by Don Brown
Winters had put the pilotless bird in a broad, looping circle over the bridge at fifteen-hundred feet, between Marin County on the north side, and Fort Point on the San Francisco side to the south.
So far, there was just traffic flowing back and forth, and glistening blue water under the huge, burnt-orange suspension bridge.
Just above the video feed from the drone were live video images from two other drones, one over a smoldering Philadelphia and one over Washington, where shadows were beginning to lengthen on the east coast. The other drones were being flown by two other pilots, one sitting to Winters’ left and one to his right.
The headset on Winters’ ears squawked with static, and then the sound of the controller’s voice.
“Predator 2. Creech Control. Be advised that target has been spotted by civilian law enforcement ground unit. Stand by for coordinates…” Winters felt sweat on his palms. Even sitting on the ground over five hundred miles to the southeast of the target, without even the specter of a dogfight with an enemy jet, the warrior’s edginess set in his body. The consequences of failing were not lost on him. “Okay, coordinates are northbound on the Embarcadero between piers thirty-eight and thirtytwo. Speed approximately fifteen miles per hour.”
Winters typed in the location, which instantly gave him the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. “Okay, I’m going in for a look. Stand by.” He set the coordinates onto automatic pilot, turning the Predator slightly to the southeast.
The White House
4:10 p.m.
His tie loosened and his sleeves rolled up, the secretary of defense rushed into the Situation Room, where Mack had reestablished himself after spending the last couple of hours in the Oval Office. “Mr. President! We think we’ve located one of the U-Hauls!”
Mack looked up. “Talk to me.”
“Trying to get it up on the screens now!” Secretary Lopez said, as a couple of marine corps intelligence officers fiddled with some knobs under two of the flat-screen monitors on the wall beside the conference table.
“Got it!” one of them said, and stepped back.
An aerial shot of traffic flashed on the screen. At the bottom of the screen, the words superimposed USAF PREDATOR 2/Aerial San Francisco Live 1310 PST/1610 EST. The shot zoomed in closer and showed what seemed to be a single U-Haul van from the top. It was surrounded by slow-moving traffic, jammed between two vans, one green and one white.
“That’s it, Mr. President.” The defense secretary was pointing to the screen at the U-Haul.
“My recommendation is that we take it out,” Admiral Roscoe Jones said.
“Don’t we need to get a Blackhawk helicopter in place to take it out?” Mack asked.
“No sir,” Jones said. “The Predator has two Hellfire missiles under the wings. We can take it out on your command.”
Mack looked at the screen. Traffic had ground to a halt.
“Where is it in San Francisco?”
“He just came onto the Embarcadero, Mr. President. They’re at the intersection of the Embarcadero and Washington Streets,” the secretary of defense said. “Have the pilot pull the shot back and pull back in,” he said to one of the marines wearing a headset. The marine mumbled into the headset and the camera pulled back, showing the piers lining the glistening waters of San Francisco Bay to the right, and several green parks along the Embarcadero to the left. The shot triggered Mack’s memory that the Embarcadero was the main road that paralleled the tip of San Francisco’s thumb-shaped peninsula all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge.
“Now here’s the Embarcadero snaking along San Francisco’s waterfront,” Admiral Jones said. “From this point, he’s only about five miles from the bridge, and luckily he’s in slow-moving traffic, which gives us a slightly easier target.”
“Zoom back in,” the defense secretary ordered. The marine repeated the order into the headset and instantly, the Predator was beaming back close-ups of the U-Haul, which had a minivan to the left and was to the rear of an SUV. The CHIPs car was about three cars behind it.
“Logistical details aren’t my specialty,” Mack said, “but wouldn’t we have a better chance of protecting these folks in the cars beside and in front if we had a chopper swoop down in front of the U-Haul and just fire a machine gun through the glass?”
“Actually, Mr. President,” Admiral Jones said, “the HARM missile is laser-guided and is more likely to land on target. Yes, we could lose some people in the adjacent cars because of the explosion, but machine-gun fire from a moving chopper could easily go off target and kill civilians too. Plus, there’s a chance that if we miss, or if he sees the chopper come into view, he could detonate the nuke before we take him out.”
Secretary Lopez spoke again. “I recommend that we take him out now, Mr. President. On your order. We’re running out of time.”
Jesus, help me, Mack thought.
“What’s that?” A blond head was hanging out of the window of the minivan right beside the U-Haul! Small hands and arms were waving under the blond head. “Close up on that minivan!” Mack ordered. The marine repeated the president’s order.
“Dear God! Is that a child waving out the window?”
The blond head disappeared back inside the minivan.
“Mr. President, we have to move now,” Admiral Jones said. “Our deadline is in less than three minutes. If he blows that bomb, that child’s going to die anyway. And possibly thousands of others. The military cannot authorize use of force inside the United States without presidential approval, sir.”
Mack’s hands covered his face. “Lord, give me wisdom.”
US Navy Seahawk
Over Bogor, Indonesia
3:13 a.m.
The choppers were moving fast through the night, and as Captain Noble barked last-second instructions that did not apply to her because she had been ordered to remain in the chopper, Diane gazed down through one of the chopper’s windows at Istana Bogor, the lavish presidential palace that she had studied but never seen in person. Illuminated from the air, with its square central structure connected by two flanking wings, it looked like Merdeka Palace bore a remarkable resemblance to the White House.
The captain’s commands pouring into her ears reminded her that this was not Washington, that the palace was not the White House, and that they were on a dangerous military mission that could end in death.
“On my mark, we hit the deck and shoot anything or anyone offering resistance. Move in twos. Remember, the XO has plans to the building and is going in. Our job is to protect the choppers on the roof. Everybody ready?”
“Aye, Captain!”
“All right. Lock and load!”
The choppers were feathering down toward the roof, slowing their descent. Then, a burst of machine-gun fire from the choppers. Chita-chita-chita-chita-chita-chita-chita-chita. Then another burst.
The loudspeakers from the pilot blared. “Captain, a couple of snipers on the roof. We opened fire to try and clear ’ em out. I think we got ’em. Be careful.”
“Thanks, Lieutenant,” Noble said.
Contact. The chopper landed. The doors swung open. “Move! Move!” Noble shouted, motioning his SEALs quickly out the bay door.
Zack turned and caught her gaze.
“Don’t go!” she said.
Zack kissed her on the head, and hopped out onto the roof to the sound of gunfire.
“Jesus, let him live,” she prayed aloud.
The White House
4:14 p.m.
You’ve got forty-five seconds, Mr. President,” Admiral Jones said. “If that fool is true to his word.”
“But he’s not at the bridge yet,” Mack said, hoping that the minivan with the blond-headed boy would turn onto a side street.
“No sir, but his deadline is four-fifteen, and he’s there, on the ground in San Francisco. Suppose he blows on his own time frame.”
“Thirty seconds, Mr. President,” Cyndi Hewitt said.
“How can I do this?”
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“You’ve got to do it, sir,” the defense secretary said. “We have a point-blank shot, and we’re running out of time!”
Mack knew that his advisors were right. “My Lord and God, forgive me for what I must do!” Mack closed his eyes and gave the command. “Fire!”
“Fire! Fire!” The marine repeated into the headset.
The president could not bear to watch. Yet he had no choice. He opened his eyes. The clock showed exactly four-fifteen as the U-Haul still crawled parallel to the minivan in slow-moving traffic.
A streak of white smoke jetted from the camera. Two seconds passed.
Against a backdrop of morbid silence, the U-Haul exploded in a ball of orange flames and black smoke, now billowing with fury into the San Francisco sky.
The situation room was devoid of cheering or discussion. Only quiet. Some exhaling.
The silence was broken after a few seconds by the somber voice of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “We got him, Mr. President.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Mack said, staring at the billowing smoke that made the Embarcadero almost invisible. “It looks like we did.”
“Mr. President,” Jones continued, “I know you don’t want to do this, sir, but I highly recommend that we deploy Army and National Guard units to block all roadway entrances into Washington.”
Mack buried his hands into his forehead. “You’re right, Admiral. I hate to do it, but let’s do it.”
“Also recommend that we evacuate the city of all nonessential personnel.”
“Prepare an order declaring martial law in the District of Columbia and all surrounding counties in Virginia and Maryland. All nonessential personnel not determined as necessary for the defense of the city, as determined by the secretary of defense, shall be evacuated.” He pulled his hands down and eyed the NSC. “And that includes the Congress.”
Glances were exchanged amongst the council members. The secretary of state spoke what was being thought. “You’ve got some members of Congress who will take the position that the president can’t legally order them out of town.”
“I know that,” Mack said. “And if I save them from a nuclear blast and they live to tell about it, they can impeach me if they want.”
US Navy Seahawk
Istana Bogor Palace, Indonesia
3:16 a.m.
From inside the chopper’s cargo bay, Diane watched two of the SEALs holding a defensive position just outside of the chopper with their weapons drawn.
The pilots had shut the engines down on both helicopters, and the sound of boots tramping across the roof echoed.
Pow! Pow! Two more rifle shots rang in the night air.
“Stay down!” one of the SEALs said.
A few more moments of silence.
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! We surrender!” The voice was Indonesian-accented English.
“Lay your weapons down!” She recognized Captain Noble’s voice. “Hands over your head!”
“Please! No kill! We give you vice president. No kill!”
“Petty officer, gather their weapons and put ’em in the choppers!”
“Aye, Skipper!”
The sound of more boots across the roof. A second later one of the SEALs came back to the cargo bay and dumped about six rifles into it.
“Skipper! Skipper! Comin’ up now. We got the VEEP!”
“Get him in Chopper Two!” Noble said. “Let’s get these birds fired up and get the heck out of here!”
More trampling of boots, and the whine of chopper blades starting to crank.
“In here, Mr. Vice President!” She recognized the voice of Zack.
Three silhouettes appeared, and then were illuminated by the chopper’s cabin lights. Zack, Petty Officer Toomey, and the vice president of Indonesia.
“Watch your step, sir,” Zack was saying, and the vice president stepped into the chopper. “Have a seat beside the lovely lady.”
Zack pointed at Diane, and as the helicopter engines returned to their full, high-pitched roar, and with Navy SEALs piling back in, Vice President Muhammed Magadia, looking worn and tired in a rolled-up white dress shirt, plopped into the jump seat right beside her.
Zack knelt in front of the Indonesian veep. “Let me help you with your safety belt, sir,” he said, gently buckling Magadia into his jump seat, all the while giving Diane another confident wink.
“All right, let’s get this bird in the air!” Captain Noble ordered.
The engines roared, and the chopper lifted into the sky, leaving the light-splashed palace below.
Residence of General Perkasa
Jakarta, Indonesia
3:30 a.m.
Why isn’t the American press reporting about the detonation yet?” General Perkasa demanded. “Our man was supposed to detonate fifteen minutes ago.”
“It takes a few minutes, General,” Colonel Croon said. “There was massive confusion, I am sure, and it takes a little while even for the Americans to begin to broadcast.”
Hassan saw an opportunity. “Would you like me to get a live feed on CNN, General? We can watch for their breaking news coverage when San Francisco is vaporized.”
“Of course, Hassan.”
Hassan picked up the remote control and mashed several buttons. CNN reporter Tom Miller’s image was on the screen, standing in front of the late afternoon sun at the White House. Miller was speaking into the camera.
“This just in. Reports of a major explosion in San Francisco. The details are still sketchy. But sources say that the explosion involved a U-Haul truck, and it doesn’t look good.”
The Indonesian officers cheered.
“Quiet! Quiet!” Perkasa said. “I want to hear all the details.”
Miller continued.
“We’re working on a live feed from San Francisco right now, where we understand there is pandemonium. Stand by.” The bespectacled Miller was holding his hand to his ear, as if listening to the voice of his news director. “There are reports of smoke rising over the city…”
“Pour more drinks for everyone!” Perkasa stood, smiling, now taking a swig directly out of the bottle. “Soon we will rule the world!”
“Let me repeat. We still do not have any casualty reports, although there is speculation that this could be somehow related to the nuclear attack on Philadelphia, and the White House is not commenting. Still waiting for live video coverage…”
“I guarantee Mack Williams comes to the table now!” Perkasa was bragging.
Alcohol flowed freely. Glasses clanged. Officers were raising their cups to their brilliant leader. “To General Perkasa,” the ignorant sycophant Colonel Croon was saying. “There has never been another leader in the history of the world quite like him!”
“To the general!”
“To General Perkasa!”
“We are now starting to get a live feed from San Francisco…”
The phone rang. Hassan looked down. Istana Bogor. The TV broadcast could wait. Quick. A potential chance to purvey more information to the general while the colonel was getting drunk watching television.
“This is a distant shot from Chopper Nine of the local ABC affiliate. It shows the smoke rising over the city…”
Hassan ignored Tom Miller’s voice and picked up the phone. “General Perkasa’s headquarters, Major Taplus speaking.” Why not go ahead and identify himself as Major Taplus? After all, the promotion was imminent anyway. And by the time he got a field promotion to major, a promotion to colonel would certainly follow. “How can I help you?…What?…Could you repeat that?…How did that happen?…That cannot be!” He cupped the phone with his hand. “General Perkasa, sir!”
“Not now!” Perkasa snapped, his eyes still glued on CNN.
“But it is important, sir.”
“Whatever it is, it can wait. It is not as important as this!”
Hassan hung up the phone and turned his attention to CNN, where Tom Miller was talking over a live video feed of black smoke billowing into the sky from
San Francisco.
“Now according to eyewitnesses,” Miller said, “this U-Haul truck that we are watching burn, exploded and burst into flames when it was attacked by a missile from an aircraft overhead.”
“What!” Perkasa was screaming.
“National Guard troops are taking control of the situation and removing all civilians from the area. Now the presence of military units on the ground is fueling speculation that this attack could somehow be related to the attacks in Philadelphia.”
“They have destroyed our bomb!” Perkasa threw his glass against the fireplace, shattering it. “This cannot be!”
“And reports are now coming in from Washington that the president has ordered the evacuation of the District of Columbia. All roadways leading into the city are blocked.”
“Aiieee!” Perkasa whipped his pistol from his holster. The coward Croon and several of the others ducked, but Hassan held his ground as Perkasa pointed his pistol to the ceiling. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. White plaster rained down from above.
“Stand up, you cowards!” Perkasa screamed. “Have I but one brave officer on my staff?” He eyed Hassan as the others slowly returned to their feet. “Taplus, you are promoted on the spot to colonel!”
The rush flooded Colonel Hassan Taplus. But this was not the time to gloat. Now was the time to take control away from the fool Croon. Pounce now, Hassan. “I am honored, General, but now is the time for swift and decisive action.”
“Yes, of course,” Perkasa said.
“General, I must first inform you of more negative news.”
“What is it?”
“There has been a raid on Istana Bogor. US forces, likely Navy SEALs, have captured Vice President Magadia and evacuated him by helicopter.”
Perkasa slumped back into his chair, now almost in a daze. “How?” He looked around. “How did this happen?”
Now. “Perhaps we should ask Colonel Croon,” Hassan said. “He was in charge of overseeing security at the palace.”
Perkasa’s eyes locked onto the colonel, who by now was standing just to the side of the general’s desk. “What about that, Colonel Croon? Colonel Taplus is right. You were in charge of arranging security for Istana Bogor, were you not?”