We believe that the aircraft carried a nuclear weapon targeted against the Ronald Reagan."
The President took all this in and thought for a few seconds before asking "Tell me Tom, how large a weapon are we talking here, and do we have any intelligence on who are the bad guys here?"
Adam Scott answered this one too "Sir, perhaps I should take that one. The payload on what we believe was a small Cessna or Piper, would probably be only around one hundred and fifty pounds or so, so this was not a large weapon. As to the source of the threat, I am afraid we have no intelligence at all on an impending attack. But, given the Middle East theatre, there is no shortage of hostiles in the area. That said, we have absolutely no intelligence of any major impending attack."
The President banged the desk with his balled fist madder than either of his visitors had ever seen him, he spoke very slowly and forcefully, "Gentlemen, we are going to send a message here".
"Recommendations please gentlemen …" said the red faced President, looking for options.
"Horatio" Nelson was first "I suggest we keep the nuclear threat between us, but brief the press at their regular session this morning. Also, we should keep our naval assets in the area on high alert."
The CIA man Scott was next "Sir, we were able to obtain some debris from the downed aircraft. There was not much left as you can imagine, but the fragments are right now packed in lead and onboard an F-16 on the way here. Admiral Nelson has arranged for in-air refueling on the way and it should be here later this morning. Nuclear material can be traced back to the reactor that produced it, so by tonight, we should know a great deal more about this weapon."
"Agreed" said the President. "Let’s keep this between us, keep the navy on their toes, and let me know the second you know more about the nuke. I am not taking this lying down, as soon as you give me a target gentleman, cruise missiles are going to rain, this could have been the greatest single loss of life in US history, get on with it."
President Connolly stood and quietly shuffled off to a sleepless night, but at least he got a bed. The others went straight to their offices.
Chapter 37
All was quiet in the Pashwari Palace that morning until the mournful strains of the call to prayer from the minaret of the mosque next door.
As always, the Pashwari men carried their prayer mats to the front row. Kamal and some of his brothers and their sons were already there, but his eldest son Muhommad was absent.
Of course the women were not permitted to join the men folk.
Kamal’s son Muhommad was missing. Kamal passed word to one of his staff to check on his son in case he was ill, the only excuse not to attend morning prayers. When it was reported that his son was could not be found, Kamal became concerned, himself missing the prayer for the first time he could remember. He searched Kamal’s room and found his bed empty and his son nowhere to be found. Muhammad’s white sports car was also missing.
Kamal started to experience a sinking feeling in his stomach as he hurried to his secure office. He quickly punched in the code and sprinted behind his desk. The feeling in his stomach immediately became nausea when he noticed one case was missing.
Later that day Muhammad’s car was found at the airfield and inside was a note explaining what he planned to do in the cause of Islam.
Kamal’s chief lieutenant Ali ran to see Kamal, "Sir I am sorry that it is I to bring such sad news today. But, it seems that Muhommad began his own jihad this morning, and his light plane was shot down by the US navy."
Like any father who had lost a son, Kamal Pashwari was devastated at the loss of his eldest son Muhommad, at the hands of a US missile. The fact that he had died the death of a warrior was grim solace for him and his loathing of the Great Satan consumed his very being.
He began thinking about revenge.
Chapter 38
The President stood to greet the heads of the military and intelligence once more.
"Gentlemen, what’s news from the Gulf?"
"Sir, we are running exercises on Ronald Reagan. Nearly all planes are in the air and we are running live fire exercises. I want to make any potential adversaries in the area nervous as hell" explained Admiral Nelson.
"Good idea Tom, keep ’em on their toes. Any news on the weapon Adam?" as the President turned to face the CIA Director.
"I’m afraid so sir. The plutonium residue from the crash site was produced in Reactor 3 at Chernobyl in the Ukraine. Of course this does not mean that the Russians were necessarily behind the attack, but we are one hundred percent certain that the weapon was one of theirs," explained a very businesslike Adam Scott.
"Ok, I guess we all suspected the source of the weapon. I just don’t believe there is any possible reason for a Russian attack. Perhaps they are Chechnian rebels, or more likely middle eastern. I am going to contact President Arkadin and brief him on the situation and ask him for his assistance, any objections?" asked the Commander-in-Chief.
"Our thoughts exactly Sir" explained the Admiral.
Adam Scott had a spur of the moment idea "Sir, I have some contacts within Russian intelligence, to save some time, can I get them working on this right away?"
"Good idea Adam. Let’s get things happening immediately, remember, as I said before, I want a target to hit."
As soon as the men had left, the President decided he needed to make a phone call.
Russian President Arkadin was connected in short order.
"Good evening Mr. President" said President Connolly.
"Good morning Mr. President, I was expecting your call" replied President Arkadin.
"Then you know why I am calling?"
"I am afraid I do Sir" said the Russian reverently.
Without preamble the U.S. President asked "Can you guarantee me that Russia had nothing whatever to do with the attack on our aircraft carrier?"
President Arkadin was equally honest "You have my absolute assurance that my nation had nothing to do with this attack. Unfortunately, I do believe the weapon was sourced here by illegal means. We are doing everything possible to track down any other weapons in the wrong hands."
"I appreciate your honesty in this matter. We cannot take an attack like this lightly. I am planning a major offensive on the attackers when we find them. Can we count on your help to locate them?"
"Of course Mr. President, we will do everything we can. You must believe that Russia would never condone an attack such as this. It has not always been so, but I now believe that the friendship that exists between our two nations can ensure world peace if we together show we will not tolerate terrorism."
"Thank you President Arkadin."
"Thank you President Connolly. I will arrange for some of our best people to work on this with your people."
"Excellent. I hope we can work together to remove this threat to world peace."
Chapter 39
The press gallery was all seated on time when Jennifer Warwick walked to the podium and tapped the microphone to ensure it was working. As Press Secretary it was her role to handle the regular briefings.
" In the early hours of this morning in the Gulf of Arabia …" Jennifer read the same description of the downing of the Cessna by a missile from Port Royal that was delivered to the President earlier the same morning. However, omitted from the statement given to her was the bit about a nuclear weapon being involved.