Again Kirkham nodded. Frowning, he said, “You’re leading up to something, Commander. What is it? What do you suggest — with all that in mind?”
Shaw said, “Use the soft pedal.”
“Come again?” Kirkham looked puzzled.
Shaw said quietly, earnestly, “General, I can only give an opinion, of course, and it’s this. I believe the safest, the most certain way to tackle a dangerous situation like this one is to play it down all we can. Arresting Tucker — sending him to the chair or whatever — that’s worse than useless. It could be fatal. We have to avoid making any martyrs. I’m convinced that both Tucker and Peking have to lose face for good and all in front of all the Blacks and Yellows and Browns throughout the world. They have to be shown right up — as publicly, as openly as they possibly can be! I believe that’s basic to the situation, that it’s absolutely vital. I believe that if we can bring it off that way, then the other side loses the initiative and collapses — and stays that way for a hell of a long while.”
“I follow the argument,” Kirkham said slowly, “or I believe I do… but how d’you bring this about?”
“Hoist them with their own petard! Use the television screen and the radio — when Tucker makes his speech in two days’ time.” He added, “Talking of that, General, I thought your Presidents normally spoke to the nation in the evenings, around 9 or 10 p.m. Tucker said this time it was to be 2 p.m. Is there any special reason for that, d’you know?”
Kirkham shrugged. “It’s just because of the international nature of his talk, that’s all. He wants to address as many people personally as he can fit in: 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time seems to fit best. For instance, it’ll be 7 p.m. your time, whereas at what we call a prime time, you in London would be watching at around 2 a.m. next day.” He grinned. “That’s if any of you bothered to sit up!”
Shaw nodded. “I follow. Well now — Tucker’s giving us an opportunity, handing it over on a plate — and we can’t possibly pass it up.”
“Do you mean we should let him go ahead with his plans?” Kirkham’s tone was disbelieving. “Are you that crazy?”
Shaw gave a hard, tight smile. “That’s just what I do mean, General, and I’m not crazy. Right up to the time of his television appearance, I think he should be left in complete ignorance of the fact we’re on to him. I have certain ideas for dealing firmly with the situation from that point on. Naturally, your defence chiefs will want to take various measures in case anything goes wrong, so will we in Britain, so will the authorities in the other White countries. I suggest your State Department urges through your ambassadors that such measures as are necessary should be taken with the utmost secrecy, or, where they can’t be kept completely under a security screen, then they should be conducted with apparent casualness, if that’s the word — don’t allow them to be seen as defensive measures, don’t alert Tucker’s organization in any way at all. Find some other adequate reason to give out for troop movements and so on. It should be perfectly possible — there isn’t much time to cover anyway. Personally, I see no reason why we can’t appear to carry on as normal in all respects — until Tucker goes into that combined television and sound broadcast from Little Canyon!”
Kirkham had been non-committal while Shaw outlined his concrete proposals for putting his plan into effect; and had simply said he had noted Shaw’s points and would put them before the Chiefs of Staff. Meanwhile Shaw was to go along with Major Preston, the blank-faced man who had met him at the airport, and Kirkham would send for him when the brass was ready to listen to him. Preston still had his right hand nestling inside the grey jacket, close to the gun in the shoulder-holster, as they walked away along the corridor to another room. Shaw had the distinct impression of being, in fact, a prisoner in the Pentagon. But the question of his credentials was soon and finally settled when Preston, sitting behind a comprehensive file that had been produced with streamlined dispatch, got the right answers to his questions. After that he lost some of his air of being in contact with leprosy.
Within an hour of leaving Kirkham’s office a telephone burred and Preston answered it monosyllabically. Putting down the handpiece he turned to Shaw, his face a blank mask again. “Kirkham,” he said. “The Chiefs of Staff are meeting in the White House and the President is with them himself. He wants to meet you, Commander.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Once again Shaw went through his story in detail.
The top brass was very badly rattled, especially, it seemed, by Shaw’s heretical suggestions for dealing with Tucker; and Shaw was subjected to intensive questioning from all sides, questions which went on and on, with frequent interruptions during his answers. It was all too obvious that the feeling of the meeting was definitely in favour of the simple, quick solution — the immediate storming of the hide-out and the arrest of Tucker and of Negro leaders throughout the States; and that the brass would expect the backing of the entire White world in anything they might do to prevent the Tucker plan becoming operative.
An Air Force general put it loudly but succinctly: “You can’t expect,” he insisted, the flats of his hands on the table before him, taking the weight of a body so hefty that it looked as though it could never have fitted into a service aircraft, “You can’t expect any sane country to do anything other than fully prepare against attack in the couple of days that appear to be left. I might say that to prepare against attack is what all of us here are doing every working day of our careers.” Shaw caught the President’s eye; there was something in that distinguished face that said the President was wondering if desk work and ceremonial and official entertaining did in fact constitute preparation against attack. “Now, in my view, preparation includes, is bound to include, the winkling out of all known enemies. It is not often a country knows in advance exactly when it is going to be attacked, gentlemen! It is even less often it knows just exactly where to go to find the enemy leader and also an important part of the enemy’s potential strike force — and that is just what Tucker’s mob are, right?” A cold eye met Shaw’s. “Now, the Commander here is telling us we take no action whatever against Tucker. Is this a sane act, Mr President, gentlemen?” He looked heavily around the table, glaring at each member in turn. “We know just where to take the pants off this whole thing, and we just throw away that advantage?”
The President glanced at Shaw. “Care to comment on that, Commander?”
“Thank you, sir — I would.” Shaw’s nerves were worn ragged; the way he put this was going to be all-important — he had to be firm but tactful, had to remember he wasn’t talking to his own countrymen. He felt he was out on a limb, fighting alone for Britain’s interests — Britain that was as much concerned in this as was America; and he was placing his faith in the President, whose lined, thoughtful face indicated that, unlike the service chiefs with their stereotyped outlook, he was more than capable of taking the wide view. Shaw went on, “I’d say this, sir: as an advantage, it’s nothing but an illusion. As I’ve already suggested to General Kirkham, to arrest Tucker would achieve nothing beyond a postponement of the whole thing — or on the other hand it could even precipitate a Chinese attack, which in point of fact is outside the competence of the White countries to prevent unless they attack first and hope to knock out the other side in quick time. None of us wants a nuclear war. In my opinion, Mr President, it’s absolutely vital that Tucker be allowed to cut his own throat in public by being seen to fail in the actual execution of his plans. And that involves letting him go right ahead, in complete ignorance of any counter-measures, until he has actually got his audience sitting in front of their television screens or listening to their radios throughout the world.”