Executive orders - Tom Clancy [21]
What is it, Dan?
Sorry to bother you, but we need guidance on who's running the investigation. There's a bunch of people running around on the Hill right now, and-
Unity of command, Jack observed sourly. He didn't have to ask why Murray was calling him. All those who could have decided this issue at a lower level were dead. What's the law say for this?
It doesn't, really, Murray replied. The discomfort in his voice was clear. He didn't wish to bother the man who had once been his friend, and might still be, in less official circumstances. But this was business, and business had to be carried out.
Multiple jurisdictions?
To a fare-thee-well, Murray confirmed with an unseen nod.
I guess we call it a terrorist incident. We have a tradition of that, you and I, don't we? Jack asked.
That we do, sir.
Sir, Ryan thought. Damn it. But he had another decision to make. Jack scanned the room before replying.
The Bureau is the lead agency on this. Everybody reports to you. Pick a good man to run things.
Yes, sir.
Dan?
Yes, Mr. President?
Who's senior over at FBI?
The Associate Director is Chuck Floyd. He's down at Atlanta to give a speech and- Then there would be the Assistant Directors, all senior to Murray
I don't know him. I do know you. You're acting Director until I say otherwise. That shook the other side of the connection, Ryan immediately sensed.
Uh, Jack, I-
I liked Shaw, too, Dan. You've got the job.
Yes, Mr. President.
Ryan replaced the phone and explained what he'd just done.
Price objected first: Sir, any attack on the President is under the jurisdiction of- Ryan cut her off.
They have more resources, and somebody has to be in command. I want this one settled as quickly as possible.
We need a special commission. This was Arnie van Damm.
Headed by whom? President Ryan asked. A member of the Supreme Court? Couple of senators and congressmen? Murray's a pro from way back. Pick a good-whoever's the senior career member of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division will oversee the investigation. Andrea, find me the best investigator in the Service to be Murray's chief assistant. We don't have outsiders to use, do we? We run this from the inside. Let's pick the best people and let them run with it. Like, we act as though we trust the agencies who're supposed to do the work. He paused. I want this investigation to run fast, okay?
Yes, Mr. President. Agent Price bobbed her head, and Ryan caught an approving nod from Arnie van Damm. Maybe he was doing something right, Jack allowed himself to think. The satisfaction was short-lived enough. Against the wall in the far corner was a bank of television sets. All showed essentially the same picture now, and the flash of a photographer's strobe on all four sets caught the President's eyes. He turned to see four iterations of a body bag being carried down the steps of the Capitol building's west wing. It was one more cadaver to identify-large or small, male or female, important or not, one couldn't tell from the rubberized fabric of the bag. There were only the strained, cold, sad faces of the fire-fighters carrying the damned thing, and that had attracted the attention of a nameless newspaper photographer and his camera and his flash, and so brought their President back to a reality he now, again, shrank from. The TV cameras followed the trio, two living, one dead, down the steps to an ambulance whose open doors revealed a pile of such bags. The one they were carrying was passed across gently, the professionals showing mercy and solicitude to the body which the living world had forsaken. Then they headed back up the steps to get the next one. The Situation Room fell silent as all eyes took in the same picture. A few deep breaths were taken, and eyes were too steely or too shocked as yet for tears as, two by two, they turned away to stare down at the polished oak of the table. A coffee cup scraped and rattled its way from a saucer. The slight noise only made the silence worse, for no one had the words to fill the void.