The decision he made today would be seen by history as Mitchell’s defining moment. As he listened to the head of the FBI and his Chief of Staff, he realized that the solution they came up with was really going to be his solution. If the FBI was right, then so was he. He would become a powerful force that his congressional enemies would disagree with at their own political peril. It was called “bounce,” the political lift an officeholder gets when he comes up on the right side of a critical national issue. As was the case with George W. Bush who limped into office after a messy election only to enjoy peak, albeit short-lived, record approval ratings in the wake of his handling of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, leading the country out of this crisis would be all Mitchell needed to hold sway on important issues like welfare, education, deficit control, and arms. If the FBI was wrong, however, the whole kettle of rotten fish heads would follow just as assuredly. He planted his feet firmly on the floor and set his backbone absolutely straight, a trick the fighter jockey learned in the preflight briefing rooms that helped him focus on every minute detail of the mission.
His was either a yes or no vote. It would probably be yes because, although he was the most powerful man in the world, he really hadn’t been given any choice. To vote no would be to vote for inaction until another plan was submitted. He continued to focus acutely on every word the FBI director said.
“Under my direction, the FBI will be turning up the heat on suspected cells and known affiliations of any …”
The director stopped speaking, distracted by a commotion outside the front door of the gym. The Secret Service agent on post grabbed his holster and stood in front of the president. Reynolds turned toward the muffled sound of the ruckus. The argument outside the gym got louder.
“What’s going on?” the Commander in Chief yelled.
The door opened and a Secret Service agent stuck his head in. “Sir, Mr. Hiccock is demanding to see you. Mrs. Lamson says he doesn’t have an appointment.”
“Let him in, Jim.”
“Mr. President, there’s no need for him to be in attendance,” the director protested.
The president didn’t acknowledge the director. Hiccock marched in, adjusting his suit, obviously having been physically restrained.
“Geez, Bill, you got my man here ready to take a bullet. Why all the fuss?”
“Mr. President, sir. I serve at your pleasure. If I have lost your confidence then there are plenty of swell teaching positions just waiting for me out there in the real world.”
The confused president looked to his chief of staff for clarity.
“Sir, your national science advisor doesn’t agree with the director’s analysis of the threat we face.”
“I wasn’t aware you had any experience in law enforcement, Bill.”
“No, Sir, I don’t. My degrees are in science and engineering, but you don’t have to know Dick, er … Tracy to see that we are using outmoded paradigms and Cold War fighting tactics to define an enemy that may literally have been born yesterday.”
“Wow, that’s a mouthful. Did you rehearse that all the way down here?”
Hiccock smiled. “Maybe just the gist of it.”
“Do you have any proof, Bill?”
“No, Sir. But neither does the FBI. They’re just rounding up the usual suspects.”
This comment pushed Tate into nuclear mode. “How dare you! This is FBI jurisdiction. We have more experience in this kind of crime than any agency in the world!”
“Listen, when it comes to this type of anarchy there is no track record. The first World Trade Center attack, the Olympic bombings, and September 11th taught us that.”
“What’s your point then, Mr. Hiccock?” the director said sharply.
“I see his point,” the president said. “Your agency and the traditional intelligence channels blew all those cases.” He turned to Hiccock. “Go on, Bill, this is almost refreshing.”
“Actually, Sir, I don’t know what to say next. I didn’t think I’d get this far. But I suppose I would not like to have alternate theories dismissed so quickly. It’s a new world, getting newer every day, Sir.”
“Nonsense,” the director said. “You’re just an intellectual chauvinist who thinks that science is the answer to everything.”
Hiccock bristled. “Then you explain to me how long ago an eleven-year-old Boy Scout, or ‘agent provocateur’ as you called him, would have to have been indoctrinated, trained, and stationed in proximity to the accounting firm that he eventually incinerated.”
“Perhaps his was an isolated incident, nothing more than a boy with matches.”
Hiccock’s Bronx attitude started to kick at its cage. “Come on, will ya? You’d have to be out of your friggin’ mind to think that a boy who bypassed security and disabled multiple floors of sprinkler and fire reporting systems didn’t have the smarts to hightail it out of there before becoming toast!”
After a moment’s silence, the president let out a long breath. “Okay, Bill, be careful what you wish for. As of now, you are in charge of your own investigation.”
“Excuse me? I didn’t ask, nor do I want …”
“Ray, come up with a way to fund him. Call it a … Scientific Ramifications Inquiry or whatever.”
“You could issue an executive order establishing the Office of Scientific Investigator,” the chief of staff said.
“Give him direct-line access to me, Ray.”
“What does that mean?” The slight indignation in the director’s voice was all too apparent.
“It means he reports directly to me and I expect you to offer him your bureau’s fullest cooperation.”
“Wow,” Hiccock said. “You can do that? I mean, of course you can. You are the president.”
“Ray, I can do that, right?”
“I’ll run it by counsel, but it sounds just like the Biotech thing you did last month.”
A light went on in the president’s brain as he remembered the Biotech initiative as being “cinchy,” a term a young female aid used to describe the constitutional and political realities of such a move. “Yeah, I can do that.”
A Marine guard was standing mute outside the gym, eyes front as Reynolds and the director of the FBI had it out.
“Thank you for your support in there, Ray.”
“First of all, I don’t work for you, I work for the president. And if he likes the idea of this geek running around the country under his authority, then I am duty-bound to love it.”
“You’ve managed to undermine my authority and the bureau’s reputation.”
“Get off that horse, right now. You had every opportunity to present your case and counter any of his arguments. You failed to convince the boss. Hiccock beat you, even when we stacked the deck against him.”
“Ray, I have been here through two administrations and I will not …”
“… Well then, you know how the game is played. I know James Mitchell and I know what he was thinking in there. He was thinking how his whole presidency is in your hands. And then Hiccock comes in and points out a flaw in your logic. And you had no good answer. You were blindsided. The boss is a man who likes to have options, Tate. Hiccock at least gives him an option.”
“But Ray, that little display by that uncouth character in there was mere grandstanding. I’m amazed he fell for it. Maybe you can point that out to him later?”
“I am not going down to the mat with the man just so your feelings won’t be hurt. Now go find the bad guys … before Hiccock does.”