The Blackfire Protocol by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 64

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The team organized itself into units. Security was rendered blind as one of the officers severed the power going to the security room. Now, every camera in every part of the White House drew a blank. No one would see anything. This was the most critical part of the mission, as absolute invisibility was the key to success. The objective was simple: The president had to be stopped and should anything happen, the vice president would quickly step into his shoes. But they had devised a more efficient way of eliminating both the president and the vice president, and according to the plan, they could accomplish the same objective with the entire cabinet as well. Their focus was the cabinet room. The table was forty feet long, and although the team considered replacing it, there was the issue of how to do so without being obvious. Everything had to be done quickly and quietly.

The night of the mission had been chosen, and with the security cameras off, the team set about drilling two-inch by two-inch holes under the surface of the cabinet table. The holes were concentrated in a two and a half-foot by twenty-foot area centered in the middle of the tabletop. Using specially designed equipment, they were able to almost silently drill several dozen holes in which were filled with nearly ten pounds of military C4, a gray-colored moldable explosive. The inside of the holes were roughed up so as to allow the C4 to easily cling the wood. Connecting them proved to be just as time-consuming as fifteen members of the team crouched under the table, pushing thin wires into each hole. A piece of masking tape held each hole shut, making it

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impossible for the C4 to fall out and allow the wires to stay in place. Taped near the middle of the holes was a battery taken from a cell phone. With a small, flat shape, it was perfect and would never be seen. Taped to this was a cellular receiver circuit. Wi-Fi would not be feasible as the signal would be sent from further than a wireless signal would reach.

Finally, the job was nearly complete. Now, all they had to do was wait. It was typical for the president and vice president to meet with the cabinet after he returned from an important meeting with an ally. The more countries that met, the more critical it was for the cabinet to meet. And with the president soon returning from the Paris Climate Accord, the entire cabinet would certainly be meeting in order to review the information he had acquired. There was only one more detail. A signal had to be given. Someone had to go outside, within view of the fence where tourists gathered. That person had already been chosen. Near the fence on Pennsylvania Avenue would be another member of the team. He would be dressed as an average tourist: blue denim jeans and a green T-shirt. With him would be a 35 mm camera that had been specially fitted with a cellular transmitter. Once the signal was given, the camera would be aimed at the White House, and the shudder tripped, closing the circuit with the receiver under the table and completing the mission.