and answered. The wire service reporters had stampeded to the back of the room, and within seconds were yelling down their cell phones. The time was 7:20 P.M., a critical time in many newspaper offices. The network television reporters were dying to fire in a question that would portray them on air as focused, wise, and farsighted political observers.
Trouble was they all went for immortality at the same time, and the result was absurd. Nothing short of bedlam. Admiral Morgan shook his head and growled into one of the microphones, “Either you guys get your goddamn act together and stop behaving like children, or I am leaving.”
That statement was not broadcast on any network. And finally the din subsided and someone called out, “Sir, does the French President know what our President has just said?”
Admiral Morgan said, “For all I know the French President is in the sack, since it’s after midnight in Paris. But if he’s sitting up in bed watching CNN or something, I guess he’s heard. We announced President Bedford’s prime- time address several hours ago.”
“Sir, do you expect to hear from the French President either tonight or tomorrow?”
“No. Not directly. But I expect the Prime Minister of France to make a statement on behalf of his government, denying any and all involvement in the recent events in Saudi Arabia. I expect him to denounce the United States as perpetrators of a gigantic lie against the French Republic, and to call upon the United Nations to reprimand our UN Ambassador in the strongest possible terms.”
“What do we do then?”
“Shut up, Tommy, will ya? Haven’t you got enough of a great story without standing there saying, ‘And then what?’ over and over. Jesus, do you guys actually get paid to go through this bullshit?”
That part was not broadcast either, on any network. But it made the reporters laugh, and no one much minded when the Admiral shook his head and said, “I’m outta this zoo. Go write your stuff.”
Admiral Morgan left the West Wing immediately. Kathy was waiting at the wheel of his beloved Hummer, and they made the journey back to Chevy Chase together.
The fire in the study had been prepared, and all Morgan needed to do was light it and turn on the television. Mrs. Newgate, their new housekeeper, employed as soon as the Morgans returned to the White House, announced that dinner would be ready at 8:45, and would the Admiral like her to open a bottle of wine.
Morgan replied that the way he felt, a case would probably be more appropriate, but he would settle for a bottle of Chateau de l’Hospital 2000, a pricey red Bordeaux. “And you’d better pour it into a decanter,” said Morgan. “Might as well drink it in style. Alan Dickson and I just decided not to blow the place up.”
Mrs. Newgate’s somewhat bewildered reply was lost in the thunder of Morgan’s next words.
At which point, Mrs. Newgate, who hardly knew the Admiral personally, had not moved, and for a split second she thought he was being sarcastic. But then she noticed he was riveted to the television screen, where a man in a dark suit and a maroon striped tie was speaking in rapid French while a CNN interpreter turned his words into English.
“
“You go for it, pal,” muttered Arnold Morgan. “You lying frogeating bastard.”
At this point, Kathy came into the study bearing a weak, tall Scotch-and-soda for her husband, the way he liked it. No ice. She glanced at the television and heard the commentator saying:
At this point, the anchorman began to turn the newscast over to CNN’s United Nations correspondent, who was standing outside the great building with the myriad national flags fluttering behind him in the rain.
“Thank you, Joe.”
“You’re very welcome, Fred. Perhaps you’d give an outline of the procedures we may expect against the United States…”
“Be happy to, Joe…and I should start by saying these are very grave accusations, and I understand France has already filed a request for an emergency meeting of the Security Council, which, under the charter, must now meet inside the next twenty-four hours.
“The Security Council is the most powerful body within the United Nations and contains five permanent members — China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. There are also ten nonpermanent members, and for a censure motion to go through, I am advised that a straight majority of nine votes would be required. We may assume that the United States and Great Britain will vote no to the French motion, and we may have one or two other supporters.
“However, informed opinion here at UN Headquarters suggests the United States will lose the vote and very probably will be hauled before the General Assembly, and be very publicly censured for making unsubstantiated allegations against a founding Member State.”
“How about we substantiate them, asshole?” muttered Arnold Morgan.
Kathy made her biannual objection to his language, saying, “I do wish you would not use that disgusting word so often…”
“What word? France?” asked the Admiral.
“No.”
“Well, what word?”
“I will not repeat it.”
“Well, how am I to repent and promise to be better if I am kept in the dark about the entire basis of my crime?”
“You are, of course, impossible…” began Kathy.
“Hold it, darling.. just for a moment…please…I want to hear what this asshole is trying to say.”
Kathy, as ever, could not help laughing at him, and she walked back to the kitchen with the words of an apparent asshole in her ears. “…
They were gathered in the fourth-floor office of Admiral Alan Dickson — Arnold Morgan, Admiral Frank Doran (C-in-C Atlantic Fleet), who had flown up from the Norfolk Naval Yards, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Tim Scannell, who had accepted an invitation to sit in on the meeting, even though this was, at present, strictly a Navy issue. In the opinion of Admiral Morgan, the least number of people who knew about this the better. As Supreme Commander of Operation Tanker, he took the seat at the head of the table. “Now I guess we’ve all seen the newspapers and listened to the television broadcasts, and understand that the U.S.A. is about to come under worldwide attack inside the United Nations. I should tell you that I planned that, because what we are about
