“Carl?” the admiral asked.
General Gifford was still thinking. “It was about what I expected. I can contribute one thing: they aren’t bluffing. They couldn’t be because they have set too close a deadline, they’d have to call their own hand in less than twenty-four hours from now. If we pull a desperation operation and release their hostages, they will simply seize more and shoot them at random.”
The admiral was in deep thought. “No one man has the authority to fire a nuclear weapon from a silo, an FBM, or any other place other than the President,” he said. “I want to tell you all this now: I have been talking to the President based on what I expected to hear and he has authorized me to order Magsaysay to fire when and as I see fit. I’m not ducking responsibility — I’ve never done that in my life — but I believe any such order, if it is given, should come from us all.”
Ed Higbee answered that. “Barney, you know that all of us will back you up in anything you think necessary. You’ve got the military experience to weigh the factors involved, and that’s what we need here because this is a military crisis.”
“Tell me this,” Haymarket said. “If I do order Magsaysay to fire one missile, targeted as we have previously approved, do you think that it will influence the Actor to overrule Rostovitch? What will the public reaction be?”
Higbee thought. “J^et’s say that ten nuclear warheads hit on the other side, or assume that they shoot down four and the other six get through.”
“Six, then.”
“It will answer all claims that Magsaysay has been sunk. It will put us back into the poker game.”
“You’re forgetting something: the enemy knows perfectly well whether or not we have a ship at sea. We don’t know, but they do.”
The discussion stopped for a moment and there was a full five seconds of silence. It was broken by the unhurried voice of Major Pappas. “Gentlemen, we have an offer. I have been talking with Hewlitt, the White House interpreter whom we brought in here. He forecast quite accurately what we have just heard.”
“That wasn’t too hard,” General Gifford said, “but what did he offer?”
“That if something of this nature was proposed, and we can get him back to Washington in time, he will talk to Zalinsky in the hospital.”
Again there was a brief silence. Then Walter Wagner spoke. “That makes him a pretty gutsy guy. We could get him back all right, and get him into the hospital, but the guarantee stops there.” “Do you think he meant it, Ted?” the admiral asked.
“Yes, sir, I do, or I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“Let’s get him in here.”
“Now?”
“Right now. I’d like to see how he conducts himself.”
Major Pappas got up and left the room. When he came back very shortly with Hewlitt, he made minimum introductions. “Mr. Hewlitt, this is the group that is generally known as the First Team. Admiral Haymarket is the commander.”
Hewlitt looked at the well-known face and addressed himself to him. “I’m very happy to see, sir, that the reports of your death were grossly exaggerated.”
“Thank you. Mr. Hewlitt, Major Pappas has just told us that prior to the broadcast you offered to return to Washington to talk with Mr. Zalinsky. You heard the speech?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Does your offer still stand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Hewlitt, you had one good look at Colonel Rostovitch, which is more than I can say myself. What do you think of him?” “Are you asking me, sir, if I think that he will carry out his threats?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Then I think that he will. He’s as mad as Hitler.”
“And as dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“And anti-Semitic?”
“Violently so, I understand.”
“How about Mr. Zalinsky?”
“I am a little more confident of my appraisal of him, sir, since I know him quite well. He is tough, extremely so in fact, but he is also a human being. And he has a first-class brain.”
“You recall how he shot Major Landers.”
“I’m not likely to forget it, sir; I was present when it happened. I would have killed him at the time with my bare hands if I had had the opportunity. Later I learned that Rostovitch wanted to get hold of Bob, and Zalinsky at least spared him that.”
“How much authority do you think Zalinsky has right now?” Hewlitt took his time before he attempted to answer that one. “I can’t honestly say, sir, but I can offer one thought. I personally don’t trust him for a moment, but I believe that he will see reason a lot faster than Rostovitch. And, despite his illness, don’t count him out.”
“In your opinion,” Ed Higbee asked, “do you think that he can handle Rostovitch?”
“That’s a very tall order, sir, but I would guess that in a showdown he could give him one hell of a fight. If he couldn’t stop him, he could at least slow him up considerably.”
“That may be the key,” the admiral said. “We’ll look into that. Thank you very much for joining us.”
Hewlitt took his dismissal with good grace. As he left the room he wondered how many other Americans had stood before this same board. Not very many, he judged, and he had seen their faces. He knew Pappas by name and the secret that Admiral Hay-market was alive and the active commander. That, he decided, was more than enough fpr one day.
It was an hour later when Major Pappas came to see him once more. “Mr. Hewlitt,” the major said. “We may take a very long chance on you; if we do, you may have to take an equally long one on us.”
“Can you clarify that?”
“I intend to. As of this moment you know more than we dare to let the enemy find out. Principally, you know the location of this facility, something that we must keep secret at all costs. We trust you, you must know that by now; but if you were to be captured, you could be made to talk. You understand how I mean that.”
“Entirely,” Hewlitt responded. “I’ve been thinking along the same lines myself. If I were to return to the Washington area, I would represent a considerable risk.”
Pappas sat down on the arm of a chair. “I’m glad that you see it so clearly. Since you do, here is the proposition. We propose to position you back close to the Washington area. If things develop so that we feel we need you to talk to Zalinsky, we will pick you up and smuggle you into the hospital where he is. After you have talked to him we will do everything humanly possible to get you out again. We expect to be successful in that, but we can’t guarantee it.”
Hewlitt saw the rest and understood. “If you can’t, you won’t permit me to be captured, is that it?”
Pappas nodded. “That’s it.”
Hewlitt thought. “Actually it would probably be the better way.” “That’s how we saw it too. Rostovitch would never let you get away from him alive, and you might have a rough time of it along the way.”
“How about your people?”
“For the most part they don’t know certain of the vital facts that you do now.”
“It would be quick, I take it.”
“Instantaneous, and only as an absolute last resort.”
Hewlitt considered the matter one more time. “It seems fair enough to me,” he said.
Pappas got back onto his feet. “Then we’ll ship you out pretty fast, but you’ll have time for a good meal first if you don’t linger over it. Personally I think you’ve earned it.”
“Thank you, major. I’ll try not to let all of you down.”
“You won’t do that. Come on, Walt is going to join us for dinner. You’ll find him quite an interesting person.”