Game Changer (40 page)

PART 4

Endgame

“Knowledge is the
food of the soul.”

—Plato

“The predisposition to religious belief is the most complex and
powerful force in the human mind and in all probability an ineradicable part of
human nature.”
 

—E. O
. Wilson.
Professor Emeritus,
Harvard University, and Father of Sociobiology.

 
“Your mind is software. Program it. Your body
is a shell. Change it. Death is a disease. Cure it. Extinction is approaching.
Fight it.”

—Peter Thiel, Billionaire Venture Capitalist

67

The E-4B jet
lifted off at 8:00 p.m. with its precious cargo, just forty-five minutes after
Matthew Davinroy and Greg Henry had ended the call with Haji
A
hmad al-Bilawy. Davinroy preferred this plane
to any of the five underground bases that had been established to ensure
emergency command and control and the continuity of government during a crisis.

E-4Bs
were specially modified aircraft that had been at the ready since the early ’80s,
but this was the first time Davinroy had set foot in one. Also known as the
Advanced Airborne Command Post, the plane was a militarized version of the
Boeing 747-200, designed to provide the president, Secretary of Defense, and
the Joint Chiefs of Staff a survivable command, control, and communications
center to direct US forces and civil authorities.

The plane
could be refueled in flight, was shielded from nuclear and thermal effects,
including an electromagnetic pulse, and had been designed to support advanced
electronics and communications equipment.

Davinroy had summoned key members of his National
Security Council to join him. The vice president was out of the country and
several others were too distant, or weren’t able to commandeer a helicopter in
time to join them, but he had waited to take off until the personnel he deemed
most critical were on board. Greg Henry, of course, but also his Director of
National Intelligence, Andrea Hardie, his Secretary of Defense, Ryan Hardcastle,
and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Tony Loro.

As soon as the plane leveled out these four men and
one woman met in the forward conference room, which was surprisingly spacious
and boasted a table that could have sat five or six more in comfort around it.
Davinroy could have chosen to have others attend virtually, but he wanted to
keep this meeting small.

“I know you’re all eager to learn why you’re here,” he
began without ceremony. “So I’ll turn this over to Greg Henry, who was the
first person contacted.”

Henry took the floor and recounted the call he had
received around noon from
Haji A
hmad
al-Bilawy.

“I assume his nuke checked out,” said Andrea Hardie, “or we wouldn’t be
in this plane.”

“It did,” replied Henry. “In every particular. It’s
embedded in the foundation of the Champion Tower in San Francisco, just as his file
specified. He claims he has the detonation codes and can set it off remotely.”
 

Admiral Loro frowned. “He claims?”

“We don’t have absolute proof,” said Henry, “but there
is no reason to doubt him at this point. There are electromagnetic conduits to
the device embedded in the concrete, which lead to the surface. Any one of
these can carry a remote signal if he has the proper codes, and we have no
reason to doubt that he does. Uprooting any of these conduits will set it off.”

“Can’t we block electromagnetic signals?” asked Tony
Loro.

Henry shook his head. “My experts have read the file
he sent to me. They tell me it is very precise and very credible. The device was
set up so that any attempt to block his specific signal
—
which we don’t have the
specs on anyway
—
will
set it off. I’m told it is a very impressive, foolproof design.”

“He wouldn’t have directed us to it if he thought we
could stop him,” pointed out Hardie.

“He also has surveillance cameras everywhere,”
continued the Secretary of Homeland Security. “If we remove them, he can set it
off. If we try to dig the bomb out, he can set it off.”

“I’m no technical genius,” said Admiral Loro, “but if
I’m understanding your experts correctly,
we’re
totally fucked
. Is that about it?”

“Elegantly said, as always,” muttered Hardcastle.

“But essentially correct,” admitted Henry. “He followed
up with a call to me and the president about an hour ago. Insisted on audio and
video. During the call he threatened to set off the device at the stroke of
midnight tonight, Eastern Standard Time.”

The Director of National Intelligence looked confused.
“He’s called us
twice
already?” she
said. “So why haven’t we found him yet?”

“We’ve activated every resource we have,” said Greg Henry,
“but whoever set up his communications was a magician. I’m told we’ll
eventually be able to find him, but the chances of doing so before midnight
tonight are very slim.”

“Which al-Bilawy must know,” said the admiral.

“Are we certain this guy is a lieutenant with ISIS?”
asked Andrea Hardie.

“Yes,” said Henry. “We captured him and sent him to an
interrogation facility in Knoxville, Tennessee. A few days ago he disappeared,
along with the PsyOps colonel who was charged with the interrogation. The log
says he was worried about a security breach and moved the prisoner, but we
think ISIS managed to free him somehow.”

Ryan Hardcastle
nodded grimly. “Defense is quite familiar with this asshole,” he said. “He’s a
member of ISIS’s military council.
An ethnic Chechen Georgian national of all
things, who rose to the rank of colonel in Georgian military intelligence. He
recently
commanded ISIS fighters
in Edlib, Aleppo, and the mountains of Lattakia. Known to be ruthless and to be
a true believer, even among true believers. If the rest of ISIS leadership is
drinking the Kool-Aid, he’s a Kool-Aid alcoholic.”

“Perfect,” said Hardie, chewing on her lower lip. “So
what are his demands?”

“He didn’t make any,” said Davinroy. “Not yet. He says
he will at 11:30 tonight. He knows we won’t have enough time to follow through
on them, but if we agree to do so later, he won’t detonate the device.”

“That’s a bluff,” said Admiral Loro immediately. “To
mute our actions now. The demands will either be ridiculous, like surrendering
our country, or he won’t make them. I have no doubt he won’t miss his chance to
wipe the Bay Area off the map.”

“Why give us a heads-up, then?” asked Davinroy.

“To get his jollies, for one,” said Henry. “I agree
with the admiral. You heard this asshole, Mr. President. He was in his glory. And
this also allows him to maximize our terror.”

Admiral Loro shook his head in disgust. “This is also
a propaganda bonanza for ISIS. You say he insisted his call with you be both
audio and video?”

Greg Henry nodded.

“Why do you think he did that?” said the admiral in
contempt. “Because now he has footage of a US president and head of Homeland Security
at his mercy, pleading with him not to detonate, offering to negotiate. He’ll
have this footage sent out around the world right next to that of a crater
where San Francisco used to be. So in addition to striking a horrible blow,
killing millions, he can further embarrass us. The footage will make us look
weak, show that we were powerless to stop him. I’m sure he’ll include a
standard ISIS rant about the death of infidels, the inevitability of the global
caliphate, and so on.”

“Which will also ensure that ISIS gets unambiguous
credit around the world,” said Hardie. “Talk about driving panic. Not to
mention being the ultimate recruiting video.”

“He claims there are more nuclear devices buried
throughout the country,” said Henry. “Which may be another reason he’s notified
us about this ahead of time. So we know for certain he’s responsible. If his
negotiating position is strong now, think how strong it will be if this goes
off.”

“Do we believe him when he says there are more?” said Hardcastle.

“Our experts are doubtful,” said Henry. “But they also
would have bet their lives there couldn’t be a nuke in the foundation of the Champion
Tower.”

Davinroy blew out a long breath. “Recommendations?” he
said.

There was an extended silence.

“We only have one hope,” said Loro finally. “We stab
ISIS in their heart. We scramble the entire might of the country. We use
overwhelming force so we can have a knife at their jugular before midnight. A
nuclear knife. We tell them if they don’t call al-Bilawy off, the caliphate
ends today.”

“So play a game of nuclear chicken with ISIS?” said
Davinroy.

“What other choice do we have?” said the admiral.

“And if they refuse?” said the president. “Maybe this
is exactly what they want. We nuke ISIS and they don’t go through with San
Francisco. We’d never be able to convince the Muslim world that the threat to
our city was real, that a preemptive strike of this magnitude was justifiable.
We’ll look like monsters, killing untold innocents along the way.”

“You really think getting themselves nuked is their
grand plan?” said Henry dubiously.

“It’s possible,” said Hardcastle, defending the
president’s position. “They don’t think like we do. We can’t comprehend a
religion that glorifies death for a cause. It doesn’t compute. But they strap
bombs to their kids. They launch rockets from elementary schools, praying those
fighting against them will kill kids while trying to take out the launchers so
they can score a public relations coup. Militaries around the world have
reported that putting women and children purposely in harm’s way for the cause
has become standard practice for the jihadists for decades.”
 

“I don’t care if it’s their grand plan or not!” said
Loro. “It’s something we have to do. And we’re running out of time.”

“They didn’t have to give us warning,” said Henry. “So
they must be prepared for whatever we throw at them, threats or otherwise. I
hate to say it, but I can’t imagine them not detonating, no matter what we do.”

“I already told you why they gave us the warning they
did,” said the admiral. “So they could get our president on video. Even so, they’ve
still managed to tie our hands brilliantly. Al-Bilawy pretends we have a chance
to get out of this at 11:30, giving us no time to do anything if this is a lie.
They know you won’t do anything preemptive if you believe a peaceful solution
is possible,” he added, addressing the president. “And if you do, they get the
ultimate public relations coup. But I say, fuck them! Let them have their
virgins in heaven! Let them have their PR coup! If we throw everything we have
at them right now, believe me, they’ll call al-Bilawy off.”

“I don’t know,” said Hardcastle grimly, “I agree with
Greg. I think we lose San Francisco no matter what we do.”

“Either way, we’re running out of time!” said Loro.
“We need to mobilize now! Let them know what’s in store if they don’t call this
off.”

Hardie frowned deeply. “I have to agree with Tony,” she
said.

“Well I don’t!” said the president. “I’ll agree to
whatever al-Bilawy demands at 11:30 to buy us time. I’ve been told there is
some chance we’ll be able to get through his firewall before midnight anyway. But
if I can delay him even twelve hours, I’m told tracing his calls and finding
him becomes almost a certainty. I’ve also been given to understand that nukes
like this fail to go off about five percent of the time. I’m confident that we
can stop this.
Without
having to start
a global war with the Muslim religion. And let me remind you all that this is a
religion practiced by a quarter of the world’s population.”

“Wake up!” shouted Loro. “And get your head out of
your ass! We’re in a global war
already!
 
Is it going to take watching San Francisco
turn into a sun and millions of people being vaporized before that’s going to
sink in?”

“Good thing I’m still commander in chief, then, isn’t
it Tony?” shouted an enraged Davinroy. “And one more outburst like that and you
won’t be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs anymore.”

Loro fumed but didn’t respond.

“Do we at least warn the Bay Area?” said Andrea Hardie,
trying to move on and break the tension.

“No,” said Davinroy. “Because it’s not going to end up
happening. We’ll find al-Bilawy or I’ll delay this until we do. And when the
nuke
doesn’t
go off, I don’t want to
be responsible for panicking an entire country and causing hundreds or thousands
of deaths as these people trample over each other to get out of the blast zone.
Which they wouldn’t be able to do anyway if word got out. Highways and airports
would become parking lots.”

Tony Loro was the picture of contempt. “And what if
you can’t stop it?” he said, not shouting but with acid dripping from his every
word. “Please tell me you’ll at least let me mobilize the military to be in the
best position to strike back. Do it because it’s good politics if for no other
reason,” he added, and of those in attendance only Davinroy didn’t realize that
this was the greatest insult he could ever deliver.

“If you are wrong and San Francisco is hit,” continued
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, “what do you want to tell a devastated public?
A public in a state of shock a hundred times worse than after 9/11? That you
knew about it ahead of time and did nothing? Or that you stand ready to avenge
the loss of San Francisco and wipe ISIS off the face of the earth? If it’s the
latter, we should make sure our forces are moving into place so they can be
unleashed without delay.”