Chapter Seven – Trojan Horse
Nadine stepped into Elizabeth's office with the report the secretary had asked for earlier that day and found Elizabeth staring out the window. They had all been running around like chickens with their heads cut off since this mess had started. To find Elizabeth so still now, especially when it didn't look like she was working, made Nadine rather nervous. She'd never seen Elizabeth McCord give up, but there was a first time for everything.
Unbeknownst to Nadine, Elizabeth was actually working. She wasn't seeing anything outside the window. Her mind was whirling with the makings of a plan to turn one ambush into another.
"Ma'am."
Elizabeth held up a hand, asking Nadine to give her a moment. She just needed a little more time and didn't want to interrupt her train of thought. Having come so far she wasn't going to risk doing anything to jeopardize the chance to complete this idea. After a few minutes of further thought she grabbed the notepad she'd been using all day and started jotting down notes on her second plan.
"Okay," she said once she finished and took a brief moment to make sure she was ready to move on. "Nadine, what do you have for me?"
"The list of European military involvement in Africa, Ma'am."
"Thank you!" Elizabeth exclaimed and threw her hands in the air in triumph. "Your timing is amazing. Bring that list over here."
There ended up being a surprisingly large number of military engagements in Africa. It gave her a lot of options to consider. She could actually look at who would be the most realistic decoy. A few names could be immediately crossed off the list due to the location of the country they were engaged in or the fact that she doubted she could negotiate with them. When she got the list down to two good options and one back up she turned to Nadine again.
"Call the entire staff in please. I think I have enough of an idea now to get this plan in motion."
"That's fantastic news, Ma'am."
Nadine offered Elizabeth a small smile which Elizabeth returned. She was surprised to see tears form in her boss' eyes a moment later. The ramifications of what she'd just managed to accomplish were only now starting to sink in.
"I could actually manage to save my daughter," Elizabeth whispered.
"You will, Ma'am. You've never let anything stop you when something needed to be done."
"Thank you, Nadine."
Elizabeth swiped a thumb under her eyes to brush away any tears that might have slipped past her control. With one deep breath she locked all of her stray emotions away and became the professional Secretary of State again instead of the terrified mother. There was a lot of work still to be done.
"Get the staff, please."
"Of course, Ma'am."
As Nadine left the room Elizabeth returned to her notes to try and figure out how to go about explaining her plan to everyone else.
O . o . O . o . O
Her whole staff was gathered in front of her and waiting expectantly. This was it. Ellen had agreed with her plan, but that didn't mean her staff wouldn't pick it apart. No matter what, this plan had to work. They didn't have another one.
"Alright, guys. We all know military action is going to be the only way to free the hostages. If those rebels see any sign of US military though, the hostages are dead, so they aren't going to see US military. We're going to run a decoy op."
"A decoy op?" Jay asked. "How?"
"By making our soldiers look like they're from another country. One that is already in the region so they won't be suspected. The goal is to get two teams moving in, one from in front and one from behind. The secondary plan is to lure part of the rebel force into a trap. That way we'll eliminate part of the threat before we go in for the hostages."
"It sounds like a brilliant plan," Matt admitted. "But is it even possible?"
"I still have to talk to the French, but yes, Matt, it's possible. If I didn't think it was possible it wouldn't be much of a plan."
Matt shrugged and didn't ask any more questions. The rest of the staff wasn't so easily satisfied. To them the plan sort of sounded like they were going to play dress up and miraculously save the day. It seemed rather sketchy.
"And how exactly are you going to force the rebels into a trap?" Jay asked.
"Through a little bit of spycraft, Jay. We know that the African Union forces won't get involved, but the rebels don't."
"So we make them think that Union troops are on their way," Blake reasoned.
Elizabeth grinned, proving Blake's theory.
"Okay, but how does that trap them exactly?" Jay pressed.
"Because the rebels won't turn down the chance to eliminate a small group of Union soldiers if they think they can easily destroy them in an ambush."
"And then our troops ambush their attempt at an ambush?" Daisy questioned.
"Exactly!"
Jay threw his hands up in exasperation. Daisy and Matt might have been totally on board with the secretary's plan, but Jay wasn't. There were simply too many problems with it. It was all theory only.
"Ma'am, I understand that you're desperate to find a way to save your daughter, but this plan isn't it. There's no way to actually pull it off."
Elizabeth turned furious eyes on Jay. She welcomed dissent and discussion in the group. It helped everyone make better decisions and stronger plans. Basically they were all able to do their jobs better because of it. At a certain point though, dissent wasn't helpful. More importantly it was never helpful when it wasn't respectful. Jay had hit both of those points rather simultaneously. He was lucky that they didn't have the time to argue about his words.
"For both of our sakes, Jay, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that."
"Then do you want to explain to me how you're going to get the rebels to ambush a group of soldiers that don't actually exist?"
"Through spycraft, Jay." Hadn't they already covered that? "You yourself have proven how far a few well-placed rumors can get us."
"You're going to spread a rumor that a group of Union soldiers are nearby to tempt the rebels."
He sounded incredibly skeptical.
"I still have friends in the CIA. I assure you that they'll know some good people in Nigeria to spread the rumors to. Trust me. Getting the rumors spread to the rebels is the least of my concerns."
"I will have to take your word on that, Ma'am," Jay admitted.
"Admiral Hill has agreed that this plan will probably work, so unless any of you have a better idea this is what we're going with."
Nobody spoke up with any other ideas which officially put any further disagreement to rest. At least Elizabeth had thought it had. Nadine apparently had other ideas.
"Ma'am, I admit this is the best plan we have and probably the only thing that might work, but what about the Nigerians? If we deploy troops to Nigeria even for a rescue mission without their knowledge or consent it will be seen as an act of aggression and possibly war."
"Nadine has a point, Ma'am," Daisy began, "and I assure you that an act of war on Africa, even if it only looks like one, won't play well on any media outlet."
"I will deal with getting Nigerian approval for having US troops on the ground later. After I deal with France."
"And if they happen to, I don't know, say no?" Blake asked hesitantly.
"I'm not going to let them say no, Blake."
No matter what she had to pull out of her sleeve she was going to get all of the pieces to line up. Elizabeth noticed Matt and Daisy looking at each other. They clearly thought she was being ridiculous and rather unrealistic. She honestly didn't care what they thought. This plan was going to work. She wouldn't let anything else happen.
"What do you need from us, ma'am?" Nadine asked in hopes of redirecting the discussion before someone asked a question that would set Elizabeth off.
"I want you to find something to encourage the French to work with us. I'm pretty sure I can get France to cooperate without any kind of incentive, but just in case I can't I want something ready."
"Better to be prepared," Nadine confirmed. "I understand, ma'am."
France wouldn't really be all that difficult since she didn't need to ask much from them. If she couldn't get France's aid she had other options too. There was more than one country currently involved in Africa. Nigeria would be the bigger problem despite her earlier confidence. Without Nigeria's agreement they couldn't bring in troops, and if they couldn't bring in troops the hostages were likely dead.
"While you're at it, Nadine, try to find something for Nigeria too. I want a backup plan handy if my sweet talking isn't good enough."
"Are you looking for some form of bribery or something we have on them to use as a threat or reminder?" Jay asked.
"Either," Elizabeth replied and waved her hand in a clear "it doesn't matter" motion. "Both. Find me everything you can. The more I have to work with the better. I'll sort out the best way to use it after you get it to me."
"We'll get right on it, Ma'am," Nadine told her.
"Do it fast. I want to get all of this set up today, and everyone is more amendable when the request comes during normal hours."