“Any casualties?”
“None.”
“Thank God for that.”
“There’s more, much more,” Jordan said, wound like a clock spring. “They brought Congresswoman Smith, Senator Diaz, and Hideki Suma out with them.”
The President and the rest stared at him in wordless astonishment. Finally Nichols murmured, “How was it possible?”
“The details are still sketchy, but Commander Harper, skipper of the Bennett, said Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino hijacked the aircraft that was to carry Smith and Diaz to Edo City. Somehow they also managed to snatch Suma and his secretary and take off during the confusion.”
“Suma,” muttered CIA Director Martin Brogan in awe. “Now there’s a gift out of the blue.”
The surprise and delight in the President’s eyes turned to thoughtfulness. “This puts a whole new face on the situation.”
“Under the circumstances, Mr. President,” said Defense Secretary Jesse Simmons, “I advise we cancel the nuclear strike against the Dragon Center.”
The President glanced at the big countdown clock on one wall of the situation room. It read nine minutes to launch. “Good lord yes, call it off.”
Simmons simply nodded at General Clayton Metcalf, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who immediately picked up a phone and began issuing orders. After a brief half minute, Metcalf nodded.
“They’re standing down at the launch site.”
Secretary of State Douglas Oates wore an expression of triumph. “A near thing, Mr. President. I was against a nuclear strike from the beginning.”
“The Dragon Center and the Kaiten Project haven’t gone away,” the President reminded Oates. “They still pose a dangerous threat. The crisis has merely moved from critical to temporary hold.”
“True,” Oates argued, “but with Suma in our hands, we’re holding the snake by the head, so to speak.”
“I can’t wait to hear what an expert interrogation team digs out of him,” muttered Brogan blissfully.
Oates shook his head in strong disagreement. “Suma is not some small fish in the pond. He’s one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. You can’t expect to use strong-arm tactics on him without grave consequences.”
“Fair is fair.” Jordan’s voice was filled with satisfaction. “I see no reason to show mercy with a man who kidnapped two members of Congress and was planning to detonate nuclear bombs on American soil.”
“I’m with you, Ray,” said Brogan, giving Oates an acid stare. “This guy is as rotten as they come. I’ll bet dinner for everyone in the room, the Japanese government will remain silent and issue no protest.”
Oates was adamant. “It is not in our national interest to act barbaric.”
“Nice guys finish last,” said Jesse Simmons. “If we’d played hardball like the Russians, we wouldn’t have hostages in Lebanon.
“Jesse is right,” Nichols agreed. “We’d be idiots to set him free to return to Japan and resume his private war against us.”
Brogan said, “Prime Minister Junshiro and his cabinet won’t dare create a fuss, or the whole sordid mess would leak to the international news media and come down on them like a ton of bricks. No, you’re wrong, Doug, the next step in removing this terrible threat against our people is to twist Suma’s arm until he reveals the exact locations of the bomb cars.”
The President looked around the table with an expression of weary patience. “Mr. Suma is no friend of this nation. He’s all yours, Martin. Make him sing like a canary. We’ve got to get to those bombs and neutralize them damned quick.”
“How soon can the Navy airlift Suma off the Bennett?” Brogan turned and asked Simmons.
“With no aircraft carrier in that part of the ocean,” answered the Defense Secretary, “we’ll have to wait until the ship is within helicopter range of Wake Island, the nearest pickup point.”
“The sooner we get Suma to Washington, the sooner we can extract data from him,” said Brogan.
The President nodded. “I’d be interested in hearing what Congresswoman Smith and Senator Diaz observed as well.”
Don Kern entered the room and spoke softly to Jordan, who nodded as he listened, and then looked up at the President. “It appears our friends from NUMA have solved another problem for us. Commander Harper has signaled that the tilt-turbine aircraft Pitt and Giordino hijacked for their flight from the island has been refueled on board the Bennett. They’re in the air and flying toward Wake Island as we speak.”
The President turned his attention to Metcalf. “General, I leave it to you to arrange military transportation for Suma and our legislators to the capital as quickly as humanly possible.”
“I’ll alert General Duke Mackay, commander of Anderson Air Force Base on Guam, to send his personal jet to Wake. It should be on the ground and waiting when Pitt sets down.”
The President then focused on Jordan. “What’s the status of the Dragon Center?”
“Sorry, sir,” replied Jordan. “Commander Harper’s signals were brief. There was no word from our MAIT team on whether their operation was a success.”
“Then we won’t know anything until they reach Wake.”
“No, sir.”
Oates thrust a hard stare at Jordan. “If your people failed in their mission to halt the Dragon Center from becoming operational, we could be facing a terrible calamity.”
Jordan stared back. “If they escaped in one piece, they accomplished what they set out to.”
“We don’t know that for certain.”
“Even so, we surely bought some breathing space, with the architect and builder of the Kaiten Project in hand,” said Simmons. “Suma’s co-conspirators will be demoralized. They won’t attempt any major aggression without their leader at the helm.”
“I’m afraid your theory won’t hold water,” Jordan said slowly. “We’ve overlooked Harper’s message from the Bennett.”
“What about it?” asked the President.
“The part about the aircraft surviving an attack by Japanese fighters,” Brogan pointed out.
Jordan nodded. “They must have known Suma was on board. And yet they tried to shoot the plane down.”
Simmons doodled on a notepad as he spoke. “Then we must assume they… whoever they are—”
“The old kingpin of the Japanese underworld, Korori Yoshishu, and his financial crony, Ichiro Tsuboi,” explained Jordan, interrupting. “They’re criminal partners in Suma’s industrial empire.”
“Then we must assume,” Simmons repeated, “that Hideki Suma is expendable.”
“It comes down to that,” said Kern, speaking for the first time.
“Which means Yoshishu and Tsuboi can step in and activate the detonation systems,” the President theorized.
Brogan’s expression of optimism was slowly collapsing. “With Suma in our hands, there’s no predicting how they’ll react.”
“Perhaps I should reorder the nuclear strike,” said the President halfheartedly.
Jordan shook his head negatively. “Not just yet, Mr. President. There’s another way we can buy time to reassess the situation.”
“What’s on your mind, Ray?”
“We let the Japanese tune in to Commander Harper’s signals reporting that the plane carrying Diaz, Smith, and Suma crashed into the sea with the loss of all on board.”
Brogan looked doubtful. “You really think Yoshishu and Tsuboi would buy that?”
“Probably not,” said Jordan with a canny look, “but I’ll bet they’ll think about it until we can put the Kaiten Project out of business for good.”
60
TRUE TO HIS WORD, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had General Mackay’s personal Air Force C-20 passenger jet sitting beside the runway that stretched across Wake Island as Pitt dropped the tilt-turbine on a marked pad in front of the small terminal building.