Shock Warning

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

It was just the three of them, sitting in the Oval Office. President Tyler had switched off the recording system, a descendant of the one that Johnson had first instituted and that had brought Nixon low. He’d had Seelye’s CSS men sweep the place for any bugs and then bubble over the White House so that no transmissions would inadvertently leak out.

Even though the old Soviet Union was dead and buried, the old Soviets were back as the new Russians, still with their ambitions for great power status, still bearing their animus against the U.S., still competitive although greatly diminished in size, population, and capacity. The new Russian president was fighting a rearguard action against the forces of fate, but his dream of reconstituting the Czarist empire was still burning.

And now the country had a more worrisome foe than the Russians. The long, slow, three-hundred-thirty-year sleepwalk from Sobieski’s triumph at the gates of Vienna had abruptly ended on 9/11. Or, rather, the age-old conflict between Islam and Judeo-Christianity had begun again anew. Only this time it was, as the Pentagon liked to say, asymmetrical, with the Muslims using the West’s own technology against it and hiding behind the Metternichian fiction of Islamic nation-states while waging war in the name of the ummah and Allah. It was settling in to be a long war of attrition.

“The only question, Mr. President,” Shalika Johnson was saying, “well… there are two ‘only’ questions. The first is, if we accept the premise of asymmetrical warfare, then what is an acceptable level of casualties on our side? How many people are we and the Europeans prepared to lose each year — to say nothing of the people in Africa and Southeast Asia — so that we can maintain our high moral ground?” She spat the last three words out like the gang member she once was.

“The second ‘only’ question is this: if you can’t answer the first question, then what are you prepared to do about putting an end to this, as asymmetrically and finally as possible?”

“Well, Shalika,” said Jeb Tyler, “that’s what we’re here to discuss, isn’t it? Army?”

Seelye pushed a button on his PDA and one of the screens across the room flickered on. “This just occurred in Iran,” he said. “This is from their state-run television feed, which was broadcasting a speech by the Grand Ayatollah Ali Ahmed Hussein Mustafa Mohammed Fadlallah al-Sadiq.”

“Quite a mouthful of a moniker he’s got there,” said Tyler.

“Apparently the Ayatollah was giving a speech outside the sacred mosque of Jamkaran—”

“It’s not sacred to me,” said Tyler quietly, cold steel in his voice.

“Yes, sir. As I was saying, he was giving a speech about the Coming — that’s their term for the resurrection of the Mahdi, who is supposed to be down the sacred… er, the well, when this happened.”

All eyes were on the screen. There was the image of Mohammed, the same image that had set off the horrible rioting in Africa, which was still raging. As usual, the United Nations had condemned the violence and sent in peacekeepers to Nigeria and elsewhere, but they were quickly routed by people with no need to keep the peace. The death toll was horrendous, and nobody knew what to do about it.

Except Jeb Tyler. “That’s the same image that was seen in Africa, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” replied Seelye.

Tyler got up. A drink would have felt good right about now, but he turned away the temptation. He had to think both rationally and emotionally. He had to cut this Gordian knot, end this cycle of constant conflict and misery and death. If he could do this, then he would be a great president, and it wouldn’t matter if some nobody like Angela Hassett beat him in the election. For the first time in his life, he saw a way clear to serving the people — not just the people of the United States, but the people of the world, even the Muslim world — instead of serving himself, and by God he was going to take it.

“I get it,” he said softly.

“There’s more, Mr. President,” said Seelye. Tyler turned to look at the screen.

“No, I’ve got it.”

A holographic projection of Islam’s prophet.

A trio of Shahab-3 rockets, leaping into the sky.

It was so obvious now.

“All our problems are related,” said Tyler. “All of them. The apparitions, the riots, whatever the hell is hidden at Mount Sinai, the well at Qom, the Iranian nuclear program — all of it is really just One Big It. And that’s what we’re going to solve, right here, right now. Am I clear about this?”

“Yes, Mr. President,” said Shalika Johnson.

“Yes, sir,” said Army Seelye.

“What were you going to say, Army?”

“That those Shahabs were fully nuclear-operational. All they need is the word from the top and we’ve got six million more dead Jews.”

“And a hundred million dead Muslims,” added Shalika. “Israel will not go quietly — and, as you know, sir, we have assured the Israelis that we will retaliate on their behalf as well, which is something the entire Muslim world understands.”

“But the Iranians don’t care,” noted Tyler. “At least, not the bunch running the country. They want the end of the world and they’re bound and determined to do it. But this all stops now. All of it.”

Neither the NSA director nor the secretary of defense had ever seen Tyler like this. They were used to the boyish Louisiana pol, the say-anything president, the man who preferred to be loved rather than respected. And now he was changing right in front of their eyes.

It was about time.

“STUXNET,” said the President.

“It’s been deployed at several Iranian nuclear sites… ”

“Is Qom one of them?”

“Up to now, no. Qom — actually Fordo — is just an enrichment site, so we and the Israelis concentrated on—”

“Turn the worm loose on Qom. Right now. I want instant results.”

Seelye punched in the order and transmitted it back to the Building in Fort Meade. He got a pingback almost immediately. “Sir, the Iranians have mounted very effective defenses against the worm, mainly through patches supplied by Siemens in Germany. There’s only one way to introduce the virus at Qom.”

“What’s that?”

“Somebody has to do it manually. Where’s Devlin?”

“Probably in country by now,” said Seelye.

“And his team?”

“In place, Mr. President. On the Eisenhower, at Al Dhafra, on Diego Garcia.”

“Then he’ll have to do it manually. Relay the virus and instructions. I want the whole damn system taken down.”

“Done,” said Seelye.

“That’s what the bastards get for using Windows,” muttered Tyler. “Next.”

Shalika looked at her notes. “We’ve established that the apparitions are really just laser-carried holographic images being relayed from the surface of the moon. As you know, Mr. President, the Apollo astronauts left retro-reflectors on the moon’s surface for use in scientific experiments, so somebody—”

“Skorzeny,” said Tyler.

“Skorzeny or somebody has hijacked the experiment.”

“Where are the projections originating?”

“The Côte d’Azur.”

“Which means somebody at CERN is involved.” He looked at Seelye. “What did Devlin say about that Algerian scientist he grabbed… what’s his name?”

“Farid Belghazi, sir,” said Seelye. “He’s being held in protective custody at an undisclosed—”

“Disclose it.”

“At Mount Olive in West Virginia. Level Five security. He’s not a happy puppy.”

Tyler’s eyes were gleaming now. Sometimes it was good to be president.

“I want him less happy. In fact, I want him fucked up to the maximum level the law allows, and then I want him fucked up just a little bit more, in case his training has prepared him for the maximum level the law allows. And then I want him to sing out Louise. Who do we turn at CERN and how quickly can it be done? I want control of those lasers.”

“He has a brother still working there, I believe,” said Seelye.

“See that he sees the light, pronto.”

Tyler rang for Manuel. The steward appeared in the doorway, ready to take orders. “Three of my favorite libations, please.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Sir, it’s—” began Seelye, but Tyler waved him off. On the screen, the Grand Ayatollah was still ranting and Mohammed was still preaching, in an endless loop….

“Secretary Johnson, belay my request for operational planning involving the bombing of the Iranian nuclear facilities. Skorzeny and the Iranians have just handed us a great gift — and we’re going to use it.”

Tyler rubbed his hands together. This was it — all the marbles. If he could pull this off, not only would he go down in history as one of America’s greatest presidents, he would also land in the same history books as the canniest politicians who ever lived. Which was the higher honor, he wasn’t sure.

“We don’t have to do it all. We don’t have to kill everybody. But we don’t have to roll over and play dead, either. They think the End Times are a’comin’—very well then, we’re going to give them their End Times. But not the way they think. These will be the End Times to end the End Times — not only in our lifetime, but — if we get it right — for generations to come.”

“What are we going to do, sir?” asked Johnson.

Tyler sat back down again, just as Manuel entered with the drinks. “We’re going to show them,” he said. “We’re going to show them that they’re half right. We’re going to show them that there is no god but Allah — but that there is no Allah. Not in this life, anyway.”

He handed the drinks around. “I want our enhanced version of the STUXNET unleashed on the facility of Qom— and everywhere else. I want those three Super Hornets locked and loaded — make sure they know the rubble needs to bounce, and in the most spectacular fashion they’ve got. A real fucking son et lumiére. I want the Iranians and any other holy warriors to understand: no more Mr. Nice Guy. From now on the Bush Doctrine is in effect: any country that harbors or abets these murderous bastards is going to get it, right in the chops. And I want Emanuel Skorzeny dead. Not brought to justice. Dead. Cheers.”

They drank. Tyler looked over at the bust of Lincoln hanging on one of the walls. “Now I know how you felt, you ruthless son of a bitch,” he said, and raised his glass to Abraham’s ghost.