“Let’s get out of here, dammit, I’m freezing,” Boroshev said, patting Gemici on the shoulder. “Another few days, and you’ll be finished. Then we’ll be on our way back to Alexandria or Damascus or anyplace warm.”
Gemici nodded and left the chain locker. Boroshev was right behind him, but stopped and grasped the arm of one of his men who was waiting nearby. “Those radiation shields were all in place, weren’t they?” he asked in Russian.
“Yes, sir,” the soldier responded. “We checked the readings carefully for leakage. They’re secure.”
Boroshev nodded, silently hoping that was true. “Very well. Carry on.”
The Americans were making it tougher and tougher to infiltrate their borders, Boroshev thought as he made his way topside to join the captain, but they had anticipated this and were ready. They’d passed their first test that day—or so it seemed. They had a few more tests to go, but they were that much closer to their ultimate objective.
The White House, Washington, D.C.
The next morning
Robert Chamberlain strode through the door to the Oval Office with a single folder in his hand. The President was at his desk, with his chief of staff, Victoria Collins, looking over his shoulder. “What’s up, Robert?” the President asked. He saw the folder Chamberlain had in his hand. “Comments on the speech?”
“Mr. President, do you really mean to say this?” Chamberlain asked incredulously. “This part about asking folks to go on with their lives?”
Victoria Collins blinked in surprise. Collins was a former college track and field star, Fortune 500 CEO, and two-term Illinois senator. As the first female ever to hold the office of chief of staff, she was very comfortable in the rough-and-tumble world of politics and had been in plenty of high-stress situations in her ground-breaking career; her presidential aspirations were well known to the entire nation. “Exactly what do you recommend we say to the American people, Robert—run and hide in your homes because we can’t handle the situation?”
“Exactly the opposite—I think we should be telling the American people to offer their services and help in this time of crisis,” Chamberlain responded. “I think we should tell them that they should step forward and do everything they can to help their nation and their neighbors get through this crisis.”
“What?” Collins cried. “What do you expect them to do—pick up a rifle and go hunt terrorists in their backyards?”
“I would like all retired civil servants to go back to their old jobs and volunteer to help,” Chamberlain suggested. “We will need thousands of new background security checks, baggage screeners, record checkers, instructors, and countless more jobs done in the coming months, and we simply don’t have the manpower or the money to hire and train new personnel. The budget is already blown through the roof, and our existing employees are already overworked. We need help, and the best solution is to ask for volunteers.”
“This is crazy, Robert!” Collins retorted. “They’ll think we’re out of control. And who will retrain the retired guys?”
“The current trainers will, of course,” Chamberlain replied. “It’ll be more of a recertification rather than a full-blown initial training program, since they already know their business. They will…”
“And you expect these people to volunteer to do this?” Collins asked. “Why should they? They put in twenty or thirty years in their job, they have a good pension, a comfortable retirement…you think they’ll respond to a call to leave their comfortable lives and return to those jobs for no pay?”
“I think they will, enthusiastically and in large numbers—if we ask them,” Chamberlain said. “Mr. President, that’s why this speech is so important. After 9/11, the message was ‘Don’t panic, be aware, be vigilant, but go about your normal lives because otherwise the terrorists win.’ It was a good sentiment, but it was the wrong message. The last thing we want is for Americans to go about their lives as if nothing has happened.”
“You’re inviting panic, confusion, chaos, and a tremendous backlash against this administration, Chamberlain…”
“Nothing like the panic and confusion there would be, Miss Collins, if we didn’t do anything and there was another nuclear terrorist attack in the States,” Chamberlain said. “Look, it’s simple: We need the help, but we can’t afford to hire half a million new civil servants. We inspect ten percent of containerized cargo coming into our ports right now. What if Congress orders us to inspect even fifty percent? It’ll take at least five times the manpower we have now! Who’s going to do the background checks for all those people? Who’s going to train them? Who’s going to train the trainers or check the checkers?”
“But you’re suggesting that volunteers do it?”
“Exactly,” Chamberlain said. “These retired and former civil servants, military personnel, teachers, and experts know their business. We can rescreen then, recertify them, and let them work their old jobs when they want. We gain a new pool of help for very little additional cost.
“But more important, we communicate to the American people that we are at war,” he went on. “Telling the people to go about their lives as if nothing has happened doesn’t convey the sense of danger or urgency we need if we want to go forward eventually with a declaration of war…”
“You obviously didn’t get my memo,” Collins said. “The staff attorneys for the White House, State, Justice, and Defense all are recommending that the President not go to Congress to ask for a declaration of war against terrorism. There’s no legal or historical precedent for it, and it would be too unpopular and politically dangerous…”
“I read the memo, Vicki, and it stinks,” Chamberlain snapped. “It’s incomplete and based on opinion only, not on hard evidence or factual research. The political damage has already been done here when the terrorists attacked Kingman City and we were completely unprepared and unaware of the plot—now is the time for the President to step forward and pursue an offensive, forward-leaning, aggressive program to stop future attacks. I realize it may take time and some convincing to get the congressional leadership on board…”
“ ‘Some convincing’? The leadership thinks we’d be nuts to try it, and there’s no way anyone will endorse it,” Collins interjected. “I’ve spoken informally and off the record about it, and there’s no way it will ever fly…”
“Can you possibly be any more negative and wishy-washy here, Collins?” Chamberlain asked angrily. “The President directed the staff to lay the groundwork for a declaration of war against terrorism. You’re not supposed to ask ‘pretty please’ and float trial balloons—you’re supposed to implement the President’s directives. This speech does nothing to advance the President’s agenda.”
Collins stepped forward and was about to take on Chamberlain face-to-face, but the President touched her arm to stop her. “So what are you suggesting, Robert?” he asked.
Chamberlain handed him the folder. “I’ve redrafted your speech to include my recommendations,” he said. “This speech should be a call to action, not a ‘Don’t worry about a thing’ lullaby. The speech directs the departments of Justice, Defense, Homeland Security, and State to put out a call to all former employees and contractors to volunteer to assist in helping to ramp up operations, and directs all agencies to make retraining and recertifying these volunteers a top priority. We need at least a thirty percent across-the-board increase in manpower in the next six months to help in border security, security screening, background checks, record checks, surveillance, inspections, support services, and administration…”