Nolan let both Ramey and Hail go, and he rolled over onto his back. The lieutenant commander did a front leg kick, arched his back and bounded back on his feet — all in one swift motion.
Hail and Kara looked stunned. Kara more than Hail, since she had formal training in hand-to-hand combat.
“What was that?” Kara asked incredulously as she sat up on the mat.
“It’s called Brazilian Jujitsu.”
“That was amazing,” Kara said, making no attempt to stand.
“That was painful,” Hail said, still lying on his back.
Renner was laughing. “I’m just glad it was you guys. Thank you, Foster, for using them and not me.”
“No problem,” the lieutenant commander said, reaching out to give Renner a high five. Renner slapped his hand hard. Nolan closed his hand tightly around Renner’s hand. Before he could protest, Nolan said, “And, down you go.” With his free hand, Nolan grabbed the thick part of his arm, dug his hip into Renner’s gut, flipped Gage over his body and slammed him down on the mat.
Renner began to yell in protest, but before he could get any words out, Nolan had collapsed on him and placed his forearm across Gage’s throat. Renner’s eyes bulged, and he made little choking and coughing sounds.
“Tap out!” Hail yelled to his friend. “Tap out!”
Renner had no idea what that meant, but Nolan was not about to let Renner die there. He waited one more additional second for effect, and then he eased the pressure on Renner’s reddened neck.
“That sucked,” Renner croaked out. Hail and Kara laughed.
“That’s Judo,” Nolan replied with a smile.
“That was great!” Hail said. He made it back to a standing position. All three were looking down at Renner while he tried to regain his composure and what was left of his dignity.
“Is that what you wanted to show us?” Kara asked. She was smiling and massaging her throat.
“I just wanted you to know I can teach you guys some stuff. I’m not just a jet jockey. I have a few other skills I can share with you and your crew.”
“I like the idea,” Hail said. “It’s good to know how to defend oneself. And it looks like the grappling will be a good workout as well.”
“I agree,” Kara said. “Sign me up for some lessons.”
“Get me and Gage on the list as well,” Hail said.
“I don’t want to be on the list,” Renner said. “I like all my body parts right where they are.”
“Come on, Gage. We’re still young. We need to get in better shape. Really, wouldn’t you want the opportunity to choke the hell out of me?”
“Well, when you put it that way—” Renner smiled.
“OK, then,” Hail said. “I’ll get it posted and let the crew know they can sign up for Jujitsu lessons.”
Hail held up his hand like he was the karate kid. He then assumed what he thought was a karate stance, a sideways crouch with his legs far apart. “OK, what’s the first thing we need to learn?” Hail asked.
“You already learned the most important lesson. Tap out before you pass out,” Nolan said. “The second thing I’m going to teach you is called the rear naked choke.”
Renner raised his hand.
“Yes, Gage?” Nolan asked.
“Does that mean Kara has to get naked?”
The White House Oval Office — Washington, D.C
President Joanna Weston had called a meeting with the head of White House security. Patrick West was also the head of the United States Secret Service. West had been the head honcho in charge of the USSS for twenty years. During that time, he had dealt with all sorts of new and challenging threats, from those who could do harm to those the Secret Service was responsible for protecting. He expected today’s meeting with the president would be simple and straightforward.
Weeks earlier, West had assured her all the signals essential for operating a drone had been jammed and tested on White House grounds. During a three-week period, between the hours of 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., the CIA had flown small drones over the White House property. Each drone had fallen from the sky the moment it entered the invisible jamming net. This tactic had proven effective. The downside of the technology was that it also jammed all the other signals on the property, such as the radio and cellphones the Secret Service used to communicate with one another. So, although it worked, it was inconvenient. West was advocating finding another method to immobilize the drones, or perhaps switch his security team to another mode of communication.
Prior to the president’s first sentence, West thought she looked quite confrontational. Her typical gracious greeting had not been offered this morning. Instead, when West had walked into the Oval Office, other than gesturing for him to sit down across from her desk, he was met with a wall of silence.
He understood from her demeanor that he was in trouble. The entire Secret Service was in trouble. Hell, the entire country was in trouble. Drones had become a big problem. And it wasn’t the drones that the public could buy in a store that were the issue. All the store-bought drones had already been preprogrammed at the factory not to fly within fifteen miles of the White House.
The real problem was that kids, terrorists or terrorist’s kids could print the drone’s parts on a 3D printer, purchase just the motors separately, and build their own aircraft. There were many open-source flight software apps and navigation apps able to be loaded into the memory of the drone’s firmware. And, just like that, they had a fully functioning drone. The little drones were not a major concern to West. Instead, it was the larger drones, those that could carry weapons, that caused him to lose sleep at night. The large drones had the ability to fly onto the White House property and start taking potshots at anyone outside. For that matter, the drones could simply fly up to a window and take out targets through the glass. The glass was bulletproof. But was anything entirely bulletproof? Bullet resistant, maybe. But how many bullets would it take to punch a hole in the glass? A dozen full-jacketed, high-velocity rounds? Maybe less. Maybe more. And how many rounds could a drone carry? All those factors made West’s job untenable at times.
There were sharpshooters on the roof of the White House, and guards surrounding the perimeter, but they couldn’t see everything or be everywhere always. At night, a drone could potentially fly onto the property under the cover of darkness, and if it wasn’t for the fact that all the radio and cell signals were jammed on the property, it could result in a disastrous outcome.
But Marshall Hail had flown a drone onto White House property and had set his drone on the table right in front of the president. Because of that single action, West knew why he had been summoned to the Oval Office.
The president began by saying, “Pat, I want to be frank with you. I don’t feel safe.”
West let the commander-in-chief’s words marinate in the air for a moment, but timing was critical. He wanted to leave enough space before he responded, so the president understood that her concerns warranted some thought and contemplation. Yet, he didn’t want to wait long before he responded, giving her the impression that he was either inattentive or didn’t take the threat seriously.
“I completely understand your concerns,” West responded.
The president waited as if she expected him to elaborate. When it became apparent West was done talking, the president said, “Let me be a little more specific. I don’t feel safe when I’m outside on the White House grounds.”