The red-haired man sat behind his large desk. The office was dark, save for the glow of a green-shaded desk lamp and the red light on top of the phone. That meant the scrambler function was engaged.
“People are asking about Fenwick’s trip,” said the red-haired man.
“What people?” said the man on the other end of the line.
“The intelligence unit at Op-Center.”
“Op-Center is well removed from the president,” the other man said. “They don’t have the same clout as the CIA—”
“I’m not so sure about that,” the red-haired man interrupted.
“What do you mean?”
“I was told that Director Hood asked for and received a private meeting with the president a few hours ago,” said the red-haired man.
“I know.”
“Do you know what they discussed?” asked the red-haired man.
“No. More fallout from the United Nations affair. I’d guess. Do you have reason to believe otherwise?” the man asked.
“Paul Hood spoke briefly with the First Lady last night.” the red-haired man said. “I checked his file. They knew each other in the past.”
“Knew each other in a way we can use?”
“No,” said the red-haired man. “It was platonic. Anyway, she might have seen a change in the president. Maybe she said something to Hood. I just don’t know.”
“I see,” said the other.
There was a long silence. The red-haired man waited. He was concerned about the unexpected presence of Op-Center. The other agencies had all been covered. He and his partners had been counting on the transition period between Paul Hood and General Rodgers to keep Op-Center’s eyes looking inward. Unfortunately, that had not happened. But with H-hour approaching on the foreign operation, they could not afford to have anyone watching. Harpooner had seen to it on his end. They must see to it on their end.
“Is the other documentation ready?” the other man finally asked.
The red-haired man looked at his watch. He really needed glasses to read this close, but he was fighting that. He was fighting a lot of things. He moved his wrist back slightly. “In another hour or so,” he replied.
“All right,” said the other man. “I don’t want to move against Op-Center directly. There isn’t time. And without careful planning, we might do more harm than good.”
“I agree,” said the red-haired man.
“Let’s continue with the plan,” said the other man. “If Op-Center is watching Fenwick or the president without any real idea what we’re up to, that should keep them busy enough. Just make sure Fenwick doesn’t do or say anything that might give them more information.”
“Understood,” said the red-haired man. “I’ll let Fenwick know.”
The other man thanked him and hung up.
The red-haired man placed the receiver in the cradle. He would call Fenwick in a minute. This was serious, unprecedented business. He needed a moment to remind himself that this was all being done for a good reason: to make sure that the United States survived the new millennium.
Despite this small setback, everything was still working the way they had planned. Reporters had been calling his office to find out about the new UN initiative, an initiatve that only the president seemed to be aware of. Members of the CIOC and even people at the UN apparently had not known about it. One very dogged TV reporter had called this evening to ask if the president had imagined “this whole thing, too.” And Red Gable, the president’s chief of staff, had answered off the record, “I honestly don’t know, Sam. I do not know what is wrong with the president.”
Though the quote would be off the record, Gable knew that his sentiment would be mentioned in the broadcast. The reporter reminded Red that this was the third time in a week the president had gotten something seriously wrong. The first time was at a breakfast with reporters. The president commented about farm subsidy legislation that was supposedly before congress. It was not. The second time, just two days ago, was at a press conference. The president’s opening remarks included comments about a civil rights case that was supposedly before the Supreme Court. No such case existed. What Gable did not tell the reporter, of course, was that the set of documents the president had been given during his daily briefings was different from the set of documents that he should have seen. The real ones. Gable had slipped those documents into the president’s files after he made the public misstatements. When the president had the files brought to him, he did not understand where the misinformation had come from. Investigations by Gable and his assistants failed to turn up any suspicious activity.
Gable did not smile. He could not. The situation was too serious. But he was gratified. The reporter and many of his colleagues were very concerned about the president’s state of mind. By tomorrow afternoon, the rest of the nation would also be concerned. Events that were about to unfold a world away and in Washington had been very carefully orchestrated. Events that would be misinterpreted by everyone except the third and most important leader of their team: the vice president. The president would insist that Azerbaijan had attacked an Iranian oil rig. He would recommend staying out of the conflict because it was a local issue. As Iran built up its forces in the region, the vice president would publicly urge a different tack. He would say that he did not trust Iran and would strongly advise building up an American military presence in the Caspian. Fenwick would back up the vice president. He would report that during his meetings with the Iranians, they had spoken vaguely of events that were on the horizon. He would say that they asked the United States to do nothing while they strengthened their hold on oil reserves in the region.
The Iranians would deny that, of course. But no one in America would believe them.
The disagreement between the president and vice president would cause a very public rift.
And when the Harpooner’s Iranian cohorts were found dead with photographs and other evidence of sabotage on their bodies — murdered by the Harpooner himself — the vice president and Fenwick would be vindicated.
Reporters would then openly discuss the president’s questionable judgment. Washington would be abuzz with rumors that the president was unstable. Senators like Barbara Fox would have no choice but to support a motion to impeachment. Sex scandals were one thing. Mental illness was something much different. There would be calls for Lawrence to step down. For the good of the nation, Lawrence would have no choice but to resign.
Vice president Cotten would become president. He would ask Jack Fenwick to become his new vice president. Congress would quickly endorse his selection. Meanwhile, the American military would move into the Caspian. They would help the Azerbaijanis protect their rigs.
In the heat of rising tensions, President Cotten would remain strong.
And then something else would happen. Something that would demand an American response so firm, so devastating, that religious fanatics would never again attack a target under American protection.
In the end, Gable told himself, the career of a president was worth that sacrifice.
TWENTY-NINE
When forty-seven-year-old Ron Friday first arrived in Baku, he felt as though he had been dropped into medieval times.
It was not a question of architecture. Embassy row was in a very modern section of the city. The modern buildings could have been lifted whole from Washington, D.C., or London, or Tokyo, or any other modern metropolis. But Baku was not like those cities where he had spent so much time. Once you moved past the embassies and business center of Baku, there was a pronounced sense of age. Many of the buildings had been standing when Columbus reached the Americas.