Judgment Day -03 Read Free Page B

What’s going on?”
    “Not over the phone. Let’s talk in private.”
    “In private?”
    “Somewhere out of the way. Not in the main conference areas.”
    “There’s not another pandemic, I hope,” she said, forcing a nervous laugh.
    “No, ma’am. It’s something else.”
    “Is it serious?”
    He paused. “Yes, ma’am, I’m afraid it is.”
     
     
    A single overhead fluorescent light lit the small, nondescript conference room. There were only six chairs, and one of them tilted to the side because of a missing set of casters. The room was located in the far northwest corner of the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, an area that President Glass rarely visited. She wouldn’t even have known about the room, had it not been for her Chief of Staff, Yumi Tanaka, who had assured her that it was the most secluded meeting spot in the entire center.
    As Yumi and President Glass stepped into the room, they found General Carr already waiting inside, pacing nervously in front of a long, narrow window.
    He immediately nodded to the president, his lips pressed tightly together.
    “Madam President.”
    “General Carr,” she replied, searching his face for clues as to the purpose of the clandestine meeting.
    He said nothing as her security detail came in and quickly searched the room. When they were satisfied, they looked to President Glass for instructions.
    “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Please wait outside.”
    The three agents went out into the hall and took up positions.
    General Carr turned to Yumi.
    “Miss Tanaka, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a word with the president alone.”
    Yumi seemed a little put off but said nothing as she turned to leave. President Glass reached over and placed a hand on her arm.
    “General, Yumi can be trusted with anything we have to say.”
    “I’m sure that’s true,” he said, offering Yumi an understanding smile. “However, I still think it’s best that we discuss this matter in private. For now, anyway.”
    President Glass considered protesting, but the look on General Carr’s face told her to let it go.
    “Very well.” She turned to Yumi. “Dear, please wait outside with the agents.”
    Yumi nodded, not quite hiding the worried look on her face.
    After Yumi closed the door behind her, President Glass turned back to face General Carr.
    “Okay, General, what’s this all about?”
    “It might be best if we sit,” he said, sliding a chair out for her and then taking a seat himself.
    She reluctantly sat on the gray metal chair, finding it cold and hard.
    “This must be serious,” she said. A thought suddenly hit her like a punch from J. Gordon Whitehead. “Oh, my God, it’s Samantha, isn’t it?”
    He quickly shook his head.
    “No, no. Nothing like that.”
    “Thank God.” She took a deep calming breath. “What is it then?”
    General Carr placed his hands on the table as if needing the laminated wood to help steady him.
    “We’ve received word that chemical weapons have been used on our soil.”
    “What? Where?” she demanded. This was not at all what she was expecting to hear.
    “It occurred at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.”
    She furrowed her brow, confused.
    “That doesn’t make any sense. Who would do such a thing? Who could do such a thing?”
    “That’s just it. No one outside the military has ever possessed chemical weapons. Not in the US, anyway.”
    “Then where did they come from?”
    “We recovered a serial number from one of the Mk-116 bombs. It traces back to a large batch of chemical weapons decommissioned more than forty years ago.”
    “If they were decommissioned, shouldn’t they have been destroyed?”
    “Indeed, they should have been. However, records indicate that some of the bombs were never properly accounted for.”
    “So, what are you suggesting? That someone within our government or the military is involved in this attack?”
    “I don’t see how else they could have