True Faith and Allegiance

Alexandru Dalca’s cabin chair had been turned slightly so he was facing the monitor on the wall next to him. Chavez moved behind him, while Jack, Gavin, and Midas all stepped to the far rear of the aircraft on the sofa, out of view of the camera over the monitor. This way the President would see only Dalca and Chavez, but Dalca would not be able to see anything but the monitor three feet in front of him.

Chavez pulled the man’s blindfold off from behind. They both sat there looking at a blank screen for a second, until Gavin adjusted some controls on the remote in his hand.

Suddenly the President’s face appeared on the screen. He was sitting at the end of the conference table in the Situation Room, wearing a suit and tie; no one else was on camera.

He adjusted his glasses as he looked at the monitor in front of him. “You’re Dalca?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Dalca said. He seemed unimpressed to speak with the leader of the free world. “As I told the men who kidnapped me, for my liberty and along with a reasonable fee I will give them all the passwords to my computer, and show them who has been targeted by the various parties I sold intelligence to.”

“Well… I must say, you are rather up front about it, aren’t you?”

“I will play fair with America, if America will only play fair with me. Time is of the essence. I imagine the terrorists are preparing their next attack even as we speak.”

The President said, “Did you hear about Chicago?”

“Yes. It was on the radio this morning. Thomas Russell was one of the targeting packages I created. Just goes to show you how much damage can be caused by one small identity compromise. There are dozens in the wind now, and only I can stop them from turning into dozens more Chicagos.”

Ryan nodded slowly. Finally he said, “Who is in charge on that plane?”

Of course Ryan knew Chavez would be the leader of this group, since Clark wasn’t on board the aircraft. But for the theater of the moment he had to pretend like he didn’t know anyone on the plane personally.

Right behind Dalca, Ding Chavez said, “That would be me, Mr. President.”

“Very well,” Ryan said. “As your Commander in Chief, I am giving you a direct order with respect to Mr. Dalca, which you, and your subordinates, will obey.”

“Of course, sir.”

Dalca began to smile.

“You are flying over the Atlantic Ocean right now?”

“That’s correct, sir,” said Chavez.

“Good. I want you to open a hatch and throw Dalca out of the plane. Is that clear?”

It was stone-cold silent in the cabin of the Gulfstream for several seconds. Dalca himself spoke first.

“What? No! You need me.”

Ryan said, “I wouldn’t say need. Your information would be beneficial, yes, but we can live without it. I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Chavez pushed a button to the cockpit. “Captain?”

Captain Helen Reid answered immediately over the cabin intercom speakers. “Can I help you?”

“We need to descend below ten thousand feet. We’ll be opening the rear cargo hatch.”

There was only a slight pause. “Roger. I’ll advise when we are depressurized.”

“No!” Dalca screamed.

Almost immediately, the aircraft began to descend.

President Ryan said, “You had no problem with death when you were facilitating the death of others. Funny that you seem white as a sheet right now.”

Dalca stammered, “I’ll… I’ll make a deal with you.”

Ryan shrugged, as if he did not care. “You already made an offer. My counteroffer is your immediate death. Negotiations are complete. Good-bye.” Ryan looked off camera, as if he was telling someone he was done with the feed.

Dalca screamed again. “Wait! I’ll give you everything, and I’ll help you catch al-Matari.”

Ryan gazed back into the camera. “How?”

“I… I don’t know. I’ll work with these men. We’ll figure something out. I am in communication with someone in ISIS. Maybe it’s al-Matari, maybe it’s someone else who feeds al-Matari the intelligence. I’ll help you. Just don’t kill me. Just let me go when this is over.”

Ryan said, “You mentioned something about twenty-five million. I don’t think the taxpayers want to pay the son of a bitch responsible for the death of so many good Americans.”

“Forget about the money! I will help you in any way I can. You just order these men to take me out of the USA and let me go when we are done.”

Ryan looked at the screen for a long time. Then he said, “Agreed.”

Chavez said, “Thank you, Mr. President.”

“If he gives you any trouble, you boys feel free to go back to my original plan. And if his attempts to help you are not successful, same thing. You have my authorization for extrajudicial termination. No one will question your motives if Dalca dies.”

“Understood, sir. If he is anything less than completely helpful in this endeavor, he’ll go for a high dive and a long swim.”

President Ryan nodded, and the transmission went dead.

In the rear of the plane, Jack Ryan, Jr., grinned from ear to ear.

Soon Chavez called to the cockpit, and the Gulfstream leveled out, and began climbing again.