October 16th 1415 USS Blue Ridge LCC 19, Headquarters, 7th Fleet, Yokosuko, Japan
Jeremy Hodges gathered the last of his notes and handed them to his aide, David Thornby. "Shred these and I think that's it," he looked around the conference room thoughtfully. He'd spent so long sitting in this conference room during the past four days he felt like he'd been living in it.
Like all of the conference rooms on board the Blue Ridge it was painted a creamy white color, no doubt to make it look larger and brighter then the small shipboard windows actually allowed. Still for a small room on a big ship it had been amazingly efficient. The electronic access had been everything expected of the military and the convenience for all of them of staying on the ship in constant contact with events on the ground in both Pakistan and D.C. had made up for any shortcomings in accommodations. The teleconferencing capabilities exceeded anything they could have gotten from a civilian location and this had all the added security safeguards the military could provide. Still he smiled to himself, he missed the pool.
"I have the afternoon Presidential briefing, if you want to sign off on it I'll get Admiral Johnson's office to transmit it. They'll be glad to finally get some solid information on the Senator's location." Thornby handed the briefing paper to his boss and waited while the other man read it.
"Looks good, David. I have a lunch appointment with the Admiral. I'll get him to take a look at it and give it to him for transmission. Anything else before I go?"
"No, sir, that's all I have. We take off in four hours for our rendezvous with the Seaview. I want to go stretch my legs on dry land before we spend who knows how long on another ship if you don't need me?"
Hodges gave Thornby a friendly pat on the shoulder as he passed the younger man and went out the door. "Have a good walk. I'll see you after my Navy lunch."
"I'll make sure everything is packed and see you at the chopper, sir."
Hodges gave him a wave of his hand. Thornby had been a late fill in for his usual aide on this trips and had done a great job. He'd tell Jake when he got back to try and find him something more permanent in his office. As he climbed up the ladder to the main deck he wondered how Jake was doing. They'd been all ready to leave when Jake's wife had been in a car accident. He'd have Thornby call and check before they took off in the afternoon.
He'd no more then reached the deck, the only part of the ship he could find with confidence from the conference room, when Admiral Johnson's aide, Commander Finch caught him. "Excuse me, Mr. Hodges. The Admiral asked me to conduct you to his cabin."
Hodges appreciated the guide. The Blue Ridge was not an enormous ship but for someone unaccustomed to finding their way around any ship she was confusing and he'd spent much of his time aboard with only a vague idea of where he was.
The Admiral's stateroom was large and comfortable with a table already prepared for their lunch. The Admiral appeared pleased to see him, which rather surprised Hodges, he and Johnson had worked together for two years, ever since President Bannon had appointed Hodges to his current post, but he'd never thought of the Admiral as a friend.
The two men sat at the table and spoke of various mutual friends and the just past congressional election and what if any impact Styles adventures in Pakistan might have on the Senator's obvious presidential aspirations.
Hodges found that he enjoyed this informal conversation with Johnson. The man was well informed and insightful. Johnson had been the commander of ONI for four years now. His last command in the navy, Hodges knew, as the Admiral had already indicated his intention to remain at ONI until his retirement in two years. Under Johnson's tutelage ONI had gone from a good intelligence gathering and counter intelligence organization to the best in the services. ONI's ability to gather intelligence paired with ONI's operatives and the navy SEALS unique ability to act on the information had made them a formidable duo and the go to organizations for most US overseas clandestine operations under Bannon's presidency.
Their performance in this crisis was an excellent example of their abilities. Johnson had had a man on the ground in Pakistan in contact with one of the tribal groups holding some of the hostages thirty hours after the kidnapping and within thirty six hours they'd gotten the first of the hostages rescued. Now six days into the event they had located the last of the hostages and were making arrangements for their rescue within the next three days.
Since the Pakistanis still professed to have no idea where the hostages were or who had them the intelligence gathering on ONIs part had been impressive. Certainly, a reliance on the Pakistanis would have been hopeless in this crisis. Hodges was just thankful that they'd been able to strike a deal with the Pakistanis allowing the SEALS to operate inside the tribal area in exchange for giving the Pakistanis credit for any success they enjoyed.
So long as the SEALS could get the hostages out without revealing American involvement or killing Pakistani civilians this could actually turn out to the benefit of U.S./Pakistani relations, always a delicate balancing act. They'd released the return of the co-pilot as a triumph of Pakistani ISI operations. Both the ISI and FBI had fed off that, citing cooperation between the two agencies in training ISI operatives. Hodges doubted the FBI even knew that the only ISI involvement had been providing the truck to pick up the co-pilot from the SEAL operatives in Islamabad.
They would feel it though when appropriations time came around. He couldn't see pouring any more money down the ISI/FBI training program. So far all that resulted was better-trained thugs in Pakistan and more complacent FBI supervisors in D.C.
"Good job on the SEAL commander's part. Has he made contact with hostages yet?"
Johnson ruminated on this question for a little while wondering when he had confused Hodges. "There are actually two commanders in this mix, one is an ONI agent and he'll be contacting the hostages, the other is in command of the SEAL forces."
Hodges laughed. "I misunderstood your last briefing. I guess I've been at this too long today without getting outside. I have the afternoon briefing note with me for transmission. We can just correct it before you arrange for Finch to transmit. When are you going to brief the Area Commander on the rescue mission?"
Johnson began discussing whom in the military area they should brief, if anyone, prior to the SEAL attack. They both wondered who should handle the exchange of information once the hostages were retrieved and spent ten minutes speculating on what changes this event would bring to the balance of power in the tribal area and its impact on operations in Afghanistan.
Hodges asked at last if he could get out and walk for a while. "I'm looking forward to seeing Seaview at last, but I will enjoy it more if I have a little fresh air and exercise first." Johnson clapped him on the shoulder and called Finch who immediately appeared. Hodges could see that Johnson was very pleased with himself over the events of the past few hours. He decided Johnson was entitled to feel smug. It had been an intelligence coup the way ONI had found the hostages and were now getting a man into the compound with the kidnappers, no one the wiser.
He knew he would appreciate it even more if he could just get a little fresh air.
