Vixen 03 Part 77

Pitt was still watching when the tiny white scar from the splash was closed over by the relentless swells.

There is something heartsickening about seeing a proud s.h.i.+p die. The President felt deeply moved, his eyes centered on the billowing pillars of smoke rolling from the Iowa as the fireboats edged close to the inferno in a futile effort to extinguish the flames.

He sat with Timothy March and Dale Jarvis, the Joint Chiefs having returned to their respective offices in the Pentagon to begin launching the expected investigations, dictating the expected reports, and issuing the expected directives. In a few hours the shock would wear off and the news media would start shouting for blood, anyone's blood.

The President had settled on a course of action. The public outcry had to be softened. Nothing would be gained by proclaiming the raid as another day of infamy. The pieces were to be swept under the carpet of confusion as delicately as possible.

"Word has just come in that Admiral Ba.s.s has died at Bethesda Naval Hospital," Jarvis announced softly.

"He must have been a strong man to have carried the terrible burden of the Quick Death's secret all these years," said the President.

"That's the end of it, then," March murmured.*

"There is still Rongelo Island," said Jarvis.

"Yes," the President said, nodding wearily, "there is still that."

"We cannot allow any trace of the organism to remain."

The President looked at Jarvis. "What do you propose?"

"Erase the island from the map," Jarvis replied.

"Impossible," said March. "The Soviets would raise holy h.e.l.l if we set off a bomb. The moratorium on aboveground nuclear tests has been respected by both nations for two decades."

A thin smile touched Jarvis's lips. "The Chinese have yet to sign the pact."

"So?"

"So we take apage from Operation Wild Rose," explained Jarvis. "We send one of our missile-carrying subs as close as we dare to the Chinese mainland, then order it to launch a nuclear warhead at Rongelo Island."

March and the President exchanged thoughtful glances. Then they turned to Jarvis, waiting for the rest of it.

"As long as American preparations for a test are nonexistent and none of our surface s.h.i.+ps or aircraft are within two thousand miles of the blast area, there is no tangible evidence the Russians can use to build a case against us. On the other hand, their spy satellites cannot help but record the missile trajectory as originating from Chinese territory."

"We might pull it off if we played shadylike," said March, warming to the scheme. "The Chinese would, of course, deny any involvement. And after the usual nasty accusations from the Kremlin, our own State Department, and the other outraged nations, condemning Peking, the episode would die and be mostly forgotten inside two weeks."

The President stared into s.p.a.ce as he battled with his conscience. For the first time in nearly eight years he felt the total vulnerability of his office. The armor of power was filled with hairline cracks that could burst apart when struck by the unantic.i.p.ated.

At last, with the exertion of a man twice his age, he rose from his chair.

"I pray to G.o.d," he said, his eyes filled with sadness, "I am the last man in history who willfully orders a nuclear strike."

Then he turned and slowly made his way toward the elevator that would take him up to the White House.

Fools Mate

Umkono, South Africa-January 1989

The heat from the early-morning sun made itself felt as two men gently slipped the cradle ropes through their hands and lowered the wooden box to the floor of the grave. Then the ropes were pulled free, making a soft rustling sound as they snaked around the sharp, unsanded edges of the coffin.

"Sure you don't want me to fill it in?" asked an ebony-skinned gravedigger as he coiled the rope around a sinewy shoulder.

"Thanks, I'll take care of it," Pitt said, holding out several South African rand notes.

"No pay," said the gravedigger. "The captain was a friend. I could dig a hundred graves and never repay the kindness he rained upon my family when he was alive."

Pitt nodded in understanding. "I'll borrow your shovel."

The digger obliged, shook Pitt's hand vigorously, and flashed an enormous smile. Then with a wave he set foot over a narrow path that led from the cemetery to the village.

Pitt looked around. The landscape was lush but harsh. Steam from the damp undergrowth wisped above the plants as the sun rose higher in the

sky. He rubbed a sleeve over his sweat-soaked forehead and stretched out under a mimosa tree, studying its blossoming yellow fluffy b.a.l.l.s and long white thorns and listening to the honking of hornbills in the distance. Then he turned his attention back to the large granite stone sitting at the head of the grave site. I

HERE LIE THE FAMILY FAWKES

Patrick McKenzie

Myrna Clarissa

Patrick McKenzie, Jr.

Jennifer Louise

Joined together for

all eternity

1988

A prophetic man, the captain, Pitt thought. The stone had been carved in its entirety months before Fawkes's death on board the Iowa. He brushed away a vagrant ant and dozed for the next two hours. He was awakened by the sound of a car.

The uniformed driver, a sergeant, braked the Bentley, slipped from behind the wheel, and opened the rear door. Colonel Joris Zeegler stepped out, followed by Defence Minister Pieter De Vaal.

"Seems peaceful enough," said De Vaal.

"This sector has been quiet since the Fawkes ma.s.sacre," Zeegler replied. "I believe the grave is this way, sir."

Pitt rose to his feet and brushed himself off as they approached. "It was good of you gentlemen to come so far," he said, extending his hand.

"No great effort, I a.s.sure you," De Vaal said arrogantly. He ignored Pitt's outstretched hand and sat irreverently on the Fawkes headstone. "By coincidence, Colonel Zeegler had arranged an inspection tour of northern Natal Province. A short detour, a brief stop-off in the schedule. No harm done."