by Jack Strain
“What do you mean who’s next?”
The dark-haired Cassidy was never the beauty queen type like her friend, but she made sure not a single silver hair poked through, and though she cared less about her looks than Martha, she took pride in keeping in shape and looked ten years younger than your typical fifty-three-year-old woman. Springing to her feet like a bobcat let loose from a trap, Mary Jo started nervously walking around the room trying to think and talk at the same time.
The vice president’s Chief of Staff was responsible more than anyone else for getting her on the ticket. Mary Jo had long ago bet that the billionaire from New York was his own worst enemy and figured there would be a fifty-fifty shot that he would do something stupid and give her gal a chance to sit in the only office that really counted in this town.
She never thought Brentwood’s chance would come until the series of bloody events of the past month, but one thing was clear: right now President Wolfe was a dangerous man. And while Martha never feared any man, Mary Jo knew that she was both drawn to and somewhat unnerved by Wolfe, and was from the first moment they met, and that explains why she froze up during the meeting.
Only a lifelong friend knew which buttons to push, and Cassidy started pushing, “Martha, you saw the way the president looked at you when Adelson appealed to you to step in and act. He looked like a mountain rattler all coiled and ready to strike if you would have stood against him.”
Brentwood winced a bit at the prospect that the president was somehow becoming unstable and perhaps dangerous. Sounding defensive, Brentwood’s voice rose in pitch as she said, “Mary Jo, what are you suggesting? You don’t think that I’m in any danger, do you?”
Cassidy’s voice practically scolded the vice president like a school girl, “Wake up, Martha, we’re all in danger. He told the Chiefs to give him a war plan that includes nukes.”
“Now Mary Jo, he said ‘only if necessary.’ Things are bad enough without putting words in his mouth.”
An incredulous Cassidy suddenly turned towards her friend and said with more than a hint of rancor, “Are you seriously defending the man? Where is the woman I know whose faith in the Lord Jesus is strong enough to stand up to this man? He is dangerous. I know you believed in him, but your belief in HIM, is what guides you. If you don’t do the right thing, who knows what will happen, for I surely do not. What I do know is that Secretary Adelman thought he would see his wife tonight, but we both know that’s not going to happen.”
Brentwood closed her eyes again, made the sign of the cross, and then with a resolute look on her face said, “Lord, woman, you surely know how to get under my last nerve, but you’re right. Two things; ask that nice young Air Force officer out there for a secure outside line and secondly, tell the Secret Service that I want to be heading back to Washington by tonight.”
Mary Jo offered a soft smile, pleased her friend was finding the strength to act and asked, “Who are you calling?”
Answering in an almost playful manner, the vice president said, “Why, the Attorney General, of course. I do believe that Archer and I have some rather important things to talk about. Now pass me that memo you showed me yesterday, I need to re-read that one particular section. I may not have gone to law school like everyone else in this town, but I want to make sure that I understand the language. And get someone to find me a cold Diet Coke.”
Positively beaming now, Mary Jo Cassidy answered back, “Yes ma’am.”
Chapter Fifty
Zhongnanhai, Official Residence of the President of the PRC
Beijing, PRC
Chinese President Xi Jinping motioned to his mentor and adviser, Lui Xiang, for more tea as the tedious Russian President’s voice threatened to lull him to sleep. Finally, a pause in the translation allowed Xi to interject and his translator said, “Mr. President, I am glad that we both agree that while the nuclear test was unduly provocative, President Wolf’s nuclear threats are even more dangerous. I agree that a forceful joint statement is necessary. However that will not be enough to deter the Americans.”
The Russian translator repeated the words, “What is it that you suggest?”
The Chinese leader glanced over and saw Lui nod back, and then he said, “I have ordered the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet to mobilize to deter the Americans until they come to their senses. It would make a powerful statement if your own Pacific Fleet would be deployed to counter any aggressive American and Japanese attempts to launch a surprise attack.”
A pause on the other line lasted for nearly ninety seconds until the Russian leader’s voice was heard speaking in rapid Russian, he said, “These are dangerous times. Would not the Americans see this as a provocative act?”
“Provocative, I think not. In fact, failure to act will more likely encourage the Americans to make a rash decision and upset the peace. We will deal with the Korean problem but not under the threat of nuclear blackmail. The Chinese people will not stand for it. Will the Russian people?”
There was a bit of a twinkle in the Chinese leader’s eyes that always showed up when he thought that he had made a particularly clever turn of a phrase. He winked over at Lui who did not share the mirth of his younger protégé. The older man made a motion with his hands to hurry and finish the conversation and Xi nodded back.
“No, the Russian people will also not stand for these nuclear threats. The Russian Pacific Fleet will also be mobilized, and I will increase the alert level of our Air Defense and Rocket Forces. I am in complete agreement, we need to signal to the Americans that the days of allowing them to attack whomever they please, whenever they please must come to an end.”
The Chinese leader was pleased and said, “Thank you Mr. President, together our two peoples will attempt to maintain the peace. We should speak again in the morning. Good day.”
When he was sure the call had ended, President Xi looked over at the three military men in the room, one of them a PLAN admiral who smiled as he said, “Surge their navy into the Pacific, the Russians barely have three modern ships they can send. The Americans will laugh at them.”
Lui was quick to add, “Don’t be so quick to mock, admiral. The Russians have their subs, but more importantly, they have their missiles, and that was what we wanted from them. The Americans may not take note of their fleet, but they can’t ignore their ICBMs.”
Xi waved them both off. For a man normally viewed as unflappable, the events of the past twelve hours threatened to challenge this carefully crafted persona. The atmospheric nuclear test caught everyone off guard, including the foreign operations division of the Ministry for State Security which is tasked with keeping watch on the unpredictable North Koreans who continue to get better at ferreting out Chinese penetration agents. Three more agents were executed in a very grisly and public manner last month.
But what caught the Chinese supreme leader off guard, even more, was the bellicose threats from the American President. What type of head of state tweets out national security policy? An unbalanced one.
Xi’s conversation with President Wolfe two hours ago was unsettling, the American would not speak in reasonable terms. Wolfe kept saying the words that the Chinese were “either with them or against them.” Such simplistic sentiment was no basis for international security policy between two great nations, but the American was not in the mood for a lecture on the niceties of diplomatic exchanges, in fact quite the opposite.
He demanded Chinese support for the unilateral North Korean disarmament of its nuclear arsenal including its short and medium-range ballistic missiles, not just its new ICBMs. When Xi said it was impossible, President Wolfe made it quite clear that one way or another the North Koreans were going to be disarmed and then abruptly hung up the phone.
With a deep, raspy voice, Lui Xiang was next to speak, “Now that the Russians are on board, we need to send another message to the Americans.”
Xi said, “We already talked about that earlier. What you propose is risky.”
&n
bsp; “And nuclear war is not?”
Xi looked towards the lone senior economic advisor in the room who merely nodded his assent. Xi felt his chest tighten but knew it was necessary and said strongly, “Order our traders to begin dumping $200 billion of U.S. Treasuries immediately. The Japanese markets are in disarray over the nuclear test and won’t be in a position to buy them up right away. Perhaps a run on their stock market will send an appropriate message.”
Lui was proud of the younger man. He was becoming a great man right before his very eyes.
ABC Nightly News
“…violence broke out today in multiple locations around the nation as panic buying by millions of frightened Americans emptied shelves of everything from batteries to canned goods of all kinds. Some of the worse incidents of violence occurred in those cities still struggling with power outages from the Iranian cyber-attack. Reports of gunfire were caught by several bystanders at a Sam’s Club outside of Scranton, Pa when nearly a hundred people surrounded a tractor trailer packed with food. Security guards reportedly opened fire, and several were struck down by return fire. More coverage to come on this story as it comes in.
“The White House continues to deny it is preparing a pre-emptive attack on North Korea even as sources within the Pentagon report that American military assets are in a rapid redeployment mode from the Middle East to the Pacific. Senior Congressional leadership from both parties have expressed dismay at having been kept out of the loop, and many are calling on the president to seek diplomatic options and stop the march to war, a war that could very well go nuclear.”
Chapter Fifty One
November 3rd
The White House Situation Room
The meeting was already fifteen minutes late as the president took his third call of the day from Japanese Prime Minister Kosaku Ariga. Like his South Korean counterpart, Ariga beseeched Wolfe to make a public statement to reassure the world that a nuclear war was not imminent, but Wolfe refused, and a massive exodus from major cities in Japan and South Korea into the countryside was producing a near calamity as highways and trains were packed with mobs of people fleeing for their lives.
If the stakes did not feel high enough this morning, twelve hours later things were clearly even grimmer. The senior military and national security heads and their deputies were in attendance, along with several key domestic cabinet heads including notably the Secretary of the Treasury Stanley Mueller. A fifteen-hundred-point drop in the Dow that afternoon suddenly turned matters of the economy into a national security issue at this point. The one notable absence was the vice president who was said to be delayed returning to Washington.
Everyone came to their feet when President Wolfe entered the room followed by Baxter Davis and two of his political people. CIA Director Nicholas Tomasso began the meeting by giving a short synopsis of the past twelve hours. The North Koreans appeared to be mobilizing their armed forces and the Chinese and the Russians were coordinating both political and military responses.
Not a single ally, not even the British, were giving public or even private support to the president’s threats. The world financial markets were in free fall, and while Americans were no longer fighting one another in the streets, it was because they were busy swamping every supermarket, gas station, and bank in the nation as cash, food, and gas now became an obsession for millions of American families.
Unlike the president’s outwardly agitated demeanor from the morning, tonight he was formally dressed in business attire and did not react to a single piece of the increasingly alarming news his CIA director just delivered. Instead, he calmly waited for Tomasso to finish and finally said, “It’s been a hell of a day, hasn’t it? Still no reason to panic, I have complete faith in the fighting men and women of this nation. We will deal with the North Korean missile threat, period. Nothing I have heard will deter me from following this course of action. Doing nothing has brought the world to the edge of disaster. I intend to deal with Little Missile Man and his toys.”
An exasperated Secretary of Defense Mahler was struggling to maintain his composure and tightened his fists out of view under the table but could not stop himself when he forcefully interjected, “Mr. President, I don’t think you appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The entire Chinese surface and sub force sortied eight hours ago. Our sonar stations have picked up multiple sub-surface high blade counts heading towards the Malacca Straits and appear to be positioning themselves to contest the redeployment of the Reagan carrier strike force traveling from the Gulf.
Two PLAN surface action groups have been identified moving towards the Teddy Roosevelt carrier strike force in the Philippines Sea, and satellite surveillance has confirmed that heat plumes have been identified in the Vladivostok naval yard signaling that the Russian Pacific fleet is preparing to deploy. Sir, we are moving towards the possibility of a general war breaking out in the Pacific. We need to dial things back.”
The hawkish National Security Advisor, General Wright, barked out, “Dial things back? Did the North Koreans suddenly give up their ICBMs? Did I fucking miss something?”
Mahler’s face flushed a deep scarlet red as the bad blood between the two men came to the surface. The former Marine pointed his finger at Wright and spoke with undisguised disgust. “Get your head out of your ass, Mike. The president asked for two attack scenarios, one conventional and one that included a nuclear option. When General Duncan presented both options this afternoon, he made it clear that the Chiefs were unanimously against either strike package because they could not guarantee that all NK nukes could be taken out, and we run a high risk of massive civilian casualties both home and abroad, and that was before the entire fucking Chinese navy and the Russians decided to show up. Goddamnit, you know better. Now tell the president that a military option at this point is simply not feasible to fully eliminate the NK missile threat.”
The tension in the room was palpable for all the men and women watching the two former generals grapple with one another.
General Wright, an unabashed believer in the president, never once wavered to offer anything less than total support. He fired back, “I will do no such thing. The only problem with the Chiefs’ strike packages is that they rely on tactical nukes to take out the NK missile threat. Clearly, this is now a matter of strategic importance, meaning everything within our arsenal should be on the table. Mr. President, I recommend that the Chiefs include a strategic missile launch from one of our Trident boomers in their strike package.”
Vice President Martha Brentwood dramatically entered the room just as General Wright finished his chilling words. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned defiantly towards the president and said, “Mr. President, you can’t be serious. This is madness.”
President Wolfe’s eyes went wide in shock. His vice president had never publicly - and rarely even privately - disputed any decision or even any controversial statement he had ever made. His face was literally contorted in a dumbstruck pose, but his deep reservoir of anger quickly overcame his initial reaction. He shot her a look filled with rage and said, “Martha, what the hell are you doing here?”
With her chin out and standing tall, she said, “I’m here doing my job, Mr. President.”
Shaking his head in a dismissive manner, Wolfe said, “You are way the hell out of line. I am the president of the United States, and I call the shots. Everything - and I mean everything - is on the table. Now go take a seat, Martha.”
Martha Brentwood had been underestimated by nearly every man she had come across in public life, but when those soft blue eyes and easy smile that the cameras just loved narrowed and turned serious, those who knew her knew what was coming next. Instead of meekly walking to her designated seat next to the president, she remained standing and with her left hand on her hip and right hand pointed at the president. She responded sharply. “I’ll take a seat, Mr. President when I’m damn good and ready. But first, I have some questions for our generals.”
The men and
women in the Situation Room found it impossible to hide their reaction and the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Travis LaHue, let out an audible, “Well, I’ll be goddamned.”
Ignoring everyone else, Brentwood walked over to General Duncan and pointedly asked, “General, unlike some in this room, I read every briefing paper sent to my desk. So, let me ask what happens when we start dropping high-yield nuclear warheads on hardened underground targets? Where does all that radioactive fallout head?”
Wisely, General Duncan looked the vice president in the eyes and replied, “Madame Vice President, all of that fallout from multiple ground bursts would head directly over South Korea and Japan before entering the upper atmosphere and then move towards the West coast of the United States.”
“And do you know the exact whereabouts of every North Korean ballistic missile, including the ones suspected of carrying chemical weapons?”
“No Ma’am, we do not have an exact fix on all of the missiles.”
She looked directly at the president as she asked, “So, General Duncan, even if we struck North Korea with a massive nuclear strike package there is no guarantee that we get all of their nukes and millions could still die from chemicals or artillery including Americans. Isn’t that correct?”
A resounding “Yes, Ma’am” filled the room.
Feeling as if he had just been stabbed in the back, Wolfe defiantly stood up and with a voice of pure disdain said, “I don’t know what the hell you think that you are trying to accomplish, Martha, but I’m about to have you escorted the hell out of here.”
Then a familiar voice could be heard saying, “Mr. President, that would be a mistake, sir.”
All eyes suddenly turned to the source of the stinging rebuke and were shocked to see that the man who had been beaten down by the president for the nearly two years still possessed some of the grit he was known for in public life. Attorney General Archer Stetson, too, came to his feet and added, “In fact, sir, I am officially calling for Secretary Adelman to be released immediately from federal custody. This has gone too far.”