Chapter 2

General Neil E. Emerson was a small man in stature. In four inch high heels Gabrielle would be almost tall as the General. He had a posture the commanded respect. A hair cut that only left a little on top, his shoes spit shined, and a uniform that fit him perfectly as well as his three rows of medals including the Purple Heart and the Silver Star punctuated his gallantry. He walked in with the escort of a Secret Service agent. He stopped in front of the desk and snapped of a smart salute. His crystal clear blue eyes showed the intelligence of a man of his standing. "General Emerson reporting as ordered, Ma'am."

"Have a seat, General," Gabrielle stood to shake his hand. She noticed the three stars on his shoulders. He waited for her to sit first then sat down across in an erect manner. "Do you have family, General?"

"Yes, Madam President. A wife of twenty-eight years, two sons who are now done with their education, married, and serving as junior officers as we speak. I consider myself fortunate to have a wife and boys. Nothing could be better as far as having a family is considered."

"I have a husband and two girls myself. Both girls are married and have children themselves. I, too, feel fortunate."

"I've seen your husband he's a very large man physically."

"But he's a little kitty cat," she smiled. "Now I would like to know about this Project E that Admiral Murrows told me about."

He turned his head and looked at the Agent standing by the door.

"It's all right, Angela," Gabrielle dismissed her. They both waited until she left the room. Angela drew her weapon and looked through a mirror.

"Please begin," the President said.

"I wish to apologize for the secrecy but this is the highest priority we have on this project. Including you, only twenty men know about this and it's very important to keep these numbers to a minimum."

"I understand completely. It is important for me to know about this."

"We need to clear your desk, these charts are awfully large."

"Lets do it," she started to remove pictures and other things that littered her desk. General Emerson spread the first chart before her.

"Madam President, this is just a simple sketch of three orbs circling our planet. The first is the Spotter. What the Spotter does is to look for fault lines on the earth..."

"What do you mean?"

"Fault lines like the San Andrea Fault that causes the earth to move."

"I understand, General, please continue."

"The Spotter lines up the designated fault line. The second is the weapon which can deliver a powerful laser beam down to the targeted point. Once it hits, it causes massive earthquakes that will generate tremendous damages to the area. It depends on how much we want to destroy. We can cause an earthquake from a 3.0 to a 10.0 and how long we can make it shake the area."

"How large was the one you hit Iran with?" Gabrielle immediately understood how a weapon of this magnitude could effect the balance of power of the world.

"We caused a seven second trembler at a 4.5. We chose one where only a few reptiles and other animals live. Needless to say, it worked."

"What is this third orb do?"

"This is just a regular spy satellite that will give us an assessment of the collateral damage the hit may cause."

"May I see this damage?"

"Yes Ma'am, it shows very little because there is nothing out there." He showed her a line of pictures. "This is before and after. You can see some of the sand dunes had landslides and flattened, other than that nothing."

Gabrielle studied the charts for over twenty minutes without saying a word. She asked no questions. It was simple enough to understand. "You may take your charts away. I am issuing an executive order that you will keep me up to date on anything you develop regarding this project. I also will be the only one that will give an order on another test or an actual attack. Is that understood?"

"Yes Madam President," Emerson snapped to attention.

"Can you find fault lines in the oceans?"

"Yes we can."

"And you can cause tsunamis?"

"How high do you want the waves, Madam President?"

"I am curious about the reliability of this device. Can you find an equally remote area where no one will be killed or injured just to make sure that this device is dependable. I do not want to use this unless it is absolutely necessary."

"When and where do you want this test?"

"I understand that there are a few islands in the Aleutian Islands that only rats inhabit. Is that true?"