So once a week, she would take this little family candies or toys or some kind of treat. She would bring her guitar and play songs for them. Eventually she helped the mother pray to receive Christ, and then she gave her an Arabic New Testament and bought them a little handheld, battery-operated radio so they could listen to Trans World Radio’s Bible teaching in Arabic every night before they went to bed.
At first, Bennett recalled through his tears, it had really annoyed him. They were working twelve- and fourteen-hour days. They needed time to themselves. They were newlyweds, for crying out loud. But Erin was on a mission. She knew she couldn’t save anyone. But she could love the ones God put in her path, she insisted. She could be the hands and feet and smile of Jesus for those who had never heard of Him or felt His gentle touch. She said God had once spoken to her during her study of John’s Gospel, during their first week in the camp. “You do the loving, Erin,” God had said to her, “and I’ll do the converting.” Bennett had never seen her so happy. She had heard from God. She knew what would make Him happy. And she never looked back.
The ache rose again. The tears began to come again. He had never imagined he could miss someone so much. And all he could ask was, Why?
64
Ninety minutes later, the press conference began.
No members of the media were allowed into the top secret complex. Certainly not in a time of war. But Murray was right, the president had concluded. It was critical to begin communicating directly and consistently with the nation and the world. So at the president’s directive, NORAD’s acting commander, two-star general George Mutschler — son of the late General Ed Mutschler, who had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President MacPherson during his first term — made his way to the NORAD briefing room with Chuck Murray at his side. Speaking via satellite to nearly a hundred reporters gathered at a hotel in Chicago, another hundred or so reporters gathered in Boston, and three dozen European editors and network news bureau chiefs based in Brussels, the general began by reading a short statement.
First, he announced that the president would be making a televised address to the nation at precisely 9 p.m. Eastern. He would be speaking from a secure, undisclosed location. There would be no interviews tonight, and no Q and A.
Second, he confirmed rumors of the events that had occurred thirty-six hours earlier inside the NORAD complex. He confirmed three deaths — those of General Briggs, Agent Coelho, and Bobby Caulfield. Then General Mutschler added, “Everyone in the senior leadership of the U.S. government has been shocked and saddened by the event, but the president is committed to leading the country through this crisis and to bringing the perpetrators of the attacks on America to justice.”
Not once, however, did the general ever mention the president by name.
Third, he announced that Charles T. Murray had been named the new White House press secretary and counselor to the president. Ginny Harris would serve as the new White House director of communications. The White House itself would eventually be rebuilt, the general noted, but he had no specifics on when or where. Then he stepped aside to let Murray speak briefly and answer questions.
The president watched the briefing with General Stephens.
They were joined in the general’s second-floor office by their senior staff, with Agent Santini and several other agents standing a few steps away and Ginny Harris still working the phones, lining up logistics for phase two of their media rollout.
The first question to Murray came from Andrea Morris of the Associated Press.
“Chuck, neither you nor General Mutschler explained the state of the president’s health and well-being.”
“The president will speak tonight at nine Eastern,” Murray said.
“But is he okay? Was he injured?” Morris pressed.
“The president will address the nation at nine,” Murray repeated. “He will explain what happened. He will then talk about the urgent crisis we face as a nation and how the federal government is going to respond both domestically and internationally. Laura.”
Laura Fisher of NBC News was next.
“Is the president going to declare war?” she asked.
James glanced at Ginny Harris, who nodded her approval. Murray was doing well. The press was taking the bait and shifting its focus off the president’s health, for now.
“We’re clearly at war, Laura,” Murray said.
“Is the president going to declare war against a specific country?” Fisher clarified.
“I’m not going to speculate,” Murray said. “You’ll just have to tune in. Marcus?”
Marcus Jackson, the New York Times bureau chief in Brussels, rose in some nondescript hotel conference room and spoke directly into the camera. “Chuck, is it true that two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups are now steaming toward the coast of Venezuela?”
The question immediately sent a buzz through the entire European press corps.
“Marcus, you know I can’t comment on specific U.S. naval activity,” Murray said. “But I can tell you that all U.S. military forces are on a heightened state of readiness. I would think that would go without saying.”
“Are you denying two battle groups are heading to Venezuela?” Jackson pressed.
“I’m not commenting one way or the other, Marcus.”
“What about reports that U.S. special forces are presently using Guyana and Panama as staging areas?” Jackson asked. “Can you comment on that?”
Murray looked uncomfortable. It wasn’t that he was getting caught by a question for which he was unprepared. Rather, it seemed that he was squirming with a question he didn’t want to even acknowledge, much less answer.
“You’re asking me to talk about possible combat operations, and I’m not going there, Marcus.”
The buzz intensified.
“One more follow-up, if I may?” Jackson asked.
“Go ahead, Marcus,” Murray said. “And while we’re at it, please let me extend my condolences and those of this administration on the loss of the New York Times staff in Manhattan, D.C., L.A., and Seattle. That goes for all the media outlets who lost colleagues. Our thoughts and prayers are with you guys tonight.”
“Thank you,” Jackson said, clearly both surprised and even somewhat moved by Murray’s comments. “One more question.”
“Sure.”
“Can you comment on the fact that all U.S. Embassy staff in Venezuela are being airlifted out of Caracas as we speak, and that the Organization of American States has been asked to convene an emergency meeting tomorrow via videoconference?”
Where was Jackson getting this? his fellow reporters wanted to know. Who were his sources, and were they right? Had the military identified the attacks as coming from Venezuela, and were they preparing for a major war in South America?
“No comment,” Murray said.
That was all it took. Murray’s stiff, almost cagey response suddenly fueled a media frenzy that five minutes earlier hadn’t even existed.
General Stephens leaned over to the president. “It’s working,” he whispered.
“The question is,” James whispered back, “for how long?”