"I agree," Forbes said. "We can schedule a press conference whenever you're ready, Mr. President."
"All right," Carr answered. "I'll have Tom draw up a press release when we're done here." Carr motioned toward SecDef Daniels. "Jerry, I know you spoke with Bart (SecNav Barton Oliver) last night. Why don't you fill us in?"
Daniels opened a folder. "The last report from Admiral Torrinson indicated eight sailors were dead, four were in critical condition, and, I might add, their chances for complete recovery weren't looking good. There was one sailor who had been unaccounted for, but they found a dog tag near the stern and a note on his bunk. The note intimated he was probably the dealer on board. No word if there are any others."
"Are they assuming he jumped overboard?! Committed suicide?!" V.P. Forbes asked, astonished.
"I'm afraid so, Mr. Vice President. A search and rescue chopper was dispatched, but they never found him."
Forbes slumped back against the couch. "My God!"
Carr slowly shook his head. "Has there been any definitive answer what specific drug caused those incidents, Jerry?"
"The NIS agent and the doctor aboard the carrier were waiting for results and feedback from the DEA. I put a call through to the Agency directing that I be contacted first. What I can tell you is that all the symptoms and reactions were the same, which should mean the same type drug was taken by each man."
Carr took a slow, deep breath. "How? Needles?"
"Doesn't appear to be the delivery method of choice. They either swallowed it whole, or crushed it. Three of the men had some residue in their nostrils."
A knock at the door, then it opened. "Excuse me, Mr. President," Rachel said, "but there's a call for Secretary Daniels on one."
Five minutes later, Daniels hung up. "Well, DEA has identified the drug." He sat on the couch, looking at his notes. "It's something called 'yaba' and appears to have started in the 'Golden Triangle' of Burma, Laos, and Thailand." He detailed the ingredients, the simplicity, and low cost of production. "This stuff's being sold in Bangkok for as little as $3 a pill."
"Affordable for the masses," Forbes commented.
"It's spreading like wildfire, and not just in Asia, I'm afraid," Daniels said. "Reports are it's in Australia and the U.K."
Carr formed his hands like a teepee, tapping his fingers against his mouth. "Did you give the go ahead for DEA to contact the Preston?"
"Yes, sir."
"All right." Carr turned to Prescott. "General, does the NSA have anything to report from that side of the world?"
Prescott opened a folder, with a stack of black and white images inside. "The NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) went back through a month's worth of sat images and recorded air traffic." He tapped a finger on the images. "Now, we were assuming any shipments from the Golden Triangle departed by aircraft. So, NRO weeded out brief transmissions from private planes, any that were in the area of the carrier, and transmitting anywhere near Subic Bay, Diego Garcia, and Manila." He sorted through intel paperwork and the images, finally handing two images to Carr. "With the information Secretary Daniels just relayed to us, I think we can narrow down our search, Mr. President. The first photo is of Burma. We were looking for either private airports, or anything that remotely resembled an airstrip. The first pass by the satellite showed what could be a small airfield. Now, take a look at the next photo, showing the same airfield."
Carr drew the photo closer. "A plane."
"Yes, sir."
"General," V.P. Forbes interrupted, "are you saying that out of those three countries, and all the possible airstrips, you weeded out that particular place?"
"I was about to ask the same question, Evan," Carr said, as he looked again at Prescott. "Should we consider ourselves lucky in finding this, Trevor? I mean, what are the odds?"
"Well, I can't give you the odds, but I can tell you that plane was tracked from that location to Brunei, then another stop before reaching Subic. The pilot spoke English. We didn't pick up any call sign or identification number, but NRO is examining the photos, trying to determine the type of aircraft. I don't know if they can get a tail number, but they're working on it."
"Ray," Carr said, looking at Simmons, "what about CIA? Have you intercepted anything that could give us more?"
"I think General Prescott will agree with me, Mr. President, when I say that until a few days ago chatter seemed to be limited to a very few. But transmissions picked up recently between possible parties could indicate plans were underway.
"Our listening post in Manila zeroed in on transmissions about the same timeframe as NSA, and from the same general area." Simmons picked up the airfield image showing the coordinates, then checked his paper. "These coordinates are pretty damn close."
"What are you comparing, Ray?" Carr asked, wrinkling his brow.
Simmons held the image toward Carr, circling a small area with his finger. "There was a recent transmission from here."
While Carr looked at the sat image, Prescott thumbed through additional images. He withdrew two that showed a larger area near the airfield. "Excuse me, but you might take a look at these." He passed one to Carr. "There's a waterway just west of the airfield. Now if you look closely, you can just distinguish what appear to be houses along the water."
Carr glanced at Prescott, and then Simmons. "You really think this is where the drugs might be coming from?"
"I can't say for sure," Simmons answered, "if they're being produced there, but those places are in a fairly remote location where any illegal activity might be going on. And with it being right near that airfield, well … " He put the folder on the coffee table, then stood. "Mr. President, would it be all right if I made a quick call?"
"Sure, Ray," Carr replied, motioning toward his desk.
Five minutes later, Simmons rejoined the group and sat down. "Sorry for the delay, but there was something about that waterway I wanted to check."
"What'd you find out, Ray?" Carr asked.
"Transmissions. They were always brief, and they originated from those coordinates. Most went to Bangkok but also to different locations within Burma, and even Manila. Could be a possible trail."
"Does that mean the odds have turned in our favor, Ray?" Carr asked, with a hint of a smile showing.
"Very possible, sir."
"Bangkok," Prescott mumbled.
"What about Bangkok?" Carr asked, reaching for a glass of water on the coffee table.
"We intercepted a transmission from Bangkok. What made it interesting was it was directed to the Philippines, a place called 'Olongapo' which is across the harbor from Cubi Point and Subic."
"Near the base," Carr commented quietly. "Do we know who might be involved?"
"Possibly, sir. Director Simmons can fill you in."
Simmons handed a paper to Carr. "Olongapo is one of the places where the PNA has a small group assigned."
"Jesus! I know they've wanted us out of Cubi and Subic, but do you think they're actually involved in this?!"
"Let me put it this way, Mr. President — we're listening a helluva lot more closely now," Simmons replied. He started shuffling through papers, lifted one, then ran a finger along the page.
"What are you looking for, Ray?"
"Something I read. Here it is. We've all been going back through earlier transmissions. Now, I don't know if this will add to that trail but not long ago transmissions were going back and forth between Olongapo and Saigon. Those transmissions were always brief. They never used any codes that we could detect. They were more like general conversations, confirmations." He handed the paper to Carr. "Then they suddenly stopped, but as you can see, the transmissions picked up again, only this time, between Saigon and Bangkok. Those eventually went quiet."