CHAPTER 8
Jack was stunned. He needed to find a way to slow or stall this mission. “Admiral Austin, sir. Can I have a moment of your time?” he said, clapping his hand on the Admiral’s shoulder to steer him from the throng of people who were trying to trickle out of the situation room, undoubtedly hoping to make it to bed after a very long day fraught with a high level of anxiety .
“What is on your mind Jack?” said the Admiral before stifling a yawn.
“I would like to have a few CIA personnel assigned to this mission to join up with the marines.”
“I’m sure that they have some Intel guys on the ship that can go, so no.” replied the Admiral. The Admiral turned away from Jack Boggs and he too made his way out the door into the corridor. Jack was the only one left in the room now. His mind was racing, as a million thoughts entered his mind at once. First priority was to call his contact and let the Chairman know what has happened including this new mission lead by some gung-ho marine who wants to “cause mayhem”. Second, find a way to stall or sabotage the mission on the boards.
Though Jack too had been working on little sleep, he walked with a purpose now. His body full of adrenaline he headed to the parking lot. In the parking lot, an American Airlines jet soared overhead on its way to ReaganNationalAirport. He pulled open the car door, sank into the Infiniti’s leather seats and started the engine. Jack leaned back and thought of all the places where a pay phone existed so he could make his call. Jack took a few deep breaths to clear his head. He reached to his cup holder, uncapped the plastic bottle and took a long drink of spring water. A short time afterward, he pulled out of the parking space, out of the parking lot and into traffic.
Eventually he found his way to a pay phone in the Baileys Crossroads Shopping Center. Jack dialed the number he had memorized; it rang twice before the call was connected to his contact. Jack out lined the situation; it took him fifteen minutes to finish his report detailing the seriousness of the situation. As a precaution Jack wiped down the phone to remove any trace fingerprints. He exasperatedly ran his fingers through his hair as he made his way back to his car. He unlocked the driver side door started the car once again that night and drove slowly home to where his wife lay asleep in their bed. He thought to himself on his way home, the worst part was that the marines were planning to return and surely they would discover whatever the chairman was hiding in that part of China. He needed to think a way to keep the marines from doing just that, but how, that was the question.
thebrotherhoodoftun 