“Bob, I must ask your apologies but we need to turn our television on. There is news that we both need to see.” The set was wheeled out of its cupboard and turned on. It took a couple of minutes to warm up, then a newsreader, a woman in an elegant evening sari took the screen.
“And now we must repeat the main item of news tonight. The American presidential election has been thrown into turmoil following the tragic death of Democrat Candidate John F Kennedy. News reports from Boston say that the Presidential Candidate had been badly delayed at a series of electioneering engagements and was late for a Democrat Party strategy party meeting near the family home in Massachusetts. In order to save time, John F Kennedy accepted an offer from his brother Edward to drive him in a family car to the meeting.
“At a place called Chappaquiddick Island, near Martha's Vineyard, their car apparently spun off the road into the water. Presidential Candidate Kennedy was trapped in the wreckage, apparently due to the effects of an old back injury suffered while commanding a river gunboat in 1943. His brother Edward made a valiant effort to get help for the trapped victim but, by the time he got back, John F Kennedy had drowned. Police are investigating the incident and have not stated whether any charges will be made.”
The broadcast was mostly library footage of JFKs life and his campaign against President LeMay. Sir Martyn spoke to a servant who left the room and returned with the week's issue of the Washington Diplomatic list. Sir Martyn turned to a page, raised an eyebrow and showed the page to Sir Eric. Both men were trying hard not to smile out of courtesy to their American guest. “Not a Japanese chauffeur this time.” Sir Eric said in a slightly strangled voice. Then the elegant newsreader cut in again.
“In a late development from Washington, the Vice Presidential candidate, Lyndon Baines Johnson, has resigned from the candidacy, quoting his shock and distress at the sudden death of his old friend John F Kennedy. In an emergency meeting, the Democrat National Committee has elected an almost unknown automobile company executive, Robert Strange McNamara, as their new candidate.”
“Bob, can you give us an insight as to what is going on here? Why did Johnson stand down? I'd have thought he would have stood a very good chance of being elected. And who is this McNamara person?”
Dedmon shook his head, his mind still absorbing the news. “LBJ is probably the wiliest politician in Washington. He knows very well that the Democrats changing candidates this late into the campaign makes his chance of being elected slender. It's not as if the Democrats were doing well, they were level-pegging the Republicans in the early stages of the campaign but that didn't last. It didn't help them that LeMay is the 'man who brought our boys home' and that Kennedy was a comparative nonentity.
“Kennedy had a lot of charisma and did well in the conventions and on whistle-stop tours but the radio debates with President LeMay went very badly for him. One thing the President has always been good at is making sure his staff work is up to scratch. I'd guess he had his aides burning the midnight oil for weeks thinking of every possible question that could be thrown at him, and he had all the answers waiting. Kennedy kept getting caught out by details and came off sounding like a lightweight. His poll figures never recovered.
“So, combining the change in candidates and the poor starting position, LBJ has worked out that he doesn't stand much of a chance. The Democrats will be down to depending on a sympathy vote and that's no way to win an election. He's betting that if he runs and looses, he'll be damaged goods for the 1964 election and somebody else would get the nod for that. So he bows out now, and sets up that fool McNamara get hammered this time around. This way, he's set to scoop the pool in '64.
“McNamara did the one unforgivable thing somebody can do in America. He designed a dreadful automobile. That'll be thrown at him over and over again. 'How can we trust the man who came up with the Edsel?'
“It is a hard thing to say about a man's death, but JFK served his country better by dying now than he could have done as President; his advisors had some pretty foolish and damaging ideas. Replacing bombers by missiles for example, and not maintaining the national air and missile defense system. Using the resources to rebuild the Army, another thing that will send him to the political graveyard. To American families, a large army means sending our boys back to the Russian Front. Ruthless as it may sound, God has looked after America here.”
“I don't think God had much to do with it,” said Sir Eric Haohoa levelly.
Chapter Twelve Touchdown.
Supreme Command Headquarters Building, Ayuthia Road, Bangkok, Thailand
They'd flown over in General Dedmon's personal aircraft, the prototype XC-144 Superstream. A derivative of the B-58 with seats for six passengers, it was cramped and uncomfortable but its speed took hours off long-haul flights. Full production had been postponed while the Fort Worth production line turned out RB-58s and PB5Ys as fast as triple shifts could manage. The delay was being used to wring the design out as thoroughly as possible. The speed of the trip had allowed them to arrive the previous evening and sleep before the meeting scheduled for early this morning. It was early too, by Bangkok standards there was still a chill in the air.
“Sir Martyn, Sir Eric, General Dedmon, welcome back to Bangkok. It is so good to see you again.”
The Ambassador had come out to meet their car. Sir Martyn noted she was wearing civilian clothes, not her military uniform. The bulge under her silk jacket indicated she was still carrying a handgun of formidable proportions.
“Madame Ambassador, it is indeed a great pleasure to have your company again. I trust your stay in Washington was productive?”
“Indeed so, Sir Eric. In fact you will be seeing one of our achievements a little later.” Sir Eric gulped and had a quick mental picture of John F Kennedy's head mounted on the wall of her apartment. “It is essential that we find a quick and effective solution to this Myitkyina debacle. To that end we have hired some consultants who will provide us with their advice and opinions. Their first action was to evict us from our own conference room so we are as interested to hear what they have to say as anybody else. If you will come with me.”
The Conference Room was guarded by soldiers, fully armed and alert. They opened the doors for the Ambassador and she lead her party in. The room was already filled with a mixture of military personnel and civilians. By some strange trick of the light, no matter where they stood, the civilians seemed to be in the shadows. The Ambassador looked around then went over to them. “Seer, I am very pleased you could make it over. Now perhaps I can repay some of your hospitality.”
“Thank you Snake. I wouldn't have missed this one for anything. You were right though, the city has changed out of all recognition since I was last here. Is the Galaxy still open? If everybody is present I think we'd better get started.”
The cover was pulled off the table that occupied most of the center of the room. When it was fully removed there was a collective gasp. The entire area was covered by a three-dimensional model of Myitkyina and the surrounding countryside. Even the coloring was correct, the artists had caught the languid menace of the jungle perfectly. The Triple Alliance positions were outlined in blue, those of the surrounding forces in red. The gasp was not of admiration though. Even in a roomful of people who were skilled map-readers, the model showed something that wasn't apparent from a two-dimensional map. The position of the besieged garrison was critical.
“When we start a consultancy contract like this, our first question is always the same yet our principals never have a well-thought answer. So we started this one the same way, with the same question. 'What is the objective of this operation?' As usual, we didn't get a straight answer. Or, more to the point, the answers that we did get were not consistent with the operational environment and the demands of counter-insurgency warfare. Nor, may I add, were they consistent with the forces committed to the operation.