Primary Directive
Direct action is the President's best option when America stands in the crosshairs of terrorism. The covert counterinsurgent team known as Stony Man gets the green light to strike hard and fast–no red tape, no political stalemates, just results.When the world goes to hell, the warriors of Stony Man take the heat to ensure the enemy gets no second chances. Stony Man intelligence has picked up chatter about something bigger than any terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Now it's zero hour and the agency has dispatched operatives on two fronts: Panama and the Mexican border, where al Qaeda is using drug pipelines willing to accommodate cash payers to funnel terrorists into the country. It's clear the operation has been in the planning stages for a long time, with moles deep inside the U.S. security net. Now the only questions remaining are when and where the attack will take place. And how Stony Man is going to stop it…
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THE NUCLEAR STAKES GOT HIGHER
âSo what youâre saying is that if al Qaeda manages to get personnel inside of this placeâ¦â Brognolaâs voice trailed off.
âYes, weâre all thinking the same thing. And it explains why Bariâs tactical planning called for the smuggling of so many terrorist operatives into the country.â
âItâs unthinkable,â Brognola said. âA place like that could be a terroristâs playground if they know where to look.â
âAnd they do,â Price said. âThatâs why they were monitoring all the sites, particularly the I-25 corridor. They werenât interested in attacking those shipments. They wanted to know when would be the busiest times, when the eyes of most personnel would be focused elsewhere.â
âAll right,â the big Fed stated. âLetâs get hopping on this. Letâs get both teams on the horn immediately and apprise them of the situation.â
âRight,â Kurtzman replied, reaching for a phone that connected directly to their secure satellite uplink.
âAnd when youâre done,â Brognola continued, âget me the President.â
Primary Directive
Don Pendleton
Stony Man>® AMERICAâS ULTRA-COVERT INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Jon Guenther for his contribution to this work.
For all U.S. troops fighting abroadâ
stay hard and live large!
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
In the haze of approaching dawn, the Mark IV river patrol boat knifed slowly through the calm waters of Lake Gatun.
Lieutenant Manuel Horst stood on the observation post above the cockpit and scanned the lakeside with his binoculars. The night shift had always been his favorite since enlisting in the Panama Special Boat Unitâmuch better than monitoring the hustle and bustle of day traffic through the canal. The regular pattern of buildings and twinkling lights of the coastal town of Gamboa came into view and Horst stopped on them a moment before lowering the binoculars.
âSlow to one-third, Specialist,â he called down to the cockpit.
The pilot acknowledged the order and immediately the boat engine rumbled down from twenty to fourteen knots.
A flash of sunlight on metal caught the lieutenantâs eye. He squinted in that direction, but didnât see any movement or ships, then remembered the binoculars and brought them to his eyes. He scanned slowly across the shoreline off Gamboa and spotted a periscope.
Horst descended to the main deck once they were under way and rallied his men. He ordered his best gunner to man the .50-cals and the radioman to contact headquarters with a request for reinforcements. A submarine operating in the Panama Canal Zone without permission was a serious offense against U.S.-Panama treaty stipulations, not to mention a violation of at least a half dozen right-of-way regulations.
As the PBR drew nearer and the sun broke on the horizon Horst could see the sub had surfaced. It looked rather tiny, maybe twice the length of their own boat, and it didnât have lines of any particular grade Horst recognized. That ruled out the submarine as U.S. surplus given to Panama or a military prototype. Horstâs eyes stopped when he spotted a wicked-looking weapon of an unfamiliar make on the forward prow. Before Horst could point it out to his crew, however, a hatch at the base of the mount opened and a man in dark fatigues emerged. The guy took up position behind the large weapon and swung it in their direction.
Horst shouted to his machine gunner, but the warning came too late. A cloud of smoke and flame belched from the muzzle of the massive weapon as the report cracked through the air. One of the .50-cals blew apart a moment later and sent large, razor-sharp shards of metal whistling in all directions. The gunner screamed as several lodged in his body. One piece of shrapnel cut through a neck artery and blood spurted from the gaping wound left in its wake.
Horst ducked in reflex action and shouted at the pilot to turn the boat starboard, then ordered another crew member to man the 20 mm chain gun. He then rushed forward to help the wounded gunner. As he reached his man, Horst heard the antimaterial weapon boom again followed by the sickly sound of shattered glass. He didnât bother turning to make a damage assessment; he already knew theyâd hit the cockpit. Horst managed to get a bulky dressing from the sideboard-mounted med kit pressed against the gunnerâs wound before the sudden spin of the boat knocked him off balance.
