‘Hey,’ warned Vice President Glen Swain, ‘watch your language Jeb, okay?’
Richards merely nodded his head in answer to the rebuke and continued his tirade to the rest of the National Security Council, who sat around the huge table wedged into Conference Room One, deep within the White House Situation Room.
‘What if we’re hit at home by something else?’ he said. ‘We’ve got Islamic terrorists coming out of our ass, this whole shit sandwich with Korea, things happening everywhere which could seriously — and I mean seriously — affect our national security, and we’re wasting millions of dollars on recon, surveillance, intelligence and military staging on finding a damn Chinese boat?’
Ellen Abrams eyed Richards directly across the table. She supposed she should have expected such a response from Jeb; a violently conservative Senator from the Texan heartlands, he believed that money not spent directly on domestic security was money wasted. Unless it was being spent on operations abroad which had direct benefits to domestic security, which he could just about tolerate.
In a way, this vehemence is what made him such a good Secretary of Homeland Security; he fought like a tiger for what he believed in, and America was safer place because of it.
However, such a blinkered approach could sometimes cause problems when it came time to look at the bigger picture; and then it was up to Ellen Abrams to remind him how it worked.
‘I understand your feelings on the matter Jeb,’ she began steadily, her gaze level with Richards’. ‘However, there are some niceties here that perhaps you haven’t considered. Like our relations with the Chinese government, who we’ve pledged to help as part of the Mutual Defense Treaty. It’s a long-term game, remember. We help them here, they help us with something later.
‘And then there’s the fact that three of the crew are Americans, and our citizens expect us to do something. If we don’t respond, what kind of message does that send to our people? To put it in your own terms — from a domestic security point of view — imagine if we do nothing, and three of our people end up being tortured and killed. How would that play out on the streets of American cities? Demonstrations, riots, who knows? And what forces would we need to commit to sorting that out?’
All eyes around the table watched as Abrams calmly attacked Richards’ arguments, gutting him with a smile. It was a skill which had taken her from a Boston lawyer’s office to a United States Senator from Massachusetts, to the 45th President of the United States of America, the first woman in history to ever hold that position.
She was a fighter, but a smooth one.
‘And then there’s our reputation to think of,’ she continued, still with the voice of reason. ‘If we give in to demands, or are seen to not act when the security and safety of our citizens is directly threatened, then when message does that send other criminal groups, other terrorists? Think about that, Jeb. Do we want that message being broadcast? I don’t think it will make domestic security easier, do you?’
There was a pause, and all eyes turned to Richards, whose own were facing down towards the briefing papers on the table in front of him.
‘Jeb?’ Abrams asked again. ‘I asked you a question. Do you?’
Richards looked up at last and met the president’s eyes. ‘No ma’am,’ he said, beaten.
‘Good. Then we will proceed as planned. Pete?’
Abrams handed the ball back to Pete Olsen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who had been halfway through his briefing when Richards had started complaining.
‘Thank you ma’am,’ Olsen said. ‘As I was saying, we have one DEVGRU squadron now located at Subic Bay, under Commander Ike Treyborne, where they’ll be making preparations to re-take the cargo ship when its found.’ Olsen continued detailing military dispositions and strategies until everyone around the table had a clear picture of what was being done.
‘Thanks Pete,’ Clark Mason said, turning then to address the table. As US Secretary of State, Mason was the third most important person at the briefing, just under Abrams and Swain.
‘Although Jeb was perhaps a bit offhand in his manner,’ he began reasonably, ‘and we are all agreed that we have to respond to this situation in the way we are, we shouldn’t forget other pressing issues. Korea, or example. I understand that there has been a spike in terrorist communications warning of a new attack on the south? Cat?’
Catalina dos Santos was the Director of National Intelligence — like the president, the first female to hold the position — and was the immediate replacement for the notorious — and still missing — US traitor, Charles Hansard. It was a tough role to take on after the scandal left by her predecessor, but the general consensus was that dos Santos was doing a pretty good job so far.
As she started to give a breakdown on what was known about the situation in South Korea, Jeb Richards looked across the table and nodded his head imperceptibly towards Mason in a gesture of thanks.
Even though Mason had been subtle, Richards recognized the fact that the Secretary of State had supported him.
So, Clark Mason thought that it might be dangerous to concentrate too much on the hijacking incident too. Interesting.
As the meeting wore on, Richards considered the fact that he might have an ally in Clark Mason. And there weren’t too many better allies to have than the Sec State, a man of enormous power and influence, backed up by huge personal wealth.
And — seeing the potential opportunities — Richards wasted no time in starting to make his plans.
The cold hard stare was enough to seriously unsettle Major Ho Sang-ok; he had used it enough times himself, and knew what it meant.
It meant his career — if not his life — was over.
‘My dear friend,’ Lieutenant General U Chun-su began gently, ‘would you be so kind as to update me on the current situation?’
Ho cleared his throat. ‘As you know, demands have been made by the pirates directly to the Tsing Tao Shipping Line, in the order of a fifty million US dollar ransom. The Chinese government has vetoed the paying of this ransom, and President Abrams was also clear that there would not be a payout. The intelligence services and military of both China and the US have been working overtime to locate the vessel, presumably with the intention of retaking it by force.’
‘The cargo?’ U asked, eyes narrowed.
‘We believe that the most likely scenario is that the pirates will sell the cargo off to cover their costs and raise some capital. We’ve got agents in the area right now, trying to find out any information about who’s selling what to whom.’
‘My friend, this does not fill me with confidence. What is the status of our own cargo?’ The façade slipped suddenly, and U’s hand crashed down onto his desktop. ‘Do you have any fucking idea where our cargo is, you fucking incompetent? Do you realize what’s riding on this?’
Ho kept his gaze level, standing rigidly to attention. ‘No, sir. We do not have any information about the location of our cargo. Captains Jang and O are no longer in communication with us, and we have to assume that they were killed or captured while defending the ship.’
U looked down at his desk, reorganizing the scattered papers, regaining control of his emotions. ‘President Kim is not happy, as you might well expect. Someone’s head will roll for this, Major Ho, and — I assure you — it won’t be mine. Do we understand each other?’
Ho nodded his head. ‘Yes sir.’