raid on the JBAB, the number of drones taken, and the subsequent loss of life, including those on the senator’s plane. He also spoke of the key players, Aasif Shazad and Naji Mihran, who were American born and had served in elite U.S. military units. Everyone else on their team still remained unknown.
“We’re going after our own people?” asked Chance. “These guys are Americans?”
“Yes and no,” said Tanner. “They were born in the United States. But their religious culture is deeply rooted in Islam. You see where I’m going with this?”
He went on to review their objectives and then to assign each of his operators to specific tasks. As usual, Danielle would remain at The Facility and helm the computer and radio stations. She would handle data acquisition and analysis, field communications, and the interception of third party transmissions via hacking, wire-tapping or radio frequency scanning, including for cellular calls and internal law enforcement broadcasts. All information into and out of OUTCAST would begin and end with her. The remaining specialists would serve in the field as soldiers, their skills imperative for enemy engagement. Tanner would lead these troops.
“But we don’t even know where to begin,” said Nay after hearing Tanner's skeletal plan. “We need a real start-point. We need something. Anything.”
Tanner agreed. He wished he could give his team more direction. All he could give at the moment were assumptions based on the travel capabilities of the drones. But that was something. "Let's review what we know," he began.
The Reaper drones could fly a distance of nearly 500 miles one way, or half that for a round trip, which kept them within striking distance of the D.C. area. And since drones required a launch point that was most likely far from populated centers to avoid detection, Tanner believed Shazad to be west of D.C., somewhere within the wooded corridor between the northwest and southwest. The downing of the senator’s plane supported this notion when it was air-intercepted nearly two hundred miles west of D.C. According to the map hanging against the wall, locations west were forested areas far from the congested cities along the seaboard, but not so distant that certain positions could not be targeted. But the corridor was long, the landscape heavily forested.
It made perfect sense.
Tanner would contact Director John Casey to approve satellite codes for real-time surveillance of the corridor in question. They would direct the attention of their eyes in the sky to areas most likely to be used as a garrison for covert operations—such as old warehouses or depositories, wasted buildings and factories, locations that had been forgotten over time.
Still, they needed something more.
They needed one of two things: either communication from Shazad, or another drone strike so that they could make an attempt to triangulate Shazad’s position.
They would get both.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Raven Rock
“Mr. President?” The aide's voice sounded hollow and tinny coming from the room’s intercom.
“Yes?”
“Permission to dispatch a live audio/video transmission to Raven Rock from the White House, Sir. Its point of origin is unknown. But the requestor --we think it's Shazad--is demanding a conversation with you regarding the 'state of the nation'.”
“How do we know it's Shazad?”
“When asked to identify himself, he said: 'five Reapers and twelve remoras'.”
President Carmichael examined the faces of his team sitting at the table, each registering their certainty that this was Shazad, who was specifying the objects taken from the JBAB to confirm his identity, since the exact inventory of stolen hardware was only known to those at Raven Rock. “Patch it through.”
On the far wall was a series of high-definition flat-screens that were pieced together to create a single massive screen. The picture quality was phenomenally clear, almost three-dimensional. When the mote
“We’re going after our own people?” asked Chance. “These guys are Americans?”
“Yes and no,” said Tanner. “They were born in the United States. But their religious culture is deeply rooted in Islam. You see where I’m going with this?”
He went on to review their objectives and then to assign each of his operators to specific tasks. As usual, Danielle would remain at The Facility and helm the computer and radio stations. She would handle data acquisition and analysis, field communications, and the interception of third party transmissions via hacking, wire-tapping or radio frequency scanning, including for cellular calls and internal law enforcement broadcasts. All information into and out of OUTCAST would begin and end with her. The remaining specialists would serve in the field as soldiers, their skills imperative for enemy engagement. Tanner would lead these troops.
“But we don’t even know where to begin,” said Nay after hearing Tanner's skeletal plan. “We need a real start-point. We need something. Anything.”
Tanner agreed. He wished he could give his team more direction. All he could give at the moment were assumptions based on the travel capabilities of the drones. But that was something. "Let's review what we know," he began.
The Reaper drones could fly a distance of nearly 500 miles one way, or half that for a round trip, which kept them within striking distance of the D.C. area. And since drones required a launch point that was most likely far from populated centers to avoid detection, Tanner believed Shazad to be west of D.C., somewhere within the wooded corridor between the northwest and southwest. The downing of the senator’s plane supported this notion when it was air-intercepted nearly two hundred miles west of D.C. According to the map hanging against the wall, locations west were forested areas far from the congested cities along the seaboard, but not so distant that certain positions could not be targeted. But the corridor was long, the landscape heavily forested.
It made perfect sense.
Tanner would contact Director John Casey to approve satellite codes for real-time surveillance of the corridor in question. They would direct the attention of their eyes in the sky to areas most likely to be used as a garrison for covert operations—such as old warehouses or depositories, wasted buildings and factories, locations that had been forgotten over time.
Still, they needed something more.
They needed one of two things: either communication from Shazad, or another drone strike so that they could make an attempt to triangulate Shazad’s position.
They would get both.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Raven Rock
“Mr. President?” The aide's voice sounded hollow and tinny coming from the room’s intercom.
“Yes?”
“Permission to dispatch a live audio/video transmission to Raven Rock from the White House, Sir. Its point of origin is unknown. But the requestor --we think it's Shazad--is demanding a conversation with you regarding the 'state of the nation'.”
“How do we know it's Shazad?”
“When asked to identify himself, he said: 'five Reapers and twelve remoras'.”
President Carmichael examined the faces of his team sitting at the table, each registering their certainty that this was Shazad, who was specifying the objects taken from the JBAB to confirm his identity, since the exact inventory of stolen hardware was only known to those at Raven Rock. “Patch it through.”
On the far wall was a series of high-definition flat-screens that were pieced together to create a single massive screen. The picture quality was phenomenally clear, almost three-dimensional. When the mote
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