Hussein. His joy was eliminatedby his very bad misjudgment of the world'sreaction to his invasion. Led by the United States,a coalition of forces was gathered under UnitedNations approval with the intent of driving Iraqout of Kuwait. The U.S. was building up strengthin the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia since earlyAugust, only days after the Iraqi invasion hadbeen completed.

Backed by UN resolutions authorizing and increasinguse of direct action against Iraq, the U.S. and coalition forces had become a major threat toSaddam's plans for a unified Middle East -- free ofwhat he considered the Israeli problem. This unifi-cation would be conducted under his "benevolent"leadership, which Hussein considered onlyright.

To continue his plans, Saddam wanted weaponscapable of destroying people on a massive scale.The Iraqi nuclear program was receiving massivesupport, but was still months away from deliveringthe sudden destruction Saddam wanted.Months were not available to Iraq or Saddam.Time was short, so money and material were beingpoured into ongoing chemical and biologicalweapons programs. The first program to give thedictator what he wanted would be viewed under avary favorable light from Baghdad. Saddam wantedresults, and he wanted them right now.

1054 ZULU
33° 12' North, 42° 28' East
Bunker 38
Al Muhammadiyat Test Range
Iraq

The large man in green fatigues wore dark sunglassesunder the black beret that covered his grayinghair. He looked out across the empty sectionof desert in front of him. There was nothing to beseen anywhere beyond the high chain-link fencesurrounding the huge ammunition storage sitethat was his responsibility. The dozens of sandcovered,carefully camouflaged concrete bunkers were spread out in an orderly fashion behind him.He was standing in front of the open door andblast shield of one of these bunkers, looking out atabsolutely nothing but sand, rock, and the occasionalscorpion or venomous snake.

Colonel Hafiz Kassar al-Tikriti had provenhimself more than a capable and trustworthyman. During the invasion of Kuwait only a fewmonths before, he had demonstrated bravery andability while operating as the Staff Intelligence Of-ficer with the 2nd Armored Brigade of the IraqiRepublican Guards' Medina Division. His technicalknowledge helped his personnel pinpoint verydesirable scientific equipment in Kuwait City andquickly arrange for its transport to Iraq. So whydid his reward seem so much like punishment?

The recent addition of two gold stars underneaththe eagles on his shoulder boards was a welcomeweight, though the responsibilities that wentwith his recent promotion to full colonel in chargeof the weapons facility were heavier than he liked.His rise in the ranks of the Republican Guardshad not come about just because he was fromPresident Hussein's home town of Tikrit. He wellknew the value of following a precise timetable,and just when such attention to detail is most important.This was one of those times.

Another thing the colonel had learned duringhis military career was how to play to an audience.And there was only one person in the immediatevicinity that he was responsible to. Thepresent location might be the armpit of Iraq, aspot so remote not even camels cared to pass through it. But it was his assignment, one hewould carry out to the best of his abilities.

Colonel Kassar watched the second hand of hisRolex sweep around the face of the watch. The informationunder the security cover on his aluminumclipboard had been very expensive toobtain. He would not waste one moment of thetime that information gave him, or react tooquickly and make all their efforts useless.

Checked for accuracy only the day before, Kassartrusted his watch now as the second handswept past the twelve o'clock position. The otherhands of the watch indicated 7:55 in the morning.Seeing this, he placed a nickel-plated whistle betweenhis lips and blew a shrill blast.

Excerpted from Seals Sub Strikeby Gunn, S. M. Excerpted by permission.
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