The Jiangnan curved away then approached the Vu Trong Phung on a parallel course but at a safe distance. On the surface of the sea the camera showed one lifeboat and several heads of people floating on the waves. Most of them had life jackets on, so it was difficult to know whether they were dead or alive.
A minute later three of the Jiangnan’s boats appeared, going to the rescue.
Kai peered more closely at the heads in the water. All were dark, he saw, except for one, which had long blonde hair.
CHAPTER 25
President Green paced up and down in front of the desk in the Oval Office, seething. ‘I’m not going to stand for this,’ she said. ‘Corporal Ackerman was one thing, that was terrorism, even if they did have Chinese guns. But this? This is murder. Two Americans are dead and one is in the hospital because the Chinese deliberately sank a ship. I can’t take this lying down.’
‘You may have to,’ said Chester Jackson, the Secretary of State.
‘I must protect American lives. If I can’t do that, I’m not fit to be president.’
‘No president can protect everybody.’
The news of the sinking of the Vu Trong Phung had just come in. But this was the second crisis of the day. Earlier there had been a Situation Room meeting about the drone that attacked Port Sudan. Pauline had ordered the State Department to assure the governments of Sudan and China that this was not an American attack. The Chinese refused to believe it. So did the Russians, who traded with Sudan and sold them costly arms; the Kremlin had protested loudly.
Pauline had established that the drone had ‘gone missing’ during an exercise in Chad, but this was too embarrassing to be admitted publicly, so the press office had announced that the army was conducting an investigation.
And now this. Pauline stopped pacing, sat on the edge of the ancient desk, and said: ‘Tell me what we know.’
Chess said: ‘The three Americans aboard the Vu Trong Phung were employees of American corporations on loan to Petrovietnam, the government oil company, under a State Department scheme to help Third-World countries develop their own natural resources.’
‘American generosity,’ said Pauline angrily. ‘And see how we’re rewarded.’
Chess was not as agitated as she was. ‘No good deed ever goes unpunished,’ he said equably. He looked at the sheet of paper in his hand. ‘Professor Fred Phillips and Dr Hiran Sharma are presumed drowned – their bodies have not been recovered. The third geologist was rescued: Dr Joan Lafayette. They say she’s in hospital for observation.’
‘Why the hell did the Chinese do this? The Vietnamese ship was unarmed, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes. There’s no immediate reason that we can think of. Of course, the Chinese don’t like the Vietnamese looking for oil in the South China Sea, and they’ve been protesting about it for years. But we don’t know why they decided to take such drastic action now.’
‘I’m going to ask President Chen.’ She turned to her Chief of Staff. ‘Put in a call, please.’
Jacqueline picked up the phone on the desk and said: ‘The President would like to speak with President Chen of China. Schedule it as soon as possible, please.’
Gus Blake said: ‘I can guess why they did it.’
Pauline said: ‘Do tell.’
‘It’s retribution.’
‘For what?’
‘Port Sudan.’
‘Oh, shit, I never thought of that.’ Pauline tapped her forehead with the heel of her hand, in a gesture that meant How could I be so dumb? She looked at Gus, thinking how often he turned out to be the smartest person in the room.
‘It’s possible,’ Chess said. ‘They will say they never intended to kill American geologists, just as we say we never wanted our drone to be used to kill Chinese engineers. We’ll say it’s not the same, and they’ll say what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Neutral countries will shrug and say these superpowers are all the goddamn same.’
It was true, but it angered Pauline. ‘These are people, not debating points. They have families who grieve for them.’
‘I know. As they say in the Mafia, whaddaya gonna do?’
Pauline clenched her fists. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do.’
At her desktop workstation, there was a tone indicating a video call. Pauline sat behind the desk, looked at the screen, and clicked her mouse. Chen appeared. Although he was as smart as ever, in his usual blue suit, he looked tired. It was midnight there, and he had probably had a long day.