Drone Threat

49

All eyes were on Alyssa Abbott, the White House press secretary. She shrugged and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I did everything I could. I played the national security card. Even threatened to pull their press credentials. But the Times wouldn’t hold off on the story. Frankly, I would’ve run with it, too, if I were in their shoes.”

Chandler blew out a long breath. “That’s terribly unfortunate, Alyssa. It puts us in quite a bind.” He glanced over at the video monitors on the Situation Room wall. They silently displayed several local L.A. news broadcasts showing live images of massive freeway traffic jams, looted stores, panicked mothers with babies in their arms. Los Angeles had gone mad.

Lane shook his head. “It’s not her fault, Clay. She’s right. There are ten million people in the L.A. basin. It’s a huge story for them.” Lane glanced back down into his lap. The Times story was on his iPad. “It looks like they only got the water story. That’s a break, at least.”

“But the wire services have picked up the scent on the others.” Abbott held up her cell phone. “AP has called me three times already this morning, asking for confirmation about Kan-Tex.”

“Shit,” Garza said. “Pardon my French.”

“There’s the mayor,” Peguero said, nodding at the monitor.

Lane tapped a remote. The sound came up. Ronald Hillman, the mayor of Los Angeles, had just begun his speech. His tailored sky-blue suit perfectly complimented his mane of thick silver hair and permanent suntan. A news ticker identified the other public officials flanking the mayor at his podium, including the general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

“I’ve been assured by federal, state, and local public health and security officials as well as by the head of the MWDSC that our water system is perfectly safe, that it has not been compromised in any way, and that every effort is being taken to ensure that our water remains safe, clean, and available to everyone in Southern California. I urge everyone to return to work or to their homes. There is no need to leave the area or to panic. Your water is safe.” The mayor was handed a glass of water. “This was drawn just thirty seconds ago from the break room here in the building. It came from the tap in the kitchen. This is public water.” The mayor took a long drink, draining the glass. He set it down empty and smiled a mouthful of blazing white teeth.

“I condemn in the strongest terms possible the irresponsible and sensationalist reporting by the Los Angeles Times. Hiding behind the First Amendment and in the name of public safety, they have created an artificial crisis that has led to the injury and death of an untold number of persons and the destruction of millions of dollars in property, all for the sake of selling a few newspapers. I’ll take your questions now.”

Lane shut the audio back off. “Has the mayor been fully apprised of the situation?”

Eaton nodded. “Yes. I thought it best to level with him. I didn’t want him to be caught by surprise by your speech tonight and made to look the fool. I explained the national security dimension. He’s promised to play dumb until we give him the green light.”

“God bless Ronnie,” Chandler said. “He always was a team player.”

Lane turned to his director of national intelligence. “How did the brief with Gaby and Bren go?” The secretaries of state and defense were both in Beijing, making final preparations for the summit. Lane asked Pia to update them and solicit their advice.

“They’re both up to speed. SecDef will contact Chairman Onstot later today for further details. Secretary Wheeler has already been in touch with her EU counterparts.”

“And President Sun?”

“Secretary Wheeler assured me he’s in your corner.”

“Good news, finally,” Lane said.

Abbott nodded at the business channel on the monitor. “The New York Stock Exchange is down four hundred fifty points,” Abbott said. “It’s not clear if that’s a reaction to the L.A. situation or the rumor that the Fed is going to raise interest rates again.”

“Wonder what it will be after my speech,” Lane said.

“I think the market will rally,” Chandler said.

“Nothing like a war to drive up profits,” Garza said under his breath.

“The drive-time talk shows are all abuzz this morning, too, as well as the TV news. People are on edge.”

“Maybe you should hold off on the speech,” Peguero said. “No point in dropping a match into a gas can.”

“The networks are expecting a live broadcast from the Oval Office at nine p.m. Eastern Standard Time. If we back off now, we’ll only feed the rumor mill,” Abbott said.

“My dad always said the best way to tackle a problem is head-on,” Lane said. “I’m giving the speech. But I’m not waiting until tonight.”

“Sir?” Abbott asked.

“This thing is spinning out of control. I need to get ahead of it. I want to be live and on air at noon.”

Abbott’s face blanched. “I don’t know if I can pull that off.”

“You’ll figure it out. Better get to it.”

Abbott opened her mouth to protest, then checked herself. “Yes, sir. I’ll make the arrangements right away.” She sped out of the room.

Lane turned toward the others. “You’ve all read the speech. Any last-minute suggestions?”

Heads shook around the table. No suggestions. Chandler and Grafton smiled enthusiastically. Peguero appeared resigned. Pearce was grim.

“This will be the most important speech of your administration,” Garza finally said. He grinned. “Don’t fuck it up.”

Lane burst out laughing. He could always count on his salty security advisor to say the most inappropriate thing at exactly the right time. The tension in the room dropped. The room laughed with him.

Except for Pearce.

“Something wrong, Troy?” the president asked, still smiling.

“Just did the math.”

“What math?” Chandler said, still chuckling.

“Tomorrow is the fifth day. The day the letter promised we’d be destroyed in unquenchable fire.”

The room quieted like a tomb.

Nobody was laughing anymore.