“President Kinard speaking.”
“Mr. President, good to talk to you. Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Please do not interrupt me while I am talking. This is very important. My first name is Mourad. That should be sufficient for our purposes. Please listen carefully. I am a member of the Islamic Crescent Palm Brotherhood. I am speaking from somewhere in the United States. Members of our brotherhood have hidden a radiological dispersion device in the center of one of ten small cities in the United States. You know by now that I am not bluffing, as I am sure that by now you have located the site of our explosion in the state of Maryland. You know we are serious and you will be pleased to know that we have only one simple demand, which if fulfilled, will ensure that no radiological dispersion device will be detonated in the United States. The demand is that tomorrow night at 9:00 P.M. Eastern Time you go on national network television and announce to the nation your conversion to Islam. If you do not go on national television tomorrow night at 9:00 P.M. and give this speech, the bomb will be detonated at midnight. At 9:00 A.M. tomorrow morning, a list of the ten cities will be phoned to the White House, so that in the event you choose not to make the speech, the cities may be evacuated before the bomb goes off. Since each of the cities have populations of between 15,000 and 25,000 people, 15 hours notice should be sufficient to evacuate the populations of these cities before the bomb goes off. As you see, our intent at this time is not to kill innocent persons. If for any reason the speech is not given, we will detonate the bomb. You will then have a five-day window of opportunity to once again give the speech that we would like you to deliver on national television. If after this five-day period no such speech has been given, a second bomb will be placed in one of ten cities, this time with populations of 25,000 to 50,000 people. We will again phone to you in advance a list of the ten cities and you will have 20 hours to evacuate them and the bomb this time will detonate at 5:00 P.M. Again if you fail to comply, this second city will be the recipient of one of our radiological dispersion devices. You will then have another five-day window of opportunity to go on national television and deliver the speech we require. If you again fail to deliver the speech, a bomb will he hidden in the heart of a city of about 100,000 persons, and this time we will not identify the city in advance and will detonate the bomb between 9:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. You will have no knowledge of either the city or the exact time of the detonation. It will result in thousands of casualties. We have not an unlimited supply of radiological dispersion devices, but a large enough supply to wreck havoc with your country. I hope not even the first bomb needs to go off. I certainly hope that we never, ever have to escalate up to cities the size of New York or Los Angeles. One thing more. If in your speech you state that you are converting to Islam to save American cities from destruction from radioactive bombs, a bomb will be detonated in Washington D.C. within 24 hours. The American people must not be aware of any reason other than your personally being touched by the hand of God that you are converting to Islam. If any of your staff finds out the real reason and leaks it to the media and the American public finds out, the Washington D.C. bomb will be exploded. Everyone knows your background. Your father was a Muslim. You lived in a Muslim country. You attended a Muslim school. To the people of the Muslim world, you are a Muslim. It is only the American people who do not accept that you are a Muslim. Simply return to your roots, the roots of your own father, and save thousands and thousands of American lives. I will call you tomorrow morning with our list of the ten cities. Good night.”
After Mourad hung up the president and Richard stared at each other without speaking for ten seconds. Each hoped the other had something to offer. With Richard looking dumbstruck, the president decided to speak first.
“I had about a hundred scenarios in my head about what these terrorists wanted. But this one never entered my mind.”
“Or anyone else’s. What do you want to do?”
“Let’s see if communication was able to trace the call. I’m sure it’s a waste of time though. Anyone who can pull off something like this isn’t going to call us from their home phone and we still need to find out what kind of radioactive materials were exploded in Maryland.”
“Does it really matter anymore?”
“You and I are the only ones who know what the terrorists want. The more people we tell, even in our small inner circle, the more chance there is of a leak. Any advice on who should be brought in on this?”
“Yes. If we want to have a wide range of options, I say we bring in the vice-president, the head of homeland security, the defense secretary, the press secretary, the national security advisor, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If we can’t trust a half dozen of our most trusted people, we’re in big trouble.”