by Lewis, Rykar
“You must be pretty shortsighted if you can’t see that a preemptive strike is just about our only option,” the President informed him. “But I asked for your advice and thanks for giving it.”
Angry, the Treasure Secretary jumped in. “Mr. Secretary,” she started, “why can you not understand that we don’t have any other option than to conduct a preemptive strike? We don’t have the luxury to doubt that statement when time is running out and common sense is telling us that when an enemy of our nation obtains a nuclear weapon they’re going to use it against us or our friends. Look at what happened with Iran. They tried making a nuke and just about got away with it because the previous administration just kept saying ‘oh please don’t do that’ and didn’t do anything else. If you recall, Mr. Secretary, when President Winnfield was inaugurated, he gave Iran an ultimatum. He said that they’d better stop their nuclear weapons program or he’d obliterate their nation. They didn’t listen, and now Iran is what it is.”
Winnfield was smiling as he remembered his first few weeks in the Oval Office. The War on Terror was finally taken seriously, the Taliban and Al-Qaida had been completely wiped out, and a new threat dashed onto the scene. Iran had almost completed their first nuclear weapon and Winnfield had known he had to stop them. When his ultimatum wasn’t heeded, he sent in half the U.S. forces which had been occupying Afghanistan and Iraq – Iraq had been freed officially from terrorism – and told them to take out the Iranian government. And so they had. Now, Iran was a mere shadow of what it used to be but Winnfield still knew they would try and rise again some day. He knew it would do them no good as long as he was in office.
“Thank you for your history lesson,” Bradley retorted. “But I didn’t need it. I am well aware of what this administration has accomplished. Frankly, I have had a major part in seeing those accomplishments achieved. I backed the President when he wiped out the Taliban and Al-Qaida, and overthrew the corrupt Iranian government. But I cannot and will not support this move. We just finished fighting a four-nation war and I don’t believe another war will be acceptable.”
“To whom are you trying to prove us acceptable?” the Vice President shot back. “The rest of the world? The United Nations? Listen Dan, we don’t need to be acceptable in the U.N.’s eyes. This nation is free and safe not because of the U.N., but because we’ve taken a stand for what’s right. This country’s values and interests come first. I don’t care how many wars it takes or who looks down on us, I will always back a move that will keep America free. You should too.”
Bradley sank back in his chair and remained silent. The President smiled his approval at his advisors and asked for any other comments. When no one spoke, Winnfield seized the opportunity.
“All right then, we will take this warhead out,” he concluded with certainty. “We will make a plan once the D/CIA finds where exactly it is and if there are any more coming in. You’ll be briefed as soon as any information comes in. That’ll be all.” Everybody stood and began to exit the room. “Um, I need to speak with the Directors, National Security Advisor, and Vice President,” he added.
The six men reentered the Situation Room and seated themselves.
“I know what you’re thinking, Mr. President,” Smith spoke up. “And I’m not so sure Parks is ready to handle something like this.”
“Look, he doesn’t need you to read his mind,” Cummins fired back. “You’re not his mouthpiece, so don’t act like it.”
“Settle down, let’s not get steamed up about this,” the President ordered. “You guys can argue if you want after work but for now I’m running this show and you’ll do what I tell you.” Winnfield rested his arm on the table. “Listen, we have a hostile nation that has a nuclear weapon and probably intends to use it against us or Israel. I don’t know what role Lebanon played in the whole 1/16 ordeal but I do know they’ve got a nuke and it needs to be taken out. Is that understandable?” Every man nodded his agreement. “Okay let’s get to business. There’s a big possibility that when we find this weapon it’ll be in some safe facility underground. That means we’ll have to blast our way to get at it and then throw something else in to take it out. Our 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker buster bomb toting 5,300 pounds of explosives would break open the facility, but we need something else to actually destroy the warhead. Something like a Tomahawk cruise missile. If we time it right we could have the Air Force drop the bunker buster and say, a minute later, have the Tomahawk fly in there and take out the nuclear weapon. Here’s the thing. We are most likely going to have a very small target for the MOP bunker buster to hit. That means I don’t want to rely on its usual GPS. We need someone to laser guide it like we did during Desert Storm. So we’re going to have to put someone on the ground.”
“No, Mr. President,” the FBI Director moaned. “Parks just isn’t there yet. He’s green. We can’t rely on him to save our country.”
“Why not?” Roxon asked. “We depended on him to save our country when these terrorists came in. Why not now? He’s dependable and I’d say our best chance.”
“What do you think, Mike?” the VP questioned.
The D/CIA adjusted in his seat and replied, “Parks will get the job done. That’s not my concern. Right now I’m worried about where they’re putting that warhead and if there are any more coming.”
“He’s right,” Travis confirmed. “We’ve got to find the thing before we send anybody or anything in.”
The President had to agree. “That’s fine. But once we do find it, here’s what I want to have happen. We’ll get some B-2 Stealth bomber to drop that bunker buster on the war bunker and about one minute later I want an attack submarine to launch a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile and blow up the warhead. What do we have for subs in the Med, Tom?”
“Uh, that’d be the Second Fleet’s domain, so the Los Angeles Class Attack subs would probably be what we’d need to use,” the NSA responded. “We’ve got quite a few sitting off the coast of Lebanon right now. They’re ready when we are.”
“Great. Contact the Navy and double-check on whether those subs have Tomahawks,” the President ordered. “Have them keep their subs close by.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“That’s it men. Mike, you find that warhead. Tom, check on the subs. Report to me the second you find something. Oh, and Tom, one more thing. Get Parks in my office immediately.”
52
Thursday, April 17th – 0800 hours
The Oval Office
Parks took in a deep breath and opened the door to the Oval Office. He had been ordered by the National Security Advisor just minutes earlier to report to the President immediately. And so he had obeyed the order without a single question. He didn’t know why he was here but he knew he’d find out soon enough.
The President heard the door close and quickly looked up to see Parks standing at attention. “Keith, we need to talk,” he said bluntly. “We were just informed by a reliable source that the Lebanese have recently obtained a nuclear warhead. It’s top-notch. An MIRV to be precise. We also think they bought it from the Russians. But don’t quote me on that.”
Parks betrayed no emotions as he listened to the President explain the entire situation. When Winnfield was finished explaining he simply stated, “Well, we need that thing taken out. I hate to ask but I’m going to need your team to laser guide that MOP bunker buster. Usually we rely on its GPS but I’m taking no chances when dealing with precision.”
Parks knew from his brother’s explanations what it was like when a bunker buster exploded a war bunker or another object. He had said it almost looked fake. Parks could remember how he’d wanted to see a bunker buster explosion but never thought he would. Now he was going to, up close and personal.
“Major Parks,” Winnfield continued, “if I put your team in there...there’s no guarantee that we’ll get you out. And these aren’t the normal odds. When you take that warhead out the whole Lebanese army will be coming down on your team. We’ll do a
ll we can to extract you and your team but...well there’s not much we can do. I’d say offhand that you’ll probably have a ten percent chance of coming back alive.” The President looked Parks directly in the eye. “I feel bad about sending anyone to do something with odds like that, but I don’t have a choice when millions of American lives are hanging in the balance. Can you do it?”
Parks was so shocked he didn’t react. “Mr. President sir, when I joined the Marine Corps I took an oath. I swore to defend my country and the Constitution of the United States, sir. And as long as I can, sir, I’ll keep that oath.”
Winnfield was moved by Parks’ willingness and he didn’t say anything for quite a long time. “Keith, my father was a Marine,” he finally began. “He went on a mission similar to this one. It was during the Cold War and we were deep in the fight with the Soviets. He was deployed and he couldn’t tell us why or where he was going. Two weeks later we received a visit from a couple of Marines with a next of kin notification.”
Parks couldn’t find suitable words to reply, so he kept his mouth shut. He needed to hear that story about as much as he needed a hole in his head.
“You’ll need to get your team training like never before,” the President suddenly commanded. “Get them in top condition. You may have a few days because we still have to find that warhead. Talk to your team, tell them everything. But keep this confidential.”
“Yes sir.”
“That’s it, Major. You’ll be briefed when we find anything of importance.”
“Yes, Mr. President sir.”
Parks did an about-face and reached for the doorknob. As he did he remembered something of utmost importance: the mole. Parks had told Solomon that if the opportunity presented itself and if he was talking with the President alone, he’d tell him about the suspected mole. Solomon had backed his statement completely. Now Parks knew he had to tell the President. He’d be putting his reputation on the line but that couldn’t stop him now.
“Mr. President, sir,” Parks interrupted as he took his hand off the doorknob and turned around.
“What is it?”
Parks’ heart was pounding. What if this assumption is wrong? he thought. It can’t be because it isn’t an assumption. There are too many facts to prove that there is a mole.
“You need something?” Winnfield wondered.
“Yes sir. I need a second to tell you something, sir,” Parks responded.
“Go for it.”
“Sir, did you ever wonder why this last operation turned around for the good so suddenly? Do you think it’s interesting that the terrorists seemed to know exactly where we were waiting for them, sir?”
The President leaned forward. “Maybe. Why does it matter?”
“Sir, I’ll tell you plainly. There’s a mole in your cabinet.”
That was putting it plainly and Winnfield was not sure how to take that.
“That’s a mighty strong accusation coming from anyone. But really, what right do you have to suggest this?”
Parks was desperate for a good answer. “Mr. President sir, my job is to take out terrorists. When something happens that prevents my job from being accomplished, I need to intervene, sir. This does affect me and my team very much, sir.”
“What gave you this bright idea in the first place?”
Parks went through the fine details and the President didn’t even blink through the entire briefing.
“I feel there’s enough evidence to conclude that there is a mole, Mr. President sir, and that he’s one of five men,” Parks finished. “Either one of the Directors, or the National Security Advisor, sir.”
“Check your own men before accusing mine,” Winnfield retorted hotly. “How do you know one of your men isn’t the mole?”
“Sir, my men were with each other at all times during the operation and one would have noticed if the other was contacting someone. Also the CIA was monitoring our communication at all times. And please know this is not a personal accusation against you, sir.”
“Yes it is. You’re saying that one of my handpicked staff is a mole for terrorists,” the President argued. “That makes it very personal.”
“I never said it wasn’t personal, Mr. President sir. It is. I said it isn’t a personal accusation against you, sir,” Parks clarified. “I’m telling you, sir, only because we need help to flush this mole out. We’ve come up with a plan but it relies on having more terrorists enter the U.S., sir.”
“Forget about a plan to flush out the mole, I need proof that there is one,” Winnfield fired back.
Parks didn’t say anything. He had given the President plenty of convincing evidence. Now the President just needed to accept the fact that there was a mole.
“All right give me the plan,” the President ordered after a minute of silence.
“Yes sir. We figured that if we monitored the terrorists’ incoming and outgoing calls we could match the mole’s voice to one of the five men, sir.”
“What if they’re getting the information by email or pager?”
“Negative sir. The CIA has checked all their devices for any sort of messages and they had none, sir. The CIA further stated that the devices show no history of any deleted messages. That draws the conclusion that the information being passed on to them was by direct phone calls, sir.”
Winnfield pondered a few things and then came to a conclusion. “Major Parks, I’m about to send in your team to do a top secret mission. If a word about this mission gets through to the guilty party – terrorists, Lebanon’s government, whoever’s responsible for everything – then the mission will fail. I’m not jumping to the conclusion that there is a mole, but I can’t take the chance that there is one. You’ve given me a lot of evidence that suggests there is a mole and I can’t just throw that away and forget about it. I’ll conduct an investigation and I’ll need your help on it.”
“Yes sir,” Parks agreed.
“It’s going to be a chore to do investigations when one of your intelligence Directors could be your worst enemy. But we’ll get it done.” The President stalled. “Is that all, Major?”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay. Um, thanks for the heads-up,” Winnfield acknowledged somewhat shyly. “I really appreciate you taking your job that seriously to risk being wrong about a matter like this.”
“Yes sir. But I like to think that I didn’t risk anything, sir, because there is a mole. Now it’s just a matter of finding out who, sir.”
* * *
Parks exited the Oval Office and instantly felt better. Now he had informed the President and chances were the mole would be exposed. He had to tell Solomon the good news.
Parks walked away briskly, feeling like a new man. Then he remembered the reason for the visit. The President had said that there was only a ten percent chance that he and his team would be coming back from Lebanon alive. Those odds weren’t very favorable. That would mean that Parks would be asking his team to almost certainly give their lives for their country. It wouldn’t be as bad for him as it would be for some of the married men on his team. He didn’t know how they could leave their families knowing that the odds were on the side of them never returning. At least he didn’t have a wife or kids to say goodbye to, which made things somewhat easier. But Parks still knew that when D-day came he’d be petrified. That was just the way things were.
Parks turned a corner and almost ran into Renee. He caught himself and stepped back quickly.
“Oh I’m sorry, ma’am,” he apologized. “I didn’t see you.”
“That’s fine,” she laughed. “How are you doing today?”
Parks wanted to say “awful” or something along that line but he didn’t. Renee was too happy and he didn’t want to change that. “I’m not too bad, ma’am. How are you?”
“I’m doing well, thank you. I haven’t seen you since the party, Major Parks. I was expecting to.”
Parks suddenly had something to be happy about. Renee had remembered his name. “Well I d
on’t work in the White House exactly, ma’am. I work just next door in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building,” he explained.
“I see. That explains things.”
Parks looked down at Renee and wondered how someone as beautiful and sweet as her could live in the same world as terrorists. It just didn’t seem possible.
“Is something wrong?” she asked him.
“No ma’am,” he replied. Then he quickly added, “Are you enjoying your visit?”
“I am. It’s nice to be around family again.”
“Yes ma’am. I can imagine.”
“I can hardly remember the last Easter I spent with my parents,” Renee admitted. “It was such a long time ago. It feels like it anyway.”
Parks realized that Easter was approaching quite rapidly. “I completely forgot about Easter, ma’am. I’ve been so busy I didn’t even remember it.”
Renee smiled and Parks again saw how beautiful she was. “It’s coming on the 20th,” she declared. “We’re going to St. John’s Episcopal Church just across the street.”
“Oh, well that sounds like fun.”
“It’s going to be the first time I’ve entered a church since last Christmas,” Renee confessed. “I know I should go more often but it’s just so hard to find time.”
“I understand, ma’am. I’m probably not going to be able to go to church even on Easter,” Parks stated.
“Why not?” Renee asked concernedly.
“I just have some work to do, ma’am. I’d like to go but there are some important things going on around the office.”
“Well you have a great Easter anyway,” she wished.
“You too, ma’am. I guess I’d better get going,” Parks informed her regretfully. “It was a pleasure talking to you, ma’am.”
