MJ-12: Shadows

11

Danny Wallace hated his dress uniform — he invariably spilled something on the spotless whites within five minutes of putting them on — but figured that if he was going to take on the Secretary of Defense at the White House, he’d better look his best.

Plus, Danny really didn’t own a top-flight civilian suit. The only one he had was a couple years old, and frankly, he knew Truman was a bit of a clotheshorse.

Of course, this didn’t stop Hillenkoetter from wearing a slightly rumpled, ill-fitting suit over his large, gangly frame, but the Director wasn’t the kind of man to care about such things. Between the Dulles report, the Iron Curtain tightening up, and Asia heading south fast, Hilly had more to worry about than his attire.

“The President will see you now,” the secretary said, and Danny followed his boss into the Oval Office, where a grim-faced Truman stood to meet them, extending his hand to Hillenkoetter first.

“Damn shame about this, Hilly. Damn shame indeed,” Truman said, shaking hands before turning to Danny, who smartly saluted before getting his own handshake. “Really appreciate you being on top of all this, Commander. I know you got a lot on your plate.”

“It’s my command, Mr. President. Buck stops with me,” Danny replied, earning a little smirk from his commander in chief.

Truman waved them to a couch. “We got a few minutes yet before he arrives. Tell me about Syria, son.”

Danny cleared his throat. “You read up on the operation, no doubt. Honestly, Mr. President, it was very poorly planned and relied far too much on the unpredictable actions of the Syrian nationals in order to succeed. It was only because of Miss Dubinsky’s Enhancement and Lieutenant Lodge’s extensive skills that we got out of it as well as we did. If we had been normal agents, we might’ve been captured or killed.”

Truman nodded. “Where’s Miss Dubinsky now, Commander?”

“Back here in D.C., Mr. President. She’ll be placed back at Area 51 for retraining in a few weeks.”

“Very good. We dodged a bullet. You think that Syria thing will work? Seems like the government there’s getting more unstable every day.”

Danny thought about the last cable he’d received from Frank. Both Copeland and Meade were working feverishly, meeting with coup plotters day and night and digging deep into new plans with newfound seriousness. Even Frank and Cal had been involved, and Zippy was busy working the press angle, writing about how al-Quwatli’s administration was unfit to lead the country anymore. “I’m not as worried about the government falling as I am about whether Copeland and Meade have the capability to guide the government that comes after,” Danny said.

“That’s why I want to keep Lodge, Hooks, and Silverman there a little longer,” Hillenkoetter said. “Honestly, they’re better trained for contingencies than the OPC guys there.”

“Approved,” Truman said before Danny could protest. “Good to ride herd on them, better to get their bacon out of the fire in case things go bad. And between you and me, Hilly, I’m getting a little tired of Frank Wisner’s OPC messes. I’m thinking of putting the office back under CIA control, soon as it’s politically feasible.”

“I’d appreciate that, Mr. President,” Hillenkoetter said, a quick look of relief crossing his face. “They’re far too permissive about what they’re allowed to do.”

“And you’re too conservative, Hilly,” the President said, with just enough of an edge beneath his toothy smile. “Find a way where you and Wisner can meet in the middle.”

There was a rap on the door, and one of the Secret Service men stuck his head in. “He’s here, Mr. President.”

“Show him right in, Tommy, thank you.”

The three men waited in silence for several long, awkward moments until the secretary opened the door once more and James Forrestal walked in.

“Oh! Didn’t know we were having that kind of meeting,” Forrestal said as the door closed behind him. “Good to see you again, Wallace.”

Wallace saluted Forrestal — he was still the Secretary of Defense, after all — and shook his hand, but didn’t otherwise reply. The President’s secretary had already ordered coffee, which now sat on the table between the men. Forrestal waited for someone to speak, then shrugged and poured a cup, offering it to Truman. “Mr. President?”

The Missourian waved it away. “We have a problem, Jim. More than one.”

Forrestal put down the cup. “What happened?”

Truman looked over to Danny, who nodded and passed a folder Forrestal’s way. “We’ve had a major security breach at Area 51, Mr. Secretary.”

Forrestal took the folder and opened it, scanning the cover page. His brow furrowed as he read. “I fail to see how this is a breach, Commander.”

“Course you do, Jim. Because you ordered it,” Hillenkoetter said. “You ordered a full security review — and pulled all the audio recorders on all the Variants for ‘testing’ — just as Wallace here was out of town. And we have the call logs from your phone to Area 51 just two hours before Dr. Schreiber went down to visit POSEIDON, even though we’d agreed that those two bastards should never meet.”

“I never agreed to that,” Forrestal said, his face animated. “I still think it’s a mistake. Schreiber’s doing fine work on that vortex, and keeping him out of Variant research is dangerous.”

“More dangerous than allowing a former Nazi access to humans with superpowers?” Danny snapped before he realized what he’d said.

“Former Nazi, and a brilliant mind,” Forrestal replied quickly. “We still don’t know what these… these people are capable of. And that Bronk guy, he doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere on their origins or the extent of their powers or even why they have these powers. So, yes, I want the best man for the job, and I think that’s Schreiber. So I gave him a chance to check things out. And as Secretary of Defense, I outrank both of you.”

“You don’t outrank me, Jim,” Truman said quietly. “And need I remind you, when it comes to MAJESTIC-12, you and Hilly are on equal footing, and Commander Wallace needs approvals from you both to make substantive changes to anything at Area 51.” Truman stood up and began to pace, his face reddening. “And I personally told you, Jim, that I didn’t want the PAPERCLIP man near our Variants. My order. Mine! And as of last November, the people of the United States upheld the notion that I should be the one to give the orders; is that not correct?”

“Well, yes, Mr. President, but—”

Truman cut Forrestal off. “No buts, Jim. You’re the security breach here. You’ve shown far too much willingness to go off on your own with regard to MAJESTIC-12. You know what I gotta do now, Jim? I gotta launch a full-on security investigation on you, because you went ahead and violated one of my direct orders.”

“I don’t think that’s strictly necesse—”

“Necessary?” Truman thundered. “It’s absolutely necessary. You violate my orders on the single most sensitive, top-secret project in United States history, and you don’t think you should be held accountable for that? And I know, Jim; I know about Dewey,” the President added, waggling a finger at him. “You told me back in November that it was just the press gunning for me, but I had some of my people look into it. You met Governor Dewey last fall and offered to stay on as Defense Secretary for him. What’d you tell him about all this, Jim?”

“Nothing, Mr. President! I swear it!”

Truman stood up straight and visibly tamped down on his anger. “I’ll expect your resignation on my desk Monday. After that, I expect you to cooperate fully with the subsequent investigation into your activities around MAJESTIC-12.” The President stiffly and formally extended his hand toward the Defense Secretary. “Your country thanks you for your service.”

Stunned, Forrestal shook Truman’s hand, then turned to look at Hillenkoetter and Danny like a deer in the headlights. “If you’ll excuse me, then,” he said quietly, then walked to the door of the Oval Office, which opened to let him out.

“Shit,” Truman said once he was gone, flopping back down onto the couch. “I hate doing stuff like that.”

“Needed to be done, Mr. President,” Hillenkoetter said succinctly. “We’re gonna have to keep an eye on him. And we can’t have Hoover running the investigation, either. Or even the Defense guys.”

“I’ve already figured that out, I think,” Truman said. “Secret Service is run through Treasury, so neither Defense nor Justice have any say or any knowledge of what they can do. So, we’ll make this a special Secret Service investigation. Just need the right investigators.”

“Anybody in mind?” Hillenkoetter asked.

Truman turned to Danny and smiled. “In fact, I do.”