“Thanks, baldy, I needed to hear it from your mouth. I’ve already instructed the FBI to take him in. Now go relax and see if we can get some people back to the Moon.”
Niles found that all he could do was nod his head. The picture on the screen went back to blue as he removed his glasses. He reached back and retrieved his chair. He sat down hard and placed his hands over his eyes. He sat up and took a deep breath, then made a decision. He would take the president’s advice for once. He stood and walked from the office. His mood had shifted dramatically in the past minute as he strode to the elevator. He called out to his four assistants.
“I’ll be in Las Vegas. I’m going to watch the space launches with Dr. Pollock. I won’t be back tonight. Patch all calls concerning the launch and Colonel Collins through to my cell phone.”
The assistants watched their director leave the office and were glad to see the fire back in his eyes and the confidence back in his gait.
The phone was brought in while the president was being poked and prodded by three different physicians. Two of them he was sure were not even out of medical school yet. He had already made an appearance at the window, closely hemmed in by no fewer than six Secret Service agents, and then had made a sorrowful call to the families of the agents who had lost their lives in the attack, and to the widow of his national security advisor. Now he was about to do something he never thought he would do-make a plea for sanity to the chairman of the People’s Republic of China.
“Mr. Chairman,” the president said once the connection had been made. He looked over at the secretary of state, who was listening in with the official interpreter. The secretary waited for the chairman to speak to verify it was truly he on the phone.
The conversation started out in Chinese and then the interpreter translated. The secretary of state nodded his head-it was indeed the seventy-nine-year-old chairman on the other end.
“Mr. President, it is so very good to hear your voice, and to learn that you are safe. You have the wishes of good health from myself and the people of my nation.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is very kind of you to say and to accept my call at this very late hour.”
“Not at all, I was awakened for the spectacular double launch your nation has planned. You can call it a natural curiosity on my part to see if the same evil befalls an American attempt as it has so many others in the past few days.”
The president caught the innuendo, one that in political speak fell just short of an accusation. He chose to move forward instead of arguing with the old chairman.
“Mr. Chairman, I have called to express my sincere desire for a more cooperative approach to what has happened on the surface of the Moon. As you have seen, the attacks on all nations attempting this endeavor have met with a force of unknown assailants that will stop at nothing to see that we all fail.”
The American interpreter voiced the president’s words and then there was a long silence on the other end of the line.
“Mr. President, I see no reason for my nation to be bullied by the West. I am afraid those days are long past. We do not frighten as easily as you may think. Our spacecraft, the Magnificent Dragon, is well on its way. Once the landing has been accomplished, I see no reason why we cannot be cooperative in the findings of the mission. However, I must insist that our mission to the lunar surface not be interfered with by any nation, just as your monopoly of space was ignored by my own for so many years.”
“Speaking man-to-man, Mr. Chairman, I find the situation had started out wrong. I truly wish for-”
The interpreter looked embarrassed as the leader of the People’s Republic cut the president short.
“We have come into intelligence that the West has known about this for quite some time, and throughout the years has refused to share this information and technology with the People’s Republic as well as many other nations. The monopoly of this find in Ecuador has been a well-kept secret for far too long, and now you suggest cooperation between us and your allies? Perhaps if you had come to my predecessors many years ago this situation could have been avoided.”
“I assure you, the find was kept secret by the Nazi regime, and only recently have the facts come to light. The United States and her allies have nothing but respect for-”
Again, the president was cut off.
“Mr. President, I must reiterate how pleased I am that you are safe after your ordeal of this day. I am sure once the scales have been balanced by the heroic astronauts aboard the Magnificent Dragon, we can come to terms with our past on a more equal basis and work for a better future in regard to Case Blue, if that threat is really viable as you claim. Good evening, and may you have very good luck on your launches tonight.”
The secretary of state listened and then looked at the president and shook his head.
“The chairman has hung up, sir.”
“Goddamn it!” The president slammed the phone down and reached for a glass of water, chasing the three doctors away with a warning look. “Get me Johnson Space Center. Conference it with Kennedy, Vandenberg, and the Cape. We go.”
The room was silent as the president swallowed some pain medication. He looked up at the ceiling and came to a decision.
“Get me my pants and jacket. I’m getting out of here.”
“Where to?” the secretary of state asked.
“Home. I want to see my wife and kids.”
James McCabe was waiting outside in the limousine for Laurel Rawlins. Even though the luxury car had windows you couldn’t see through, he felt like every set of eyes that passed the waiting vehicle were peering in at him. The mistake of allowing Jack Collins to live was a haunting reminder that you could not play by any set of rules when doing what he was attempting to do. Now he had been linked to the attacks. After tonight, it was time to disappear. In order to accomplish that he would need the good Reverend’s daughter to assure his financial payoff for a job he deemed completed. Then, after this evening’s festivities, he would make sure Laurel and the Mechanic understood that no one double-crosses James McCabe.
The door finally opened, and even though McCabe knew it to be Laurel, he found it difficult not to react apprehensively because of his new status as the most wanted man alive-even more wanted than Jack Collins. He found it ironic that the plan he had set in motion with Jack had come full circle to bite him in his hindquarters and now they were both on top of the list as far as desperation went.
Laurel slid into the backseat of the large black Lincoln and the driver sped away. She leaned in to kiss McCabe on the cheek and was surprised when he held his hand in the air, blocking the attempt.
“I think we’re well beyond that,” he said, turning to face the side window.
“I know you didn’t approve of the assassination, but-”
McCabe looked back and simply nodded toward the small television embedded in the front seat of the limousine. There the president of the United States was waving to a crowd of reporters from inside of his hospital room. The tape was now four hours old.
“That’s impossible. We had him-”
“Impossible, but nonetheless there he is. And now I have an arrest warrant out for me and your father will be on the run very soon.”
Laurel watched the taped segment of the president and she read the caption that he had already returned to the White House to be with his family. She lowered her head and turned away from the television.
“You will remain with me throughout the evening,” McCabe said. “After my contract is complete, you will accompany me to Ecuador to consummate my ending to this fiasco. Your father will attempt to meet us there.”
“You have to get the remaining technology out of that mine or you can forget about the riches you think you’ve earned.” Laurel reached for her cell phone and opened it.
McCabe took hold of Laurel’s wrist. He twisted it until the phone fell free.
