“So, gentlemen, if I might take this moment to summarize. I think we have reached agreement on several points. First, that there are offensive missiles in Greater Manchuria. Second, that these missiles are nuclear-tipped. Third, that the units are operational. Fourth, the missiles are twenty-four minutes’ flight time from Tokyo. And therefore, fifth, if President Len has an intention of launching an attack on Japan, he will be successful. Tokyo will look worse than 1945. Worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombs were dropped. To put it in perspective, the Hiroshima bomb had the equivalent of twenty thousand tons of TNT explosive. An SS-34 has over two million tons. Twenty well-targeted SS-34s would take our nation back two thousand years. Our descendants would live off whatever little land is not contaminated by nuclear radiation. Our promises to the people that Japan would never again suffer this humiliation and death will be turned to ashes along with the world’s most advanced cities. On this, we are agreed, are we not?”
Kurita kept his face neutral. The men had agreed on the first four points. The fifth was Gotoh’s opinion based on the consequences of a nuclear attack. But what he had said would need to be covered at some point, and perhaps it would be best to signify agreement and get the discussion of the memories of being bombed with nuclear weapons behind them. Since Japan remained the only nation to have been targeted and attacked by nuclear bombs, the national consciousness had remained sensitive to the issue. The antinuclear protests in Asia during the past decades had been heavily funded by Japan, and had succeeded in spite of rumors in the Western press that Japan itself was working on a new type of nuclear weapon.
Kurita began working his way around the table, asking each man present for an opinion, bringing out each minister’s specialty. The minister of finance, Haruna Sugimoto, was asked what effect the weapon’s presence alone had on the economy of Japan, and then what would happen to the economy if the SS-34s ever landed on Japanese soil. The MITI minister was asked about the effects on industry and how long it would take to rebuild the nation should it come under attack. MacHiie was asked about the effects of an attack on the world’s information network, and he had replied in much the same voice as did the MITI and finance ministers.
When all had spoken except Adm. Akagi Tanaka, who was not involved in the actual decision-making process but was present to give the council the benefit of his naval knowledge, Kurita stood.
“We have taken many hours to understand and explore the data before us — the fact of the existence of the SS-34 missiles and exactly what that means to Japan and the world around us. We now know the consequences of the use of those weapons, and we realize that those consequences are indeed grave. So grave that we are moved to ask the next question — what action do we now take?”
“Mr. Prime Minister, aren’t we forgetting something?”
The room turned toward Foreign Minister Yoshida.
Kurita bit the inside of his lip, but turned toward Yoshida and allowed him to speak.
“We have spoken about the weapons. We have spoken of what they can do. But for many decades we have been surrounded by such weapons. Before the revolution China had many such instruments of war, some no doubt reserved for Tokyo. Who could doubt Soviet Russia had even more? And the ships of the United States fleet that docked here for so many decades until the trade war, how many of them had nuclear missiles in their holds and magazines?”
“But now, a small nation apparently has a cache of nuclear missiles, and the gods alone know how old they are. But I am willing to agree that they will work, so long as this body agrees that we know nothing of the intent of the owners of the missiles. China and Russia had no love for Japan, and we lived with the threat. The United States was supposedly an ally, and we lived with their weapons of destruction, even though they were the ones who murdered our children in the war.”
Kurita was surprised that Yoshida had righteous anger in his repertory, but then realized it was another diplomatic tool, just like a smile or handshake.
“Yet now a nation that has offered no proof of hostile intent, no desire to hurt us, just a desire to live, just as we desire to, has managed to come into the possession of weapons of nuclear war. And while I agree that they are dirty and cursed machines, they cannot harm us without a malevolent nation to use them. And no facts have crossed this table attesting to the intent of the Greater Manchurians. I propose we simply ask the Greater Manchurians to remove the weapons. If they do, we can sell them military hardware, helping our economy and keeping them secure so they won’t have to rely on the missiles. If they keep the weapons, we can expose them to the world and ask for UN help. Eventually the warheads would be turned over and destroyed in accordance with the Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. The crisis would be averted and we would lead our lives as before. Amend that — better than before, because by our actions we will show the world our moral character. And that may help to end this destructive trade embargo by the West.”
There was silence in the room for some minutes after Yoshida spoke.
“Mr. Prime Minister, I’d like to say a few words, if I may.”
“Please go ahead, General Gotoh.”
“Minister Yoshida is entirely correct in his concerns about the intentions of Greater Manchuria. His proposal to ask the Greater Manchurians to remove the weapons has merit.” Kurita did not expect an opening toward Yoshida from his opposite number in the council. “In fact, what we are proposing has elements of Minister Yoshida’s idea.”
Gotoh had the room’s members entirely focused, in spite of the fact that the meeting had gone into its third hour.
“There are several possible uses for these missiles. As we have discussed, one use is for a preemptive strike against Japan. But another purpose is deterrence. Holding back the aggressions of the Russians, the East Chinese and the West Chinese, and theoretically the aggressions of Japan. I am getting ahead of our meeting agenda, and for that I apologize. The next order of business was to be — what should Japan do about these missiles? I will introduce that question now, because it addresses Minister Yoshida’s concerns.”
“Let us assume for a moment that the missiles are present for the purposes of deterrence. I personally do not believe this, because a nuclear deterrent only works if the enemy knows the weapons are there and operational. These missiles are secret. But let us go beyond that and recognize that there is a way for us to neutralize these missiles without the world knowing about them. We can surgically knock out these missiles while still letting Greater Manchuria bluff her neighbors into thinking she has a nuclear strike force.”
“Again, I am arguing a point of logic I do not believe, because Greater Manchuria has kept these missiles a deep secret, but we can say for Minister Yoshida that there could always be plans to announce the presence of these missiles, turning them into a deterrent force. We have a way of striking these weapons so that they will be neutralized forever, in a way that there will be no telltale sign that the neutralization has come from us.”
The room was silent. Kurita addressed Gotoh. “General, you seem to be saying that we can blow up these missiles and destroy them, but in such a way that no one will link the raid to Japan, is that correct?”
“Very close, sir. We can strike the missiles and make them useless. There will be no explosions. The missiles will not be physically destroyed but they will no longer be offensive weapons.”
“You have a way to destroy these missiles without physical destruction? I think we are all confused, General.”
Gotoh lowered the projection screen and tapped into the disk player. “This disk doesn’t have a soundtrack, gentlemen,” Gotoh said, stepping up to the screen with a pointer. A computer image of a cruise missile materialized on the screen. The missile grew until its nose cone filled the image and the weapon became transparent, revealing numerous components inside.