The President raised an eyebrow and looked around the table at the rest of his cabinet. “Well, gentlemen. Anyone else have anything to add?”
A chorus of shaking heads greeted his question. That was about what he had expected. The secretaries of departments like Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, or Education weren’t eager to step into the middle of the foreign affairs turf jealously guarded by State, Defense, and the CIA.
The President sat back slightly from the table and let his eyes slide back to the map. Decision time. He wasn’t particularly happy with the answers he’d gotten, but at least his key people were fairly well united for once. He could feel Putnam and the secretary of state staring at him. The President ran over the variables one more time. The bill’s economic impact on the U.S.: negligible. Military impact: minor and controllable, at least according to Putnam’s Working Group and the State Department. Political impact: positive. The polls showed that. And hell, maybe it would convince the South Koreans to get their act together. Okay, so be it.
He turned away from the map and brought his gaze back to the waiting cabinet. “Very well, gentlemen. I’ll sign this damned thing.”
Putnam smiled. “Yes, sir. We can arrange a Rose Garden signing with the congressional leadership for either today or tomorrow, Mr. President.”
The President frowned. “You’ll do nothing of the kind, George. I may be willing to accept this bill, but I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to give people like Barnes or the Speaker free publicity for having shoved it down our throats. Clear?”
Putnam turned red and nodded.
“Good. I’ll sign it tonight. In the Oval Office. You can have Jack put out a press release tomorrow morning.”
The President flipped to the next page on his agenda. “Okay, let’s move on to this housing bill coming up in the Senate.”
He fought down the urge to reconsider his decision. It was done and that was that. Wasn’t it?
“He’s gone where?” Blake couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice.
“Up to the Greenbrier for the weekend, Dr. Fowler.” Putnam’s secretary sounded surprised, too. The Greenbrier was a plush West Virginia resort favored by many in Congress for retreats, conferences, and just plain getaways.
“Well, when do you expect him back, Liz?” Blake swiveled in his chair to keep the afternoon sun out of his eyes.
“Not for a week or so. He’s going straight from the Greenbrier on to a speaking tour out across the country. Election rallies. That sort of thing.”
“Shit.” Blake couldn’t believe it. The President signs that goddamned Barnes sanctions bill and Putnam heads out on some kind of victory parade. Something was not at all right in the State of Denmark.
“Look, Liz. Did he have you make a lot of changes to that report I gave him?”
Putnam’s secretary was silent for several seconds and then said, “Yes. He rewrote whole sections.”
That bastard. What had he done? “Can I get a copy of the latest draft?”
Silence again. “Uh, Dr. Fowler, he … well, he said I wasn’t allowed to distribute it to anyone but the President and the other people at the cabinet meeting yesterday.”
Bingo. “I suppose that counts me out.” Blake grimaced. He had to find a way to see what Putnam had done to the Working Group’s recommendations.
Putnam’s secretary said, “I’m sorry, Dr. Fowler. I’m afraid it does.” She stopped and then said, “But I do have an extra copy here on my desk. I haven’t had time to log it in yet. And I’m going to have to step out for a few minutes.”
Blake hung up smiling. Thank God for Liz Klein. She’d been around the White House through three different Administrations and she knew exactly how to play the game. He got up and stuck his head out his office door. “Katie, could you come in here a second. There’s something I want you to pick up for me over at the White House.”
He sent his secretary off on her semi-cloak-and-dagger mission and then sat down to consider his next move. Whatever he did, he was going to need allies. Powerful ones. People that the President couldn’t ignore. And if Putnam had monkeyed around with the Working Group’s report the way Blake thought he had, the next several days were going to be critical. He also knew that chances of his staying employed in the administration were just about nil.
He sat waiting for Katie to get back, looking at the picture of his wife and five-year-old daughter.
The camera view showed what were now almost routine scenes from the South Korean capital. Masked, chanting students throwing rocks and firebombs at police troops who retaliated with tear gas, water cannon, and clubs. Long-distance shots from a chartered helicopter showed the fine, white tear-gas mist billowing above Seoul’s city center.
The anchorman’s calm, dispassionate tones were in sharp contrast with the televised pictures of complete chaos and random violence.
“Thousands of South Korean students poured out into the streets of Seoul today — the seventh consecutive day of anti-government protests that have virtually paralyzed this city of ten million.
“The demonstrators once again clashed with government security forces in several hours of street fighting that left another sixty people injured, many in critical condition. And there are no signs that the riots will end anytime soon.”
The camera cut back to the anchor desk.
“In other Korean news today, a government spokesman lashed out at the new U.S. trade sanctions scheduled to go into effect within the month. According to the spokesman, South Korea, quote, utterly rejects this unprincipled attempt by the United States to interfere in the internal affairs of another freely elected government, end quote. The spokesman went on to say that South Korea’s coalition
government saw no reason to give in to the impossible demands made by the rioting students.
“However, informed sources report that the South Korean government will soon announce a series of cosmetic political reforms — in the hope that they will placate the rioting students and soothe the angry American Congress.
“Meanwhile, the European Economic Community announced that it would follow the example set by the U.S. in imposing sanctions on South Korean manufactured products. This European action is considered extremely significant by foreign policy and economic analysts because the EEC is the third-largest purchaser of South Korea’s exports, after the U.S. and Japan.”
The camera cut again, this time to pictures of a flag-waving political rally in Illinois.
“And in Chicago, today, presidential national security adviser George Putnam told a cheering crowd of union members that the U. S. sanctions showed America’s commitment to fair trade and to the cause of democratic reform in South Korea.
General Chang Jae-Kyu, commanding officer of the 4th Infantry Division, stepped carefully through the door of the Han Chung Kak kisaeng house. He smiled politely at the young woman who took his officer’s cap and overcoat. Charming. And so beautiful. He really must find out her name and ask for her the next time he came here. But not tonight. Tonight he had other business, business that made even the sophisticated pleasures of Seoul’s most attractive kisaeng pale in importance.
Chang followed the woman down a quiet corridor lined with precious paintings and silk screens. He shook his head, amused that he now found such luxury and beauty so commonplace that he could disregard it.