“This time, it’s totally different. Jefferson and me other ships with her, they’re all we have in the region. All. And the Indians have just called our bluff. My bluff.”
“Nimitz and me Ike will be in the region within another few days.”
“By which time it will all be over. No, I’m beginning.to
.;> wonder if our best bet might not be to pull back. I feel sure that > if I told Ambassador Nadkami that we were disengaging, ^breaking off and heading back for Diego Garcia, well … I r ‘:-doubt that New Delhi wants to be perceived as aggressors. It’d ^-: be in thek best interests to turn back and let us sail away, a
•^’-jfetoodless, diplomatic victory.”
•;’/ “Not quite bloodless, Mr. President,” Magruder reminded ‘^ Jjiim. “There’s the crew of that Indian sub that went down a
of days ago.”
“True. But if an Indian air strike hits our ships, that will be the beginning. Maybe now is the time to stop the killing.” President rose suddenly from his chair. He turned and the tinted window, looking out past the Rose Garden upthrust spike of the Washington Monument. ‘ ‘The it is, I could stop it. Now.” ‘But at what cost, Mr. President?”
He chuckled. ‘ ‘It would be political suicide, that’s for damn ;.” The President reached up and pressed his hands over his ;eyes. “After Grenada . . . Panama … the Persian Gulf . . . iVoosan? If I back down in front of me world and some nut starts Rosing nukes over there . . . But I think I’m beyond caring
mat anymore.”
“I wasn’t talking about the next election, sir. I think you >w that.” Magruder considered for a moment. “What’s :ning with the Russians right now? The ones at Turban ion.”
“Some of their officers are aboard our Aegis cruiser now. there’s no word from the Russian carrier. Kremlin I&I* southwest of the Jefferson, farther from the Indian mainland MfBd not in the direct line of fire. I’ve been talking with the ^Ipommonwealth representative today. Reading between the j||-lines, I’d guess they’re still trying to guess which way to jump g on this one.” He returned to his chair and slumped back into it. ij • “What do you think they’d do if we packed up and left? If ,§.,Si« left the Indian Ocean to the Indians?”
“Lovely thought. My other military advisors don’t think could handle the Indians alone. The Kremlin isn’t in the
league.” “My guess, sir, is that they’d follow through with what
there to do. Continue the mission.” ‘Which is … ?”
206
Kettti Douglass
ARMAGEDDON MODE
207
“Two-fold, Mr. President. Extend Commonwealth power into the Indian Ocean, if for no better reason than to convince the world dial they are still a world power. And, maybe more important, to try somehow to stop a nuclear holocaust near their borders.”
“Holocaust. Such a heavy word. Such an evocative word.”
“That’s still our mission, isn’t it, sir? To stop that holocaust?”
“Doesn’t make much sense if we don’t have a prayer of pulling it off in the first place, does it? I’m running the risk of plunging the United States of America into that same holocaust . . . beginning with nine thousand boys in C8G-14.”
“There’s another reason we’re there, Mr. President.”
“What’s that?”
“Freedom of the seas. Our commitment to our allies in the region, to open sea lanes and right of free passage.”
“I wonder how valuable that really is.”
“It’s principle, Mr. President. How important is a principle? Like freedom?” He took a deep breath. “You know, sir, the Navy has faced this same sort of thing before. The Gulf of Sidra, 1986,”
“That was hardly the same as this.”
“I don’t see how it was that much different, Mr. President. Qaddafi decided the Gulf of Sidra was exclusively his, and he set out to prove it at die point of a gun . . . or at die point of some Su-27s and Nanuchka corvettes, if you prefer. The Navy challenged him on that, at the orders of one of your predecessors.”
“The point was, it’s foolish to lay claim to waters that you can’t control. There was never any question that we could smash the Libyans. They gave us the provocation by threatening our ships and aircraft. We responded. The Gulf of Sidra is considered to be international waters, case closed.” The President gave a grim smile. “This is different. We could lose)”