The chauffeur was just pulling away from the White House when Mellongard spotted Senator Frank Brazzell, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. The trim, stylishly dressed senator was motioning for Mellongard's driver to stop.
Mellongard swore under his breath before he told the chauffeur to pull Over. Brazzell walked up to the Continental and Mellongard lowered the window.
"Bryce, I'm glad I caught you," the Senator said hastily. "I need to discuss an urgent matter with you, if you've got a couple of minutes."
Mellongard knew that in Brazzell's time frame, a couple of minutes meant at least an hour of lobbying for his latest crusade. "Frank, I've got an appointment at the Pentagon," he said hastily and glanced at his watch. "Let's set up something for the first of next week, okay?"
Brazzell was not one to be placed on hold. "It'll only take a few minutes — I promise." He didn't give the Secretary a chance to answer. "In fact I'll ride over with you and then grab a cab back."
"Okay," Mellongard replied stiffly and reluctantly slid across the seat while Brazzell stepped into the car and quickly shut the door.
"Thanks."
"What's on your mind, Frank?"
"I'll get right to the point," Brazzell answered while the driver edged into the flow of traffic. "I've got all the ducks in order up on the hill, but I need you to apply some leverage on the President."
"You're talking about the carrier?"
They had had previous conversations about giving the Japanese the next U. S. aircraft carrier that was scheduled for decommissioning. The Japanese had asked for a large-deck carrier, ostensibly to be used as an antisubmarine warfare ship, but the last Administration had quietly rebuffed them.
"Absolutely," Brazzell shot back in his boldly confident manner. "Politically, the time is ripe for us to calm the waters and show some real confidence in the Japanese government. At the same time we can smooth some of the ruffled feathers about all this terrorist crap.
"I'm telling you," Brazzell went on without missing a beat, "that we're going to blow a major opportunity if we don't make the announcement now and follow through with our promise.
Let's give them the next carrier on the list instead of turning it into a floating museum or cutting it up for the scrap dealers."
Mellongard let his head rest on the back of the seat. "Frank,"
he sighed heavily, "they've laid the keel for their second carrier.
You know that's in violation of Article Nine of the constitution they are supposed to enforce. I think we should forget the idea."
The Secretary was referring to Article 9 of the post-World War II Japanese constitution that had been developed by General Douglas MacArthur and accepted and promulgated by the first postwar Diet.
The constitution included a thirty-one-article bill of rights, and Article 9 was the key to the foundation of the new Japanese government. Article 9 renounced war as a "sovereign right of the nation" and pledged that "land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained."
"Bryce," the Senator said patiently, "come on. We're well past that stage of the game. Besides, we've been encouraging them to provide their own defense for a long time, so why not help them?"
Brazzell waited for a response, but Mellongard remained silent. It was an old argument and the Secretary didn't want to discuss Japan and her burgeoning military power.
"Bryce, hear me out on this," Brazzell persisted. "You guys in the Puzzle Palace can't have it both ways. You tell the Japanese government to develop a stronger Self-Defense Force because we don't want to spend the money and use our assets to defend them."
Mellongard gave a warning look and Brazzell shifted to a softer approach. "Then, after conditioning them to that spiel, you question whether we should give them an old, worn-out carrier?"
"Senator," SECDEF countered and stared him down, "you know that's an oversimplification of the situation. Any of our carriers — even an older one — has the capability to project power anywhere around the globe."
Mellongard paused to gather his thoughts. "Frank, a seventythousand-ton carrier isn't what I would classify as self-defense technology."
"Sure it is," Brazzell shot back, remembering his discussion with the Japanese multibillionaire. The businessman had explained that Japan wanted to use the retired U. S. carriers for antisubmarine-warfare patrols. "They can use it for ASW work, and it's a great platform for rescue helos and reconnaissance aircraft."
The Secretary remained quiet and looked out the window.
"Bryce," the Senator gently prodded, "the Japanese are building their own blue-water carriers. China and North Korea scare the hell out of them, and they aren't going to sit around and twiddle their thumbs while they wait to get nuked again."
Mellongard bristled and turned to face Brazzell. "That's the goddamn point, Frank. They've gone from a total armed force of a quarter million men in '93 to well over one million in uniform today. They're building their own heavy battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillery pieces."
Observing the restlessness in Brazzell's eyes, Mellongard carefully measured his words. "They've rapidly amassed a navy of over two hundred ships, including eighteen Aegis-equipped destroyers that are clones of our Arleigh Burke — class, and they've got a half-dozen new 767 AWACs, all while their economic and political upheavals are supposedly having a devastating effect on the country. Does that sound like a Self-Defense Force to you?"
Mellongard didn't wait for a response. "Frank, the Joint Chiefs are concerned. These Aegis ships are designed to provide protection for a carrier battle group, and they're building carriers that are designed for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft."
Both men shifted their eyes away from each other for a brief moment before the Defense Secretary turned to Brazzell.
"If they decide to preempt North Korea," Mellongard continued in a softer tone, "we don't want them to do it with one of our carriers."
"But I suppose we wouldn't mind if they clobbered North Korea with their own ships?" Brazzell countered while he planned his next avenue of strategy. He had to convince SECDEF to lobby for him, or the entire project would collapse, including his generous commission.
"You combine those ships," Mellongard observed, "with their twenty-eight submarines and support ships and you've got a world-class blue-water navy, not a coastal patrol. Add to that one of the largest ASW capabilities in the world, combined with an air force that has over seven hundred Japanese-made fighter planes, and we're talking about a major military power.
Mellongard looked straight ahead and took a deep breath. "Do you really think it's in our best interest to give them a carrier — even with the catapults removed — when our military is bare bones and getting smaller every day?"
"Yes. I honestly believe we should give them a carrier for ASW protection." Brazzell closely watched SECDEF for his reaction. "Especially for political reasons."
They remained quiet, each thinking about his own political interests.
"They'll have their own carrier soon enough," Mellongard finally said, "but they won't be launching the first one for another year or so." He didn't want to confront the issue on his watch.
"Don't bet on it," Brazzell calmly replied and shifted his gaze to the passing scenery. "The little shits are very industrious and motivated. Bryce, this is one hell of an opportunity to mend some fences."
"Let me think about it awhile," Mellongard answered with one of his classic maneuvers to consume time and obstruct issues, "and I'll get back to you."
Brazzell decided to use one of his hidden aces. "Bryce, we've been friends for a long time, and I'm telling you, for your own good, this is going to be a political coup."
Mellongard studied Brazzell's deeply set eyes. "There's more to this than politics, isn't there?"