Vortex

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Carrerra, U.S. Army-Commanding officer of 1/75th Ranger Battalion.

Lieutenant General Jerry Craig, USMC-Commanding officer of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force and later the Allied South African Joint Task Force.

Lieutenant Nick Dworski, U.S. Army Special Forces Executive officer for Jeff Hawkins’s A Team.

James Malcolm Forrester-Vice President of the United States, chairman of the National Security Council.

Staff Sergeant Mike Griffith, U.S. Army Special Forces -Assigned as the heavy weapons specialist for Jeff Hawkins’s A Team.

Captain Jeff Hawkins, U.S. Army Special Forces-Commanding officer of a Green Beret A Team.

General Walter Hickman, U.S. Air Force-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Edward Hurley-Assistant secretary of state for African Affairs, U.S. State Department.

Lieutenant Jack “Ice” Isaacs, USN-A Navy F/A-18 pilot.

Captain Peter Klocek, U.S. Army-Operations officer of the 1/75th Ranger Battalion.

Sam Knowles-Ian Sheffield’s cameraman.

Captain Thomas Malloy, USN-Commanding officer of the Iowa-class battleship Wisconsin.,

General Wesley Masters, USMC-Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Christopher Nicholson-Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert O”Connell, U.S. Army-Acting commanding officer of the 1/75th Ranger Battalion, later commander 75th Ranger Regiment.

Hamilton Reid-Secretary of commerce.

Ian Sheffield-An American journalist assigned to South Africa.

Brigadier General George Skiles, U.S. Army-Chief of staff of the Allied South African Expeditionary Force.

Rear Admiral Andrew Douglas Stewart, USN-Commander of the carrier group including the Nimitz-class carrier Carl Vinson, later commander of Allied naval forces operating off the South African coast.

Major General Samuel Weber, U.S. Army-Commanding officer of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division.

Captain Rolf Bekker, South African Defense Force (SADF)—Company commander, 2nd Battalion, the 44th Parachute Regiment.

Brigadier Deneys Coetzee, SADF-A close friend of Henrik Kruger, now assigned to Army staff headquarters in Pretoria.

Brigadier Franz Diederichs, Security Branch, South African Police-Special military commissioner of Natal Province.

Major Richard Forbes, SADF-Executive officer of the 20th Cape Rifles.

Frederick Haymans-President of the Republic of South Africa.

Colonel Magnus Heerden, SADF-Head of Military Intelligence Branch of the Directorate of Military Intelligence.

Constand Heitman-South African minister of defense in Vorster’s cabinet.

David Kotane-ANC guerrilla leader commanding the Broken Covenant strike force.

Commandant Henrik Kruger, SADF-Commander, 20th Cape Rifles.

Colonel Sese Luthuli—A senior officer in Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military arm of the African National Congress.

Helmoed Malherbe-South African minister of industries and commerce in Vorster’s cabinet.

Gideon Mantizima-Leader of Inkatha, the Zulu political movement, and chief minister of KwaZulu, the nominally independent Zulu tribal homeland inside South Africa’s Natal Province.

Major Willem Metje, SADF-Assigned to Military Intelligence Branch of the

Erik Muller—Head of the South African Directorate of Military Intelligence.

Riaan Oost—A South African farmer acting as a deep-cover mole for the ANC.

Colonel Frans Peiper, SADF-Commanding officer of the 61 st Transvaal Rifles, the battalion guarding South Africa’s Pelindaba Nuclear Research Complex.

Fredrik Pienaar-South African minister of information in Vorster’s cabinet.

Sergeant Gerrit Roost, SADF-Capt. Rolf Bekker’s headquarters sergeant.

Andrew Sebe-An ANC guerrilla and member of the Broken Covenant strike force.

Matthew Sibena-A Xhosa resident of Johannesburg assigned as a driver for Ian Sheffield and Sam Knowles.

Jaime Steers-A fourteen-year-old fighting as part of the Transvaal Commando “Goetke. “

Major Chris Taylor, SADF-Executive officer of a Citizen Force infantry battalion based in Cape Town.

Emily van der Heijden-Only child of Marius van der Heijden.

Marius van der Heijden-Deputy minister, South African Ministry of Law and Order, in Vorster’s cabinet.

Colonel George von Brandis, SADF-Commanding officer of the 5th Mechanized Infantry Battalion.

Karl Vorster-South Africa’s minister of law and order and later president of the Republic of South Africa.

Corporal de Vries, SADF-Capt. Rolf Bekker’s radio operator.

General Adriaan de Wet, SADF-Chief of the South African Defense Force.

Senior Captain Victor Mares, Cuban Army-Executive officer of the 8th Motor Rifle Battalion in Namibia, and later commander of the First Brigade Tactical Group’s recormaissarice battalion.

Colonel Joste Suarez, Cuban Army-General Vega’s chief of staff.

Colonel Jaume Vasquez, Cuban Army-General Vega’s chief of intelligence.

General Antonio Vega, Cuban Army-Commanding officer of Cuban forces in Angola and later in the South African theater.

Captain Jorge de Sousa-The Mozambican officer assigned to serve as a liaison between Vega’s forces and the Mozambican Army.

Major John Farwell, British Army-Commanding officer, A Company, 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

Captain David Pryce, British Army-Troop commander, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment, attached to the Quantum assault force.

Professor Esher Levi—An Israeli nuclear scientist familiar with South Africa’s nuclear weapons program