OUTCAST Ops: The Poseidon Initiative

THIRTY-SEVEN

“The Presidential yacht?” Tanner asked.

Danielle shook her head. “There is no official Presidential yacht right now, that is, a yacht paid for and maintained by the government for the exclusive use of the president. There hasn’t been since the USS Sequoia in the late 1970s.”

“So we’re talking about a private yacht, here?” Liam asked.

Danielle nodded. “That’s right, President Carmichael’s private yacht, which he named Lincoln, after his hero and distant predecessor in office.”

“Does he ever use his yacht, or does it just sit around like a lot of them, or get rented out?”

“Good point, Tanner,” Danielle said. “I was able to confirm that he does not rent it out — I’m sure Dante could tell us how the Secret Service would object strenuously to that. However, he does in fact use it from time to time. More importantly, he’ll be using it tomorrow, on a publicized vacation to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The Lincoln will already be there with full crew when he arrives by Air Force One. A cocktail party for unspecified VIPs of the president’s choosing is also scheduled.”

“I’ve been to Boothbay,” Tanner said. “It’s a Summer hotspot, crowded with tourists. Beautiful place.”

“And it’s Labor Day Weekend,” Liam added. “End of Summer blowout.”

“So he’s going to be there tomorr—” Tanner cut himself off as he realized the implication of what he was about to say.

Liam perked up. “Tomorrow’s when Hofstad’s forty-eight hour deadline is up.”

Tanner rubbed his temples while he looked down at the tabletop in thought. Slowly, he raised his head and looked at Danielle. “Coincidence? This yacht dealership is a major business, known all over the world. Just because a Hofstad operative had one of their cards doesn’t necessarily mean they plan to attack the President on his boat tomorrow.”

Danielle frowned in his direction. “Unfortunately, it also doesn’t mean that they don’t. Combined with my other Internet data mining results, my modeling program puts the odds of a Hofstad attack on the president tomorrow at seventy-seven percent.”

Tanner quietly issued a curse under his breath. Danielle’s program-driven estimates were usually spot on.

“Hold on,” Liam interjected. “Tell me exactly how having the card of the dealership means that Hofstad intends to target the Lincoln tomorrow, the timing of it aside. It’s a big leap.”

Danielle’s fingers erupted in a flurry of activity across her laptop keyboard for a few seconds and then she turned to face the two men. “It goes back to the Poseidon theme. The ocean. To eliminate the POTUS on a yacht would represent the ultimate expression of Hofstad’s power via the sea. I’m picking up a steady stream of insurgent chatter that leads me to believe it’s something they’re considering.”

“Even without the president there,” Tanner said, “Boothbay Harbor will be full of waterfront tourists. They just hit a beach, so it’s not like they don’t see any value in the location alone. If they did strike Boothbay, it would be symbolic—we can strike your shores anywhere from Hawaii to the eastern seaboard.”

“The president is just the icing on the cake, is that it?” Liam asked.

Tanner replied at length, his expression thoughtful. “Anytime you go for a president, there are no guarantees of success. The odds are long, especially when it comes to the POTUS. Being on a boat may lower expectations of security, but even so, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had a backup target should the POTUS hit prove too problematic.”

Liam nodded. And that backup target is the Boothbay waterfront?”

“I think so.” Tanner addressed Danielle. “Start gathering intel online for Boothbay. Maybe something will turn up.”

She nodded and left the room.

“Liam, you ever been there?”

The former SEAL shook his head. “I do like cold water, though,” he said with a grin.

“Good. Let’s get packed. While the Netherlands team guards Jasmijn so she can hopefully develop that vaccine, you and I are taking a little vacation to Maine.”