The Krakow Klub (51 page)

Within minutes, Gordon had joined them in the
Oval Office.
He was still in a state
of disbelief at seeing Henry Wilkinson alive when the
door suddenly opened, and Carla Montrose stormed into the room. She
was flanked by her four “Secret Service” appointees, who had
already drawn their weapons.

John immediately stepped in front of the
president, just in case. Gordon and Lucas had also jumped forward
and positioned themselves to protect Wilkinson. The two agents
probably thought
that they might well be dead
in a few
seconds,
but John had no such fears.
He knew that Maxxine would use all her powers to protect him.

Carla Montrose was the first to speak. She
was obviously in a cold
fury,
but her voice
was chillingly calm. “Agent Gordon, you are to tell your men to
lower their weapons immediately. I also order you to take this
imposter into custody. He claims to be Henry
Wilkinson,
but he is not. You know very well that
Wilkinson
was killed
in that horrible crash.
This man is a lookalike, but even I can tell the difference.”

Agent Gordon looked closely at President
Wilkinson and then he turned to President Montrose and looked her
directly in the eyes. In his heart, he knew that this man was the
real Wilkinson, but how could he prove it? Montrose
was allegedly involved
in the plot, but how could he
prove that? He shook his head in dismay. With all of his experience
and training, he was totally unprepared for the situation.

Finally, in frustration, he addressed both
groups. “Everyone, just stay where you are. Holster your weapons
and stand at ease until we sort this out.”

After several tense seconds, one by one, all
agents,
including Montrose’s men, returned
their weapons to their shoulder holsters.

Moving to a position where he could see
President Wilkinson better, Gordon stared intently at him.

He stood silently for a few moments while he
weighed his options. How could he resolve the situation? What could
he do to prove that the man calling himself Wilkinson was the real
president?

“Sir, you look like President
Wilkinson,
and you sound like him, but, I’ve got to have
some proof. I ask your forgiveness for the confusion.” He turned
and winked at the president conspiratorially.

Then, turning to Montrose, “Madam President,
your accusations have been noted. However, please understand that I
must have proof positive that this man
is
or
is not Henry Wilkinson.”

He spoke into the microphone attached to his
sleeve, “Agent Crawford, are you there? Please bring Mrs. Wilkinson
to the Oval Office at once. Please explain that her presence
is urgently needed
and that I apologize for
any inconvenience in this time of grief.”

Crawford replied immediately, “Sir, I’m
positioned just outside the residential quarters. We’ll be there in
a couple of minutes.”

Gordon then spoke louder to all present,
“Okay everyone stay put and quiet until I make a decision.”

Carla Montrose spoke through clenched teeth,
“Damn you, Gordon, I will have your head for this.”

Gordon glared at her, “Madame President, with
all due respect, the Secret Service
is charged
with protecting the
president,
and I’m trying
to do just that. We are faced with an unprecedented situation
here,
and it must be sorted out. Now, please
be patient for a few minutes.”

****

Colonel William A. Smith was
shocked when he received the report from his executive officer
about the fighting at the White House. “What the hell
happened?”

“We don’t know for sure , sir, but
there were a lot of casualties. The attack must have come from the
air, but we are not sure of anything.”

The report indicated that the
area of the White House had come under attack and all four of his
Stryker armored vehicles and the entire platoon surrounding the
compound had been destroyed.

Colonel Smith was both alarmed and a
little frightened. Immediate response was required but he had no
idea of exactly what to do.The soldiers and their vehicles had been
totally incinerated. He had no idea where the attack originated or
who originated it. There had been no intelligence, no warnings.

His military training took over and
he calmed himself with a couple of deep breaths. He would act
decisively and he would act now.

Colonel Smith immediately
ordered another platoon and additional armored vehicles into the
area as replacements. He also ordered an additional area of two
blocks in all directions to be occupied by two additional platoons
and another dozen armored vehicles.

He hesitated to storm the
grounds of the White House until he had more intelligence on what
had happened. He would wait for orders from his
superiors.

****

John Scott had moved as far away from the
group as possible and had been communicating with Maxxine for the
past several minutes. He was furious.

“Maxxine, what’s going on? You assured me
that Montrose was in
custody,
but she’s
standing right in front of me in the Oval Office.”

Maxxine was
stunned
,
“Impossible, I extracted her early this morning. She is in her
cubicle. I am looking at her as we speak.”

“Maxxine, please verify
the
person
you have is Carla Montrose, and if not, who the hell
is she?”

A few tense seconds later
Maxxine responded. Her voice was obviously very subdued, “Sir, I do
not know how to tell you how sorry I am, but the person I have here
has the transponder of Carla Montrose, but she is actually Mrs.
Henry Wilkinson.
Montrose seems to have Mrs. Wilkinson’s
transponder. Somehow, the two have been switched. I have no idea
how this could have happened.”

John was obviously upset, to say the
least, but he controlled himself and said, “Maxxine, I want you to
get a remote with Mrs. Wilkinson aboard on the way to the White
House; and do it immediately!”

“Yes, sir, I am on
it,
”
Maxxine replied.

“Oh, and one other thing, I also want you to
send along Dr. Allen. Please figure out how to explain the
situation to him without
causing
a heart
attack. Tell him that he’s going to accompany the First Lady and
prepare her for the shock of seeing that her husband is still
alive. But do this while they are on their way here.”

Maxxine spoke gently, “This
woman, who I believed to be Montrose, seems to have
been drugged
,
probably by the real Montrose. I will give her something to help
her regain her consciousness as quickly as possible.”

“
Thanks,
Maxxine, and I
want you to land the craft bringing Mrs. Wilkinson and Dr. Allen at
the closest entrance to the Oval Office. Protect them with a
gravity shield. Instruct them to exit the craft and go straight to
the entrance. There will be Secret Service agents there waiting to
escort them
to
the Oval Office. Do this as
fast as possible. We have a serious situation on our hands
here.”

****

Gordon had already sent two agents to check
on the First Lady’s whereabouts, not knowing of the switched
identities. Within minutes, he got the response that he was not
expecting. “Sir, she is nowhere to be found. The residence is
empty,
but it appears that there had been a
struggle in the bedroom.

Once again, Montrose
seethed
and
shouted
at Gordon, “I am
ordering you to stand down. I am the
president,
and if you do not obey my orders, I will have
you shot.”

Montrose, barely in control of her rage,
addressed Gordon again, almost shouting, “Call Dr. Newton. He was
Wilkinson’s physician and personally witnessed his death. He will
confirm that this man is an imposter.”

Gordon paused for a few moments, then took
his radio and asked, “Who can please get Dr. Newton and bring him
to the Oval Office?”

After a brief pause, came the reply from
Newsome, “Here, sir, I am almost to Dr. Newton’s office as we
speak; we’ll be there shortly.”

Agent Charlie Newsome was one of the largest
and most muscular of the Secret Service staff. He was also one of
the most
even-tempered
and congenial of the
group, which made him a favorite.

Newsome tried the door to Dr. Newton’s office
and was surprised to find it locked. That was both strange and
against protocol. He knocked briskly and yelled, “Dr. Newton, this
is Agent Newsome. You are needed in the Oval Office
immediately.”

A haggard-looking Newton opened the door
slowly and said, “I’ve been in a sorry state ever since I saw the
president’s murder. That scene just keeps playing itself over and
over in my head. I could have been in that ambulance. It’s
horrible. I’ve not been sleeping so I just thought that I’d try to
catch a few winks in my office. What’s going on? Who needs me?”

“Not sure, d
oc.
I was
just told that
you’re needed
in the Oval
Office ASAP, so let’s move it.”

They rushed down the hall and entered.
Newsome almost shoved the whining doctor into the room.

Agent Gordon motioned
for
Newton
to come towards him, saying, “Dr. Newton, we have a
bit of a conundrum here. I need you to tell me whether you
recognize the gentleman standing there,” pointing at President
Wilkinson.

Newton looked at Henry Wilkinson and almost
fainted. Agent Gordon immediately grabbed his shoulders and
steadied him.

“Sorry, Dr. Newton. I know how you feel. That
man appears to be President Wilkinson. What I need is for you to
tell me if he is Wilkinson or if he is an impostor. You may examine
him if you need to.”

Newton, still visibly shaken, pointed a
trembling finger towards Wilkinson. “I don’t need to examine this
man. He can’t be the president because I witnessed his death.”

Carla Montrose once again lashed out, “There
you have it! I demand that you end this ridiculous situation and
arrest that impostor and the idiots who brought him here!”

John was seen whispering to the president,
who then addressed Dr. Newton. “Dr. Newton, I insist you answer one
question. As the president’s physician, why were you not in that
ambulance with me rather than Dr. Allen?”

Carla started to speak, but Agent Gordon
waved her to silence, saying, “Answer the question, Dr. Newton. We
all want to know why you broke protocol on that particular
day.”

While Newton was composing himself and
preparing to answer, John leaned close to Lucas and told him to go
outside and escort the two recent arrivals into the Oval
Office.

Lucas motioned Gordon over and quietly
informed him that there were two people who had just arrived who
could shed light on the circumstances. He just needed to go outside
and escort them
to
the Oval Office.

Gordon nodded his approval. Lucas turned and
left the room.

Dr. Newton, obviously taking a long time
to compose
his answer to the question, finally
spoke. His voice was a bit stronger and had a small touch of
medical authority about it.
“Due to the extremely
serious condition of the president at the time, I considered it
best that Dr. Allen ride in the ambulance with him. Then I could be
free to call ahead and consult with the Emergency Department at
Bethesda on the President’s critical condition.
It was a
difficult choice for me to make, but I felt it necessary at the
time. I’ll always feel like I should have been in that ambulance
with him, but I guess fate just intervened
on
my behalf.”

Wilkinson raised his hand to silence Newton.
“Dr. Newton, how stupid do you think we are? That ambulance is a
mobile intensive care unit and it’s equipped with state of the art
two-way
radios, not to mention equipment that
transmits the patient’s EKG and vital signs to the emergency
department. On board, you also had
EMTs,
who
are more skilled than many physicians in delivering emergency care
at the scene and in transit. So, don’t give me that lame excuse
that you needed to communicate with the staff. That ambulance would
have been in constant communication with them along the route.”

Newton stood, mouth agape, and then bowed his
head. “Okay, you’re right. I haven’t worked
in
a real emergency situation in years. To be honest, I
was terrified
that I would make a mistake that might cost
the president his life. I panicked. I knew that Dr. Allen was far
more up to date on emergency procedures than me. That’s why I sent
him in the ambulance.”

Wilkinson now pointed his finger at Newton,
“Good story but not true. I know
exactly
what
happened and what you did. Let’s just say that it’s going to be
time to pay the piper very, very soon.”

With that, he turned away from Newton as if
he no longer existed. Newton simply stood there without saying
another word.

Just then, the door opened and Lucas led the
two people who could resolve the issue into the Oval Office. Dr.
Roger Allen supported the First
Lady
and
guided her gently as they entered. It was obvious that she was
still rather groggy from the sedative that Montrose had ordered
given
to her. She looked around with a drowsy
look at the group and then her eyes moved to the face of her
husband. She shook her head from side to side, trying to clear it.
She mumbled something softly but even Dr. Allen, still holding her
upright, couldn’t understand what she said.