join us.”
“Sir, do I need to advise Trojan to assemble?”
“Not yet. We’ll discuss it when you arrive. This is not pleasant news, Pug. There was a car bombing in Brussels just a few moments ago. The Dutch Deputy Director of Security and General Austin were both in the car. I’m sorry, Pug, but both men, along with the driver and the security agent, are all dead. The report will be on the news momentarily. I’d like you to meet with us immediately. Defense Secretary Collins and the vice president will also be here.”
Pug was silent, but his face was once again transparent and he could see that Rachel was anxious to know the content of the call.
“One moment, Mr. President.” Pug redirected his comments at Rachel. “Can you join me for a meeting with the president? Right now?”
Rachel nodded.
“Mr. President, we’ll be there as quickly as your transport arrives. We’ll be outside the main entrance to Union Station.”
“I’m very sorry, Pug. I know how much you admired General Austin.”
“Thank you, sir,” Pug replied and closed his phone. Rachel looked at Pug, waiting.
“There was a car bombing in Brussels. General Austin is dead.”
Rachel reached across the table and quickly squeezed his hand. Then she removed two twenty-dollar bills from her purse, placed them on the table, and stood.
“Let’s go, Pug. I’ll call my office from the car.”
Chapter 28
White House Oval Office
Washington D.C.
June
“One man in a taxi crashed into the vehicle, which contained Per Van Brocklin, Deputy Director of Dutch Intelligence, and Secretary Austin, who were riding together in the rear. The taxi exploded. The driver and bodyguard, both of whom were U.S. Secret Service agents, were also killed in the explosion. No group has claimed responsibility as yet, but we expect World Jihad to step forward through the European news agencies soon.”
The briefer was Thomas Kincade, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. To his left sat George Granata, Director of the FBI, who was also Pug’s neighbor, and across the table, on the divan in the Oval Office, sat both Senator Rachel McKenzie and General Padraig Connor. The president sat in a chair at the head of the group, with Vice President Tiarks to his left. The room remained silent for several seconds after the briefing was completed. General Austin’s Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Lillian Stromberg, completed the group.
The president was the first to speak. “Lillian, this is a terrible burden for Homeland Security. I know the general depended on you for daily operations and that the two of you had only begun to formulate your plan of action and division of authority. I know he would want you to carry on in his stead. Are you comfortable assuming the Acting Secretary role in his absence?”
“Mr. President, we will do our utmost to press forward. Sir, Mrs. Austin is…”
“I’ve spoken to her already, Lillian. I plan to visit with her as soon as I make a public statement. She’s been the wife of a general officer for many years. From her comments just before we convened this meeting, I believe the general had explained to her the nature of his new job and the dangers inherent in traveling abroad. She’s quite a brave woman herself. General Connor, you’re a friend of the family, are you not? And Senator McKenzie, your family has known the Austins your entire life, I’m told.”
“That’s correct, Mr. President,” Rachel answered. “The general served as my surrogate father on more than one occasion. They had no children of their own.”
“Would you and General Connor be comfortable coming with me to see Mrs. Austin?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Rachel continued. “It was my plan to go to see her immediately after this meeting. Thank you for asking.”
“General Connor?” the president said.
“Yes, sir. It would be an honor to accompany you.”
The president turned again to the new Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. “Lillian, I am going to have General Connor’s operation report directly to me for the immediate future. Can you see that he has the full support of Homeland Security until we sort out the reporting line?”
“Certainly, Mr. President. We’ll give the general all the support he needs.”
“Thank you. Now, do either the CIA or the FBI think this was anything more than an opportunity taken by the terrorists, or is there the possibility that it’s more wide-spread and we need to increase security around key government officials?”
Kincade spoke for the CIA. “Mr. President, we have no intelligence to indicate that this action was part of a larger event, other than the continuing threat we face every day. I believe Al Qaida targeted the security conference in Brussels, and Secretary Austin’s vehicle was convenient. We don’t even know that they targeted a U.S. diplomat, considering all those in attendance from the several European countries.”
The president nodded, then turned to Vice President Tiarks. “Hank, will you see to the return of Secretary Austin’s remains, please? All military protocol and honors.”
“Already underway, Mr. President.”
“Thank you, Hank. We will ask Mrs. Austin about her wishes and intentions for burial and advise you immediately. If there’s nothing further, perhaps we should conclude our meeting. The story will be on the news outlets by now and I need to prepare a statement before we leave. Pug, perhaps you and Senator McKenzie could move to the press room. I’ll need to address the public immediately, but I don’t want to delay our visit to Mrs. Austin.”
Sitting in the press secretary’s office foyer, Pug and Rachel waited as the White House staff scurried about, preparing for the impromptu press conference. Fox News, CNN, and each of the major networks had interrupted their regular programming to present the limited facts that were known. Al Qaida had struck again. A U.S. cabinet officer was dead. There seemed no end in sight to the tragedy a small group of dedicated terrorists could inflict on the most powerful nation in the world. But immense power had no recourse against one man-or woman-determined to give their life in the furtherance of their beliefs.
“Pug, I’m going to call my office and then my mother. She’ll want to know about Uncle Bill’s death and then she’ll want to phone Christine. I’ll be right back,” Rachel said, walking quickly out of the small ante-room.
Pug sat alone for a moment, the silence allowing him to reflect on General Austin’s sudden death. The president would address the nation. Tell them about the cowardly murder of one of America’s leaders. Lament the loss of a friend, a decorated hero, a needless death. But General Austin would see it differently. He had taught Pug many things, especially in his attempt to convince the young Marine that working behind a desk to plan the operations was every bit as important as leading a team of Marines in a frontal assault. And what did his death prove? He’d had no chance to shoot back. He died at the hands of an assassin, not an enemy charging him or shooting a missile at his aircraft from three miles distant. General Austin had faced those dangers, had proven his courage under fire, had defeated the enemy. But America always had enemies. If one saw the world in terms of good and evil, good always had enemies.
General Austin had paid the price for his beliefs and he did so from behind a desk. Pug found it hard to fathom, having earned his stripes in the hard crucible of battle, he and the enemy each having a weapon. Pug had also earned his stripes through the loss of his men in combat. Perhaps the greatest lesson about leadership General Austin had taught his young Marine officer, while trying to convince him that the battle is fought not only from the trenches, but from the offices of leadership, was the proven adage of senior military leaders. It was the same lesson Lieutenant Commander Cartwright, Royal Australian Navy, had learned at the RAN academy: ordering subordinates, both men and women, to a surety of death, was far more difficult than facing the enemy yourself, one-on-one, in combat.
Following the president’s press conference, Pug would accompany him to Mrs. Austin’s home in Bethesda.
