Active Threat - Part 9


Jed woke with a start at hearing the phone ring right by him. He was sleeping on Air Force One, as everyone else was, having landed in Austin a few hours prior. It was decided that they all stay on Air Force One until it was time for them to go. It was easier and safer than finding and securing a hotel that could house the president and all of the other people that accompanied him. Besides, they would just be 'parked' for a couple hours anyway, no point in troubling a hotel, and wasting all that time, just to sleep in a bed for not even five hours.

Jed picked up the phone, glancing at the clock that read: 4:17 am.

"Mr. President, sorry to wake you sir, but this is Agent Casper of the FBI. We have just gotten word from the President of Venezuela…" he paused, not sure if Jed was awake enough to understand what he was saying.

Jed immediately sat up, Abbey barely stirred in the recliner feet away.

"Yes…what did he say? Riots again?" Jed asked.
"They have captured Agustin Alfonso."

"What!? That's Great! Any of his followers?" Jed continued, just realizing he had raised his voice when he had not meant to.
"They've scattered sir. Appears they were not as loyal as Alfonso thought they were."
"They never are. Tell President Chavez that I will call him later, and I hope our two countries can celebrate this victory together."

"Very good, sir. Have a good rest sir."
"Good night, uh morning."

Jed hung up the phone when he heard the click from the other end, and looked towards Abbey. She was now awake; looking at him, wondering what news he had just received.

"Alfonso has just been captured by the Venezuelan government, looks like the Order is crumbling as I speak."

He then laid back down, hoping he would get a few more hours of sleep.

- - -

Jed, Abbey, Charlie, and Jacobs entered the limo that would take them to the street hit in Austin. They had been warned about how the buildings had suffered dangerous structural damage, and that it was mandatory that all wear hard hats.

The moment they came upon the street there was no question about which areas had the worst problems. Brick and glass had been swept to one side, and Jed could not find a single window that had survived.

"Mr. President, this is the man in charge of the clean up," a lady introduced, stepping aside.

Jed shook the man's hand before they followed him to the command post that had been organized just outside one of the un-hit buildings where most of the workers were.

- - -

The day continued the same as yesterday, shaking hands, and expressing thanks, but that changed when they we about to leave the hospital.

CJ went beside Jed, and handed him a cell, whispering, "they said it's urgent…"

Jed took it and placed it on his ear as they continued to the exit.

"Mr. President, the Venezuelan Ambassador has been assassinated…" an agent reported over the phone.
"When? How?"

"A few minutes ago, by a follower of the Order…he shot at him as he shouted, 'Free Agustin Alfonso! Or Suffer more!' after he fired he was shot down by their security…"
"Is President Chavez alright?" Jed asked, getting into the limo.
"He is in a secure location, within the protection of his nation, which right now appears alright."

"Ok, any news about any other movements of the Order?" Jed continued, the limo driving to the airport.
"This recent occurrence definitely indicates that some are still willing to follow the orders of Alfonso…" Jed knew where he was getting at.

"So they may be targeting me," Jed replied, already knowing it was ridiculous to say otherwise, they had said they were in their letter, but now they not only had the guts to do it, they had the anger.

The agent didn't reply; he didn't need to.

"Is that all of the details you've got for me?" Jed asked, feeling Abbey, Leo, Charlie, and Ron staring at him.
"Yes it is, sir."
"Alright, thanks." Jed handed the phone back to CJ who was doing a good job not looking curious, there's a first time for everything.

"Mr. President, I think it would be the best course of action if you shorten your trip…" Ron suddenly said.
"Ron, I am not going to shorten my trip," Jed replied firmly.

"Sir, perhaps a detour, wait until going to Denver or Chicago, at least until things have quieted down…the terrorists are furious that their leader has been captured…"
"Ron, I don't think a detour is going to allow for them to cool down."
"Then the detour will allow for more security to be set up…more time to catch the rest of the Order members…"
"Jed, I think Ron is right. You can't do this, if something were to happen to you…" Abbey began, her eyes drilling into her husband, hoping that would reach him.

Jed was quiet for a time, thinking.

"Where were the other places hit?" Jed finally spoke up.

Charlie was the first to respond, the first to understand what Jed wanted. "Amarillo."

Ron then realized what Jed was proposing. It wasn't exactly what Ron had wanted, but at least it wasn't a major city like Chicago or Denver.

"We can go there, it's not out of the way, and besides, it hasn't been announced that I will be coming, and I like surprising people." Jed couldn't help the fact that he was looking like a child who had just found a new toy store.

Ron nodded.

"But I still want to go to the other scheduled ones today…" Jed continued.
"Sir, it is still a matter of time…" Leo added.
"I don't want to skip over any major cities that were hit, it's bad enough already I can't get to all of the places that were…" Jed began.

"Then I could visit at the hospital, you could visit the streets, and if there's time, you will go to the hospital," Abbey suggested, trying to compromise. "That should give enough time to increase security in the other cities, and enough time to visit Amarillo."

"We can arrange that sir," Ron answered.

Then Ron looked hard at Jed, Abbey was suddenly nervous, what was wrong?

Jed just sat there, wondering the same thing.

"Sir, are you wearing your vest?" he asked, his voice simply asking, but his face looking suspicious.
"Yeah…"

Ron didn't look so sure.

Abbey made sure.

"Hey!" Jed nearly shouted as Abbey's hands began unzipping his windbreaker.

Abbey then suddenly stopped at having felt the firm hard vest just under the buttoned shirt that was under the windbreaker. Abbey looked relieved, so did Ron.

"You see? I'm not a complete idiot," Jed replied, looking at all of their expressions, Charlie's and CJ's unreadable.
"And to think you didn't trust me…I've been shot once mind you, I know how it feels, and I know that this vest will help prevent that feeling again."

"Sir," Ron began, feeling horrible that he thought Jed wasn't wearing a vest, Jed's broad body somehow made it appear that he wasn't.

"Ron, don't apologize, you were making sure he was doing what would keep him safe, and it was just lucky for him that this time he did," Abbey replied, no doubt she would have taught him a lesson.

"When will we arrive in Amarillo?" Jed asked, happy to change the subject.
"Probably in an hour, sir." Ron replied, happy as well that the subject had been changed.

- - -

They entered Air Force One moments later, and headed towards Amarillo.

"Exactly how much damage was caused there?" Jed asked Leo, who was sitting next to him.
"Mainly broken windows, sir."
"Injuries?" Jed asked.

"I am not sure, but they are probably similar to the ones we have already come across, but the number injured should not be far less."
"That's good. What is the estimate on that?"
"They are still calculating, but I'm sure it is near a thousand across the nation, everything from smoke inhalation, to serious burns…"

Jed nodded, remembering the countless people he quietly prayed for, as well as openly prayed for, that occurrence, playing back in his mind…

"Sir, you didn't need to come…my brother and I will be fine…" a man replied, laying on one of the beds along the wall, his brother sitting in the chair next to him, his arm in a sling. The brother in the bed had large cuts on his face and a deep one on his forehead that called for the whole forehead to be wrapped. His left arm was gently wrapped in gaze, and rested across his chest.

"I wanted to," Jed replied, pulling up a chair opposite his brother. "Anything you would like for me to do, I can be pretty persuasive if I need to be…"

The brothers smiled.

"Can you make sure they give us real food?" the brother in the chair asked jokingly.
"I could try…"

"Sir…this might seem…" he couldn't find the words, and really didn't much energy to talk much, but he went on despite of it. "Me and my brother shouldn't have made it out, it was a miracle that we did, I was just wondering…would you say a prayer with us, thanking G-d that we did?"

Jed then remembered nodding, taking hold of the man's right hand and reaching over the bed to grab hold of the brother's, before saying a prayer. It was nothing grand, simply what needed to be said, and that was more than enough.

Jed left the brothers with two handshakes and a nod, as well as happy tearful eyes all around.

- - -

Air Force One landed, the entourage of limos waiting for them to pile in and head inside the city of Amarillo.

Mike Green was a Chief Fireman; he was one of the first at the scene two nights ago. It had been a long time since he had seen that much fire in such a small block of space. He was now helping to coordinate the clean up of the street that had been assaulted by no less that ten pipe bombs.

He had just finished telling some of the volunteers that they could sweep up some glass on the side walks when he heard sirens.

Lots of Sirens.

There was no doubt that they were headed their way.

Most of the FBI had already left, having gathered the pipe bomb fragments and most of the evidence, if not all of it. The National Reservists had calmed and still patrolled the area, though the police were still on high alert.

"Henry, what's going on?" Mike asked the chief of police, as the man progressed towards him, a smile on his face.
"The President is coming…"

Just then Mike saw the police cars and limos driving passed, until they stopped, the near to the middle limo on the corner of the intersection.

He then saw Jed as well as Charlie and several agents step out of the limo, walk across the street onto the intersection and side that joined onto the street Mike was at.

Jed made it to him in no time, a smile on his face.

"Mr. President…" Mike stuttered, just able to keep his hand steady.
"Hello," he replied. "Sorry to be meeting under these circumstances…" Jed continued, giving the fire chief's hand a squeeze.
"Yes, sir."

The street was a four lane street. On either side there were wide side walks to allow for many people to get to and from shops and restaurants. It didn't take long for the word to spread that the President was on the street, and rumor also had it that the First Lady was making her visit at the Hospital at the same time.

The police had everything relatively secure, though not to Ron's exact liking, it was still alright. Besides, Ron had of course made his own perimeter with his agents, though any precautions at all seemed unneeded for the people seemed friendly enough.

"So eleven pipe bombs had been used?" Jed asked an FBI agent that was near, as they continued down the battered street.
"That is how much we found for sure, we still need to examine other evidence though…"

Jed nodded, coming to a blackened gutted out building.

"What was this store?" Jed asked the Fire Chief.
"The Bread Store, 'Little Dimple's Dough'," he answered. "That was the store that got it the worst…talk about toasted…"
"You were the first on the scene?" Jed asked.

"The first one in uniform, sir. Some of my friends were down here during the attack. One of them captured one of them with the help of a lady…would you like to meet them sir?"

"Yes, I would…" Mike then led Jed, Charlie, and Agents Jacobs into one of the buildings that had received almost no damage. Within there were women fixing lunches and handing out refreshments, as well as men resting.

Abbey was of course visiting the people in the somewhat near hospital, the hospital where most of the victims went, and Jed had ordered Ron to accompany her, Ron obliged, making Jacobs in charge when it came to the president.

"Sir, this is Leeann Butters, and my friend Jake Reed, they're the ones that caught one of them…"

Leeann was a small, short, elderly, Japanese lady. Jake was a huge man that rivaled even Curtis.
He shook their hands after surprising everyone when he entered.

"I hear you two stopped one of the men responsible." Jed spoke, Leeann blushed.
"Leeann did most of the work sir, that man didn't see what hit him…" Jake said, making Leeann blush even more.
"What hit him?" Jed asked.
"Her purse…"

Jed smiled.

"The best weapon, discreet, and easy to use," Jed responded. "So where did you come in?"
"Oh, I sort of had to save him from her…"

Jed continued meeting the workers, loosing all track of time, all along the way Charlie informing him that their time was getting short.

"Sir, I don't think you will have time to visit the hospital…we have been here for over an hour, when we were supposed to be over there a half an hour ago."
"Mr. President," Jacobs replied, his hand on his ear. "Ron is now getting ready to take the First Lady to Air Force One, sir. If we are to get to the other cities, we should go soon."
"Alright, I suppose we need to leave…" Jed agreed.

They had done a lot, had met all of the people there, and had shaken a lot of hands. The people were grateful that he had come out and people from all over the city were now along the city streets, just hoping that they could catch a glimpse of the President.

Jed stopped at the side of the limo, Charlie standing beside him by the back wheel. Jacobs reached over and opened the car door, Jed turned to the people to give them one last wave before he returned to Air Force One to continue on to Denver.

The people were ecstatic; rope lines having been constructed moments after Jed had arrived and they were now crammed full of people, all waving and cheering from across the street in clear view of the President.

Jed placed his right hand on the door, opened by Jacobs, and was about to wave with his left when suddenly all went wrong.

It was unreal; it was as if it was going frame by frame, watching it on a movie screen.

A shout of declaration boomed over the crowd, declaring, "Free Agustin Alfonso!"

What was said afterwards was drowned out by something so loud and continuous, it was as if it was a series of 'pops'…for that was exactly what it was…

The next thing Jed felt was Charlie whamming him hard into the car, severe pressure on his chest, a burning pain on the side of his neck, and then his head bouncing off of the long back seat as his body continued to slide in.

Soon after he felt increased weight on his chest, as if there was another person on him.

There was a WHAM of being propelled in;
SLAM of the limo door;
TING-TING-TING of something hard hitting metal;
TFF-TFF-TFF of something hitting the limo windows;
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG of agent guns;
then SCHREEEEEE of wheels attempting to get traction.

Then Jed felt the limo move so fast he felt himself being pushed slightly into the back rest, just as he realized an odd wet sensation near his face.

- - -

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