Page 9 of Enemy of My Enemy

Pete nodded and leaned back, resting one arm over the back of the couch and rubbing his eyes with his free hand as Director Campbell, FBI, and Director Triplett talked together, briefing Jack on the spike in threats against him and Ethan.

“We believe most of the chatter is people getting excited and running their mouths. We don’t have any credible threat information at present. Seems to be an explosion of anger and verbal diarrhea, but we’ll be running down every lead.”

“Do we need to change our security procedures?” Jack frowned at Director Triplett.

“No, Mr. President. We’re confident that our current procedures are effective. We can keep you safe here. The first gentleman has just been briefed on his new security detail as well.”

Jack tried to smile, but Director Triplett’s words struck a hollow nerve. His chest tightened, and he tried to swallow past the sudden lump that rose in his throat. He blinked, and in the darkness behind his eyelids, the Oval Office flashed, changing from the taupe, beige, and blue pattern he’d picked out to a bloodstained, destroyed wreck, littered with shot bodies. Blood and brains dripped down the walls, and in the center, Ethan stood, firing shot after shot. The sound, the clap of the bullets, seemed to echo behind Jack’s heart, heavy bangs he could practically feel vibrating through his bones.

We can keep you safe here.

Jack opened his eyes and plastered a smile over his face. “Thank you, Directors. I appreciate your diligence.”

Meredith Peterson, Jack’s new national security advisor, went next. “Mr. President, we are picking up dramatically increased chatter overseas. Your announcement has given our enemies plenty to scream about. Leaders from Al Qaeda, the Caliphate, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, and AQIM have all called for renewed strikes against ‘The Great Satan.’ They’re using this past weekend to drive some pretty strong hatred.”

“Have we picked up anything moving to the operational stages, or is this still just chatter?”

Julian Aviles, secretary of homeland security, spoke. “None of our operatives or our intercepts are pointing to a direct threat yet, Mr. President, but I think we need to be on guard against some kind of attempt, perhaps a lone wolf attack trying to capitalize on the situation.”

The situation. Jack frowned.The situation. This past weekend. They were talking around him and Ethan.

“Keep searching. Push our collections and our analysts to be certain. We can’t let anything slip through.”

The two nodded and sat back as Lewis Parr took his turn. “Mr. President, results have come back from testing the human remains our joint Russian-American Special Forces patrol found in the Iraqi desert outside of Mosul. Positive ID on Al-Karim. We believe the time of death was about a month ago, maybe six weeks, based on the condition of the remains. We weren’t able to find the cause of death, sir. His condition was too badly deteriorated.”

Al-Karim, the terrorist leader of the Islamic Caliphate, a man who had been receiving orders from General Madigan, former vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, leader of a failed coup, and a fugitive traitor to his country. Finding Karim’s desiccated body in the Iraqi desert was a victory, though not as strong as if they’d captured Madigan himself.

Soon. They’d get Madigan soon. Jack’s teeth ground together whenever he heard Madigan’s name and a blazing fire lay banked in his soul, rage fanning the flames of vengeance. They’d get him. They would. Irwin devoted half of his energy to tracking down the rogue general. Madigan had to come up for air sometime.

He pushed past his thirst for revenge. “Excellent, Lewis. That’s a major victory. Our combat operations against the Caliphate are making a major dent. I’ll get on the phone with President Puchkov later today and we’ll draft a joint statement for simultaneous release.”

Parr nodded. “Joint operations with the Russians are going well, sir. Commanders on the ground report that sharing the bases in Northern Iraq has been mostly smooth sailing. A few scuffles between the ranks, but at the operational level, it seems to be working.”

“Russians and Americans working together.” This time, Jack beamed. “We did something right.”

Chuckles around the room before Elizabeth Wall, secretary of state, began to speak. Her words tempered everyone’s momentary lightness. “Mr. President, we have a list of six countries who have released statements stating that you and the first gentleman are no longer welcome within their borders. In each of these countries, homosexual behavior is punishable by death.”

A heavy silence fell over the Oval Office. Jack did his best not to fidget as the eyes of his staff all slid to him, staring.

“What countries?” He cleared his throat, a slight hitch to his voice.

“Iran, Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and Nigeria.”

Exhaling, Jack closed his eyes. “Pillars of our foreign policy, to be sure.” He tried to smile.

“Nigeria’s president spoke on a national talk show this weekend and specifically called you ‘a disgusting animal.’ Uganda’s president issued a statement calling homosexuals ‘worse than diseased dogs and pigs.’”

Silence.

Jack held Elizabeth’s stare as the room stilled, everyone freezing. A slow exhale sounded, and someone set down their coffee cup, the porcelain clinking against the table in the oppressive quiet.

“We never liked them anyway,” Pete chimed in, breaking the silence with a petulant snap.

Elizabeth’s eyes flicked to Pete. “They’re not our favorites in the world, but Uganda is host to African Command and several clandestine military bases. And,” she said, turning back to Jack, “their statements don’t bode well for LGBT citizens in their countries. Pro-LGBT protests broke out in both countries but were shut down by the police with some heavy repression. We should react.”

Slowly, Jack nodded. He cleared his throat, a rough sound in the heavy office. “We need to do so delicately. Uganda is a strategic partner for our military and we don’t want more of Africa pivoting to China. We’ve lost a large foothold in the continent in the last two decades.” Leaning forward, Jack rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his palms together as he stared at the carpet. “But not at the expense of human rights.”

Elizabeth nodded. “We also may have a problem with Saudi Arabia. Saudi imams are calling for a reaction from the royal family, who so far haven’t commented at all. Homosexual behavior is outlawed and punishable by death there, too. We think that the royal family, to save face, will have to issue a strongly worded statement condemning this weekend.”