The Armageddon Machine
Page 25
Chapter Twenty-Four
Washington, D.C.
June 11 -- 12:35 UTC/8:35 am local time
The people gathered around the table were dressed in a mix of civilian and military duds. General Cromwell was flanked by Captain Danko on the right and Deputy Director Klein on the left. Klein was a civilian, reflecting the government’s wish that the NTRA leadership be made up of a mix of soldiers and civilians.
“But how can we be certain that this guy was connected with them?” one of the men sitting opposite the General asked.
The man who asked the question was a congressman, the honorable Representative Phil Varrick, chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. General Cromwell had little tolerance for politicians, particularly this one, who he regarded as a weaselly creature who knew little about anything. He tried to hide his disdain for the man.
“As I’ve already said--we can’t be absolutely certain,” General Cromwell said. “But there is a reasonable certainty that the shooter in Dallas is connected with the Violet Dawn organization.”
Since word got back to Washington of the mall shooting they had been trying to work out the likelihood of a connection between the shooting and Violet Dawn.
“Either you’re certain or you’re not.”
“There are degrees of certainty, Congressman.”
Rep. Varrick grumbled.
“Let us review the evidence,” the General said, hoping to appease the congressman. “We have a young man of obvious Asian origin. He appears to have been between the ages of twenty-five and thirty, of medium build. He walked into the Grand Pines Mall in Dallas, Texas, yesterday afternoon, shortly after three o’clock, and opened fire with an H and K MP5 submachine gun. Casualties: twenty-five dead, thirty-two wounded. Five of the wounded are still listed in critical condition.
“The shooter had no identification upon his person. His fingerprints were run through IAFIS; there was no match. A sample of his DNA is now being run through CODIS, though we aren’t holding our breath hoping for a match there, either. The only solid clue to the man’s origins at the present time is a pack of Unbangul Chewing Gum that was found in one of his pants pockets. This gum is manufactured by the Pyongyang Chewing Gum Factory and is sold exclusively within North Korea.”
Rep. Varrick nodded his head, apparently convinced of the “reasonable certainty” of the matter.
“We also feel this to be a confirmation that Violet Dawn has at least one active cell in Texas,” Deputy Director Klein added. “You might remember that Polk and Chancer--the abductors of the scientist--handed him over in Houston. Houston is a three-and-a-half hour drive from Dallas on Interstate Forty-Five.”
“A three three-and-a-half hour drive isn’t exactly a Sunday walk,” said a sharp-looking Colonel who was present as a representative of the Department of Defense. “Might this not imply two active cells in Texas?”
“It’s possible,” General Cromwell answered. “We just don’t know at the moment.”
“What are we doing presently to search out this cell, or cells?” Rep. Varrick asked.
“We have had a full field team on the ground in Dallas for…,” General Cromwell trailed off as he checked his watch. “…six hours now. They will be coordinating with Dallas PD as well as with the Texas Rangers. Today--and after if necessary--there will be a blitz on television stations statewide with images of the shooter pulled from security footage. A picture of the shooter will also be run in virtually every newspaper in the state, from the wide circulation rags of the big cities all the way down to the free weeklies. People will be instructed to call either the Rangers or their local police department or Sheriff’s office if they recognize the man. All local PD’s and county Sheriff’s departments are being instructed to funnel all tips to the Rangers, where we will have people on site sorting through information themselves in case the staties or local cops miss something.”
“Do you have an idea about why this guy did what he did?” the DoD rep asked. “This doesn’t exactly have the hallmarks of a sophisticated terror op. This was just sloppy.”
“One theory is that the mall shooter was part of a cell operating somewhere in Texas-- possibly in Dallas itself--that has essentially been put into a holding pattern,” Deputy Director Klein said. “Waiting for the word to make their move. He may have simply grown impatient and decided to take matters into his own hands.”
“As you have read in your briefs,” General Cromwell added, “the shooter was seen outside the mall for at least thirty minutes before the attack drinking from a bottle of liquor. This raises the possibility that the suspect may not even have planned the shooting, but simply acted on an impulse while under the influence of alcohol.”
“Do you think this media blitz, the push to get the shooter’s picture out there, will lead to any solid tips?” a rep from Homeland Defense asked.
“We just don’t know,” the General said. “In a case like this most tips will be useless--people who think they know the guy, but it turns out to be someone else entirely, people looking to get their name in the paper, somebody looking to settle a score by pointing the finger at someone they’ve been quarrelling with, and so on. We can only hope that within the haystack there is in fact a needle, and that we are able to see it for what it is when we come across it.”
There were a few more questions--mostly going over territory already explored-- which both General Cromwell and Deputy Director Klein answered to the best of their abilities. At nine o’clock the meeting broke off, and everyone who didn’t work for the NTRA departed, going back to whatever organization they were from to fill their own people in on the latest intel. General Cromwell went back to his office, hoping for a few minutes alone in which to relax in the dark.