by JC Ryan
“How many men has he assigned to Chesapeake and the White House operations,” Peter asked.
“Difficult to give exact numbers; there is a core group of about two-hundred men at Chesapeake right now, but people are coming in droves out of the neighborhoods, some are spectators, others are joining them. I would say we might be looking at a crowd of between one and two thousand people by the time he launches the attack. I think that is part of his strategy—to get as many sympathizers as possible before he gives the signal.”
“And the White House?” Jack asked.
“Same story. A core group of about hundred men who will be first in, but again he’s building critical mass amongst the populace, and we might very well be looking at four to five-thousand people by the time he goes into action. It’s the White House people we’re interested in, I suspect there are going to be thousands of bystanders—many of them might, on the spur of the moment, decide to join in the fun of storming and taking over the place.”
Alfred looked at his watch. “Okay, I can stay another twenty minutes then I have to go back. Hayden has an order group at 6:30 pm and I need to be there.”
“Alfred, just checking, you are not by chance a member of ISIS, Al Qaeda or some other fanatic group?” Jack asked, pokerfaced.
“Shit no! What the hell…” Alfred protested.
“Okay, no worries Alfred,” Jack grinned. “I just wanted to make sure we are not missing an opportunity to send you into that meeting with a suicide vest strapped to your body.”
Alfred relaxed and started laughing. “No Jack, I would love to carry a bomb in there but not strapped to my body. I’m afraid we’ll have to come up with another plan.”
Jack looked at the others. “Any of you guys by chance carrying a few ounces of Semtex or C4?”
They all shook their heads.
“A few sticks of dynamite will also work, even a bit of fertilizer and diesel.”
They all smiled and shook their heads again.
“Well, then I guess we have no choice but to do this the old-fashioned way—kick their asses,” Jack said.
They all nodded. Peter was used to Jack’s shenanigans in a crisis, but Dennis was wondering if Jack was the right man to lead the operation. Eric, assured him later, after they had left the safe house, that Jack’s tomfoolery was a sign that he was in operational mode—one hundred percent. He was lethal when he was like that.
“Okay, Alfred,” Jack continued. “Step us through Hayden’s plan in detail.”
Alfred gave them the details and told them about the maps which Colonel Bud Jarmin supplied, the paths of attack, prime target areas, assembly, fallback, and regrouping points.
“And what is his plan if he manages to capture the President and Vice President or any of the other senior officials?” Peter asked.
“He didn’t spell that out in any detail, but you can imagine, by that time they will have executed the prisoners in public, the crowds will have an insatiable bloodlust—you can visualize what’s going to happen.”
Alfred’s time was up—he had to leave in the next few minutes.
“Okay, Eric can you give Alfred one of the mirror phones?” Jack asked. “I will get Raj to set it up so that Alfred can reach all of us to keep us up to speed with things.”
They showed Alfred how to use the phone while Jack called Raj and asked him to program the phone as required.
By the time Alfred left, his mirror phone was setup. Jack, Peter, Eric, and Dennis started planning a counter for Hayden’s plans.
“The problem is we don’t have enough police and military forces to fend off an attack on the White House and Chesapeake—not if Hayden is going to do it tonight.
“Yes, the police and military can’t even enforce the curfew imposed by martial law, let alone defend the White House and Chesapeake,” Dennis added. “I think we’ll have to concentrate our efforts on the White House, as you suggested.”
It was 6 pm when Jack and Peter got into their car and drove to the White House to meet with the President, Daniel and the head of the Secret Service.
Dennis and Eric were on their way to meet with their leadership group to brief them on the plan.
***
On their way to the White House, Peter got Daniel on the mirror phone and briefed him on the situation. He requested that Daniel arrange with Nick Clancy, the Special Agent in Charge of the White House Secret Service detail, to allow them access through the Blair House tunnel when they arrive. The tunnel was one of several secret tunnels connecting the White House to nearby buildings including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the New Executive Office Building, and the US Treasury building.
When the two of them were escorted into the Presidential Emergency Operations Center by Nick Clancy, shortly before 7 pm, President Campbell, Daniel and Glenn Baier, the Chief of Staff, were waiting for them.
They were all introduced to each other and took their seats as indicated by the President.
“Let’s have it,” the President said.
Jack gave them the details of the discussion with the Tectus leaders and Alfred Weinberger, then stepped them through the plan and maps which Sam and his team had transferred via the mirror link earlier.
Nick Clancy’s face was pallid. He was shaking his head. “I don’t have a fraction of the agents I need, the police and the military are hopelessly understrength. Four to five thousand people at the gates… we don’t have enough or proper weapons, not to mention ammunition…”
“Tectus will be able to supply about one hundred men,” Jack said. “But they don’t have much in the form of real firepower either. Pickaxes and shovels are not going to do us any good against a cast of thousands.”
“We have two options as I see it,” Daniel said. “We move out as quickly as possible—as in right now, or we wait and see if they really attack. But I’m not keen on the idea of abandoning the White House because of a threat.”
“Absolutely.” President Campbell said. “I’m staying here until it becomes clear that we have no choice but to evacuate. I’m not handing this place to them on a silver platter. Let’s send the staff home, and the rest of the people onsite can decide if they want to stay or go. I know it’s going to endanger the ones staying behind, but I am not asking anyone to do anything that I am not prepared to do.”
She looked around to everyone and got their agreement.
Nick nodded. “No question about it. My people and I stay here, and we defend the President and everyone on site. I agree with Jack and Peter’s assessment—the attacks will be tonight. Hayden has the attention of a lot of people now, but their interest will soon dwindle if there is no action—time is not on his side. The longer he waits, the more time we have to bring in reinforcements, and he knows that.”
“That’s about the size of it,” Jack remarked. “I suggest we work out the final details of the escape plan so we all know what to do and expect when the time comes.”
“Let’s do it,” the President said.
Peter got up and spread the maps open on the table. “Here are the possibilities we have.”
The first map showed streets and buildings; the second was a satellite image of the same area. Pointing to various colored marks on the maps, he traced the escape routes recommended by Sam’s team. As he mentioned each route, he gave her a logistical synopsis of the plan for using it.
The President stood to move about the room. “I know we have at least one Hayden spy in our midst. What do you say we enhance the escape plan with a bit of a twist of our own?”
“What do you have in mind Madame President?” Jack asked.
“Well, I’ll have to call an urgent meeting and tell everyone that we expect an attack and provide them with the escape plan, and that could be a good opportunity to feed Hayden’s mole some misinformation.”
Jack started smiling, I like this President, she’s got a head on her shoulders. “That could work very well, Ms. President. Do you have an idea who the mole is?�
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“Well, I think it is one of the inherited cabinet members, but I am not sure which, and there could be more than one. I just wish we could be certain.”
Daniel looked at Jack and Peter. Laurie, there might be a way. Do we have a list of the names of those people with their telephone numbers?”
“Yes, I’ll give it to you in two minutes,” Glenn said.
“Bingo!” Jack shouted. “Now we’re going to nail their asses to the wall. Oh shit… apologies Ms. President.” He said as the blush spread over his face.
The President just smiled and waved his apology away. “When you nail their asses to the wall I will be right next to you handing you the hammer and nails Jack.”
Daniel just laughed. He was already dialing Raj.
“Raj, Daniel here. Time for you and your Tectus buddies to get some fresh air and do something important for your country.”
“Yeah, right Daniel, as if we have never done anything important before.” Raj chuckled.
“Okay, Raj, I’m uploading a list of names and telephone numbers as we speak. Please get everyone you can onto this and find out who on that list has been talking to Hayden or any of his officers. You already have tabs on Hayden and his cronies; we are looking for anyone on the list that’s been talking to one of them.”
“Got it. I’ll be back within the hour.”
“No Raj, we don’t have an hour, I was hoping I could stay online while you get it.”
“Daniel, I am good, but not that good.” Raj sighed.
“Okay Raj, you’ve got ten-minutes, tops, please, we need that information. I promise you if you can do it I will put in a good word with President Campbell to allow you access to Area 51.”
“I am already onto it. And don’t worry if I can’t go to Area 51, I will still have it in ten minutes.”
Jack walked to the far end of the room and phoned Sam to bring him up to speed with what was happening.
“Daniel, you have some explaining to do,” Laurie said in a serious tone.
Daniel raised his eyebrows.
“I get a distinct impression that the Rossler Foundation has been bugging people’s phones? Don’t you need a court order for that?”
“Martial law ma’am—calls for drastic measures,” Daniel grinned.
“I see you’re picking up this political game very quickly. And what was that about Area 51?”
“Well, Laurie, that’s something I’ll have to explain to you when we have more time. But for now, just know that if you ever want to give Raj and his friends a big present, don’t give them medals, just allow them to visit Area 51. They firmly believe that the US government has been hosting aliens there.”
Laurie looked at Daniel incredulously. “And this Raj guy, he is one of your top technical guys, on the Rossler Foundation board of directors?”
“Yes, and yes, and let me tell you he is the best of the best. You put him and Roy James together, and they’ll produce the technology to save the world—as they just did.”
Daniel’s phone started ringing. He checked his watch it was six minutes. “Tell me you’ve got it Raj.”
“Well, Daniel that offer to see Area 51 did the trick. Your spy is Carrie Trent, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She has made no less than ten calls to Hayden the last two days. One of my hacker group says he recognized her from the TV when he saw her and Hayden together in a wayward restaurant out in Virginia last night.”
“I’ll be damned. Okay, anyone else on that list had contact with Hayden?”
“No one else. She’s the one Daniel.”
“Thanks, Raj great job.”
Everyone was looking at Daniel. “It’s Carrie Trent; not only did she make ten calls to Hayden in the last two days, but they also had dinner at some obscure restaurant in Virginia last night.”
Laurie was shaking her head in disgust. “Nigel warned me about the inherited cabinet members. I should have listened to him and fired them all. Anyone else?”
“Nope, she is the only one.”
“But how is she getting this information?” Laurie asked. “She hasn’t been in every meeting.”
“I think she’s eavesdropping… hanging around outside meeting rooms, standing close enough to overhear conversations, things like that,” Nick said. “I saw her loitering in the hallways quite a bit.
Laurie was beginning to see what a formidable team the Rosslerites were. “Okay, Nick, Jack, Peter, how do you want to handle this?”
Jack said. “My suggestion is we present this to everyone as four general escape options- North, South, East, and West. In other words, we’ll tell them ‘if you’re in the Oval Office; escape to the south; if you’re in the Cross Halls go to the North, et cetera—as Sam and his team suggested. What do you say, Nick?”
Nick Clancy nodded. “That sounds good to me. Let’s work out the detail.”
“How is this going to work with all these options?” Daniel could see a logistical nightmare.
“We’ll tell them that you and the President are planning to use the Reagan tunnel to the Oval Office, and then pick up the tunnel going North over to the basement of the Blair house. From there you’ll go out the back door, through the West Alley by the Credit Union to be picked up on 17th street and taken to Joint Base Andrews. Later we’ll throw in a special piece of information just for Carrie to make her think you’ll be going to Anacostia.
“We’ll increase Secret Service presence, scattering them in various areas. They’ll be instructed that if evacuation becomes necessary, they’ll go as a group, making it look like the President, and you, are with them. They’ll be decoys. We’ll make arrangements to have all escapees picked up at specific locations and transport them to Joint Base Myer, but in the meeting, we’re going to tell them they’re going to Anacostia.
“You and the President will follow behind the group that takes the escape route out of the East Wing through the tunnel to the US Treasury building. After they are picked up, another car will pick you up and take you to Andrews to board Air Force One.
“You’ll be the only ones who know that you’ll actually take the tunnels to the Treasury Building.
“That might just work,” Daniel said as he looked at Laurie and Nick for their agreement.
When the details were worked out, Peter and Jack left to take up their assigned positions.
The President called an urgent meeting in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center to get an update on the current status from the heads of department and announce the escape plans.
***
“Thank you all for the updates. Moving on,” the President continued. “We have received reliable information that General Hayden is planning to attack and take control of the White House, and thus the country. Needless to say, we must be prepared to move at a moment’s notice. An evacuation plan has been made, and I’m handing the meeting over to Nick Clancy to explain how it will work.”
Nick stood. “Thank you, Ms. President. Jeff, Martin, Peggy, Sally, Richard, and Ben,” he listed the six Secret Service Officers whom he’d informed of the deception earlier, “will accompany the President and Vice President through the Ronald Reagan tunnel and over to the Blair House. From there they will proceed out the back door, through the West Alley by the Credit Union to be picked up on 17th street and taken to Andrews where they will board Air Force One.”
There were several looks of surprise and consternation. Carrie spoke the question that was on everyone’s mind, “but doesn’t the General have lots of troops at Andrews?”
“He did until the prisoners were moved. We are assuming that most of his troops will have relocated by now. As long as he doesn’t know we’re heading there, we should have plenty of opportunity for access.”
“That’s good thinking!” Carrie replied with a smile.
“The rest of you will meet up with the closest Secret Service personnel and escape with them. Those of you in or near the East Wing will go through the tunnel to the Treasury bui
lding and out the East side where you’ll be picked up and taken to Anacostia where you’ll be safe.
“Everyone in or near the West Wing will follow the tunnel to the Eisenhower Building, pass through it to exit on the South side and be picked up for transportation to Anacostia as well.
“These two groups will have designated decoys in them to act as if they are the President and Vice President.
“For those of you going to the North side, there will be a rendezvous point at Franklin Square. To the South, the rendezvous will be at Constitution Gardens.”
“Are there any other questions?” he waited a few moments and then continued. “Good, it’s all settled then.”
The President took over again. “Thank you, Nick. Let’s hope and pray it won’t become necessary to evacuate, but if we have to, we have a plan. If there are no more questions, the meeting is adjourned.”
As the people filed out of the room, the President said: “Daniel and Carrie, I need to see you for a moment please.”
As they both approached her, Laurie indicated to Carrie that she should wait just a moment as she took Daniel aside. Carrie looked a bit perplexed but stopped and waited for the President to finish speaking with Daniel.
The President had lowered her voice while she was talking to Daniel, but Carrie could still make out most of what they were saying.
“Daniel, please make sure our aircraft at Anacostia is on standby and ready at all times.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve taken care of it. Our back-gate access is arranged, the plane is fueled and ready to go, and two pilots are on standby at all times. It will be warmed up and ready to fly by the time we arrive.”
“Good; Thank you, Daniel,”
The President turned to Carrie and said. “Apologies for making you wait, Carrie.”
“No problem at all Ms. President.”
“Carrie, I’ve been thinking about the homeless and have been wondering if we could launch a national campaign to appeal to people with homes to take in some of the homeless? What do you think?”
