Chapter Two
Just because Disah was gone didn't mean Murphy's Station was out of work. There were still high value targets to be found and either captured or taken out. That meant the people of Murphy's Station were still hard at work, though currently going through a backlog of information and a bunch of cold trails.
"Sometimes I think we should ignore all of this really old stuff and start from something newer," Jose grumbled.
"If there were any recent hits that led anywhere we would be," Jane returned.
It was a common conversation between all of them. A little bit of whining broke up the tedium and allowed them all to vent.
"It's the apparently unimportant stuff in the past that's going to help us," Henry added, as he usually did.
They could all quote each other nearly word for word when this conversation came up. Henry didn't even need to look up at them to take part. He continued sifting through the information in front of him without pause until a notification popped up on his computer. An email had just come in. He was tempted to ignore it, but notifications typically didn't come through unless the emails were marked as important. Curious, he clicked away from what he'd been working on – it wasn't like he was finding anything anyway – and pulled up his inbox. Immediately he knew he'd made the right choice.
"Hey, guys. We just got a high level security alert."
Both Jane and Jose paused, looking up at him. They didn't get alerts very often, and those they did get weren't typically relevant to the group.
"About what?" Jane asked.
"Don't know. Hang on."
Henry clicked on the email and started reading. He didn't manage to get very far before he froze and simply stared at the screen. His whole world narrowed down to a few words, a single line in an email. No matter how many times he read it, it still didn't feel real. It couldn't be. His mind simply wouldn't accept the words.
"What does it say?" Jane asked.
Henry had had more than enough time to read the email, but he still wasn't saying a word. He had such a blank expression on his face that it made Jane uneasy. What could have possibly shocked Henry into that state?
"Henry?"
Still she got nothing. Not an answer, not a glance in her direction, not even a twitch. He wasn't even blinking, just sitting there dumbly with his mouth slightly open, staring at the screen. When it was clear that wasn't going to change Jane looked over his shoulder to read the email herself. Her stomach dropped to her feet.
"Oh shit."
"What?" Jose demanded, suddenly concerned.
Jane looked up, the fear in her eyes all too clear.
"His wife's plane just went down."
"His…" It took Jose a moment to process that. "The Secretary's plane crashed?!"
She nodded and looked back at Henry. He still hadn't moved, so she rested her hand on his shoulder to try and draw him out.
"Henry?"
Slowly his eyes pulled away from the screen and turned toward Jane. She didn't think Henry was even seeing her though. He was still blank and staring. Then the switch seemed to flick in his mind. Panic flooded his eyes and he shot to his feet so fast Jane almost didn't have time to step away and avoid being hit.
"I need to…" he began as his eyes darted around the room.
Before either Jane or Jose could step in and try to talk him off the ledge Henry was racing for the door.
"Henry," Jane called out, but Henry didn't stop.
He pulled the door open with such force it slammed into the opposite wall and ricocheted partway back.
"Henry!"
It was no use though. Henry was already gone.
O . o . O . o . O
"You've got something, Ellen?" the President asked.
"Yes, Mr. President. I have the recordings from right before the crash. They should tell us more about what happened to the Secretary's plane."
The President certainly hoped that would be the case. He had gathered his remaining advisors into the oval office immediately after Ellen had told him she had news. Hopefully what she had would help them determine how bad of a situation they were in so they could figure out where to go next.
"Let's see it then."
Ellen nodded and set up the audio. Between the two files that had been sent over and the plane's automated equipment report they should have a better idea of what had happened to the plane right before it had gone down.
"This first communication came in a little over an hour before the crash," she explained before she hit play.
"Control, be advised. We have a pretty severe storm system to the south. Hopefully that system doesn't turn. We don't want to be heading into that."
Ellen stopped that recording and turned toward those gathered.
"That's the last communication we got before this next one. The weather service did confirm that the system they saw shifted. We can assume they flew straight into it based on this next message."
She hit play on the second recording and the panicked voice of Elizabeth's pilot filled the oval office.
"Mayday! Mayday! Loss of power in the left engine. Dropping altitude to try and find clearer visibility."
They could hear the rattling of the plane and the straining engine for a short time. Then the pilot came on again.
"Shit!"
A second after the word faded away the recording cut out. Silence filled the room. Nobody knew how to respond. They'd just heard the last moments before Elizabeth's plane had crashed into the mountainside. It had left a cold feeling seeping through everyone. Eventually Ellen broke the silence, though she spoke in a softer voice than usual. It didn't feel right to completely shatter the silence, especially considering what they were discussing.
"Our engineers believe the ice storm in the area was the likely cause of the crash. A buildup of ice would have caused the power loss in the engine. They're speculating that when they dropped altitude they almost literally ran into the mountain. Either the pilot didn't have time to avoid it or potential ice on the wings made controlling the plane too difficult in the time they had."
"And they literally just… slammed into the mountain," Russell said as he ran a hand over his forehead.
Knowing that the plane hadn't been hijacked was great news, but hearing those recordings and knowing what had happened made the crash so much worse.
"Not a pleasant thought, is it?" Conrad asked.
Everyone looked down at their feet. No, it wasn't a pleasant thought and none of them wanted to think about what it would have been like to see that mountain suddenly looming up in front of them. While none of them really wanted to consider it, the big question did need to be discussed.
"Gordon, what do you think the chances are that anyone could have survived?"
Gordon Becker, the Secretary of Defense, considered the President's question for a moment before shaking his head.
"There would be a lot of factors involved, sir. It would depend on the visibility at the time, the skill of the pilot, how much control of the plane he still had, and the exact terrain they hit. Let's just say that even with a lot of luck on their side there are far more scenarios that lead to no survivors than there are scenarios that have some."
"But there's still a chance."
Gordon was about to answer that yes, there could still be a chance, but he didn't get the opportunity. The door to the oval office burst open without any warning. Every head swung toward the door, and Conrad shot to his feet.
"Henry!"
The President motioned his assistant away, knowing there would be no stopping Henry. He should have guessed that news of the crash would have found its way to Elizabeth's husband. In reality he probably should have told Henry himself, but they had all been focused on getting more information. It looked like he was going to pay for that now.
Henry was a terrifying shade of white, but even worse than his color were his eyes. The frantic panic gleaming right on the surface made him look completely insane. What didn't help with that image was the fact that he had basically forced his way into the President's office. He moved toward Conrad so quickly that it was almost threatening. Had he been anyone else he probably would have been stopped, likely in spectacular fashion. Regardless of who he was, a few of the President's advisors were tempted to step between Henry and their Commander in Chief anyway.
"What the hell happened?" Henry raged as he continued forward.
The outburst drew Gordon to his feet and one stop closer to the President. Henry was oblivious to everyone else in the room and kept on coming. Tensions racketed up even higher until Conrad waved Gordon back. The Secretary of Defense hesitated for a moment before returning to his seat. By that point Henry was nearly toe to toe with the President and positively fuming.
"Did you get my wife killed?"
Conrad faced Henry calmly before addressing the rest of the people in the room.
"Give us a moment."
There was complete silence except for the rustle of clothing as Ephraim, Ellen, and Gordon filed out. Russell, as usual, stayed put.
"Who the hell do you think you're talking to, Henry?" Russell demanded once everyone else had left.
Henry rounded on Russell, fully intending on telling him that he knew exactly who he was talking to, when the President's hand landed on his shoulder.
"It's alright, Russell. Henry is just as worried about Bess as we are. More so, I suspect."
"That doesn't give him the right…"
"No, but it does give him a pass this once."
Russell's body language made it clear that he didn't agree, but he wasn't going to argue with the President. Conrad nodded to him and turned back to Henry. There was a lot to explain. He had to do whatever he could to calm Henry down, if that was even possible. If he'd just figured out his wife had been in a plane crash he would have been throttling answers out of someone. Henry was at least refraining himself from that, though his clenched fists made Conrad think it was a near thing.
"At this point evidence seems to indicate that Elizabeth's plane went down due to bad weather. That same weather system is making it impossible to get a clear view of the wreck. We have no idea if anyone survived."
Henry's breath caught and getting in any more air became next to impossible. Elizabeth was probably dead. The entire oval office tilted as Henry's mind short circuited.
It wasn't just an imagined tilt. Conrad and Russell had to grab onto him to keep him from falling.
