Civil War

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(October 1, 2026)

As President Davidson makes his way into the Oval Office for his morning meeting with the Joint Chiefs for an update on the plans for the assault on Texas, he's already feeling a bit irritated. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night, and he doesn't really want to be doing this meeting as early as he is, but he can't exactly cancel it at this point.

As he enters the Oval Office, he sees that about half of the Joint Chiefs have already assembled. The only ones not present yet are General Brown, General Smith, and General Saltzman.

"Welcome. Any word on our three late arrivals?" Davidson asks.

"I believe General Saltzman just arrived at the gate and is on his way in. The other two should be here before long," Admiral Grady answers Davidson's question. Davidson nods and takes his seat at the Resolute Desk. Davidson begins reading a report from the ambassador to Israel regarding a recent meeting with the Israeli prime minister while the officers go over their notes and wait for the rest of the Joint Chiefs to arrive.

General Saltzman, the Chief of Space Operations, arrives a few minutes later and takes his place in the circle. Now, the group is just waiting on General Brown and General Smith, the Marine Corps Commandant.

The minutes pass as the group waits for the last two generals. After almost 10 minutes following Saltzman's arrival, the officers and Davidson are glancing around as if wondering where the two men are. Finally, 15 minutes after Davidson arrived in the Oval Office, the president finally says, "Alright, where are those two? They're never late like this."

"Mr. President, let me call General Brown and see where he is," Admiral Grady responds as he pulls out his cell phone. Grady dials Brown's number and holds it up to his ear. After a few moments, his face gets confused, and eventually he lowers his phone.

"Hmm. He's not answering," Grady says.

Davidson immediately presses a button on his phone and says into it, "Marjorie, contact the Pentagon and confirm if General Brown or General Smith have left the Pentagon for the White House yet?"

"Yes, Mr. President," one of his secretaries responds. There's a few minutes as they wait for an answer. When the phone rings, Davidson pushes a button to answer it as he says, "Yes?"

"Mr. President, General Brown and General Smith were never at the Pentagon this morning. Their credentials shows that they haven't been in the building since they checked out yesterday to go home for the night," Marjorie responds.

Now, suspicion is arising in Davidson's mind. Without wasting a second, he orders, "Contact Washington DC Police and order a welfare check on General Brown and General Smith." He then ends the call and looks around at the officers as he says, "We're going to the Situation Room." He doesn't have to explain himself aloud for the officers to know that he's concerned that Texas might be behind this.

The President and Joint Chiefs make their way down to the Situation Room, where they find Marine guards waiting for them. The Marines usher them in before closing the doors to the Situation Room behind them.

Once in the situation room, the president and officers await word from the DC Police Department. It takes about ten more minutes before a call comes up on one of the monitors from the Police Headquarters. Davidson answers the call, and an image of the DC Chief of Police comes up on the monitor.

"Chief, what's the word?" President Davidson asks.

"President Davidson, our officers have visited the homes of both General Brown and General Smith. And our officers found them empty," the Chief of Police responds.