“The Chinese have been working the justified-strike angle hard already,” said Knox. “They’re claiming they were attacked first.”
“What a bunch of horse shit,” said the president.
“The photo intelligence is ambiguous,” said Knox. “It’s possible — ”
“None of the other intelligence backs that up,” said Frost. “Besides, the Vietnamese aren’t that stupid.”
“Enough people will pretend they believe what the Chinese say,” said Greene. “That’s their goal. Make it hard to pass a resolution condemning them. Keep public opinion on their side, or at least paralyzed.”
This was the way war was fought in the twenty-first century, Greene thought — with one eye on world opinion and the other on the battlefield. But hadn’t it always been that way? Roosevelt, fighting the most popular war in American history, had worked tirelessly to make sure the voters remained supportive of the war effort. Even George Washington had staged his most famous — and desperate — attacks at Trenton and Princeton to convince his fellow countrymen that the war could be won.
“We just have to prove the Chinese are full of crap,” said Jackson.
“Easier said than done,” admitted Greene.
14
“This guy is a witness to a Chinese massacre,” Lucas said, addressing the image of his boss, CIA DDO Harold Park, projected on the flat screen in front of him. “He’s a scientist. He has a video. A video. That’s gold. More than gold. You saw the bulletins coming out of Beijing. They all make it sound as if Hanoi pushed troops over their border. The Europeans will buy it. Because they need peace. They don’t want China canceling contracts and withdrawing deposits because they voted the wrong way in the UN. Unless things are so obvious, so criminal, that they have no choice. That’s what this guy represents.”
The media campaign had started, and it was a good one, with terse reports to the official press, and several off-the-record remarks on the situation to the resident AP and Reuters correspondents, all indicating that Vietnam had unexpectedly crossed the border. Chinese troops were rushing to respond.
Hanoi had yet to comment. If the NSA intercepts were any indication, they had only a vague idea of what was going on. One of the CIA analysts had said they seemed to be in denial about what was happening.
“Where is this guy?”
“His last transmission was about ten kilometers from the science camp, a little more than five kilometers south of the border. We think we know which village he was referring to. It’s a Hmong settlement, very small. We’ve set it up for long-range surveillance by one of the Global Hawks. It looks to be right in the area where the Chinese advanced.” Lucas pressed closer to the video camera. “I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg, Harry. I’ve been looking at what the Chinese did in 1979, as they withdrew from Vietnam. They burned everything down. They hate the Vietnamese. You know what the rhetoric is like. I could see them doing this easily.”
“I have no doubt,” said Park bitterly. “What if the Chinese find your man first?”
“They may.”
Park stared at the camera broadcasting his image. It was more scowl than stare; Lucas knew he was working out the different possibilities in his head.
Then suddenly his face relaxed — the sign that he had made his decision.
“What do you need?” Park asked.
“SEAL Team Two.”
“Off limits.”
“Why?”
“We won’t get military personnel in. No U.S. personnel. I won’t even bother asking. I’ll only be shot down.”
“Just — ”
“Negative. U.S. military personnel are off limits.”
“All right. The hostage rescue team.”
“No. Same reason.”
“I’ll use my own people.”
“No American fingerprints, Peter. I don’t want anyone else going into that country.”
“Not even for this?”
“Especially for this. It’s too dangerous.”
“All right. The company from Korea we used in southern China last year.”
Park was speaking from a secure situation room at Langley; at least four other people were working nearby, though the system prevented Lucas from seeing anything more than shadows. One of them apparently said something to Park off camera. He turned away from the screen for a moment.
“Can you get them into Vietnam?” asked Park when he came back.
“Yes.”
“Quickly?”
“Yes.”
Lucas wasn’t sure how quickly he could get them there — or even if they’d take the job. But uncertainty wasn’t the way to win Park over.
“They’re expensive,” said Park.
“They’re worth it. And so is MacArthur. And his video.”
“Do it.”
“Thanks.” Lucas reached for the switch to kill the communication.
Park started to say something, but someone to the right of the screen caught his attention. Lucas watched as he bent over and conferred with an aide whom Lucas didn’t recognize. When Park came back on camera, his scowl had deepened.
“The Vietnamese won’t be able to remain in denial for very much longer,” he told Lucas. “The Chinese have just launched an air attack on the port facilities at Hai Phong.”
15
Compared to the roads they’d taken out of Nam Det, Highway 2 was a superhighway. Not only was the road well paved — at least by Vietnamese standards — but it was also comparatively straight, which made it much easier to follow Tom. It was only two lanes across, but even during the day the road would have been empty for vast stretches, as it was now.
Mara had given Tom the motorcycle with the headlight, figuring that it made more sense for him to have it, since he was the one who knew where they were going. The problem was that he kept roaring ahead, and she had trouble staying with him. When they went through Vin Tuy — a small village on the outskirts of the Cham Chu Nature Reserve — she nearly missed the turn the highway took in the middle of town, guessing the way only after stopping and realizing the more logical choice was asphalt, not hard-pressed dirt.
Vin Tuy was tiny and quiet. So was Tan Yen, a slightly larger village about sixty kilometers farther south. The buildings looking like empty movie sets as she roared past.
