Chapter 505

I called Troy to put the plan in motion; he needed to change parts of his planned 0900 news conference. I sent him the three modesty pictures Jenny had taken. Troy was going to rush the tech department to set up an MTEC screen and camera in the press room.

Marcy, Jenny and Lorrie joined me as we waited for and then watched as Troy and Harry walked to the podium to begin.

“Good morning, a lot of things have happened in the last twenty-four hours so let’s start at the beginning. Yesterday at 1510 the terrorists attacked Ambassador Jones’ convoy as she was heading home,” Troy stated.

“Four dump trucks driven by terrorists slammed into the Ambassador’s convoy, shoving the convoy into the guardrail and shearing the bodies from their frames. The Suburban bodies ended up in westbound traffic, some of them were hit by cars in the mess that followed,” Troy said.

“At that point in the attack, one of the trucks was a suicide truck bomb and exploded, causing further damage to the Suburban’s and their occupants and damaging over 70 cars that were stopped on the highway in the process,” Troy said.

“There were four cars with four terrorists each that then open fire on the Suburban’s and the stopped cars. A JBG armed helicopter providing support for Ambassador Jones’ convoy eliminated that threat,” Troy said.

“Twenty-four terrorists died in the attack. Over a hundred citizens were injured from the initial accident, explosion or when the terrorists changed to soft targets. Unfortunately, 23 people died in the automobiles,” Harry said.

“Six of the Ambassador’s JBG body guards were injured in the Suburban’s, two seriously. The FBI, DHS, CIA, Secret Service MSP, Maryland Transportation Authority and of course the Task Force are investigating the attack” Harry added.

“On a further note, NSA Director Ben Smith has been named temporary chair person of the task force,” Troy added.

“We will take a few questions. Melinda, we will start with you,” Harry said.

“What information do you have on the funeral services for Ambassador Jones? You have said nothing about that,” she asked.

“Funeral services? Ambassador Jones was injured, not deceased. The President and I talked to her immediately after attack and again this morning. In fact, she has sent us some pictures and gave us permission to show them to you,” Troy said.

“Put the first picture on the screen,” Troy instructed the video person. As he was talking, the President walked in and to the side.

“Now the second and then the third,” he directed.

“As you can see, BJ took quite a beating in the attack. She said it is from the seat belt and shoulder harness,” Troy said.

“Scott.”

“Why the elaborate ruse and silence about the Ambassador?” he asked.

“I can’t answer that, her security team was in control and orchestrated her removal from the area. You can ask her that question. Ambassador Jones has said she would do a short video conference call,” Troy said.

“Has BJ paged in?” Troy asked the controller.

A click of the button and the four of us were on the screen behind Troy.

“Good morning Mr. President, Troy, Harry; how is everyone this morning?” I asked.

“BJ, we are fine, how are you? You said you were hurting and it is easy to understand why after looking at the pictures,” the President asked.

“It hurts to breathe and to talk so this is going to be short,” I replied.

“Scott, to answer your question my security team felt it was best to get me out of the area the fastest way possible. Lying on the stretcher was the safest way. I did not want to be a distraction for the rescue teams that had so many injured to deal with. It was best if I was gone quickly and quietly,” I said.

“Marley” Troy acknowledged.

“BJ, are you under a doctor’s care and how soon will you be back to work?” Marley asked.

“I am scheduled to get an MRI today and will not be back until I can wear the heavy vest. I will just have to go day by day. I am going to work from the command center here at JBG headquarters until I can,” I replied.

“How do you feel about Director Smith taking your place on the committee?” Scott asked.

“Ben is an excellent choice, we have worked together on multiple projects, we have learned a lot from each other and think alike in many areas,” I said.

“By the way Malinda, I’m still breathing so no one gets to collect the bounty yet,” I said.

“Harley,”

“Ambassador Jones; given yesterday’s events do you still feel we are making gains in the war on terrorism?” he asked.

“Yes; it is blatantly clear now that we are seriously hurting their cause, by going after our leaders that are fighting terrorism. Before they were going after large group kills for shock effect. Now they are devoting huge amounts of resources for just one person.”

“They have failed to realize the same as we did in the killing of Osama that there was a chain of command ready to take his place.”

“We have a bigger pool of determined leaders capable of stepping in and taking the fight forward. They had a few hundred capable; we have thousands. Yesterday’s attack only showed their desperation,” I said.

“The biggest gains in stopping terrorism are going to be stopping the funding, recruitment, training sites and communications. We have to keep them running, making mistakes as well as killing them,” I said.

“That’s about all I can stand for now. I will try to do this again in a couple days. Mr. President, Troy I will call you after I rest,” I said as I signaled to close the broadcast.