Dragon Fire

The Situation Room, The White House, Washington, DC

‘I’m sorry, Mr President,’ said Tom Bloodworth, ‘we have no idea how the Indians will respond. Prime Minister Dixit is not taking calls, nor is any member of his cabinet. I have even failed to get through to Chandra Reddy, whom I consider to be a personal friend. They seemed to have shut down the Operational Directorate in South Block. We have picked up a new burst of highly encrypted SIGINT from near the village of Karwana about a hundred miles north of Delhi.’

‘Meaning what?’ said John Hastings.

‘If it means anything it is that the Indians have a war bunker out there, probably dug underneath a farmhouse or something. The signals have never been used before, so we would have no way of knowing before now. There is heavy cloud cover over much of India so it is impossible to check on any preparations for a nuclear or conventional response. As yet, we have not deciphered the code being used from Karwana, but we expect to have something within a few hours.’

‘By which time Pakistan could be one big nuclear wasteland.’

The Situation Room where the Principals’ Committee had gathered was in the basement of the West Wing of the White House, a small wood-panelled room able to accommodate only about two dozen people. The key conference area was protected by bullet-proof glass. The Committee, led by the President of the United States, met in times of crisis and usually comprised the secretaries of Defense, Commerce, State and Treasury, together with the heads of the CIA, FBI and any other Federal agency involved. For this session, the FBI and the Treasury had not been brought in. But Ennio Barber, the President’s personal adviser, was there.

‘Joan, tell us about American citizens,’ said Hastings.

‘None killed or injured that we know of,’ said Holden. ‘A task force has been set up and we’re getting a lot of calls. We are advising all American citizens to leave both India and Pakistan.’

‘Isn’t that a bit panicky?’ said Barber.

‘The launch to impact time between Delhi and Islamabad is eleven minutes. It would be irresponsible not to get them out. In fact, we’re asking the airlines to lay on airlifts from major cities so that any American citizen who wants to leave, can. The Ambassadors in Islamabad and Delhi have made personal appeals to both Hamid Khan and Hari Dixit to have a nuclear ceasefire until this has happened. Dixit, as we know, has gone to ground. The message has been passed through the Indian Ambassador to the United Nations and here in Washington. Khan has responded. He has pledged not to strike again. But he’s asked us to get India to pull back and stop threatening the existence of Pakistan.’

‘He thinks he can nuclear strike his way to an international negotiating table,’ said Hastings. ‘Alvin, I don’t want you involved in this, but tell me what you’ve got.’

‘A carrier group is off the southern coast of Sri Lanka,’ said Jebb. ‘I suggest we send it right up into the Indian Ocean. We have a smaller group from the Fifth Fleet led by the USS John C. Stennis in the Gulf of Oman which we can get into the Arabian Sea and up towards the Pakistani coast. Power projection from both groups is well over seven hundred miles, so there would be little risk of radiation if there is a full nuclear exchange.’

‘How would that leave our forces in the Gulf?’ said Hastings.

‘We would move in a group behind the John C. Stennis from the Third Fleet in the Mediterranean. We have a cruiser, the USS Lake Erie, in the Persian Gulf, with the USS Bataan, which is an amphibious assault ship, a couple of destroyers and attack submarines. If Iraq or Iran doesn’t choose to exploit the crisis, and if the regime in Saudi Arabia is toppled in an Islamic coup, we should be all right.’

Hastings turned to David Booth, the head of the CIA. ‘Check that none of that is about to happen,’ he said. ‘The Ronald Reagan should go into the Indian Ocean anyway and we’ll make that the focus of our military announcement. I’ve just spoken to the British Prime Minister. He is making HMS Ocean and her support vessels available, and they have the advantage of being much closer to the action, helping with the Bangladesh cyclone.’

‘Working under whose command?’ said Jebb.

‘Britain’s for the moment. Should the crisis escalate, Pincher is happy to put his ships under our command, as I’m sure Australia and New Zealand will. The Malaysians, who also have a ship there, will probably back-pedal off.’

‘China,’ said Bloodworth. ‘We must examine Chinese involvement.’

‘I think the nuclear issue is more important than a border skirmish,’ said Holden.

‘The nuclear weapons were given to Pakistan by China,’ said Bloodworth. ‘I have just been telephoned by General Shigehiko Ogawa, head of Japanese intelligence. Some of you might know that they have an agent within Zhongnanhai. An interpreter. Ogawa told me that China has begun a long-term military and political plan of which its alliance with Pakistan and hostilities with India is all a part. They’ve called it Operation Dragon Fire.’

‘You believe him?’ said Holden.

‘Yes, Joan, I do. I sense that this will not end by us slapping down India and Pakistan. The stakes are much bigger, our involvement far more precarious. I think China is willing to sacrifice Pakistan in order to win regional power over India. It gave it nuclear strike power, precisely because it believed Hamid Khan would use it.’

‘Apart from China, who has leverage with Pakistan?’

‘Saudi Arabia,’ said Joan Holden.

‘Talk to them, Joan. Deploy our carrier groups as discussed. Get me Reece Overhalt on the phone in Beijing and keep trying for Hari Dixit.’

‘Mr President,’ said Jebb, ‘without boring you with new technologies, there is a simple interim measure we could take if there is a hint of escalation.’

The President’s Personal Secretary working next to the Oval Office rang through on the open intercom, interrupting the conversation. ‘Sir, the Joint Chiefs are reporting Indian missile launches against Pakistan.’