turned to David Hanson, sitting at the far end of the table. "Anything to add, David?"
The CIA director shrugged. "Beyond the observation that what happened at the Teller Institute is almost certainly an act of coldly calculated terrorism? No, Mr. President, I do not."
"Aren't you jumping the gun just a bit?" Emily Powell-Hill asked curtly. There was no love lost between the former Army brigadier general and the Director of Central Intelligence. She thought Hanson was far too eager to apply extreme solutions to national security problems.
Privately, the president agreed with her assessment. But the uncomfortable truth was that Hanson's wilder predictions often hit the mark, and most of the clandestine operations he pushed forward were successful. And in this case, the CIA chiefs assertion tied in perfectly with what Castilla had already heard from Fred Klein at Covert-One.
"Am I speculating in advance of all the facts? Clearly, I am," Hanson admitted. He peered condescendingly over the rims of his tortoiseshell glasses at the national security adviser. "But I don't see that we need to waste much time on alternate theories, Emily. Not unless you honestly believe that the intruders who broke into the Teller Institute had nothing to do with the bombs that exploded less than an hour later. Frankly, that seems a bit naive to me."
Emily Powell-Hill flushed bright red.
Castilla intervened before the dispute could get out of hand. "Let's assume you're right, David. Say this disaster is an act of terrorism. Then who are the terrorists?"
"The Lazarus Movement," said the CIA director bluntly. "For precisely the reasons I outlined when we discussed the Joint Intelligence Threat Assessment, Mr. President. We wondered then what the 'big event' in Santa Fc was supposed to be." He shrugged his narrow shoulders. "Well, now we know."
"Are you seriously suggesting the leaders of the Lazarus Movement arranged the deaths of more than two thousand of their own supporters?" Ouray asked. The chief of staff was openly skeptical.
"Deliberately?" Hanson shook his head. "I don't know. And until we get a better sense of exactly what killed those people, we won't know. But I am quite sure that the Lazarus Movement was involved in the terrorist attack itself."
"How so?" Castilla asked.
"Consider the timing, Mr. President," the CIA director suggested. He began making his points, ticking them off with the precision of a professor presenting a much-loved thesis to a particularly slow freshman class. "One: Who organized a mass demonstration outside the Teller Institute? The Lazarus Movement. Two: Why were the Institute's security guards outside the building when the counterfeit Secret Service team arrived - and not able to intervene against them? Because they were pinned down by that same protest. Three: Who prevented the real Secret Service agents from entering the building? Those same Lazarus Movement demonstrators. And finally, four: Why couldn't the Santa Fe police and sheriffs intercept the intruders as they left the Institute? Because they were tied down handling the chaos outside the Institute."
Almost against his will, Castilla nodded. The case the CIA chief made was not airtight, but it was persuasive.
"Sir, we cannot go public with an unsupported allegation like that
against the Lazarus Movement!" Ouray broke in. "It would be political suicide. The press would crucify us for even suggesting it!"
"Charlie's absolutely right, Mr. President," Emily Powell-Hill said. The national security adviser shot a quick glare at the head of the CIA before continuing. "Blaming the Movement for this would play straight into the hands of every conspiracy theorist around the world. We can't afford to give them more ammunition. Not now."
A gloomy silence fell around the Situation Room conference table.
"One thing is certain," David Hanson said coldly, breaking the hush. "The Lazarus Movement is already profiting from the public martyrdom of so many of its followers. Around the world, hundreds of thousands of new volunteers have added their names to its e-mail lists. Millions more have made electronic donations to its public bank accounts."
The CIA chief looked straight at Castilla. "I understand your reluctance to act against the Lazarus Movement without proof of its terrorist activities, Mr. President. I know the politics involved. And I earnestly hope that the FBI probe at the Teller Institute produces the evidence you require. But it is my duty to warn you that delay could have terrible consequences for this nation's security. With every passing day, this Movement will grow stronger. And with every passing day, our ability to confront it successfully will diminish."