accommodations with this country. That the results of a refusal will be dire.'
The Secretary of State seemed to levitate from his seat to protest, then restrained himself. There was a murmur through the room of surprise or shock.
Kennedy held up his hands, the gesture almost angry, but he was smiling at them, a smile that seemed to be one of reassurance. He seemed to become less commanding, almost casual, smiling at the Secretary of State and speaking directly to him. 'The Secretary of State will send to me, at once, the ambassador from the Sultanate of Sherhaben. I will tell the ambassador this: The Sultan must deliver up the hostages by tomorrow afternoon. He will deliver up the terrorist Yabril in a way that he will not be able to take his own life. If the Sultan refuses, the entire country of Sherhaben itself will cease to exist.' Kennedy paused for a moment; the room was absolutely still. 'This meeting has the highest security classification. There will be no leaks. If there are, the most extreme action under the law will be taken. Now you can all speak.'
He could see the audience was stunned by his words, that the staff looked down, refusing to meet the eyes of the others in the room.
Kennedy sat down, sprawling in his black leather chair, his legs out from under the table and visible to the side. He stared out into the Rose Garden as the meeting continued.
He heard the Secretary of State say, 'Mr. President, again I must argue your decision. This will be a disaster for the United States. We will become a pariah among nations by using our force to crush a small nation.'
And the voice went on and on, but he could not hear the words.
Then he heard the voice of the Secretary of the Interior, a voice almost flat and yet commanding attention. 'Mr. President, when we destroy Dak, we destroy fifty billion American dollars, that's American oil company money, money the middle class of America spent to buy stock in the oil companies.
Also, we curtail our sources of oil. The price of gasoline will double for the consumers of this country.'
There wits the confused babble of other arguments. Why did the city of Dak have to be destroyed before any satisfaction was given? There were many avenues still to be explored. The great danger was in acting too hastily.
Kennedy looked at his watch. This had been going on for over an hour. He stood up.
'I thank each of you for your advice,' he said. 'Certainly the Sultan of Sherhaben could save the city of Dak by meeting my demands immediately. But he won't. The city of Dak must be destroyed or our threats will be ignored.
The alternative is for us to govern a country that any man with courage and small weapons can humiliate. Then we might as well scrap our Navy and Army and save the money. I see our course very clearly and I will follow it.
'Now, as to the fifty-billion-dollar loss to American stockholders. Bert Audick heads the consortium that owns that property. He has already made his fifty billion dollars and more. We will do our best to help him, of course. I will permit Mr. Audick an opportunity to save his investment in another way. I am sending a plane to Sherhaben to pick up the hostages and a military plane to transport the terrorists to this country to stand trial. The Secretary of State will invite Mr. Audick to go to Sherhaben on one of those planes. His job will be to help persuade the Sultan to accept my terms. To persuade him that the only way to save the city of Dak, the country of Sherhaben and the American oil in that country is to accede to my demands. That's the deal.'
The Secretary of Defense said, 'If the Sultan does not agree, that means we lose two more planes, Audick, and the hostages.'
Kennedy said, 'Most likely. Let's see if Audick has the balls. But he's smart. He will know, as I do, that the Sultan must agree. I'm so sure that I am also sending the national security adviser, Mr. Wix.'
The CIA chief said, 'Mr. President, you must know that the antiaircraft guns around Dak are manned by Americans on civilian contract to the Sherhaben government and the American oil companies. Specially trained Americans who man missile sites. They may put up a fight.'
Kennedy smiled. 'Audick will order them to evacuate. Of course, as
Americans, if they fight us they will be traitors, and the Americans who pay them will also be prosecuted as traitors.'
He paused to let that sink in. Audick would be prosecuted.
He turned to Christian. 'Chris, you can start working on the legal end.'
Among those present were two members of the legislative branch. The Senate majority leader, Thomas Lambertino, and the Speaker of the House, Alfred Jintz. It was the senator who spoke first. He said, 'I think this too drastic a course of action to be taken without a full discussion in both houses of the Congress.'
Kennedy said to him courteously, 'With all due respect, there is no time.
And it is within my power as the chief executive to take this action.
Without question the legislative branch can review it later and take action as they see fit. But I sincerely hope that Congress will support me and this nation in its extremity.'
Senator Lambertino said almost sorrowfully, 'This is dire, the consequences severe. I implore you, Mr. President, not to act so quickly.'
For the first time Francis Kennedy became less than courteous. 'Congress has always opposed me,' he said. 'We can argue all the complicated options until the hostages are dead and the United States is ridiculed in every nation and every little village in the world. I hold by my analysis and my solution; my decision is within my power as chief executive. When the crisis is over, I will go before the people and give them a full report. Until then, I remind you all again, this discussion is of the highest classification. Now, I know you all have work to do.
Report your progress to my chief of staff.'
It was Alfred Jintz who answered. 'Mr. President,' he said, 'I had hoped not to have to say this. But Congress now insists that you remove yourself from these negotiations. Therefore, I must give notice that this very day the Congress and the Senate will do everything to prevent your course of action on the grounds that your personal tragedy makes you incompetent.'
Kennedy stood over them. His face with its beautiful planes and lines were frozen into a mask, his blue eyes as blind as a statue's. 'You do so at your peril,' he said, 'and America's.' He left the room.
In the Cabinet Room, there was a flurry of movement, a babble of voices.
Oddblood Gray huddled with Senator Lambertino and Congressman Jintz. But their faces were grim, their voices cold. The congressman said, 'We can't allow this to happen. I think the President's staff has been delinquent in not dissuading him from this course of action.'
Oddblood Gray said, 'He convinced me he was not acting out of personal anger. That it was the most effective solution to the problem. It is dire, of course, but so are the times. We can't let the situation be drawn out. That could be catastrophic.'
Senator Lambertino said, 'This is the first time that I have ever known Francis Kennedy to act in so high- handed a fashion. He was always a courteous President to the legislative branch. He could at least have pretended that we were party to the decision process.'
'He's under a great deal of stress,' Oddblood Gray said. 'It would be helpful if the Congress did not add to that stress.' Fat chance, he thought as he said it.
Congressman Jintz said worriedly, 'Stress may be the issue here.'
Oddblood Gray thought, Oh shit, hastily said a cordial farewell and ran back to his office to make the hundreds of calls to members of the Congress. Though he was privately dismayed at Kennedy's rashness, he was determined to sell Kennedy's policy on the Hill.
The national security adviser, Arthur Wix, was trying to sound out the Secretary of Defense. And making sure that there would be an immediate meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But the Secretary of Defense seemed to be stunned by events and mumbled his answers, agreeing but not volunteering anything.
Eugene Dazzy had noted Oddblood Gray's difficulties with the legislators.
There was going to be big trouble.
Dazzy turned to Helen Du Pray. 'What do you think?' he asked her.
She looked at him coolly. She was a very beautiful woman, Dazzy thought. He must invite her to dinner. Then she said, 'I think you and the rest of the President's staff have let him down. His response to this crisis is far too drastic. And where the hell is Christian Klee to deal with this right now?'
