Transfer of Power

He pulled one of the cans of diet Coke from his fa

Rusan stood and started down the sidewalk again. He would come back the same way and make sure the bag was still there. Up ahead on his right, he could make out the ugly brown surface of the Hoover Building. He wouldn't go that far, although it was very tempting. There were too many cameras and too many professionals with a trained eye. Rusan would play it safe for now. There was no need to risk exposure.

THE CONFERENCE ROOM at the Counterterrorism Center at Langley was bustling with action. The room was actually a room within a room. Built several feet off the floor and surrounded on four sides by glass, it was enveloped in an electromagnetic field that made eavesdropping impossible.

Irene Ke

Director Roach and Special Agent Skip Mcmahon of the FBI entered the room with Thomas Stansfield holding on to each man's elbow. The elderly director of the Central Intelligence Agency led them to where Ke

Stansfield released his grip on the men and said, "Irene, I was just filling in Brian and Skip on Iron Man." After hanging up with the president, Stansfield had sealed off the control room. No one was to breathe a word that they had reestablished contact with the president.

Stansfield, Flood, Campbell, and Ke

Ke

"Such as?" asked an edgy Skip Mcmahon.

Stansfield played his old man status for all it was worth. Reaching out, he patted Mcmahon's large forearm and said, "That's why I like you, Skip. Always vigilant, always pressing for the whole story."

"That's right. So let's hear it."

"I'm afraid that will have to happen during a later conversation.

Right now I have something I think you will be far more interested in.

Now, if you will please take your seats, we need to get started."

Stansfield gestured to two chairs near Ke

The attendees at the meeting were chosen on a need-to know basis The secretaries of state and defense were bypassed, as were several other high-ranking officials. Stansfield, Flood, and the president had agreed that, for now, only a select few would be told that contact had been made with the president and that his life was in danger. Those selected, other than those already mentioned, were the commanders of HRT, Delta Force, and SEAL Team Six.

One of Ke

General Campbell stepped forward.

"I can promise all of you"—Campbell eyeballed the three commanders of the elite counterterrorist strike teams—"if I find out you breathed a word of this information to anyone, I will make sure your career is ended." Campbell waited to get a nod from each of the three commanders.

Behind Ke

"As all of you know, the president was evacuated to his bunker in the initial minutes of the assault. Shortly thereafter, we lost the ability to communicate with him due to the fact that Aziz was using a state-of-the-art mobile jamming unit that he conveniently borrowed from the Secret Service's arsenal. Yesterday evening we were able to sneak two individuals into the White House. One is a civilian with intimate knowledge of the White House, and the second is a counterterrorism specialist who for our purposes we will refer to as Iron Man. The images that you see on the screens behind me are provided from surveillance units they have in place in the White House."

Ke

"For those of you who haven't figured it out, this is a shot of the door that leads to the president's bunker. This slovenly man that you see moving about is Mustafayassin, an Iraqi who specializes in breaking into vaults. These three objects you see attached to the door are drills. We have no idea how far along they are in this process, but we are not going to wait around for them to succeed." Ke

Campbell pointed to the West Wing and said, "The bulk of the hostages are being held in the White House mess on the ground floor. Intelligence from the FBI and the NSA leads us to believe that there is a second, smaller group of hostages being held in the Roosevelt Room on the main floor. Iron Man thinks this second group of hostages consists of any Secret Service or military perso

Sid Slater, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, raised his hand. The general looked at him and said, "Sid?"

"Do we have any video on the hostages?"

"I'm afraid not. At least not at this point. We don't have a lot of time, which brings me to my next point. H-hour is set for twenty-thirty."

"Whoa," proclaimed Director Roach of the FBI.

"The order's been given to go in?"

"That's affirmative," said General Flood from the other end of the room.

Roach looked at his watch. It was several minutes past five in the evening.

"Baxter gave you the go-ahead?" asked the skeptical head of the FBI.

From the overhead speaker system a very familiar voice answered Roach's question.

"No, I did."

Half of the faces in the room looked up toward the heavens as if God were speaking to them. President Hayes cleared his throat and said,

"Men, I know we're not giving you a lot of time, but I have an immense amount of faith in you. Now, if I may make a suggestion, I think we should all keep a lid on any questions until General Campbell finishes briefing us. General, please continue."

Campbell looked up at the speakers in gratitude and then back at the group.

"Gentlemen, we don't have much time, so we're go

HRT"—Campbell tapped the left side of the screen—"the West Wing and the hostages are all yours. Sid, I know you and your people have been working on different scenarios. You are going to need a two-pronged assault at a minimum." Campbell held up his finger and cautioned the stocky head of the Hostage Rescue Team.

"We have some ideas for entry, and I'll get to them in a minute."

With his usual precision Campbell did a left face and tapped the roof of the mansion.

"Delta Force will be responsible for the mansion." Campbell looked at the unit's CO, Colonel Gray.