Chapter 8

The Admiral and his aides departed. The FBI director and the chief of security entered. "I didn't ask for you, Henry!" The President snapped.
"It's my place to be here, Mr. President," the Major answered. "We blew it just as much as The Bureau did, sir. You can't blame James, without blaming me, too."
"Sit down!" The President ordered. "Both of you!" He turned to The FBI Director. "What in the hell happened, James?" he asked. "How in the hell did they get six hundred of them into the capital so heavily armed, right under our noses?"
"We're not sure, Mr. President," the Director managed, in an almost breaking voice. "We have some theories from the gathered evidence, but so far have not been able to confirm them, where we took no prisoners. We believe they got their weapons and ammunition locally, or from the open and the black market. Some of their grenades and rockets were hand made. They're trained to do that; put together weapons from whatever they can find. But we've got no idea how they got in the country. The only possibility is illegal smugglers, but we never had an inkling, Mr. President, not a suspicion they were here, or, what they were planning. We would suspect that each unit was operating independently of the others. Mr. President, some of them weren't Asian. At least 173 of them were European."
"Yes," the President agreed. "The boy who nearly blew my head off had a slight German accent."
The director quickly made a note. "Of course, Mr. President," he continued. "You have my resignation. Such failure is unacceptable. My God, they got in The White House! It's going to take MONTHS to repair it! Half The Pentagon is burned. They sabotaged the fire suppression system. There were two other attacks, Mr. President. Two thousand men attacked The UN and one-hundred attacked one of our nuclear storage facilities. They were trying to get bombs! But they're absolutely fanatical, Mr. President. Not one would be taken prisoner.
By some miracle nobody was killed at The UN. We lost twenty people at the nuclear facility, but they held until reinforcements arrived."
The President stared at his two companions. "There'll be no more talk of resignations," he insisted, "not under the current circumstances. You did your best, James. Everybody did their best. It's just no one ever expected such insane treachery. But GET ME ANWSERS! I want to know how these people got in the country, who helped them? They're as much our enemies as that slime ball in North Korea! Get going, you two! Let's make sure there's no more surprises. Oh, Henry! The Admiral said some of The North Koreans had been poisoned with a toxin and were dying. Nerve gas?"
"No, Mr. President, something new. The doctors are trying to give us some kind of idea, but it appears to be good old cyanide, but they can't understand how it's being delivered. But apparently their delivery system misfired, and it blanketed some of their own ships instead of others.. We're trying to get a handle on it, Mr. President."
"Tell everybody to make it a priority," The President insisted. "Am I going to be able to work from The White House?"
"No, Mr. President," the doctor answered. "It will be two or three months before The White House is fit for habitation again. The Vice President's office at Blair House is being refurbished for your use. It will be ready in two or three hours."
"Good!" The President managed. "The doctor's going to fight me and I want to get out of here. I've got to get back into the fight. I understand The Vice is doing a good job, but I need her other places. Get my secretary in here."
The two men left and The President's secretary entered. "Mary," The President ordered, "contact the British, the French, the Germans, the Italians, and the Russians. Tell them all we are in desperate need of assistance. I would like to have each of them get two divisions of troops to South Korea immediately, one infantry, one air borne. I would also appreciate two squadrons of aircraft, one of fighters, one of bombers, from each nation. Send the messages privately, but tell the press secretary if he's asked about them. Acknowledge that we're seeking help. Then see about getting me out of here."
"Your wife's already arranging it with the doctor," the secretary answered. "That young Korean lady is out here. She's quite upset. She's asking to see you."
"Then by all means," The President agreed, "send her in!"
The secretary left and the young Korean woman entered.

Page 15

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