didn’t know what was.
Yet during these past few years, the budget cuts to the U.S. military
had kept coming, Worse, though, far worse, had been the wholesale
mismanagement of the armed forces by blatantly anti-military congressmen
in positions such as head of the Armed Forces Appropriations Committee,
and the wildly leftist swing by the Clinton Administration beginning in
1993. Those had done unspeakable harm to America’s defense
establishment. Too scandals had rocked the services … especially the
Navy, which had suffered through Tail-hook, the murder of a gay sailor
in Japan and the subsequent cover-up, the videotape scandal aboard the
Gompers, and others. Finally, the twin, dynamite-charged issues of gays
in the military and women in combat and aboard ship had savaged the
morale of everyone from ordinary enlisted personnel, male and female
alike, all the way up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Magruder
himself had reached the point where he was seriously considering taking
an early retirement, even if it meant losing some of his benefits.
Hell, the grind just wasn’t worth it anymore. He hadn’t seen such
liberal, anti-military hysteria since Vietnam … and this was from the
people in the government! He still remembered the day he’d held a door
open for a female White House staffer and had her jump down his throat
with a viciousness that must have been well-practiced and rehearsed. “I
don’t need help from anyone,” she’d sniffed. “Especially from a
trained, uniformed killer!”
“I’m no trained killer, ma’am,” he’d said genially. “I lead trained
killers.” But the episode had soured him, convinced him that the gulf
between those who defended America and those who governed her had
widened to the point that understanding–or compromise–was impossible.
He thought again of his nephew, Matthew Magruder, now a captain and CAG
aboard the Jefferson off the Kola Peninsula. “Damn, Matt,” he murmured
to himself. “What the hell are we getting you into out there?” He was
plagued by the fear that the present administration would respond to
neo-Soviet provocations with too little too late, then pull back and cut
its political losses when the first offering, in this case CBG-14, was
snapped up.
Sometimes he had nightmares. Last night he’d dreamed he was talking to
Matt, trying to explain why the Jefferson was being left in Murmansk
while the rest of the fleet came home. “Sorry, Matt,” he remembered
himself saying in the dream. “They’ve cut the Navy’s budget for
aircraft carriers. We just can’t afford to run the damn things anymore,
so we’re trading you to the Russians for two million dollars and a crate
of White Sea caviar. Oh, and Pamela says to dress warm.”
The other attendees at today’s meeting were taking their places about
the large wooden table. Vincent Duvall, the CIA Director, was there, as
were Secretary of Defense George Vane and the white-maned Admiral
Brandon Scott, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Magruder knew what Scott thought of using the armed forces as a social
test platform. Rumor had it he’d threatened to resign several times,
and each time been refused. Robert Heideman, the Secretary of State,
was also present, a stuffy, lifelong politician who had little love for
the military. All four men were attended by several aides.
There was a stir at the back of the room, and Herbert Waring and White
House Chief of Staff Gordon West walked in. “Sit, sit,” Waring said as
the others started to rise. “Sorry to drag you all in on a Saturday,
but I’m sure you recognize the importance of what’s breaking now in
Russia.” He glanced at his Rolex.
“This meeting today has got to be a quickie, by the way. Gordon and I
are due upstairs in The Man’s office in thirty minutes to brief him on
this new Russia thing. So let’s get the ball rolling. Bob? What kind
of input do you have for us?”
The Secretary of State shifted in his chair. “Frankly, Herb, there’s
been little new hard data since our meeting yesterday. Moscow is still
insisting that the attack on our carrier groups was the work of
dissident forces that had seized certain airfields in the western half
of the Kola Peninsula, and has promised to punish those responsible.