I am ordering you to put them on. If the Americans come, it is our only chance.” Bengazi nodded reluctantly and then left. Aziz watched him go and thought about his plan for escape. It had a chance of working. Some things had to go their way, but at the very least, it gave them a fighting chance. If he could just get his hands on the president, none of it would matter.
Aziz returned his attention to the TVS, where the networks were now talking to their Pentagon reporters. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume on the TV carrying CNN.
Aziz listened as the correspondent announced that the vice president and other federal authorities were holding an emergency meeting at the Pentagon. The terrorist smiled as he looked around the opulent Situation Room. Such meetings were usually held in the very room he occupied. THE JOINT CHIEFS briefing room is located in the inner sanctum of the monolithic five-sided building that houses the United States Department of Defense-the E Ring. The wide hallway that cuts in front of the modern crisis center is cluttered with more stars and bars than any other government building or military base in the world. Colonels and captains that walk the corridor find themselves saluting as often as a private fresh out of basic training. The E Ring is not known for being a lighthearted, casual workplace, and on this particular day the mood had taken on an even more serious tone.
Two marines stood post by the wide double doors as Washington’s biggest players filed into the soon bristling room.
With aides in tow, the president’s entire cabinet trickled into the room until it was filled almost to capacity. The secretary of the interior was first, followed by the secretary of health and human services, and then the secretary of state. Within five minutes the entire cabinet had arrived, minus the attorney general. The room quickly took on the sound of a crowded bar as aides talked to their bosses and propped them on the most recent news.
When FBI Director Roach and Special Agent Skip Mcmahon entered the room, they were hit with a flurry of questions. Fortunately for Roach and Mcmahon, General Flood entered the room with the other members of the Joint Chiefs just seconds later. Flood walked to the far end of the table and placed a large black ceramic coffee mug on the table.
“Everyone take a seat.” Flood’s commanding voice carried through the large room, and the talking was instantly reduced to a trickle.
“Let’s go, people.” Flood clapped his hands together and pointed at the chairs arranged around the forty-foot rectangular conference table.
“We have a lot of work to do.”
As the attendees took their seats. Vice President Baxter entered the room with Attorney General Tutwiler and Dallas King. The three of them proceeded to the opposite end of the table from General Flood, where chairs had been saved for them. The secretary of state, a close friend of President Hayes, leaned over and immediately began asking Baxter just what in the hell was going on. While he was doing so, CIA director Stansfield entered the room with Irene Kennedy and Mitch Rapp. Flood pointed to three seats near his end of the huge table and then motioned for one of his aides to close the doors.
An Army major walked over to the tall double doors and swung them closed with a finality that let everyone know the meeting was starting.
“People,” announced Flood, “I’m not going to pussyfoot around on this.
There are a lot of rumors going around about what happened over at the White House this morning-some of them scratch the surface, but most of them are way off base.
Here is what happened. At approximately oh-nine-hundred a group of terrorists attacked and took control of the White House.”
Before Flood could continue, the room erupted into a series of fragmented conversations and expletives.
“People!” bellowed Flood, restoring order.
“We have a lot of ground to cover, so keep a lid on it.” Flood angrily eyeballed the group, daring someone to defy him. After making sure everyone understood implicitly that his patience was thin, the general continued.
“As I was saying, this group is in control of the White House and holds an unknown number of hostages the only good news we have in all of this is that President Hayes was safely evacuated to his bunker during the raid.
Communications have been cut, but we know the president is safe. This brings us to our first point of order. It is obvious that President Hayes is not in a position to discharge his duties as commander in chief. So, according to the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the powers of the president of the United States have been transferred to Vice President Baxter until such time as President Hayes may resume his duties. I have been informed that the majority of the cabinet has agreed to this, and I apologize to those of you who could not be reached earlier, but things have been rather hectic.”
The general brought his hands together and clasped them tightly in front of his chest.
“Let us be clear about this. For the time being. Vice President Baxter is the acting president and the commander in chief of our armed forces.”
Flood again looked around the substantial table, giving the group a moment for thought, and then added, “However, for reasons of clarity, we will continue to refer to him as Vice President Baxter. Are we all clear on this?”
General Flood waited a brief moment to see if anyone was crazy enough to draw his are and then looked to his left at the director of the Secret Service.
“Director Tracy is now going to give us the specifics on what transpired this morning. Again, hold all questions until he is done.”
A solemn-faced director of the Secret Service stood and walked to the podium located at General Flood’s end of the table. Alex Tracy was a squat man with a sizable head and the standard amount of intensity required to run one of the world’s finest law-enforcement agencies.
Tracy walked toward the podium with the enthusiasm of a man being sent to the gallows.
He set a file on the top shelf and placed his hands on the sides. With a look of exhaustion and a shaky voice, he started.
“Late last night DNC Chairman Piper called over to the White House and obtained a meeting with the president. That meeting was scheduled for this morning at nine. White House staff broke with Secret Service policy and granted Piper and his guest a meeting without giving us time to run a background check on the chairman’s guest. We now know that guest to be Rafique Aziz, the world-renowned terrorist.” Tracy looked up at no one in particular and then continued.
“It appears that Aziz approached the Democratic National Committee under the assumed identity of a Prince Kalib of Oman.
Aziz gave a five-hundred-thousand-dollar check to the party and, in return, requested that he meet with the president personally.”
This time when he paused, the director focused his look more precisely on the group of politicians at the far end of the table.
Almost every cabinet member was a Democrat, and a murmur broke out as they shot each other anxious looks. This little nugget of information had “congressional investigation” written all over it.
Tracy continued after about six seconds.
“Aziz and Chairman Piper arrived at the White House this morning at about the same time that we received a tip from the CIA that the White House was targeted for a terrorist attack. Whileaziz and Piper were entering the White House, a locally contracted linen truck arrived at the Treasury Building, as it does every morning, Monday through Friday.
In a complete breakdown of security, the truck was allowed admittance into the underground parking facility by a uniformed Secret Service officer without being properly inspected.” Tracy forced himself to straighten his posture. Out of sheer embarrassment he paused and looked down at his notes. Aziz getting into the White House could be blamed on Chairman Piper, but the truck was the Secret Service’s fault.
“It appears the back of this truck was loaded with an unknown number of terrorists and equipment that was used to breach the security of the Treasury tunnel.
This was a major breakdown on the part of my agency, and we have already started an internal investigation.” Tracy looked down the length of the table at Vice President Baxter.
“We will have a preliminary report ready by this evening.”
