Read Code Word: Paternity, A Presidential Thriller Online
Authors: Doug Norton
Code Word: Paternity, A Presidential Thriller (29 page)
Ming remained silent, so Martin
continued: “As I’m sure you’ve been advised, nuclear fallout would not be
deposited on China.
China
will, however, be greatly affected. I acknowledge that and regret it. But there
is, for any American president put in this situation, no other choice.”
Ming’s mind accelerated like a sprinter
exploding from starting blocks.
So, Rick
Martin, you may be the one leopard that
can
change its spots! Well, if Kim is so insane as to ignore your
ultimatum, China
cannot save him. And if the Korean people and the Party don’t save themselves
by removing Kim, China cannot save them, either.
This is probably the best way, because a land war would surely force us to
intervene. And the collapse of the United States,
now when we hold billions in Treasuries and sell them so many products, would
be catastrophic for China.
“Rick, do you
believe there is anything more for us after death?”
Martin, nonplussed as Ming intended,
blurted: “Yes, Ming, I do. Do you?”
Ming ignored the question. “Do you
believe in the Christian God and his son, who will sit in judgment on you in
the next life?”
“I do.”
“Then may they be wise and merciful to
your spirit, because it will have much to answer for.”
Carefully, Ming said, “China will look
to its interests as this unfolds. I hope they will not conflict with America’s.
“Goodbye, Rick.”
Ming broke the connection.
The president looked at his companions
and raised his eyebrows. Battista said, “That was about the best we could have
hoped for.” Nodding, Martin took a deep breath and told Dottie Branson to call
Premier Kato.
***
In Beijing,
Ming arose and began a series of
tai chi
moves to calm his mind and clarify his thinking. As he continued the precise
motions, satisfaction spread through him like moisture being taken up by his
tomato plants:
This is surely the year of my destiny! I
have ensured the peaceful return of Taiwan
Province, brought China into
equal partnership with America,
and I’m now able to arrange that fool Kim’s removal. And I have really fucked
the Russians!
I’m
not sure Martin will destroy a city, but if he does, even the most cautious and
loyal of Kim’s supporters will accept that he must go.
China’s
paramount objective is to prevent the second American attack, the one that will
create a radioactive wasteland just south of us and send millions of Koreans to
breach our border. Our second objective is to ensure Kim’s successor is someone
who will accept nuclear disarmament and is not such a fool.
Smiling, Ming Liu told his secretary to
call the head of China’s
foreign intelligence service.
***
The Oval Office,
9:00 p.m. EDT.
“My fellow Americans, I’m speaking
tonight about our analysis of the bomb intercepted in Baltimore by alert security forces and about
the steps your government is taking.
“Our scientific and engineering experts
have determined, and this has been confirmed by representatives of the
International Atomic Energy Agency and of China, who participated in the
analysis, that this bomb is North Korean.”
Shifting his gaze from the text in his
hand to his TelePrompTer above the camera, the president continued: “And there
is more about this second bomb that establishes North Korean intent to kill
still more Americans. Attached to the bomb was an asset tracking and control
device that kept Kim Jong-il informed of the bomb’s location. The device had a
small amount of explosive and a detonator. Kim knew where the bomb was and had
veto power over its use. With this device he could have, at any time, disabled
the bomb’s triggering mechanism. Instead, he permitted the bomb to be smuggled
into Baltimore.
“It is also certain, again confirmed by
the IAEA, that the bomb that destroyed Las
Vegas was North Korean. Our seizure of a second North
Korean nuclear weapon in another city demonstrates that the Kim Jong-il regime
continues to attack us even as I speak.”
Here we go,
Rick thought,
I’ve got to keep my voice even.
“These two
attacks are acts of war.
“Your government has protected America successfully since Six-thirteen, while
taking measures to end the threat from Kim Jong-il and his oppressive,
murderous regime by means of diplomacy, in concert with North Korea’s
neighbors, whom he also threatens, and the United Nations.
“Our actions are producing results. The
UN has authorized an international quarantine on all shipments departing North Korea.
The Security Council has condemned Kim for breaching international peace and
security and demanded that he dismantle all nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon
facilities, under IAEA supervision.”
Martin paused,
sipped from a glass, and resumed. His voice was hard.
“It is now clear that not only is Kim a
deadly threat to Americans and to our nation itself; he remains undeterred. He
must not remain in control of the North Korean government and its nuclear
weapons. Kim must hand over power and leave North Korea, and his successor must
dismantle all nuclear weapons and the facilities that make them, under IAEA
supervision.”
His sweat gushed as Rick committed
himself to a course of action that would change him, and the world, beyond his
listener’s belief: “If Kim has not complied with these terms within seven days,
I will consider it my duty to respond with overwhelming force to Kim’s two
nuclear attacks on our country, which killed eighty thousand people on
Six-thirteen, injured one hundred thousand others, and ruined a thriving city.
Unavoidably, this response will be devastating to the people of North Korea as
well as to Kim and his henchmen, who have enslaved them.”
Rick paused, looking into the camera with
eyes that seemed to see every slaughter in mankind’s bloody history, yet be
ready to add another. He enunciated each word: “Should Kim’s regime attempt to
attack us or his neighbors with a nuclear weapon, America’s
response will be immediate and will totally destroy North Korea. There will not be
stone left on stone.”
Ella was seated in a wingback chair near
the Oval Office fireplace. Next to her, at Rick’s invitation, was Ray Morales.
Rick’s eyes sought them for an instant.
See?
I did it.
He saw their approval and respect, and knew he could do the rest,
could bear the cost.
The president
put down his text, folded his hands on the desk, and leaned forward. He was
able to play the Stradivarius of his voice without connection to the pain in
his heart, so he sounded supremely confident, the confidence of one with so
much power he can be merciful to those he is about to defeat utterly.
“Now I want to address the people of North Korea,
all of them, from farmers and ordinary soldiers to the Communist Party
leadership. You have it in your power to convince Kim Jong-il that his day is
over! It is my prayer and indeed the prayer of every leader I spoke with that
you will do that and thus save yourselves and your descendants from unspeakable
tragedy and ruin. When Kim and his cronies are gone, you will find the United States, China, and many other nations ready
to help you improve your lives and realize at last the potential within you.”
He picked up the text again.
“As I speak, unarmed cruise missiles are
showering North Korea
with leaflets relating this message in Korean.
“My fellow Americans, I have decided upon
this course of action after prayer and consultation with my advisors, and with
the congressional leadership. I do so with painful reluctance and, frankly,
over the objections of some congressional leaders. I’m sure there will be other
Americans who sincerely disagree with my decision.
“But the facts as I see them say that we
cannot indefinitely defend against Kim’s attacks. If we could, I would set no
deadline on our diplomatic efforts. Since we cannot, I must draw the line. It
is my duty as president and commander-in-chief.”
Morales’ blunt features split into a
grin, which he immediately squelched because only the three of them would
understand it.
“As I leave you tonight, hear this:
“To Kim Jong-il: For the good of those
you call your dear people, relinquish power and leave North Korea, now!
“To the people of North Korea:
Act now to save yourselves from the consequences of Kim Jong-il’s folly. He
enslaved you. Don’t let him kill you.
“To the governments of North Korea’s
closest neighbors, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Russia: Act with
us, in the interests of peace and your own well-being, helping the United
States remove the threat that Kim Jong-il’s regime poses to all of our peoples.
“To the American people: There is a
folder on this desk that contains an order I pray I will not have to sign.
Please join that prayer, but pray also that God will have mercy on my soul if I
must sign it
. I solemnly pledge
that you will
not be under threat from Kim much longer. One way or the other, your government
will bring that threat to an end within one week.
“Good night.”
The cameras’ red
lights winked out.
His shirt was soaked, his head throbbed,
and his heart raced. Rick didn’t know if he could stand just yet. As Ella
walked toward him, a proud and tender look on her face, Morales slid out the
door.
***
In one of his palaces, Kim sat alone,
smoking.
Events are unfolding as I
foresaw: Ming’s mixture of enticements and threats. Martin threatening us with
nuclear bombs. But
I
am in control.
This is going to be exciting!
Captives
of my brilliant Internet campaign, Americans will oppose Martin’s desperate
plan to launch a nuclear attack. Videos and blogs show it. Americans are
angry
and afraid and thanks to my skillful interventions have turned those feelings
on their government. They will soon impeach their pathetic president for
failing to protect them, even while railing against the one thing he could do
that would make them safe.
Kim loved irony,
so he smiled and basked in his power.
A knock signaled the arrival of Marshal
Young-san.
“You summoned
me, Dear Leader.”
“Marshal, have your forces dealt with the
American propaganda leaflets?”
“Of course, Dear Leader. Smoke from piles
of burning American filth darkens our skies! Since we shot the families of a
few traitorous dogs who didn’t join in rooting out and destroying the lies, the
dear people have themselves searched out every leaflet for destruction.”
As he spoke, Young-san thought of the
leaflets rather differently. They were a threat to Kim but an opportunity for
him. He had received Ming’s message: “You are the one. Claim your destiny.”
Ming had certainly told others the same thing, but Young-san knew no one but
Kim had more power than he. The Chinese would anoint whoever prevailed and that
would be him.
He realized Kim
was speaking.
“Marshal, the American people are under
my control, but Martin does not know it. Within days he will not dare to carry
out his ridiculous threats against us. My next video will convince all
politically active Americans that Martin is ignoring opportunities for peace,
and when I ask for direct negotiations, he will be unable to refuse. We will
open a dialogue with President Bill Clinton and return to the Six-Party Talks.
We will talk and talk, and while we do the United States will continue to
disintegrate from fear.”
Kim smiled and
Yong-san immediately joined him.
“Of course, Dear Leader! I will keep the
people’s military on high alert, because it will add to the Americans’
uncertainty and ensure the southern dogs do no more than bark.”
The most significant part of Marshal
Young-san’s response was unspoken:
High
alert will enable me to shift my most reliable units to Pyongyang, where I need them.
Chapter 51
Late in the afternoon, Rick began reading
the dueling op-eds in
USA Today
.
Two views!
he thought.
Were there only
two?
It’s About Time
, by Senator Rod Peters, R-Arizona
Although many
believe the president’s ultimatum to Kim and to the people he rules was an
unnecessary turn to brute force, I disagree. Brute force, it is; unnecessary it
isn’t. In fact, I believe it is overdue.
All agree that
Kim’s rule in North Korea
is a deadly abomination and must be ended. The disagreement is about how. Those
who oppose the president’s plan assert that diplomacy is working and, if given
more time, will be successful. There is no need, they say, to resort to what
all assume (although the president didn’t say it) will be nuclear strikes.
Others believe that an incremental use of conventional forces (code for the
blood of our brave military men and women) is a better course than nuclear
attack. And all Americans recoil from the prospect of devastating the captive
people of North Korea in the
manner that Kim brutalized the citizens of Las Vegas, who suffered and died before our
eyes for weeks, with survivors still struggling to even begin recovery.
However
unpleasant, however overdue their acceptance, the facts the president has now
squarely faced are undeniable: Kim is well along in orchestrating the
disintegration of the United
States. He is not persuaded to desist by the
threat of
retaliation. That threat pre
existed
both the Las Vegas bombing and the Martin administration—for over sixty years
it has been the declared policy of the United States to respond to a nuclear
attack with equally devastating weapons—and Kim, knowing it, went ahead with
not one, but two nuclear attacks. Another compelling fact is that, as the
president said, we can’t defend ourselves indefinitely by tightening security.
Conclusion: we must remove Kim,
now.
Every
day Kim remains in place is another day he has to devote to his goal of
destroying America.
Another reality is
that if we use our nuclear power to remove Kim, we avoid a bloody, probably
unwinnable, infantry fight in North Korea,
a battle with truly frightening potential for pulling the Chinese in, and
prevent Kim from carrying out threats to nuke South
Korea and Japan.
All are saddened
that, unless they assert themselves as never before, ordinary citizens of the
DPRK will die by the thousands during the brief nuclear missile campaign that
destroys the regime that has attacked America twice—yet remains untouched
itself. But that is necessary to prevent the death and injury of hundreds of
thousands more Americans and the death of America as we know it.
The
president is on the right course, at last.
Why thanks, Senator, for your unqualified
support! I see which way Arizona’s
wind is blowing. Now what does Frantic Fred have to say—although I think I
know.
Martin Can’t Be Allowed to Do This
, by Representative Fred Stanton, D-MA
President Martin’s
chosen course is an immoral proposition to kill tens of thousands, perhaps
millions, of Koreans in cold blood as a coercive tactic. The president is
engaging in a hideous and obscene poker game with Kim Jong-il: “I’ll see your Las Vegas and raise you a Pyongyang.” It is comparable to the Nazi SS
practice of hauling randomly selected civilians in and shooting them as a
bargain offered to the resistance movements—“You stop blowing up trains and
we’ll stop random executions.”
Not only is
President Martin’s decision morally repugnant; it won’t make Americans safer.
In fact, it will put us all in greater danger, as attacks on North Korean
cities are sure to cause Kim to redouble his efforts to destroy American
ones—and now with the wholehearted support of his captive people and at least
the grudging approval of much of the world. And with all sympathy for America incinerated by the fireballs that claim
Korean lives by the hundreds of thousands, we must consider seriously the probability
of new attackers coming forward—like Iran and its Hezbollah.
Nothing can bring
back Las Vegas.
I’ll say it again: nothing can bring back Las Vegas. So even those
who support the president’s plan as retribution will find no lasting comfort in
the murder of equally innocent Koreans. The dead of Las Vegas will still be dead. The city will
still be in ruins. The survivors will still be living in camps and in the homes
of generous strangers throughout this great nation.
So nothing about
the president’s plan makes sense. Except, perhaps, to a man who needs to defend
himself against impeachment by the far Right. It is a grotesque irony that the
impeachment the president fears would never be successful, because a great
majority in the Congress, in the country, and indeed in the world, supports his
diplomacy to protect America
and end the crisis.
President Martin
must not be allowed to carry out his murderous plan. If ever there was an issue
that should bring Americans into the streets in protest, this is it!
Rick rubbed his weary eyes, feeling as if
the orbs bulged from their sockets and would burst if he weren’t careful.
Well, Fred has certainly gotten what he
asked for! That’s some crowd outside.
He couldn’t see the demonstrators
thronging the fence bordering the south lawn of the White House because
carefully positioned trees blocked the line of sight—and any assassin’s aim.
But both sight and sound were only a click away.
Television showed a large crowd milling
angrily; he heard their chants and taunts. Since the West Wing simply loomed
indifferently about a hundred yards away, the demonstrators were more
interested in each other and the reporters doing stand-ups than in the actual
object of their feelings. Police, some on horseback and all in riot gear,
grimly kept the groups apart and off the six-foot wrought-iron fence girdling
the White House grounds.
Rick’s finger twitched and the sights and
sounds vanished.
He felt as if he were being circled by
sharks, and criticism from both Right and Left sapped his confidence. The Right
was just snarky, but the Left . . . It was much harder to be called a murderer,
by standards he hadn’t abandoned, when he knew he
was
one, or soon would be.
He looked at the clock, suddenly hungry,
both for dinner and for conversation with Ella.
***
“You look a little bedraggled this evening,
Mr. President,” said Ella with a gentle smile. Actually, she thought he looked
haunted, like the photos of FDR just before his death, bruises under eyes so
distinct they looked like makeup.
“That’s because people I thought were
friends are calling me reckless or worse in public while telling me privately
they support me. Support me . . .
when?
When
they write their memoirs?”
Rick took a
large bite of roast beef, acknowledging privately that he and fellow
politicians accepted inconstancy and fecklessness in others so that they could
forgive it in themselves.
“How about Ray
Morales?”
He chewed,
swallowed, then said: “The freshman congressman from Austin is in my corner!”
“Don’t be snide,
Rick ! How’d your meeting go?”
He cocked his
head and smiled. “You were right to push it, Ella. He’s a good man, and our
talk helped me think this through, but I’ll never be able to compartmentalize
and rationalize killing the way he does.”
He frowned. “And neither, apparently, can
the
New York Times
. Did you read
today’s . . . ?”
Rick read from his Early Bird: “Listen to
how it begins: ‘President Martin has made a deadly misjudgment.’ And their
sanctimonious conclusion: ‘We pray that you will not act on this misjudgment,
because that act will leave you open to accusations of genocide and will leave
the United States
a pariah nation.’
“And what will it make me if I let Kim
remain in control of half a dozen nukes and he takes out Philadelphia,
or Boston, or Chicago? And what will
that
leave the nation? Answer me
that
, editors!” He flung the clip sheet to the floor.
Ella thought of
commiserating but knew that would be irresponsible. Instead: “What’s the
hardest part of this, Rick?”
“Giving an order that will exterminate
fifty thousand human beings, maybe more, like they were cockroaches! Do you
know how the neutron bomb kills? Slowly. After massive radiation, thousands
will crawl away and die in corners, like bugs zapped with a can of Raid.”
Ella thought his eyes looked wild, as if
the mind behind them was considering flight. She rose from her chair and looked
down at him, arms crossed. Her eyes locked on his. “Well, Rick, Steve Nguyen
and a lot of his friends and neighbors died just that way! Remember? And that’s
how people in Philadelphia or Boston
or Chicago
could die. Unless you get Kim out now or kill him. Is there some less revolting
way to do that?”
Rick stood, too, his body shouting anger
and fear. “Less revolting? Sure. I can order the invasion of North Korea!
That would be just good, old-fashioned bombs, machine guns, and bayonets! Not
like killing cockroaches at all. Bombs, machine guns, and bayonets are the
proper way to kill human beings! Wouldn’t bother me half as much, or the New York goddamn Times, either!”
He was shouting
when his words stopped rushing.
Rick’s voice returned to normal. “And
best of all, it wouldn’t be
me
doing
the killing, would it? Soldiers pick people to kill, and, instead of piling up
all the bodies in a single day, they’d pile them up a few hundred at a time.
Not so dramatic. Much easier to rationalize, except on Memorial Day!”
“So, why don’t
you do
that
?” she said gently.
He stood
silently, looking away.
“Rick . . . why
not do it that way?”
He looked at her with hopeless eyes. “Because
if I use neutron bombs, and Kim goes, no more Americans die. The bodies are
Kim’s tribe, not our tribe.”
Ella stepped close and hugged him, gently
pulling his head onto her shoulder. Tenderly, she stroked the back of his neck.
Then she stepped back, picked up the
Early Bird, and said: “Rick, the
New York
Times
is not the only editorial board that counts. What about this?
‘Something horrible may happen in a week. It need not. Kim can stop it. His
countrymen can stop it. We pray they will. But if they do not, it will be a
necessary horror.’”
“Ah, the
Washington
Post
! Always inclined to cut the home
team a little slack!”
“Is it pandering to point out that either
Kim or the people he rules—and who accept his rule without protest, by the
way—can keep our attack from happening? They can, can’t they?”
“Yes.”
“And if they don’t, if they choose not to
act, aren’t they responsible for what happens, for what you told them would
happen?”
Rick raised hands in supplication, a
parent frustrated by a teenager’s sophistry. “Ella, that’s making the victim
responsible for being assaulted! A first-year law student could demolish that
argument!”
“Not if I were
making it!”
He’s losing it!
Ella thought.
He’s slipping back into that parallel universe where men like Guzman
and Kim don’t exist, where evil is a label given by spin doctors, not a beast
that comes at your throat.
Ella grabbed his
shoulders, looked explosively into his eyes, rammed her face close to his. He
felt her breath. “Forget that, Rick.
Forget
. . . the . . . courtroom!
We’re not talking about courts and laws here.
Kim does not submit himself to law. As long as he controls North Korea, he
remains beyond the reach of law. And as long as he controls North Korea,
our country—the one
you
take for
granted and the one that saved
my
life—is going to keep coming apart!
“What are
you
—not the law,
you
—willing
to do to save America?”
Woodenly, a speaker with stage fright
reading a speech he was too nervous to comprehend, Rick said: “During the
campaign I said I’d do whatever it takes.”
She gripped his shoulders with all her
strength. “And
will
you?”
“Yes,
God help me, but
yes
!”
