'I'm going to do what I said I'd do, Edward-I'm going to ask for an independent assessment of the situation, get some satellites repositioned over there to keep an eye on things, and when we have our own take on what's really going on, I'll make a decision,' Thorn said as he typed. 'But no, I'm not going to send any ships anywhere near there. Robert's right-it's too dangerous. They're likely to be caught in the crossfire.'
'That 'crossfire' could be a nuclear war' Kercheval said. 'If Salaam is correct, tens of thousands of lives could be lost.'
'I'm aware of that, Edward,' Thorn said. 'But my problem is not to go rushing in and risk American lives in a fight we didn't start and one in which we don't know what's going on. I'll direct CIA to brief me on the current political situation in Egypt and Libya; I'll get Justice to brief me on the situation with that oil partnership; and I'll get Robert to brief me on the military situation and the threat to our forces in the Med. Until then, I'll direct all U.S. forces to stay away from the area, and I'm directing you to issue a warning to all American citizens not to travel to Egypt-in case there are any Americans still in Egypt, after what happened in Mersa Matruh.'
Edward Kercheval shook his head in undisguised disbelief. 'I'll get right on it, Mr. President,' he said, and he departed. There was no secret of their almost continual policy disagreements-their debates, sometimes emerging as outright contradictions, were legendary. But their disagreements served two purposes: One, that Thomas Thorn didn't hire yes-men to serve him in his Cabinet; and second, it showed that Thorn was firmly in charge. Edward Kercheval was considered one of the world's most respected political and foreign affairs experts-and for him to continue to serve under Thomas Thorn, a relative foreign affairs rookie, was a sideways tribute to both Kercheval's and the President's personal integrity. No one understood how it worked, but it did.
After he departed, Goff looked at his longtime friend and waited for him to say something; when he didn't, and the aggravation factor built up to the point he couldn't contain it any longer, he asked, 'So, what are you really going to do, Thomas?'
'I already said what I want done.'
'You're really going to do nothing? What if Libya really does attack Egypt? Could we stand the political heat and world condemnation if we received a credible warning directly from the Egyptian president but did nothing?'
'I'm not doing 'nothing.' I'm going to independently assess the situation…'
'I heard what you said. But you're not going to call Zuwayy? You don't want to position a few more bombers over in the region, say, in England or Diego Garcia?'
'No.'
Goff nodded knowingly and smiled. 'I get it. You want me to find out where McLanahan and his forces aremaybe give them a heads-up?'
'I especially don't want you to do that,' Thorn said firmly. 'In fact, I'm going to direct the Justice Department to shut Sky Masters down. I want all their planes grounded. And if McLanahan and the Night Stalkers are in the country, which I believe they are right now, I want them detained.'
'You're serious?' Goff asked incredulously. 'You really don't want to get involved in this thing at all, no matter how covertly we try or no matter how much it might cost you politically?' ''
'That's right,' Thorn said. 'You know, Bob, I'm really impressed with McLanahan and his bunch. They got their teeth knocked in pretty good from what we can tell, and they still fought like badgers. Their aircraft acquitted themselves pretty well, if all the reports about attacked Libyan bases and destroyed airfields are all attributed to them.
'But that's precisely the reason we need to put a muzzle on them: They're too good. They did so well that Zuwayy of Libya might attack Egypt with nuclear weapons. That's why we need to shut him down. Unless I can somehow bring him and his people under control again, he's got to be shut down.'
'That's easy,' Goff said with a wry smile. 'Ask him to join your Cabinet. Make him your national security adviser. Make him defect from Martindale's team and join yours.'
'You're my national security adviser, Robert-I don't need another one.'
'I'm not your national security adviser, Thomas-I'm your national security nudjen,' Goff said. 'I haven't told you a thing in twenty years. You need a guy like McLanahan to tell you when you're wrong.'
'I want McLanahan in jail, Robert, not in the White House,' Thomas Thorn said stonily. 'He's a loose cannon. I want him shut down and shut off.'
'O-kay,' Goff said. 'So… that means you're not going to ring him up on your little subcutaneous walkie-talkie, then?' Thorn scowled at him, then turned back to his computer. Goff smiled and got up to leave.
'I'll be very interested,' the President said as Goff was leaving, 'to find out whom Susan Salaam calls next.'
Goff paused, then nodded. 'Yeah… me too,' he said. 'Me too.'
'Well, well,' Pavel Kazakov said. His initial anger at being awakened in the middle of the night vanished in an instant.
'Madame Susan Bailey Salaam, the esteemed president of Egypt, calling me personally? I'm flattered.'
'Let's cut to the chase, Kazakov,' Susan said angrily. 'We all know you are the puppet master behind Jadallah Zuwayy. He got the neutron weapons from you; you've been arming him with hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of weapons over the past several months; you talked him into blowing up Mersa Matruh… '
'I don't know what you're talking about, Madame,' Kazakov said. 'I'm a prisoner, a witness for the United Nations, not an arms dealer.'
'I said, let's cut to the chase,' Susan said. 'Zuwayy wants his filthy claws in Salimah-but so do you. You want back into the world oil game, and Salimah is your latest target. Fine. Help me stop Zuwayy, and you can have Salimah.'
Pavel Kazakov was fully awake now. He buzzed for Ivana Vasilyeva, his aide. 'I'm listening, Mrs. Salaam.'
'Shut down Zuwayy-I don't care how,' Susan said. 'Order him, bribe him, kill him-it doesn't matter to me, just stop him from blowing up my oil fields and killing the workers. You take Zuwayy's shares.'
'What will that give me? Thirty percent of a graveyard in the Sahara?'
'Not thirty-sixty percent of Salimah,' Susan said. 'Because if you do this, I'll buy out the Central African Petroleum Partners cartel and turn over their share of the partnership to you. I remind you, Mr. Kazakov, that Salimah represents the largest known oil reserves in all of Africa. Zuwayy only wants to rape it or destroy it, not develop it. You're smarter than he is. Shut him down, and you can have a majority stake in the biggest known oil reserves in the world west of the Caspian.'
Pavel Kazakov was virtually shaking with anticipation. This was exactly what he was hoping for when he first struck this deal with Jadallah Zuwayy: a way to take control of Salimah without appearing to take control of anything. John D. Rockefeller once said that the key to wealth was 'own nothing, control everything'-that's exactly what Kazakov wanted.
''I'll try to stop Zuwayy, my dear Susan Bailey Salaam,' Kazakov said. 'But even if that ridiculous pig gets off a few shots, you will agree to this deal with me. You will ensure that a majority of shares in the partnership is transferred to me, and I'll see to it that Zuwayy moves to that ranch in Vietnam he's always wanted.'
'You keep Zuwayy from attacking Salimah, or the deal's off.'
'Madame, I'm not in Libya-I'm not Zuwayy's wet nurse,' Kazakov said. 'You're the one with the American white knights coming to your rescue-why not call on them to save you again?'
'If bombs fall on Salimah, Kazakov, the deal's off.'
'If you try to cancel this deal, Salaam, I'll send a transcript of this conversation to every media outlet in the world-see how long your popularity in the Arab world lasts then,' Kazakov said. 'On the other hand, you give me what I want, and I'll make Zuwayy and his goons heel. Count on it.'
There was silence on the line for several long moments; then: 'I guess I have no choice. But I want Zuwayy out of the picture. No more threats from him.'
'I'll make you a side deal, Mrs. Salaam-you give me the white knights, and I'll serve you up Jadallah Zuwayy.'
'What?'
'You give me the Americans, the ones in the electronic battle armor, the ones with the fancy electromagnetic guns and the jump boots, and you can take control of the entire Muslim Brotherhood. Zuwayy will be a traitor to all
