LOCATION: CINDER BLOCK BUILDING
AREA: SYSTEM-GENERATED PEACEKEEPER TUTORIAL
INSTANCE #4863120
DATE: JANUARY 1, 2027 | TIME: 1:40 AM
Jud Haggerty watched the snow fall outside Aspen Lodge, the President’s personal residence while at Camp David.
As the head of President Trent’s Secret Service detail, Jud was always the highest ranking on-site wherever he went. The weather forecast called for three inches of snow before daybreak.
Not a big deal, but heavy snowfall did make for poor visibility. He keyed his radio, alerting all sixty agents situated across the Camp David compound.
“Stay vigilant. As you know, the forecast calls for almost an inch an hour for a little bit here. Rotate out when you get cold. And be honest about it, please. We don’t need any heroes tonight.”
The different team leads acknowledged one by one as they checked in.
Haggerty entered the cabin to check on his principal.
Inching the bedroom door open, he confirmed President Trent was fast asleep.
He notated the time in the log on his mobile.
1:40 AM.
As he walked back to the Aspen Lodge kitchen to get a glass of water, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Jud raised the device and looked at the number. It was one he didn’t recognize, but the 202 area code indicated the call was from Washington DC, so he answered it.
“Haggerty.”
“Mr. Haggerty, this is Graham Thorne. I need to speak with you. You’re about to get a call confirming my identity. Call me back once you do.”
“Okay…” Jud said, as the line went dead.
“That was weird,” he muttered.
Moments later, his phone rang again. It was Nathan Rourke, the recently elevated Director of National Intelligence, and one of the men President Trent trusted openly.
This time, he recognized the number, and Haggerty answered the call right away.
“This is Haggerty.”
“Jud, it’s Nathan Rourke. You staying warm?”
“Hello, sir,” Haggerty said. “Doing my best. What can I do for you?”
“This is going to be a strange request,” Rourke said. “But you got a call from Graham Thorne, yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Good,” Rourke said. “Do what he says. He will provide full authorization for everything he’s requesting. Understood?”
“This is highly irregular, sir, I—”
“Jud, we’ve known each other a long time. Just hear him out. If you have any issues, call me back. Got it?”
Haggerty grumbled a bit, but ended the call and redialed Grim, who answered on the first ring.
“Yeah.”
“I uh spoke with Nathan Rourke,” Haggerty said. “So what is it you are asking of me?”
“We’re sending a team to relieve you and the rest of the detail on duty for the remainder of this shift. You’ll need to get some rack time, then be back on duty at 2000 hours tomorrow.”
Haggerty pulled the phone back from his face and looked at it again. You’ve got to be shitting me…
“Sir,” Haggerty said, “I’m sorry, but you know we can’t do that. Not without proper—”
“I’m sending the authorization now. Check your secure app. I’ll wait.”
Haggerty pulled up his authentication app, and sure enough, within a few seconds, a green light flashed on, followed by the codeword sequence:
CAROLINA
PANTHER
PETTING
ZOO
The codewords were supposed to be chosen at random, but Trent insisted on selecting them himself. Haggerty was always amused at the president’s creativity.
But the codewords matched. And these, he selected just an hour ago before heading off to bed. Haggerty raised the phone back to his ear.
“We all took Provigil a few hours ago, sir, nobody will be able to get any rest until morning.”
“I’m sorry to pull rank,” Grim said. “You’re going to have to trust me on this one. We’ll be there in twenty minutes. You can check everyone’s credentials and then get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day for you.”
“Roger that.”
Grim ended the call and smiled.
A long day, indeed. Especially when the entire Secret Service detail finds out what’s waiting for them once they fall asleep.
As promised, a caravan of blacked-out SUVs arrived on the grounds. They had to make it through three different checkpoints before reaching Haggerty’s position outside of Aspen Lodge.
He had informed his team, and most of them welcomed the extra rest.
When Graham Thorne stepped out of the lead vehicle, Haggerty was surprised. But when all sixty of the men and women got in line to show their credentials, which all checked out, he began relaxing.
Despite having taken Provigil, which helps one to remain focused for long periods, Haggerty felt himself becoming sleepy.
Graham Thorne took the lead position, and his team fanned out to replace the others. When Haggerty saw that they all knew where to go and who to replace, he relaxed further.
Once all the agents were in their beds, Grim sent a System message to Ronan Vale.
---
Camp David ready.
Trigger it.
---
Jud Haggerty washed his face and brushed his teeth. He was still puzzled about the sudden change in plans, but Thorne checked out, and Haggerty wasn’t about to say no to a little bit of down time. So long as the President was protected.
He settled into his bed and fell quickly asleep.
. . .
. . .
“What the—”
“Sir,” the woman said, “please come forward and state your name.”
Jud looked around.
He was inside an off-white painted cinder block room. Two women sat at tables at the head of two long lines of people, and Jud was next in line.
He stepped forward.
“Uh, Jud Haggerty, ma’am. I’m not sure what—”
“Got you right here,” the woman said. “Proceed down the hallway behind me. You’ll be given further instructions there. Next!”
She leaned to the side, peering around Jud, and asked for the name of the next person in line behind him.
He shrugged and entered the hallway indicated by the woman.
It was several hundred feet long and windowless. Fluorescent lights buzzed in the drop ceiling above, and Jud’s rubber shoes squeaked softly against the speckled floor tiles.
He sighed.
This feels like Boot Camp. What the hell is going on?
He opened the door at the far end of the hall, and stepped out into an expansive, open yard.
His eyes were drawn to the sky, because looming above was something impossible.
Two suns shone brightly. One directly above, and one lower in the sky, near the distant horizon. But what struck him most was the gigantic ringed planet perfectly visible in the western sky.