General Forsythe addressed the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. "Gentlemen, this will be called Operation Park Ranger and we need the highest levels of confidentiality. If the Raggedy Andy people really are as widespread as they say then they may very well have taken the minds of some of our troops. General Masterson has appointed me to coordinate it and we have some planning to do."
"Masterson is a clever fellow. He really had me convinced," said Admiral Hershey.
"That was his purpose as he couldn't risk any more buildings burning before he was satisfied he had fully estimated the situation. Now then, let us get down to the overview and then we will review specific assignments. At end we will have a discussion for any potential exposures and then we will proceed."
Forsythe looked at each of the generals before speaking further as this was his first opportunity to work in-concert with them and he wanted to be sure how things stood. He saw full agreement from all of them and then began.
FBI Director Stiller was talking into the telephone in his usual easy-going manner. He was a big man and quite capable of scaring the bejeebers out of his subordinates but he found there was little benefit to intimidation. He had a powerful voice and he knew it but he didn't often need it in taking this approach.
"Carmichael, do you have anything yet on this Malcolm and I gather the younger one is calling himself Frederick. Any ID on these guys?"
"Not as yet, Chief, but we are running some facial recognition series on them and we are reasonably confident we can find them."
"Time-frame?"
"Tough to tell, Chief. A great many candidates still exist but the system is churning through them fairly quickly. We are getting as much compute power as we need and I'm satisfied the process will resolve successfully."
"Excellent, Carmichael. Update me in an hour if you do not have success prior to that time."
Stiller looked to his computer screen for any updates via email or direct messages. He busied himself with this tedious ritual but was interrupted when the telephone rang.
"General Forsythe? Pentagon?", asked Stiller.
Confirmation came quickly and then he said, "OK, General Masterson. Understood. I will assemble my division managers in twenty minutes to coordinate."
General Forsythe looked to Admiral Hershey and asked, "How do you propose to get a SEAL team into the White House. Even if you dress them in civvies they will still look like beefy, tough guys."
Hershey replied quickly, "In my estimation this problem is not as big as it may seem. In the hippie days of old my team would have been spotted instantly but these days it would be more difficult when there's so much of a fashion to look military. We see these characters in the Oval Office don't look exceptional and I'm confident my men can achieve this. All are quite strong and very fit but they don't look like outcasts from Muscle Beach. I believe we can accomplish this aspect of the mission."
"Thank you, Admiral," said Forsythe. "Do you have any reservations about the mission?"
"No, General," replied Hershey. "Navy will be on-time and on-station."
Director Stiller's telephone rang and there was an excited Carmichael on the line.
"Chief, we have Malcolm," said Carmichael.
"You have him? Explain."
"We have his name, address and are locating more details. We have 92.4% confidence it's him," replied Carmichael.
"Excellent work. Compile a dossier and be ready to report in twenty minutes. Do you have anything on Frederick?"
"We estimate ID within the next five to ten minutes, Chief."
Stiller hung up the phone and without pause called Murray for a report on Congress.
"Chief, there may be a pattern in some buses we are observing. They are not moving in convoy but it might be the same buses orbiting Washington. These buses would have no reason to do that so we are reviewing more closely to verify they really are the same ones that keep turning up on the traffic cameras."
"Sounds like a strong lead. Is there anything on the potential target destinations in the area?"
"Walters has been working that one and progress is good on going through the list but there's no payoff as yet."
"Ask him to continue. I don't want to abandon that until we are sure we have ID'ed the buses elsewhere."
"OK, Chief. I'll let him know and get back on it."
"Also let him know I need you and he to report in my office in twenty minutes."
"Got it, Chief."
"Again excellent. Good work, Carmichael."
During the course of Pink Floyd performing at Pompeii, couples split off from the main group in the common area in the Refuge and drifted away to their rooms leaving only Harrison and his wife together with his parents.
Gill and Hoffman went to their room at about the same time as Margolis and Goldberg. As Gill started walking through the door, he turned back to Hoffman and asked, "Would you like to look in on the dogs one more time?"
All three others responded at the same time, "NO!"
Hoffman pushed Gill through the door, smiled and winked at Margolis and Goldberg, and then went inside, closing the door behind her.
"After all the events of this day, it's tough to imagine what may be coming tomorrow," said Harrison. "Will the country still stand after tomorrow. Will it still be standing after another two hundred years?"
"We have just been visiting Pompeii, son. The Roman Empire no longer exists but Rome stands proudly still," said Roger.
"I worry for Malcolm and Frederick," said Susan. "They volunteered for the positions they took but that doesn't make it any easier seeing them at risk. They were confident the military would not intervene when there's such a huge potential for loss of life but we have already seen one unplanned event and it's unpredictable whether anything else can happen."
"This is the first time I've ever actually seen Malcolm and Frederick," said Roger.
"I have never seen pictures of them either," said Susan. "We decided long ago that it was best to use only CB nicknames or short-wave call signs so catching one of us would not result in capture of the others."
"But wouldn't they be interrogated and ultimately reveal all they know. We have heard so much of government techniques. Are you really safe. Are any of us," asked Harrison with clear worry in his voice.
"Daniel, there was no safety before we started or we likely would never have started into this nor would Raggedy Andy have grown so large," replied Susan.
"I think perhaps we will only worry ourselves sick if we try to anticipate what may happen. We don't have much choice right now except to trust the judgment of the military not to attack," said Harrison. He didn't really believe he could trust that judgment but what else was there to think.
"We must hold our trust in our original conviction that this is the best thing for America and preservation of what we believe America was always intended to be. Worry leads to insecurity which leads to fear and failure," said Susan emphatically.
"OK then," said Roger. "Let's be off to bed and we'll meet up here in the morning. Hopefully we will all be able to get some sleep between now and then."
"Not too much sleep, honey," said Susan with a smile.
"What, love," asked Roger in puzzlement. After a moment, he realised what she meant then smiled and said, "You bet."
Continued
"Masterson is a clever fellow. He really had me convinced," said Admiral Hershey.
"That was his purpose as he couldn't risk any more buildings burning before he was satisfied he had fully estimated the situation. Now then, let us get down to the overview and then we will review specific assignments. At end we will have a discussion for any potential exposures and then we will proceed."
Forsythe looked at each of the generals before speaking further as this was his first opportunity to work in-concert with them and he wanted to be sure how things stood. He saw full agreement from all of them and then began.
FBI Director Stiller was talking into the telephone in his usual easy-going manner. He was a big man and quite capable of scaring the bejeebers out of his subordinates but he found there was little benefit to intimidation. He had a powerful voice and he knew it but he didn't often need it in taking this approach.
"Carmichael, do you have anything yet on this Malcolm and I gather the younger one is calling himself Frederick. Any ID on these guys?"
"Not as yet, Chief, but we are running some facial recognition series on them and we are reasonably confident we can find them."
"Time-frame?"
"Tough to tell, Chief. A great many candidates still exist but the system is churning through them fairly quickly. We are getting as much compute power as we need and I'm satisfied the process will resolve successfully."
"Excellent, Carmichael. Update me in an hour if you do not have success prior to that time."
Stiller looked to his computer screen for any updates via email or direct messages. He busied himself with this tedious ritual but was interrupted when the telephone rang.
"General Forsythe? Pentagon?", asked Stiller.
Confirmation came quickly and then he said, "OK, General Masterson. Understood. I will assemble my division managers in twenty minutes to coordinate."
General Forsythe looked to Admiral Hershey and asked, "How do you propose to get a SEAL team into the White House. Even if you dress them in civvies they will still look like beefy, tough guys."
Hershey replied quickly, "In my estimation this problem is not as big as it may seem. In the hippie days of old my team would have been spotted instantly but these days it would be more difficult when there's so much of a fashion to look military. We see these characters in the Oval Office don't look exceptional and I'm confident my men can achieve this. All are quite strong and very fit but they don't look like outcasts from Muscle Beach. I believe we can accomplish this aspect of the mission."
"Thank you, Admiral," said Forsythe. "Do you have any reservations about the mission?"
"No, General," replied Hershey. "Navy will be on-time and on-station."
Director Stiller's telephone rang and there was an excited Carmichael on the line.
"Chief, we have Malcolm," said Carmichael.
"You have him? Explain."
"We have his name, address and are locating more details. We have 92.4% confidence it's him," replied Carmichael.
"Excellent work. Compile a dossier and be ready to report in twenty minutes. Do you have anything on Frederick?"
"We estimate ID within the next five to ten minutes, Chief."
Stiller hung up the phone and without pause called Murray for a report on Congress.
"Chief, there may be a pattern in some buses we are observing. They are not moving in convoy but it might be the same buses orbiting Washington. These buses would have no reason to do that so we are reviewing more closely to verify they really are the same ones that keep turning up on the traffic cameras."
"Sounds like a strong lead. Is there anything on the potential target destinations in the area?"
"Walters has been working that one and progress is good on going through the list but there's no payoff as yet."
"Ask him to continue. I don't want to abandon that until we are sure we have ID'ed the buses elsewhere."
"OK, Chief. I'll let him know and get back on it."
"Also let him know I need you and he to report in my office in twenty minutes."
"Got it, Chief."
"Again excellent. Good work, Carmichael."
During the course of Pink Floyd performing at Pompeii, couples split off from the main group in the common area in the Refuge and drifted away to their rooms leaving only Harrison and his wife together with his parents.
Gill and Hoffman went to their room at about the same time as Margolis and Goldberg. As Gill started walking through the door, he turned back to Hoffman and asked, "Would you like to look in on the dogs one more time?"
All three others responded at the same time, "NO!"
Hoffman pushed Gill through the door, smiled and winked at Margolis and Goldberg, and then went inside, closing the door behind her.
"After all the events of this day, it's tough to imagine what may be coming tomorrow," said Harrison. "Will the country still stand after tomorrow. Will it still be standing after another two hundred years?"
"We have just been visiting Pompeii, son. The Roman Empire no longer exists but Rome stands proudly still," said Roger.
"I worry for Malcolm and Frederick," said Susan. "They volunteered for the positions they took but that doesn't make it any easier seeing them at risk. They were confident the military would not intervene when there's such a huge potential for loss of life but we have already seen one unplanned event and it's unpredictable whether anything else can happen."
"This is the first time I've ever actually seen Malcolm and Frederick," said Roger.
"I have never seen pictures of them either," said Susan. "We decided long ago that it was best to use only CB nicknames or short-wave call signs so catching one of us would not result in capture of the others."
"But wouldn't they be interrogated and ultimately reveal all they know. We have heard so much of government techniques. Are you really safe. Are any of us," asked Harrison with clear worry in his voice.
"Daniel, there was no safety before we started or we likely would never have started into this nor would Raggedy Andy have grown so large," replied Susan.
"I think perhaps we will only worry ourselves sick if we try to anticipate what may happen. We don't have much choice right now except to trust the judgment of the military not to attack," said Harrison. He didn't really believe he could trust that judgment but what else was there to think.
"We must hold our trust in our original conviction that this is the best thing for America and preservation of what we believe America was always intended to be. Worry leads to insecurity which leads to fear and failure," said Susan emphatically.
"OK then," said Roger. "Let's be off to bed and we'll meet up here in the morning. Hopefully we will all be able to get some sleep between now and then."
"Not too much sleep, honey," said Susan with a smile.
"What, love," asked Roger in puzzlement. After a moment, he realised what she meant then smiled and said, "You bet."
Continued
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