Case:Black - 30. Chapter 30

Air Force One

En route to Offutt Air Force Base from Camp David

2320

President Mark Harrison had spent the entire crisis in a command center of one type or another; first at Camp David and now aboard Air Force One. It had been astonishing to watch the federal machine respond to the crisis. Once he had given the order to go to Case Black, the giant machine had leaped into action shaking off the usual glacial pace of the bureaucratic monster like a bad case of fleas.

Martial Law gave the POTUS unprecedented powers. His FBI was now kicking in doors all over the country capturing anyone that might have knowledge of the shadowy organization that has perpetrated the attack. So far the people they had arrested were a very mixed bag consisting of people with ties to numerous terrorist groups and, Asian and South American drug cartels.

According to his investigators all of them had several thousand in cash and plane tickets. It looks like they were all supposed to let their drones fly and immediately jump a plane out of the country- some for Mexico City, others for Canada. The only thing that saved the cities on the West coast was that the terrorists botched their timing because of the differences in time zones. Thank God for small favors.

Air Force General William Carter was waiting to see him and it was a meeting that Harrison could no longer avoid. He spoke to his Navy Steward and said, “Send in General Carter and clear the command center for ten minutes.”

The Navy Steward in an immaculate white dress uniform answered, “Aye aye sir.”

At his direction, much of the staff took a break from their stations and gave the Commander and Chief his space.

General William Carter was one of numerous outstanding officers that Harrison had the privilege to meet since winning the Presidency. Carter was a former combat pilot with many thousands of hours flight time in an F-15 Eagle over places like Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. He was young for his billet but in Harrison’s opinion, he was one of the brighter members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Carter entered the President’s airborne command center asked, “Mr. President, are you ready to start the activation of Archangel?”

Harrison felt a cold lump in his stomach. No President had ever faced such a horror. People often speak of a President’s legacy. So far in his administration, Harrison had significantly reduced federal spending, created a sustained economic recovery and made considerable progress in reforming the nation’s health care system. None of that would be remembered after Archangel. His name would go down in infamy.

Harrison said, “No Willy. I’m not but… Christ- if we lose containment. The protocol... we have to follow it.”

The General pulled a red file folder out of his briefcase and handed it to the President. He said, “This doesn’t lock us in to actually using Archangel. It simply gives us the ability.”

Harrison nodded and broke the seal on the file folder.

He looked at the document and said, “How far along are we?”

Carter replied, “We have a C-17 Globemaster standing by at Avord Air Base in France. Everything is in place with the exception of the political aspects. According to the protocol we must first inform the UN Security Council member states that Archangel is a possibility. Second, we have to make a formal request to the French President for the use of their neutron bombs.”

Harrison considered his contacts with French President Francois Arnaud. The man from Marseille as the Paris media had dubbed him was no great fan of American foreign policy. He was tough, independent and fair minded but was known to not suffer fools gladly. Harrison asked, “What if Francois has a sudden attack of sanity and says no?”

Carter gave a sad grin and said, “This is all been pre-planned and pre-arranged by treaty. It’s the primary reason that the French are the only nation on earth with a significant stockpile of neutron bombs. They are notoriously independent and, well French is the best way I can describe them Sir. No country on earth would request the activation of the Archangel protocol unless it is the direst of emergencies.”

Harrison asked, “How do we proceed?”

Carter said, “If we follow protocol, and I suggest that we follow it to the letter in this case, SecState is supposed to inform the UN Security Council members that we intend to activate Archangel.”

“The next step is to contact the French President and request that he release the weapons.”

“The weapons will be loaded onto our C-17 Globemaster at Avord Air Base in France and flown to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota where they will be loaded on to B-1 Lancers of the 28^th Bomb Wing. Once there, our B-1s will stand by for deployment… if we have to go that far.”

President Harrison asked, “Who is senior at State now?”

Carter consulted his notes and said, “Secretary James is infected and is undergoing treatment at Walter Reed. Under-Secretary Carlton Reed is currently the acting Secretary and he is stashed away at Weather Mountain with the rest of your cabinet.”

Harrison said, “Get Under-Secretary Reed read into Archangel and have him make the necessary notifications. Have a call set up between me and President Arnaud for- say first thing in the morning, 7am Paris time.”

Carter stood and said, “I’ll get right on this sir.”

The President sighed and said, “I don’t know what is worse Willy: the fact that I’m considering using neutron bombs on American cities or that we have a God forsaken protocol in place to do it.”

End of Day 1