DHS–Domestic Terrorism
Annex
Washington, DC
November 17, 2017
“Excuse me, Admiral. Sandy Matthews is here to see you.”
“OK, thanks, Michelle,” the Admiral said without looking up, “Just give me two minutes and then bring him in.”
Five minutes later, the door opened and Sandy walked over to the desk littered with open reports and several yellow legal pads with scribbled notes and reminders.
“Morning, Jim. Did you ever get home last night? You look like you were rode hard and put away wet.”
The tired man in the not-so-crisp white uniform shirt laughed easily and asked, “Coffee?”
“No, thanks. I’ve had my coffee for the day. What’s up?”
“The National Transportation Safety Board was called into the tunnel collapse, and they have scheduled a press conference later this afternoon. It’s pretty clear at this stage that we are dealing with a well-planned act of terror that took a lot of planning and preparation. They have a temporary caisson in place, and this morning, they started winching the first cars out of both ends. It’s real slow work because of the mud and silt that has encased all those cars in the tunnel. They’ve got temporary morgues set up on both sides to process the bodies. As you can imagine, it’s pretty grim.”
“Do we know how it was done?”
“Not 100%. The divers that surveyed the outside think that the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of high explosives was detonated on the tunnel shell on the eastern side. Someone suggested that it might be one of those bunker busters that was built to blast bin Laden out of the mountains, but that type of bomb needs a delivery vehicle and we haven’t seen anything to suggest an air drop. To do the job from the surface seems like a long shot to me. How something like this can be done with all the Navy ships and commercial traffic coming in and out of port is a mystery, and I can’t imagine what kind of equipment would be needed to do it. The White House is reviewing NTSB’s prepared statement now, but if they open it up to questions, there is going to be a very nasty reaction inside the Beltway.”
The admiral smiled weakly, pressed the intercom and asked Michelle to bring in some coffee then shaking his head, remembering that Sandy had already had his coffee. He needed sleep.
“My god, Sandy, what day is it?” Continuing without a pause, he asked, “By the way, how was your trip to Norfolk?”
“Glad you asked,” Sandy replied edging to the front of his chair and leaning on the Admiral’s desk. “The guy that made it out from the flooded tunnel is a Navy Seal that just left the service the day before. He lost his wife and twin boys. He’s still trying to get on an even keel. Majored in Economics at Virginia Tech, was an All-American swimmer who captained the team, got selected for OCS where he was a Company commander and graduated at the top of his BUDS class. Led a number of special operations in some pretty tough spots all over the world. His operational jacket is classified. He’s an operator, a warrior, not a paper pusher. Quick on his feet and has the right instincts. I want to get him on my team.”
“Really? You know you can pick anybody you want, and there’s lots of talent around. Are you asking from your heart or your head?”
Sandy took a folded paper with scalloped edges out of his jacket pocket and slid it forward in front of the Admiral. “He and I had lunch two days ago. Like I said the kid’s still a wreck, but I asked him what he thought about the tunnel breach. He said he didn’t know what happened. Then I tried a different tack, challenging him to plan a clandestine operation that involved the placement of a charge against the exterior shell. He drew that diagram on the back of the restaurant placemat in fifteen minutes and identified all the logistics of getting the equipment and communications gear on site with no-one ever knowing. He planned the mission real time, and his plan answers all your questions about how this was done in one of the busiest ports on the East Coast. I need your help to restore his clearance and bring him on the team as a civil servant.”
“This is impressive work. You know it will take me weeks to get a preliminary concept out of Martin’s team.” The Admiral removed his glasses and asked, “OK, he’s smart and has a solid record. A good guy, I get it. But is he ready for this, emotionally?”
“That’s a fair question. He’s having a tough time of it, but I think he needs to do this as part of the healing process. Besides, he’s agreed to start tomorrow. I just wanted to give you a heads-up that the approval paperwork will be on your desk today.”
Admiral Jim Wright leaned back in his chair, shaking his head and smiling broadly, “OK. Sorry for the second degree. Thanks for the heads-up…I’ll make it happen.”