Gambit

by Karna Small Bodman

  “Yes sir. I’m on it.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  STERLING, VIRGINIA

  Dr. Nettar Kooner was furious. The defense minister of Taiwan had just called to cancel their missile defense contract, emphasizing that the entire shipment from Sterling Dynamics was faulty, and there would be no further payments made. Kooner had told him that his people had gone over every component, every piece of software, every test results and had not found any errors, so the problems must have occurred during installation of the system of Taiwan by their own engineers.

  The whole discussion had almost deteriorated into a shouting match when the defense minister had informed him that they had made arrangements to use another company’s system for their defense needs and he had finally ended the conversation with a simple, “Good day, sir.”

  Kooner swiveled his chair around and stared out the large picture window of his office. The trees off in the distance swayed in a gentle breeze, but he felt a cold chill creeping up his spine as he pondered how he would explain this fiasco to his board of directors next week. He turned back to his desk and pulled up the calendar on his computer. He had a meeting scheduled shortly with the weasel from DHS. The man had been on the take for months now, and he wasn’t exactly coming through with added money for their airport contract.

  It was that contract that could make the difference between profit and their worst quarter ever. He called up his email, saw that he had at least forty unread messages. He sighed and got back to work.

  An hour later, his secretary buzzed him to announce that Secretary Thorne had arrived. She showed the gaunt, slope shouldered man into Dr. Kooner’s spacious office and came back with a tray of coffee, cream and sugar, cups and saucers, sterling silver spoons, napkins and a plate of croissants. Kooner nodded his thanks and moved over to the conference table for his chat with the DHS director.

  “So what have you got for me today?” Kooner asked, hoping for at least one piece of good news.

  The secretary poured some cream into his coffee, added three lumps of sugar and reached for a croissant. It looked like he was stalling for time as he carefully stirred his coffee and then broke off a piece of the roll.

  “Well?” Kooner prompted.

  Thorne took a sip of his coffee and cleared his throat. “I was up on the Hill again yesterday. The committees are all saying that they want to see some test results of your airport system before they vote any more money. Right now they’re being hounded for more funds for National Guard troops and Coast Guard units to patrol the areas around the airports, and they’re trying to figure out how to pay for the installation of new technology on the airplanes, once it proves out, because they know damn well that the airlines don’t have any money to pay for it.”

  Kooner felt his pulse quicken as he stared at this sorry excuse for a Cabinet member. “Are you telling me that after all these months of … shall we say … supplementing your income to cover your gambling debts, you can’t even push through one measly appropriation for our company?” he asked, his voice rising.

  The secretary sat still, his eyes cast down as if he were searching for a bug on the plush gray carpet. “I’ve tried my best, Nettar. You know that.”

  “I don’t think you’ve tried hard enough. In fact, you’re trying my patience right about now. If this funding doesn’t come through, I can see no reason to keep funding your bad little habit.”

  Thorne looked up at him with pleading eyes. “I’ve worked hard for you. I got you the contract in the first place. That should be worth something, you know.”

  “I think the payments we’ve made into your offshore account have more than compensated you for your initial efforts.”

  “But I still have debts.”

  “And if you don’t shape up, by the time I’m through with you, you’ll be so poor you won’t be able to pay attention,” Kooner scoffed. “Besides, you think your profligate spending in those casinos is somehow our fault?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “No, you didn’t say that,” Kooner echoed. “Well, I’m saying this, and I want you to listen carefully. Either I get word by next week that we’re getting that appropriation or our agreement will be history. Do you understand me?”

  The secretary devoured his croissant as if it were his last meal. He took one last gulp of coffee, wiped his mouth on the linen napkin, got up from the table and quickly walked out the door.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  GEORGETOWN

  “Are you excited about flying out to Travis tomorrow?” Melanie asked as the hostess showed them to their booth in the Omelet Room of Clyde’s restaurant in Georgetown. This was one of their favorites haunts. Lots of action, a good wine list, great location right there on M Street near Wisconsin and besides, they could always park downstairs in the huge underground lot below the Georgetown Park shopping mall.

  The place felt like a fancy saloon with its long bar in the front room, paintings of horse races and fast cars on the walls and brass sconces at the edge of every booth. So many people hung out at Clyde’s starting in the late afternoon, word was that the place had been the inspiration for the old song “Afternoon Delight.”

  Cammy sat down, stowed her shoulder bag and blazer next to her and grabbed a menu. “If I didn’t have to actually get on an airplane, it would be better. You know I hate to fly. It’s this phobia I can’t seem to shake. I’ve just got to stop thinking about it.” She picked up the menu and added, “But it’ll be interesting to go back and see the place. I mean I haven’t been there in years. I hope they’ve improved the housing. It’s always pretty sparse on an Air Force base.”

  “Yeah. Speaking of housing, I’ve got an idea for that land over on the Eastern Shore.”

  “You mean the lot you inherited some time back?” Cammy asked.

  “MmmHmm. Now don’t laugh, but I’m thinking about building a yurt,” Melanie said with a smile.

  “A yurt?” Cammy blurted. “One of those little round things?”

  “Sure. Why not? They’re cheap, and I can’t afford to build a real house.”

  “But a yurt? Where the heck did you get that idea?”

  “With the president of Mongolia in town, there’ve been all these articles about life over there. I think maybe they invented them.”

  “Good grief! A yurt!” Cammy said, staring at her friend. “You come up with the darndest ideas sometimes.”

  “Hey, I was just thinking that it would be fun to have a weekend place. You know, get out of this town once in a while. And I’ve got the land, so why not have some fun with it?”

  “Have they got a kit for those things? I mean, how are you going to build it?”

  “I’m not sure, but I saw a program on HGTV where they put one together and it had a little kitchen, a bathroom, heating and everything. Of course, the rooms are sort of pie-shaped, but it was so cheap and quick, I’ll bet I could get it done over the summer.”

  “You’re amazing,” Cammy said as she perused the menu.

  “And I was thinking that if I had a place like that, you could come out there with me. I’ll bet nobody could find you there.”

  Cammy looked up, suddenly serious. “Well, I sure hope I still don’t have to have FBI protection by the time I get back from Travis. I mean, they’ve got to find the bad guys one of these days.”

  “You’d think,” Mel agreed. “Where are your agents now?”

  “Over there, in the bar,” she said, motioning through an opening to the front room. “When I told them I was meeting you here, I think they were glad for the diversion. Sure beats parking outside of the Indian Embassy or our office building all the time.”

  The waiter came up, said his name was Ned, poured water into their tall glasses and asked if they’d made a decision.

  “I’ll have the Norwegian Salmon. And could you bring some extra lemon with that?” Cammy asked.

  “Sure thing. Any wine with that? Or something to start?”

  She scan
ned the wines-by-the-glass list and asked for a glass of the Kendall Jackson chardonnay and said the Heirloom tomatoes would be great too.

  “And for you?” Ned asked Melanie.

  “I’ll go for a small Caesar and the New York strip, rare please. Oh, and a glass of the house pinot noir.”

  Ned made a note and sashayed off to the bar to fill their drink orders.

  “Glad you could get out tonight,” Mel said. “I thought it would be fun to have kind of a send-off, you know?”

  “Thanks. I’ve been working so late the last couple of nights, I’ve missed dinner with the ambassador and his wife. They were nice enough to leave me something cold in the kitchen, but still …”

  “That reminds me,” Mel interjected, “since you’re going to be traveling with Hunt again, are you still going to give him the cold shoulder?”

  Cammy sighed and took a sip of water. “Oh, I don’t know. I still feel terrible about Claudia, and I’m sure he’s pretty devastated over that whole thing. I can’t imagine he’d try to spend much time with me at Travis. I mean, we’re going to be so busy, trying to fit our new pod onto that F-16, getting it all wired and then running our tests.

  “Besides, when Jayson called to tell me about the schedule and said that they wanted to get my old Q-3 team to fly out just a few days after I get to Travis, I couldn’t believe it. Talk about a tight time frame.”

  “I know. Bollinger is going crazy trying to get the Q-3 components together, get the radar and satellite systems and all the software programs ready to be shipped. When you moved over to do the laser research, there were a lot of changes in that division.”

  “I know. But at least it’s up and running so they should be able to get it ready to go to Taiwan. Besides, Stan must be happy to be getting a fat contract from Taiwan for the system.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  The waiter brought their wine and Cammy raised her glass. “I’ll tell you one thing though. I know it’s not right to do the whole schadenfreude thing, but when Jay told me that the Taiwanese cancelled their contract with Sterling because their defense system didn’t work, I really felt like celebrating.”

  They clinked glasses and Mel said, “I’ll drink to that.” Then she added, “Looks like you’re going to beat Kooner at his own game.”

  Cammy took a sip of her wine and simply smiled.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  NORTH OF GUANGZHOU

  “Collateral damage,” The general declared, reading a report from his second-in-command.

  “But, he killed the wrong woman.”

  “I’m not so sure,” the general replied, pulling the goose neck lamp closer so he could read the report more carefully.

  Colonel Tsao yanked a wobbly folding chair up to the table. “Her name was Claudia Del Sarto, not the scientist, Dr. Talbot. I tell you, they killed the wrong woman. I don’t know how our Washington agent could be so stupid.”

  The general finished reading and put the memo down. “It turns out that she was spying on our friends in Venezuela. You know our country has completed a series of contracts with Venezuela for everything from oil exploration to lifting trade tariffs. They are proving to be most helpful. So when they tell us that someone is a nuisance, sometimes it pays to take care of the problem. Even if it’s an accident.”

  “But she wasn’t our problem,” the colonel protested.

  “True. But by getting her out of the way, we’ve enhanced our stature in South America, so I am not troubled by this development.” He switched off the lamp, got up from the table and started to walk toward the door.

  The colonel jumped up and followed as the general stalked out of the building and said, “What does trouble me, though, is the general incompetence of our agent in Washington. On the other hand, perhaps we won’t be needing him for a while.”

  “What do you mean?” the colonel asked, trying to keep up with the general’s fast pace.

  “We have agents in many other places. I also received a report this morning from our man in Taipei.”

  “We have many providing information from Taiwan. Which one is reporting this time?”

  “The man we have placed in the Defense Ministry.”

  “Ah, the most important spy in our network.”

  The general turned on his aide. “They are not spies! The other side spies on us. Our people gather information for the motherland. Information that should be forthcoming to us anyway. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir. What did he say?”

  “He told me of a most interesting development. Do you remember when we talked about that American company, Sterling Dynamics, that sold their missile defense system to Taiwan?”

  “Of course. And then it never worked.”

  “Right. I knew that system would not work in Taiwan. The reasons do not matter. They have abrogated their contract with Sterling.”

  “But that is excellent news.”

  “Not quite.”

  “What is wrong?”

  “Instead of Sterling’s system, they have asked for Q-3, that original missile defense system developed by this Dr. Talbot, the one who should have been eliminated long ago.”

  “Taiwan is going to get Q-3? When?”

  “Our agent reports that the American government is going to send it over in a matter of days.”

  The general hurried along the path from the hangar to a warehouse where jeeps and armaments were stored. When he yanked open the door, he saw dozens of soldiers preparing various vehicles and weapons for use in the upcoming military exercises. He surveyed the cavernous room and began to inspect the process.

  The colonel followed him inside and shut the door. “Will Dr. Talbot be coming to Taiwan to set it up?”

  “Our agent believes she will come, yes.” The general stopped and turned around. “So do you realize what this means?”

  “Certainly, sir. All we need to do is get their exact itinerary from our agent in Taipei.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  THE WHITE HOUSE

  “You’re delaying your trip by a couple of days, Jay?” The president said. They were having their usual weekly luncheon in a private study just off the Oval Office. The stewards maintain a small kitchen nearby and were used to serving lunch, coffee and snacks off and on during the day.

  One time many years ago a president asked the stewards to rustle up a few bottles of champagne because he was so pleased that Congress had finally passed a major bill reducing tax rates by twenty-five percent. He had invited any members of the White House staff who happened to be nearby to come into the Oval Office to raise a glass and toast their victory. Photos of that celebration had ended up in newspapers and magazines all over the world. It was displayed on board an aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, and even appeared in Paris Match. That had been especially welcomed by the White House press secretary. They didn’t always get such great coverage in France. But no such champagne celebrations had taken place in the current Oval Office in quite some time.

  The vice president ate some of his onion soup and said, “Yes. After some calls, we decided it would be best to send the advance team over to set things up. We all know what the Japanese are like when it comes to protocol. And this mutual defense pact is too important to leave to chance.”

  “You’re right. When I made that first call to the prime minister, he was gracious and said that they would naturally welcome your entourage and all of that. But I got the distinct impression that he needed a bit of time to consider his options.”

  “The only thing is,” Jay said, “I don’t want to wait more than a couple of days. I’m worried about those military exercises the Chinese are about to start in the Taiwan Straits. Since I missed the intelligence briefing this morning, anything new there?”

  “Just that they’re moving more equipment into the area than they ever have in the past. It had to be the usual scare mongering though. I can’t conceive of the Chinese trying to do anything to Taiwan right now. We’ve got t
rade agreements with that crowd, and foreign investment is at an all-time high.”

  “Of course, they keep putting in more regulations to screw up a lot of it,” the vice president interjected.

  “I suppose they have to do something to keep all those bureaucrats busy. Sure wish we had some results back from Borealis. But that’s going to take another day or two.”

  “Yes. Iggy really got his back up over that order. But they finally rolled it out and took off. There’s been no hint of it in the press, not even Air Force Times. I think they’re doing a pretty good job keeping that whole operation Top Secret.”

  “Right. But I keep thinking, what’s the use of having all this hardware if we can’t use it?” the president said.

  Jayson nodded and used his large spoon to cut through the thick layer of Gruyere cheese on top of his soup. “As long as we have a few minutes here, I wanted to see if there’s anything else I should be doing for you before I leave?”

  The president finished his first course and started on his chicken Caesar salad. “There are so many things on our agenda right now, but I’m farming them out. You’ve got enough to worry about with the Japanese, the Taiwanese and maybe even the Chinese acting up.”

  “I know. Just thought I’d check,” Jay said.

  “In addition to our whole terrorist issue, we’re still trying to work out a few things with the Hill on that new Medicare benefit.”

  “Nobody understood the last one.”

  “I know. However, it turns out, I might veto it anyway. We can’t afford what we’ve got now. Oh, and the New York delegation is pissed off, again, about the whole parking ticket game around the city.”

  “You mean all the UN delegates who park anywhere and ignore the tickets because they think they’ve got diplomatic immunity?”

  “Sure. Comes up all the time, except that now the city is screaming for their share of the funds,” the president said with a weary shake of his head.