‘A government, then,’ I said. ‘But which one?’
Peter shrugged. ‘You’re a newspaper reporter. Supposedly smart. Run through them and remember what I said: cui bono?’
‘Britain and France and Germany—I’d eliminate them for obvious reasons. They may not like the United States all that much but I can’t see them being behind such a crippling attack.’
‘Very good. But those three were easy. Continue.’
‘China…But China loves the markets here. Take out the United States and China takes a major hit with all those Wal-Marts out of business. Even Russia had started cooperating with US corporations on gas and oil exploration in Siberia. They wouldn’t want a crippled America, either.’
Peter’s smile was back. ‘Doing better. Continue. Who benefits, Samuel? Who benefits?’
I ran through other countries in my mind. Japan? Hardly, not with a growing Chinese threat in their neck of the woods. They’d want a strong United States to act as a buffer. North Korea? One or two attacks, maybe, but all these strikes, coordinated like they were? One of the Middle Eastern states… But no, that didn’t make sense either. Maybe one or two nukes smuggled in a shipping container… But something this complicated, this important, couldn’t have happened without somebody knowing what was going on, somebody here in the States and—
‘Holy shit,’ I said. I had heard the rumors, of course, but that type of rumor always popped up after a disaster like Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination or the second World Trade Center attack. Such paranoia couldn’t really be taken seriously, but…
But. ..
‘Congratulations,’ Peter said. ‘I do believe you’ve figured it out.’
‘The government? The United States government — they did it?’
He shook his head. ‘No, not the government. At least, only part of the government, a loosely knit organization that we were concerned about, that we had learned of last year. We called them the neo-isolationists, the ones who wanted to pack it all in and retreat back behind the USA’s borders and the oceans. No interest in spreading democracy, no interest in making the world safe for globalization. Just interested in minding their own business. Among this group were some military leaders who saw the armed forces they loved being chipped away, day after day, week after week, in car bomb after car bomb, killing their very best and brightest and most dedicated who were trying to give democracy to cultures that didn’t want it and probably didn’t deserve it.’
Peter looked at me and continued. ‘Then there were some of the defense contractors, the ones who make their money designing missiles and tanks and jet fighters. They don’t make money designing better body armor or ways of detecting roadside bombs. They saw decades of shrinking profits ahead. Combine that with the true believers in DC, the ones who thought the United States should have left Hitler and Tojo alone more than a half-century ago, and then you have an interesting mix.’
‘But… but the devastation. The cities being emptied out. The food shortages. The refugees being gunned down…’
‘Sure. And what happened? You know what happened: it’s taking time but the troops are coming home. Not only from the Middle East, but from Japan and South Korea and Germany and elsewhere. They wanted a crisis so widespread, so deep, that the President and Congress would have no choice but to run for home. That’s what they wanted and, so far, that’s what they’re getting.’
I felt sick to my stomach. ‘And you have evidence of this.. .’
‘Not me. Our asset, lost after leaving Manhattan. Oh, the poor dear’s dead, no doubt about it, but we’re hoping that her body’s in Site A, along with a computer diskette or two. A computer diskette that outlines who belongs to this group, how they smuggled the nukes here, and how they arrived at the decision to set them off. So sorry, but that’s the importance of Site A. Not the dead refugees. Our asset and those diskettes.’
‘And once you get that information…’
‘Decision’s already been made at Ten Downing Street. The information, all of it, gets publicized the moment we can secure and verify it. So the people here will know what happened. They’ll know that these militias—some of which have received support for supposedly keeping order -were killing their fellow citizens because of a lie. Don’t get me wrong, Samueclass="underline" this country is known for its blundering way of doing business and for being obstinate and unilateral, certainly. But, all in all, the world needs a United States that’s engaged with the rest of the world. Not one hiding in fear, skulking behind its borders and the oceans. And we need those diskettes to make things right. To show the Americans that no overseas enemy did this to them. That some of their own people did it.’
I rubbed at my face. Lots of stuff to process, I thought -and then something struck me.
‘Your asset?’
‘Yes?’
‘You keep on calling your asset “her”. Was her name Grace?’
A simple nod. ‘That it was.’
‘Sounds like a brave woman.’
‘She was,’ Peter said flatly. ‘Very brave, in so many ways.’
‘Like what?’
And his expression changed once again, this time to despair. ‘For once agreeing to be my wife.’
The air in the room was cold and still. I said, ‘The armistice breaking down like it did, just before the deadline: a hell of a coincidence, right?’
Peter seemed to shake off his dark mood. ‘Yes, one big coincidence, I’m sure. And it seems to be working in favor of the militia units and their puppet masters, the neo-isolationists.’
‘Do those people… do they know what evidence might be at Site A?’
‘Beats the hell out of me. But still… I just had the feeling that we were getting close, at least in this county. We must have been getting close to finding Site A, considering how viciously the militias were attacking us, sniping at us and making the lives of the UN forces here miserable. So there you go. When the deadline passes, the militia boys go home and the hunt for Site A and one particular body is finished. Oh, we’ll poke and prod as best we can, on the outskirts and fringes, but it’ll be over, Samuel. The truth will remain hidden for quite some time to come. Maybe long enough so that we fail, and these battered United States ignore the rest of the world.’
‘Damn,’ I said.
‘Yeah, damn. Nothing much else to say, except I now have one more job.’
‘You’re a busy man,’ I said.
‘Oh, yes, but not as busy as somebody else is going to be,’ Peter said darkly. ‘You see, that Aussie television crew was correct, entirely correct. There are traitors at work among the UN field teams, traitors who made us go in circles, exposed us to being wounded and killed, and prevented us from doing our jobs. Especially my job: to find those diskettes and Grace. And there was a traitor working in our group, Samuel, of that I have no doubt.’
I looked at him, at the cool and composed operative who was working behind the lines in so many ways. I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right. We were one screwed-up crew.’
Peter nodded. ‘Yes. We were. When and if Site A is taken care of, as well as everything else, I’m going to focus my attention on finding our group’s traitor. I have suspicions but no evidence, and if it takes years to get the evidence together, then so be it. I won’t let the matter drop.’