Chapter 38- An Exercise Of Control

Chapter 38

An Exercise Of Control

Washington D.C

“I understand what you mean Gerry.  I know how you feel.  But the reality of the situation is the way I described it,” said Hayden McDonald with some tiredness in his voice.  This was now his thirtieth phone-call of the day and he had been through some degree of resistance and incredulity from each person he had called.

“Gerry, Gerry, there is no point in sitting on your hands.  This is the way it is.  The President is not calling the shots at the moment and we need to expedite the situation.  For the good of the Republic,”

Hayden was used to pressure situations.  He was the Whitehouse Chief of Staff, a political powerbroker.  And even before the President had asked him to be his chief, he had worked for the Senate Majority Leader.  Hayden was a very accomplished person.  But this was a challenge that was stretching him to the limit of his extensive capabilities.

“Gerry I don’t know how much plainer to make it to you.  If you don’t go back to your agency and get them to play ball, then the General will send some officer over there and he’ll either arrest you or shoot you.  Then someone else will do it.  No one thinks that this fucking guy calling the shots is a good idea.  But it is a political reality.  Now we either accept that and adapt or we render ourselves obsolete,” Hayden waited for the tirade to cool and for Gerry to accept what he had said.

“Thank you Gerry.  You’re a good man,” He put down the phone and walked back around his desk.  Jack Krane had been making his own phone call at the same time.  He finished up with a much less forceful tone and hung up too.

“Good news, I got the Department of the Interior to cooperate,” said Jack.

“Good man,” replied Hayden.  He’d had a large number of deputies and lieutenants in his life and generally he had always worn them out.  Hayden’s highly confrontational and adrenaline based management style was often more than people could handle for extended amounts of time.  But Jack Krane had nerves of steel.

“Okay next is the director of the CIA.  That one is going to be a bitch,” said Hayden.

“No doubt.  But he’s a former military man.  He’ll follow orders,” replied Jack.

“He’s also a friend of the President.  He’s unlikely to appreciate the situation the way it is.  Equally he’s likely to think of me as a traitor,”

“Well then he needs to grow up then doesn’t he?” Jack said simply and made his next phone call.

Hayden smiled briefly and then walked over to his window, already dialing the phone.  Somewhere in Virginia right now someone would answer the phone.  Virginia was where the problem was centralized, that was where Briar had been based, that was were Sat-Com was based.  And Sat-Com had dropped the ball and failed to keep the infection from spreading.

“This is Hayden McDonald for the DCI and I don’t intend to hold.  Put him on the line right now,”

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded tired but there wasn’t the resistance that Hayden was expecting, in the end the DCI had accepted the inevitability of what had happened and that it was better to remain a player than to become an observer.

“I want you to direct your agency to cooperate with the current regime in any matters that relate directly to the crisis.  If you’re in any doubt whatsoever, call me or Jack and we’ll tell you which way to go.  But you are a right guy, you’ll figure it out,”

Hayden hung up the phone again and took a deep breath.  It all seemed like a long shot at the moment.  Hayden wondered what the odds of it all coming off were.

An officer, a Captain, opened the door without knocking and came into Hayden’s office.  Hayden didn’t even look up.

“Mr McDonald?” he asked.

“What is it?” asked Jack, who had stood up.

“The General wants to know what you’ve achieved so far,” said the young Captain.

Hayden looked up briefly.

“Tell him I’ve persuaded the intelligence community to cooperate with him.  Not bad for an hours work eh?”

The captain nodded with a smile.

“Do you think when they write the book on me they’ll talk about me like Benedict Arnold?” asked Hayden to the young Captain.  Hayden didn’t even wait for a reply.

Villa Cyranno, Venezuela

Oscar picked up the gun in shaking hands.  There was still blood on the weapon.  He looked around at Lt McPherson.

He cocked the weapon but he didn’t aim it at her, it was a suggestive motion rather than a direct threat.

“Lieutenant, you need to make the call on the radio,” he announced.

She didn’t look up, she was still holding the body of the dead sergeant.

“Hannah, if you don’t get on the radio, we’ll all be killed,” he said with more force.

She nodded.

“Yes we will wont we,” she said with an effort.  She still didn’t move towards the radio.

“Hannah, if we don’t move then we’ll be killed and we wont be able to help them stop this,” he said with a mixture of impatience and force.

Hannah sat up and looked around.

“Okay, okay I’m back in,” she said slowly.  She got to her feet and moved over to the radio.  She began to tune it into the tactical frequency.

“This is Lieutenant Hannah McPherson, 180588K.  I’m the last survivor on the ground here at the initial infection site.  I’m checking in that my team is dead but that I am still able to proceed.  Please advise me,”

There was a crackle of static and then a tinny voice.

“Roger that.  This is Sabre-Two.  We’ll relay that back to command and advise you shortly,”

“Well, they know we’re still alive,” she said.

“No, they know you’re still alive,” replied Oscar.

“You’re non military, I’m keeping you out of this,” she replied.

“No chance of that now,” said Oscar, looking around at the wreckage that had once been his home.