Debt Of Honor by Clancy, Tom

half empty, and the majority of people present were government employees

of one sort or another, mainly FBI and SEC officials who’d been working

the takedown case since Friday evening. But the front row was filled entirely

with senior traders and institution chairmen.

George had just taken them through his version of the events of the previ-

ous week, using an overhead projector to display trends and trades and going

slowly because of the fatigue level that had to affect the judgment of every-

one trying to understand what he was saying. The Fed Chairman just then

entered the room, having made his calls to Europe. He gave Winston and

Fiedler a thumbs-up and took a seat in the back for the moment.

“It may be crazy, but that’s what happened.”

The NYSE head thought about that. “That’s all well and good,” he said

after a few seconds, meaning that it wasn’t well and good at all, and every-

body knew it. “But we’re still stuck in the middle of a swamp, and the al-

ligators are gathering around us. I don’t think we can hold them off much

longer.” There was general agreement on that point. Everyone in the front

row was surprised to see their former colleague smile.

Winston turned to the Secretary of the Treasury. “Buzz, why don’t you

deliver the good news?”

“Ladies and gentlemen, there is a way out,” Fiedler said confidently. His

next sixty seconds generated incredulous silence. The traders didn’t even

have the wit to turn and look at one another. But if they didn’t exactly nod

with approval, neither did anyone object, even after a seemingly endless pe-

riod of consideration.

The first to speak, predictably, was the managing director of Cummings,

Carter, and Cantor. CCC had died around 3:15 on the previous Friday,

caught moving the wrong way, its cash reserves wiped out, and then denied

help from Merrill Lynch in a move which, in fairness, the managing director

could not really fault.

“Is it legal?” he asked.

“Neither the United States Department of Justice nor the Securities and

Exchange Commission will consider your cooperation to be any sort of vio-

lation. I will say,” Fiedler added, “that any attempt to exploit the situation

will be dealt with very severely indeed-but if we all work together, anti-

trust and other considerations will be set aside in the interests of national

security. That is irregular, but it is now on record, and you all heard me say

it. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the intention and the word of the United

States government.”

Well, damn, the assembled multitude thought. Especially the law-enforce-

ment people.

“Well, you all know what happened to us at Triple-C,” the director said,

looking around, and his natural skepticism was tempered with the begin-

nings of genuine relief. “I don’t have a choice here. I have to buy into this.”

“I have something to add.” Now the Fed Chairman walked to the front of

the room. “I just finished calling the central-bank heads of Britain, France,

Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. They’re all flying

here tonight. We’ll get together right here tomorrow morning to set up a

system by which they also can cooperate in this effort. We are going to sta-

bilize the dollar. We are going to fix the T-Bill market. The American bank-

ing system will not go down on us. I am going to propose to the Open

Market Committee that anyone who holds on to U.S. Treasuries-that is,

extends the three-month and six-month notes for one renewal cycle-gets an

extra fifty basis points as a reward from the U.S. government for helping us

through this situation. We will also give the same bonus to anyone who buys

T-Bills in the next ten days after the markets reopen.”

Smart move, Winston thought. Very smart move. That would draw foreign

money into America, away from Japan, and really firm up the dollar-while

attacking the yen. The Asian banks that dumped on the dollar would get it in

the back of the neck for the move. So two could play the game, eh?

“You need legislation for that,” a treasuries expert objected.

“We’ll get it, we’ll have ink on paper by Friday-a-week. For the moment,

that is the policy of the Federal Reserve, approved and supported by the

President of the United States,” the Chairman added.

“They’re giving us our life back, people,” Winston said, pacing up and

down again in front of the wooden rail. “We have been attacked by people

who wanted to take us down. They wanted to cut our heart out. Well, looks

like we have some pretty good doctors here. We’re going to be sick for a

while, but by the end of next week it’s going to be okay.”

“Friday noon, eh?” the NYSE asked.

‘ ‘Correct,” Fiedler told him, staring hard now and waiting for a response.

The executive gave it another few seconds of thought, then stood.

“You will have the full cooperation of the New York Stock Exchange.”

And the prestige of the NYSE was enough to overcome any doubts. Full

cooperation was inevitable, but speed in the decision cycle was vital, and in

ten more seconds the market officials were standing, smiling, and thinking

about getting their shops back together.

“There will be no program trading until further notice,” Fiedler said.

“Those ‘expert systems’ nearly killed us. Friday is going to be exciting

under the best of circumstances. We want people to use their brains, not their

Nintendo systems.”

“Agreed,” NASDAQ said for the rest.

“We need to rethink those things anyway,” Merrill Lynch announced

thoughtfully.

“We will coordinate through this office. Think things through,” the Fed

Chairman told them. “If you have ideas on how to make the transition go

more smoothly, we want to know about it. We will reconvene at six. Ladies

and gentlemen, we are in this together. For the next week or so we are not

competitors. We are team members.”

“I have about a million individual investors depending on tn> house-,

Winston reminded them. “Some of you have more. Let’s not loi^oi that.”

There was nothing like an appeal to honor. It was a virtue that all uaved,

even those who lacked it. Fundamentally, honor was itself a debt, a code ol

behavior, a promise, something inside yourself that you owed to the others

who saw it in you. Everyone in this room wanted all the others to look and

see a person worthy of respect and trust, and honor. An altogether useful

concept, Winston thought, most particularly in time of trouble.

And then there was one, Ryan thought. The way it always seemed to work at

this level, you took care of the simple jobs first and saved the really tough

ones for last.

The mission now was more to prevent war than to execute it, but the latter

would be part of the former.

The control of Eastern Siberia by Japan and China would have the effect

of creating a new-what? Axis? Probably not that. Certainly a new world

economic powerhouse, a rival to America in all categories of power. It

would give Japan and China a huge competitive advantage in economic

terms.

That in and of itself was not an evil ambition. But the methods were. The

world had once operated by rules as simple as those of any jungle. If you got

it first, it was yours-but only if you had the strength to hold it. Not terribly

elegant, nor especially fair by contemporary standards, but the rules had

been accepted because the stronger nations generally gave citizens political

stability in return for loyalty, and that was usually the first step in the growth

of a nation. After a while, however, the human need for peace and security

had grown into something else-a desire for a stake in the governance of

their country. From 1789, the year that America had ratified its Constitution,

to 1989, the year that Eastern Europe had fallen, a mere two centuries, some-

thing new had come into the collective mind of mankind. It was called by

many names-democracy, human rights, self-determination-but it was

fundamentally a recognition that the human will had its own force, and

mainly for good.

The Japanese plan sought to deny that force. But the time for the old rules

was past, Jack told himself. The men in this room would have to see to it.

“So,” his briefing concluded, “that’s the overall situation in the

Pacific.”

The Cabinet Room was full, except for the seat of the Secretary of the

Treasury, whose senior deputy was sitting in. Around the roughly diamond-

shaped table were the heads of the various departments of the Executive

Branch. Senior members of Congress and the military had seats against the

four walls.

The Secretary of Defense was supposed to speak next. Instead of rising to

the lectern as Ryan went back to his place, however, he flipped open his

leather folder of notes and scarcely looked up from them.