She was looking at a row of low buildings when the screen showed several flashes, five or six all at the same time. She just had time to realize that the missiles must have multiple warheads, before a wall collapsed, a desk and a man flew through the air, a truck crashed into a parked car, and then the scene was engulfed in thick grey smoke.
The picture switched to the harbour and she saw that the other missile had sprayed its bomblets over the ships. This was luck, she guessed: ballistic missiles were not so accurate. She saw flames and smoke and twisted metal and a sailor jumping into the water.
Then the screen went blank.
There was a long moment of stunned silence.
Eventually Luis said: ‘We’ve lost the feed. They think the system has been destroyed – not surprisingly.’
Pauline said: ‘We’ve seen enough to know that there will be dozens of dead and wounded plus millions of dollars’ worth of damage. But is that the end of it? I presume we would have heard if any more missiles had been launched anywhere in Korea.’
Luis asked the Pentagon, waited, then said: ‘No, nothing more.’
Now for the first time Pauline sat down, taking the chair at the head of the table. She said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, that was not the outbreak of a war.’
They took a moment to absorb that. Then Gus said: ‘I agree, Madam President, but would you explain your thinking?’
‘Of course. One: this was a strictly limited strike – six missiles, one target – no attempt to conquer or destroy South Korea. Two: they have been careful not to kill Americans, striking a naval base that is not used by American ships. To sum up, everything about this attack suggests restraint.’ She looked around and added: ‘Paradoxically.’
Gus nodded thoughtfully. ‘They’ve hit back at the base that destroyed their submarine, and that’s all. They want this to be seen as a proportionate response.’
‘They want peace,’ Pauline said. ‘They’re struggling to win a civil war, and they don’t want to have to fight South Korea as well as the ultras.’
Chess said: ‘Where does that leave us?’
Pauline was thinking on her feet, but she was a few steps ahead of the group. ‘We must prevent South Korea retaliating. They won’t like it, but they’ll have to suck it up. They have an agreement with us, the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1953. In Article Three that document obliges them to consult us when they’re threatened by external armed attack. They have to check with us.’
Luis looked sceptical. ‘In theory,’ he said.
‘True. It’s a basic law of international relations that governments fulfil their treaty obligations only when it suits them. When it doesn’t, they find excuses. So what we have to do now is nail it down.’
Chess said: ‘Good idea. How?’
‘I’m going to propose a ceasefire and a peace conference: North Korea, South Korea, China and us. It will be hosted by an Asian country, somewhere more or less neutral – Sri Lanka might work.’
Chess nodded. ‘The Philippines, perhaps. Or Laos, if the Chinese prefer a Communist dictatorship.’
‘Whatever.’ Pauline stood up. ‘Set up calls with President Chen and President No, please. Keep trying to reach the North Korean envoy at the UN, but I’ll also ask Chen to call the Supreme Leader.’
Chess said: ‘Yes, ma’am.’
Luis said: ‘The families of military personnel in South Korea should be evacuated.’
‘Yes. And there are a hundred thousand American civilians there. They should be advised to leave.’
‘One more thing, Madam President. I think we need to raise the alert level to DEFCON 3.’
Pauline hesitated. This would be a public acknowledgement that the world had become a more dangerous place. It was never done lightly.
The decision about alert levels had to be made by the president and the Secretary of Defense together. If Pauline and Luis agreed, the announcement would be made by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Bill Schneider.
Jacqueline Brody spoke for the first time. ‘The trouble is that it gets the public all antsy.’
Luis was impatient with talk about public opinion. He was not much of a democrat. ‘We need our forces to be ready!’
‘But we don’t need to panic the American people,’ Jacqueline said.
Pauline settled the issue. ‘Luis is right,’ she said. ‘Raise the DEFCON level. Have Bill announce it tomorrow at the morning press conference.’
‘Thank you, Madam President,’ said Luis.
‘But Jacqueline is also right,’ Pauline said. ‘We need to explain that this is a precaution, and the public in the United States are not in danger. Gus, I think you should appear alongside Bill to reassure people.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘I’m going to take a shower now, so schedule the phone calls for a little later. But I want to get this under way before East Asia closes down for the day. I won’t be going back to bed tonight.’
*
James Moore was interviewed on breakfast TV. He appeared on a channel that did not even pretend to report objectively. He was interviewed by Caryl Cole, who described herself as a soccer-mom conservative, but really she was just a bigot. Pauline got up from the table and went into the former Beauty Salon to watch. After a minute Pippa came in, dressed for school and toting her backpack, and she stayed to watch.
Pauline expected Caryl to give Moore an easy ride, and that was what happened.
‘The Far East is a bad neighbourhood,’ he said in his folksy style. ‘It’s run by a Chinese gang who think they can do anything they want.’
‘What about Korea?’ said Caryl.
Pauline commented: ‘Not exactly a challenging question.’
Moore said: ‘The South Koreans are our friends, and it’s good to have friends in a bad neighbourhood.’
‘And North Korea?’
‘The Supreme Leader is a bad hombre, but he doesn’t ride alone. He’s part of a gang and takes his orders from Beijing.’
‘Hopelessly simplistic,’ said Pauline, ‘but terribly easy to understand and remember.’
Moore said: ‘The South Koreans are on our side, and we have to protect them. That’s why we have troops there –’ he hesitated, then said: ‘some thousands of troops.’
Pauline said to the TV: ‘The number you’re searching for is twenty-eight thousand five hundred.’
Moore said: ‘And if our boys weren’t there, the whole of Korea would be overrun by the Chinese.’
Caryl said: ‘That’s a sobering thought.’
‘Now,’ said Moore, ‘last night the North Koreans attacked our friends. They bombed a naval base and killed a lot of people.’
Caryl said: ‘President Green has called for a peace conference.’
‘The heck with that,’ said Moore. ‘When someone punches you in the mouth, you don’t call a peace conference – you hit back.’
‘And how would you hit back at North Korea, if you were president?’
‘A massive bombing attack that would take out every military base they have.’
‘Are you talking about nuclear bombs?’
‘There’s no point having nuclear weapons if you never use them.’
Pippa said: ‘Did he really say that?’
‘Yes,’ Pauline said. ‘And you know what? He means it. Isn’t that terrifying?’
‘It’s stupid.’
‘It may be the stupidest thing anyone has said in the history of the human race.’
‘Won’t it damage him?’
‘I hope so. If this doesn’t derail his presidential campaign, nothing will.’
Later she repeated the remark to Sandip Chakraborty, and he asked if he could put it in the press release about the peace conference. ‘Why not?’ said Pauline.
Every television newscast for the rest of the day featured two quotes:
There’s no point having nuclear weapons if you never use them.
and:
It may be the stupidest thing anyone has said in the history of the human race.
CHAPTER 32