“You did a hell of a job, Louise,” he told her. They reached his car, three slots away from Louise’s. “IHOP okay?”
“Sounds good. I’ll follow you,” she said. “The thing I don’t get is the Tanegashima explosion. What happened out there?”
“One of the solid fuel boosters blew. Just like Challenger. It’s part of the risks of the business.”
“Thank God nobody but Frank Ripley was hurt.”
“Amen,” Wight said. “They’ll rebuild. Challenger didn’t finish us, and the Tanegashima explosion won’t stop the Japanese. They’re tough. If they want something badly enough they’ll keep trying until they get it.”
“Do you think so?”
“Count on it.”
It was McGarvey’s birthday, a fact he had completely forgotten until he was discharged from Bethesda Naval Hospital and the nurse wheeling him down the corridor mentioned it.
He was feeling pretty good. The gunshot wound in his shoulder was healing nicely, and he had cut out the pain medications for the second-degree burns on his back, neck and arms. He wasn’t going to need skin grafts, although the doctors said that had he been exposed to such extreme heat for another few seconds he would have probably been in and out of hospitals for the next year. He was a lucky man.
Kathleen and Liz had stayed by his side around the clock, except during his extensive debriefings, first by his own people, and then under CIA supervision by the FBI’s Fred Rudolph.
Not once during that time did anyone make the suggestion that what he’d done was not only foolish in the extreme, but criminal, though he saw it in their eyes and heard it in the tone of their questions.
He had sent Katy home last night, over her weak objections, and this morning Liz had to go down to the outpatient clinic to have some stiches removed. Afterwards she was going out to Chevy Chase to pick up her mother. They would be coming back to the hospital later in the afternoon.
In the meantime, McGarvey convinced his doctor to release him this morning, two full days earlier than planned. Instead of the big argument he’d expected, McGarvey had been pleasantly surprised when the doctor had simply shrugged and let him go.
Dick Yemm was waiting for him downstairs in the busy lobby, and he took over from the nurse who would not allow McGarvey to get out of the wheelchair until he was actually outside the building.
“You look a hell of a lot better this morning than when the navy brought you in,” Yemm said.
McGarvey laughed. “I wouldn’t recommend this place as a vacation destination.”
“Next time duck, boss.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” McGarvey said. It really was good to be getting out.
“Did you catch the President’s announcement this morning?”
“Yeah,” McGarvey said, his stomach tightening again. Lindsay had announced to a stunned nation that he was resigning, only the second president in history to do so. He’d had a minor heart attack two nights ago, and to continue in the job would almost certainly mean his death. Vice President Lawrence Haynes would be sworn in at ceremonies in the Rose Garden tomorrow afternoon.
It was over, Lindsay’s part finished. For all his mistakes and wrongdoings he would completely escape any sort of punishment or censure, but McGarvey supposed it was for the best. There was no reason to drag the country through any more turmoil. The North Korean nuclear program had been wiped out, and Japan’s plans for nuclear domination were just as effectively stopped. From this point on the U.S. would be closely monitoring their nuclear program as well as their space launch capabilities.
“Did somebody bring my car over?” he asked.
“Your secretary told me that I’d be driving from now on, and I wasn’t about to argue with her.”
A Lincoln limousine with government plates was waiting in the driveway, and he was happy to see that Murphy hadn’t come out for a final word. He was going to be pressured into getting ready for his Senate confirmation hearing in a few weeks, and once again he wasn’t sure that he wanted the job.
There were a few people around, and Yemm pulled up short as a dark Chrysler minivan came up the driveway and stopped behind the limo. The driver got out, took some flowers from the back and went inside the hospital, nodding pleasantly as he passed. McGarvey noticed that Yemm’s eyes never left the man, and he had an inkling how Murphy felt everytime he went somewhere with a bodyguard at his side. It gave him pause. It was another aspect of the job he didn’t know if he could handle. He was used to taking care of himself. Besides, McGarvey thought, people around him tended to get in the line of fire. It seemed sometimes like he was a magnet for every sonofabitch out there with a grudge against Americans. He smiled bitterly. In spite of all the anti-American sentiment worldwide, nobody was beating a path to immigrate to Iraq or Libya or Afghanistan. Everyone wanted to come here, the crazies included.
Yemm insisted that McGarvey ride in the backseat. And that was an odd feeling too. He felt like a pretentious jerk. Another Howard Ryan.
When they pulled out, Yemm glanced in the rearview mirror. “Do you want to go over to your apartment first?”
“First before what?”
Yemm got a funny look on his face. He shook his head. “I just thought maybe you needed to get something.”
“What’s going on, Dick?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re going to work for me, I don’t want any bullshit,” McGarvey said.
Yemm looked at him again in the rearview mirror. “I’m in trouble,” he said. “Mrs. McGarvey doesn’t want you out there until noon. Gives us an hour.”
“What’s happening at noon?”
“Mr. McGarvey, you’re going to have to cover for me,” Yemm said. “They’ve got a surprise birthday party laid on for you. If Mrs. McGarvey finds out I blew it, my ass is grass.”
McGarvey couldn’t help but laugh. “On second thought we do have to get back to my apartment. I need some cigarettes, and I could use a stiff brandy.”
“Yes, sir.” Yemm was watching him. “She’s invited half of Washington, boss. So maybe you should think about changing clothes too.”
Again McGarvey couldn’t help but laugh. “Is this the way it’s going to be from now on?”
“Yes, sir. So you might as well sit back and enjoy it, because between Mrs. M. and your secretary I don’t think you’ve got much of a chance.”
McGarvey sat back, and this time his smile was private. It did feel good to be home. He just had to wonder how long it would last this time.
SEOUL (AP) — A high-ranking North Korean defector says North Korea has nuclear and chemical weapons capable of “scorching” South Korea and Japan, South Korea’s intelligence agency revealed Tuesday.
Hwang Jang Yop’s reported disclosure is the most credible testimony so far that North Korea has developed tactical nuclear weapons. The isolated Communist nation has denied having a nuclear weapons program.
One of twelve members of the North’s highest decision-making body, Hwang is the top North Korean official ever to defect. When he arrived in Seoul on Sunday, Hwang said he fled to warn the world that North Korea’s 1.2 million-member military is preparing to unleash a suicidal war.