Oval Office
The White House
Washington, D.C.
1810 Local Time
President Ryan walked into the Oval Office to find a skeleton national security team. This, ever so typically, was the magic of Mary Pat. She was a virtual savant when it came to assembling advisers who could help with a specific issue, and conversely, keeping superfluous voices out of the mix. Accurate and timely decision-making was as much about whowasn’tinvolved as who was.
Everyone stood as the President entered. Aside from Mary Pat, Ryan saw Secretary of State Scott Adler, CIA director Ben Stephens, and Secretary of Defense Robert Burgess. There was also one unfamiliar face, a lean fortysomething man in a wrinkled suit. A suit that looked like it had been dry-cleaned ten years ago for a wedding and not worn since. Not until this morning when it had been yanked from its hanger in a panic for an unexpected meeting with the President of the United States. Had Ryan’s mood been less somber, he might have smiled.
“Good evening, everyone,” he said, taking a seat behind the Resolute desk.
The others sat, and without prompting, Mary Pat got the proceedings underway. “Mr. President, you know everyone here with one exception. I’d like to introduce Carl Norris from the National Transportation Safety Board. He’s an aircraft accident investigator with experience on both the military and civilian sides of the house. I thought his expertise might come in handy.”
“Excellent,” Ryan said. “Thank you for joining us, Mr. Norris.”
Norris half stood, as if not sure about the protocol, and said, “A pleasure to be here, Mr. President.”
Ryan mustered the most welcoming smile he could manage and said, “Okay, what do we know?”
Mary Pat moved to an easel with an expanded photo of the crash site. The image was overlaid by a red line, at the end of which was a large blackXthat belonged on a pirate’s map. It was labeled SAM 719.
“At 2310 local time last night, a C-32A carrying Commerce Secretary Moore and fifteen others went down twelve miles east of Bodrum International Airport in Turkey. This overhead image is an archive, simply for reference—it doesn’t display the actual crash. We should have something current within the hour. As things stand, the site is only accessible by helicopter. This area is sparsely populated and the terrain is rugged. The nearest paved road is three miles away and the weather remains poor. It took first responders over an hour to reach the wreckage. It’s been confirmed that there are no survivors. Aside from that, we don’t have a lot of information. Most of Turkey’s capability to respond to an accident like this is based at either Istanbul or Ankara. Their foreign minister has assured us they’re doing all they can todeploy assets, but the bottom line is that this inquiry is going to take time.”
“What assets do we have in country to help with the response?” Ryan asked.
SecState Adler replied, “In terms of search and rescue, very little. There are some helicopters over at Incirlik Air Base, but that’s four hundred miles away. I reached out to our embassy in Istanbul, and they’ve sent two people down to Bodrum.”
“CIA or State?”
“State Department. They were forced to drive, since the airport is closed, but they should arrive soon. The Turkish authorities have promised to provide them access to the scene as soon as it’s deemed safe.”
“Did we have knowledge of any potential threats going in?”
SecDef Burgess said, “I spoke with the commander of the 89th at Andrews. On any VIP mission like this their intel people run a baseline threat assessment. There was nothing unusual on the radar for this particular sortie. That said, wearetalking about Turkey. It’s a Muslim country that borders Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and our relations with the standing regime run hot and cold. In recent months, however, the threat board in this area has been pretty quiet.”
“As I recall,” the President said, “the purpose of this visit was a conference?”
“That’s right,” replied Mary Pat. “The Southwest Asian Economic Conference. Turkey is hosting this year, and Secretary Moore was invited to be the keynote speaker.”
“How long ago was this arranged?”
“It’s been on the books for roughly six months.”
Ryan tapped a finger on the white oak salvaged from the BritishArctic exploration ship HMSResolute.Six months, he mused.Plenty of time for someone to plan a strike. He kept that thought to himself for the moment, recognizing that this meeting was going to be a two-tier affair. He was glad Mary Pat had included Norris, but the man didn’t have a high-enough security clearance for some of what needed to be discussed.
With that on his mind, Ryan directed his attention to their guest. “I’d like to hear your take on this crash, Mr. Norris.”
The NTSB man stood tentatively and moved toward the map. “I should begin by explaining how oversight of an accident investigation like this is managed. The first consideration is always jurisdiction. Since this event clearly occurred on Turkey’s sovereign territory, it will be their show to run. That said, the relations between our nations are reasonably strong, and since the aircraft was manufactured in the United States, not to mention operated by our military, we expect to shoulder a leading role in the inquiry. The Air Force will take charge. They have a go team en route that should arrive in a few hours—the aircraft had to make one logistical stop.
“One of the first tasks will be to recover the two black boxes—the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. In a crash like this, we should have no trouble finding them. Also in our favor is that the aircraft was preparing to land, which means it was likely traveling at a low speed. Damage to the recordersshouldbe relatively minor. With any luck, we’ll have an initial read within forty-eight hours. That will give us clues about where to focus our investigation. From that point, it’s pretty much detective work. Taking pictures, documenting evidence, going over records.”
“I know we don’t have many details at this point,” said the President, “but do you haveanygut feeling about what might have happened?”
“As you say, Mr. President, it’s very early. We so far have no reports of emergencies or malfunctions. Statistically, the most likely culprit in crashes like this is CFIT—that’s controlled flight into terrain. Human error, software problems, air traffic control mistakes. Those things can combine in terrible ways, causing a perfectly good airplane to be flown into a mountain. But in this case, I suspect the answer won’t be so simple. We’re talking about the 89th Airlift Wing. The aircrew and maintenance are among the finest in the Air Force. The investigators, of course, will look closely for any kind of sabotage or terrorist involvement. Surface-to-air missiles and bombs leave chemical signatures and distinct damage patterns. If either of those were a factor, we will know very quickly.”
Norris went on for another ten minutes, detailing how the investigation would play out. When he was done, Ryan was convinced this was a man he needed to keep in the command loop—at least, as far as he could.
