Red Death Read online

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  At the White House, Austin showed the Secret Service his credentials. Their eyes widened. They’d heard of Zero-Level clearance, but had never actually seen anyone who had it.

  “Oh – uh, please, Sir, come this way,” said the lead agent. They hurriedly escorted Austin directly to the Oval Office.

  “Mr. President,” said Austin. “I’m sorry to barge in on you, but this is absolutely critical.”

  The president nodded to the Secret Service agents, who left the room and closed the door.

  “What is it Austin,” asked the president. The Commander in Chief was the only human alive who was privy to the existence and nature of The Order.

  “It’s the worst case scenario, Sir. The one we briefed you on last week. We need the authorization to make our move. Now.”

  “Understood. What do you need me to do?”

  “Contact NORAD and scramble four F35s. Destination is Virginia.”

  “They won’t arrive for about ninety minutes,” said the president. “Is that soon enough?”

  “Yes. Our targets will have been there for about ten minutes by then. The timing should be perfect. Here’s the thing, though, Sir. They’ll need to land at the location and leave their birds. And you need to call the Pentagon. Tell them to give Greta full access to the visuals for those four jets. She’ll be piloting them all, by remote.”

  “But they’re not set up for unmanned operations,” said the president.

  “They don’t have to be. She won’t be using the systems, just watching on the screens. Trust me. It’ll work just fine.”

  “Okay. Anything else?”

  “Yeah. We need you to get in touch with the Speaker of the House and the Senate President. Request that they authorize a military action on a domestic terrorist threat. Given your relationship with Congress right now, it’ll play well to consult them on this, and will look good for the media. And our friends on the Hill need any persuasion, the twins are there to handle things with their own special talent for influence.”

  “Very well. Thank you Austin. I don’t know what we’d do without The Order.”

  “No thanks needed, Sir. Gotta run.”