Transfer of Power

AZIZ’S SPIRITS HAD rebounded. The news that he would have his hands around the neck of the president by dusk today had helped temper the loss of the idiot Hasan. If he could just hold out until then, the chances for complete success would double, if not triple. The next fifteen or so hours would be the tensest of the siege. Aziz corrected himself on that point: it would be the next five hours. Once the sun was up he would be safe again. But come nightfall the chances of a strike would increase once again. Aziz had gone to great pains to study the techniques used by the world’s elite counterterrorist strike teams, such as Germany’s GSG-9, France’s GIGN, Britain’s SAS, and of course, America’s three premier teams. The groups all shared information on training, strategy, intelligence, and tactics, and competed in annual competitions to help hone each other’s skills.

All of the groups followed a fairly standard procedure when confronted with a hostage crisis: initial deployment of assets; intelligence collection; planning, development, and practice of the takedown; mission approval; and finally, execution of takedown. All of the groups were good, and the three U.S. teams were always ranked at or near the top in every category except one. When it came to mission approval, the U.S.teams were consistently ranked at the bottom. The common critique from the international counterterrorism community was that the U.S. had too many people in the chain of command. Too many people throwing their opinions into the arena and thus slowing down a process that depended on speed and efficiency.

This was one of the things Aziz was planning to exploit.

This, as well as the American media and ultimately public opinion. The morning would bring a new day in the media cycle, and Aziz would begin to implement another crucial part of his plan. If he succeeded, it would keep the dogs at bay for another day. The politicians were his allies, and he needed to keep them believing there was a way out of the situation. Aziz needed to keep them and their opinions directly involved in the chain of command, because as long as they stayed involved, the generals would be unable to strike.

As Aziz walked down the hall with Bengazi, he started to see one fundamental flaw in his plan. He had succeeded in negating the Americans’ manpower advantage through the use of explosives and the exterior surveillance cameras he had seized from the Secret Service.

With the amount of explosives he had deployed, any attack would result in the deaths of all the rescuers and, if need be, the hostages too. The flaw, Aziz was now sure, was created once again by the separation of the West Wing and the Executive Mansion. The West Wing was one hundred percent secured, but the mansion was not. If the Americans found out that he was in the process of extracting the president from his bunker, there was no telling what they might do. It was entirely likely that they would risk everything to prevent the president from falling into his hands.

As Aziz and Bengazi neared the end of the hall, Aziz stopped and said, “Muammar, I want you to stay here for the rest of the night. I will send you a replacement at”-Aziz looked at his watch-“seven. I want you to make sure that nothing happens to my little ferret.” Aziz pointed in the direction of the bunker.

“If you fail me this time, you will be begging for a quick death.” The subordinate nodded while main taming his ramrod posture.

Aziz turned to go back upstairs and was confronted by two doors, one of them he had not noticed before. Turning to Bengazi, he asked, “Where does this lead?”

“To the boiler room,” the heavily bearded Bengazi answered.

“Boiler room,” Aziz repeated while he mulled over the words.

“Was it secured after we took over?”

“Yes,” stated Bengazi.

“I checked it personally.” Aziz stood looking at the doorway, thinking for a long moment.

“Do you remember,” he asked Bengazi,”the incident at the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam… back in the seventies?”

Bengazi’s face twisted as he tried to jog his memory. After a while, he replied, “Yes, I remember what happened. The terrorists surrendered after a long standoff with the police.”

“Two weeks,” answered Aziz, referring to how long the siege had lasted.

“Did you know that during the standoff the CIA assisted the Dutch government by getting one of their- people into the building via the sewer pipe?”

“No.”

“Neither did the terrorists. The man came in through the basement and bugged the building. Everything the terrorists said and did was heard by the Dutch authorities.” Aziz looked back at the door.

“When was the last time you checked this room?”

“I checked it yesterday afternoon.”

“A lot has happened since then. I think we should check it again.

“Without waiting for Bengazi’s opinion, Aziz started for the door.