The men made their way back to the small conference room and sat down. Most were too stunned to speak at first. What they had seen seemed surreal. It was well beyond description. Bill Kelso finally broke the silence.
“Mr. President, we cannot let this get out,” he said. “Now, for the first time I understand what you are going through and the things you must endure to keep things such as this a secret. Some would shout this achievement to the hills, but if you do, you have already lost the advantage. I can’t understand with so many people using it, how can it possibly be kept a secret,” he rambled along.
“Bill, we keep it a secret because almost all the people working with it understand the importance of keeping it so. To let people know about this would mean someone else finding a way around it. When that happens, people get killed, things are changed and we find ourselves in the middle of a war that we cannot win,” said Hammond. “I came here today because it is that important to me to keep Eyeball away from the general public. I don’t want to see young American and Allied lives wasted because someone who doesn’t understand decided they knew better than we do and this was something that everyone should know. You all know how everyone wants their moment of fame. Well, if they go to you and it goes public, we could well lose this war. We have worked very hard to use the technology we have to level the playing fields. In this case, it has tilted the field in our favor. Let’s not give that away,” he said.
“Can you share this thing about Harmon? That seems to be the center point of all this,” said Freeman.
“I’ll tell you what happened with me,” said the President. “Eyeball was up and operating just before the Russian attacks on our forces. Mister Harmon and others at the CIA saw the launches some ten minutes before they struck. Harmon made the decision not to warn us, but instead to call someone else, who also did not spread the warning. As a result, a few thousand of our people were killed who did not need to. If they had a warning, our ships would have had time to prepare and respond. But that did not happen. I found out a day later in a briefing. He actually told me that I could not tell him how to use the system, that only Congress had that authority. That is when I fired him and called the FBI to find out who was undermining both the Presidency and the security of the United States. I was later told of a special prosecutor and do not know anything more. I personally consider Harmon’s acts treason, but until we hear from the prosecutor, I will bide my time.”
“Now it makes sense,” said Dan Harley of NBC. “My primary source is on the staff of a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The senator is in the opposing party. I got another bite from a staffer of a congressman on the House Armed Services Committee, also in the opposing party,” he said. It was obvious he was getting angry. “Those sons of bitches were trying to use me to undermine this nation! They would give away our greatest asset just to satisfy their political aims. My god, what has all this come to?” he exclaimed.
“It’s not just you, Dan, it’s all of us. We can talk later to see if we are hearing from the same people. I think we can all agree this must stop. As Americans, we cannot let this get out. The question is what do we do about it?” Kelso said.
“Gentlemen, on my part, I would turn your information over to the FBI, but I understand your need to protect your sources,” said the President.
“No, it may be we have gone too far on that side. We must protect sources when we are trying to get to the bottom of a real problem, but we cannot let the media be used to destroy the nation we serve. We also cannot allow ourselves to become immersed in traitorous activities. Edward Snowdon hurt a few, but didn’t actually help anyone. In this case it would mean we would have the blood of our youth on our hands. I can’t let that happen. I think maybe the major media leaders need to meet and help solve this problem,” said Kelso. He turned to the President, “Mister President, I truly appreciate what you have done today. It has opened our eyes to a whole new world as far as how you and the government works and how much you depend on people like us. I know you probably will catch hell for sharing this with us, but I assure you on my part, I will never reveal Eyeball or anything else I have seen or talked about today. Thank you for sharing this confidence with us,” he said.
The other men in the room spoke up to pledge their secrecy and support. President O’Bannon thanked them, then turned to Hammond. “Roger, I appreciate you coming all the way here to be a part of this. Is there anything more you would like to say to these gentlemen?”
Hammond blushed slightly. “Only a couple of you have met me before. I appreciate your efforts to control when and how things get out about this war. My whole aim is to get it over with so we can all go home with the fewest casualties and some of the greatest stories our people can tell their grandkids. From what I understand, your people with our troops are doing a great job. After today, I feel much better working with you,” he said.
Kelso smiled, “Admiral, how are we really doing? Off the record, of course.” The others chuckled.
Hammond smiled at them. “Well, our troops should have the last Russians out of Poland by the end of the week. I fully expect the Ukraine to be next, but not before we take Vladivostok.”
“Vladivostok?” came the gasp of the men at the table. “We’ve advanced that far?” asked Freeman.
“Yes, we thought the incursion into eastern Russia might bring some of their troops east in response. It turns out not to be the case. As a result, our troops have now surrounded Vladivostok and all oil supplies from the east have been cut off. Once Vladivostok is taken we may move westward,” said Hammond.
“How far might we go?”
“As far as it takes.”
General Markus Leftvorno was upset. He had expected to have his artillery, rockets and the Navy to attack the ship as she entered the harbor, but for some reason, nothing had worked. Now he was forced to meet with the Americans to discuss a surrender. The city’s mayor had insisted. Even his staff had felt that to continue the fight would mean a slaughter, both of his troops and the local population. Word from Moscow was to begin burning everything so that there would be nothing left for the Allies to benefit. No one he talked to went along with that notion. For all practical purposes, his career was over.
They had scraped together five gallons of fuel to get the general, his aide and the mayor to the ship. Mayor Anatoly Trodenko and Colonel Ivan Sovatich sat opposite from him in the back of the small boat. All were looking at the monstrous hulk of a ship sitting in front of them. The huge guns pointed skyward as they approached, but there was no doubt their crews had them already loaded and ready in case anything happened. Some sort of stairway had been lowered down the ship’s side for them. The boat made its way to it and a crewman hooked onto it to steady the boat as they got off and went up the side of the ship.
As they reached the top of the stairs, the general saw two lines of immaculately dressed sailors standing on either side of the top of the stairs. Immediately, a whistle was blown and the men saluted. Leftvorno returned the salute as he walked down the line. There to greet him was an officer in dress blues who welcomed them aboard and ushered them up a ladder to a spacious cabin. The cabin was well lit and warm. They were greeted there by a female wearing the uniform of a three star general and another officer.
“Welcome aboard USS Iowa,” said Richardson as she extended her hand. Leftvorno wasn’t sure of the protocol in such matters, but shook her hand anyway. She invited them to sit at the table. Tea was offered but turned down.