Transfer of Power

Washington, D.C.

AS THE SUN set on the capital, two hulking C-130s descended from the darkening sky on their final approach to Andrews Air Force Base. The base, located a short hop to the southeast of the White House, had been chosen by the Joint Special Operations Command as the forward staging area for what was now known as Operation Rat Catcher. Security at the base had been doubled for the arrival of its newest contingent, and all nonessential personnel had been removed from the staging area. The Army took its secrecy surrounding Delta Force very seriously.

The large matte green cargo planes moved in perfect synchronicity, both banking for the runway at the same time and dropping their landing gear, their powerful turboprop engines rumbling in the stagnant humid air of the Potomac River Valley.

The first plane touched down smoothly, followed just a dozen seconds later by the second. The control tower directed the two planes to a group of large hangars, where they were met by Air Force ground crews, who had been told in advance not to turn on the bright floodlights. The people who had traveled from Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina were used to working in the dark and rather preferred it.

As the planes taxied to a stop, they spun ninety degrees on a dime and left their tails facing the open doors of a sprawling hangar. Bright yellow chocks were thrown under the wheels by the ground crew, and the loud engines were cut. A hydraulic whir announced the lowering of the rear cargo ramps, revealing a mass of black-clad men standing in two rows, almost seventy in each plane. They represented the bulk of the A and B assault squadrons of Delta Force, the U.S. Army’s super secret counterterrorist assault and commando force.

The men filed down the ramps. They came in all shapes and sizes, but all were at the apex of physical condition and walked with the grace and confidence of world-class athletes.

Each man carried a large black backpack loaded with equipment.

Most of them had H&K MP-10 submachine guns with integral suppressors strapped to the top of the packs, but there were others who carried assault shotguns, sniping rifles, and even several who had 7.62-mm heavy-caliber machine guns.

Colonel Bill Gray, Delta Force’s commander, stood by the door of the darkened hangar and looked proudly at his men as they filed past. Gray was also dressed in the standard black ninja jumpsuit, although it was highly unlikely that he would be going into the fray, unlike his cowboy counterpart at SEAL Team Six. Gray got along well with It. Commander Harris, but thought it irresponsible for him to lead individual strikes, a point that he had just recently brought up with the general staff of the Joint Special Operations Command.

Colonel Gray had stayed in Washington after his afternoon meeting at the Pentagon rather than flying down to Bragg and coming right back. The colonel, who stood just above six feet, had a full head of close-cropped black hair and bushy eyebrows to match. The native Texan had the unanimous respect of his men due to the fact that he never asked them to do anything he hadn’t already done or wasn’t willing to do.

At the end of both columns. Gray spotted the two men he was looking for and moved out to meet them. As he approached, the two men saluted. Gray returned the salute and asked, “How was the flight up?” The two men standing before Gray were the commanders of his A and B squadrons, Lt. Colonel Hank Kleis and Lt. Colonel Pat Miller. Kleis answered, “No sweat. We’ve been locked and loaded since two; we just had to wait around for it to get dark.”

Colonel Gray nodded.

“How are the men?”

“Good,” answered Kleis.

“If they can’t get up for this one, I should be drummed out of the service.”

Gray looked to Miller, the quieter of the two.

Miller answered, “They’re ready.”

Nodding, Gray looked over his officers’ shoulders and watched the load masters taking equipment off the planes.

“Here’s how we stand. Pat, you and B squadron are in charge of the airports. Hank, you’ve got the airborne assault on the White House. Get your communications secured ASAP, and pass the word that I want a staff meeting in thirty minutes.”

Gray pointed over his shoulder.

“There’s a briefing room at the rear of the hangar; we’ll meet in there.

Also, tell your troop leaders to bring their sergeant majors. We’re gonna get a big intel dump from Langley and the Secret Service, and I want them in on it.” Gray turned, and without his having to say anything, the two junior officers fell in astride their senior.

“Training is going to be tricky for this. We don’t have time to build any mock-ups.” The colonel was referring to Hollywood-type sets that Delta used to train for real-life take downs The full scale mock-ups were usually built on a remote area of the massive Eglin Air Force Base in northern Florida, and done with blueprints provided by the CIA and satellite imagery provided by the NSA.

“General Flood tells me there is no way this thing will last for more than a week and that we could conceivably be ordered in tonight, so we need to be ready to go, pronto. Hank”-Gray pointed to the commander of his A squadron-“I want you to divide the White House into sections immediately and get your troops assigned to handle specific sectors of the building. If we get the phone call in two hours, I want to have, at the very least, a basic plan… As time goes on and we get more intel, we can fine-tune it.”

Gray turned to his B squadron commander.

“Pat, I want advance teams in place at Reagan, Dulles, and Baltimore.

Prewire at least two planes at each airport for video and sound, and do it quietly… We don’t want the press covering any of this. Put your people in the airline-mechanic uniforms while they’re doing it. The less attention we raise the better. Langley tells us that Aziz is using the Situation Room, so we have to assume he’s getting real-time coverage from the media. The FBI is sending us some agents to help with subpoenas.” Gray stopped abruptly and slapped both men on the back. “Now get moving. I want updates at the staff meeting in”-Gray looked at his watch-“twenty-eight minutes.”

The two squadron commanders hustled off in earnest to form up their groups, and Gray turned back toward the open hangar door. Grabbing his secure digital phone from his tactical assault vest. Gray hit the speed dial for the operations center at the Pentagon. As the colonel waited for the encryption to kick in, he noticed a string of navigation lights descending on the runway. They would be his MD-530 Little Birds, flown by the Army’s 160* Special Operations Regiment. These were the stealthy, almost silent, helicopters that would be crucial in any assault on the White House. Farther down the valley. Gray could see another string of red and green lights. Unlike the Little Birds, Gray could already hear this second flight of helicopters.

Those would be his MH-60 Black Hawks. Faster, larger, and louder than the Little Birds, the Black Hawks would be used to chase Aziz if he headed for an airport. Gray watched as the first of the Little Birds came in and touched down softly. Seven more of the small black helicopters quickly followed. Gray shook his head. Everything was happening too fast. If they went in tonight, it wouldn’t be a calculated raid; it would be a blood bath. They would lose hostages, and he would lose men. He needed more time to get things set up.