"Coincidence?"
"Maybe. Or else her skipper's taking an opportunity to get a close look at the electronics on board one of our AGIS," Marlowe said. "We're not certain how closely the North Koreans and the Russians are cooperating on such matters right now."
The President stared at the Russian ship's sleek and menacing dagger shape for a long moment, then glanced up at one of the clocks mounted in a row along one wall of the room, the one showing Moscow time. A hot-line message had been composed and transmitted five hours earlier. It was eleven-thirty in the morning in the Kremlin now.
"If the Russians are getting in on this-" He stopped. "Anything from Moscow?"
"No, sir," Schellenberg replied. "Nothing over the hot line so far but the usual ready code groups. I'd say they're still trying to decide which way to jump."
"Anything more on the Ukraine?"
Marlowe shook his head. "Nothing, Mr. President. Troop movements in L'vov and Chemovtsy. Bases put on full alert at Kiev, Kharkov, a dozen other places. But whether that has anything to do with Korea…" The DCI shrugged, allowing the sentence to hang unfinished in the air.
"And if the Russians get a close look at Chimera? Any special security threat there?"
"None that we wouldn't have anyway, Mr. President. SOP is to assume that all of Chimera's codes and secret material were compromised as soon as the ship was taken."
"What's more serious is what might happen if you order an attack on Wonsan, Mr. President," Hall said. He drummed his fingers against the polished tabletop, the nails clicking lightly. "Can you imagine the problems if a stray bomb from an American aircraft caught that baby?"
"We'd warn them," the President said. He was thinking of Reagan's warning to the Soviets minutes before F-111s thundered over Libya in 1986. No military operation ever went off without a hitch, and with the world situation as unsettled as it was, it was vital that American and Soviet forces not come into direct confrontation, in Korea or anywhere else.
"Okay. So the question still is what to do about it." He swept his gaze across the other people in the room. "And what the Russians will think. Jim?"
The Secretary of State shook his head. "That's still damned hard to say, Mr. President. The Soviets haven't been saying much of anything since the Irkutsk riots. Now, with things getting tight for them in the Ukraine… that's Russia's breadbasket, Mr. President. And the curtain is down again."
"I know. I know."
The curtain is down again. Meaning, of course, the Iron Curtain. When the Soviet Union's empire had begun to crumble, people had celebrated the Cold War's end, a new chance at world peace. Now, the social forces unleashed by perestroika and glasnost were threatening Mother Russia. Paradoxically, the collapse of Moscow's power structure meant a greater danger for the world than ever. If Russia lashed out in her death throes…
"It doesn't look good, Mr. President," General Caldwell said, echoing the President's bleak thoughts. "This whole affair could be a Russian ploy to unite their people in a common cause, to take their minds off shortages of bread and fuel."
"I don't think we need to fantasize about some dark, deep-laid Soviet plan here," Schellenberg said. "They don't want an all-out war any more than we do."
"But they are opportunists, Mr. Secretary," Caldwell said.
"To be sure. They're certainly capable of using the situation to their own advantage. We're going to have to proceed very carefully indeed, measuring each step against how it might be perceived by the Kremlin. I, ah, have to say that the presence of a Soviet cruiser in Wonsan makes things a lot stickier, Mr. President. If you send in aircraft, the Russians might well perceive that as an attack against their assets in the region… or they might decide to help the Koreans."
The CNO frowned. "You're saying the Soviets would intervene in Korea?"
"It's a possibility," Schellenberg said, nodding. "It's also possible they're getting ready for something bigger." He looked pointedly at the DCI. "Our intelligence hasn't been exactly crystal clear on the point lately, has it? We don't know yet whether these troop movements in the Ukraine mean they're getting ready for more food riots or whether they're setting up to invade Eastern Europe."
"This whole thing could blow right in our faces," the President said. "What is it the North Koreans are after, anyway? Vic, what does the CIA say?"
Marlowe crossed his arms. "All we can offer at this point are guesses, Mr. President. Guess number one is that the leadership in P'yongyang is getting desperate. They see the breakup of the Soviet empire, the internal troubles in Russia and the People's Republic. Remember in Romania in '89? Kim and his cronies must feel pretty damned vulnerable right now, with all their big, powerful socialist neighbors either chucking communism or getting bogged down in their own problems — "
"So why provoke us?" Caldwell asked. "I'd think that would just make things worse for them."
"Desperation move, General. If North Korea can paint us as aggressors on Russia's doorstep, maybe they can wheedle a few billion rubles out of Moscow in aid. Maybe they figure that if we attack Wonsan, the Soviets will be drawn in on their side and they'll benefit-" Marlowe shrugged. "And maybe the bastards are just gambling that we'll be so concerned about world opinion or Russian reaction that we'll back down. They'd perceive that as a real propaganda coup, a way to prove to the world that their brand of communism still works."
"So we're damned if we attack them and damned if we don't," the President said. He leaned back in his seat, fingers drumming on its arms.
"A diplomatic solution is still in our best interests, Mr. President," the Secretary of State said stiffly. "The international repercussions to a military response to the Korean crisis could-"
"Screw international repercussions!" Caldwell snapped. "Damn it, Jim, this is no time for appeasement!"
"Mr. President!" Schellenberg insisted, ignoring the general. "I have a meeting scheduled with the Chinese ambassador this afternoon. I have every reason to expect that we can open talks directly with the North Koreans through the PRC's mediation!"
Caldwell opened his mouth as though to say something further, but the President stopped him with a raised hand. "I wanted options, gentlemen. Options, not argument. Mr. Schellenberg thinks we have a possible shot at a negotiated settlement. What else do we have?"
"The 82nd Airborne is on full alert at Fort Bragg," the general said in a crisp, matter-of-fact tone. "Also the 7th Light Infantry and the 75th Rangers. Military Airlift Command is on standby. The Joint Chiefs are working out plans for full deployment out of South Korea. Marine assaults along the coast, airborne landings at P'yongyang, followed up by the infantry. We'll have to assume full ROK involvement, of course."
The image was not a pleasant one. "We'd take a hell of a lot of casualties."
"I don't doubt it, Mr. President." Caldwell looked down at the table. "But we need a strong military response, or these people will know they can do anything to us they want. There's no other option."
Phillip Buchalter cleared his throat. "Not to disagree with the general, Mr. President, but we may have another option. A less… radical one." He passed a manila folder down the table. "This came through from the NSC Threat Team an hour ago."
The President accepted the folder and leafed through the papers inside. The Threat Team had been assembled under the auspices of the National Security Council the previous afternoon. The folder contained the summary of a plan for an air strike against North Korea, launched from the carrier battle group already on station and directed at military targets: radar stations, SAM sites, and airfields. He looked up. "Operation Winged Talon?"