“Let’s see what Fox has to say.” The general spoke soberly too, as if he’d suffered a personal loss.
The conservative network had little to add, except for a report that a Coast Guard cutter attempting to rescue survivors had been torpedoed. “But if this dreadful news is confirmed, America must strike back.”
Clayton said acidly, “Yesterday everyone was saying we had no business in the Pacific. Nothing official yet?”
The aide shook her head, still watching the screen.
Which now showed a blue-suited officer against the seal of the U.S. Pacific Command. The banner read “Live from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Briefing by spokesperson for U.S. Pacific Fleet. Loss of USS Roosevelt strike group.”
The officer began reading from a prepared text, gaze not meeting the camera. “A possible nuclear detonation was reported by units in the Western Pacific at approximately 0210 Pacific time this morning. A large explosion was confirmed from national sensing sources, localized to a position several hundred miles west of Guam.
“Five ships fail to respond to attempts at communication. The ships are: attack carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. Destroyer USS Elisha Eaker. Destroyer USS Richmond P. Hobson. USS Crommelin, a frigate. USS Salisbury, a littoral combat ship or frigate.
“A weak signal from HMCS Protecteur, a Canadian replenishment vessel that was part of the strike group, reports experiencing heavy damage from an explosion. She is searching for survivors, but encountering high seas, bad weather, and radiation contamination. Any further details must be considered as rumor until confirmed. We are attempting to reestablish communication, receive damage reports, and vector submarine and other units to the scene to assist in rescue of any survivors. Our communications are still degraded. However, even if their main comm links were damaged, U.S. Navy ships have enough backup systems that they should have reported in by now.
“Based on that fact, and on a report by a Saipanese fishing trawler east of the detonation area, we have to presume that at the very least, American forces have suffered heavy damage. Each Nimitz-class carrier carries upwards of six thousand personnel. Adding in the crews of the escort units, total casualties may be as high as seven to eight thousand.
“We… hope the numbers will not be that high. New Zealand and Australia have offered search and rescue assistance, to add to those missions already being conducted by U.S. national forces.”
The briefer lowered his head and coughed into a fist. Touched his eyes, then continued. “In comparison: About two thousand four hundred soldiers, sailors, and civilians were killed in the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. And just under three thousand military and civilian dead on September 11, 2001.
“We will provide additional information as it becomes available.”
The staffer switched from channel to channel but got only the same footage. Blair sat frozen. They hadn’t mentioned Savo, and Dan’s ship wasn’t part of that strike group, as far as she knew. But a loss of this magnitude… it was devastating.
“We have how many carriers in the Pacific?” the general murmured.
“Two,” Ms. Clayton told him. “Unless we find Roosevelt is still afloat.”
“Which doesn’t sound likely,” Blair put in. “The reporters are giving us hope that they’re just not answering the radio, but is there really any? With heavy seas, radioactivity—”
“Those ships are lost.” Clayton’s long fingernails scratched at the tabletop. “Seven thousand crew. Carriers. Destroyers. That… idiot… has nuked us. And there’ll be no restraining Szerenci now.”
Blair checked her phone. 9:01. She stood, raking papers into her briefcase. “We’re not going to continue to sit here any longer, are we? It’s in JCS’s hands now. I’m going over to the Senate.”
Tomlin held up a hand. Looked at the aide, who seemed frozen, still staring up at the screen, where the anchors were repeating the same information. “Alex. Alex! What about our report?”
She flinched. “Um, sir, yes. The report… the fact is, I’ve been activated too. National Guard. I’ll have to report in to my unit. This afternoon, I’m afraid.”
Clayton said that was all right, she understood. “What’s your MOS? Your specialization?”
“I’m an MP, ma’am. Virginia’s activating us, I believe to protect the nuclear plant at Calvert Cliffs.”
The general had the remote now. Fox was on again, a talking-head retired general saying this was another Pearl Harbor, another 9/11. Calling for resolve and vengeance. The streaming banner read “Stock market closed. Trading suspended by SEC. By presidential order.”
They were still watching, silent and appalled, as she let herself out.
The streets were all but empty. Then she remembered: it was Election Day. But with this news, how many would turn out? Every flag was at half mast. She started to calculate whether a low turnout would help her or Beiderbaum, but made herself stop. Her worries seemed so petty, so selfish, in the face of what was happening.
PBS was streaming BBC World News. The soothing voice of Marion Marshall repeated what they’d just heard from the Pacific Command. Then reported that passengers on an Air Kiribati flight had witnessed a bright flash. The pilot turned away immediately, and the aircraft had suffered turbulence, but no damage.
Next Marshall read a release from Beijing. “Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of the People’s Republic, reports that Premier Zhang has offered peace in the Pacific. Zhang is quoted: China has recently increased stability in Asia by the introduction of a new class of heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles. Fifty of these multiwarhead weapons, the equivalent of the Russian SS-19 or the U.S. Peacekeeper, are now fully operational, deployed in hardened bases proof against any attack.”
Marshall read on, “China desires stability and peace in Asia and throughout the Pacific. As the premier, General Zhang Zurong, has repeatedly warned, those who attempt to upset the balance will be met with force. This was the fate of the recent aggressive American move to threaten China’s coastal cities with a nuclear-armed carrier battle group.
“China regrets the loss of life. However, we must insist on respect for our role in the rimlands of the Pacific, the territorial integrity of the province of Taiwan, and those islands and sea areas that remain historically and geographically Chinese. The United States must withdraw from the Western Pacific and refrain from additional provocations. This more equal relationship is our only precondition to a full and complete restoration of a stable, constructive bilateral relationship, maintaining the mutually advantageous commercial ties that are so necessary to a return to global prosperity.”
That ended the communique. Blair braked hard, narrowly missing a barrier in front of the Capitol. Troops, not cops. A guardsman in BDUs, carbine slung, leaned into her window. “This road’s blocked, ma’am. No entry.”
“I’m a staffer.”
“I’ll need ID, ma’am.” The trooper stepped back and waved someone over from a group of uniforms near a hulking armored vehicle.
They insisted on searching her trunk before letting her pass. Fortunately, there was nothing in there but her spare, and the jumper cables Dan always insisted she carry. At last, they waved her on.
The meeting area beneath the great dome was thronged. Apparently they were in a quorum call, which for most senators meant feeling free to leave their seats and even the floor. To mingle, discuss, try to reach compromises. Under the circumstances, she couldn’t see this as a good sign.