The Krakow Klub (52 page)

Wesley Newton saw Dr. Allen and crumpled to
the floor in a dead faint. No one bothered to assist him.

Montrose, upon seeing the First
Lady, attempted to dart for the door, but Lucas Siegel and two
other Secret Service Agents caught her before she was halfway
there.
Her agents, all four of them, immediately raised
their hands and placed them atop their heads. So much for loyalty
and dedication to the cause.

Henry Wilkinson stepped over the inert form
of the unconscious Dr. Newton and placed his arm around his wife to
support her. Dr. Allen backed away, leaving him to hold her
upright. He reached down, raised her chin, and kissed her gently.
Her eyes
fluttered,
and she began to wake up.
Wilkinson guided her to a nearby sofa and placed her in a prone
position with a cushion behind her head. He sat beside her and
whispered softly, encouraging her to wake up and open her eyes.
Slowly, very slowly, she began to stir and began to fight off the
effects of the drug. It took a supreme effort and all her remaining
energy,
but she was beginning to make
progress.

The president began to whisper to her that he
was alive and that her nightmare was over. He assured her that she
was
safe,
and Dr. Allen would care for her
while he made a brief speech to the nation. She nodded weakly and,
as his words penetrated her fog, she was able to
smile
and give her thanks to God for this miracle.

John looked at Jim Slater, who had been
silent throughout the whole event and said, “We still have a lot of
work to
do,
and we need to do it fast. We’ve
lost too much time
already,
and that could
prove to be very costly.”

Jim turned to Wilkinson, “Mr. President,
we’ve got to put this into high gear and get on with your
broadcast.”

He nodded his head in agreement and then
spoke to Gordon, “I want my wife to remain here. You’re going to
guard her with your life. Dr. Allen will take care of anything that
she might need medically.”

He continued, “Get Madelyn here right now.
We’ve got a rebellion to quell!”

“Yes, Mr. President,” snapped Gordon, then
raised his radio, “Gordon, here. Dancer is back in the Oval Office.
Secure the White House and inform the military to stand down. We
are secure here.”

Madelyn Carson, Wilkinson’s trusted secretary
who had served him for years, had been waiting just outside the
office. She was, as always, the ultimate professional. She stood
tall with her shoulders
squared,
and she
briskly went
about
the business of organizing
the telecast. The only indications of her stress were the damp
little pathways where tears had coursed down her cheeks after she
heard the news that Wilkinson was alive.

Madelyn told the president, “Give me fifteen
minutes, and I will have everything all set.”

The president, again wearing his dark blue
windbreaker and khaki outfit, sat at the HMS Resolute desk and
gently ran his fingers across the surface respectfully.

“Madelyn, you’re in charge of advising the
media that the blackout is over. From now on, they will have
complete and unlimited access to everything that’s going on. Then,
just drop the little bomb that I’m alive and I’ll be making an
address within the next few minutes. That should get their
undivided attention.”

John stepped forward and shook Gordon’s hand,
“Gordon, I’ve already spoken with Lucas about some of this. The
Krakow Klub has managed to get their associates into high ranking
military roles. I’m also sure that the commander in charge of
securing Washington, DC, is with the organization. Right now, we
don’t know who we can trust, so I’m going to place a protective
shield around the White House immediately.”

Gordon was confused. “Sir, please explain. I
have no knowledge of this Krakow Klub and certainly don’t know
anything about protective shields.”

“I don’t have time to explain the shield to
you in detail. To put it
simply,
it uses a
gravitational field to protect the White House from any attack. The
technology came from that
spaceship
that
visited our solar system recently. Everyone here will be safe from
harm.”

He continued, “As for the Krakow Klub, that’s
the name of the organization behind the coup. The group has been
working on this for many years. They have the muscle and the funds
to accomplish their goal. They’re extremely dangerous and will stop
at nothing. I’ll fill you in
on
the details
later. Right now, no one will be allowed to enter or leave the
grounds without the express permission of the president.

“I suspect that there may be personnel
working here who are in the pay of the organization. Be on the
alert. Report anything suspicious to me immediately.

“The most important thing that I can tell
you, right now, is that the president is under my
protection,
and no harm will come to him. You can relax
and use your resources to secure the White House.”

John checked in with Maxxine for an update on
the situation at Scott
Key
. Maxxine reported,
“The commander of CSF635, Captain
Popovich
,
has been relieved of command and a replacement is on the way to the
carrier at present. The military jet carrying the new commander
will land in approximately twenty minutes.

“The bad part of that news is that the new
commander is on my list of military officers controlled by the
Krakow Klub. I can take out the jet before they arrive if that
would help. Or, I could extract the pilot and then destroy the
plane. An alternate solution would be to extract the new commander
and transport him to the space station and into custody. Your wish
is my command.”

“Don’t do anything at the moment. I think
that you’re enjoying the extraction process. Your new toy is quite
valuable,
but I think that it would be best to
handle this through normal channels if at all possible.”

John walked over to the desk and spoke to the
president in a whisper, “Sir, we have a
problem,
and we need to talk about it right now.”

He outlined the situation on the carrier as
briefly as possible and then asked if there might be a way to
countermand an order from the Atlantic Fleet commander.

The President paused for only a short time
before replying, “I know the Atlantic Fleet commander
personally
. I was a member of the Senate panel
that
approved his promotion to admiral. His
name is Hugh Morningstar. I believe him to be a loyal American.
What order has he given that must
be
countermanded
?”

The president immediately spoke to Madelyn,
“Please get me Admiral Morningstar on a secure line as quickly as
possible.”

While they waited, John explained the
situation with CSF635 in more detail. He explained to the president
that any order for an all attack on his island would result in the
destruction
of CSF635 and probably all its
eight thousand personnel.

It was a long and agonizing five minutes
before Admiral Morningstar was on the phone with the president.

“Hello, Admiral Morningstar this is Henry
Wilkinson, and I know that you thought I was dead. Obviously I am
not. Now listen, Hugh, we have an urgent situation that you must
take care of immediately, and I mean immediately!”

A stunned Admiral
Morningstar
stared at the phone. He wondered if this was
some joke. That voice sounded like Henry
Wilkinson,
but he had to know for sure. Strange things
had been going on recently. Could this be a trick of some kind?

Then he remembered his
Senate
confirmation hearing and a particularly personal
question that had been asked by the then Senator Wilkinson. “Mr.
President, please understand my position. I must know it is
really
you. Do you remember that personal
question you asked me at my confirmation hearing?”

“Hell yes, Hugh, and I still think that an
admiral in the United States Navy should not have flunked algebra
his first year at the academy!”

“Mr. President, I am at your service.”

“Good. You recently issued orders to replace
the commander of CSF635. Countermand that order at once and take
the officer that was to replace him into custody. I don’t have time
to explain, but there has been a coup
attempt,
and that officer may be a part of it. Admiral Morningstar, this is
urgent! I order you get it done now!”

****

The Super Hornet had the carrier in sight,
and the pilot radioed, “Navy Tango Charlie Four–Niner-One on final
for landing.”

The reply was totally unexpected.
“Four–Niner-One, abort landing. You are ordered to proceed to Key
West Naval Air Station and land there.”

The Hornet pilot immediately broke off his
approach and pushed his throttle forward as he made a sweeping turn
away from the carrier.

Captain Dwayne Everman was aboard the F-18 on
his way to take command of the carrier after Popovich’s failed
mission. He heard the radio transmission between the carrier and
the pilot and was alarmed.

“Turn this damned aircraft around and get us
onto final approach. I’m going to order them to allow us to
land.”

Then Everman radioed the carrier, “This is
Captain Dwayne Everman, the new commander of CSF635. I order you to
allow us to land immediately.”

The F-18, now almost realigned
on the glide slope
to land on the carrier, heard the
response. “Navy Tango Charlie Four–Niner-One, this is Captain
Frederick
Popovich
. My command has been
restored,
and you are not to land. That is an
order! Proceed to Key West Naval Air Station as ordered.”

Once
again,
the Hornet
began a sweeping turn away from the carrier and increased his
throttle setting accordingly.

Captain Everman, now in a cold fury, ordered
the pilot to land again and threatened to have him court-martialed
if he refused to obey.

The pilot, a highly decorated flier, calmly
prepared to make the final approach to the carrier for a third
time.

“Navy Tango Charlie Four–Niner-One declaring
an emergency. We must land at once.”

Popovich
, who was
watching from his command position on the carrier’s
bridge,
ordered the landing space
be
blocked
with ground power generation equipment. There was
just no way that he was going to allow Everman to land on his
ship.

“Four–Niner-One, this is Captain
Popovich
. You are not to land. If you have an emergency
and must ditch at sea, we will recover
you.
Otherwise
, you are to proceed to Key West Naval Air Station
as ordered.”

Again, the pilot turned his jet away from the
carrier. Speaking into the intercom, he said, “Sir, attempting to
land will kill us both. We have been ordered to return to Key
West,
and that’s what I’m going to do.”

The Hornet aligned with the radio beacon at
the Naval Air Station and pushed his throttle forward. It would
take them only minutes to cover the 50
miles,
so he immediately radioed, “Key West Approach, Navy Tango Charlie
Four–Niner-One, Five Zero Southwest, inbound for landing.”

Roger, “Four–Niner-One, expect runway two
one, winds 1-9-0 at 12, contact tower upon entering final
approach.”

“Four–Niner-One, Roger runway two one.”

Captain Everman, already in a rage, was even
more upset when he saw the military police vehicles waiting for the
plane as it taxied off the runway. Something had obviously gone
very wrong.

Captain
Popovich
settled
back in his chair and pondered his future. He knew that there would
be good days and bad days for a career naval officer. He just never
expected days like this one. And it was still not over. It was
almost three hours before lunch time.

Admiral Hugh Morningstar’s order like the
previous one had been terse:

“Captain
Popovich
is to
reassume command of CSF635 immediately.

“Divert incoming F-18, Navy Tango Charlie
491, carrying Captain Dwayne Everman to Key West Naval Air
Station.”

Hugh
Morningstar
,
RADM.”

Captain
Popovich
was
still holding the communication in his hand when he
was advised
that Admiral Morningstar was on the radio for
him.

He took the radio mike and replied,
“
Popovich
.”

“Poppy you won’t believe what has been going
on in Washington!”

****

Lt. Colonel Smith, the
commanding
officer of the Stryker Battalion assigned to
Washington,
DC,
was in a state of combined
panic and confusion. Reports of the incident at the White House
were hard to believe. Four Stryker armored vehicles and more than
fifty troops, all gone in a few seconds. Impossible! But, the
replacements that he had ordered rushed to the scene had confirmed
the carnage. They had once again encircled the White House and were
about to storm the grounds when the Secret Service had informed
them that it was
secure,
and the military
should stand down upon the president’s direct order.

Smith was hesitant and indecisive. What had
appeared to have been a prestigious command that would have
garnered him national attention was turning into a
fiasco,
and he had no idea how to deal with it.

Fortunately, his indecision probably saved a
great many lives, perhaps including his own.

****