THE WHITE HOUSE ROSE GARDEN WAS SURROUNDED by a horseshoe of reporters and photographers. The President was smiling as he shook the hand of New Jersey State Trooper Ezer Nabib. The officer and the President were both smiling, frozen in a pose for the cameras, as they held between them a bronzed plaque that read,
Officer Ezer Nabib
For valor and bravery in the line of duty
and for protecting America
After the photo op ended the President waved and was hurried back into the White House.
The President’s press secretary walked to the podium. He said, “I apologize for the short notice in announcing this press conference. I know that this was originally just scheduled to be the presentation of the commendation to Officer Nabib. However, we do have some information we would like to give you.”
The reporters scurried closer to the podium, elbowing each other for position.
“First, the U.S. Joint Forces Command has finished its initial investigation of the incident involving the rental truck entering New York—the incident for which Officer Nabib was decorated today. It is their conclusion that the truck was in fact carrying a MIRV-type missile outer shell. However, it was only a missile shell and was carrying no nuclear load; it was incapable of detonating. Our national security was never imperiled. The U.S. Joint Forces Command had an opportunity for a real-life, real-time test, and it performed admirably.
“Second, the driver of that truck, Mr. Ajadi, was apparently an unwitting pawn in this incident. He has no known ties to any terrorist organization. He was paid handsomely to drive that truck, but we have every indication that he never looked in the truck, and never knew its contents.”
And with that the press secretary smiled, and turned the page of his notes.
“And that leads to our third point. The State Department and the Justice Department have informed us that the new Islamic Democratic Republic of Iran has taken into custody three individuals who they believe were involved in the MIRV missile incident. While this investigation is still in its tentative stages, this much we know: The MIRV missile was American-made.
“We can only surmise that it must have been stolen from an American base during the time of the prior administration and under the watch of the prior President. Apparently, a Russian crime syndicate was given this weapon, and it in turn arranged for its transportation into the United States for reasons that are not now clear. But there is every indication that the Russian operatives were smuggling the missile into the U.S. at the behest of someone with great power and influence—the international terrorist Abdul el Alibahd, we suspect.
“The President believes that we are witnessing a triumph of cooperation between America and its Arab partners in peace in stamping out the threat of terrorism. After all, it was Ezer Nabib, an Islamic Arab, who courageously apprehended and secured a truck carrying a device that may well lead us to the world’s number-one terrorist.
“We have Saudi Arabia apprehending, and bringing to swift justice, the two perpetrators of the Wall Street bombing—both of those criminals, of course, were operatives of Abdul el Alibahd.
“And today we have the announcement of Iran’s cooperation in the capture of three suspects in the MIRV missile incident. All of the bridge-building that our President has accomplished with the Islamic and Middle East appears to be bearing fruit. And of course, a special thanks goes to the State Department, and particularly Undersecretary Kenneth Sharptin for his visionary diplomacy in aiding that bridge-building process.”
A flurry of hands shot up but the press secretary ignored them and indicated that no questions would be taken at this time. Someone shouted out,
“The Convention is still six months away, but already there is a lot of talk about Kenneth Sharptin as the President’s choice for replacing the vice president in light of his advanced colon cancer. Can you comment on that?”
The press secretary smiled but did not answer, and waved as he walked toward the French doors of the White House.
Jack Hornby was in the back of the news pack. He had his notepad flipped open to the triangle he had previously drawn. He pulled out his pen and wrote down, off to the side of his triangle, the words “nuclear scare.”
Hornby looked at “nuclear scare” and wondered how it might fit into the picture he was trying to put together. Perhaps it didn’t fit in at all.
The reporter looked down at the list of people he was calling. Each name was a candidate who Hornby thought might be able to make some sense out of the three points of his triangle. Attorney Will Chambers was next. He hadn’t spoken to Will since the ill-fated Reichstad story, but it looked like this was the time to reconnect.