Chapter LXXII: Deals with Devils, Part II.
0400hrs, 26 December 2013, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
"But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint." Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France.
The President finally got around to looking at the email that had been sent to her by that idiot, Jadeite, since Beryl seemed to think that it was a work of art that she should see it herself.
After a couple of hours watching the battle rage at Socotra, she really needed to get some more work done. Inside of it, she found several news reports detailing the massacre of a small, South Sudanese village by rebels. That was a common occurrence, and POTUS didn't see the relevance to the SAILOR team. But then she saw the mission reports. Suddenly, the pieces started to come together. While she knew that the SAILOR team was not responsible in the grand scheme of things for that massacre, at the tactical level, they were just as guilty as the people who committed genocide in Rwanda, in Darfur, in the Congo.
Amy and Mina knew something was wrong, but did nothing much else other than yelling at the rest of the team to cut it out. That wasn't going to cut it in the eyes of the media. She continued to read the email, the mission reports, the psychological evaluations…all of it. Several film stills were provided, showing the charred bodies of the people that had been trapped in the church…she could make out several small burned forms, children more than likely. She closed the pictures, trying not to let the sad image burn in her mind for too long.
If the public knew that the President knowingly worked with genociders, then all her credibility would go out the window. This was the situation she found herself in. Jadeite had altered their HUDs to give false readings, and despite knowing that something was wrong, they went ahead and committed an act of genocide, wiping a hundred innocent lives. And that was the kicker; Jadeite and the Nakanishi Group made no effort to hide their involvement in this particular operation, with the email itself coming from a Chief Operating Officer. It was the conflict of narrative that would occur after the SAILOR team went public with their existence after they finished off Beryl.
With those evil people out of the way, they would be next; and the President and other world leaders that knew about this team would be pulled down in the fallout. The SAILOR team might even get off the hook actually, saying that they were forced, blah blah blah. But the leaders…no, the leaders would bear the shame of that particular day. The media…the public…all of them would hang them out to dry, criticize them to hell and back for doing such a thing…even though the SAILOR had been almost singlehandedly taking down their corporate masters. That was something that she could not allow. She had worked too fucking hard for this post, gotten shot at, saw the dedicated staff that had supported her shot down and murdered by that infernal corporation, put in hundreds of hours trying to get them back, only for them to fire one last parting shot that would effectively put all of her hard work to naught. That, she could not let happen. That team down there knew that they were in some way, expendable. They knew the risks…right? She kept telling herself that, as if it meant anything.
POTUS picked up the phone in her office and called the COS.
"Jorge, get me the usual group. Yes, the Indian, UK and Japanese PMs. Thanks."
Ten minutes later (a record for getting some many world leaders in a conference call on short notice), she had her usual mishmash group of leaders gathered together.
"Thank you gentlemen for taking this call on short notice," she said very politely. "I understand that we're all under a lot of stress here, with the ongoing battle."
"I have heard from my ships near Socotra that the battle is going not as planned," the UK PM said disappointed. "I was assured that the battle would be swift and decisive, and yet it's turning into a stalemate."
"I understand your concern, Sir Robinson," the President said to him, trying to allay his concerns. She changed gear quickly, steering the other members to her line of thinking.
"Gentlemen, while the battle is raging on, that is not the real purpose of this meeting here."
The Indian PM looked at her funny. "What do mean, Madame President?"
"I have recently come across some information about this SAILOR team that has been working with me and Mr. Hasegawa in taking down the Nakanishi Group."
The Japanese PM sat up in his chair, wondering what fortune had come across his way after all this time.
"This SAILOR team was…was involved in an incident in South Sudan sometime in November. Over one-hundred innocent men, women and children were killed in a remote village in the state of Unity."
She put some of the pictures that had come up with the email.
"We've all seen the pictures, Madame President," the PM of India said to her. "I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here."
"These were taken by the SAILOR team," she said to them. The leaders still looked a little bit confused.
"So?" the Indian Prime Minister asked. "What about it?"
"They were involved in this operation." The President made sure that they heard every word clearly, making her point known. "They were the ones who perpetrated the massacre, whether they were misled or did it on purpose."
"Madame President, why would this special operations team do such a thing?" The Japanese PM finally grew a pair and started asking questions.
"The better question is, why did YOU send them there?" PM Pannikar said threatening. "It is my understanding that this team was under your control."
"While Mr. Hasegawa was in nominal control of this team, as we all know, the Nakanishi Group was pulling most of the strings behind this operation. One of their COOs modified their HUDs to target all of the civilians in the area, and they followed through, killing all the villagers."
"I still don't understand how this involves me," PM Robinson said, confusingly.
POTUS tried to sway the PM to her point of view. "The SAILOR team was going public with their existence after they completed their operations in Socotra."
"Wait, they're in Socotra?" That got PM Robinson's attention. "I was not informed of this."
"That's because Mr. Hasegawa and I allowed them to go there and to take out Beryl and Mr. Kunzite, the remaining COO."
"Madame President, with all due respect, are you out of your bleeding mind?" That outburst from PM Robinson was very uncharacteristic. "What haven't you told us?"
Well, better break the news now, POTUS thought to herself.
"I was personally contacted by Beryl herself, the person defacto in charge of the Nakanishi Group. She still has five more nuclear weapons on the island. She asked me to inform the world, which I did not."
That did not sit well with the other leaders there.
"AND WHY WAS THIS INFORMATION NOT SHARED WITH US!" The Indian PM was livid; after all he'd done, allowing this SAILOR unit to come into his country, after allowing some Indian ships to go into harm's way at Socotra, after allowing a huge military buildup near India…this was the thanks he got?
"Mr. Pannikar, the nuclear weapons have been disabled and disposed of," POTUS calmly said to the obviously very upset world leaders.
"Oh thank god," was the response of practically everyone there.
"But why didn't you tell us?" PM Robinson angrily said. "That stunt could have cost millions of lives."
"Precisely that. If I told you all beforehand, you would have all backed out, and Beryl would have gotten more time to plan, to make us bend to her will, and to accede to whatever she wanted in due time. Now was the time to strike, and that threat has been taken care of."
"By the SAILOR team," Hasegawa added, eager to get back on topic. The nuclear weapons did not so much worry him as much as getting that black stain off his proverbial white suit, per se.
"Yes, Mr. Hasegawa, I was getting to that," POTUS said to him, aggravated that he was interrupting her train of thought. "Gentleman, despite what this SAILOR team has done for us, they are political liability that will more than certainly affect not only my office and Mr. Hasegawa's, but both of yours, and even beyond that."
"I still fail to understand how this affects me," Robinson said back, not happy the way things were going here.
"Sir Robinson, if we go down, we all go down in some regards," POTUS sternly said back to him. "More missing nuclear weapons, secret special operations groups running around, murdering innocent civilians, and we've been covering up in some way, shape, or form, the actions of this group."
This was the problem with dealing with allies sometimes; they had their own agendas and missions, and if something went squirrely, then it would also affect them as well. Goddammit.
"Madame President…" PM Robinson was still skeptical of POTUS' intention, but he had gotten himself dragged into this stupid situation, and maybe he could use it for some leverage later down the road. His popularity was at an all-time high after his brush with death; the normally scathing British press was praising his conduct, calling him one of more "ballsy" PMs that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That was something that was almost unprecedented, but in due time, his popularity would fade and he would be just another Tory PM, posh and all that. At least with some favors overseas, he could cushion the blow that would eventually befall him. "…fine. Fine, I will go along with whatever you've got planned. I trust your guidance in this issue."
"Mr. Pannikar," POTUS said to Indian PM. "I am truly sorry for not telling you about this earlier. However, as a token of my appreciation, I have requested that the extradition process be sped up so that you may have justice for…that, uh…Bhopal. Thing." She still didn't really understand the entire situation behind that, but it wasn't her problem right now. Whatever the aspects of that situation, it seemed to relax Pannikar for now. "Thank you, Madame President," he said, relieved that a very bad chapter in Indian history was finally coming to a close. And he would be the one to put an end to it.
"Mr. Hasegawa," POTUS said to the Japanese PM.
"Hmm?" The Japanese PM even had the balls to look somewhat smug, underneath that stoical Japanese face of his.
"You haven't won any more favors from me," she sternly added. "In fact, you are greater in debt to me than ever before. Here I am, cleaning up your mess, with the SAILOR team."
That wiped the smug look off of his face. "Of…of course," he stammered back.
POTUS sat back in her chair, and took in the information and consequently, the decisions she would make off it.
"I have come to a final decision, after all of the information that we have covered today."