A Time for Patriots

“Yes, Mr. President. We did have a very interesting development regarding the first drone: an eyewitness who was hunting in the vicinity south of the crash site claims he saw what he described as a contrail.”

“Contrail… you mean, a missile trail?” Ann asked.

“The witness couldn’t be sure,” Fuller said. “He said the trail was pretty straight, and motor smoke from a man-portable air-defense missile is usually not. We’re investigating. We should be able to tell once we get a look at the wreckage.”

“Domestic terrorists, armed first with radioactive materials… and possibly now with antiaircraft missiles?” Ann breathed. “It’s too scary to think about.”

“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here,” Phoenix said. “Director Fuller, who authorized the robot action against the extremists?”

“Special Agent Philip Chastain, special agent in charge of terror investigations, out of the San Francisco office.”

“He should have asked for permission to deploy those robots.”

“He made a tactical decision, sir,” Fuller said. “He was given the robots to use as part of this investigation of extremist groups, and he acted when he saw that drone being captured by the extremists. I can’t fault him, sir. I stand behind his decision.”

Phoenix thought for a moment, then nodded. “Very well,” he said. “You’re right: we expect these men to make decisions and act. And thank you for sticking with your man.”

“Yes, sir. Chastain is one of our best.”

“So we may never know if it was involved in a midair collision, like the extremists claim?”

“We’ve been in contact with the FAA and they say that there were no other aircraft in the vicinity of the second drone, sir,” Fuller said. “However, that’s inconclusive because of radar limitations — they might not see small or low-flying aircraft — but the claim that there was a midair collision might be untrue. They are extremely rare, even with unmanned aircraft. We won’t know until we examine the wreckage.”

“Which leads us to the big question, sir: what to do about those extremists,” Caffery said. “They’ve dragged all the wreckage of the second drone into their compound; they fired on our helicopter and the CID units with heavy automatic weapons; and they may have used antiaircraft weapons against our surveillance planes.”

“I’ve got two Hostage Rescue Teams standing by to enter that compound and make arrests, with two more on the way to assist,” Fuller said. “We’ve set up long-range ground-based surveillance of the compound, and in a few days we’ll have a clear picture of exactly what we’re up against there.”

“I don’t want anybody entering that compound,” the president said. “Surround it, prevent anyone from entering or leaving unless it’s a humanitarian necessity. Collect intelligence, and start negotiating a surrender of those responsible for shooting at the helicopter. I’m not going to have another Branch Davidian disaster televised for the entire world.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“I’ll be waiting to hear more about the results of the investigation into the first drone,” the president said. “Anything else for me?”

Attorney General Caffery looked a little uneasy, but said, “About former president Gardner, sir.”

“I heard him this morning,” Phoenix said, rubbing his eyes wearily. “He’s entitled to his own opinions.”

“But not his own facts, sir,” Caffery said. “What he’s saying is not only untrue, but I’m afraid it could spark more violence if he scares the American people into believing that the government is using the military against them.”

“We’ll deal with that if and when we have to,” the president said. “But we’ll expose the former president’s untruths in the daily press briefings — the more he fabricates the facts, the faster he’ll marginalize himself.”

Joint Air Base Battle Mountain

That same time

Patrick McLanahan was driving by the parking lot outside the hangar being used by the FBI, and he saw Special Agent Chastain getting out of his car. He stopped and got out of the car, which immediately attracted Chastain’s attention. “I’m very sorry about your men, Agent Chastain,” Patrick said. “Agent Savoy was extremely brave for going on that mission.”

“He was doing his job,” Chastain said flatly. He stepped toward Patrick, looking at him carefully. “I’m sure you know already,” he said, “but the U.S. attorney has decided not to charge you.”

“Yes, I heard.”

“But I still don’t get you, General,” Chastain said. “I spoke with the Pentagon. They say you are retired, period. You still have a security clearance, but it’s ‘confidential’ only, like most retired flag-rank officers. You are permitted virtual unfettered access to the base, not because you have any official duties but because of your rank and because you were once the commander here. Along with your retiree benefits you receive temporary base housing in lieu of cost-of-living adjustments and not because you’re part of the staff. Yet you keep on telling me and everyone that you work for the Space Defense Force as some sort of liaison or facility manager.”