Chapter 36

As I swam toward consciousness I glanced at the bedside clock.

Three – Twenty – Four A.M...

Not a good omen.

The phone was ringing on the bedside table in the cabin at Camp David, where I stayed when attending one of Charles' agenda retreats. The last thing I remembered was Charles saying he was headed back to the White House so he'd be fresh and rested for a cabinet meeting that I wasn't attending because of a prior commitment.

I fumbled with the phone and grabbed my reading glasses at the same time. "Yes," was all I said.

"Mr. Vice President, we are moving you to a secure location. Several strategic targets are under attack from unknown enemies. Your chopper is warming up right now, and you need to be extracted immediately."

"Where is the President? Is he safe?" Nothing else really mattered at that instant.

"Sir, we lost communications with the White House several minutes ago..."

I dropped the phone, dressed in a hurry, grabbed my toothbrush and ran it through my mouth, as I ran water to wash my face and hair. I could hear frantic activity as the Naval and Marine personnel hurried to get me safely out of here.

The door to my cabin flew open, and Steve ran in with a phalanx of agents, surrounded by Marines, and supplemented with Sailors, all armed to the teeth and determined to get me to my chopper quickly, and safely.

"Has anyone called Rick? I'll need Rick and Yosef. Call Rick and get him moving. He will assemble my action team and get them transported to wherever I am going." Steve nodded but kept pushing me towards Marine Two. Things had to be bad if the Secret Service was this uptight.

We were airborne in seconds after the door closed, and suddenly surrounded by at least twenty fighter aircraft and attack helicopters. The flight was very short, and I was hurried into a military jet, which took off instantly, to be likewise surrounded with enough firepower to fight a war.

As soon as we were safely away, an Air Force General walked back and introduced himself. "Mr. Vice President, welcome aboard Looking Glass Five. I was going airborne anyway, so General Carson ordered me to hold until you could be safely boarded, and then we were to get the heck away from D.C.

"Sir you will find we have everything you are accustomed to using for communications on Air Force Two, without the luxuries. My crew will make every effort to make you as comfortable as possible, but I suspect you will spend most of this flight up there with me, getting up to speed on the crisis.

"If you would like to join me, we can go there now."

We walked to a secure room, full of communication gear, large screen monitors, and all manner of radio, satellite, and microwave gear. Four soldiers staffed the equipment and ignored us completely. I wondered about that until I noticed the massive headgear they wore. Whatever they were monitoring was far more important than looking at me, I was sure of that.

Sitting off to one side was a woman in civilian clothes, who was clearly out of place on this plane. She nodded when she recognized me, but remained seated and silent. General Yagich introduced her. "Mr. Vice President, this is Judge Candice Ballard, of the US District Court, in D.C. My bosses at the pentagon insisted she be included on this flight."

To both of us he nodded towards his desk, and said, "I will be pretty tied up for the time being. Please ask one of my staff should you need anything. Mr. Vice President, there is a parallel set of gear on the backside of this video screen, if you wish to get up to speed."

I took the chair on the opposite side of the video wall and used my credentials to log in. As soon as the system accepted my identity, I was looking at a live feed of the war room inside the Pentagon. A Four Star turned to the video camera and spoke directly to me. "Mr. Vice President, Command and Control have been switched to you as of this moment..."

Before he went on I interrupted. "General, what are you saying? Why am I CIC? Where is the President? What is going on?"

He looked surprised. "Mr. Vice President, we lost contact with the White House and Pentagon approximately eighty-five minutes ago. Our people are working frantically reestablishing contact with them, but we have no word on conditions at the White House, the President's where-a-bouts, or his health. Judge Ballard is accompanying you in case you need to be sworn in as President, but for the moment we are proceeding as if the President is out of communication, and we will be taking orders from you until contact is reestablished, Sir.

"I can tell you that our soldiers are fighting against an unknown force that is well armed, and trained for street to street fighting. They had the advantage, but now they've got their asses in a sling, as our men and women have begun to roll them into a tight area that we can surround, control, and collapse. The fighting is quite fierce, but we will have under control quite soon.

"As for your questions ... At approximately three-twenty A.M. Eastern Time, simultaneous attacks commenced against the White House, Pentagon, the Vice Presidential Residence, and NORAD. The attack on NORAD was a total balls up, and a handful of Airmen repelled it without damage or loss of life. The attack on the Vice Presidential Residence was so inept, it appears that it was a diversion to draw us away from the real target, the White House.

"We lost all communication out of the White House almost immediately. That tells me someone knew exactly where to go and what to hit.

"I took the initiative and ordered a full scale assault against them. The battle is winding down, but it appears a very hi-tech weapon was used to fry the communications equipment. Their objectives superseded any concern about personal survival, so they traded their lives trying to bring down our government. Because you were still at Camp David, getting you out was relatively easy, and we recommend you make a public statement soon to dispel any rumors that the government has collapsed. All of this was done under standing orders, Sir. We had to get moving to make sure when we got you out there was something for you to lead.

"Our forces are converging on the White House as I speak, and you can keep up with the activity on your video monitors, I have given orders that what we see, you also see, Sir.

"Are there any questions, Mr. Vice President?"

He needed to concentrate on the battle, not waste time placating me. "Not at this time, General. Please keep me informed, and I want to know the second President Thornton is found and moved to safety."

He went back to work, and I watched the progress of our forces, as if I were in the War Room at the Pentagon, or deep underneath the White House. Having a moment to think, I realized what the General said. To insure the continuation of the government, they were prepared to swear me in as President!

That made me shiver, and Judge Ballard caught my action. She smiled, which was so out of place under these circumstances, but I caught myself smiling back. That emboldened her enough to move to a seat beside me and ask, "May I watch with you, Mr. Vice President?"

Constance Ballard was in her early fifties, slender to the point of skinny, plain as mud, and when she smiled you forgot how plain she was. Her business suit was obviously tailored, but her figure simply didn't do it justice. Constance was missing when God gave out good looks. I hoped she was competent and trustworthy. I suspected we would need both.

For some reason that bit of normalcy calmed me. I needed to be one hundred percent on top of my game if things went from bad to worse.

Just then another General, Hawk Dryden - the Secretary of Defense, and Ken Stanton appeared on my screen. "Mr. Vice President, I am General Samuel Carson, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I apologize that we have never met before now, but I have some disturbing news, sir. As you may have already noticed, a Marine has joined you carrying the nuclear football."

Dryden interrupted. "Mr. Vice President, we can't determine whether President Thornton is alive, or dead. We can't even determine if he has been kidnapped in the assault on the White House. I have been in phone contact with all members of the Cabinet, apprised them of what I am about to say, and gotten their telephonic agreement to have Command and Control transferred to you under the twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution. It is far too early to have Judge Ballard swear you in as President, but by law, you must take command, Sir."

"Mr. Vice President, you must use your key card and today's codes to access the football. Until President Thornton is found and restored to power, you must control our nuclear arsenal."

We did that. The Marine remained impassive as he held the nuclear fate of the world in his hands, while I fired it up. The weight of responsibility nearly put me on my knees.