Rescind Order

by Natasha Bajema

  Without answering his question, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She rested in his strong embrace for a few moments, breathing slowly, and then pulled away.

  Luis brushed a hair from her face and gazed into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Um, nothing,” Morgan said, somewhat fumbling her lie. She’d meant to follow up on his texts urging her to talk to Grace about the ARC system. But if she was honest, Morgan really just wanted to see Luis, to feel his kind eyes on her face and the comfort of his embrace. If Morgan told him the truth, that she really just needed a hug from her boyfriend, she might burst into tears and fall apart. There was no time for a meltdown. She had to focus on answering a growing list of questions and bring answers back to the president.

  That is, if she’ll still hear what I have to say.

  “You said this morning I should talk to Grace about the ARC system, remember?” Morgan asked, raising her eyebrow. “And then you texted me later about a major problem with it?”

  Luis frowned. “Oh. You’re here to see Grace.” The warm light in his brown eyes dimmed. “Well, I don’t know where your friend is right now.” His tone was suddenly gruff.

  Your friend? Was that displeasure?

  “But I did come to find you first,” Morgan said, trying to assuage his obvious irritation. She smiled at him, pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts. “This has been a really weird day.”

  “Tell me about it,” he said, cracking a bit of a grin. “You just called me colonel… and sir? I don’t know how I can possibly carry on.”

  Morgan laughed, her body relaxing slightly. “It was all I could do to get your attention in that angry huff of yours. You nearly ran me over coming out of that elevator. What happened? Did something go wrong with the ARC test?”

  Luis shook his head, his face becoming slack. “No, the test went fine, minus some unnecessary drama I’d rather not talk about. Has the president fired you yet?” He gave her a playful smirk.

  Morgan swallowed hard, the blood draining from her face.

  Luis winced. “Oh no. It was just a joke. I never thought…”

  She brushed it off with a crooked smile. “The truth is I don’t really know for sure. You saw the president humiliate me this morning in a cabinet meeting, putting me directly in Burke’s crosshairs. Well, something else seems to have happened, but I don’t know what it is.” Morgan moved in closer and lowered her voice. “Jack was behaving super cagey on the phone this morning, like the FBI might be investigating him in connection to Monroe’s death. And just now, Grayson threw me out of Liberty Crossing, demanding I talk to David about something. But I can’t reach my boss, and my work email isn’t working.”

  “You spoke to Jack?” Luis asked, his eyebrows squishing together. She really didn’t like the disapproval in his tone.

  Morgan pulled Luis to the side of the hallway where they could talk more privately. “I’ve made a possible connection between the Russian agent we think is responsible for the tweets and Anton Vega.” She paused to study his face for comprehension. “And you know what that means.”

  Luis blanched. “You think the Russians might be connected to Nightfall?”

  Morgan rubbed the back of her neck. “It sure looks that way. But I don’t have tangible proof. Just another wild theory at this point. But things seem to be adding up. And when I was at Liberty Crossing, we lost contact with the Polaris satellite for about an hour.”

  Luis clenched his jaw. “What? How?”

  Morgan shook her head. “They don’t have the faintest clue. There wasn’t any evidence of a cyberattack. At least not from earth. They’re assuming it was a system malfunction and are running diagnostics now. Of course, I couldn’t help thinking about how Anton’s company might operate a satellite in that orbit. Maybe he used it to seize control of our early warning system?”

  “To do what?”

  Morgan shrugged. “I dunno. Cause mayhem? More destabilization? War with China? If Anton was willing to produce an EMP with a nuke delivered from the International Space Station, I’d say the sky is the limit, don’t you?”

  He pursed his lips, not hiding his skepticism.

  “Like I said, it’s a wild theory,” Morgan said. “But I just can’t shake the feeling that everything is connected.”

  “Okay, let’s say you’re right,” Luis said. “Does that mean your mother is involved somehow?”

  Morgan took a step back and stared at his worried face. She was surprised by the direct question. Usually, Luis preferred to dodge her personal connection to one of the worst disasters ever faced by the United States. “That would be my worst nightmare,” she said.

  “There you are,” a female voice called out from behind them.

  Morgan jumped, and Luis’s body tensed.

  “Colonel, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Grace said. When she finally registered Morgan’s presence, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes growing wide. “Morgan, what are you doing here?”

  “Well, I came to see you about the ARC system,” Morgan said. “Luis texted me about a problem you found this morning.”

  Grace nodded quickly and turned to Luis. “I’m really sorry about what happened before with the chairman. I felt like I had to downplay the issue with the SecDef standing there.”

  Luis let out a frustrated sigh and threw up his hands. “Grace, by backtracking with Admiral Waller just now, you’ve made it really difficult for me to approach him about this again.” He shook his head. “First you tell me you need to flag something in his read-ahead this morning. So, I go through the trouble of getting your talking point inserted. And then you deny there was ever a problem to the chairman’s face. And now you want me to tell him you were lying? I don’t think so.”

  Grace’s face flushed. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. It’s just… um, I… well, you missed the read-ahead meeting this morning,” she blurted.

  “I didn’t miss it. I was at the White House for a Cabinet-level meeting with the chairman,” Luis said deadpan.

  C’mon babe. Don’t be a jerk.

  Morgan glared at him and poked him with her elbow.

  Grace took a deep breath. “I know, I know. I just wish you’d been there. Then you’d know that I defended my talking points as best as I could. But Captain Dietz intervened, and I lost the argument. And then just before the test…” Her face paled slightly, and she looked uncertain.

  “What happened?” Luis asked, leaning closer.

  “Well, I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone today,” Grace said, scratching her nose.

  Luis pinched his lips and crossed his arms. “Look, I don’t know what you want from us. You say you need our help. But now you can’t tell us why.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell you,” Grace said, “but we need to be extremely careful how we carry this information up the chain. I don’t know how many senior leaders are involved in the conspiracy. That’s why I think you both should talk directly to the president and the chairman.”

  Morgan’s eyes widened. “You’ve uncovered a conspiracy?”

  “I’m not sure, but there’s definitely evidence of corruption,” Grace said. She turned to Luis. “That’s why I was so afraid to tell you before… with the SecDef standing right there. For all I know, he’s up to his neck in it.”

  Morgan looked over at Luis, and he gave her a pained expression.

  “It’s okay, Grace. Tell us what you know, and we’ll do what we can,” she said.

  “Okay. I caught Arjun tweaking ARC’s algorithms right before the test. He made the changes to prevent the simulation from spiraling out of control. He was worried the ARC system would recommend nuclear war against China, leading Pentagon leadership to shut it down.”

  Luis shrank back, speechless for several moments. Then he began pacing in a tight circle and rubbing his chin. “You’re saying Arjun changed ARC’s software to cheat on the test?”

  Grace bobbed her head. “When I confronted him about it, Arjun c
laimed his boss, the CEO of Centoreum Tech, demanded he make the changes if he wanted to keep his job. Arjun said the changes would return the ARC system to its original state when it was first launched. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t know. What. To. Do.” Grace’s voice hitched, and tears welled in her eyes.

  “Wait a minute,” Luis said. “That means someone has tweaked the ARC system before this point?”

  Grace nodded.

  Luis creased his forehead, a deep frown on his face. “What do you want us to do?”

  Morgan frowned at his annoyed tone, but it didn’t seem to bother Grace.

  Grace looked back and forth between them. “Morgan, you need to warn the president about the dangers of the ARC system.” Then she turned to Luis. “You have to warn the chairman. If we don’t take the system offline now, I’m worried about what could happen with China.”

  Luis glanced at his watch and frowned. “Crap. This is really serious. I wish I could help with this now… but I have to get the chairman over to the White House for a meeting.”

  Morgan snapped her attention back to Luis. “There’s another meeting at the White House?” She stole a glance at her work phone. No missed calls or texts. And still nothing from her boss. The silence from her boss was deafening.

  Luis gave them both an apologetic look and turned to walk down the hallway. “The president wants to be debriefed on ARC’s test and evaluation and decide what to do next with regard to China.”

  I should be at that meeting.

  For a moment, Morgan felt paralyzed.

  Am I fired?

  “Luis… If I don’t make it to that meeting for some reason…” Morgan said, “find a way to warn the president for me.” She knew what she was asking would be difficult for him. As a plus-one, Luis didn’t have an easy way to participate in a Cabinet-level meeting.

  Luis gave her a pained look. “I’ll do what I can, okay?” Without another word, he hurried down the hallway.

  43

  Cause of Death

  SUSAN

  1500

  Executive Residence

  The White House

  Susan entered the West Sitting Hall and found Blake relaxing in his easy chair, reading the news on his tablet. Penny leapt up from her spot, raced over to her, and sat obediently at her feet. Susan reached down to scratch Penny’s ears. Then she straightened up slowly, walked over to Blake, and sank into a chair next to him.

  A sudden weariness came over her. Since she’d run from one crisis to the next, she’d barely gotten a chance to talk to Blake except for the short conversation after her disaster of a press briefing. She desperately wished she could have a do-over, especially for the lunch with Donghai. But then, she wasn’t sure if it would have gone any differently, no matter what she had said.

  Blake looked up from his tablet and smiled. “How was your lunch with Donghai?”

  Susan grimaced, recalling how she’d lost her meal after the failed attempt to clear up political misunderstandings and the awkward parting with her old friend. “It was terrible.”

  “Oh?”

  “Donghai is obviously under great pressure from Beijing at the moment,” Susan said. “He wouldn’t break face once throughout the lunch. That’s not like him at all. Even when things get tense between our countries, Donghai has always been able to let go of the politics and talk to me like an old friend. But not this time. Frankly, I’ve been rather spooked by it ever since.”

  Blake raised his eyebrow. “What do you think is going on?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s gotta be pretty big,” Susan said. “It feels like the Chinese government is trying to hide something from us. I told Donghai we know about the two nuclear-armed submarines in the Northwest Passage, and he didn’t even flinch. I don’t know what to make of it. Anyway, I’ve delivered a strong warning to the Chinese government, and we’ll see how they react. If they don’t bring those submarines to the surface immediately and redirect them through the Northeast Passage, we’ll have to up our game. Because if we don’t, the Chinese may interpret that as a lack of resolve.”

  Blake’s forehead creased. “If the Chinese fail to yield to your demands, we’ll have to take aggressive action to demonstrate our political will. And then, depending on how China responds, we may be walking into a nuclear conflict we don’t even want. So basically, we’re going to play a game of chicken with nuclear weapons.”

  “That’s my fear,” Susan said. “In a few minutes, I’m headed to another Cabinet meeting to get debriefed about the test and evaluation of the ARC system. Elise gave me a sneak preview, and there’s something about a recommendation to raise the alert of U.S. nuclear forces to DEFCON 3.”

  Blake’s jaw fell open. “What? Things are that bad?” He fumbled with his tablet before setting it down on the table next to him.

  “The complete stonewalling by the Chinese government in the midst of rising tensions has me quite worried.” Susan massaged her temples. “The DEFCON 3 recommendation comes from the ARC system, not from my defense advisors. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I suppose I’ll hear them out and then make my decision.”

  “Speaking of decisions, have you decided if you’re going to sign the legislation?” Blake asked cautiously.

  “Why are you asking that again?” Susan shot him an irritated glare. “Didn’t we decide that I would sign? Remember our conversation before the press briefing?”

  “I know, Susi,” Blake said, reaching for her hand. “It’s just that you didn’t seem too enthused with the decision and that showed during your press briefing. You need to do what you think is best… and not what will satisfy everyone else. You’re the president now. This morning you told me the decision will cost you something either way. I want to make sure whatever costs you will bear are worth it, and you’ll have no regrets.”

  Susan smiled and let him stroke her hand for a moment. “Obviously, I haven’t had much time to think it through. I’ve had more pressing issues on my mind. The bill would allow the Department of Defense to flip the switch and take humans out of the loop on the battlefield. Of course, I don’t like that idea at all.”

  “I do recall you warning Harrison repeatedly about the risks of giving robots control over kill decisions on the battlefield,” Blake said.

  “Yep, to no avail. His mind was dead set on them. Harrison was convinced it would be the only way for us to prevail in the great power competition with China and Russia—if our adversaries have such systems, so must we. I was pretty certain I was going to sign the bill today until that viral video from one of your students. Now I’m not sure.”

  “Drew is a smart kid,” Blake said, a flicker of pride in his eyes. “One my best students, actually… He’s the only student I gave an A+ on the opinion editorial assignment last semester. You know… Drew gave a really thoughtful follow-up interview on The Counter View after your press briefing. If you get a chance today, you should watch it. But whatever you do, don’t let social media sway your decision-making,” he said, furrowing his brow.

  “But isn’t it an indicator of popular views?” Susan asked.

  “Viral posts don’t necessarily mean anything,” Blake said. “They represent a momentary whim of a narrow slice of the population. For all we know, more than half of the accounts retweeting the video are bots. Who benefits the most if you veto the legislation?”

  Susan scrunched her face. “China and Russia.”

  “Exactly.”

  Susan sighed heavily. “I’m not sure I have a choice on whether or not to sign the bill. At least not politically. Not if I want to continue to get things done. The power players in U.S. Congress want me to sign it. The majority of my administration wants me to sign it. Hell, I’m sure Harrison would want me to sign it.”

  “Then why don’t you just sign the bill and get it over with?” Blake asked.

  Susan shrugged. “I don’t know. The idea of greenlighting automated killing machines gives me a bad feeling.”

  �
�Don’t tell me what Drew said got under your skin,” Blake said.

  “Well, he does have a point. Maybe I’ll feel different after my interview with him. Plus, what if I can convince Drew to change his mind? That would give the press and social media something to chew on.” She gave him a mischievous smile.

  Blake chuckled.

  Susan narrowed her eyes. “What’s so funny?”

  “Susi, you haven’t even made up your own mind,” Blake said, still chuckling at her. “What if Drew convinces you to veto the bill? He’s quite persuasive, you know.”

  She shrugged off his point. “Where’s Lucy?” she asked, changing the subject.

  Blake raised an eyebrow. “She’s reading a book with the sitter.”

  “That book you gave her?” Susan asked, wincing as soon as the words passed her lips.

  “No, not that book,” Blake said flatly, his face darkening.

  She turned to look Blake directly in the eyes. “Babe, I’m really sorry for yelling at you this morning. You were right. Lucy overhears things, and we need to help her understand them.”

  “It’s okay. I know the enormous pressure you’re under. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand.”

  Susan smiled warmly. “I don’t know if I’ve told you this lately… but you amaze me. And I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

  “Right back at ya,” Blake said, grinning at her.

  His tablet buzzed on the table, and he glanced down at it quickly. As he scanned the HNN news headline, his eyes widened. “You need to see this,” he said, reaching for the remote and turning on the TV.

  Susan turned toward the screen, read the headline at the bottom of the screen several times, and then stared speechless at Blake as the reporter went into further detail.

  Medical Examiner Determines President Monroe Ingested a Toxic Dose of Chloroquine

  The FBI Investigates Possible Assassination