“I do not detect one instance of difficulty or confusion in writing past and present tenses — the classic sign of a foreigner trying to write in another language. Nor, indeed, one instance of a discordant word, nor a colloquialism that we would not use. Or even the slightest distortion of a common colloquialism. Also, there is no sign of heightened excitement anywhere in the writing. The language is straightforward, even in its demands…‘immediate steps’…‘immediate undertakings.’ He talks of ‘entering the final stage.’ He wants to see ‘clear signs.’
“There is one sentence in which he points out that if he and his men can explode ‘the biggest volcano in the United States, we can probably arrange a large rockfall into the deserted ocean.’
“The key word here, gentlemen, is ‘probably.’ Because it represents irony, perhaps the most elusive of thought patterns, the ability to understate, yet have equal effect. People think Americans sometimes lack this subtlety. The educated British seem to practically live on it.
“And I would remind you of the phrase ‘intimated in my communiqué’—those are the words of a trained military officer or even a diplomat. That sentence could have been written by anyone in this room.
“Gentlemen, this letter was written by a very serious person. Very sane. Very cold-blooded. I suggest we ignore this guy at our peril. And for what it’s worth, if the writer of this letter told me he just blew up Mount St. Helens, I’d have no reason to disbelieve him.”
The psychiatrist was followed by Lieutenant Commander Ramshawe, who outlined the problem of the missing Barracuda, then pointed out the most recent sightings and detections, and gave his conclusion that the boat was probably on its way down the west coast of South America.
General Scannell then steered the meeting towards the demands of the terrorists, and he requested General Hudson of Readiness Command to outline the deployment of personnel, plus stockpiles of equipment and munitions in the Gulf.
The General immediately distributed a single sheet of paper to each man around the table, and read from his own, for everyone’s benefit:
“Bahrain. Headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, and 4,500 personnel. This is the nerve center for all U.S. warships deployed in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea.
“Kuwait. U.S. Army Command, approximately 12,000 military personnel. We have a large training base at Camp Doha, which is now our top-favored desert-training area. We’re building another near-identical facility at Arifjan. The U.S. Air Force flies from Ali Al Salem and Ahmed Al Jabar air bases.
“Saudi Arabia. Reopened. U.S. Air Force Command, approximately 10,000 personnel. Combat aircraft, including fighter and reconnaissance. We have E3-AWACs and air-refueling aircraft based at Prince Sultan air base, protected by two Patriot missiles batteries.
“Qatar. Around 4,000 personnel. Al Udeid air base, which has the region’s longest runway, is available to us. We’ve built aircraft shelters there, and we operate the KC-10 and KC135 air-to-air refueling aircraft. Central Command (CENTCOM) of all forces in the Gulf has been established at Camp Sayliyah.
“Oman. We use the docks and Al-Seeb International Airport as transit points for onwards movement, either to Afghanistan or to the Gulf. Approximately 3,000 personnel are based there.
“United Arab Emirates. We have 500, mostly Air Force personnel, based here.
“Djibouti. Way down there on the Gulf of Aden. Up to 3,000 U.S. Special Forces, Marines, and Air Force personnel, all part of the counterterrorism task force. This is the base for the CIA unmanned Predator aircraft.
“Diego Garcia. There’s around 1,500 U.S. personnel there. It’s our base for the upgraded B-52 heavy bombers and the B-2 stealth bombers.
“In addition, we’ve always got three Carrier Battle Groups in the area, on a rotation basis, depending on the political climate.”
General Scannell interjected, “Which adds up to one hell of a lot of people and equipment to move out of the area on the sole demand of one Middle Eastern freedom fighter.”
“Unless,” added Admiral Morgan, “that freedom fighter really does have the capability of destroying the entire East Coast of the United States. Then, of course, the evacuation of our military in the Middle East would be a very small price to pay.”
“It cannot be possible. It simply cannot,” said General Boyce.
“ ‘If we can explode the biggest volcano in the United States, we can probably arrange a large rockfall into the deserted ocean,’ ” intoned Admiral Morgan.
And for just a few seconds, the entire table went silent. Then Admiral Morgan spoke again. “Gentlemen, let’s face it, we have to start from the basis that this guy is not joking. And our options are very limited. Priority number one is to catch and destroy the fucker. Right?”
He glared around the table. No one dissented. “Therefore, number two is to produce a fleet deployment plan. Number three is to appoint a Commander in Chief to that fleet. Number four is to try to get the President, the Commander in Chief of all U.S. Armed Forces, to agree to such a deployment. The last one is the most difficult, by a very long way.”
“You want an educated forecast?” asked Admiral Morris.
“Always,” replied Arnold Morgan.
“He is not going to agree, now or ever, to put this country essentially on a war footing to deal with what he believes is a crank letter. And he will not listen to us. Now or ever.”
A silence enveloped the table. “Then we may,” said General Scannell, “have to go without him.”
“Which would be a bit unorthodox,” said Admiral Dickson.
“Maybe,” replied the CJC. “But we cannot, knowingly, let the people of this nation down, when we all believe there is a real danger someone could wipe out the East Coast of the United States. I believe Lieutenant Commander Ramshawe has issued everyone with a short and concise report on the experts’ assessment of the volcano on the island of La Palma.”
“I guess there’s no stopping the tidal wave once it develops?” asked General Boyce.
“Apparently not,” replied Arnold Morgan. “Because when that develops, we’re looking at probably the greatest force on earth, traveling along the seabed at the speed of a jet aircraft. Less than nine hours to New York, the waves building all the way.”
“Jesus Christ,” replied the General.
“So far as I can see,” said the Admiral, “we have two chances. The first one slim, the second one better, but not foolproof. We set sail for the Canary Islands with a 100-strong fleet and search for the missing Barracuda, which we probably won’t find. Not if the driver’s as smart as I think he is.
“Secondly, we position a defensive screen of surface warships to the west of La Palma, primed to hit and destroy the missile, or missiles, in mid-flight. It would help, of course, if we knew roughly where they’re going to fire it from. But we don’t.”
“Well, regardless, we’ll have to move the entire East Coast fleet the hell out of all our Navy bases,” said Admiral Curran. “A wave like that would wipe us out. We can’t leave any ship in port. We have drafted a rough plan that I think Admiral Dickson would like everyone to see…that is, if we are unanimous about the reality of the threat. And are we unanimously agreed that we must go ahead with a fleet plan to counteract that threat, regardless of the opinions of our political masters? Right hands please.”