Chapter 121

Andy was the first to speak. ‘‘How do I address you now? BJ, Boss or Madam President?’’ he asked.

‘‘It’s still BJ for you,’’ I said.

‘‘Mexico captured one drug kingpin and a lot of packaged drugs and other loot when they took control of the area we raided.’’

‘‘The second kingpin ran when the first bomb fell and escaped. He made his way to Merida on the eastern tip of Yucatan. Most of his key people followed as best they could.’’

‘‘He is now setting up shop in the area. The gang war has started. Federal Prosecutor Inez is wanting our security group to shut down both gangs. The dead are in the streets every morning,’’ Andy said.

‘‘I’m sure Marcy will want signed contracts with prices for starters. Has Mexico committed to the size and scope of that kind of operation? You are essentially going to have to cut the tip of the Yucatan; that is one hundred and fifty miles across. That is a tall order without pulling everyone off existing sites,’’ I said.

‘‘We still have five hundred of the on call people we have not utilized,’’ Vicky said.

‘‘And we can start pulling men from other Mexican locations as we need them,” Andy said.

‘‘What about the logistics for those additional men?’’ I asked.

‘‘We are working on them, it’s going to take a few weeks to put it all together,’’ Vicky said.

‘‘I’m planning on coming home after the funeral service for President Thomas and staying for a couple days. I’m still planning on going goose hunting again on Monday. It will be the last week of goose season.’’

‘‘Chief Justice Burger, VP Harrison, Judge Faraday, Curtis Warren, Troy and Ben Smith will be in the hunting party on Monday. The hunt had been set up months ago. It will drive the Washington Sunday talk shows crazy, let alone the Secret Service and the US Marshals service who guard the court justices,’’ I said.

‘‘I just got a message that the GSA and a moving company are moving Mrs. Thomas and her belonging back to her Kansas home on Monday. The Secret Service is assisting in the move.’’

‘‘Once that is done they are going to set up the living quarters to suit me. I’m having it set up so all of you can come stay weekends and more, if and when you want,’’ I said.

‘‘We now have thirty fast boats in the Arabian Sea divided between the two bases on each side of the Strait of Hormuz. The base at Oman is still a couple months away. The UK still has not completed clearing the underground storage of the bombs and shells. They are working at it, but not very fast,’’ Vicky said.

‘‘If you have to send Howie and a couple of men over there - just cart the stuff into the desert and set it off with plastics to get rid of it,’’ I said. ‘‘Don’t let British get in the way of the progress you need.’’

‘‘We are having some problem with the Iranian speed boats,’’ Andy said.

‘‘I expected that and more. Be prepared to be aggressively challenged by them. Don’t take any crap from them. I expect at some point you will have to put some on the bottom,’’ I said.

‘‘They will try to set up traps for our boats to draw them into Iranian waters; make sure they don’t fall for one. Another thing you may want to consider is to draw the Iranian boats into a trap of our own. I would love to have a couple of their crews as prisoners as they would ours,’’ I said

‘‘Are the aviation units on station there now for fast backup?’’ I asked.

‘‘Four Blackhawks and four Air Tractors are there,’’ Vicky said.

‘‘Charles and Milton are working on a deal to get four AH-1Z Vipers from the Saudi military, they will have a lot more firepower if we need them,’’ Andy said.

‘‘Remember the contract limitations, including the financial ones,’’ I said.

‘‘What about pilots and the materials to make them effective?’’ I asked.

‘‘We have qualified pilots; Susie checked all the pilots’ records. Eight with the most hours in the AH are on the way to an Israeli training site for a refresher,’’ Vicky said.

‘‘Also, Director Dorin appreciates our business, and said to tell you congratulations and thanks,’’ Vicky added.

‘‘I haven’t called him or Ben David, I will make a note to do that,’’ I said.

‘‘What is the progress on the two eavesdropping sites Robert was going to set up?” I asked.

‘‘One of them has been running intermittently for a couple days. It will go full time on Monday. That is the one closest to the choke point of the Strait. The other is going to take about a week to finish.’’

‘‘Robert asked for authority to hire twenty more people to place there for the communications and monitoring. I approved it and sent it to Jason. Robert indicated he had good people waiting to fill the positions,’’ Andy said.

‘‘Dad told me he had approved them this morning,’’ Jenny said.

‘‘You may want to expedite that call to Ben David. They have been monitoring some channels in Iran that are troublesome since they found out you’re President. They were already planning disruptions in the fast boat operations as you thought, now they have intensified,’’ Andy said.

‘‘That’s why I wanted the listening post. We just have to be careful not to fall for misinformation being broadcast,’’ I said.

‘‘Robert’s gone home for the day but I think I can fill you in from memory. Tiam and the general stopped broadcasting for a week the day the family members were kidnapped.’’