Operation Hail Storm

Washington, D.C. ― The White House Oval Office

The President of the United States, Joanna Weston, was sitting in one of two chairs at the end of the coffee table. The FBI Director, Trevor Rogers and General Quentin Ford were both sitting on the couch to her right. On the couch to her left sat the CIA Director, Jarret Pepper, and Eric Spearman, the Director of the National Intelligence agency.

Since Pepper had called for the meeting, he was the first to speak.

“I wanted to provide everyone an update on operation Hail Storm,”

“Hail Storm,” the President repeated, as if she were trying the words on for size. “I like that. Did you come up with that name, Jarret?”

“Yes I did,” Pepper lied.

Pepper smiled at the group and continued.

“My operative, Kara Ramey, was successful in tracking the shipment to a warehouse in Wonsan, North Korea.”

Pepper looked the group over and they looked impressed.

Continuing, Pepper said, “She called in and reported that ninety-nine percent of the missile parts had arrived at the warehouse. She also sent me the exact coordinates of the warehouse itself.”

The President interrupted and asked, “Just a little clarification. Ms. Ramey is working with Marshall Hail on this operation. So what part of this is Ms. Ramey and what part of this is Marshall Hail?”

Pepper considered the question and responded, “She is currently on board one of Hail’s cargo ships, the Nucleus. Hail has had every opportunity to keep her out of the operation’s specifics, but Kara has used her CIA training to obtain direct access to their mission center. She is providing us timely updates as to the progress of the mission as well as Hail’s internal capabilities.”

“And what is the latest update?” General Ford asked.

“It’s Ramey’s understanding that Hail is preparing to make a strike on the warehouse.”

“How and when?” the General asked.

Pepper answered, “Kara reported that those mission elements have not been decided at this time.”

“Not been decided?” the General repeated for effect. “There is no telling how long those parts will be in that warehouse. They could move them again at any time and we may never find them again until…”

The General hesitated and then finished with, “Until it’s too late.”

The President looked concerned.

“Is this something we should prepare for?” President Weston asked her staff.

“I vote yes,” General Ford said.

“I agree,” Eric Spearman said. “I mean; we don’t know if Hail can pull this off. And if he can’t and we have actionable intelligence, then we just can’t ignore it.”

“What do you think?” the President asked the FBI Director.

Trevor Rogers made a concerted effort to remove his personal feelings and friendship from the situation.

“I think having a reasonable drop-dead date and time would be prudent,” Rogers suggested.

Joanna Weston thought about the consequences of launching an attack on the North Korean warehouse. If it was quick and surgical and they could get in and out without detection, then it was something to consider. And even if they were caught red-handed, how in the world could North Korea spin it so anyone gave a shit. Would North Korea complain to the International community that the bad Americans destroyed all the new ICBMs that North Korea intended to launch at them? It was best that Hail succeeded in the task, but her advisors were right. They had to have a Plan B in case Hail failed.

Weston asked, “What do we feel is an appropriate amount of time to wait for Hail to complete this mission?”

Pepper spoke up.

“I would be surprised if he doesn’t take action tonight, North Korean time,” Pepper added.

“I agree,” General Ford said. “Hail has to understand, the same as we do, that all the parts can be moved at any time. If I were in his shoes, I would hit the warehouse tonight as well.”

“So we’ve decided that our cutoff time is tonight?” the President confirmed.

Everyone in the room nodded their heads, except for Trevor Rogers, but no one noticed.

“So our Plan B is sometime before sunrise?” the President confirmed.

“I think around four in the morning would be the latest we would want to strike,” the General suggested. “It would give us time to get out of the theater before the sun comes up and paints our jet in the sky.”

“What assets do we have in that area?” the President asked.

“Off the top of my head, I know that the new Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is approaching our Fleet Activities Chinhae Navy Base in Busan, South Korea.”

“Is the Gerald R. Ford equipped with predator drones?” Spearman asked.

“No,” the General responded, the sound of disappointment in his tone. He understood that sending a drone in to do the dirty work would be much better than sending in a manned aircraft. Less down side all the way across the board.

“But I am confident that our new F-35 Lightning II can do the job just fine,” the General said.

The General was referring to the new Lockheed Martin F-35, an all-weather stealth multirole fighter. It was the fifth generation combat aircraft and designed to perform ground attacks. The 100-million-dollar fighter was the best of the best and the General had complete confidence in its abilities.

“What is the flight time to the target?” Spearman asked.

“Well, I’m sure we don’t want to fly directly over the DMZ border for this sortie. It would be much better to make a big looping flight path over the Sea of Japan and then come in low, avoiding ground radar,” the General explained.

No one in the room could fault the General’s logic.

Continuing the General said, “But hell, at 1300 miles per hour, it’s like taking a stroll around the block to an F-35. Time is not a real issue. From take-off to target we are talking maybe fifteen minutes.”

The General paused to see if anyone had anything to add.

After another moment the President asked, “Does anyone else have anything to add?”

The man from the FBI spoke up.

“What if Hail is successful in blowing up the warehouse. How will we know?” Rogers asked.

Pepper fielded the question.

“We are watching the warehouse closely with one of our satellites. Of course, it can’t see the building in the dark, but it will detect a flash if the building blows up. Also, I’m sure that my agent Ramey will notify me of the strike.”

“Unless anyone has anything else, then that sounds like the plan,” the President said. “I would like us all to be in the situation room tonight to observe the operation.”

The General said, “Excuse me, Madam President, but there is a thirteen-and-a-half-hour difference between Washington and North Korea. Four o’clock in the morning would be our 2:30 in the afternoon tomorrow.”

“I will see you then,” President Joanna Weston told the men. “But right now I have a lunch meeting with the President of Nauru.”

There was silence for a moment and then Trevor Rogers asked, “Where is Nauru?”

“It is more like what is Nauru?” Eric Spearman asked. And then answering his own question he added, “It happens to be the smallest country in the world.”

“Third smallest,” the President corrected, already getting up from her chair and heading for the door.

“And they get a lunch with the President of the United States?” Rogers asked to no one in particular.

The President had exited the room so the General answered.

“You never know when you’ll need a military base on a tiny island in Micronesia, and if all it cost you is a lunch with the POTUS, then that sounds like a good deal to me.”