The Fist of God PRAISE FOR THE FIST OF GOD “ ‘The man with ten minutes to live was laughing.’ So begins Frederick Forsyth’s The Fist of God—and even with just that one line you can see that he has returned to the pulse-pounding form of such books as The Day of the Jackal and The Dogs of War. Forsyth has written perhaps the first true thriller to come out of the Gulf War.” —Book-of-the-Month Club News “[A] fat, layered, complex, and altogether sublime spy action novel ... The Fist of God is delicious yet authentic fun, the stuff of good espionage thrillers.” —Chicago Sun-Times “The Gulf War is the setting of Forsyth’s brilliantly plotted ‘what if’ thriller in which historical facts are turned into gripping fiction. ... It’s the mark of master Forsyth that characters and background information are introduced so cleanly and precisely that impossibly complex events are never confusing, and the story develops its grip so surely it’s almost impossible to put the book down.” —Publishers Weekly “The novel ends in a blaze of top-notch military action, finely wrought descriptions of the gadgetry of destruction, and a twisty revelation. ... Super sleuthing.” —Kirkus Reviews file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (1 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God Bantam Books by Frederick Forsyth THE DAY OF THE JACKAL THE DEVIL’S ALTERNATIVE THE DOGS OF WAR NO COMEBACKS THE ODESSA FILE THE FOURTH PROTOCOL THE NEGOTIATOR THE DECEIVER THE FIST OF GOD Available wherever Bantam Books are sold FREDERICK FORSYTH THE FIST file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (2 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God OF GOD BANTAM BOOKS New York Toronto London Sydney Auckland This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition. NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED. THE FIST OF GOD A Bantam Book PUBLISHING HISTORY Bantam hardcover edition published June 1994 Bantam export edition / February 1995 Bantam paperback edition / August 1995 All rights reserved. Copyright © 1994 by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Cover art copyright © 1995 by Bantam Books. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-47150. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: Bantam Books. If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.” ISBN 0-553-57242-3 Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OPM 0 9 8 7 6 file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (3 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God For the widows and orphans of the Special Air Service Regiment. And for Sandy, without whose support this would have been so much harder. To those who know what really happened in the Gulf, and who spoke to me about it, my sincere thanks. You know who you are; let it be. CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS THE AMERICANS George Bush President James Baker Secretary of State Colin Powell Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Norman Commander-in-Chief, Coalition Schwarzkopf Forces, Gulf Theater Lieutenant General Commander, Coalition Air Forces, Charles (Chuck) Horner Gulf Theater Brigadier General Deputy to Chuck Horner Buster Glosson Bill Stewart Deputy Director (Operations), CIA Chip Barber Head, Middle East Division, CIA William Webster Director of Central Intelligence, CIA Don Walker USAF fighter pilot Steve Turner USAF fighter squadron commander Tim Nathanson Wizzo to Don Walker Randy Roberts Wingman to Don Walker Jim Henry Wizzo to Randy Roberts Harry Sinclair Head of London Station, CIA Saul Nathanson Banker and philanthropist file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (4 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God “Daddy” Lomax Retired nuclear physicist THE BRITISH Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister John Major Thatcher’s successor as Prime Minister Lieutenant General Commander, British Forces, Gulf Theater Sir Peter de la Billière Sir Colin McColl Chief, SIS Sir Paul Spruce Chairman, British Medusa Committee Brigadier J.P, Lovat Director, Special Forces Colonel Bruce Craig Commanding Officer, 22nd SAS Regiment Major Mike Martin Major, SAS Major “Sparky” Low SAS Officer, Khafji Dr. Terry Martin Academic and Arabist Steve Laing Director of Operations, Mid-East Division, SIS Simon Paxman Head of Iraq Desk, SIS Stuart Harris British businessman, Baghdad Julian Gray Head of Station, SIS, Riyadh Dr. Bryant Bacteriologist, Medusa Committee Dr. Reinhart Poison gas expert, Medusa Committee Dr. John Hipwell Nuclear expert, Medusa Committee Sean Plummer Head of Arab Service, GCHQ Wing Commander Commanding Officer, 608th Squadron, RAF Philip Curzon Squadron Leader Pilot, 608th Squadron, RAF Lofty Williamson Flight Lieutenant Williamson’s navigator Sid Blair Flight Lieutenant Pilot, 608th Squadron Peter Johns Flight Lieutenant Johns’s navigator Nicky Tyne Sergeant Peter SAS man Stephenson Corporal Ben Eastman SAS man Corporal Kevin North SAS man THE IRAQIS Saddam Hussein President file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (5 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God Izzat Ibrahim Deputy President Hussein Kamil Saddam’s son-in-law, head of MIMI Taha Ramadam Prime Minister Sadoun Hammadi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz Foreign Minister Ali Hassan Majid Governor-General, occupied Kuwait General Saadi Tumah Commander, Republican Guard Abbas General Ali Musuli Commander, Engineering Corps General Abdullah Commander, Armored Corps Kadiri Dr. Amer Saadi Deputy to Hussein Kamil Brigadier Hassan Chief, Counterintelligence Rahmani Dr. Ismail Ubaidi Chief, Foreign Espionage Brigadier Omar Chief, Secret Police (Amn-al-Amm) Khatib Colonel Osman Colonel, Army Engineers Badri Colonel Abdelkarim Colonel, Iraqi Air Force Badri Dr. Jaafar Al-Jaafar Head, nuclear program Colonel Sabaawi Secret Police Chief, occupied Kuwait Dr. Salah Siddiqui Nuclear engineer THE KUWAITIS Khaled Al-Khalifa Pilot, captain Ahmed Al-Khalifa Merchant Colonel Abu Fouad Head, resistance movement Asrar Qabandi Heroine of resistance THE ISRAELIS Itzhak Shamir Prime Minister General Yaacov Head of Mossad “Kobi” Dror Sami Gershon Head, Combatants Division, Mossad David Sharon Head of Iraq Desk, Mossad Benjamin Netanyahu Deputy Foreign Minister Gideon “Gidi” Mission controller, Operation Joshua file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (6 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God Barzilai Dr. Moshe Hadari Arabist, Tel Aviv University Avi Herzog, alias Mossad agent in Vienna Karim Aziz THE VIENNESE Wolfgang Gemütlich Vice-president, the Winkler Bank Edith Hardenberg Gemütlich’s private secretary Contents Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (7 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 A Final Note About The Author THE FIST OF GOD Chapter 1 The man with ten minutes to live was laughing. The source of his amusement was a story just told him by his personal aide, Monique Jaminé, who was driving him home that chill, drizzling evening of March 22, 1990, from his office to his apartment. It concerned a mutual colleague in the Space Research Corporation file:///C|/Downloads/Ebooks/FORSYTH,%20Frederick%20-%20The%20Fist%20of%20God.htm (8 of 672) [02/17/2003 12:23:46 AM] The Fist of God offices at rue de Stalle, a woman regarded as a real vamp, a man-eater, who had turned out to be gay. The deception appealed to the man’s lavatorial sense of humor. The pair had left the offices in the Brussels suburb of Uccle, Belgium, at ten to seven, Monique driving the Renault 21 estate wagon. She had, some months earlier, sold her employer’s own Volkswagen because he was such a rotten driver, she feared he would end up killing himself. It was only a ten-minute drive from the offices to his apartment in the center building of the three-building Cheridreu complex off rue François Folie, but they stopped halfway there at a baker’s shop. Both went inside, he to buy a loaf of his favorite pain de campagne. There was rain in the wind; they bowed their heads, failing to notice the car that followed behind them. Nothing strange in that. Neither was trained in tradecraft; the unmarked car with its two dark-jowled occupants had been following the scientist for weeks, never losing him, never approaching him, just watching; and he had not seen them. Others had, but he did not know. Emerging from the shop just in front of the cemetery, he tossed his loaf into the back seat and climbed aboard to complete the journey to his home.