Chapter 4 Chapter 2 Before the Dawn

Unsurprisingly, they were as punctual as a digital watch.Ren felt as if he had just closed his eyes when he was awakened by a light knock on the door.The first thing he thought when he woke up was that he had dreamed a lot and the worst part of this dream was real.He was in a strange place, where the whirlwind that had swept him into the vortex of horror and confusion had thrown him here was neither Kansas nor the Ozarks.After five to ten seconds of acclimatization, he was most relieved that he didn't have a headache from sleep deprivation, and he wasn't that tired.He slipped out of bed, stood up, and walked to the door.

OK, I'm up.He said to himself against the wooden door.After a while he realized that the room didn't have a bathroom attached, so he still had to open the door. Good morning, Mr. President.A young operator who looked very serious handed him a bathrobe.It was supposed to be an orderly job, but the only Marine he saw in the corridor was wearing a pistol belt.Wren couldn't help wondering; had there been another fight between the Marine Corps and the Secret Service last night to decide who had more power to protect the new Commander-in-Chief?Then he realized with astonishment that the bathrobe was his own.

We got something for you last night.The operator explained in a low voice.Another operator handed over Casey's rather worn-out maroon home jacket.Someone must have broken into their home last night, Lane thought, because he hadn't given the keys to anyone; and the burglar must have knocked out the burglar alarm he had installed years ago.He slowly returned to the bed, put down Casey's home clothes, and walked out of the room.Then, a third operator showed him the way, asking him to go to the unoccupied bedroom at the other end of the corridor.There were four suits and four shirts hanging there, all looking freshly ironed, and ten ties, among other things.Ren realized that their motivation for doing this was actually more eagerness than pity.They knew, or at least understood, what it had been through, and had done everything they could to help him better. One had even polished his three pairs of black shoes to Marine standards.These leather shoes have never looked so bright, Rain thought as he headed for the bathroom.There, he also saw all his personal items, even his usual Yaqu brand soap, and Casey's skin care products.No one thinks being president is easy, and at a time when these people around him are determined to get rid of every little annoyance he might have.

After a warm shower, his muscles felt relaxed, and the bathroom mirror became blurred with mist.He finished grooming at five twenty and went downstairs.Through the window, he could see a group of Marines in camouflage in the courtyard outside.When he walked by, everyone in the room pulled themselves together and stood at attention.Maybe only he and his family slept for a few hours, while others stayed up all night.It's something he has to remember, Ryan reminded himself, following the scent of food into the kitchen. stand at attention!Concerned about the sleeping children upstairs, a Master Chief called out in a low voice.For the first time since last night's dinner, Ryan smiled.

Take it easy.When President Wren walked towards the coffee pot, a corporal had already stepped forward.She handed over the cup, and the creamer and sugar had already been put into the cup according to the proper ratio. Here comes again, and someone has made an understanding in advance. Everyone is in the dining room, Mr. President.The Master Chief told him. Thanks.President Wren walked towards the restaurant. They all seemed exhausted, which made Wren feel a little guilty about his cleansed and refreshed face.He saw a stack of papers they had prepared for him. Good morning, Mr. President.Andrea.Price said.Everyone stood up, Ren signaled them to sit down, and asked Murray:

Dan, what's the matter? We found the body of the driver two hours ago.His identity is very clear, his name is Sato Seiji, he is an experienced pilot.We continue to look for the co-pilot.Murray paused. We were running a drug test on the dead body of the driver, and the results were startling.The NTSB got the flight recorder around four o'clock and is now doing a check.We've found over two hundred bodies What about President During? Price shook his head and replied: Haven't found it yet.The whole Capitol part is a mess.They decided to wait until after dawn to tackle this tricky job.

What about the survivors? Just the three we know of. All right.Ren also shook his head.The message is important, but irrelevant.Is there anything else important? Murray checked his notebook.The plane took off from Vancouver International Airport.They sent out a flight plan pretending to be heading to London Heathrow Airport before leaving Canadian airspace at 7:51 local time, heading east.Everything is fine.We speculate that the pilot in flight changed course after the aircraft had been in the air for a while, heading southeast, approaching Washington, D.C.Then, he disguised his whereabouts through the system.

How did he do that? Murray nodded to someone Ryan didn't know.Mr. President, this is Ed D. from the National Transportation Security Administration.Hutchins.It wasn't hard to do; he claimed he was flying a KLM charter flight returning to Orlando and was in a state of emergency.When an aircraft encounters an emergency, our personnel are trained to land the aircraft on the airport as quickly as possible.We are dealing with a maven and no one can stop this.He justified himself. There is only one person's voice on the tower call log.Murray pointed out. Anyway, Hutchins went on, we still have the radar tracking records.He pretended he was flying a plane with a malfunctioning control, then asked to use the air emergency lane at Andrews Air Force Base and got it.It takes almost a minute to fly from Andrews Air Force Base to Capitol Hill.

Our men fired a Stinger shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile.said Price, with a look of mournful smugness on his face. Hutchins shook his head immediately. It was the most popular move in Washington this morning.For an aircraft of this size, it was like an egg hitting a rock. Any news from Japan? The whole of Japan was shocked.Scott.Adler continued.He was a senior State Department official and a friend of Wren's.Just after you went to bed, we got a call from the Prime Minister of Japan.Although it sounded from the phone that he should have had a difficult week, he was quite excited about being able to return to take charge of everything.He wanted to come and apologize to us in person.I said to him we'll get back to him

Tell him he can come. Really, Jack?Arnold.asked Van Damme. Does anyone think this could be a deliberate action?Ren asked back. we do not know.Price was the first to answer. There's no explosives on the plane, Dan.Murray pointed out that if any I may not be here anymore.Ren finished his coffee.The corporal immediately filled the glass again.Maybe it's just the work of one or two lunatics, they always do. Hutchins nodded hesitantly.The charge of explosives is very light.If the load capacity of the Boeing 747｜400 is taken into consideration, even if a few tons of explosives are placed on the plane, it will not hinder the flight, but the result will be quite dire.What we're dealing with now is a simple plane crash, with other collateral damage caused by about half of the jet's fuel, more than eighty tons.he said for sure.Hutchins has been investigating aircraft accidents for three decades.

It is too early to draw conclusions.Price reminded. Scott, what's your opinion? If it's abominable, Adler shook his head, it wasn't the Japanese government's doing.They seemed to be in a hurry about this matter. The newspapers first condemned those who bought the government, and Prime Minister Koga almost shed tears on the phone.Let's put it this way, if someone out there planned this, they'll find out for us. Their procedures for handling things are not as strict as ours.Murray added that Andrea was right and it was too early to tell.However, all indications so far are that this was an accident rather than a premeditated action.Murray paused, then continued: Speaking of which, we all know our adversaries have developed nuclear weapons, remember?There was a chill at the words that even made the coffee seem to go cold. He found the body in a bush while moving a ladder from one part of the west wall to another.The firefighter had been on the job for seven full hours, and at the moment he was numb. Dead bodies and wreckage were just ordinary things to him.Still, the dead body of a child or a pretty girl might scare him, after all, the firefighter was young and single; but the body he accidentally stepped on wasn't a child or a woman .This mutilated body has no head, and some of its legs are missing. Judging from its body shape, it is obviously a man.He wore a ragged white shirt with epaulets, each with three stripes.He didn't understand what it meant, and he was too tired to think about it.He turned and waved to his captain.The captain then turned and patted a woman on the arm; the woman, wearing a plastic FBI trench coat, came over muttering. Just found this again.The location is interesting, but Yeah, very interesting.The female operator raised her camera and took a few photos, with accurate time records on the photos.Then, she took out a notebook from her pocket, and wrote down the location of the fourth body in the notes column.As far as the scope of her responsibility is concerned, she has not found many corpses.You can turn him over.Said the female operator. Underneath the body, they saw an irregular sheet of flat glass, or glass-like plastic.The female operator took another photo, and it seemed more interesting to see things through the lens than with the naked eye.She glanced up and saw a crack in the marble railing; looking around, she found many small metal objects that she had determined an hour before to be some aircraft parts.The parts also came to the attention of an NTSB investigator who was speaking with a fire agency official who also spoke to her minutes earlier.The female operator waved her hand three times before she caught his attention. what is that?asked the NTSB investigator, wiping his glasses with a handkerchief. Check out his shirt.The female operator pointed and said. The crew, the investigator put on his glasses and said, could be a pilot.What's this?This time it was his turn to point to the shirt. There was a hole in the white uniform of the deceased just to the right of the pocket; the hole was stained with a ring of red spots.The female operator moved the camera closer and found that the spots had dried up, and the temperature at that time was less than twenty degrees.Under the action of the powerful impact, the corpse was thrown into this harsh environment.Around the broken neck, the blood had frozen like horrible purple plum sherbet; and she found that the blood on the shirt had dried long before it froze. Stop moving the corpse.She told the firefighter.Like most FBI agents, she was a member of the local police department before joining the bureau.It was so cold that her face was pale with cold. First time investigating an air crash?The NTSB investigator looked at her face and asked, mistaking her for paleness of fear. She nodded.Yes, but this isn't my first murder case.As she spoke, she turned on the walkie-talkie and began calling her supervisor.For such a corpse, she needs the investigators of the crime scene identification team and the identification of professional forensic doctors. Governments all over the world sent telegrams.Most of the telegrams are very long, but you have to read at least some telegrams from important countries. The Home Secretary and the Commerce Minister are in town, preparing for a cabinet meeting with all the deputy ministers.Van Damme said.Wren flipped through the telegram absently while listening to Van Damme.all the deputy chiefs of the joint chiefs of staff have been summoned to study national security matters with the commanders in chief Are you going to form a threat response committee?Ren asked without raising his head.Before today, he had been President During's national security adviser, and it seemed unlikely that the world would change much in twenty-four hours. Obviously yes.Scott.Adler answered. Washington has largely come to a complete standstill, with radio and television urging people to stay home and not go out unless it is urgent, Murray said.The SAR National Guard has also been dispatched, because Capitol Hill needs a little more manpower.The D.C. National Guard is a military police brigade, and they will be of great help to the current situation.Besides, the firefighters must be exhausted by now. How long will it be before we get definite findings?the president asked. I don't know, Mr. President Jay. Wren was reading a telegram from the Belgian government.He looked up and asked: How long have we known each other, Dan?I'm not God, okay?If you call my name once in a while, no one will shoot you for it. This time it was Murray's turn to smile.All right.You can't predict the progress of any large-scale investigation; sooner or later there will be a breakthrough, just sooner or later, there will be.Dan guaranteed, besides, we also have a very good investigation team. What am I going to say to the press?Ren rubbed his tired eyes from reading the telegram. Maybe Casey was right, maybe he really needed glasses.In front of him is a printed schedule listing his morning television interviews, the order of which is determined by lottery.7:08 is CNN, 7:20 is CBS, 7:37 is NBC, 7:50 is ABC, 8:08 is Fox Network.The interviews were scheduled to take place in the Roosevelt Conference Room at the White House, where multiple cameras were already set up.Some thought it was best not to be too formal in Wren's speech, and that it was not an appropriate way to speak until there was nothing concrete to publish.In introducing himself to those who are reading the morning paper and drinking coffee, he should be gentle, dignified, and above all, gracious. Small details, insignificant issues, or things that have already been dealt with.Van Damme explained to him that he could answer anything, but the tone of speech should be slow and clear.Relax as much as you can, don't get too excited, people don't want to see this, they just want to know that someone is in charge, can answer the phone, etc., and they also know that there is something decisive for you to say or do now It's still too early. What about Roger's kids? I think they are still sleeping.Their families have arrived and are currently at the White House. President Rennes didn't look up at him, but just nodded.It's hard to meet the eyes of the people around the dinner table, especially now that this is the kind of thing we're talking about.They already have a case for this matter.The remaining members of the Dooling family will be kindly and swiftly removed from the White House, which is no longer their residence.The country needs another person to live there, and making that person's residence as comfortable and agreeable as possible means removing everything that reminds one of the previous owner.Lane believes that doing so is not ruthless, but businesslike.Of course they would bring in a psychologist to help the family ease their grief and get them through with the best medical care possible.However, national interests always take precedence, and in the cruel real life, even a sentimental country like the United States has to keep going.The same will happen again when Wren leaves the White House for whatever reason one day.There was once a former president who, after attending the inauguration of his successor, walked down the mountain by himself to Union Station to buy a ticket to go home.Now they have porters at their disposal, and they'll fly out on an Air Force plane, back to California, and start their lives anew.Business or not, Wren thought, as he absently read the telegram from Belgium.How nice it would be if the plane didn't crash into the Capitol He looked at the telegram again.Twice in less than thirty years, the United States had rescued the small country, and then protected it through NATO; Brotherhood and friendship relationship.In addition, the telegram also mentioned that no matter what faults or shortcomings of the United States, no matter how ruthless her actions are, the United States will always do more things right than wrong, and make the world a better place because of it. Pat.Inspector O'Day was pleased with the cold weather. It was not the first time for him to see so many dead bodies and their severed parts after nearly thirty years of his career as a police officer. At least, the cold here The climate eliminates the unpleasant odor emitted by the dead bodies.He never thought of getting a high inspector in the bureau, but it was just a title with different levels of importance, which could represent different qualifications.Take him for example, his work and Dan.Murray is similar in that he is responsible for troubleshooting, and is often sent from Washington to help solve some difficult problems.Recognized as an excellent field operator, he has always been dealing with practical issues instead of supervising and commanding. He thinks that is very boring. Assistant Secretary Tony.Caruso went the other way.He was the head of two field services, rose to become chief of the FBI's training division, and then took over the Washington field service.The Washington Field Service was a large department, and although it had the worst office location of any branch in North America, it was large and important enough to require a high-ranking official like the Assistant Director to sit in command.Caruso seeks power, prestige, a high salary, and a dedicated parking space commensurate with his status.However, he's a little jealous of his old friend Pat and his ability to get things done. What do you think?Caruso asked, staring at the corpse.They still needed artificial lighting, and although the sun was gradually rising, it was still at the far end of the building. No conclusions can be drawn at this point, but the guy was dead hours before the plane went down. The two of them stared at a gray-haired expert from the experimental department of the headquarters, who was standing beside the corpse.All testing equipment and methods have been released; body temperature is one of the testing items, and a set of computer models that meet environmental conditions is used. Anything that happened before forty-six would tell them all they needed to know. Heart stabbed.Caruso said, feeling a shudder in his heart.No one can be calm about the cruelty of murder.We found the pilot. O'Day nodded.I heard about it.There are three bars on the shoulder, it is a co-pilot.He was murdered, so the case may have been done by one person. How many crew members are usually on board this type of aircraft?Caruso asked the NTSB official. two.Earlier models also required a flight engineer, but today's newer aircraft do not have this requirement.But if it is a long-distance flight, a backup pilot may be needed, but these aircraft are now quite automated, and the engines almost never fail. The expert from the experimental department stood up, waved to the person with the body bag, and walked over to join them. Would you like to hear the preliminary test results? certainly.Caruso replied. The man's exact time of death was before the crash and no bruises from the impact of the crash were found on his body.The chest wound had been left long ago.The seat belt should have bruised him, but it didn't, just scrapes and scratches, and there was surprisingly little blood from the wound, and not much blood from the broken head.In fact, the body bled so little that we think he was murdered on the plane seat.The seat belt tied him to the seat, and blood flowed to his lower limbs after death.His legs were knocked off when the plane hit the building so there was so little blood on the body.I have to go back and study it carefully. If I want to draw a general conclusion now, I think he died at least three hours before the plane crashed.Will.Gertis hands the wallet.Here's his ID card, poor guy.I guess he had nothing to do with it at all. You can't make a mistake, can you?O'Day had to ask. It's wrong, Pat, but there may be an hour or two error in the time of death, it should be sooner rather than later, yes, it is possible.There was not enough blood to prove the person was alive when the plane exploded.He died before the plane crashed, you can believe that.Gertis said.He is very clear that this matter is related to his future promotion, and he seems to have a plan in mind. Thank God!Caruso breathed a sigh of relief. Tell Murray the news, Caruso ordered, and he is with the President. Yes, sir.O'Day walked to his pickup truck. Rear Admiral Jackson changed into a blue military uniform jacket, and it was about ninety minutes away from Andrew Air Force Base.After those less important briefings, he slept for six hours.The uniform had been crammed into his duffel bag, but that wasn't a problem, since the wrinkles in the navy blue wool weren't easy to see.However, the five ribbons and gold badge on the uniform are still particularly eye-catching.It must be an easterly wind this morning because KC|Ten is flying in from Virginia.At this moment, a voice popped up from the back rows: Oh my God, look!The people in the front row flocked to the windows to watch, just like ordinary tourists whose identities were quite different from theirs.Under the morning glow and the various lights on the ground, it is obvious that the Capitol, the center of the national capital, is no longer what it used to be.Somehow, the view from the plane was far more realistic and immersive than what many of them saw on television before boarding the plane in Hawaii.Five minutes later, the plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base, and a helicopter from the Air Force's 1st Helicopter Squadron was waiting to take the senior officers who had just disembarked to the Pentagon.The helicopter flew low and slow, which gave them a better view of the destroyed building. God!Dave.Sidon said over the intercom, did anyone get out of there alive? Robert replied after a while: I don't know where Ryan was when the incident happened. He remembered a toast from the British army: Cheers to the bloody war and troubled autumn!This sentence points out two possible situations in which officers can be promoted.Although, many people will be promoted because of this accident, but I believe that no one really wants this way of promotion, and his best friend who is in this wounded city is especially unwilling. Inspector O'Day parked his van on Eighth Street in the Southeast; the Marine Corps barracks was completely blocked by barricades, and the troops looked tense and busy.The roadside is full of cars, and the open space of the upstairs room is even more crowded.He got out of the car and walked up to a sergeant; now he was wearing an FBI trench coat and holding his ID in his right hand. I'm going in on errands, Sergeant. Who are you looking for?gentlemen.the Marine Corps sergeant asked, looking at his face as he checked his ID photo. Mr Murray. You don't mind leaving the weapons, sir?This is an order.The sergeant explained. of course not.O'Day handed over his belt containing a Smith & Wesson 1076 pistol and two spare magazines. He was always armed when he was on headquarters duty.How many troops are there around now? Two companies, with one company stationed at the White House. It's a late fix, Pat knows that.The sergeant beckoned to a lieutenant whose job it was to usher visitors into the house.The lieutenant saluted O'Day. I want to see Daniel.Murray, he's waiting for me. Please follow me, sir. The corner of the atrium was guarded by a line of Marines, and above it was another line with a heavy machine gun.Yes, President Wren is safe here, unless there is another madman flying a plane nearby, O'Day thought.On the way, a captain checked his papers again. Murray came out to greet him in the hallway: how is it going? pretty good.replied the Inspector. bring it on.Murray beckoned him in and led him to the dining room.This is Inspector O'Day.Pat, I think you know who they are. Good morning.I've been on Capitol Hill, and we just found out something you need to know.He began to speak, and continued for several minutes. Is this thing reliable?Andrea.asked Price. I think you should know the whole process, O'Day said, this is only a preliminary discovery, but I think it is very reliable, we can get the test data after lunch.We have started to identify this person, but it may be difficult because there is no head and no hands.We are not claiming that the case is closed, but that we have found a prima facie piece of evidence that does fit in with other sources. Can I mention this on TV?Wren asked the people sitting around the table. Absolutely not.Van Damme said, first, this matter has not been confirmed; second, it is too early for people to believe this matter. Murray and O'Day exchanged glances.Neither of them is a political figure. For them, the blackout is to protect the evidence so that it can be presented to the jury in its entirety;For Van Damme, a politician, suppressing news means not revealing things that he thinks people can't understand, and then feeding them spoonfuls of information when everything is arranged.They both noticed then that President Lane was giving his chief of staff a meaningful look. The famous black box is nothing more than a recorder with wires running throughout the cockpit to collect data from the engines and other flight controls, but also the speeches of the crew which is important in this case.Japan Airlines is state-owned, and the aircraft is equipped with the latest equipment. The flight data recorder is fully digitized, which is conducive to quick and clear copying of flight data.A senior technician first copied a clear original tape at high speed, and then brought it back to the laboratory for further analysis. According to initial findings, nothing on the plane was damaged.An analyst reports, eyes glued to the data on a computer screen.Steering is free and the engine is stable.Completely following the step-by-step operation mode in the textbook until here, he tapped the screen and said, here he suddenly changed from the position 067 to 096 and then returned to the original position, and finally fell down suddenly. No one in the cockpit spoke.Another technician played snippets of the tape back and forth, hearing only normal conversations between the plane and various ground control stations.I'll listen to it all over again.There's no real beginning to this stuff, just bits and pieces of repetitive dialogue back and forth, as the 747 has been at sea for forty hours.It took the technician several minutes to find where the final flight ended and to listen to the whole thing again.In this section, he found the normal conversation and exchange of instructions between the two crew members, as well as the conversation between the aircraft and the ground control station; the former was spoken in Japanese, and the latter spoke English, the international language of aviation. After the plane reached the designated runway, the above-mentioned conversation stopped, followed by a two-minute blank.As the cabin's instruments came to life before the flight, the tape began to play again. The tapes came out fairly well, and they could hear the click of switches being flipped and the background sounds of various instruments turning.The loudest sound, though, was the co-pilot's panting, whose identity he identified from the soundtrack on the tape. Stop, an Army officer who understands Japanese says he's from NSA, back a little.And another voice, not quite oh well.Get ready, question mark.The one who said this must be driving.Yes, that's the sound of the door closing, the driver just came in.The pre-flight checks are over. The pre-start checks oh my god!He killed him.Play it again.The major officer didn't notice that the FBI agent was also listening through a pair of headphones. It was the first time for both of them to encounter such a thing.The operator had seen a murder in progress on a bank's video system, but neither he nor the intelligence officer had ever heard the groan of some kind of impact.It was a gasp of surprise and pain, mixed with a gurgling sound, maybe he wanted to talk.Then, another voice appeared. What is this sound?the operator asked. Play it again.The officer looked up at the wall.I'm sorry for having to do this.Then they heard a few labored gasps, and then a long sigh.God!A moment later, this second voice came, on a different voice channel, announcing to the control tower that the 747 was starting to move. This is the sound of driving Sato.Another voice was the co-pilot, NTSB analysts said. There is no sound.On the first officer's channel, the only thing heard was the background sound. Sato killed him.The FBI agent agreed.They would have to listen to the tape a hundred times for themselves and others, but the result would always be the same.Even though the formal investigation will last for several months, the fact is that the case could have been closed as early as nine hours after the incident. The streets of Washington were empty and eerie.Wren knows from his own experience that at this time of year, the streets of the capital are crowded with federal employees, lobby groups, members of Congress and their aides, 50,000 lawyers and their secretaries, and all the private businesses that support them employees' cars, but not today.Every intersection has either a Washington Police Department radio car or a camouflaged National Guard car.It was more like a weekend, with more cars leaving Capitol Hill than heading there. The president and his party set off on Pennsylvania Avenue.Lane was back in the Secret Service car, and there were still Marines in front of and behind the Secret Service convoy.Now that the sun is rising and the sky is exceptionally clear, it will be a while before people realize that the silhouette of the Capitol is different. Ren noticed that the 747 didn't even hurt the tree, and it used all of its energy to attack the target without wasting any energy.There are half a dozen cranes working to lift onto trucks the many blocks that once made up the congress chamber, and only two or three fire trucks remain.The thrilling moment is over, and there is only a scene of cruel gloom. Six forty; the rest of the city seemed to be intact.Wren took one last look at the Capitol through the darkened window as the car drove down Constitution Avenue.The cars were all driven away, but the usual morning joggers were still active.Wren watched their faces, some watched their cars pass, then turned to look east; groups of people talked, pointed and shook their heads and sighed.The operators sitting in the car with Ren turned their heads to look at the people outside the car, maybe they were afraid that someone would pull out a bazooka from under their sportswear. It's rare for a car to go this fast in Washington.This is partly because fast-moving targets are harder to hit, and partly because Wren's time is too precious to be wasted.But the more important meaning it represents is that Ryan is rushing towards a situation he wants to avoid as soon as possible.Only a few days ago, he accepted Roger.Dooling wanted his invitation to serve as vice president.He did so mainly, though, to free himself permanently from government business.The thought brought pain into his closed-eyed face.Why can't he ever get away with anything?Of course, it shouldn't be because he has courage.Actually it was the opposite, he was always so afraid, afraid to say no, afraid that people would think he was a coward.He dares not do anything unless compelled by conscience.Often, however, what his conscience tells him to do is something he hates or is afraid to do, and he has no choice. Things will get better.Van Damme said to him.From the expression on his face, Van Damme knew what the new president was thinking. no, I can not.This is the answer Ren can't say.