Memorial Day

Thirty

MARYLAND

For the last two hours there had been a constant stream of helicopters and vehicles arriving and departing from the base of Raven Rock Mountain. The mountain straddled the Maryland-Pennsylvania border about an hours drive north of Washington, D.C. Buried deeply beneath it was a highly secure, hardened facility known simply as Site R.

Site R had opened in 1953 and been designated an Alternate Joint Communications Center by the U.S. military. The more blunt description was that it was bunker built to survive a nuclear attack against the United States. There were four ways into Site R. The two main entrances were located one on each side of the mountain. These were guarded by massive blast doors that took ten minutes to open and close. The third was more of an exit to be used for emergency escape, and the fourth, and most secretive of all, was an elevator shaft and tunnel that allowed the president to enter the bunker from Camp David just a few miles down the road.

The president's chief of staff was the last person to arrive at the Camp David entrance, and once she was inside, the immense doors began their unnerving slow grind to their shut position. Once the doors were closed, the inhabitants were safe against all but a direct strike by a large nuclear weapon. Site R was built to house several hundred people for a period of four to six weeks depending on how food and water was dispersed. Most impressive, though, was its exact replica of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) that sits in the bowels of the Pentagon.

The NMCC, which is pronounced "Nimic," is essentially a cavernous war room where the Joint Chiefs and their staffs can monitor and, if need be, run a war that is taking place anywhere in the world. Due to the size of the Pentagon, and the fact that the room sits beneath layer upon layer of reinforced concrete, it is deemed a semihardened facility able to handle anything up to a near strike by a ten kiloton nuke.

Back when the U.S. and the former Soviet Union were in their nuclear arms race, both countries began building these bunkers at a feverish pace. The idea was to create redundancy so that it would be extremely difficult for the opponent to take out your entire command-and-control network. Within several hundred miles of Washington there were six such facilities. In addition, there was the Strategic Air Command, or SAC, in Omaha; the North American Air Defense Command, or NORAD, in Colorado Springs; and a dozen others sprinkled across the vast American landscape.

The Soviets did the same thing, but both nations fell victim to one simple problem. It was easier to build bombs than bunkers. With both sides at their peak having more than 10,000 nuclear warheads, military planners were able to put on the board targeting packages that would hit all of the other side's command-and-control bunkers with however many nukes it took to destroy each facility. The briefly indestructible bunkers, places built to ensure survivability, began to be viewed by many as tombs.

Psychologically speaking, one thing saved each country: mutually assured destruction, or MAD. The Soviets wanted to live just as much as the Americans did. On those rare occasions when the world was taken to the brink, the leaders on both sides ultimately knew that if they ordered a nuclear strike, they would be not just killing the enemy, they would be signing their own death certificates as well as those of their family and almost everyone they knew.

MAD, despite its ignoble characteristics, had served humanity quite well. The same pragmatism did not apply to the new hostilities, however. There was no rationalizing with religious zealots who were willing to wantonly sacrifice their own lives and those of others. There was no mutually assured destruction, there was only destruction.

Destruction of unimaginable proportions. That was what was on President Hayes's mind as he stood at the glass wall of the conference room looking down into Site R's command center. Military personnel sat at computer consoles or scurried about. Across from the president was a large projection screen that showed the current deployment and readiness of America's armed forces. He watched as designations began to change. Hayes expected it. He'd just given General Flood, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the approval to take the armed forces from their normal peacetime readiness of Defcon 5 to Defcon 4. In addition, plans were already under way to take the Seventh Fleet and Central Command to Defcon 3 if needed. He was told it was standard procedure given the situation. Hayes could already see where this insanity could take them. The hawks at the Pentagon hadn't said it yet, but they would shortly.

If a nuke went off in D.C., they would not just push for retribution, they would demand it, and the president would have a hard time stopping them. The only problem was who, where, and what to strike back at.

Irene Kennedy approached the president. "Sir, we're ready to get started."

Hayes took his spot at the head of the conference table. At the opposite end of the room the large video screen was split in three. The left third showed Secretary of Defense Culbertson and General Flood who were in the NMCC at the Pentagon. The middle portion showed Vice President Baxter, Treasury Secretary Keane, and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security McClellan. All three men were tucked away at Mount Weather, another secure bunker west of D.C. The last third showed Attorney General Stokes and FBI Director Roach, who were at the new Joint Counterterrorism Center. In the room with the president was Secretary of State Berg, National Security Advisor Haik, Chief of Staff Jones, and CIA Director Kennedy. The combined assembly made up the president's National Security Council, and more often than not lately they had been conducting their meetings via secure video teleconference.

President Hayes, knowing that much of the group was in the dark as to what was going on, turned to CIA Director Kennedy and said, "Irene, would you please bring everyone up to speed?"

Kennedy began in her typically calm, analytical voice. "As most of you know, starting last week we noticed some trends in the financial markets that gave us concern. In addition to that there was an increase in chatter. On Monday morning we were alerted to a suspected gathering of top al-Qaeda members in a small village near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. About nine hours ago American Special Forces hit the village."

Before Kennedy could continue Secretary of State Berg asked, "On which side of the border did the village sit?" It was apparent by her tone that she already knew the answer.

"The Pakistani side."

Berg, a much revered and respected former senator, slowly shifted her chilly gaze from Kennedy to the president. "And why wasn't I informed of this?"

Hayes was in no mood to waste valuable time refereeing turf battles. "You weren't told because I didn't want the Pakistanis to know." He looked back to Kennedy. "Continue."

Kennedy cleared her throat. "Three top al-Qaeda members were nabbed in the raid along with several smaller figures. In addition several computers were discovered along with a lot of files. One piece of intel in particular gave us great concern. It was a map of Washington, D.C." Kennedy entered several key strokes and an image of the map appeared on the monitors that were embedded in the surface of the conference table and on the monitors at the other installations.

"For those of you who have seen one of these before, you will recognize the circles that emanate from the National Mall as the blast radius of a nuclear weapon. In addition to the map a bomb damage assessment was found."

"What size bomb are we talking?" asked the president's chief of staff.

"Twenty kilotons," answered Kennedy.

"Is that big?"

Kennedy looked up at the teleconferencing screen and said, "General Flood."

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said, "For a nuke it's pretty small, but then again when you're talking about a nuke nothing is really small."

"How much damage?" asked the president.

"That's contingent on whether we're looking at an air burst or ground detonation, and if it's detonated during the middle of the day or in the evening. Immediate casualties could be as low as twenty thousand if it's a ground detonation and could climb to half a million people or more if it's an air burst during the middle of a work day."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group as individuals grappled with the enormity of the possible carnage. Someone muttered a soft curse, and then General Flood added, "In addition to the casualties the city itself would be uninhabitable for anywhere from thirty to seventy years depending on the radiation fallout."

"Dr. Kennedy," asked Attorney General Stokes, "I'm assuming since you ordered Operation Ark, that there is more to go on than just this map."

"Yes. For some time we have been trying to ascertain the whereabouts of several missing Pakistani nuclear scientists. In the raid, we discovered files that detail the recruitment and defection of these scientists. I've got people pouring through this intelligence as we speak trying to get a more complete picture of what we're up against, but as of right now my team says there is little doubt that these scientists were successfully recruited by al-Qaeda. In addition we also have verbal confirmation from one of the terrorists that the attack on D.C. will employ a nuclear weapon."

"How in the hell," asked Secretary of Defense Culbertson, "did these guys get their hands on a nuclear weapon?"

"We're looking into that right now," answered Kennedy.

"Maybe we should start with the Pakistanis," snapped an angry secretary of defense.

Kennedy looked to the president. They had already discussed this exact point.

"I plan on talking to General Musharraf shortly," responded the president, "but before I do that I would like to get a better handle on the intelligence that's coming out of Kandahar."

"How did they get this thing into the country?" asked the president's chief of staff.

"We're not sure at this point. One report has it coming in by plane, but it's possible it may have come in by ship."

"Do we know when it arrived?" asked Jones.

"As of right now we think it came in yesterday."

"How in the hell did it get past all the sensors?" asked the president's chief of staff.

Kennedy, slightly perplexed, just looked at her. She knew of at least two occasions when they'd sat in the same room while the vulnerability of the detectors was discussed. "There will be time later to figure out exactly how they got the weapon into the country. For now we need to focus our energies on finding this thing, and preparing for the worst."

"What about Washington?" asked Jones. "I thought every bridge and road coming into the city was wired with devices that could detect something like this."

"They are," answered Kennedy, "but they are not foolproof."

"Mr. President," said the Secretary of Homeland Security, "In about two hours this city is going to wake up, and rush hour will begin. If Washington, D.C., is in fact the target, we need to consider shutting down all incoming lanes of traffic. As general Flood pointed out, the quickest way to increase the death toll is to let people come into the city to work."

The president looked to Kennedy for guidance.

"I respectfully disagree," answered the director of the CIA. "Until we have more specific intelligence, any such action would be premature and would likely hinder our search for the device."

The Secretary of Homeland Security frowned at Kennedy's polite rebuke and said, "At a bare minimum, sir, we should begin checking all pickup trucks, box vans, and semi trucks headed into the city. We should also consider shutting down the Metro."

"I would advise waiting another hour," answered Kennedy.

Secretary of the Treasury Keane, who was at the Mount Weather facility with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the vice president, chimed in by saying, "Mr. President, if the slightest whisper of this gets out, we need to be prepared to step in and close the financial markets...even before they open."

All at once, the meeting digressed into a free-for-all, with splintered conversations breaking out between the various groups. President Hayes pushed his chair a little further away from the table and for his own part tried to figure out where this madness might lead them.

CIA Director Kennedy leaned closer to the president and said, "Sir, if you could call the meeting back to order, I'd like to suggest a course of action."

Hayes liked the sound of Kennedy's reassuring voice. "Everyone!" Like all good orators the president knew how to project his voice. He did not have to repeat himself a second time.

"Dr. Kennedy has the floor," he commanded.

Kennedy laid her palms flat on the table and spoke in an even but confident voice. "With each passing minute, we're getting a better handle on this situation. As strange and counterintuitive as it may seem, the best course of action for us right now may be to do nothing. It's a quarter past four in the morning. We have a little time before people begin waking up and heading into work. I propose that for the next hour we allow our counterterrorism people to do what they're trained to do, and stay out of their way. At five thirty we can reconvene, and decide if we need to take further action."

The president didn't wait for anyone else to argue or interject. "We will reconvene at five thirty. In the meantime dust off the contingency plans we have in place, and have your agendas set and prioritized for the next meeting. I want a clear and concise take on everything: intel, military, financial markets, the press...and Irene and Beatrice," Hayes pointed to Kennedy and the secretary of State, "I want the two of you to coordinate a strategy on how to deal with Pakistan, and any other allies we might need to put some pressure on."

The president then took in the rest of the room and looked up at the large screen. "I can't stress enough how important it is that we keep a lid on this thing. The last thing we need right now is the press getting wind of this. They'll create a damn panic and this situation will spin out of control before we have the chance to stop it."