“Sir, the situation is getting worse by the minute,” Morgan said urgently. “The German government has ordered troops bivouacked in three Albanian port cities to move eastward toward the capital — the number of troops deploying into the capital Tirane is estimated so far to top three thousand. An estimated five thousand Russian troops are moving from outlying camps in Serbia and Macedonia into the cities and are setting up so-called security checkpoints — it looks like an occupation.”
“They’re overreacting,” Thorn said in a low voice. Secretary of Defense Robert Goff looked at the President with a surprised look on his face, as if Thorn had just grown donkey’s ears. Was that a trace of hesitation, maybe even doubt, in Thorn’s voice? “I need facts, Doug, not speculation or newspaper hyperbole. If it’s an invasion force, tell me so. If it’s a redeployment of troops in response to a major terrorist incident, tell me that.”
“It’s a major redeployment of troops, obviously in a defensive response to the explosion in Tirane, that can easily escalate into an invasion force.” Morgan narrowed his eyes to emphasize his last point: “And that’s not some newspaper’s assessment. sir, that’s mine.”
“Thank you, Doug,” the President said, not seeming to notice Morgan’s emphatic response but with a touch of apology in his voice nonetheless. “Any more details about this air raid warning that was issued moments before the blast?”
“No information about that, sir,” Morgan said. “The Albanian Ministry of Defense claims the Interior Ministry ordered them to blow the horn to try to disperse the protesters. There is no word from the Transportation Ministry on whether or not there was an unidentified aircraft over the capital. Russian or German radar stations claim they were not tracking any unidentified aircraft.”
“So there could have been an unidentified aircraft — only no one is admitting that one got by them,” Secretary of Defense Robert Goff observed.
“What other forces are mobilizing?” the President asked. “German forces in Albania; Russian forces in Serbia and Macedonia. Any troops on the move in Russia? In the Commonwealth states? Any Russian naval forces moving? Any Russian or German tactical air forces?”
Morgan shook his head, glanced quickly at his briefing notes to double-check, then shook his head. “No, sir. Only tactical airlift and sealift units, and they look like routine support missions.”
“I would think that an ‘occupation’ force would need a lot of support units set in motion fairly quickly for an occupation of an entire capital city to be successful,” the President observed. “And few successful occupation forces leap into action from a standing start. I don’t see an invasion happening yet.”
“Not that we could do anything about it if it was happening!” Goff commented.
“Perhaps not,” the President said, with only a hint of annoyance in his voice.
“I can’t believe we are going to sit here and do nothing!” Goff said. “Shouldn’t we be calling the German chancellor and the Russian president, warning them that their actions resemble an occupation force and that we object to such a move? Shouldn’t we be calling the Italians or the Bosnians or our NATO allies, reassuring them that we’re at least monitoring the situation and perhaps discussing some options?”
“I’m sure they know that we are doing and thinking all those things,” the President said easily. “Besides, actions speak louder than words. Even watching and waiting is doing something.”
“Not in my book, it isn’t,” Goff said under his breath.
“What would you have me do, Robert?” the President snapped. “Tell me right now: what forces would you like to commit? We have two Marine Expeditionary Units nearby in the Med and in the Adriatic Sea, plus one aircraft carrier battle group in the Aegean Sea. We have two B-1B bomber squadrons on alert in Georgia and two B-2A stealth bomber squadrons ready to go with conventional bombs and cruise missiles in Missouri, plus one air expeditionary wing in South Carolina ready to deploy if needed. That’s about twenty-five thousand men and women, fourteen warships, and perhaps one hundred combat aircraft we can have over the Balkans in eight hours, and perhaps double that number in twelve hours. Do you have a target for me, Robert? What’s the mission? What do you want to blow up now?”
“I don’t want to blow up anything, sir — I just want to make it clear to Sen’kov, Keisinger, Zhurbenko, and all those other nutcases that we don’t like what they’re doing and we are ready to act if they persist!” Goff replied. “In case they interpret our silence as disinterest or even as tacit acceptance or permission, I want it clearly and emphatically known that we will tolerate no offensive moves in Europe, no matter what the provocation.”
“I think it’s you that needs to be told,” the President said. “Robert, I’m telling you now — don’t you interpret my so-called inaction as tacit permission or disinterest. But I am not going to respond to the threat of war with a threat of my own.” He went over and clasped Goff on the shoulder. “Robert, you seem to think there’s someone out there that needs to get slapped down. I’m here to tell you: there isn’t. Let it go.” He could tell that there was a lot that his friend still needed to say, so he took away the reassuring tone in his voice and said, “Go home, Robert,” and it was an order, not a suggestion.
Goff took a step closer to the President and asked, “Is that what you told President Martindale during your little meeting with him? ‘Just go home’? Or did you tell him or help him do something else?”
If Goff expected the President to be surprised that he knew about the private meeting, he didn’t show it. “That’s exactly what I told him, Robert — whatever he wants to do, whatever ideas he has, forget about them,” the President replied. “He is not the president any longer. He does not run U.S. foreign or military policy — I do. He’s a private citizen now, subject to all laws, with no special protections or considerations because of his previous position.”
“Then why did you keep the meeting secret from me?”
“Because it was between him and me,” Thorn said. “It was one president talking with another. If I couldn’t convince him to stay out of it, without the rest of my Cabinet behind me, it was my failure.” Goff looked skeptical. The President gave his friend a slight, knowing smile, then said, “Maybe the same reason you didn’t tell me you met with him.” Goff’s mouth dropped open in complete surprise, then bobbed up and down like a freshly caught trout. “How did I know? You told me — not in words, but in your eyes, your mannerisms. I know you, Robert, just like you know me. The problem is, you know me so well you think you can reason with me, change my mind. You can’t. I know you so well, I know Martindale approached you — and I know you turned him down.”
Goff couldn’t hide his amazement, but he couldn’t help toying with Thorn anyway — he was so infuriatingly confident, Goff actually wanted to try to get his friend mad at him any way he could, just to get a rise out of him. “You’re sure of that? You’re sure I turned him down, Thomas?”
“Fairly sure,” the President said. “‘What Martindale wants to do is bold and exciting and challenging and risky, and it’s what you want to do. Problem is, it’s also illegal, and you know it, and you will not break the law. That’s why you’re trying so hard to convince me to do something — because if I don’t do it, Martindale might, and if he does, he will probably fail, and then the United States looks even more like an inept failure. Whatever’s going to happen, Robert, will happen. I’m not going to add to the confusion and fear. We let it play out. So go home, my friend. I’ll call you if I need you.”