“So the Russians and Chinese will have carriers in the Gulf of Aden, with troops on the ground in both Somalia and Yemen, and the closest counterforce we have is in the Arabian Sea?”
“The chopper’s waiting, Ken. What’s the problem?”
“We could have stalled the vote until we moved the Reagan carrier group closer,” Phoenix said.
“Why would we do that? There’s already too many freakin’ carriers in the Gulf of Aden already.”
“The United States controls the world’s oceans, sir-you’ve said that a thousand times,” Phoenix argued. “But right now there are two foreign aircraft-carrier battle groups in a very strategic location, and we have none. We’ve lost the advantage out there.”
“We haven’t lost anything, Ken. What we did was stop China from bombing Aden.”
“ China was running out of legitimate targets with their fighter-bombers anyway-they were going to have to stop on their own,” Phoenix said. “We could have vetoed-”
“I don’t like overusing the veto, Ken. You know that.”
“At the very least we could have voted no and registered our disapproval.”
“But I don’t disapprove,” the president said. “It’s a couple hundred Russians-hell, they were probably going to be in Aden anyway on shore leave.”
“Except now they’ll have guns and a mandate from the United Nations Security Council!”
“I don’t see a problem, Ken,” Gardner insisted. “We’ll keep an eye on them, and if they step out of line, we’ll slam them.”
“Perhaps sending some other forces out there would show everyone we’re watching,” Phoenix said. “Maybe an Air Force bomber to overfly the Russian and Chinese fleets, take a few pictures, show the flag?”
“Like that mysterious B-1 bomber squadron that attacked that base in Turkey?”
“Mysterious? I understood you ordered the attack on Diyarbakir; I briefed you on the mission myself. Next thing I knew, it was over.”
The president didn’t want to tell Phoenix that he ended up taking responsibility for the mission, even though he did not order it-another end run around the law and the chain of command performed by none other than Patrick McLanahan, with help by his secret mentor, former president Kevin Martindale. “Never mind. Yes, that squadron. I’ll ask Conrad and Miller to make some suggestions. What else is going on?”
“We’ll have a draft of the new space policy drawn up by the end of the day,” the vice president replied. “I’m still not for a unilateral ban on antisatellite weapons, but all the other provisions you were looking for are in there.”
“Excellent. Fast work,” the president said. “I’m willing to discuss the unilateral ban, but I think it’ll send the right message to other space-faring nations- America is not out to control space.” He noticed Kordus nodding at him, motioning toward the door. “I’ve got to go, Ken. I’ll talk to you on the staff conference call.” He shook hands with Phoenix, turned on a heel, and departed without another word.
On board Marine One, the helicopter that would take him from the White House South Lawn to Andrews Air Force Base, the president fastened his seat belt, then checked his secure PDA again for any messages. As they lifted off, Chief of Staff Kordus held up a note. “We found something.”
“On what or whom?”
“McLanahan,” Kordus said. “We knew that McLanahan was a director for a nonprofit think tank and education foundation called Progress for Space and Military Future Policy. McLanahan has given several unpaid speeches around the country to industry and civil-military advocacy groups on behalf of this group, touting increased awareness and funding for military space programs, acceleration of military space development, blah blah.”
“So?”
“One of my clever staffers noticed that the initials of the organization could stand for ‘Patrick S. McLanahan for President.’” Gardner rolled his eyes and gave a short chuckle. “I know, I know: pretty thin. So I checked some more on the organization. Turns out they aren’t a nonprofit-they’re more like a not-for-profit.”
“They’re the same thing.”
“True, but they never registered as a charitable or educational organization.”
“So monies they take in aren’t distributed to shareholders but stay in the organization, like an-”
“Exploratory committee,” Kordus finished for him. “So we took a peek at the group’s bank-account balance… and it’s huge. We then looked at their filed list of officers and directors. All the big-time military and political players of the last decade, including Page, Goff, Venti, Morgan, Busick; even Thomas Thorn is on there, the list goes on and on.”
“Sounds like a new Trilateral Commission.”
“You bet it does. At the very end of the list-”
“ Phoenix?”
“No. He would have had to disclose that and resign from it, but he never belonged as far as we know. The big name on there: Martindale.”
“Kevin Martindale?”
“The one and only,” Kordus said. “The guy is a Washington institution-two-term vice president, two-term president, connected up the ying-yang. You can’t have a more powerful ally. It’s practically a ready-made cabinet.”
McLanahan and Martindale’s names were popping up more and more in the White House these days, Gardner thought-way too much for comfort. “You said Ann Page is on there?” Kordus nodded. “Did she report that on her prenomination questionnaire?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Check. If she didn’t, it’s cause to terminate her, if we need to.” Kordus nodded and made a note to himself on his ever-present PDA. “So Patrick McLanahan is turning to politics, huh?”
“If he is, he’s showing how amateurish he is,” Kordus said. “There’s only six months to their party’s nominating convention. He hasn’t campaigned at all except for a few speeches and pressers here and there. I’m not even positive what political party he belongs to, or if he intends on running as an independent, like Thomas Thorn.”
“He doesn’t need to build up national name recognition like senators and governors do-he’s already got plenty,” Gardner said. “All he has to do is show up with a slick well-oiled organization behind him, and he’ll wow the delegates. If he’s been talking with the other candidates, he might be able to avoid a floor fight and snatch the nomination.”
“What do you want to do, Joe?”
“Start building a file on candidate Patrick S. McLanahan,” Gardner said. “Start digging for dirt. That shouldn’t be too hard-the guy’s been tossed out of the Air Force twice.”
“I wish we could tell all the stories we know about the guy,” Kordus said.
Gardner shook his head. “The information would sink me and a lot of other folks as well, and McLanahan might not even take any heat himself-he’s definitely a loose cannon, but he gets the job done, and the folks really like that. No, use open-source and verified info only. And start a file on this not-for-profit group, too.”
“Maybe let Treasury take a look at them?”
“Of course-all aboveboard and routine, but let’s see what they forgot to report or filed incorrectly,” the president said. “That’s the problem with not forming an out-and-out exploratory committee-the IRS can look at you and it’s not considered a political attack. And let them take a look to make sure McLanahan paid all his taxes, paid his housekeeper’s payroll taxes, reported income on limo rides, all that stuff.”
“I’m on it.”
“I don’t want to body-slam the guy, unless he’s really doing something criminal,” the president said casually. “He’s still Patrick McLanahan, aerial assassin and genuine all-American hero. I just want to give him a taste of what it’s like playing in the D.C. big leagues. He thinks working in the basement of the White House gave him enough exposure-hell, he doesn’t know the half of it.”
EIGHT
Justifying a fault doubles it.
– FRENCH PROVERB
