“I understand the need for compartmentalizing when it comes to our biggest secrets. The fewer who know, the less likely the leaks. Look at the planes you mentioned. No one in the world knew about the Blackbird or Nighthawk or even the B-1 Bomber until they were already in use and deployed. In today’s world that is almost unheard of,” he said.
The VP was leaning toward Craig, ready to pounce on his assessment. He had read all of the President’s signals and knew what he wanted for an answer.
“Having said that, I do think it is both dangerous and foolish to let one person hold all of the cards. Unchecked, the wrong person could do more damage than ever thought possible. I think it is absolutely essential that whoever is in charge, report in detail the status of every project we are working on. That person should also verify that the reports are accurate and all inclusive,” Craig said.
The VP leaned back, disappointed. He was looking forward to Hollister cutting his own throat.
“Good. Excellent. I couldn’t have said it better,” the President said.
The VP rolled his eyes.
“I do think it should be limited to a very few. The last thing we need to do is bog everything down with additional channels and procedures. We certainly don’t need more files that can potentially be leaked,” Craig added.
“Yes. I totally agree, don’t you?” he said, looking at the Vice President.
“I do indeed. Too much red tape would choke everything. The reason we have all of the weapons we do is because no one put up roadblocks. You have to give General Devin credit, he doesn’t hinder creativity with committees or bureaucratic BS” he replied.
“Alright. I appreciate your candor gentlemen. I am not sure who I will have General Devin report to. I have several ideas but I want to think on it a bit more,” he said, standing to indicate that the meeting was over.
“Thank you Mr. President,” both men said as they were ushered out the door.
In the hallway, the VP turned to Craig and said, “What do you suppose he saw out there?”
“I have no idea but it must have been something astonishing,” Craig replied.
“When General Devin was here, did he mention anything?”
“Not a thing. As you heard, I was asked to leave the room while he was talking to the general.”
“Damn. I would give anything to know what they were talking about,” the VP said.
“Guess we won’t know until he is ready to tell us. Excuse me, Mr. Vice President, I need to get to another meeting. It wasn’t quite the truth but it wasn’t a lie either. He was bound to have a meeting at some time during the day. He could only take the VP in small doses.
The three of them sat in the movie theater watching the video. Along the bottom of the picture a voice stress analyzer was dancing across screen. The picture wasn’t as bright as Willis would have liked but he had learned long ago that placing a subject under light unnerved them. They tended to feel like they were being interrogated. They had been at it since 8:00 a.m. and it was now 3:30 p.m. They hadn’t even stopped for lunch but rather had sandwiches brought in so they could keep going.
Finally the last shot faded out and the lights came up. They sat in silence while their eyes adjusted.
The Director of Homeland Security, Raymond Eller, said, “Sarah, I have to hand it to you. That was the strangest story I have ever heard and I have heard my fair share of strange ones.”
“Strange or not, we have to look into this or turn it over to the proper agency. I guess the FBI,” she said.
“Listen, Sarah. I just need some more time to digest this. I mean, you and Willis were there and this is the second time you have heard this stuff. I’m having a hard time trying to sort out how I feel. Let’s assume that everything they said was true. Then what? Can you imagine how the general public would react if all of this came out? The government would never be trusted again,” he said.
“They don’t have much trust in it now,” Sarah replied.
“Maybe so, but some trust is better than no trust. This could be the final blow.”
“I understand how you feel Director Eller, but we can’t just turn our backs on this. Does our government really know about this? Is it just select members who know? Wait,” she said suddenly, “Are you one of those that know all about this?”
“Sarah. How in the hell would I know about any of this…whatever it is?”
“You talk to the President directly. I don’t know how much he confides in you,” she replied.
“You are assuming even he knows about this. You know what the word
“Yeah, yeah. An ass out of you and me. You can’t be serious, he has to know. If the reports are passed along like Snapp and the two doctors said, he would have to know,” Sarah insisted.
“Do we know they are being passed on? From what I saw on the video, they seem to think what General Devin is doing is not authorized. How would the President know about that?”
