Free Web NovelIn the original history, the 9‧11 terror ended with the attack on the Department of Defense headquarters.
Even now, a total of four airplanes were hijacked; three carried out the terror, and the last remaining plane fell somewhere unknown.
Where that plane had been headed was the subject of endless speculation.
“What kind of disaster is this on the very first day of the inauguration!”
Because a major incident erupted on his first day entering the White House, President Bush moved to a nuclear bunker on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., and convened a national security meeting.
“Let everyone speak their minds.”
Bush, his brow deeply furrowed, opened with a fierce tone.
But Vice President Dick Cheney and the core figures of the Bush administration alike had not yet properly grasped the situation.
The space was filled with nothing but confusion and chaos—stiflingly so.
“...This could be an opportunity, Bush.”
Breaking the long silence, Dick Cheney opened his mouth. All eyes turned to him.
“What do you mean.”
“Our ultimate goal was a strong America.”
Within the Republican Party, the neoconservatives—the extreme hardliners—occupied the key posts of the Bush administration.
“Does it matter whose doing it is, or why this happened? The incident has already—”
“Are you out of your mind?” fгeewebnovёl.com
President Bush cut him off, looking incredulous.
“America was attacked. And you say what?”
“Look, Bush. Don’t get worked up. We can manufacture the culprit whenever we need to. Isn’t the point to use this chance to show America’s might?”
“Hah...”
“The Pentagon was attacked. An opportunity this good won’t come again. Isn’t that what everyone here thinks?”
Everyone present at the meeting nodded at Dick Cheney’s words. Not a single person opposed him.
Seeing this, Bush pressed his temples. He could feel a throbbing headache coming on.
“It’s the perfect justification to go to war.”
“It’s the first day of the presidency. And before we’ve even begun governing, is talking about war normal? Is this right?”
Bush looked around, seeking agreement, but the reaction that came back was cold. No one sympathized with him.
“If we properly demonstrate America’s power this time, no nation will ever go against us again. Bush, it’s a golden chance to leave your name to posterity.”
Regardless of Bush’s stiff expression, Dick Cheney kept pressing his case.
Just then, the National Security Advisor suddenly entered the conference room.
“Mr. President, we have a serious problem.”
Every gaze in the room fixed on the National Security Advisor.
“The Capitol has been attacked.”
At the shocking news, not only Bush but even Dick Cheney shot to his feet.
“What?”
“...A plane has crashed into the Capitol.”
Overwhelmed with shock, Bush collapsed back into his chair.
If the first strike had not been the Twin Towers but the Capitol?
If it had charged the Capitol while the inauguration was underway, half—no, more than half—of America’s government officials could have been wiped out.
“Should I call it a relief...”
The thought that this was a performative terror wouldn’t leave his head.
Along with Bush’s monologue, an inescapable gloom flowed through the conference room.
Because of the many variables that would follow the terror, the time to discuss countermeasures dragged on.
“Boss.”
Eric, who had been quietly listening as Han Kyungyeong and I talked, suddenly called me.
His voice quivered faintly. Following that voice, I turned my head and saw Eric’s pale face.
“...There.”
I followed Eric’s gaze toward the TV.
— Plane crash at the Capitol.
It was a simple sentence, but its impact defied imagination.
‘What is this?’
My head filled with questions.
Originally, the last plane headed toward Washington, D.C., but crashed in a Pennsylvania field due to the passengers’ resistance.
But not this time. The history I knew had changed.
— Fellow citizens...
At last, Bush appeared and delivered an address on TV.
In a trembling voice, he deemed this incident a terror attack and said he would hold accountable any nation or organization connected to it in any way.
— Effective immediately, we will execute SCATANA, the contingency plan for air traffic. Except for military aircraft, no plane may take off after this time, and all planes currently in U.S. airspace must now land at the nearest airport. All civilian aircraft headed for the United States must immediately turn and head for the nearest airport.
The Bush administration resorted even to the extreme measure of sealing U.S. airspace.
— My beloved fellow citizens. The symbol of America, the symbol of liberal democracy, and America’s very foundation—the Capitol—has been brought down by the hands of terrorists. America’s pride has been crushed. On behalf of the United States, I warn them: you will regret waking the sleeping eagle.
Anger was etched on Bush’s face on the screen.
Though the broadcast ended, only a heavy silence hovered in the room.
What broke the stillness was a single sentence from me.
“All right, then let’s finish our countermeasure discussion.”
Only then did Han Kyungyeong and Eric come to their senses. But their faces still looked dazed.
The incident had already happened; we had to sort what gains we could take and what to forgo.
“Boss, I’ll head to Black Bear headquarters at once. I’ll call an emergency meeting and gather views on this matter.”
I nodded at Eric’s words. Being battle-hardened mercenaries, they might have other perspectives on such a situation.
Eric stood, saluted, and left the room. After he exited, only Han Kyungyeong and I remained.
“Shall we talk more comfortably now, hyung?”
“Yeah. I still feel short of breath.”
“Manager, please prepare something simple so we can have a drink.”
Even while Manager Ma prepared, Han Kyungyeong looked as if his soul had left him.
Soon he seemed to snap back; he slapped both his cheeks hard and spoke.
“This is no joke... As you said, any company that profits big off this will absolutely become a target of investigation.”
At last, he grasped the situation and began to face reality.
Since President Bush himself had said it, no one could deny it was terror, not a mere accident.
“Right. America’s anger will be greater than expected. Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and progressives will speak with one voice. So what will the neocons who hold power do? They’ll surely suppress freedom.”
It was an era when surveillance of people became legal under the name of the Patriot Act. But in this climate, no one would make an issue of it.
They were simply enraged that America—their own country—had been attacked, and wanted the enemy punished.
“Perhaps so. But who on earth could it be? What kind of lunatics did this... Muhyuk, you know, don’t you? Your words and actions after hearing about it were strange. I got the feeling something that was bound to explode finally did.”
At the subtle trust in his words, I only smiled and uncorked the whiskey.
“The probability is high that it’s an Islamic terror organization.”
“I’d rather it be that. Surely North Korea wasn’t involved or anything?”
It was a country sufficiently suspect, but not this time. I gave a slight shake of my head.
“Kim Jongil would never do that unless he’d gone insane. Even an attack on South Korea wouldn’t be decided easily—directly attacking the U.S. mainland? That’s suicide.”
“Right?”
Hearing the certainty in my voice, Han seemed relieved; he raised his glass and downed it in one go.
“Ha... So what do we do now?”
“First, in Dreamhigh’s name, donate 100 million dollars for recovery from this damage. By now the stock market will have closed.”
Previously, the terror on the Twin Towers had come before the market opened.
All of New York was paralyzed, but because it was before the market opened, the U.S. government swiftly shut the market.
But this time the incident erupted after the market had opened, so it took longer to close it.
“Probably...”
“The stock markets of the entire world will plunge without exception.”
The United States had been attacked.
If turmoil didn’t sweep the financial markets, that would be a lie.
Especially Korea and Japan, and Hong Kong—where the North Korea risk exists—their stock prices would be devastated, obviously.
By chain reaction, the Middle East and India, and even Europe’s markets would plunge as well.
The world economy no longer {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} ended with the problem of a single country.
“Starting with the Asian markets, then Europe, then the Middle East, the markets worldwide will crash to the point of trembling in fear.”
“It’s the best chance to make money.”
Han still felt regret, but I shook my head and raised the glass before me.
“No one will take the other side of our options. If anyone foresaw this, someone has already taken massive positions and made astronomical sums. This isn’t comparable to the IT bubble.”
“Then the New York market will collapse too?”
Even the IT bubble hadn’t broken New York. He was pointing that out.
“It will. This won’t end in the short term. This time too, be ready to scoop up mainly blue chips.”
Smiling, I tipped back the whiskey in my glass.
“For the time being, all entries and exits will be denied. So we have to command everything from here. Listen carefully, hyung...”
I slowly laid out what Han had to do. After hearing it all, he nodded.
“In the short term, commodity prices will crash too.”
“Our target is crude oil. In the short term, six months; in the long term, a year or more. Secure as much as possible of all available spot as well as futures.”
After suffering the humiliation of falling to nine dollars per barrel, crude had risen to thirty dollars in 1999 with the production-cut agreement.
Thanks to this 9‧11 terror, it was bound to drop again into the low ten-dollar range.
But with various negatives overlapping—the Iraq War, the Venezuelan oil strike—oil prices would start to skyrocket like mad.
“Given that crude futures expire monthly, the fees will be enormous.”
“Secure them anyway. Think of it as a long-term project rather than short-term gain, and design it mainly for over-the-counter transactions.”
“The New York HQ kids will handle that just fine. We did a major purge this time—now no one objects to my orders.”
Han had lopped off, at a stroke, the head of the vice president who opposed him at every turn.
And he warned all the traders: if you have complaints about my directives, leave the company.
“Got it. Let’s wrap up here for today and watch the situation when we wake up tomorrow.”
“Okay. But Japan had just surrendered to us and was starting to breathe again—now this U.S.-driven bad news will crush them completely, huh?”
At Han’s half-laughing remark, I smiled back and raised my glass.
“That’s for Japan to deal with.”
Han raised his glass too.
As our glasses clinked, the liquor in them rippled.
Unusually, before even a day had passed, Kim Jongil issued a statement through the Korean Central News Agency.
— This incident once again reminds us of the gravity of terror. As a member state of the United Nations, we oppose all forms of terror and any support for it.
If even North Korea—one of the world’s foremost in anti-American sentiment—responded like that, then countries friendly or amicable toward the U.S. were in a rush to declare condolences and support.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of them watching for cues to avoid incurring America’s wrath.
As Kim Jongil’s statement ended, Han let out an exclamation.
“Wow... If that’s North Korea and Russia’s response, we can guess the rest without even looking.”
But knowing what happens if you don’t read the room now, it was hard to simply mock their choice.
“The terror organizations will probably also loudly deny involvement through the CIA and intelligence channels. But does that matter?”
“What?”
“The U.S. administration—more precisely, the neocons—aren’t people who’d miss a chance like this. Since the Cold War order faded after the Soviet collapse, they’ve been planning to raise America’s influence again. The culprit can be manufactured anyway.”
Unlike before, even the Capitol—the heart and pride of American democracy—was completely destroyed.
Since the flow differed from what I knew, I too wondered how far this would spread.
After the terror, before I knew it, a week had passed.
