The presidential retreat center deep in the heart of Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain, some sixty miles north of Washington, was on full lockdown.
With the commander in chief and most of his war cabinet on hand, the Secret Service was taking no chances. No one was getting in or out of Camp David without the highest possible clearance. Every ID of every person trying to enter the outer perimeter of the camp was carefully scrutinized. Every license plate of every vehicle was double-checked to make sure it was authorized to be on the grounds. Everyone aside from the president and members of his family passed through magnetometers. Every possession of every cabinet secretary, advisor, and staff member passed through X-ray machines and through sophisticated sniffers capable of detecting nuclear, chemical, and biological agents.
Surveillance helicopters crisscrossed the skies along with drones equipped with state-of-the-art cameras and thermal imagery equipment, keeping a close watch on the 180-acre camp for possible intruders. Sharpshooters and their spotters took up positions on the rooftops. Agents operating shoulder-mounted missile launchers capable of shooting down any unauthorized aircraft were in place, and K-9 units constantly roamed the grounds.
At exactly 3 p.m., the president gathered his entire national security team—most in person, though some by secure video feed—in a Laurel Lodge conference room to assess the latest developments and formulate an official response and action plan. The SAIC stood post in the corner of the room, directly to the president’s right. Another agent guarded the door to the president’s left. Marcus was assigned to the only other door in the room.
The director of national intelligence, fresh back from NATO headquarters in Brussels, was the first to brief the president. He reported that thousands of Russian soldiers and commandos were moving throughout southern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula. They were crushing any and all armed resistance they encountered and had seized government buildings, banks, TV and radio stations, and the airports. What was odd, however, was that none of the olive-drab uniforms of the offensive forces bore the Russian flag or Russian military insignias. They actually bore no flags or military insignias at all. The DNI asserted unequivocally that there was no question the “little green men” were operating at the behest of President Luganov. But he conceded that by wearing different uniforms, these enemy forces were able to do their dirty work without definitively implicating Moscow.
“Luganov is doing his best to deceive foreign governments and the international media, but the evidence supports only one conclusion, Mr. President,” the SecDef added. “The Russians have launched an invasion of Ukraine, and they will likely have full control of Crimea within the next few days.”
“Are the Ukrainians fighting back?” the president asked.
The national security advisor took that one. “Initially, and bravely,” he said. “But now we’re seeing signs they are pulling back and regrouping.”
“Why?”
“Keep in mind that the population of Crimea is largely ethnic Russians. Many—most, perhaps—would actually like to be back under the control of Moscow, not Kiev. That means they are far more loyal to Russia than to Ukraine. So we’re not seeing significant resistance inside the major cities in Crimea. And with Kiev engulfed in chaos—the Ukrainian president missing and nearly a million Ukrainians in the streets—it’s not clear exactly who’s calling the shots.”
“What’s going on with Russian regular forces?” the president asked.
This time it was the chairman of the joint chiefs who responded, speaking via a secure feed from the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. “Sir, President Luganov has ordered some thirty thousand combat troops to the Ukrainian border. We’re seeing upwards of a thousand tanks, thousands of artillery batteries, and SAM batteries.”
“And in the air?”
“Russian fighter jets have been penetrating Ukrainian airspace for weeks,” the SecDef reported. “Today, however, oddly enough the skies are quiet.”
“What do you make of that?”
“It seems consistent with President Luganov’s deception campaign, sir. He’s going to say Ukrainians loyal to Mother Russia are fighting, not regular Russian forces. He’s going to say he had nothing to do with any of this. I wouldn’t be surprised if he calls for a cease-fire and a snap referendum asking Crimeans if they want to be under Russian sovereignty or that of Ukraine. If that happens, believe me, anyone who voted against Moscow and for Kiev won’t be long for this world.”
“What are our military options?” the president asked.
“We really don’t have any, Mr. President,” said the chairman of the joint chiefs. “As you know, sir, Ukraine is not a NATO ally. We don’t have a formal treaty with Kiev. Even if we were inclined to get involved, it would take us several weeks to spool up enough forces to get into the theater and retake Crimea. But that would effectively put us into a head-to-head war with Russia. That could get very ugly, very fast, sir. As was just stated, Luganov has positioned some thirty thousand combat troops backed up by a whole lot of airpower and heavy mechanized divisions just a few miles across the border. We’d be lucky to get twenty-five hundred U.S. forces there within two weeks. It would take quite a bit longer to get any significant number of tanks and APCs on the ground. We’d be outgunned from the first shot. And keep in mind, sir, that even if we did begin to establish air dominance, and even if we were to link up with Ukrainian ground forces and actually started to take back significant swaths of territory—and those are mighty big ifs at the moment—who is to say the Russians wouldn’t escalate the situation?”
“How so?”
“It’s possible Luganov could order the use of tactical battlefield nukes.”
“You can’t be serious,” said an incredulous president.
“I’m afraid I am, sir. Tactical nukes are a key part of Russian military doctrine, and I don’t believe we can rule out their use.”
“You really think Luganov wants to start a nuclear war with the United States of America?” asked the president, quickly growing angrier than Marcus had ever seen him.
The chairman didn’t respond. No one did. It was quiet for several moments. Marcus looked at the president, then around the room at his aides and military and foreign policy advisors at the table and on the screens. No one seemed to have a good answer to the question, and that fact was as unnerving as anything Marcus had ever heard since joining the Secret Service.
40
The president issued a milquetoast statement.
He denounced the Russian aggression and urged an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal to recognized international borders. Luganov couldn’t have cared less. While not admitting that any of the “little green men” were active Russian forces, Luganov went on national television from the Kremlin and announced that he was fully prepared to use military force to protect all the Russian-speaking people of Ukraine, and particularly Crimea, against “crimes of any kind.” Within hours, the Duma—the Russian parliament—passed a resolution affirming Luganov’s “right and responsibility” to use such force in Ukraine, as he deemed necessary.