by Steve Alten
Built like a wrestler, the squat, muscular man rose from the cream-colored leather sofa to greet his friend, a dossier held in his thick left hand.
Bill Clinton gave Rangel a warm embrace. “We don’t have much time; I’ve got a call with the Cuban ambassador at one. Is that him?”
“That’s our guy.”
Clinton took the file and settled himself in his favorite easy chair. Retrieving his reading glasses from a breast pocket, he opened the dossier, quickly scanning the information.
“Captain Adam Shariak, United States Army, retired. Apache helicopter pilot and trainer. Wounded during combat operations in Iraq … purple heart … the requisite security clearance for being a captain in the Armed Forces. Defense Sciences … managing director at Kemp Aerospace—why him? What’s so special about Adam Shariak?”
“When his Apache went down he was captured by members of Saddam’s Fedayeen. He had a broken femur, life-threatening gangrene, and God-only-knows what other injuries. Ended up losing his left leg. They tortured him for a week but never got a thing out of him.”
“Geez. How’d he get out of that?”
“He charmed the girl nursing his infection into helping him escape.”
“So he’s tough and empathetic; good. What’s your insertion point?”
“The Under Secretary of Defense–Comptroller. The Deputy Secretary of Defense has been vetting him for several months. His confirmation hearings should happen in late spring.”
“Does he even know he’s a candidate?”
“He will by tonight.”
“And Trump knows nothing about this?”
“It’s a minor appointment to him, justified as political payback. My guy on the inside was afraid to call Shariak a war hero after all the abuse Trump gave McCain.”
“You do realize that Shariak will serve as one of the chief advisors to the Secretary of Defense?”
“With oversight responsibilities for all military installations, operational energy plans and programs, major weapon systems, missile defense programs, and drum roll please … all space and intelligence programs.”
“You are good, my friend. Is he married? Any kids?”
“He recently got engaged to the chief aerospace engineer at Kemp.”
The former president looked at her photo. “Brains and beauty.”
“And a Zebra security clearance, which I’ve been informed will soon be bumped to Cosmic Clearance.”
Clinton looked up. “She’ll be on the inside. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you’re a cold sonuva bitch.”
“You asked me to do a job. You think you’re going to accomplish anything by being half-pregnant? We both know a job title means didley-squat or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Dr. Marulli is a potential means of getting Shariak on the inside, something that was denied to you for eight years as president. If you know of a better way to pierce the gauntlet, tell me.”
“No, no. You’re right.” Clinton closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What’s the potential blowback to Shariak?”
“For now, he’s flying way below the radar. Once he enters the rabbit’s hole and starts asking questions he’ll attract some low-level interest. His stepbrother is Senator Randy Hall.”
“As in Head of the Senate Appropriations Committee Hall? Good Lord, Joe. What happens when they perceive Shariak as a threat?”
“They’ll offer him a bribe. If he takes it we’ll lose him. He won’t take it.”
“The cabal will set him up or issue a TWEP order. I don’t know, Joe. I don’t want another Bill Colby on my hands.”
“Shariak’s a civilian; Colby was in the cabal’s inner circle. It wasn’t until he decided to sneak out plans for a free energy device that the radical element of MAJI murdered him. Damn sociopaths; it’s that fear factor that has kept the silent majority in line.”
“I’ve met some of these guys at a few CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) meetings; you look into their eyes and it’s like Dick Cheney—there’s no soul.”
“Are you going to tell Hillary?”
“Absolutely not. The less people who know, the better.”
“Which brings up a major hurdle. Shariak will need to be directed down the rabbit’s hole sometime after the Senate hearing and it can’t come from my guy on the inside.”
“Why not?”
“He and Shariak have a history. Besides, this has to look non-partisan and come from a higher authority.”
Clinton pinched the stress knotting in his brow. “Where and when?”
“It has to be at an event you’ll both be attending. Maybe a golf outing?”
“As long as he’s not in our foursome.” The former president handed him back the folder. “I’ve got to go. You did real well, Joe.”
“Bill, you never told me why you decided to put this in play.”
“It would have happened if Hillary had won the election; she had already started planting seeds on the Kimmel Show. Papa Bush had actually set out to do this years ago with Gorbachev and Pérez de Cuéllar. The bastards kidnapped Secretary General de Cuéllar and put the fear of God into him and Gorby’s wife. Something similar had been staged years earlier with Hans-Adams’s brother.”
“The Liechtenstein prince?”
“The abduction changed his mind, just like it did with the Secretary General. As for me, traveling around the world … my recent trips to India and Africa…you see the poverty, the effects of malaria and Ebola—it tears you up inside. We’ve accomplished more with our Global Initiative than anything we did during my eight years in the White House. But this, Joe—this is a game-changer. This is a tide of good that raises every boat on the planet.”
“Just be careful, my friend. These are some seriously fucked up people we’re dealing with, and they don’t like sharing their toys.”
3
Kemp Aerospace Industries
Washington, D.C.
THE CORPORATE WORKOUT ROOM had been Adam Shariak’s idea. When he had first accepted the job at Kemp Aerospace, he had committed to a two-year lease on a one bedroom apartment in Greenbelt Station, along with a gym membership at a local club. Once he and Jessica began dating, he had practically moved in to her townhome.
Unable to afford a second gym membership, he made an “executive decision” to convert a barely used employee lounge into a weight room.
As it turned out, he and Jessica were the only ones who ever used it.
* * *
The blonde’s legs were pumping out miles on a stationary bike, her lower body no match for her thumbs, which flitted across the keyboard pad on her iPhone as she texted and listened to music on her headphones.
Adam watched her for a moment before laying back on the incline press beneath a forty-five pound barbell, each side holding and additional hundred-and-twenty pounds of iron plates.
Two-fifty-five … Two good reps, three if you want to impress your woman.
Positioning himself beneath the bar, he inhaled a deep breath and exhaled as he lifted the weight off of the stand, then drew in another breath as he lowered the barbell to his chest.
Exhaling, he pressed the first rep with relative ease.
Glancing to his right, he saw she had missed his Herculean effort and went for another rep—
—big mistake.
Touching the middle of the bar to his chest, he managed six inches before the barbell resettled on his sternum.
Sucking in several quick breaths, Adam attempted to raise the weight again, managing to get it three-quarters of the way up before his strength waned and gravity turned the barbell into a hood ornament.
No problem, he had left the collars off for just such an emergency.
Tilting the right side of the bar down, he wriggled the loose plates, attempting to slide a hundred-and-twenty pounds off one side while preventing the other side from smashing onto the rubber flooring—only the plates weren’t sliding off the rusted surface of the barbell like he had expected.
&n
bsp; With his sternum beginning to bruise, he was about to try the left side when two hands reached down and gripped the middle of the barbell, helping him guide it back onto the incline press.
He sat up, turning to face his rescuer—surprised to see it was a woman.
She was Jessica’s height, with short brown hair and gray eyes which matched her business suit and skirt.
“That’s a lot of weight to be flipping sideways, Captain. You should have a spotter.”
“He has a spotter,” Jessica stated, positioning herself between her fiancé and the woman. “I’m his spotter. Who the hell are you?”
She held up her identification card. “Anna Curtis, special assistant to General James Mattis. I’m here to discuss your nomination as Under Secretary of Defense–Comptroller.”
* * *
Jessica served Adam a bowl of pasta, then waited while he poured them each a glass of wine. “Shall we toast to your new career?
“I haven’t said yes.”
“You will. This isn’t something you turn down, Adam. I didn’t even know you knew ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis.”
“I served under him briefly, but he was the colonel’s friend. The last time I saw the general was six years ago at my father’s funeral.”
“With a nickname like ‘Mad Dog,’ I imagine he’s the shoot-first and ask questions later type.”
“The exact opposite. Yes, he’ll drop a quote here or there about Iran that may cause a few pulses to race, but when you’ve spent as much time in the sandbox as Mattis has, there’s a greater desire to maintain stability over engaging in another war.”
“Sounds like someone you could work under … what’s wrong?”
“I dunno. This whole thing feels out of left field. Hell, Jess, I’m not even qualified to attend half the meetings at Kemp; how can I even consider taking on a position like Under Secretary of Defense?”
“Trump’s president. Is he any more qualified than you?”
“To be Under Secretary or president?”
“Under Secretary. You’re already more qualified than him to be Commander-in-Chief.”
“I’m just not sure a majority of senators will agree with you. My own stepbrother laughed himself into a wheezing fit when I told him.”
“Randy will be there for you when it counts. Accept the nomination and see what happens. Worst case scenario—you’re back at Kemp managing defense projects in the blind.”
“Thanks.”
She laughed, forcing her sauce-covered kiss past his defenses.
4
Senate Confirmation Hearings
Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C.
SENATOR ROBERT HARDY GIBBONS, JR. banged his gavel. “Good morning. The committee meets today to consider the nomination of Captain Adam Ulysses Shariak to be Under Secretary of Defense– Comptroller. Before we begin, I want to welcome the eight senators who are new both to the Senate and to our committee. Joining us in 2017 are Senators Brian Ziarnik, Marcus Eberlein, Stephen Wood, and Vincent Renzulli on the Republican side and Senators Melanie Hurt, Jimmy Cain, Kevin Banks, and Joe Horning on the Democrat side. In the past this committee has worked across party lines to support our troops and their families and America’s national defense mission; it is in this spirit that I’ll begin.
“Having served two tours in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, it is my honor to introduce our nominee. Captain Adam Shariak comes from a military heritage; his paternal grandfather served in Korea, his father Colonel William Shariak served in Operation Desert Storm. Like his grandfather and father, Adam Shariak has served our country honorably and with distinction. In 2003 he deployed to Iraq with the Army’s 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment. While flying a combat mission, his Apache was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Somehow Captain Shariak managed to guide the airship away from a crowded marketplace where it crash-landed. The impact collapsed the Apache’s cockpit and snapped the femur in the captain’s left leg. Trapped and in terrible pain, Adam Shariak ordered his co-pilot to hide before the enemy arrived.
“Captain Shariak was captured, held in a bunker, and tortured. Despite a gangrenous left leg which he’d end up losing, he managed to escape. Although Captain Shariak has never worked in the Defense Department as a paper-pusher, I believe his credentials in the field make him uniquely qualified for this position, which is why I support his nomination to replace the outgoing Under Secretary of Defense–Comptroller. I know many of you have questions; we’ll begin with Senator Renzulli.”
The Republican from Connecticut leaned forward to speak into his microphone. “Captain Shariak, everyone in this chamber appreciates the sacrifices you have made for our country. My concern is the role you would play as one of the chief advisors to the Secretary of Defense. This committee has received so little background on you, yet the administration has pushed us to render a quick decision. I think many of us would like to know more about your beliefs as it pertains to the war on terror—particularly the escalating conflict against Islamic State. For instance, what is your opinion in regard to how President Obama handled ISIS?”
Translated: My brother, Senator Hall, is a Dem … what are my politics?
Adam Shariak took a deep breath. “Senator, we’re dealing with a complex, multi-pronged situation. I appreciate President Obama understood that dropping bombs on Syrian villages like the Russians were doing is not how you win the battle that could potentially decide whether Islam will be ruled by radicals or moderates.”
“Then you support President’s Obama’s failed policies?”
“As the DoD’s Comptroller, I will support whoever occupies the Oval Office.”
“That’s not what I asked. I asked if you support Obama’s failed policies when it comes to dealing with an enemy that wants to kill innocent Americans.”
“With all due respect, Senator, reducing the issue down to a yes or no question indicates a desire to make my nomination a political issue. You can certainly do that if you wish, but if you really want to know what I think about ISIS, then give me enough latitude to answer the question properly.”
Randy Hall leaned over to Jessica Marulli and whispered in her ear. “They have no idea who they’re dealing with.”
She smiled. “They’re about to find out.”
Senator Renzulli held out his hands. “Okay, Captain … enlighten us.”
“My Apache team escorted the first boots on the ground back in 2003. Whether or not you agreed with the invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi people, at that time, clearly supported our presence. The Iraqi army had agreed to cooperate with General Jay Gardner in order to control looting while working with us to bring the power and water utilities back on line. And then Rumsfeld did a one-eighty, replacing General Gardner with Paul Bremer, a civilian who had no concept of the lay-of-the-land or the historic conflict between the Sunnis and Shia.
“Bremer’s first decree was to ban all members of the Ba’ath Party from holding office; his second was to dismantle the Iraqi army. With two strokes of the pen, Bremer essentially took 400,000 well-trained Iraqi soldiers who had access to caches of hidden weapons and rendered them jobless, while excluding them from ever having a stake in their own country’s future. This is what is known in the military as a major cluster-fuck. The commandos quickly organized, turning Iraq into a Guerilla war zone. Instead of peace, Iraqi civilians suddenly had to deal with suicide bombers and cities without electricity, food, and water. It wasn’t long before al Qaeda, which was run by Sunnis and had never been in Iraq under Saddam, took root under the guidance of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
“Under Saddam’s rule, Iraq’s minority Sunni party controlled the middle-class. In 2006, Nouri al-Maliki—a Shiite—took over as Prime Minister. Instead of building a coalition government, he outwardly favored the Shiites while purposely neglecting to provide electricity and other essential services to Iraq’s Sunni Arab cities. Worse, he looked the other way while Shiite militias ran rampant, killing Sunnis wherever they went in w
hat amounted to an ethnic cleansing.
“In an attempt to combat al Qaeda and involve the Sunnis, General Petraeus created Awakening Councils—forces of armed Sunnis willing to fight the extremists. Instead of integrating these 100,000 moderates into the Iraqi army and police force, Al-Maliki opposed the program. Fearing a coup, he purposely kept his army weak. He later accused his Sunni vice president of being a terrorist, all of which only further served to alienate the Sunni population.”
Senator Renzulli signaled to Chairman Gibbons. “I wanted a yes or no answer about the last administration’s handling of ISIS; instead I’m getting a history lesson on the Iraq war.”
Adam Shariak interjected. “I’m about to answer you, senator. After U.S. forces killed Zarqawi, he was replaced by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who merged his al Qaeda forces in Iraq and Syria and announced the creation of ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. His first target was Mosul, a Sunni Arab city located in Northern Iraq, home to two million people. Having been abused by al-Maliki’s government for five years, Mosul’s Sunni population practically welcomed the Islamist radicals into their city. Al-Baghdadi then declared ISIL’s territory a caliphate—a state governed in accordance with Sharia law. The Islamic State is very well organized, with four separate security services that keep both the jihadist and civilian populations in line. Each of these services reports to an emir, who in turn follows the orders of the men whose faces are always cloaked in black.
“Senator, these cloaked men who are the true leaders of Islamic State are, in fact, members of Saddam’s former Ba’athist army, the ones Paul Bremer dismissed back in 2003. Just as they are doing now, these same officers in the Fedayeen carried out similar campaigns of terror under Sadaam. With Syria’s President Assad waging war on his own people, and President Obama pulling our troops out of Iraq, the Ba’athist commandos saw ISIL as the perfect vehicle from which to retake Iraq and rule the region. They essentially overran Syria’s military bases, took all of Assad’s Russian-made tanks and weapons, and used them to take control of Syrian oil wells and refineries. Using their knowledge of the smuggling networks developed under Saddam back in the 1990s to avoid U.N. sanctions, these former Ba’athists have been selling the crude at discounted prices while raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. And who is buying the oil and the stolen Syrian artifacts, Senator Renzulli? We are.
