Chapter 114

I slept most of the flight; there was little turbulence and good sleeping. The gear touched the runway at 0730. There was already a crowd at Morton. I wondered why? I sent the Secret Service and Abra to go find out while I waited in the plane.

My mates and the two little boys came out. They were waiting on the news conference the CIA was going to give.

‘‘Mommy, is this BJ’s new plane?’’ JJ asked.

‘‘I think it might be one of them,’’ Jenny answered.

‘‘When can we go fly on it?” RJ asked.

‘‘It might be a little while but you can walk through and look at how nice it is, but don’t touch anything,’’ I said.

‘‘Washington and the media have been pretty rough on you the last couple days. Are you OK with all this pressure?’’ Jenny asked.

‘‘I am fine and everything else will be fine as soon as the news conference is over,’’ I said.

‘‘Have you gotten everything ready to take them shopping tonight?’’ I asked.

‘‘Yes, everything is ready and they all have rooms at the Morton Hotel,’’ Lorrie said.

Frank and Art Cummins came up the steps. ‘‘We are ready to go. Let’s pour some cold water on the fires they have tried to build,” Art said.

I walked into the meeting room to boos and jeers mixed with yelling, screaming and various obscenities.

The news conference was held in the large meeting room that was divided with one of those heavy curtains. The five and their families were behind their curtain.

Frank Love started the news conference, ‘‘First I want to set the record straight on the five Iranians you have been screaming about. They are alive and well. Madam Vice President, can you have them come out? You speak the language better than I do,’’ he said.

I called them out one at a time. They were smiling and happy and each shook my hand as they came out.

‘‘They have asked for and were granted asylum. Vice President Jones pushed and prodded us to see that there was a possible intelligence value and a public way to show how despicable the Iranian regime really was to the world. These weren’t average Iranian citizens; they were close relatives of the leadership of Iran and they condemned them to death.”

‘‘The reports that they were dead and their remains were to be released to their families in Pakistan was a fabrication - an elaborate plan to get their families out of Iran.”

‘‘The plane was a JBG plane to complete the ruse with CIA pilots and crew. That plan was the brainchild of Vice President Jones. She has taken a lot of flack and knew there would be, but stood tall to make the plan work.”

‘‘Iran never contacted Jones in any way after the New York exchange. They simply were going to let them die as they were of no further value to the regime. Vice President Jones used this Iranian mistake to work behind the scenes with the State Department and INS and other agencies to help with the asylum.”

‘‘The result has been a wealth of information into the inner working of Iran, the IRG and their quest for nuclear weapons, their plans to dominate and control all of the Middle East and more - much more,’’ Frank said.

‘‘The family members arrived from Pakistan early this morning. Open the curtain and let the family members join with their men.”

‘‘That is all I am going to say. Because of the complexity of the operation and the involvement of many intelligence agencies and people, I am not going to take any questions. Vice President Jones, is there anything you want to say?’’ Frank asked.

‘‘Obviously I’m pleased that the extraction plan of the family members was carried out with great results. It was a tribute to the skill and secrecy of all involved. This operation is far from over; there are lots of pieces needed to finish it out.”

‘‘Frank left out a couple of thank yous. One to Lorrie Jones of JBG Aviation for a plane on short notice capable of doing the job needed. Another to all the people of JBG that knew something big was up but maintained the secrecy needed to complete what many in high places had said was ‘Mission Impossible’.”

‘‘For the media folks and politicians that have beat me up nonstop for the last forty eight hours, somewhere around here there is a case of JBG monogrammed hand towels. You can dry your tears or wipe the egg off your face - whichever applies,’’ I said. “This news conference is over,’’ I added.

Hanna and Melinda were with the reporters sending reports to their stations. I walked to them with Secret Service and my security tagging along. The reporter exodus ground to a halt.

‘‘Hey girlfriends, how have you been doing?’’ I asked.

‘‘We are doing well. Are you getting any time to sleep at all? From all appearances you are one busy person – becoming Vice President and then planning and executing secret missions. You are working too hard. By the way, do you have any more missions we can tag along on? I’m learning to like them,’’ Hanna asked.