Dale Brown - Storming Heaven

by Storming Heaven [lit]

  Memphis International. Just a few minutes ago. They're saying the death toll could be in the thousands this time." "Oh, my God..." gasped Hardcastle.

  "He got a call from the President, Admiral," Sheehan went on.

  "He wants you and your staff to report to the White House immediately.

  They want a complete briefing on your plans to set up an air defense network in the United States." "Jesus... Marc, phone the flight crew, get the Gulfstream ready to go, drop me off at base ops, and get the investigation team together right away," Hardcastle said. He turned to Vincenti: "Also, you're with me." "I'm not cleared to leave the base, Admiral." "I just cleared you," Hardcastle said. "You're a member of my staff, effective yesterday, and the President has just ordered you to Washington.

  We've got about five hours for you to tell me precisely what I need to do to make my air defense plan airtight. Let's go." PART 3 The White House Cabinet Room The Next Morning've got only one thing to say to you, Admiral Hardcastle," Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth Lowed said angrily, dramatically waving a bound report in her hand, then tossing it on the Cabinet Room table in disgust just as the door leading to the Oval Office opened and everyone got to their feet.

  "You must be totally insane, or at the very least so ill-informed as to defy reason and logic." She saw the President of the United States stride in, then said to him, "Mr. President, I can't believe you even allowed that crack pot in this room at a time like this." "Allow me to respond to the Deputy Attorney General's statement, Mr.

  President--on the record," Ian Hardcastle said, a slight, challenging smile on his face.

  "This meeting will come to order," the President's chief of staff said.

  Lowed quietly took her seat with the others after the President was seated, glaring angrily at Ian Hardcastle. What he did not know was that Elizabeth Lowed, one of the President's most capable political insiders, had met personally with the President just before the meeting and had already been instructed as to how this meeting was going to proceed--her tirade against Hardcastle was part of a hastily but carefully rehearsed trap for Hardcastle and his cohorts.

  The members of the Executive Committee on Terrorism, the group responsible to the National Security Council and the President for all antiterrorist matters, had assembled in the White House Cabinet Room to receive the latest briefing on the hunt for Henri Cazaux. The E.c.t was composed of senior officials from the Departments of Treasury, Justice, State, Defense, Transportation, and Energy, along w Agency and the National Security Council staff. Because the President had convened this meeting at the White House, most of the Cabinet itself was present along with their E.c.t representatives, so it was a tight fit in the Cabinet Room.

  This was just the latest crisis in what seemed like an Administration plagued by problems from the very beginning, starting with a furor over the President's attempt to drop the ban on gays in the military, to his health care package, to problems within his own White House.

  His wife, for instance, known around town as the Steel Magnolia, was conspicuously absent from this and other meetings as of late.

  A formidable woman who was highly intelligent and, for a while, almost inseparable from her husband, the Steel Magnolia had recently been devoting all her time to extricating herself from a shady realestate deal that was now threatening to turn into a Watergate-sized problem for the Administration. Things weren't helped when her own counsel killed himself.

  But even now, in the midst of a major domestic crisis, the President hardly had time to worry about his wife. There were far bigger problems at hand for this poor boy from what many had laughingly called a hillbilly southern state. This current crisis might be the final straw for his Administration.

  Depending, of course, on how he handled it.

  Joining the President, the E.c.t members, and Hardcastle were Colonel Also Vincenti; Colonel Marc Sheehan, Hardcastle's aide; and Deborah Harley, who was cleared to come to this meeting as an assistant to Hardcastle but who was in reality an executive assistant to Kevin Martindale--the former Vice President was not invited to attend this meeting, but he made sure he had his spy in place. If the President or his staff knew about Harley, they did not seem to care.

  Vincenti's face looked grim as Lam Wilkes, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, began the briefing with a rundown of the attack on Memphis International Airport last evening. He could all-too-easily envision the two airliners barreling in toward the airport, then raining devastation on hundreds of innocent people below.

  Thankfully, the death toll was not as high as in San Francisco--over two hundred dead and over five hundred injured, mostly at the Universal Express super hub facility--but Vincenti felt responsible for each and every one of their deaths. When he looked up, he saw a few of the E.c.t members looking back at him, and he felt that they were silently accusing him of not stopping Cazaux when he had the chance.

  Hardcastle looked at the oval cherry table, his hands folded in front of him, with a stony, neutral expression; Sheehan was watching the southern President (who was popping MandMs into his mouth from a jar on the table) and Hardcastle, waiting for the sparks to fly.

  "We're assisting the local authorities in hunting down the aircraft," Judge Lam Wilkes was saying, "but the attack on the airport knocked out all the radar control centers in the entire region--both Approach and Center radar control centers are located at Memphis International--an "Our best lead right now circles on aircraft dealers in the south and southeast, particularly ones handling civil and military-surplus cargo aircraft. But there are two hundred and thirty such dealers and brokers in the region; plus, getting a plane from Central or South America flown into the southern U.s. is too easy.

  Getting warrants to search each establishment will take time.

  We--" Hardcastle let out an exasperated sigh at the mention of warrants. A few eyes darted in his direction, but Hardcastle did not speak and no one else said a word. Wilkes, pretending she did not notice, continued, "Sir, I've said this before: we can't let our concern over Cazaux's attacks force us to degenerate into simply lashing out at every hint of criminal or suspected terrorist activities--it's stretching my manpower too thin, and it's creating more panic. We've got every available federal agent involved in this manhunt. I've got agents in Mexico and Canada. I've diverted extra agents to four different locations following up investigations on suspicious explosions, and each one has come up with nothing. The Bureau has investigated over one hundred bombings in the United States just last month, and none of them were tied in to Cazaux." "But now Cazaux's finally gone over the edge, and I believe we've got to investigate each incident," said Transportation Secretary Ralph Mersky. He turned to the President and said, ""Mr. President, under the Federal Aviation Regulations, I've had the FAA close Tucson International Airport because a suspected terrorist incident is under investigation--we think Cazaux was flying on a commercial airliner, and he was afraid of getting caught and killed some airline service workers to make his escape. By the law, I shollld close every other major airport near any of these other suspected terrorist incidents as well --whether or not judge Wilkes believes they have anything to do with Cazaux. But I've had meetings with every major air carrier in the country, and to a man they've pleaded with me not to shut down the airports." "What in hell would you expect them to say?" Deputy Attorney General Lowed interjected. Under the National Security Act of 1949, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States was the most senior manager of any domestic terrorism crisis. Elizabeth Lowed was a hard-nosed Army veteran, attorney, and Washington lobbyist--perfectly suited for the job of dealing with the exclusive men's domains of defense and antiterrorist strategy and response. "They need to keep making money, and they're willing to bet other people's lives on the long odds that Cazaux will strike anywhere else but their location or their planes." "I know that, Liz," Mersky shot back, "but I need the White House's direction on this one." To the President, he continued: "We've already enacted Level Thr
ee security, which deals primarily with terrorist threats such as bombs in baggage, sabotaging planes at the gate, car bombs near terminals, that sort of thing. The law says I must enact Level Two security measures at all airports that carry more than eighteen passengers per plane if terrorist activity is suspected in the vicinity or on a national level, Mr. President." The President of the United States, sitting half-slouched at his big desk in the Cabinet Room, looked as if sleep and he were complete strangers. He was tall, young compared to recent Chief Executives, well-b thick and bushy. But the dark bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, and the wrinkles around the eyes caused by stress and squinting at reports and televisions without using his glasses, made him look considerably older. He wrapped his big hands around a coffee cup and took a sip--cold again. He let the cup rattle back onto its saucer, popped some more MandMs into his mouth (his affection for junk food was legendary), then drawled, "Ralph, it doesn't sound like this Level Three protects anyone if Cazaux drops a damned bomb on their heads.

  Why hasn't stricter security been set up already?" "Sir, the reason is that we have no procedures for dealing with air raids against major airports inside the United States except for closing them down," Mersky said. "We have Civil Defense procedures drawn up thirty years ago for use in case of Soviet air raids, and even then they mostly deal with evacuation, medical care, restricting access to navigation facilities--" "So the only option we have right now is to close the airports until we track this Cazaux down?" the President asked incredulously.

  God, how he hated these meetings without his wife present. That fucking real-estate deal was consuming all of her time, time that she could have been spending helping him. Damn her. They should have never invested in that fucking land in the first place. Oh, well.

  They'd just have to live with it. And he, unfortunately, was having to live without her at a time when he needed her most--like now.

  "Hey, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand what a disaster that would be.

  Remember how disrupted everything was when American Airlines' flight attendants went on strike.

  Remember the panic? Jesus. I want to hear more options." He turned to Hardcastle, Vincenti, and his Secretary of Defense, Dr. Donald Scheer, and said, "Admiral Hardcastle, I asked you to come down here because I've heard of your"-- he took a moment to consider his next words, then decided to just say it--"genius, concerning this disaster.

  "I don't agree with it, and I frankly suspect that much of it stems from your political agenda with the Project 2000 Task Force and Vice President Martindale's campaign," he continued. "We don't need partisan politics interfering with this investigation. I think the little stunt you orchestrated in the Senate to step into the middle of the FBI'S investigation of the San Francisco attack was a cheap, dirty trick to take advantage of the situation to promote your own agenda." "Except Cazaux did strike again," Hardcastle pointed out bluntly.

  The President spread his hands and nodded.

  "Yes, he did," he drawled.

  "I thought he'd be long gone, but he's not, and he's got to be dealt with. And you offered your technical assistance, which I deeply appreciate." He picked up Hardcastle's point paper on the air defense emergency and added angrily, "But showing this report to the press at the same time as handing it to me stinks. The American people see you on TV promoting this plan, and they cling to it because it's a "do-something, do-anything" move. It makes me question your motivation here, Admiral: do you really want to help me solve this crisis or are you just pushing a political agenda?" "I'm trying to stop Cazaux, Mr.

  President," Hardcastle said evenly.

  "It's that simple. With all due respect, sir, how you respond to this crisis affects your own political agenda more than how I respond." "When I need your advice on politics, Admiral, I'll ask," the President snapped. "With all due respect, Admiral, dealing with you is worse than Cazaux--at least that maniac is not on TV every two hours.

  But let's get back to what we should do about Cazaux. Dr. Scheer's staff has outlined your suggestions for me, and although I consider your response dangerous, it could be the only one available to us." "I believe it is your only response, Mr.

  President," Hardcastle said, "and I've encouraged your advisers to just come out and say so.

  FAA Level One security is the only set of procedures on the civilian side for dealing with this emergency, and it won't help stop or find Cazaux. Civil and strategic defense is virtually nonexistent in this country. The FAA'S SCATANA procedures basically entail shutting down all but a few major airports and most navigation radio facilities, and we're still faced with finding and stopping Cazaux." "So your solution is to turn security for this crisis over to the military?" Lam Wilkes asked incredulously. She motioned to Hardcastle's report. "You want to use the military inside the United States for law enforcement?" "This is no longer a law enforcement question, Judge Wilkes, this is a national defense crisis." "You're wrong, Hardcastle. This is a criminal investigation, and it should be handled like one.

  Mr. President, there is no doubt whatsoever that this is a serious crisis, but imposing martial law is not the answer." "I do not want to impose martial law," the President said immediately, running his hand through his hair. "Let's make that real clear right from the get-go." "Mr. President, I've read Admiral Hardcastle's proposed plan," Wilkes said, "and it's nothing but a reactionary, grandstanding power grab." "I couldn't agree more," Deputy Attorney General Lowed said.

  "We don't need the military to secure the skies and hunt down Henri Cazaux. Mr. President, the Executive Committee on Terrorism is in charge and in control of this situation." "Judge Wilkes, Liz, hold on a minute," the President said evenly.

  "I brought Hardcastle and the Colonel in here to get their thoughts." He turned to Hardcastle again. "I was briefed on your proposal, Admiral.

  It's pretty severe. Tell me why this isn't martial law." "Mr. President, critics can label this plan whatever they like," Hardcastle responded.

  "My objective is simply to defend our major international airports from aerial attack." r r i , "Mr. President, I think the FBI can handle this crisis without having to resort to this extreme military option," Lowed said, holding up her copy of the plan Hardcastle had proposed to the Secretary of Defense.

  "You're talking about surface-to-air missiles, fighters escorting commercial airliners, free-fire zones around major cities and ai7ports... ?" She shook her head in disbelief. "Ludicrous. This is not some damned Dale Brown novel, this is real-life." "It has to be set up and executed as if this was an overseas American military installation under attack by a foreign hostile military force," Hardcastle explained. "Sir, the plan presupposes that we want air traffic in this country to continue at the highest possible level of efficiency." "That goes without saying, Admiral." "Then, sir, it will be easier than taking candy from a baby for Henri Cazaux to attack any airport at will, unless we have a layered, iron-clad defense network around every major U.s. airport. It is absolutely essential that we act to screen air traffic moving in and out of our major airports in case Cazaux slips past our dragnets and tries to attack." "I don't like the sound of this one bit," the President remarked, wishing like hell that it wasn't his Administration that had to deal with this shit. Why couldn't they have just elected his wife? Let her handle it, that's what he wanted. "But I invited you here because enough people think your plan might have merit during this emergency.

  What is it you propose, Admiral?" "Sir, my plan has two major elements," Hardcastle explained.

  "First, we control and monitor the movement of every aircraft in the United States, using civilian and military radar systems. Second, we use airborne and ground-based air defense systems to track, identify, and, if necessary, engage any aircraft that is not properly identified or deviates from its proper course." "This is the Hammerheads all over again," Lam Wilkes said with an expression of disgust, as if someone had passed gas.

  "Another assault on the Bill of Rights, eh, Admiral?" "
Until you catch Cazaux, there is no other way to keep air traffic in this country moving safely, Judge Wilkes." "You make it sound so sterile, Admiral," Transportation Secretary Mersky interjected.

  "Putting every aircraft in the United States on an instrument flight plan? That'll overload our air traffic controllers.

  All others can't fly? That'll ground hundreds of thousands of planes.

  And your term "engage" is a polite term for "shoot down," as in "shoot down a commercial airliner" if it strays too far off course or turns the wrong way on a missed approach in bad weather." "Admiral Hardcastle, I simply don't think this plan will work-or if it is implemented, it won't do any good and will cause more panic and confusion than it will help," the Vice President added stiffly.

  "Every plane flying into a major airport in the country has to be escorted by an armed fighter? This has got to be a violation of Constitutional rights." "The only way to positively identify a suspect aircraft is to intercept it and check it visually, sir," Vincenti interjected.

  "And in many cases, the only way to divert a suspect away from a restricted area is by a fighter intercept. The ground-based air defense systems are a last resort only. Obviously, shooting at a terrorist plane only a few miles from a major airport will still cause massive destruction on the airport, although if it doesn't hit its intended target then the engagement was a success.