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Force Medal of Honor winner. A crewman in an AC-47 gunship during the Vietnam War, Sergeant Levitow had thrown himself on a live flare inside the hold of his damaged aircraft following a mortar hit. Despite numerous wounds, he managed to toss the flare outside of the aircraft before it ignited, saving the entire plane.
    Rubeo renewed his pitch as the plane passed overhead. “Colonel—we need more people.”
    â€œIf the EEMWB project gets funding, we’ll have more slots.”
    â€œOnly if it’s approved as part of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Program, which it shouldn’t be.”
    Rubeo had made this point before: The EEMWB was not a good ABM weapon, since the lead in technology would last, by his estimate, no longer than five years. And it was not selective—everything in the area was disabled, not just the target. Dog didn’t disagree, but he didn’t see that as an argument against proceeding with the weapon, which would provide a decent solution until other technologies matured. And he especially thought this was a good idea since it would help him get the people Rubeo needed.
    â€œWe have to be practical,” said Dog.
    â€œColonel, I’m the most practical scientist I know.”
    â€œThat isn’t saying much, Ray,” Dog told him, climbing into the truck.
    Near Port Somalia
5 January 1998
2304
    C APTAIN S ATTARI FELT THE SLIGHT BURN AT THE TOP OF HIS shoulders as he paddled in unison with the others, propelling the small boat toward their target. The wind came at them from the west, trying to push them off course. They compensated for it as they stroked, but the boat still drew a jagged line forward.
    Sattari allowed himself a glance to the other three craft, gauging his performance; it seemed to him that their boat was doing better than two of the others, and not much worse than Sergeant Ibn’s, which was in the lead.
    The raft lurched with a sudden swell. Sattari gripped his oar firmly and dug at the water, stroking hard and smooth. His instructor had claimed propelling a boat was a matter of finesse, not strength, but the man had rowed every day of his life for years, and surely took strength for granted. Sattari’s chest rose and fell with the roll of his shoulders, as if he were part of a large machine. He heard the hard, short breaths of the men around him, and tried to match them.
    A light blinked ahead. Ibn’s boat had stopped a few meters away. They changed their paddling and surged next to the other raft with a well-practiced flare. First test passed, thought Sattari. He reached for his night glasses and scanned around them as the other boats drew up.
    Sergeant Ibn moved in the other raft until he was alongside his commander.
    â€œNo sign of the Indian warship,” said Ibn.
    â€œNo. Nor the helicopter.”
    A helicopter had nearly run into one of the airplanes roughly seventy miles from shore. Captain Sattari was not sure where it had come from. It seemed too far from Port Somali to belong to the small Indian force there, nor had the spies reported one. The Somalian air force had no aircraft this far north, and it seemed unlikely that it had come from Yemen.
    â€œThe helicopter most likely belonged to a smuggler,” said Ibn.
    â€œPerhaps,” said Captain Sattari. “In any event, let us proceed.”
    â€œGod is great.”
    Sattari put his glasses back in their pouch and began helping the four men on his boat who would descend to the pipes below them to plant their explosive charges. The charges they carried were slightly bigger than a large suitcase, and each team had to place two on the thick pipes below.
    Sattari positioned his knee against the side of the raft, but cautioned himself against hoping it would brace him; he’d already seen in their drills that the raft would easily capsize. The trick was to use only one hand to help the others balance their loads; this was a heavy strain, but the team he was