Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

W ASHINGTON , D.C.

Maggie Thomas held the White House in high esteem. To her it not only represented the pinnacle of political power but was also a shining symbol of what America stood for.

The character of the person who sat in the Oval Office was exceedingly important. They set the tone for the nation and were a projection to the rest of the world of how the United States saw itself. In her estimation, Paul Porter was an excellent president.

She had come to that decision based on who the man was, not on his party affiliation. Maggie prided herself on her lack of political bias. It was something else she had inherited from her grandmother, and it had served her well in D.C.

The only lens through which she viewed politics was "will the issue in question serve the interests of the American people and make the country better?" That was it. Plain and simple.

Over the course of his presidency, Porter had been faced with difficult foreign policy challenges. Each time, he had stepped up, done the right thing, and told the American people the truth—regardless of the consequences to his career. His courage, humility, and steadfast dedication to integrity were not only refreshing, but they also inspired fierce loyalty in the people who worked for him.

"Nervous?" Conroy asked as they entered the West Wing and headed toward the Cabinet Room.

"No," Maggie replied. "I've briefed the president before."

Steady as a fucking rock, Conroy thought to himself. Good. Competence and sobriety were exactly what they needed right now.

"POTUS likes you," the DDO stated. "So, there's nothing to be nervous about."

"Andy, I'm not nervous. And whether he likes me or not is inconsequential. That's not what I'm paid for."

"You're right," Conroy conceded. "I apologize. I guess I may be the one who's a little bit nervous."

In the middle of the hallway, Maggie stopped and looked at him. "You? Why?"

"I hear the president's team is extremely unhappy with the lack of visibility on Belarus. They've sharpened one of the fence posts along the South Lawn and are shopping for the right head to put on it."

"Who told you that?"

"I've got a source inside the administration."

"Of course you do," Maggie replied. "Whoever it is, they're lying to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"If we're correct, the world is a hair's breadth away from Russia detonating a nuclear weapon. As unhappy as some on President Porter's team may be with our penetration of Minsk, he's not going to begin swapping out horses in the middle of the river."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too dangerous. We're one intelligence report away from the DEFCON status being raised. Playing musical chairs at the Agency isn't going to fix things. Not right now. Trust me, Porter's a pragmatist. If we continue to provide him with the best available information, he'll make the right decisions. He's not going to allow himself to be distracted with personnel issues."

"I hope you're right. It would be a shame to let you have all the fun."

"Right," Maggie said dryly, as she started walking again. "Especially when there's more than enough ‘fun' to go around."

Upon entering the Cabinet Room, they saw that the members of the National Security Council were already seated at the large mahogany table. As Conroy knew several of them, he walked over to shake hands and say hello.

While Maggie had briefed the president before, it had always been in the Oval Office. This was her first meeting in the Cabinet Room. A bit of a history buff, she had read up on it during the ride over from Langley.

Each of the cabinet member's chairs has a brass plaque on the back of it with the name of their position. The president's, which is dead center on the east side of the table and is two inches taller than the others, has a plaque that reads, THE PRESIDENT .

The table had been a gift in 1970 from President Richard Nixon. All things considered, it seemed an odd item to have retained, but considering what it would have cost to replace, it was probably better for the taxpayers to leave it where it was. It also admittedly intrigued Maggie to wonder if any of the recording devices Nixon used to secretly tape conversations in the Cabinet Room involved this very same table.

Glancing around the room, she could identify dozens of places where current technology could be incorporated to covertly capture both audio and video. There was no doubt that even Nixon would be shocked by how far things had come.

The room was formal, but comfortable. A rich carpet woven with oversize stars and olive leaves covered the floor. On the walls were portraits of past presidents, each painting personally selected by President Porter himself.

A row of windows, with views out onto the Rose Garden, bathed the room in midmorning light and added a touch of momentary tranquility to the space.

Then, without any fanfare, the door to the adjoining Oval Office opened and the president stepped inside, followed by his national security advisor. Everyone in the Cabinet Room rose to attention.

"Good morning," Porter said, bidding the attendees to be seated. "We've got a lot to go over, so let's get started."

They all took their seats and shifted their attention to the national security advisor as Porter handed him the reins.

After a couple of quick housekeeping issues, the NSA transitioned to the reason the meeting had been called. The United States and its allies were growing increasingly concerned, not only about the apparent presence of nuclear weapons in Belarus, but also Russia's intent to use them.

He then invited the Director of National Intelligence to speak.

The DNI ran down the recent intelligence discoveries by the CIA, including Harvath's revelation that at least two oligarchs close to Peshkov—Nekrasov and Tsybulsky, along with their families, had been summoned back to Russia and his Black Sea complex immediately.

Then he let the other shoe drop, updating everyone on that morning's satellite imagery and the findings from the Belarus desk. The impact of the discovery rippled around the table. It was the most disturbing piece of intelligence yet to come to light.

Once the NSC members had enough time to digest the images, the DNI introduced Maggie and asked her to give a quick analysis of the situation. Clearing her throat, Maggie thanked the DNI and launched into her assessment.

"Since its invasion, Russia has used a myriad of nuclear threats, both implicit and explicit, in an effort to influence foreign decision-making and erode Western support for Ukraine. We believe that these threats, along with Russia's possible nuclear force deployment to Belarus, raise the risk of an actual nuclear weapon being used to the highest level in decades.

"As the global community works to minimize these risks, Russia has blocked consensus on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, suspended the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and withdrawn its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We don't see this as mere saber-rattling by Moscow. We believe that President Peshkov and the Kremlin are transmitting a clear signal that they are no longer bound by any rules regarding their nuclear weapons.

"Put aside for a moment what belligerents like North Korea and Iran are taking away from this. Think about what China is learning. Any calculation they're making about an invasion of Taiwan now includes consideration of how long NATO took to respond to Ukraine. Not only was NATO slow out of the blocks, but it was also slow to escalate the types of munitions and equipment being sent, all out of fear that Russia ‘might' resort to the use of nuclear weapons.

"We are now in an era where our previous norms have been shattered. Perhaps irreparably so. The one consistent throughline, however is Peshkov. He doesn't hide his intentions. He tells the world what he is going to do, and then he does it, whether that's ‘liberating' the Donbas and the Crimean Peninsula, or his full-on invasion of Ukraine. He's actually one of our best sources of intelligence. We should take him at his word. Especially when it comes to his intention to use nuclear weapons. He's not bluffing. He's telling us what's coming next."

Maggie took a moment to let that sink in as she got a read of the room. No one spoke. Every set of eyes was glued to her.

Knowing she was about to shake the building down to its foundation, she chose her next words with the utmost caution. "We believe, with a high degree of confidence, that Russia intends to use a limited nuclear weapon, imminently. "