by Mike Ramon
Chapter Forty
Washington, D.C.
July 4 -- 17:40 UTC/1:40 pm local time
It was the day when the nation celebrated its independence from an imperial power. There had been a debate among city and town councils across the nation on which would be the appropriate way to celebrate the occasion. Some decided to scale back their normal festivities, but most were opting to go the whole nine yards--carnivals, elaborate fireworks shows, and everything else. The general feeling was that this was the way a nation showed its strength, that people would not change their way of life out of fear or sorrow. The country would move on, as it always has.
So when the sun went down that evening on small towns and cities alike, and a thousand points of light were burning brightly in the velvet sky with light from stars that had been dead for centuries, the kiddies would ride the Ferris wheel and the Tilt-A-Whirl, men with lined faces would shoot ducks with pellet guns in the hopes of winning one of the big prizes for their sweetheart, and families would eat cotton candy and funnel cake while sipping cold lemonade as they waited for the fireworks show to start. Flags would wave in the wind, and patriotic songs would be sung. The night would thrum with it all.
But now, in the harsh light of day, before the cotton candy, before the Ferris wheel and the fireworks, there was the business of mourning, of paying respects to the dead and those they left behind. David Diehl (no longer an agent of the NTRA, a job he had officially resigned from less than twenty-fours hours previously) stood near the stage where the President of the United States was finishing up the last speech of the day. It was a hell of a speech, or at least David thought so, even if his mind did keep wandering while he listened. He was thinking of a dozen things, and his mind refused to settle on just one thing at a time.
The thing that was bugging him the most at the moment was the fate of Dragon’s Breath. It had been the theft of that terrible device that had started the whole thing. The Chinese reported that the weapon had been found and destroyed. But they hadn’t allowed any foreign representatives to inspect the device, or to witness its destruction. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but something about it bothered David, and he couldn’t help being nagged by a doubt about how truthful the Chinese government was being.
Up near the stage were others who had played a part in the frightful play that was drawing to a close. Agent Norwalk was there, and General Cromwell. Even Agent Sarah Marquez was there, who David hadn’t seen since he had left for Korea. There were many others, most of whom David didn’t know. A few dignitaries from other nations were present, showing their respect.
David looked around at the crowd, at the thousands beyond counting who had gathered in the nation’s capital to mark this solemn occasion. So many people, most looking up at their President, some looking down, many with moist eyes.
He noticed a small commotion fifty yards away and he turned to see what was going on. A woman was trying to cross the cordon behind which the general crowd was kept away from the stage. The woman was trying to tell the officers who held her back that she knew someone near the stage, asking them to let her pass. David knew that voice. He jogged over and put himself between the woman and the cops.
“It’s all right, she’s with me,” he said.
“Sir, she doesn’t have a pass,” one of the cops informed him. “Without a pass she has to stay on the other side of this line.”
David flashed his own pass.
“It’s okay; I have a pass.”
“Very good sir, but she doesn’t.
Some of the crowd nearest them were looking at them now.
“Okay,” David said, wanting to avoid any more debate on the issue of passes. “I’ll stay behind the line with her.”
“If you leave the secure area, you won’t be able to reenter it. Are you okay with this?”
“Yes; I understand.”
The cop nodded and let David pass outside the security line. David looked at the woman, and she smiled at him.
“Violet, what are you doing here?”
“I was starting to miss you,” she said. “I managed to get a hold of Norwalk, and he told me that you would be here today. I asked him not to tell you I would be here; I wanted to surprise you.”
David looked back at the VIPs gathered near the stage. Agent Phil Norwalk was looking back at him, a small smile on his face.
“The bastard didn’t say a word,” David said.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said.
“Of course not.”
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as the President finished his speech. David and Violet both looked up at the stage, and unconsciously they linked hands as they watched the President wave to the crowd as he walked to the edge of the stage. Cardinal Bacci, who had made his own speech before the President, stepped to the large bell that stood in the center of the stage.
David checked his watch. At exactly two o’clock the Cardinal began ringing the bell. The bell was rung in memory of the dead. There were too many dead to ring the bell for each lost soul individually, so each toll would count for a thousand people. With each ringing tone, a thousand lives that had been snuffed out.
As the bell was tolled for the third time Violet buried her face in David’s shoulder. He could feel the moistness of her tears. The bell rang again, and again, as the crowd in Washington, and millions of viewers around the world, watched in humble silence. Under a bright blue sky, on the day the nation celebrated its independence, the bell kept tolling…and tolling…and tolling.
glossary
ASAC - Assistant Special Agent in Charge.
CODIS - Combined DNA Index System. Allows federal, state, and local police agencies to compare DNA profiles electronically. Maintained by the FBI.
DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. An agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies for use by the military.
DPRK - Democratc People's Republic of Korea. The official name of North Korea.
Dragon’s Breath - The so-called “Armageddon Machine". A weapon of unparalleled destruction.
ETA - Estimated time of arrival.
Fireblossom - The North Korean codename for their own, more limited, version of Dragon’s Breath
IAFIS - Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. A national automated fingerprint identification system maintained by the FBI.
Lotus - A codename used for Dragon's Breath used by the Recovery Team.
LZ - Landing zone.
Ministry of National Defense (MOD) - Directs and administers China's national defense work.
Ministry of State Security (MSS) - Security agency of the People's Republic of China. Responsible for counter-intelligence, foreign intelligence and political security. Also the name of North Korea’s secret police.
National Intelligence Service (NIS) - The chief intelligence agency of South Korea.
National Threat Reaction Agency (NTRA) - Top secret American security organization. Tasked with countering the most severe existential threats to national security.
OHQ - Operational Headquarters.
Project Dragonfire - Project to develop a weapon that would stand as an ultimate deterrent to the West. Dragon's Breath was the end product of this program.
Project Thunderclap - Cancelled DARPA project to develop a superior weapon of mass destruction.
PDX - IATA code for Portland International Airport.
Recovery Team (RT) - Special task force charged with finding Dragon's Breath.
ROK - Republic of Korea. The official name of South Korea.
Satphone - Satellite phone.
Special Operations and Intelligence Command (SOIC) - Top secret British intelligence service. The UK equivalent to the NTRA.
Threat Assessment and Management Department (TAMD) - Special department within the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
Tongmu - Korean equivalent of the word "comrade".
UTC - Universal Time Coord
inated.
Violet Dawn (VD) - Extremist group. The ranks include rogue members of the government and military of North Korea.