Michael Reagan - The Devil's Handshake

“What does he want? I thought he was with the President and Igor?” answered Mikhail, before telling the Gurkha to let him in.

Less than a minute or so later the Head of Security walked into the office.

“Mr. Thomas,” Badr said. “The President told me that you would know what to do with the prisoners I have outside,” he said.

“Prisoners?” asked Mikhail

“Yes the Indian and two Englishmen,” answered Badr proudly.

“Where did you pick them up?” asked Mikhail.

Badr smiled then replied that his people had arrested the Indian at the airport just before the Russians arrived. An action it turned out had transpired because the young, loyal officer thought he might be important, so he had arrested him on the spot instead of letting him leave.

“Despite his attempt to bribe him with two thousand U.S. dollars!” added Badr proudly over the fact that his young officer hadn’t accepted it.

“The other two were picked up running away from the attack on the offices when my men stopped them,” continued Badr.

Immediately Thomas knew why Jawari had wanted him to take responsibility for them. They represented a hot potato for him because internally he needed to show the Chiefs that the foreigners had helped the young country as such they weren’t the cause of the situation they found themselves in.

“The cunning sod!” he thought acknowledging the hidden message of ‘You deal with it.’

“Tell the President I won’t let him down,” he said to Badr warmly.

“I think I have a plan that might just be able stop this madness!” he said to Mikhail as the boys went with Badr to collect the prisoners.

“I am glad somebody does!” answered Mikhail.

Picking up the Codex phone, Thomas quickly dialed the number of the Principal Private Secretary of the President of Russia.

“I would like to talk to the President,” said Thomas once the young assistant was on the line.

After a wait of about five minutes, the Mayor came on the line. Thomas didn’t waste any time on small talk. At the end of his explanation, he received a simple response from the President of Russia.

“You have permission to use your resources.”

Thomas thanked him for his trust. Nevertheless the Mayor issued final instruction for him.

“If it doesn’t work, you’re to hand them over to Igor Valeriyoych.”

“Yes, Sir,” Thomas replied despite privately acknowledging the fact that whatever way he cut it he was going to have kiss goodbye to a potentially billions of dollars’ worth of contracts.

Washington D.C.

The world was in melt down, markets had opened in panic with sell offs everywhere being registered across the board, worse still commodity prices had also risen in sharp razor-like peaks, added to that petrol stations and supermarkets were now starting to report long queues and stockpiling.

All sparked from the response by the Russians that they were sending their “peacekeeping” troops to the Mission in Lughaya.

For the President of the United States, it was about to get a lot worse.

“Mr. President the Russians appear to be making ready their mobile regiments in Teykovo.”

“I strongly recommend we do the same and move to DEFCON Three,” said the Air Force Chief of Staff as a response to the mobile nuclear missiles regiments of Russia departing their home base.

“What! Have they gone mad?” replied the Assistant to the President on National Security Affairs, in shock.

“Sir, they would do this if they believed there is a Danger of War,” offered the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs understanding instantly why.

“May I suggest that we stopping buzzing their troops with the F-15,” offered the Secretary of State trying to prevent the grandstanding blowing into a full-blown engagement.

“We will do both,” replied the President acknowledging his equally tired Secretary of State effort to try and strike a balance between the two options without appearing weak.

“We believe it’s time to invoke Title 12, Mr. President,” said the Secretary of the Treasury, crisply adding his thoughts and to the stress if not the temperature by referring to the law that gave the President in times of war the right to order the freezing assets of companies and nationals of an enemy nation.

“Jesus Christ! Freeze their assets! They will take that as an act of war!” blurted out the Secretary of State understanding the significance of his colleague’s recommendation.

“We are taking hits from Russians shorting our gold reserves,” said the Treasury Head, rebutting him. He refused to be bullied.

“We wait,” said the President, backing his Secretary of State.

“Sir—” replied the Treasury head ready for a fight, only be cut off by the President’s stare.

An hour later the Director of Communications of the White House went on television in response the White Press Corps to accuse the Russians of supporting genocide and comparing their actions to what they were doing in Syria in an attempt to rebuke the Russians claims that the United Nations Secretary General had acted outside his mandate.

Immediately the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs responded in kind by rebutting the comments from the White House by claiming that the Americans were operating outside the Mandate of the UN Resolution by refusing to recognize their requests to hand over security for the mission to Russian Armed Forces.

The result of which quickly had the two Ambassadors on the Security Council engaging in bitter diplomatic war of words over principle with the world as very worried and scared spectators, the financial markets responding accordingly.

Yet, by luck rather than design, both parties as of yet had still so far not fired a physical shot against each other.

In between this, the Russians or the President of Adwalland had not yet announced that they had the three CIA assets in custody. It was a problem that was resting heavily on the President’s mind for if and when they did he was sure the response of America’s allies would be less than supportive and result in a cold freeze on par with what he experienced the year previously over the illegal monitoring of their telephones.

Worse still, his political instincts were telling him that they would quickly lose any potential goodwill they were now receiving from the world’s media over their actions in regard to the rescue mission.

Despite all of that, it wasn’t until the Chief Agent of his Protection Detail gave him his body armor to put on as he left the Situation Room, and then informed him that because the country was at DEFCON 3 from this moment onwards the White House would be in lock down mode did it really strike home the enormity of what he had just ordered on behalf of his nation.

Taking stock, and in his thoughts as he walked through the White House, it wasn’t lost on him that none of his Administration team had said a word in greeting towards him; their grim faces told him the whole story as they observed the President in body armor over his suit, an increased security detail in a circle around him and Heckler and Koch MP5s on full display in his own house,

Entering his private office, he instantly switched on the television set to find a journalist from MGN, who was among the first of the world’s main media into Borama, reporting that the order had been restored to the city.

He switched to CNN. This time he found a journalist reporting that Russian Special Forces were parking up outside the Mission.

“Ladies and Gentleman, we are interrupting the broadcast as it appears something is happening at the White House.”

“Here we go,” thought the President, switching off the television screen knowing full well what they were about to refer to lock down that had been ordered by the Secret Service.