Chapter 7

Here is the next chapter, and the threats keep piling up. Thanks to my beta for all the hard work today. Hope you all enjoy.

"Threats can be made to huge states and can be attacking whole nations."

Elizabeth opened the door and found Harrison on one side, Blake on the other, with Allison and Jason directly in front of her.

"Right, one thing at a time," she said to no one in particular, then turned to each one as she spoke to them. "Harrison, this is quite an issue you've dropped on us tonight and we need to all talk about it, but right now Stevie needs to rest. Go find your mom, take care of her, and you can see Stevie in a couple of hours."

Harrison nodded, glimpsing Stevie curled on the bed being comforted by her dad, and walked away.

"Ali, Jason, you can go in but I meant what I said. Your sister needs rest, so do we all. Just let your dad know where you are if you go somewhere else, okay? Don't just go off on your own." She bent over and kissed them both on the head and then began to walk away, knowing that Blake would follow her.

Just as they reached the top of the stairs she turned to check that her assistant was with her. "So, what's the fallout from all this, Blake?"

"Uh… well, Ma'am, they weren't exactly quiet when they made their little announcement. Matt heard it from one of the presidential staffers and told us that he felt that Daisy should know in case the press brought it up."

Elizabeth looked up at him. "Were they downstairs?" That thought freaked her out a little bit. It wasn't just the announcement, it was the panic attack she would've been seen having.

"No, ma'am, they're in another building. But you know how news travels in this town."

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, but at least there won't be any pictures to go along with the story. That's a small mercy at least."

Blake nodded in agreement.

"Right, Blake, my daughter's personal troubles can wait. What developments do we have on the events of tonight?"

They started walking down the stairs towards the area given to her department, shadowed by Elizabeth's detail.

Blake decided that the succinct approach was best and he related to her what he'd been messaged while waiting outside her room. "Well, Ma'am, Nadine's contacted all the main staff who aren't here by email and explained the situation to them and told them to remain at home until we need them. Matt spoke to the DS detail about the office, and all civilian personnel were evacuated in time. We were lucky it was during the night. However, two security guards were caught in the blast. One is serious at GW, the other only has a minor injury. Unfortunately, the White House wasn't as lucky. The President's Chief Communications Director has been killed and several of his staff are in a critical condition. There were also several secret service agents seriously injured, most with life-changing injuries. Daisy and the White House Press Secretary are doing a briefing for the morning shows."

They walked into the building where her staff was set up and Elizabeth was immediately accosted by Nadine, Daisy and Matt.

"Madam Secretary, is everything okay?" Nadine asked and Elizabeth looked at her. She knew she wasn't just asking about Stevie but about her panic attack in the car.

Elizabeth smiled at her Chief of Staff. "For the moment, Nadine, yes, everything's okay, but I'll be going back upstairs shortly."

"Very good, Ma'am." Nadine began leading Elizabeth further into the room with the other three following behind. "The President and Mr Jackson asked to be informed when you came down. They're at the far end of the hanger with the President's staff. There have been confirmed terrorist attacks in London, Berlin and here. No group has claimed responsibility yet, however it seems likely that the attacks were coordinated. The National Security advisor is waiting to brief you and the President as soon as possible."

"Good. Check with our embassies and tell them to increase security in any vulnerable areas. Allow all non-essential personnel to be brought home if they wish and check that the ambassadors have everything they need."

Elizabeth stopped walking and turned to face her senior staff. "We have no idea what's going on here, people. There could be multiple attacks waiting to happen. The FBI and Homeland Security will be dealing with the attacks here it's our job to ensure our staff are safe and that we help all American citizens who are caught up in this, wherever they are."

"Yes, Ma'am," all four responded together.

"Nadine, I'm going to find the President. Get me our UK ambassador, then the German one. I want to hear for myself that everything's okay over there. Matt, Daisy, liaise with the White House about putting out a statement about the guards who were injured, then find out everything you can about them. I want to be able to talk to their families when I get back."

"Yes, Ma'am," all three replied before turning and quickly heading off to do what they'd been instructed to do.

Elizabeth turned to her detail. "Frank, let's go find the President. We can sort out any security detail issues when we get there.

The two headed to the far end of the huge hangar, where the number of security detail alone would tell anyone that the President was in this area of the building. She nodded to several agents whom she knew, Frank did the same, and they were allowed through the divider screens that surrounded the area that had been set up for the President.

"Elizabeth, thank you for joining us," President Dalton said from the end of a long table. "Let's sit. Can we have the room, people?" Many of his staff filed away, leaving the President, Jackson, Admiral Hill, several other high ranking officers, the Secretary of Defence, and the head of the National Security Agency, Darren. "Right, fill us in," Dalton said as they all took their seats.

Darren, cleared his throat and began to speak. "Sir, as you are aware, several hours ago we were alerted to an immediate threat to the country and we were advised of a direct threat to the State Department. We have since been made aware of attacks first in the UK and then in Germany, followed by the attacks here. The attacks on both the White House and the UK parliament were suicide bombers, although they weren't carrying enough to cause extreme damage, just enough to kill themselves and cause limited structural damage. Of course, that didn't stop several casualties, Sir. The other attacks, at the State Department and in Germany, seem to be packages sent to the buildings."

"How did they get through the postal search?" Elizabeth asked.

"Unsure at this time, Ma'am. The only obvious way would be to turn a postal worker but that cannot be confirmed at this time." Darren turned to the President. "Fifteen minutes ago there was a message sent to the White House communications office. It contains a video that you should see, Sir." He pushed a laptop in front of the President and several people, including Elizabeth, gathered around to watch.

The screen turned from black to a split of three different people, one with the Lincoln Memorial in the background, the next with what looked like a Mediterranean villa, and the third with Uluru in Australia. The people looked to all intents and purposes like tourists. In both the D.C. and Australian ones there were even others walking around behind them.

The first man began to speak. "To those who wish to find the cause of these attacks, you need look no further than your own doorsteps. It's been your policies that have led us to these actions."

The second began to speak. "We are now the many and you are the few. This is just the beginning."

Finally the third person spoke. "It is now your turn to be afraid, to not know when someone close to you could be killed. Until later, Mr President."

The screen went black again.

The President was the only one to speak. "What do we know about this video?"

"Not much, Sir. We've traced its origins to Spain but no more than that. It's being pinged all over the world and it was just a bit of luck that got us that much information. The men are, as you can see, of varying nationalities and ethnicities and do not have any common markers. The concern is obviously the placing of the people. It would appear that there is a cell in D.C. but the other locations are a little strange. Both Spain, where that villa is, and Australia are not big players when it comes to terrorism in the world so we're a little in the dark about that."

"But they do have internal issues that have occasionally resulted in terrorism. The Madrid train bombings come to mind and in Australia there are rumours of training facilities for terrorists. Perhaps that's what's behind it?" Elizabeth voiced.

There was a sudden noise of phones ringing around the hangar, including around the table, and one of the officers went to answer the landline beside the President. He listened then turned to the small television on the wall and switched it on. Having just seen the clips, no one around the table was surprised to see news outlets reporting an explosion in Canberra, Australia, and a similar one in Madrid. What was of most concern to Elizabeth, however, was that she recognised both locations from her early briefings when she'd taken the job. They were the American embassies in both those countries.

"They hit the embassies," she said quietly.

AN: So the plot thickens. Thanks for reading and taking an interest in this story. I am really enjoying hearing from reviewers and other authors. Thanks for making me feel at home. More to come during the week.