Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

48 JEFF EDWARDS
tour in San Diego. J7 is aboard USS Mobile Bay in the Sea of Japan, and
J8 is currently unlocated. The national security advisor is at Fort Meade.”
“Got it,” the president said, without looking at him. “What else have
you got for me?”
Lieutenant Donahue held out a red satellite phone. “I have the
secretary of homeland security patched in on this line, sir. He’s in his car.
He has a secure-capable phone, but he can’t get his crypto to sync up, so
this call is not secure.
The president accepted the phone and held it up to his ear. “Where are
you, Clark?”
“On the beltway, Mr. President,” said Secretary of Homeland Security
Clark Chapman. “In route to the Pentagon. ETA about fifteen minutes.
Maybe ten if this traffic lets up.”
“All right,” the president said. “How much can you tell me over a nonsecure
line?”
“I can sketch in the basics, sir, and then fill you in on the details when I
get to a secure phone that actually works.”
“Fair enough,” the president said. “Give me what you’ve got.”
“Sir, the British Embassy has been hit with some kind of biological
warfare agent.”
The ice water was back with a vengeance. “Oh God. Is it anthrax?”
“We don’t know yet, sir. But whatever it is, it’s nasty as hell. We’ll
have to get a team in there to look around. But the initial report seemed to
indicate that nearly everyone in the embassy is either dead or dying.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
The president sighed. “Nothing, Clark. Please, continue with your
report.”
“Well, sir, the initial stages of this thing are all pretty much standard
operating procedure.”
The president interrupted him. “We have an SOP for this?”
“Yes, sir,” Chapman said. “At least we have one for a biological or
chemical attack on a U.S. government building. We’re following that plan
until the British are ready to take over. The British deputy chief of
mission has assumed temporary duties as ambassador. He’s given us the
green light to drive the containment and response until they can fly their
own people in.”
“I take it the British deputy chief of mission wasn’t at the embassy
during the attack.”