“Dad, perhaps we should contact the President?” said Tom who was increasingly concerned about what they may be up against.
“It’s too risky, he’ll never believe you and if I call, I’ll be back in the mix for the assassinations and if anything does happen, it’s all my fault again,” he replied. “And if that’s not enough, we don’t know who we can trust. Whoever is involved is very well connected.”
“True,” said Tom.
“We’ve got twenty four hours, let’s see what happens between now and then. If it looks like the best option, we’ll contact him. If we go making crazy claims just now without a shred of evidence, we’ll be laughed at and only tip off the bad guys,” said Donald.
“Fair enough,” said Tom, although he had a very bad feeling.
Chapter 87
The line of trucks snaked down the road. The Humvee at the front drew to a halt at the main gates. A guard approached the jeep and noticed the high ranking officer in the passenger seat and saluted.
“Good evening Colonel, how can I help you Sir?”
“Son, you can just open that gate and let me and my boys through.”
“May I see your orders Colonel?”
“No you may not son but your Commander may. You see, these here orders are classified Top Secret. Son, I doubt if you qualify to see top secret documents, do you?”
“No Sir, I’ll call the Commander right away.”
The guard hurried over to his gate-post and made a call. Two minutes later, the Commanding Officer arrived and after a brief conversation with the guard, he approached the jeep.
“Good evening Colonel, how can I help you?” The Commanding Officer saluted his superior.
“Good evening Commander, you have been redeployed. You and your Company are to report back to Washington asap. My men and I will assume your duties with immediate effect.”
The Commander was stunned.
“I’m sorry Sir, there must be some mistake. This facility is and always has been guarded by Marine Barracks Corp. Do you mind if I make some calls before handing over to you?”
“Of course, just don’t be too long. It’s been a long day.”
The Commander checked the orders with his Colonel who went ballistic and phoned everybody he could conceive of until he reached the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the most senior man. He listened carefully as the Colonel explained the situation. The Commandant explained that he was, in effect, powerless. The order had obviously come directly from the Secretary of Defence and only General Powers had the power to countermand him but he was still in a coma. Also, he struggled to argue with the logic. With everything that was happening, Delta Force guarding Camp David wasn’t a bad thing. Afterall, they were specialist in hostage situations.
The Commander returned to the Colonel’s jeep.
“Give us half an hour and we’ll be out of your way Sir.”
“Excellent, my men will wait here.” Both men saluted each other.
An hour later, Marine Barracks Corps were replaced with 150 Delta Force soldiers and for the first time in its history, Camp David was not being protected by the Marines.
Chapter 88
The news of Delta Force replacing the Marines at Camp David came through to Zach the following morning. If anybody so much as breathed the words ‘Camp David’ within the military, Zach was to be told immediately. This took some of the pressure off Donald and Tom. The White House were obviously aware of the increased threat or they wouldn’t have sent Delta Force to Camp David.
By lunchtime, the Beautiful Lady was docked in the Washington navy yard, not far from the White House. Zach had secured them a berth and arranged for security to keep them safe from prying eyes. With only five hours until the meeting at Camp David, things were not looking good. Nothing new had come to light. They were no further forward.
They all continued to pore over the detail of everything they had. Tom and Zach were in constant contact with Daniel and the group at The Academy. They just needed a lucky break. Saki wasn’t taking any chances. The Penarajans were scrutinising the plans of Camp David supplied by Zach. Helicopters were standing by at Reagan International Airport, just five minutes away. Everything was ready, they just didn’t have a clue what to do.
“Mr President, all of your guests for this evening’s dinner have now arrived in Washington. Within the hour, they’ll all be at Camp David,” announced the President’s secretary through the intercom.
“Thank you, please have Marine One ready at five,” he replied.
Beaumont, sitting across from the President, hit the speaker button and dialled The Chairman.
“Gentlemen?”
“Good afternoon Sir,” replied Beaumont. “Just a call to let you know that everybody has arrived as scheduled.”
“Good, I take it this evening’s operation will be a great success,” he surmised.
“We do not anticipate any issues Sir.”
“Excellent. Well, enjoy your meal and tomorrow will see the dawn of a new world. A new Empire begins tomorrow gentlemen, greater than has ever been seen before.” The Chairman hung up.
Both Beaumont and the President looked at each other.
“He’s just excited,” remarked the President commenting on The Chairman’s reference to a new empire.
“Yes,” replied Beaumont, not believing either himself or the President.
“I take it the assassinations will be nowhere near us?” asked the President,
“Definitely not! The only people near you and I with guns will be the Secret Service and they’re all legitimate, none of them are connected to The Committee. I’ve checked them thoroughly.”
“Excellent!”
The President relaxed.
Chapter 89
One helicopter after another touched down at Camp David, emptying onto its heliport the leaders of the world’s 20 richest nations. Each was shown to one of the many lodges that nestled in the camp’s 125 acres of wooded grounds. Dinner was to be served at 8.00 p.m., in the Laurel Conference Room, the only room large enough to cope with all the guests.
The President and Beaumont arrived at 6.00 p.m. and made their way to the Presidential lodge, named Aspen. Once in the office, Beaumont took the President through his briefing notes for the evening meal, who was there and what the US wanted from each of them. With five minutes to spare, the President walked across to the Laurel Conference Room, leaving Beaumont to finish off his preparations for the evening.
Beaumont heard a knock on the President’s door.
“Yes,” said Beaumont.
“Sir, the Delta Force Commanding Officer wishes to say hello,” announced the Secret Service agent.
“Of course, please send him in,” replied Beaumont.
“Yes Sir.” The agent showed the Colonel in.
“Good evening, Mr Beaumont.”
