Don Brown - Black Sea Affair

But this?

This was an international sideshow designed to win over wavering nations back into Russia's camp by making America look bad, and everybody knew it.

If that's the way the Russians wanted to play, so be it.

"All persons stand, " the translation came through the headphones, as the three grim-faced officers made their way from the side doors in the front of the cathedral, through a cascade of flashes, to their tables. Good. No arrest warrant for Zack.

"Is the prosecution ready to proceed?"

"We are, " Major Peter Andropov announced.

"Very well. Call your first witness."

Now. Zack rose to his feet. "Excuse me, General Smirnov."

"What is it, Commander Brewer?"

"My apologies, Comrade General, but the defense has a motion, sir."

"What kind of a motion?"

"With greatest deference to the tribunal, the defense at this time makes a motion to dismiss."

After his statement was translated, angry shouts in Russian erupted all over the courtroom. Zack looked over his shoulder. They were standing – angry bearded men and women in frumpy dresses – yelling and shaking their fists in the air. Their eyes were ablaze.

He turned and looked back at the tribunal. General Smirnov's black eyes burned down upon him. The general rapped his gavel on the desk and yelled something in Russian at the tumultuous gallery. The crowd settled down.

"And what gives you the right to make such a motion at this time, Commander?"

"With all due respect, General, the Geneva Accords gives me that right."

"What do you mean?"

"General, Article 17 provides that no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.

"This tribunal seeks, by this trial, to force information from my client that he is not required to give."

The general slammed his fist on that table. "But your client is no prisoner of war. There is no war between our countries, at least not yet. Plus he has not been tortured."

"I disagree with you, General. The Geneva Accords provide a broad definition of what constitutes a prisoner of war."

Zack raised his voice to speak over the uproar in the courtroom.

"In fact, Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention protects captured military personnel, and even some civilians and guerrilla fighters. It applies from the moment a prisoner is captured until he is released or repatriated.

"One of the main provisions requires that a prisoner only give his name, date of birth, rank, and ser vice number.

"This tribunal puts my client in the position of having to give more information than just his name, date of birth, rank, and ser vice number in order to defend himself. And that, General, is a violation of international law and is a violation of the Geneva Accords. Therefore, this action should be dismissed and my client and his crew should be afforded full protection to which they are entitled pursuant to the Geneva Accords. I have a brief here, with copies in Russian, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, which outlines our position under the norms of international law." Zack waved copies of the briefs in the air for the international press to see.

The Russian translation rang throughout the courtroom. Another murmuring arose from the crowd. Journalists furiously scribbled notes, as the three flag officers conferred among themselves. General Prokofiev, in particular, was red-faced, and was banging his fists on the table in the front of the courtroom.

Zack did not expect them to grant his motion. He was hoping against hope. But raising the Geneva Accords, he hoped, would at least slow down the steamroller. Maybe, just maybe he could buy the U.S.

Navy enough time to find this mysterious Egyptian freighter – if such a freighter really existed. All he could do was stall. And pray.

General Smirnov looked out at Zack and snarled, "Commander Brewer, you may approach with your brief. Bring us the copies in Russian, please."

"Yes, sir, General." Zack picked up three of the copies that had been translated into Russian and walked across the marble floors to the table, where the three officers sat.

They each met him with icy stares as he approached. He nodded at each, laid the briefs on the tables before them, then quickly pivoted around into the glare of television lights and returned to counsel table.

They flipped through the pages, shook their heads, and huddled again. Their below-the-breath comments appeared heated, almost as if they were arguing with one another.

Finally General Smirnov stood. "Commander Brewer, the panel has considered your motion and we find it to be without merit. However, out of our great respect for the Geneva Conventions, and because the Russian Federation is a party to those accords, we are going to take a recess to study the matter overnight and to confer with legal counsel."

"Thank you, General."

"But let me warn you, Commander, that we will tolerate no more frivolous motions."

Zack did not respond.

The panel rose and walked out of the room.

The White House

At least Brewer bought us some time, " the president remarked, "which is something we don't have much of."

"They're sensitive about being accused of violating the Geneva Conventions, " Secretary Mauney said. "At least they want to give the appearance of considering the motion, even if they have already denied it. Great strategy by Brewer."

"Zack's our best, " Secretary Lopez remarked. "That's why we sent him."

"That's the truth, " Admiral Ayers added.

"Director Winstead, do you have that dossier yet?" the president asked, as CIA Director Mitch Winstead walked into the Oval Office with a briefcase in hand. He sat in a circle of chairs occupied by the usual group. Mack noticed that he was drawing anxious stares.

"Yes, sir, Mr. President. And I think I finally have some answers."

"Let's have it."

The CIA director extracted papers from his briefcase, made eye contact with the president, then looked down and began reading bullet points. "This is from sources inside the Egyptian Merchant Marine. Captain Hosni Sadir was born in Cairo. He served in the Egyptian Navy, where he commanded a destroyer homeported out of Alexandria. Our background shows that he is of Chechen origin and has ties there.

"His grandparents were deported by Stalin with other Islamic Chechens during World War II, and after that, Sadir's family emigrated to Egypt.

"Despite all that, the family has maintained very close ties to their relatives back in Chechnya. In 1997, when Maskhadov introduced Islamic law to Chechnya, Sadir filed paperwork to move back to Chech-nya. But then, the Russians killed Maskhadov. Then many of Sadir's Chechen relatives were massacared in a Russian attack on a mosque in Grozny."

There was a brief pause.

"So Captain Sadir doesn't like the Russians, " National Security Advisor Cynthia Hewitt said.

"That's an understatement, Miss Hewitt, " Director Winstead replied. "It gets worse."

"Great, " Mack said. "Let's hear it."

"We got a copy of the ship's passenger manifest. One of the passengers is a native Chechen named Salman Dudayev."

"Doesn't ring a bell, " the secretary of state said.

"Dudayev is an American-trained physicist – he studied at MIT -who had close ties to Maskhadov. Although Chechnya has been considered as Russia's problem, we've maintained a file on this guy because his education and political affiliations puts him in a category of persons who could be very dangerous if weapons-grade uranium or plutonium ever fell into his hands."

"You are sure Dudayev is on that ship?" the president asked.