“With all due respect, Mr. President, but certainties don't exist in these kinds of operations, sir. All we can do is get the best intelligence possible, plan for every possible scenario, choose the optimal approach, and then trust our troops to carry it out. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it’s all we have.”
Rhett kept taking photos, but he didn’t miss a word of the conversation either. This would be one for the history books…and he was recording it with his camera.
“Fair enough,” the president said.
“How will this affect the investigation into the assassination?” Calix asked.
President Shafer gestured at Ella Yung, his national security advisor. "Do you want to shed some light on this?"
"Our intelligence suggests Hamza Bashir has his base in Yemen. We have no credible information to suggest he is linked to Al-Awda, but it's reasonable to assume they know each other. Taking out Al-Awda might send Hamza Bashir underground, thus hindering our investigation into the assassination."
General McMorran didn’t seem impressed. "While I acknowledge that an operation like this could harm our chances at catching Bashir, I'm not sure what we could gain by not taking Al-Awda. He's a known terrorist, we've been looking for him for years, and we have a clear shot at capturing him."
“I agree,” Admiral Rivera said. “The possible repercussions for tracking down Hamza Bashir, a man who may not even be in Yemen right now, do not outweigh the likely success of taking out Al-Awda.”
“John?” the president asked the secretary of defense. Rhett had been surprised the president hadn’t replaced him yet, as he was a known war hawk with objectives that often clashed with those of the president, but what did he know? President Shafer must have his reasons to keep him.
"Maybe I've become too jaded, but to me, those terrorists are all connected. Sure, they may differ on the details or have slightly different religious convictions, but they share a common goal, and that is to destroy the United States. Any terrorist we take off the playing field is a win. Of course the investigation is important, but in the end, it's only going to tell us there's yet one more terrorist group who wants us dead. I'm not sure how much it matters that we have all the details when our approach should be the same regardless of their identities and motivation. We need to take them out."
Wow. That was quite the take from the secretary of defense, arguably one of the most powerful cabinet members. How could he so easily swipe all terrorists onto the same pile? And worse, blatantly advocate killing them? In the Oval Office, of all places, a room that still felt sacred to Rhett.
"Jaded is one word for that line of reasoning," Calix mumbled, and Rhett couldn't agree with him more.
"Look, terrorists like that should be our priority," the defense secretary said. "All I'm saying is I propose swifter action and spending less time, effort, and resources on getting all the details. In the end, it doesn't really matter where they radicalized or who recruited them. The bottom line is we need to take them out, and the longer we wait, the more dangerous these groups become, attracting more like-minded individuals."
"That statement is somewhat contradictory, John, if you don't mind me pointing that out," the president said. "On one hand, you advocate swifter action and less talking, to paraphrase you. But on the other hand, you don't appear worried about how this particular operation could harm our ability to get the information and details we need to take action on Al Saalihin."
"We have their name, and we know the names of the leader and the bombers. Isn't that enough to go on? Why do we need complete biographies from the day they were born to the present to confirm their threat to the country? They committed deadly attacks twice. That should be enough."
Rhett was far from an expert, and he only knew a fraction of what the other people in the room knew, but even to him, that statement sounded ignorant at best and incredibly dangerous at worst. Didn't the man care that acting on limited information meant risking killing innocent people? He probably didn't because the underlying message was crystal clear.
"We'll have to shelve that discussion for another time," the president said, his voice as tight as his expression. "For now, let's focus on the next step. Calix?"
"I don't agree with John’s views, but I do feel this is a unique opportunity to take out a known terrorist. I’d like to see possible scenarios."
The president nodded. "Ella?"
Rhett noticed he went to his own advisors first. Smart. It was much harder to voice a different opinion after the military men had stated their ideas.
"I'm uncomfortable with the possible implications for the investigation, but I do think this is the best shot we'll ever get at capturing Al-Awda. We'll have to risk it."
"Okay. Thank you for weighing in. Anyone else have a dissenting opinion?" the president asked.
No one spoke up.
The president took a deep breath. "General McMorran, I’d like to see several scenarios to set up a covert mission, either to take out Al-Awda or to capture him. Let’s reconvene in twenty-four hours."
The general nodded, clearly pleased with the decision. "Thank you, Mr. President. I will keep you apprised."
"Thank you, gentlemen," President Shafer said, rising. Everyone else packed up their papers and walked out, and the president himself closed the door behind them.
"Well, that was pleasant," he said, rolling his eyes at Calix.
"John is such a—" Calix caught Rhett looking at them.
He quickly put his camera in his bag. "I'm out of here."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply we couldn't speak in front of you," Calix said.
Rhett waved his hand. "I know. But that doesn't mean I should hear everything. I get it. Like I said, I'm out of here, and you can goss— discuss all you want."
Calix's lips twitched, but thankfully, he didn't call him out on his slip of the tongue, and Rhett all but ran out of the room. Phew, that had been a close one.
5
Calix rushed through the halls of the West Wing, checking his watch again. He was late. He hated being late but especially for a last-minute meeting about "a disturbing find." Earlier that morning, Coulson had asked Sheila to be added to Calix's schedule. When she had told him his calendar was fully booked, he'd insisted it was urgent. Because that didn't sound alarming at all.
When he got to his office, Coulson was already waiting for him, Seth by his side. Seth was no longer formally working on the investigation, so why was he here? "I've asked Seth to join me because he has relevant information," Coulson said before Calix could ask.
"Okay." Calix closed the door behind him. "What's up?"
Coulson took a deep breath. "I can brief you right now, but I guarantee you'll want the president to sit in on this one. I contacted his secretary, but he said I couldn't get on his calendar without your approval."
Calix nodded. "Yeah, we've had to set that rule to prevent his schedule from getting cluttered with issues that shouldn't be on his desk." He frowned. "And you're sure this is something he needs to know and hear from you directly?"