Dale Brown - Act of War

Several hours later, shortly after dawn, the SATCOM One jet landed at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, closely monitored by Patriot antiaircraft missile batteries and Avenger short-range air defense units surrounding the entire base. The Amarals were taken away in separate vehicles by the FBI, while the others were piled into Air Force blue Suburbans. Heavily armed Security Force Humvees escorted the passengers to the task force training area. They were met by each and every member of the task force…and by National Security Adviser Robert Chamberlain himself.

There was only one way to describe the mood of the place: funereal. Jason never expected a celebration on his return, but he didn’t expect so many glum faces either. Chamberlain was obviously here to deliver really bad news.

Chamberlain stepped up to the door of the Suburban as it came to a stop. Sergeant Major Jefferson was the first out of the vehicle; Chamberlain extended a hand and shook his warmly. “You’ve had one hell of a time in South America, haven’t you, Sergeant Major?” he remarked, smiling at his own joke. Jefferson said nothing. Chamberlain shook hands with Richter, Vega, Kristen Skyy, and her crew. “I’m sure you guys are tired, but we need to get the debriefing sessions out of the way as soon as we can. We have teams from my office inside waiting to speak to you.”

“I need to get in contact with my network, Mr. Chamberlain,” Kristen said. “Jefferson wouldn’t let us use the phones on the jet—he said it was per your order—and…”

“The chief of the debriefing team will let you know when you can make calls, miss,” Chamberlain said. “You won’t be unduly inconvenienced, but they have an investigation to run. Your network has been advised that you’re safe and that you’re in the direct care of my office. Have a little patience while we get all this sorted out, and everything will be fine in a very short time. You will eventually be allowed…”

“Excuse me, Mr. Chamberlain, but that’s not acceptable,” Kristen said. “We’re not allowed to make any statements to any law-enforcement or government agencies without a SATCOM One News attorney present if the incident involves our work. I understand you’re in charge of a very important investigation and that it concerns national security, sir, but the network takes our First Amendment rights very…”

“Miss Skyy.” Chamberlain now had turned his whole body toward the SATCOM One crew. Kristen was no shrinking violet, but she was clearly starting to wither under the slow but definite change in Chamberlain’s mood. “We’ve unfortunately gotten off on the wrong foot here. I’ve apparently failed to make myself clear, and for that I apologize. Let me start all over again, and I’ll try to elucidate my thoughts better:

“You are all material witnesses in an investigation into the terrorist attacks on Kingman City,” he said sternly—all traces of friendliness and relief that the team members were home alive were completely gone. “You will be questioned by various government authorities. You will be held as material witnesses for as long as necessary, and obviously if you refuse to answer, to protect your First Amendment rights or any other damn fool reason, that will just extend the time you’ll be held by us…”

“You don’t have to do it this way, Mr. Chamberlain,” Kristen said. “We can sit down with our execs and attorneys and work together to get you the information you need while preserving freedom of the press. We’re all Americans too: we want to see the ones who planned the attacks brought to justice. We can do this without trampling on the Constitution or the Bill of…”

“You may be an American, Miss Skyy, but I don’t believe for an instant that you care more about America than you do about your network’s shareholders, ratings, reputation, or bottom line,” Chamberlain interrupted. “I used to be a corporate executive, and I know how big companies go into self-protection and disaster-prep mode when the government is involved. I’m not saying that’s evil, but it certainly doesn’t help the government’s investigations. There are lives at stake here, Miss Skyy. Protecting the American people from another attack trumps the press’s right to report a juicy story.”

“Mr. Chamberlain, I’m telling you, we can work together on this,” Kristen maintained. “Call my network—they won’t shut you out, I guarantee it. We’ll agree to sit on the story for as long as necessary until you catch Zakharov, Khalimov, and whoever is financing or supporting them. We’ll turn over every scrap of tape and notes we have to…”

“Miss Skyy, every scrap of tape, video, recordings, or notes will be turned over to us immediately, or we will take them away from you by force,” Chamberlain said. “The chief of the investigation team has a briefcase full of warrants for the information, and he has a federal judge standing by ready to issue more warrants twenty-four-seven. I don’t need your network’s permission or coordination to get the information. And if there’s any information that you’ve already transmitted to your network, that will be turned over to us as well, or we’ll shut down your entire network on the spot.”

“Don’t do it, Mr. Chamberlain,” Kristen insisted. “You’ll have the entire country turned against you once it comes out that you’ve done this. The world press will condemn you…”

“I really don’t care about the world press, Ma’am—I only care about the United States of America,” Chamberlain said. “And you obviously have no idea about the mood of the American people right now. They want to do everything possible to stop this wave of terrorist violence sweeping this country, and they’re doing everything necessary to help accomplish that. They’re donating their money, time, and most important their full support to the cause, and they don’t think kindly of folks like you in the press who think they have some special privilege. You have information that can help us protect this country, and you will turn it over to us immediately and completely or we will take away your freedom and your rights as citizens until you do. It’s as simple as that.”

He turned to Jefferson, Richter, and Vega: “Of course I expect the utmost cooperation from you three. Major, Doctor, you two face very serious criminal charges, but your cooperation in our investigation is more important right now, so you will not be charged with a crime. That means you can be held indefinitely as material witnesses. The criminal charges will be addressed after the investigation is complete, which could take a very long time.

“Needless to say, Task Force TALON’s future was in serious question as of the day you three left this base to go off on your own,” Chamberlain went on. “I haven’t been specifically ordered to shut down the task force, but I doubt if the President will allow it to continue if its commanders are found guilty of a crime. I’m afraid it’s out of my hands. I’ll do everything I can to keep it alive, but I’m sure I’ve lost all credibility with the White House as far as you’re concerned.”

“Sir, we have got to sit down with you and tell you what we learned in Brazil,” Jason said. “We have information that will prove…”

“It’s too late for that, Major—you should have come to me immediately,” Chamberlain said wearily. “We could have taken this right to the White House. In less time than it took you to organize this stunt with Kristen Skyy, we could have mounted a full frontal assault on all the suspects you were after—it would have been fully sanctioned and supported by both the American and Brazilian governments. We could have descended on all those locations at once and set up an airtight trap for those Russians. It would have been Task Force TALON’s first and best operation, an example of what a true military-civil cooperative team could do. Instead, you decided to go off on your own, and now we’re all paying for your mistake. You blew it, Major—it’s that simple.”