“Oh Cam. They just missed you then?”
Cammy looked up and slowly nodded her head. “By about a few seconds.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“What can I do? I’m going to stay at the Indian Embassy again tonight and maybe tomorrow. Then we should be ready to head out of here with all the laser equipment. I’ve got to get word to Jayson so they can arrange a transport. We’re going to Travis, you know.”
“Yes, you said that. Back home again. Sort of.”
“Sort of.”
“Is Hunt going too?”
“I don’t know. Nobody’s told me who all would be on the plane.”
“And speaking of Hunt, what happened to him last night?” Mel asked.
Cammy looked pensive as she remembered the look of devastation on his face and his cutting remark about her being on a first-name basis with the vice president. “He was pretty upset. I mean, he had gone to get the car. He said that if only he had taken Claudia with him, she’d be okay. Well, you can imagine.”
“Yeah. Sure. Do you think there was something going on between the two of them?”
“It sure looked like it to me. I mean, the man was practically crying. Of course, I can’t blame him. I mean it was awful, just awful with burned bodies and twisted metal and, oh I just don’t think I want to talk about it.”
“So he was having an affair with her, right?” Mel pressed.
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Oh, and then I told him about the break-in at my apartment and how I had called Jayson. And he made a snide remark about my relationship with Jay.”
“Guess that pretty much puts an end to things, doesn’t it?”
“Looks that way,” Cammy admitted. She leaned over, switched on her computer and stowed her shoulder bag in the bottom drawer of her desk. “Hey, Mel, thanks for being here this morning. It was a pretty tough night.”
“I had to see you and be sure you were okay.” She got up and moved toward the door. “One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“I was here until after six last night because Bollinger told me to wait for the results of the lie detector test.”
“And you passed, right?”
“Not exactly,” Mel admitted.
“Not exactly? You sound like an old Hertz commercial. What happened, Mel?”
“I told Stan I would never leak anything improper, especially anything classified. And all he said was that the results were ‘inconclusive,’ and I’m on a short leash. Can you believe that?”
“Ignore him. That’s what I usually do.” She turned toward her computer. “And now I’ve got to get to work and iron out a few problems I found yesterday on this darn laser. We’re down to the last tiny parts. Sometimes I ask myself how I’m going to finally thread this needle.”
“You’ll do it,” Mel said, “But before you go to California, maybe you’d better stock up on thimbles.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
THE WHITE HOUSE
Hunt Daniels sat across from Jayson Keller in his West Wing office and recapped the events surrounding the explosion that killed Claudia and the cameraman. He said he was surprised to see Cammy there and then got to thinking about what she’d said about her apartment being rigged with an explosive device. “So it seems to me that the bomb last night might have been meant for Cammy, I mean, Dr. Talbot,” Hunt said.
“I believe she only decided to go to that seminar at the last minute, so unless the killer was stalking her and followed her from her office and had the bomb with him, no, that doesn’t quite track.”
“Maybe he was following me,” Hunt suggested. “I almost got nailed a couple of times when I was in Russia and who knows? Maybe somebody’s still tailing me.”
“But you weren’t anywhere near that FedEx box when it blew up, right?”
“Well, no. I was getting the car. But back on the Cammy-as-the-target idea, Claudia was wearing a coat just like Cammy’s, uh, Dr. Talbot’s.”
“It’s okay, Hunt. We all know you and Cammy worked together. We know you’re friends.”
“Used to be,” Hunt muttered under his breath.
“So where are we here?”
“Cammy’s got protection. Thanks to you and Janis, I hear.”
“Yes. And she’s staying with the Indian ambassador until she takes her laser team out west.”
“Out west?” Hunt asked.
“Yes, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about too. The president wants you to go along as a liaison with the base officers out at Travis. That’s where they’re going to install the laser. On an F-16. The president says you used to fly that plane and since you’re on top of the whole issue, it would be best for you to go.”
Jayson hadn’t wanted to send Hunt across the country with Cammy. He’d always sensed that they had some sort of relationship, and he wasn’t about to encourage it again. Whatever it was. But he could hardly argue with the president when he made such a cogent case. So he’d just have to send the two of them out there and hope that whatever was in the past stayed in the past.
“When do we leave?” Hunt asked.
“Day after tomorrow. I just talked to Cammy and she says she’s working on some last minute fixes but hopes everything will be ready by then.”
“But I think the funeral for Claudia is later this week,” Hunt said.
“I know. Most of the NSC staff will be there, I’m sure. But we need you out at Travis. I’m sorry.”
After Hunt left, Jayson worked on a number of briefing papers and then saw a light blinking on his desk phone. He grabbed it. “Yes?”
“Can you come to the president’s office for a minute?” the secretary asked.
“Of course. Right away,” Jay replied. He hung up, reached for his suit coat, and walked the few feet over to the Oval Office. The secretary, sitting in the ante room, nodded for him to go in.
“Just got a call from the president of Taiwan. You know that missile defense system that Sterling shipped over there?”
“Yes, of course,” Jay said.
“Well, the whole thing isn’t worth a damn. They’ve been testing it and it won’t even track, let alone shoot down an incoming missile. The Taiwanese are scared shitless, and they’re asking for help.”
“What kind of help?” Jay asked, sitting down in a chair next to the president’s desk.”
“They’ve heard about Dr. Talbot’s Q-3 system that she deployed in India. Of course, everybody’s heard about that little stunt. Anyway, they’re asking if they can purchase her system.”
“Did you okay it?”
“Sure, why not? They can only use it for defensive purposes, and Lord knows they need something to go up against that array of missiles, some ballistic, some cruise, that the Chicoms have set up across the Straits. And with those military exercises set to begin any day now, well, you can imagine how they feel. They’re so upset they’re even sending the pandas back that the Chinese gave them.”
“Doesn’t sound very promising, does it?” Jay said.
“They need arms, not Pandas, because China is armed to the teeth right now. And by the way, he even quoted ole man Reagan.”
“Really? Which quote?”
“He said that President Reagan used to say, ‘Nations do not disagree because they are armed. They are armed because they disagree on important matters like human life and liberty.’ It’s still true today. And they’re willing to pay. Anything. The only question is, how soon can they get it, and how soon can they learn how to use it? You know the Bandaq company. What do you think?”
Jayson stared out the trio of windows behind the president’s desk for several moments. The wind had stopped, and the sun was out. But that seemed like the only bright spot in this otherwise difficult day. “Tell you what. I’ve got a couple of ideas. Let me put them together. I’ll have something on your desk by Noon.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND
“Hey, Cam, did
you see this article in the New York Times about the attorney general’s investigation of that leak?” Melanie said, poking her head into Cammy’s office.
“No, not yet. Any suspects?”
“It says they’re focusing on the Hill.”
“Derek Winters?” Cammy asked raising her eyebrows and wondering what Melanie thought about his possible involvement.
“Not him specifically, thank God. It just says they’re interviewing every member of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.” She shuffled the paper to the inside back page. “But the interesting thing is this editorial. It’s got your name in it.”
Cammy jumped up from her desk chair, “Where?”
“Right here,” Mel said, pointing to the second paragraph. “It says your project never should have been classified, that the American people have a right to know what the government is doing to protect the airliners. Then it’s got a blast here at the president for his various surveillance programs.”
“How do they know what surveillance programs he’s using?” Cammy asked.
“It doesn’t say. It’s just a general rant.”
“The American people may have a right to know a lot of things. But all in due time,” Cammy remarked. “Let me ask you something. If a newspaper editor had learned the details of the invasion on D-Day, would the American people have had a right to know that?”
“Touche,” Mel said, putting the paper on the desk. “So are you crashing to get everything ready to leave for Travis? Oh, sorry. Bad terminology.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve said the same thing,” Cammy said, sitting down and swiveling around in her chair. “I’m trying to get it all together. But I did take time to make a note for you about something I had at the embassy last night.”
“Really what?”
Cammy reached into the bottom drawer of her desk, pulled out her shoulder bag and fished inside for a slip of paper. “Here it is. For your stupid recipe file. ‘Sago Sabudana Khichdi.’”
“What the heck is that?”
“Some sort of Indian snack food made with sago, chili peppers, peanuts and ghee.”
“So where do I get some ghee?”
“Hey, you’re the chef. I’m just the observer.”
“And speaking of observers, this is the first time all day that I’ve observed even a hint of a smile on your face,” Mel said.
“I’m just trying to keep last night out of my mind and concentrate on the project,” Cammy said with a sigh.
“What’s Bollinger saying about all of this?”
“What could he say? Jay called him personally about sending my whole team to Travis.”
“The vice president called Stan?”
“Yep. So Stan says to me that he still thinks the whole laser idea may not work, but he has to let us go try it out. And I have the distinct impression that if, for some god-awful reason, it really doesn’t work, he’s going to be madder than …”
“The pacifist who went to the ball game on Handgun Night?” Melanie said with a laugh. “Do you suppose we could nominate Stan for an anger management class or something?”
“Good luck,” Cammy said turning back to her computer. “And now I’m going to need all the luck I can get to have this software ready to go.”
Mel turned toward the door and said over her shoulder, “By the way, you told me Hunt is going to Travis too. How are you going to feel having him on that plane with you?”
Cammy shrugged. “Right now I’m playing Scarlett O’Hara. I won’t think about today, I’ll think about that tomorrow!”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
THE WHITE HOUSE
“Did you ever see that cartoon of two guys in the dungeon, hanging from chains on the wall? And one guy looks over and says to the other guy, ‘Now here’s my plan’.”
The president chuckled. “On a day like this I can use a cartoon or two.” He looked up at Jayson Keller and asked, “So you’ve got a plan for me?”
“Yes, I’ve put together a strategy for your approval.”
“Let me see,” the president said, reaching for the memo. “Hmmm. So you want us to move two of our carriers closer to the Taiwan Straits along with two others with the Aegis systems. That’ll work. We have several in the Pacific right now.” He read the second bullet point. “And then you want to go to Japan to arrange a mutual defense agreement whereby the Japanese, along with us, of course, would come to Taiwan’s defense in the unlikely event of an attack by China.”
“Yes, sir. Now that Japan has amended Article 9 of its constitution, I believe we can convince them to use some of their defense forces to come in to help Taiwan.”
“That article has stirred up controversy for years ever since McArthur and his boys had it added right after World War II.”
“Well, sure. We didn’t want them building another military machine, so that article precluded any of that. But over the years, they’ve created forces they say are for their own defense and now with the re-wording, they’ll be able to help out when it comes to other problems overseas.”
“Like committing peace-keeping troops once in a while,” the president said.
“Yes. And as for deciding where to take a stand, well, you know how irritated the Japanese get with China all the time. They scramble their jets about a hundred times a year to intercept Chinese spy planes,” Jay said.
“I know. And every time a Chinese submarine or any other kind of ship gets anywhere near them, Tokyo raises holy hell.”
“Another thing is that we’re in a pretty good position to ask them to help us out here. We’re already working with their people on that big ballistic missile defense system over there.”
“The one at Yokota Air Base?”
“Yes. Our guys are also upgrading some systems at Camp Zama in Central Japan, so obviously, we’re improving our positioning in the area in a lot of different ways.” The vice president pointed to the third bullet on the page and continued. “Besides, the Japanese are a hell of a lot closer to the Taiwan Straits than Guam where a lot of our people are stationed, although Guam has had its share of threats as we all know. But Japan really could be key in all of this.”
“All right. I’ll put in a call to their prime minister to tell him I’m sending you over there.” He turned the page and perused the next section of the memo. “Now, what about Taiwan’s request for Q-3?”
“I think we can cover that too. I suggest we get Bandaq to put a Q-3 team together along with their components, and we can send them over to Taiwan in a transport to set up the system and begin training the Taiwanese defense specialists.”
“What about Dr. Talbot? It’s her baby.”
“She could go too. She’s heading out to Travis Air Force Base tomorrow. She can get the technicians out there started on the installation of her laser on an F-16. While they’re doing that, I would guess that her old Q-3 team will take a couple days to get everything together. Then they could stop at Travis … they’d need a fuel stop anyway … they pick her up and they’d all fly on to Taipei. She could work there for a few days, and I could pick her up and fly back to San Francisco when we could all rendezvous.”
“Rendezvous?” The president asked. “With whom?”
“The way I see the timing on this thing, sometime after Dr. Talbot and the laser team fly to Travis, I’d head over to Japan. I’ll be there for a while trying to hammer out this agreement. You know they like to take their time with these things.”
The president replied, “They sure do. I sometimes feel that the only way we can speed things up with those people is if my mother knew the prime minister’s mother. Well, you get the picture.”
Jayson gave a half laugh and went on with his plan. “So Dr. Talbot spends a few days at Travis, then flies to Taiwan with her team. Her team stays here for a while to be sure everything works okay. I pick up Dr. Talbot on the way back from Japan. And when we land in San Francisco, Hunt could bring the test F-16 to SFO and give me a demonstration of the laser which, w
e hope, will be operational. And since the whole world now knows we’re testing it, I figure you could make an announcement about how well it’s working and at the same time, I can give that speech I’ve scheduled at the Commonwealth Club out there and include a whole section on our new laser that I will have just seen.”
The president leaned back in his tall leather chair and put his hands behind his head. “This is the first decent plan of action I’ve seen in weeks around here. Good work, Jay.” He started to make some notes in the margin of the memo and added, “You know, if this whole scenario pans out, I mean if that new laser actually works, Franklin Thorne is going to be in a bit of a quandary. In fact, he and those other two contractors will probably be the only people in the entire country who will be sorry to see a success here.”
“I’m afraid you’re right. He was still lobbying for money for those guys only yesterday. I mean, I can understand his trying to beef up those contracts. His office awarded them. But he’s been a broken record on this thing. Seems kinda odd, know what I mean?”
“Yes. He’s a regular Johnny One-Note for those guys. But when this is all over, I hope we can find other meaningful work for the secretary. To be honest, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get rid of him for months now.”
“I know. He’s never been much of a team player and he hasn’t turned out to be much of a manager either,” Jay agreed.
The president nodded. “When this is all over, maybe we can find an ambassadorship for him someplace.”
“How about the Seychelles?” Jay said with a wry smile.
“I’ll take that under advisement.” The president looked over at his schedule for the day, saw that he had a few minutes before his next meeting and said, “Now then, I’ll make that call to Tokyo and I’ll also call the Taiwanese president back to tell him to get ready for the Q-3 team to arrive. You call Bandaq and get that team organized, and I assume you’ll let Dr. Talbot know all the details.”
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