Code Word: Paternity, A Presidential Thriller Read Online Free Page A

this and keep it from happening again!”
    “Ella, you can
be certain that when the facts are in, I’ll be Winston Patton.”
    Ella shuddered,
recalling the awful scenes of Las
Vegas and of her childhood. Churchill and Patton were
fierce. Her father was fierce. Guzman was fierce. She didn’t know if Rick was.

 
 
 
 
 
    Chapter
4
    Shoulders
sagging despite his sky-high caffeine level, Director of National Intelligence
(DNI) Aaron Hendricks sat in an office near the ops room at the National Counterterrorism Center.
He had appropriated it the day before and not left since, except to go to the
bathroom or one of the conference rooms. Looking at his watch, he decided that
the New York Times had posted the
day’s edition. He clicked his mouse and began to read the editorial:
    THERE
ARE NO WORDS
    Just when we
thought we had put 9/11 behind us, at a time when there are no U.S. troops
engaged in questionable wars, just when we had eagerly embraced long-overdue
social and economic reforms in the United States, comes the horror of Las
Vegas. The irony and cosmic unfairness of it leave one breathless, as does the
scope and scale of the suffering visited on the citizens of Las Vegas.
    There are no
words. But words are what a newspaper has, so we’ll try to make the best of
them. We offer a half dozen.
    Wisdom .
May we have the wisdom to reject preconceptions and instant answers from those
who will uncritically blame the usual suspects and offer easy, comfortable
answers and neat solutions.
    Compassion .
For the victims and their families, but also for those who, by their appearance
or dress, embody the stereotypical bogeyman that some will see on every street.
    Focus .
Focus on aiding the stricken of a disaster that far exceeds Katrina, and on
learning who attacked us and why.
    Tolerance .
For those who don’t look or think as we do, who would otherwise be easy targets
for the rage that will seek expression now.
    Inquiring .
Asking the hard questions. Rejecting the easy answers. Leaving no stone
unturned, no assumption unexamined. We must know who and what failed to give
warning of the plot.
    Inclusive .
Uniting the nation and the world to resist terrorism and to address and
ultimately eliminate its causes.
    President Martin’s
first words to the nation and the initial, even instinctive, reactions of his
administration demonstrate that he knows these words and embraces them.

 
    It’s
not going to take as long this time around , Hendricks thought. One
day after the explosion and the Times is already building the gallows. Despite the pious call not to reach for easy answers, the DNI knew the
intelligence community would be blamed.
    Hendricks’ eyes narrowed and his lips
became a thin line as he thought about it. Perfect,
omniscient intelligence is the silver bullet that politicians invoke to avoid
making hard choices. If the intelligence community is performing properly, they
say, it will tell us who’s going to attack, where they will strike, when, how,
and also why. Each time the world demonstrates that intelligence is never
perfect, politicians express shock and disappointment, restructure intelligence
organizations, hand out some extra bucks for “technology enhancement,” and
announce that they have solved the problem, so long as the intelligence
Neanderthals don’t slouch back into their old ways.
    Director Hendricks gave it no more than a
month before he would be seated before congressional committees, getting his
ritual comeuppance, and making his ritual apologies. He knew he was safe; he was too far from the
desks where raw intel was handled and judgments made. But this time, he
figured, he’d have to throw some of the poor bastards who actually did that
under the bus. Then Scott Hitzleberger, CIA Director, would probably fall on
his sword to protect them and he’d have to go, too.
    Glancing at a clock, Hendricks realized
he just had time to pee before taking the chopper to the president’s bunker.