Jack Kennedy was not caught in any way unprepared by the woman’s oblique question.
“Congress and the Senate are still wrangling over its terms of reference,” the man said a little sourly.
“I’m reliably informed that Chief Justice Warren will be obliged to attempt to call witnesses from the United Kingdom? In the interests of balance?”
“You are well informed, Margaret.”
The man and the woman gazed south to where the USS Southerland was slowly turning onto an easterly leg of its patrol. Onshore it remained balmy, out at sea white horses danced across the iron grey waters.
“My team,” she continued, “and your people have been talking, in the main, about the economic and fiscal realities of the post-October War World. The United States, the United Kingdom and the wider Commonwealth are natural trading partners and the re-establishment of ‘normal’ commercial and industrial relations between us all as soon as possible is in everybody’s best interests. However, the global financial system remains at death’s door; American banks are virtually bankrupt, the American economy is in the process of falling off the edge of a cliff and the lack of liquidity — of any liquidity — which means nobody can possibly get back to business as normal. Even the most diehard ‘America Firster’ understands that it is in his or her best interest to sell things to the greater part of humanity; including that part of humanity that resides outside the continental borders of the United States. Our treasury people have been talking about how that might be achieved. Our foreign affairs people have been talking about the framework of World diplomacy in the years to come in the absence of re-constituting the United Nations. Our transportation people have been talking about re-connecting the World. But none of that happens without a second Marshall Plan, hard cash and lots of it to enable me to begin the reconstruction work at home.”
Jack Kennedy nodded, looked to the woman with smiling eyes.
“My people don’t understand how you can be so focused on economic, monetary and reconstruction at a time like this, Margaret?”
The woman shrugged.
Then met his look with unblinking intensity.
“I will draw a line in the sand, Jack,” she said very quietly. “We will at the very least halt the Soviets at the Saudi Arabian border. Hopefully, we and our other allies, a coalition of the willing as it were, will hold that line in the sand until America comes to its senses.”
“What if America doesn’t come to its senses?”
Margaret Thatcher’s expression became a little vexed.
“I will hold that line in the Sand and someday America will come to its senses or you and your successors will regret it for all time, Jack.”
Her conviction stopped him dead in his tracks.
There was no flexibility, no possibility of taking a step back. The line in the sand had been drawn and that was where she planned to stand regardless of the cost.
“Okay, you want a new Marshall Plan?”
“I thought we’d call it the Fulbright Plan.”
“Okay…”
“We get the Fulbright Plan, American companies are allowed back into the United Kingdom and eventually, as the continent begins to recover, Western Europe,” she frowned, “although not France, the way things are at the moment. We will put aside all discussions relating to our future military alignment. Providing, that is, the Fulbright Plan is launched in the next few weeks…”
Jack Kennedy held up a hand, which she ignored.
“The US Treasury can underwrite long-term loans from American banks to the UAUK which will, in turn, be converted into joint UK-US Government bonds, gilts, at the end of their term. In accounting terms this will equate to a massive asset injection into the vulnerable balance sheets of America’s largest financial institutions; which in turn should allow them to begin to start lending again to customers in the United States. The Fulbright Plan will begin to pump hundreds of millions of dollars back into the US economy, and coincidentally, American consumer’s pockets in time for the November Presidential election. I am reliably informed that you can instruct your Treasury to make the necessary executive orders to certain key ‘strategic financial institutions’ under the existing ‘War Emergency Powers’ vested in your person. I’m sure that Congress will object but there isn’t enough time between now and November left for them to impeach you. And besides, there are several things that I can do which will greatly strengthen your re-election campaign.”
“Jericho won’t get me re-elected, Margaret.”
To the man’s astonishment Margaret Thatcher smiled. Instantly, she shed half-a-dozen years, and her eyes shone with the light of battle.
“Don’t be so sure about that, Jack,” she retorted. GCHQ had only been able to decipher a tiny proportion of historic intercepts and other traffic collected in the last two months; it simply did not have the capacity to handle the great mass of signals. The National Security Agency in Maryland possessed exponentially greater resources, when it got its hands on Jericho it would be amazed. “In any event, I am giving you Jericho as a token of good will to do with as you please. Give me the Fulbright Plan and I’ll give you some other things you can use to beat your opponents over the head with!”
Jack Kennedy raised an eyebrow, his heart pounding.
“It goes against the grain,” the woman went on, “but I can normalise the UAUK’s relations with Irish Republic with a stroke of the pen. It goes without saying that I would expect authorities on this side of the Atlantic to actively combat the smuggling of weapons and other contraband to Ireland.”
The man waited, for the first time realising that the British Prime Minister was about to work her way down his own wish list.
“The proposed diplomatic mission to the West Coast Confederation will be the only high profile UAUK mission in the United States apart from the Embassy in Philadelphia. The UAUK will undertake not to entertain diplomatic representatives from any individual State in the Union, or enter into any state-specific trade or other agreement.”
“I can announce that?”
“Yes. Moreover, at a time of your choice my government will welcome your statesmanlike intervention to act as an honest broker between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom over the war in the South Atlantic.”
“Are you actually prepared to negotiate over the status of the Falklands?”
“No. But if the Argentine withdraws its forces without harming British citizens and provides full information as to the fate of members of the garrison, the war may end in due course.”
“What else are you offering me, Margaret?”
“When Chief Justice Warren applies to the UAUK for British witnesses to testify before his Commission into the Causes and the Conduct of the Cuban Missiles War, I will veto those requests on the basis that it would be inappropriate for British officials to be in the limelight in the middle of an election.”
The President thought about it.
“The affair of the USS Scorpion is still unresolved,” he said, thinking aloud.
The Prime Minister nodded.