“Better that he is dead than captured.”
Ludi nodded.
“We have already begun blunting the American propaganda,” continued the intelligence minister. He handed Cho Lai a touchpad tablet. There was a video in the middle of the screen, poised to play. The premier touched the arrow. A scene outside the UN began to play, showing a press conference the scientist had held.
“I have no time for more of his lies,” said Cho Lai.
“Wait for a moment, Your Excellency It will pause.”
The camera moved to the right, looking over the crowd. Then the image stopped on a young American woman. Her face zoomed to fill half the screen. Next to it, a black presentation-type slide came up.
“She was called the Dark Horse in Malaysia, we believe,” said Ludi. “A very skilled operative.”
“A woman.”
“A CIA officer who has accompanied the scientist. Who is to say that she did not plant the information for him to discover?”
“His story is that he witnessed the massacre,” said Cho Lai.
“He ran from the camp where the other scientists were, so he doesn’t know what happened there. We have already begun to attack his credibility. Videos have been prepared. We have several operatives ready to contact media. It will be a subtle, but all-out campaign.”
Cho Lai frowned.
“If you do not wish us to proceed, Your Excellency — ”
“Do what you can to discredit him,” said Cho Lai. “Do not harm the scientist. That will only make it look as if we are guilty. As for this girl — kill her if it is convenient. That would bring some measure of satisfaction for our agent’s demise.”
“It will be done.” Ludi bowed deeply, then left the room.
9
The last was always a pipe dream, but with Josh MacArthur’s dramatic appearance before the UN, the first two seemed well within his grasp. Yet within hours, everything began to disintegrate. The UN vote was postponed by Iran, either as a payback for oil deals between it and China, or as the latest in a campaign to tweak America’s nose — or very likely both. Senator Phillip Grasso, who had been among Greene’s biggest critics since the start of his presidency, had fallen into line, thanks largely to a thwarted attempt by the Chinese to kill him and Josh Mac- Arthur as they traveled together in New York. But Grasso’s influence in the Senate only went so far, and as soon as he came out in favor of intervention, the antis began mounting an offensive.
Then there were the lies from China itself. Greene knew the Chinese would attempt to pass off the American information as so much propaganda. What he hadn’t quite expected was how much the news media would play up that angle. Every story he saw seemed to focus on the Chinese counterarguments, rather than the clear evidence Josh MacArthur had brought back.
Greene had seen a confrontation coming with China for a long, long time. But the one thing he hadn’t seen was that it would be over Vietnam.
It was a supreme irony. He’d spent several months at the end of the Vietnam War as a prisoner in Hanoi. And now he was trying to figure out a way to save the bastards.
Not for them. China, and more specifically its despotic premier, had to be stopped. Vietnam was clearly intended as just the first of Cho Lai’s coveted prizes. The rest of Indo-China really would fall easily. The question was where would they go after that: Taiwan? Japan, perhaps?
Greene got off the exercise bike. The first time he had used it in Air Force One, he had thought it very strange indeed — he was literally pedaling at just under the speed of sound. Now, like much he had experienced in his brief tenure as President, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
He poked his head out the door of his private room. His national security director, Walter Jackson, was sitting on the couch of the executive office, talking to the National Security situation room for an update.
“Walter, I’m going to take a shower,” said the President.
“Mr. President, a moment?”
“All right,” said Greene, frowning.
Jackson hung up. “Can we get Lin in here?”
Linda Holmes was the legislative coordinator.
“It’s your meeting, Walter.”
Greene stooped down to the small beverage refrigerator. He paused over the selections — a beer would go down pretty well right now — then pulled out a bottle of water.
Linda Holmes came into the conference room holding a large binder in front of her chest. Now just past fifty, in younger years she was quite a beauty. Greene still found her attractive, though there wasn’t a hint of flirtation between them. It would have gone nowhere in any event — she’d just celebrated her thirty-year marriage anniversary.
“Mr. President.”
“Drink?” asked Greene, settling down on the couch.
“I just had coffee.”
“How’s it look?”
“Well.” Holmes opened the binder. She had an iPad 3 in the pocket. She fired it up, then flipped about midway through her book. She tapped the iPad twice, coordinating whatever was on the screen with her documents. “You need eight more votes.”
“In the House?” asked Greene.
“That’s the Senate. The House is even tougher.”
Greene cursed. Now he really wished he’d chosen the beer.
“It’s because it’s Vietnam that’s being attacked,” she added. “Anywhere else, even Taiwan — ”
“I know,” said Greene. “All right. Just tell me: Is there any hope?”
She made a face Greene had seen all too often in his short tenure as president. He called it the Bad News Grimace —
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” said Holmes. “If you could make some calls, it might help.”
“Give me a list,” said Greene.
Holmes tapped her iPad. The printer at the far end of the room began humming.
“I’ll let you know how I do,” said Greene.
He got up. As Holmes left, he took a swig from the water bottle and turned toward the back to his private suite.
“George?”
“Yes, Walter?”
“Are you thinking of sending the troops without the authorization?” asked the national security director.
“Possibly.”
“That’s risky. Legally.”
“Agreed.”
“The worst thing would be to send them too late.”
“I’m well aware of that, Walter. Do you mind if I take a shower now?”
“Couple of other things,” said Jackson. “The operation against Hainan seems to have been successful. NSA has intercepts telling the fleet to look for Vietnamese submarines. The admiral who was supposed to lead the invasion force has been recalled to Beijing for consultation.”
“Excellent.”
