“Wonderful, Abdul, see to it. Don’t you think so, Madam Secretary?”
“You have no idea,” Johnson replied.
“Andrea, did you hear that?” Colonel Marshall whispered to Secretary Johnson after Abdul and Shishani had left.
“What, the video? You realize we’re going to be put on display once again, don’t you?”
“That’s a given. No, the two missing guards.”
“What about them? Not sure I’m following you. I’m sure these two guys aren’t the first to leave their post after they’ve found out just how harsh everything is here.”
“Right, but they’re only going to put their most trustworthy guards with those bombs. I’m pretty sure something else is going on. I’d be willing to bet that the bodies of those guards will show up somewhere.”
“You really think so?” Andrea asked.
“I do, and both Baghdadi and Shishani do as well. I can see the fear in their eyes. I think it’s just dawning on them that they bit off more than they can chew.”
“General Van, how was the drive up?” Doctor Kayani as ISIS’s air force chief.
“Hot. One of the nice things about September is that cooler temperatures are right around the corner. I am tired of this hot muggy weather. How are things coming with the conversion of these fighters?”
“Very good, General, I should be done with all eight of them very soon. I only have two left so I should be done around three o’clock, or so.”
“Excellent. We have moved up our timetable. We will be launching the Mahdi flight later this afternoon or early evening. As long as you’ve completed the conversion, there is no sense in waiting until morning.”
“No, there isn’t. I’d let your pilots know that they should be able to launch any time after, oh, let’s call it four-thirty. By the time I’m done and all of the aircraft are fully fueled and loaded up, it might even be five o’clock.”
“That is very good news. As soon as you have completed the last of the conversions, the Imam would like you to leave for Raqqa immediately. I’ve checked around here and we have a plane available. Baghdadi would like you to fly back right away.”
“Yes, that will work. I have nothing to bring back with me that will not fit in the plane. At that rate, we should be able to make it back there well before dark — and well before the attack is launched. Why the urgency?”
“It seems two of the guards we had in the warehouse have disappeared. Baghdadi wants you to look around and make sure nothing else is missing.”
“How do two guards just disappear?”
“That is an excellent question, Doctor.”
“Abdul, are you sure you’ll still have time to get this out for a morning release in the United States?” Shishani asked his chief of staff.
“Absolutely, it’s only six in the morning on the east coast, and it’s a Sunday. Once we’re done here — and that shouldn’t take too long — it won’t take very long to get this to Al Jazeera and other outlets. A nine AM release on the US east coast is quite manageable.”
“Excellent,” Baghdadi replied.
“Ladies, here are your burkas,” Shishani said as he handed one to each.
“I’m fine with my sandals,” Marshall replied.
“I’m with her,” Secretary Johnson agreed.
“Very well, if you wish to play Lady Godiva, I have no problem with that.”
“What do we have here?” Falcon said to Stonewall and Arielle as he noticed a small motorcade approach the weapons depot.
“Looks like we might have a regular VIP here,” Jackson added.
“Stonewall, I’m going to kill that bastard!” Arielle said with a start as she saw the two women emerge from the Humvee and head to the warehouse.
“Hold on,” Stonewall quietly ordered as he gently put his arm out and lowered her rifle. “We’ll get them — and him — now’s just not the time. We’re not ready yet. This has to be another PR stunt. Falcon, let your team know to be ready to move out when they leave. I don’t see them staying here for long,” Jackson ordered.
“Madam Secretary, I’m not sure that you’ve ever had the opportunity to see one of these up close and personal,” General Shishani said to Secretary Johnson as he gave the secretary a tour of the depot. Most of the bombs remained on their respective bomb carts with two bombs per cart, stacked vertically not unlike the way wine barrels are stacked. “It’s amazing something so incredibly powerful is relatively small. It is quite long but it’s less than half a meter in diameter.”
“No, I have not, and I’ve never really cared to, Mr. Shishani,” Johnson replied.
“I’ll overlook that, Madam Secretary. Abdul, let’s get some pictures of the Secretary and Colonel Marshall sitting on the front of a couple of these weapons with the Imam in between them.”
“Of course. Ladies, if you’ll oblige?”
“Like hell,” Marshall replied. “I’m not going to help you make a propaganda video.”
“Colonel, need I remind you that we have several of your colleagues as well. If you do not do as you’re told, I’ll bring some of them over and begin their executions right here. I’ll begin with Secretary Axelsson. Your choice.”
“You bastard!”
“Colonel, they have enough footage of us as it is,” Secretary Johnson said to Marshall. “This won’t make a damn bit of difference. Let’s go ahead and get this over with,” she continued as both women began to climb atop separate carts.
“I feel like I’m posing for the nose art on a World War II bomber,” Marshall lamented, as Abdul Khouri and one of his minions took seemingly non-stop videos of the naked women sitting atop the nuclear bombs.
“Very good, now that wasn’t so difficult, was it?” Shishani replied. “Abdul, did you get everything you need?”
“I did, General. It shouldn’t take very long at all to compile this and upload it to Al-Jazeera.”
“Excellent. Ladies, you cannot imagine the impact this will have for us.”
“Oh, I think I can,” Marshall replied. “I think you’re the ones who don’t fully understand the impact this will have.”
“Okay, here they come. Falcon, are your boys ready?” Stonewall asked.
“All set, we’ve got this, Colonel,” Falcon replied.
“Falcon, you cannot lose them,” Arielle said with a fire in her eyes Falcon had never seen before.
“Arielle, we’ve done this before. We know what we’re doing. Now that we have them, I can assure you, we will not lose them.”
XXXV
“General Logan, thanks for coming up here this morning. I really appreciate it,” President Donner said as she greeted JSOC’s commanding officer.
“Not a problem, ma’am,” Logan replied. “I grabbed a quick flight to Andrews early this morning. At this time of morning, traffic isn’t too bad just yet, even for this town.”
“Well, good luck getting out of here. That might not be so easy,” Donner replied. “So, where are we at with everything?”
“Madam President, we’re ready to roll. We have confirmation of the location of the nuclear weapons — twenty-six of them, anyway. We received confirmation a little more than seven hours ago that eight of them have been moved. Destination, unknown, though reports indicate they were heading north out of Raqqa. The GPS chips in them have been removed and we still do not know where the bombs are located. They’ve had approximately twelve hours since our Keyhole satellite picked up the trucks at the warehouse — that represents a pretty big radius as to where they could have moved them.”