Vengeance

84 WASHINGTON, D.C.

In the West Wing of the White House, today’s meeting was being held in the Cabinet Room, a short distance down the hallway from the Oval Office, its eastern windows overlooking the Rose Garden. This was CIA Deputy Director Monroe Bryant’s first meeting in the Cabinet Room, sitting in for Director Christine O’Connor, who was still in a coma. Seated near one end of a large oval conference table beside FBI Director Bill Guisewhite, Bryant took a moment before the meeting began to soak in the room’s rich history and traditions.

Built primarily in the Georgian revival style, the room was adorned with neoclassical ceiling molding, French doors topped with arched lunette windows, and a fireplace on the north side of the room, above which hung a painting depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In the center of the east side of the table, the president sat in his customary spot in a chair two inches taller than the others, with Vice President Bob Tompkins sitting across the table. The cabinet members were seated according to the date the department was established, with Secretary of State Marcy Perini seated on the president’s right, the secretary of the treasury on the vice president’s right, and acting Secretary of Defense Peter Seuffert on the president’s left. Additional cabinet members and White House staff were spread out on both sides of the table.

Before the meeting began, the president took a moment to acknowledge Bryant’s attendance, then inquired about Christine.

“How is she doing?”

“No change,” Bryant replied, “but we’re hoping for good news in the next few days. The inflammation that led to Christine’s medically induced coma is subsiding.”

The president nodded solemnly. “I understand. Keep me informed when her condition changes.”

After a glance from the president, Chief of Staff Kevin Hardison announced the first topic on the meeting agenda: Russia.

Turning to Bryant, Hardison said, “Looks like you’re up first.”

Bryant cleared his throat, then began. “Mr. President, we’ve completed our investigation into the assassination of former Secretary of Defense Tom Glass. We’ve concluded that the order came from Josef Hippchenko, the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, in response to our proposed economic sanctions against Russia. However, the directive undoubtedly came from the Kremlin itself. A complete report will be provided by the end of this week.”

“Thank you, Monroe,” the president said. “We’ll table the discussion of our response options until the other Russian issues are discussed.”

“SecDef,” Hardison announced, “you’ve got the next topic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Seuffert took his cue. “It appears that the intent of Russia’s invasion was to seize the southeastern region of Ukraine, creating a contiguous land corridor between Russia proper and Crimea. They’ve done that, and the invasion has ground to a stalemate. It appears the plan now is to hold onto the territory until Ukraine wearies of the fight and decides to concede the land. We don’t expect the war to tilt significantly toward one side or the other in the foreseeable future.”

The Secretary of Defense’s summary of the war kicked off a short discussion of additional potential economic sanctions against Russia, which the president entertained for a while before suspending the conversation. “Let’s cover the remaining issue before we debate our response to Russia’s transgressions.”

Seuffert continued with an overview of Russia’s attempt to sink the Theodore Roosevelt strike group, which resulted in the loss of four American surface warships and one fast attack submarine. “We gave Russia a bloody nose in the process,” Seuffert remarked, “sinking the same number of combatants. They lost five nuclear-powered submarines, which is enough of a repercussion, militarily, I think. If we’re ready to discuss response options, I don’t recommend additional military action. We should invoke even more restrictive economic sanctions, strangling the government’s income flow.”

“No,” the president replied. “Russia placed those warships in harm’s way and suffered the consequences. Russia also needs to suffer repercussions for their actions, and I’m tired of more sanctions. I want a plan to hit Russia where it hurts. Something more than just a bloody nose.”

“I understand, Mr. President,” Seuffert replied. “We’ll craft some options for you.”

“What about Iran,” the president said, directing his words to Secretary of the Navy Sheila McNeil, “and the role they played in Russia’s Persian Gulf attack by mining the Strait of Hormuz?”

McNeil shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I was going to recommend a similar approach as the one SecDef offered for Russia, which you just rejected. We attacked Iran, essentially unprovoked, destroying their new uranium enrichment facility, and we could consider Iran’s participation in the Persian Gulf their retribution and call things even.”

“In this case,” the president replied, “I agree. We’ve set Iran’s nuclear weapon aspirations back at least five years, which is a significant accomplishment. Regarding the assistance they provided to Russia in the Persian Gulf, sometimes it’s wise to let your opponent get the last word. Otherwise, the conflict may never cease and even escalate. Let’s call things even with Iran and move on. Are there any objections or alternate ideas?”

None were put forth, so the president turned to Hardison again, who brought up the last major topic of today’s meeting: Mixell’s attempt to assassinate the president.

Responsibility for the matter rested with FBI Director Guisewhite, who briefed everyone on the plot details, including the innovative element that some of the men and women around the table hadn’t yet heard about — how Mixell managed to get the C-4 explosive into the White House.

“C-4 Easter eggs,” someone commented after the revelation. “Now that’s a novel idea.”

“We’re lucky it didn’t work,” the president said. “We’re fortunate that Christine O’Connor recognized Mixell before he was able to slip away and detonate the eggs while they were still inside the White House.”

There was a short pause as the president’s thoughts seemed to dwell on Christine’s fate. Then a few additional items were discussed over the next hour before the meeting was adjourned.