Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

80 JEFF EDWARDS
“They’ll have to transit the Strait of Gibraltar to get to the
Mediterranean,” the president said. “What if we blockade the strait?”
Brenthoven said, “Our nearest significant asset is the Abraham Lincoln
carrier strike group. They’re way down at the east end of the Med. Even
at top speed, they’d never make it in time.”
“If we can’t get ships over there,” the president said, “we’ll have to find
someone who can. Who are our allies in this?”
Brenthoven said, “The United Kingdom for certain, sir. Greece. Italy,
maybe.”
Doyle shook her head. “Not Italy. They’re tied up too closely to
France and Germany both. They’ve all got that Joint Theater Defense
Missile thing going. Greece is a little shaky too.”
The president ran his right index finger up and down along the bridge
of his nose. “We’ll get State to drum us up a list of possibles. In the
meantime, we’ll start with the UK.” He glanced at his watch and nodded
toward the door to the East Room. “I’d better get back out there before
Jenny gets spoiled by so much attention.” He turned his eyes to his chief
of staff. “Get me Prime Minister Irons on the phone in an hour. Britain
has at least as big a stake in this as we have.” His eyes shifted to his
national security advisor. “Wake some people up at Langley. You’d
better call ONI as well. If I’m going to yell for help, I want some idea of
what we’re up against.” He looked at his watch again. “You’ve got about
fifty-seven minutes.”