by Tom Hron
They rendezvoused once again among the twenty sculptures of the Sculpture Garden with Alexis one hundred feet away. She was still on the phone and still had the look of an obsessed woman with her head and shoulders lowered as she pushed ahead. If nothing else, Harry thought, she was a good actor. He waited again and then headed for the National Air and Space Museum. Tensing even more, he rubbernecked as much as he could. They had now given the killer enough time and had come to the perfect place where there was the most commotion. God, he wished his shoulder didn’t hurt so much.
Where in hell were they? he wondered when he reached the towering glass facade of the Air and Space Museum. Then suddenly there was a surge in the crowd noise and a human push toward him. He stood on his toes and peered forward. Fifty feet away Alexis was jumping back from a man with brown hair. In the next instant both looked frozen in place with the people around them running clear of them. In the split-second afterward, she threw Tungsten at the man’s head, which instantly burst into blood. The cat’s squall and the stranger’s scream sounded almost like death shrieks.
Alexis spun around and ran back toward him, and, glimpsing the man who had attacked her beating a retreat, he pushed everyone aside so that she could quickly reach him. “Are you okay?” he called while he searched for Shawki and Joe.
“He had an inoculation gun,” she cried, her eyes wild with terror.
“What are you talking about?” He then saw Joe rushing toward them with Shawki hard on his heels.
“A vaccinating gun, and he tried injecting me with something.” Her whole body shook as she spoke. “God, I would have been dead in seconds with ricin or cyanide.”
“Who was it, did you recognize him?”
“Reechi, it was Reechi. The one I always thought—”
They had their man, but they still had to catch him. Nevertheless, Harry felt like the heavens had just opened.
Joe and Shawki ran up to them, but neither had gotten a decent look at Reechi. The people around them began to edge away, and Harry realized it wouldn’t be long before the park rangers would be asking them lots of questions. He turned to Joe. “Can your dogs track him? It’s only been a minute.”
“Not unless they have something to follow, because they don’t know who he is.”
“Alexis threw Tungsten at his face, and he looked like a chain saw had hit him.”
Joe blinked. “Godalmighty, blood.”
“I think so, maybe a drop or two.”
“They don’t even need that. They’re like wolves.”
They rushed over to the spot, Joe spoke to his dogs, and then both took off like a shot. Screaming a war cry that stunned everyone within earshot, Joe ran after them, knocking people aside in his mad dash across the Mall. Harry, with Shawki and Alexis close behind him, ran as fast as he could. The collies were streaking toward the Capitol Building.
Suddenly Harry saw the dogs had someone down beside the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol. Cochise was attacking a leg and Geronimo was attacking an arm, and the instant the man tried defending himself against one only let the other dog tear into him from the opposite side. Joe ran up and called off the dogs. The man stayed flat with what looked like a mini paint gun in his hands.
“Don’t let him near you,” warned Harry when he reached Joe and the dogs. “Alexis says that he has a poison gun.”
“Don’t worry, he ain’t going to touch me, not unless he wants the dogs to go after him again.”
Shawki and Alexis joined them, both almost out of breath. “That’s him,” said Alexis between gasps. “That’s Reechi. My God, we’ve caught him, and I can’t believe it.”
All of a sudden someone hollered at the top of his voice, “Everybody freeze and get your hands up.”
Harry found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol. He threw up his hands because a park ranger in his green uniform had them covered. They would have to do lots of fast-talking to get out of this one, he thought to himself. Worse yet, a crowd of onlookers were gathering around them with more running their way, so he would have to be careful in what he said. “Officer, I want you to arrest this man.” Then he pointed at Alexis. “He tried to kill this woman.”
Reechi jumped up from the ground. “That’s a lie. I work at the White House and these people tried kidnapping me while I was on my way to Congress.”
Alexis quickly stepped forward. “Look at the ground beside him, that’s the weapon that he tried killing me with, and look at his face because I threw my cat at him to save myself.”
The ranger looked at Reechi, then his eyes froze on the small silvery object near him. “Step back,” he screamed, “and get your hands up.”
The rest would now get much easier, Harry told himself.
“Officer, call for backup and get us out of here. This is a national security matter. Don’t leave us standing here.”
For a moment the ranger looked anesthetized and confused, then he shouted into his radio and in less than a minute there were a half-dozen more rangers, along with a couple of Capitol Police officers, surrounding them. Once again Harry asked that they all be taken to a secure area, and finally all the officers started marching them away. Reechi kept declaring his innocence, adding to the bizarre scene taking place, all with Joe, the dogs, Shawki, Alexis, Reechi, Harry, and now about a hundred cops in front of the U.S. Capitol building. Finally, Alexis started crying that she had lost Tungsten, maybe forever, and that he had saved her life. The rangers and officers, to the man and woman, looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.
They all were taken to a Capitol Police post inside the Senate wing and set down on folding chairs. Harry noticed that a tall captain in a peaked cap was the person in charge. He waited until a momentary calm had descended over everyone in the room and Reechi had finally shut up with all his denials.
“Captain, this man is a professional assassin who is planning to kill the president,” he said suddenly.
Everyone stopped breathing, then Reechi jumped out of his chair. “That’s absolutely not true. These people are domestic terrorists and you have no right to hold me.”
The captain told both of them to shut up and then spun toward Harry. “Who are you,” he shouted, “and what in hell are you talking about?”
The tension in the room silenced everyone.
“I’m the president’s special agent and he asked me to arrest this man.” Then Harry’s words were slow and deliberate. “I’ll give you a phone number so you can verify everything for yourself.”
CHAPTER 27
AIR FORCE ONE
President Connolly sat down at his rosewood desk in the Boeing 747 manufactured as the White House on wings. Its colossal size, the United States of America emblazoned on its blue and white sides, symbolized the power of the nation. The interior was a complex of offices, living quarters, galleys, conference rooms, and a separate passenger area for the press core. The latest in communications, computers, and intelligence systems lay at his fingertips. However, this time a simple telephone would do. Lifting the receiver, he dialed and listened to phone ring. David Skeleter finally answered and, with special caller ID on the line, said hello, Mr. President.
“David, I need you at the Andrews Air Force Base right away, and the Marine One helicopter is returning to the White House at any moment to pick you up.”
The line sounded dead for the longest time.
“Ah … I thought, well, that you were leaving for Japan, Mr. President.”
“I’ve just hung up with Vladimir Putin on our hot line to Moscow and he’s refusing to attend the G-eight meeting. Jesus Christ, he’s even threatening to break up the group. Can you imagine how that will make me look around the world, on top of everything else that’s ruining me?” The president cranked up his voice. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”
There was a moment of puzzled silence.
“Mr. President, I’m not sure what’s wrong, and what exactly are you asking me?”
“Sarychev,
don’t you understand? Putin thinks the CIA murdered him, and you know it’s hands-off on diplomats. He says he will do the same to one of ours. Good God, we can’t let that happen, and you get everything together that you can get your hands on about Sarychev and get out here. We have to make this look as if the cops are wrong and it was just a freak car accident. You won’t need to be out here more than an hour. Now I’ve sent a couple of Secret Service agents back to make sure you get a move on.”
Skeleter’s response was almost inaudible and sounded as if he were sick to his stomach. Moments later, both hung up their phones.
In less than an hour the green and white Marine One hovered to a landing alongside Air Force One and let out Skeleter. Air Force personnel rushed him aboard and then into the executive office, where the president sat waiting. Having removed his suit coat, the president’s white shirt and red tie were almost iridescent in the office’s lighting, leaving him looking as if he were highlighted in some way. He told Skeleter to sit down and then asked to see the classified files on Sarychev.
“I’ve brought our old paper files, but there’s not much that isn’t on your computer,” said Skeleter. “Sarychev has been around a long time, since back in the Soviet Union days, and he was one of Russia’s best diplomats, though maybe more westernized than they ordinarily like.”
“David, you sound a bit like you’re giving me the run around.” The president’s jawbone hardened. “We have two choices. Either we come up with something that makes this look like an accident or we blame another country, in either case with evidence that will back it up, and we only have limited time to get it done.”
Suddenly there were a couple of thumps as if the fuselage doors were being locked. Skeleter instantly stood up.
“I’ll go back and work on the police angle right now, or the another-country idea, that’s even better. Yeah, someplace like Chechnya would work great.”
The engines below the wings started winding and smoking.
“Sit down, we have a lot more work to do, David.” The president looked at his watch with a distracted frown. “We haven’t resolved a damn thing yet, for God’s sake.”
Skeleter looked wild-eyed. “What—what’s the plane doing? You said that I could go back to the White House.”
“I’m not sure, and I suppose the pilots misunderstood me and filed a flight plan with a hard departure time. It’s not like I’ve stayed on top of everything. Can’t you understand the stress I’ve been under recently?”
Air Force One rolled ahead with a noisy blast of its engines and then idle thrust as it taxied toward the airport’s main runway. Panic swept over Skeleter’s face like an icy wave, and he cried out that he couldn’t go. I’ve told everyone that I’d be right back, he said loudly. Please let me off.
“What in God’s name is wrong with you?” The president gazed intently at him. “There’s nothing in the world you need that isn’t on this airplane, you know that. Sit down and fasten your seat belt before you get hurt.”
Slowly, fearfully, Skeleter sat back down and pulled on his belt, although he had trouble locking it because he was trembling so badly. The airplane turned, lined up on the runway, and roared ahead at full power. Seconds later, it rotated and started its steep climb. Finally, after a minute of thunder and vibration, it reduced power and banked left, letting the president go on.
“You knew Sarychev for a long time, clear back when you were in Brussels as the ambassador to NATO, right?”
Skeleter sat motionless, then gave an almost imperceptible nod.
“Well, who would want him dead? Tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
Connolly leaned over his desk. “Well, who, damn it? You’re the National Security Advisor.”
Skeleter shook his head as if he was having a nervous breakdown and then he stared at the president. The compartment grew quiet as death and he answered softly, “We have to turn around and land, Mr. President. We must get off this airplane immediately.”
“What on earth are you talking about? You know the routine, direct Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, give a little speech to the service men and women while the plane is being refueled, then head for Japan. Good grief, you have more experience at these things than I do. You can get off and fly back home once we arrive there.”
“No, you don’t understand, we have to land. We can’t keep flying.”
“What in God’s name is wrong with you, David? You’re not making any sense.”
Skeleter almost screamed it out. “There’s a bomb on board and we have to get on the ground. We’re going to blow up.”
“That’s impossible. No one can get a bomb aboard Air Force One. You must be crazy.”
Losing control of himself, Skeleter starting bawling. “Scirpo did it,” he shrieked between his sobs. “He put it in the attaché case that your military aide always carries. Your nuclear football. It’s a bomb.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Please turn back—it’s true. Scirpo lied when he told your aide that he needed to verify the Gold Codes, the nuclear launch codes before you left for Japan. He put a bomb in there instead.”
The president leaned back in his chair and heaved a sigh. “How much time do we have?”
“He’ll send a Satcom signal when we’re over Canada, over a wilderness area where nobody lives. Turn back—we still have time before he pushes the button.”
“Are you the one who killed General Drucker?”
“I couldn’t take the risk that he’d talk, so I sabotaged his flight suit before I left Groom Lake.”
“Why, David, why? My God, you had everything in the world. I don’t understand—I will never understand.”
For a few moments, the president studied him as if he had turned into a vampire before his eyes. Finally, he reached for the phone and punched a button. “Captain, come back to my office,” he said, “I want you to listen to something.”
A minute passed and then the door behind Skeleter opened. “What is it, Mr. President?” a voice asked.
Skeleter stiffened, then whipped around. “You—you!” he screamed as he flew out of his chair.
Harry smashed him to the floor with a punch in the face.
After the arrest of Skeleter by the Secret Service on board, Harry brought Air Force One back in for a landing at Andrews, greasing it on to the delight of the president and the regular flight crew, who all sat in the cockpit to watch him fly the plane. They taxied in and handed Skeleter over to the attorney general, who had stayed behind at the airport and listened to everything said in the president’s compartment. This man is facing the death penalty, the attorney general explained, especially if he doesn’t spill his guts on who he has worked for since his NATO days, along with the classified secrets he has stolen through the years. His treason is unprecedented in this country’s history, and no one would have believed until now there were spies working inside the White House, advising our presidents no less. He shook his head sadly.
Shawki, Joe and the dogs, and Alexis had stayed behind as well, but now they came across the parking ramp to join Harry. He introduced them to the president and the attorney general, then spoke about how much they had helped him. Without them, he said, I would have failed miserably. President Connolly shook hands with each of them, including Cochise and Geronimo, which brought tears to Joe’s eyes. I wouldn’t have missed this for a million bucks, he muttered emotionally, and I feel like a real American again. Speaking of a million bucks, President Connolly answered lightheartedly, I’ve directed the State Department to pay you the twenty-five million dollars we owe you for Abu Muhammad, which is actually small reward for what you’ve done. Afterward, Alexis had something to ask.
“Mr. President, when did you arrest Damon Magruder and Phillip Scirpo? They were key figures in this as well.”
“Within minutes of when Harry and the Capitol Police telephoned me this morning. We’re still hunting for Sarychev’s girlfriend, but she’s our only loose e
nd.”
“What about the lepry bacterium canisters from the Black Dragon? Where are they?” she asked next.
“We think they’re stuck inside some old box at CIA headquarters at Langley, and we’ve begun our search of the entire facility, which is no small task. Don’t worry, we’ll find them.” Then Connolly went on to say that he intended to clean house at all the nation’s intelligence agencies when he returned from the G-8 conference in Japan. “I’m sick and tired of the taxpayer’s spending fifty billion or more dollars a year for malfeasance, neglect, and sometimes outright treason, and far as I’m concerned I’m going to fire everyone and start over.” Then he smiled. “Besides, it will be my only chance to save my presidency and win reelection. The American public isn’t going to be happy to learn there were spies inside my administration, even if I wasn’t the blame for them, and that they also worked for other presidents. Anyway, I’m not taking any chances and the best defense is a strong offense.” Then president laughed.
Harry spoke next. “I’m sure you will win in landslide, sir. The voters are no fools, and they will see this for what it was.”
The president laughed again. “I’m trying to make sure of that. I’ve had the White House press core locked in the back of Air Force One this entire time, and I piped my conversation with Skeleter into them while he made his confession. I can’t wait to get back on board, and I wonder how the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, along with the rest of them, will put the spin on this one? Do you suppose they’ll want a press conference on my way to Japan?” His eyes beamed.
Then they all stood quietly because it had ended as suddenly as it had started, and now there was an empty space that no one could explain, or even identify. The excitement, all the danger, and the afterglow of winning had come and gone much faster than anyone had expected.
