There was a silence when Shaw had finished and then the argument started again. For around an hour the President, grave and anxious, listened intently to all that was said.
Shaw was given a room where he was able to speak direct to Latymer on the transatlantic scramble line. It was a long talk, in the course of which Shaw passed the whole story, including a résumé of his interrogation by the Chiefs of Staff. He said, “It was the President’s own decision that this should be handled my way, sir. I explained how I proposed to go about it, and again it was the President’s personal decision that I should handle it right through myself rather than they should put an American agent on at this stage. The fact I’d done a job over here before went in my favour.” As a matter of fact, the President had had some extremely flattering things to say about the handling of that earlier job. “All the same, the brass wasn’t entirely behind him by any means, and if anything goes wrong he and I are going to be right out on a limb so far as they’re concerned… but at least they’ve conceded the principle that Britain’s also involved.” He grinned as Latymer’s tones of anger exploded along the line. “I gather the President’ll be talking to the P.M. and other allied leaders by telephone any moment now. Meanwhile he’s ordered full defensive measures to be taken in secret.”
“And you’re going to hold Peking off?” Latymer’s voice asked sceptically.
“With Tucker’s assistance — yes!” Shaw outlined his counter-plan and added, “It’s going to work out.”
“God dammit, Shaw — it had better! You know what happens if you come a cropper?”
“I’m not underestimating the dangers—”
“Dangers! Listen — if anything goes wrong with your timing by so much as a second, Shaw, and the States loose off any missiles before a Chinese attack actually develops, the West’ll be the aggressors! You know what that means, I presume?”
“I know very well indeed, sir, and I’ve been making that very point over here. I also know something else — if China attacks America, we’re all at war anyway. Don’t worry — I’ve got timing well in mind!”
The line started to crackle at him. “You know something else, I trust? You’re making hay of diplomatic procedures and you’re cutting swathes through international and transatlantic relations. I can’t guarantee our government’s approval… though I’ll promise you my backing, God help me. I’m not—”
“That’s what I’m paid for, sir — to take short cuts!” Shaw slammed down the receiver and gave it a grim smile. The Chief wouldn’t like being hung up on… but then the transatlantic line wasn’t all that reliable anyhow and he could always blame it on that. Latymer was obviously badly rattled; if he hadn’t been he wouldn’t have wasted time yattering about proper procedures — that wasn’t like him at all.
Kirkham said, “I’ve fixed for you to see Thorssen tomorrow at 11.00 hours Central Standard Time, that’s local time in Little Canyon — twelve noon here. That gives you a little over twenty-four hours from then until the broadcast to make arrangements with Thorssen direct.” He added, “Remember the broadcast starts at 1300 hours C.S.T.”
Shaw nodded and asked, “Thorssen being?”
“He’s the President of the Pan American Associated Television Corporation in Little Canyon. As President, he’s the operating boss under the Chairman. He’ll take you around the building and give you the lay-out — location of master control-rooms, studios and so on. Officially, you’ll go in as organizing secretary of a mid-West businessman’s association, the Dodge City and District Retail Food Store Operators, to make final arrangements for the visit next day of a party of your members arriving by coach to go over the building as guests of the corporation. The food men were in fact genuinely booked, so there won’t be any question of arousing suspicion among Tucker’s men in the building. They’ll be sidetracked — their coach will divert to some other destination at the last minute. You can leave that to me. A coach-load will arrive at the television building on the morning of the next day, at 1000 hours C.S.T. to be exact, but they won’t be food men, they’ll be special agents hand-picked by me personally, and they will all have been briefed on the overall picture. When they reach the television building, they come under your orders and you’ll be responsible for briefing them in detail in the light of what you work out with Thorssen, who is being informed of the background by a top secret hand message that’s on its way by special messenger now.” He added, “Thorssen, by the way, is one hundred per cent reliable, he’s absolutely clean security-wise — he’s worked in government service, on special duties in connexion with army communications, and we have a file on him on that account.”
“Thanks a lot,” Shaw said. “And the coach-load of agents — they’ll be armed, of course, all of them?”
“You bet! Each of them will have a collapsible sub-machine-gun stowed about his person, a quick-firing weapon that re-assembles in seconds. Now — anything else you want from me, Commander?”
“Just a gun for my own use, something that’ll fit in a shoulder-holster. And a padlock of a type I can describe to whoever supplies padlocks to the Pentagon… together with a short but tough steel spike — or a jemmy might do just as well.”
Kirkham had been scrawling notes. “That’ll all be seen to right away,” he said, looking up from his desk. “Anything else?”
Shaw grinned. “A spot of immunity from the police would be a big help,” he said.
Already the defensive measures as ordered by the President were being put into effect. Soon all missile sites in the States proper and in Alaska would be lined up on the Chinese mainland and brought to instant readiness for blast-off. The targets for special saturation would be the military assembly areas and the strike force airfields. The same would apply to all Polaris submarines, a squadron of which was currently with the United States Seventh Fleet not so far off Chinese waters. The fleet would also have its own strike aircraft airborne for missile attack if necessary; the encyphered orders were already going out across the seas. The Atlantic Command in Norfolk, Virginia, had been alerted and the Sixth Fleet would proceed to sea, ostensibly on manœuvres, early on the morning of the Presidential broadcast. The Chinese aircraft were not due over Norfolk until Tucker finished speaking, which gave the fleet time enough to clear the Virginia Capes and scatter. All Nike X and ABM sites were at instant readiness to intercept and destroy any I.C.B.M.s in case China should go into that stage of the attack plan. Immediate warning would be given by the radar screens of the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Air Defence Command, scanning from their subterranean strongpoint deep in the Rocky Mountains. Internally, measures were in hand to give instant protection to the Pentagon and other places in the case of attack by subversive elements.