‘So, just like America.’
‘Different colour scheme, same abuse,’ said Gus.
Pauline found herself relaxing. She liked her occasional late-night chats with Gus. They roamed over issues randomly, and there was generally nothing they could do about them until the morning, so they did not feel pressured to act. ‘Help yourself to a drink,’ she said. ‘You know where the hooch is.’
‘Thanks.’ He went to a cupboard and took out a bottle and glass. ‘This is very good bourbon.’
‘I had no idea. I don’t even know who chose it.’
‘I chose it,’ he said with a grin. For an uncharacteristic moment he looked like a naughty schoolboy. He sat down again and poured an inch of liquor into the glass.
She said: ‘What is the Japanese government doing?’
‘The prime minister has called a meeting of their National Security Council, which will certainly order the military to some level of alert. It’s easy to imagine how Japan and China could come into conflict over this, and the Japanese commentators are already worrying about the possibility of war.’
‘China is way stronger.’
‘Not as much as you’d think. Japan has the fifth largest defence budget in the world.’
‘However, they have no nuclear weapons.’
‘But we do, and we have a military treaty with Japan that obliges us to come to their aid if they’re attacked. To back up that promise, we have fifty thousand troops there, plus the Seventh Fleet, the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, and a hundred and thirty USAF fighter planes.’
‘And back here at home we have about four thousand nuclear warheads.’
‘Half ready to use, half in reserve storage.’
‘And we’re pledged to the defence of Japan.’
‘Yes.’
The facts were not new to Pauline, but she had never seen the implications so clearly. ‘Gus,’ she said, ‘we’re as committed as hell.’
‘I couldn’t have put it better. And there’s one more thing. Have you heard of what the North Koreans call Residence Number Fifty-five?’
‘Yes. It’s the official home of the Supreme Leader, in the suburbs of Pyongyang.’
‘It’s actually a complex covering five square miles. It has a lot of high-end leisure facilities, including a pool with a waterslide, a spa, a shooting range and a horse-racing track.’
‘These Communists don’t stint themselves, do they? Why don’t I have a horse-racing track?’
‘Madam President, you have no use for leisure facilities, because you have no leisure.’
‘I should have been a dictator.’
‘No comment.’
Pauline giggled. She knew they joked about her being a tyrant.
Gus said: ‘The National Intelligence Service in South Korea says the Pyongyang regime has repelled an attack on Residence Number Fifty-five. It’s a fort with an underground nuclear bunker, and it’s probably the most heavily defended place in North Korea. The fact that the rebels have even tried to take it suggests that they’re a lot stronger than any of us imagined until now.’
‘Could they win?’
‘It’s looking possible.’
‘A military coup!’
‘Exactly.’
‘We’d better find out more about these people. Who are they, and what do they want? I could be dealing with them as a government in a few days’ time.’
‘I’ve asked the CIA those questions. They will be working all night on a briefing that you should get in the morning.’
‘Thanks. You know what I need before I do.’
He dropped his eyes, and she realized that her remark might be interpreted as flirtatious. She felt embarrassed.
He took a sip of his drink.
Pauline said: ‘Gus, what happens if we fuck this up?’
‘Nuclear war,’ he said.
‘Indulge me,’ she said. ‘Walk me through it.’
‘Well, both sides would defend themselves with cyberattacks and anti-missile missiles, but all the evidence suggests that these methods would be only partially successful, at best. Therefore some nuclear bombs would reach their targets in both the warring countries.’
‘What targets?’
‘Both sides would try to destroy the enemy’s missile-launching facilities and also target major cities. At a minimum, China would bomb New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the town we’re sitting in, Washington DC.’
As he named the cities, Pauline saw them in her mind: the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Houston Astrodome, Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Rodeo Drive in LA, her parents’ home in Chicago, and the Washington Monument outside her window.