Black Flagged Apex (47 page)

Chapter 38

12:56 AM

White House Situation Room

Washington, D.C.

Frederick Shelby spoke into his headset and turned to the president a few seats away.

"Mr. President, I just finished speaking with Kathryn Moriarty, my lead agent at the scene. She arrived by vehicle convoy and has been briefed by the advance party. Their initial assessment is not encouraging, sir. One of the buildings cleared by 1
^st
Special Operations Forces Detachment appears to have been dedicated to training groups to conduct pipeline attacks. The floor in the northeast corner of the room has been removed to expose bare dirt, and there is evidence that the ground has been disturbed. They found generic pipeline schematics that could be used for training and one set of equipment similar to what we found at the Fort Meade site. The building has its own ramp and loading bay, giving my team the impression that it had been used to store more equipm—"

"How much equipment?" the president interrupted.

"The back room where they found the spare set was large enough to comfortably fit at least twenty-five of these drills. Lockers along the wall hold shovels, a variety of smaller drills and picks, in addition to components to create two additional virus-injection devices."

The president looked at his chief of staff, Jacob Remy, and then back at the table.

"General Gordon, Commanders, I can't thank you enough for what your people have done tonight. This has been an unprecedented evening. Unfortunately, I need them back at Dover Air Force Base, ready to roll out at a moment's notice. Based on this initial assessment, we might very well need them again."

"Thank you, Mr. President. We'll have our people in the air, en route to Dover within the hour," General Gordon replied, turning to the U.S. Air Force general behind him to ensure the orders were clear.

"General Gordon, I'd like to reach out to the family of the Delta soldier lost tonight. Due to the sensitive nature of this operation, I'm afraid the circumstances of his death will probably never receive the type of public recognition and respect he deserves. Let Jacob know when it is appropriate to arrange a private phone call or meeting with the family."

"Thank you, Mr. President. That will mean a lot to the family," General Gordon said.

"It's the very least I can do for operators like Staff Sergeant Chamberlain. I know that most of their operations and missions never see the light of day. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to coordinate a public response in light of these developments. We'll adjourn to the main conference room."

He stood up and turned to the lead Secret Service agent. "Agent Souza, will you inform the watch supervisor that I'd like to convene in five minutes?"

"Right away, Mr. President." The agent spoke into the microphone hidden in the left sleeve of his suit coat jacket.

"General Gordon," the president said, "when you're finished here, please join us."

"Yes, sir."

Director Shelby followed the president's entourage out of the small conference room, navigating the surprisingly packed halls past the watch floor to the main conference room. As the group approached the busy room, the president stopped and said something to a member of his security detail, then followed the agent to a door several feet down the hallway. As Shelby tried to walk into the conference room, a different agent addressed him.

"The president would like to speak with you. First door on the right," he said cordially, betraying no emotion.

"Thank you," Shelby said.

Shelby braced himself for the proverbial kick in the balls. He wasn't sure why, but he couldn't imagine that a sudden, private audience with the president of the United States on the eve of a national disaster would be a career-enhancing moment. He walked toward the door and was met by the Secret Service agent, who invited him into the tiny room and stepped outside once he entered. The door closed behind him.

"Sorry to ambush you like this, Frederick. I wanted to personally thank you for getting us this far. Task Force Scorpion has exceeded all expectations. I would have congratulated you along with General Gordon, but I didn't want him to feel like I was tacking on my condolences to a list of congratulations."

"I appreciate hearing that, Mr. President. I will immediately pass your compliment on to Agent Sharpe."

"If possible, I'd like to address the task force by video conference tomorrow morning. Just a few minutes. I don't want to disrupt their momentum."

"I think we can arrange that. Let me know when you would like to address the troops. Most of them have been working nonstop for seventy-two hours. This will invigorate them. Thank you, sir."

"They're standing at the vanguard. The least I can do is provide a little pep talk and thank them for what they've done so far. Have your agents started to interrogate any of the captured personnel?"

He wondered where this would lead. For a moment, he had actually believed that this meeting was a genuine gesture of appreciation from the president.

"Not to sound grim, but my agents are working with Special Forces personnel to triage and stabilize the survivors. They had a few surrenders, but most of the compound's defenders went down fighting. Tier One operators have an uncanny tendency to hit their targets. The airspace is still under military control, so the situation is a bit of a mess. I promise you that this is one of their highest priorities."

"Make it the top priority. I want to know how closely linked this compound is to True America. As for the survivors, I'll make sure General Gordon understands the importance of facilitating the immediate treatment and safe evacuation of the suspects," the president said.

"I understand, sir. I'll call Moriarty and have her interrogation team go to work on anyone capable of speaking. Our best interrogators arrived with her convoy," Shelby said.

"Perfect. From this point forward, report any and all links to True America directly to myself or Jacob Remy. The political ramifications of True America's involvement require special handling. Any premature accusations or links could be interpreted as a political attack. We need to be one hundred and ten percent sure about any links drawn between the ongoing terrorist plot and True America. I want you to compartmentalize the interrogation findings to Moriarty and Sharpe. Sharpe can use the results to shape his investigation, but I want to minimize the number of people with access to the source information. Our case against True America needs to be airtight. If not, True America's pundits will ignite a powder keg of backlash against the administration right before an important election year."

"I'll make sure that safeguards are implemented to compartmentalize this information," he said.

"Thank you, Frederick. This whole situation is a nightmare, with the potential to blow up on more than one front. I'm not looking forward to our next meeting. I've made a decision that will go down in the history books and make me the least popular person in the United States."

"Mr. President, some of the best decisions turn out to be the most unpopular. You have my support."

"I appreciate that, Frederick, and will not forget it. Unfortunately, the American people have a tendency to focus on the shitty ones. And this is going to go down in the record books. If you would take your seat, I'll be with everyone in a few minutes, after I take an Alka-Seltzer."

"That bad?"

"Worse."

Chapter 39

2:12 AM

Lake Wallenpaupack

Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania

Jackson Greely sat on the spacious deck overlooking the lake and stared at the full moon's reflection on the rippled water. A light breeze rustled the dark shapes of several massive pine trees flanking the property and swept across the elevated wood structure. He zipped his jacket all the way to the top, closing the flannel-lined collar and preventing the chilly wind from stealing a little more of his core body temperature. Temperatures in the Poconos still dipped well into the lower forties in early May. He couldn't sleep thinking about Benjamin Young's abduction. Or was it a rescue? Six more of their operatives were killed, bringing their total losses to just over twenty in less than twenty-four hours, not including the three men sacrificed outside of Fort Meade. Heavy, unanticipated losses, but nowhere close to a showstopper.

He glanced back at the tall bank of windows facing the lake, resentful that Lee could sleep peacefully at such a critical juncture in True America's revolution. Then again, Jackson had done most of the heavy lifting since they started to put the pieces together. Not all of the lifting, but certainly the lion's share. Lee enjoyed the publicity and rarely shied away from the camera or an audience, but he wasn't comfortable making hardcore decisions on his own, or even suggesting them. That was Jackson's role. Lee's role was to support Jackson and keep the rest of their executive group in line. This was in no way an easy task, but it allowed Lee to sleep on the eve of True America's rising.

Greely's cell phone illuminated the table next to him. A phone call at two in the morning could only mean one thing: Trouble. He recognized one of Brown's numbers and answered it immediately.

"Good news, I hope," he said.

"That was fast. Trouble sleeping?" Brown said.

"What do you think?"

"I think you'll be pleased to know that the compound has been hit. Comms are down, and some of our local contacts have reported helicopters in the general area," Brown replied.

"Good. Let's just hope that Bishop and his second-in-command were killed."

"It doesn't matter either way," Brown suggested.

"You're probably right, but I'm starting to get an uneasy feeling. I'd feel much better knowing that our insurance policy was ready to roll."

"It'll be ready. Perfectly timed in my opinion," Brown said.

"I hope so. I'll sleep better knowing that we've removed the last obstacle."

The call ended, and he leaned back into the Adirondack chair. Who was he kidding? Once the bottles were delivered, he'd be glued to the television twenty-four hours a day, waiting for the results. He'd be glad to lose the sleep.

Chapter 40

7:08 AM

The Jacksons' Residence

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Darryl Jackson leaned his hands against the brown granite kitchen island and stared at the television for a moment before turning to his wife.

"Guess where you're headed today?" she said.

"Princeton."

There was no other choice. He'd let his daughter Liz, convince him that she'd be fine with the water and food he'd brought on his trip. She'd listened to his exhaustive list of do's and don'ts, taking copious notes. Even Karl Berg had slightly eased his fears, stating that Princeton was an unlikely target based on the information he possessed. Darryl had countered with the fact that Mount Arlington hadn't exactly been a high-value target, but Al Qaeda had targeted it nonetheless. Berg told him that Al Qaeda was out of the picture and that the new threat matrix had shifted radically. Strategic targets like Fort Meade were the new focus. When he asked Berg if he would be drinking water from his tap at home tonight, the CIA agent had paused and said, "Nobody should be drinking water from their tap, in my opinion, but as long as she follows the rules, she's not in danger." He reminded Karl that everyone drank water down in Virginia too.

The president's address changed everything. Now, Darryl was less worried about the water and infinitely more concerned about a sudden breakdown of order across the country. Princeton was relatively isolated in the grand scheme of things, but it was damn near impossible to travel there without crossing through some of the most heavily urbanized areas of the country. If her school cancelled finals, he might not be able to reach her if the situation deteriorated. Based on what the president just told the entire nation, he expected it to deteriorate.

"…attack against Fort Meade, home of our National Security Agency, had been conducted by a domestic terrorist group with the capacity to strike again in multiple locations. Given the nation's expansive water distribution network, consisting of nearly 880,000 miles of piping, it would be impractical, if not impossible to secure the system against immediate attacks. Effective immediately, I am asking the American people to bear with their local and regional governments until reasonable safeguards are established to ensure that your drinking water is safe.

"Many towns and counties may elect to stop the delivery of water, and we are encouraging them to do so. FEMA and Homeland Security experts have assured us that this is the most effective way to prevent intentional contamination of your water. If you must consume water from a tap, it is imperative that you take precautions to sterilize the water. Simple sterilization procedures will kill the virus. Immediately following my broadcast, the Department of Health and Human Services will outline these procedures and other steps you can take to prevent infection in the unlikely event that your water is contaminated.

"Rest assured that we have committed the full weight of our federal law enforcement agencies to bringing these heinous terrorists to justice and preventing further attacks. The insidious attack at Fort Meade was perpetrated by a sadistic, fringe group, far separated from the free and democratic society that we enjoy as Americans…and they will be stopped. The next few days may be filled with doubt, but I trust that we will all conduct ourselves as heroes and citizens in the face of this crisis…"

Sure. Everyone would behave charitably and walk calmly down the streets…once they had secured water for themselves and their families. If he couldn't "persuade" his daughter to return home immediately, he would camp out in Princeton and cover her back.