Retribution (12 page)

Only the Supreme Council had the legal authority to order such a series of strikes using nuclear weapons against civilian targets. If they had not done so, then either the Fleet Admiral or the Combined Chiefs have broken the law and they would know this and so would cover their tracks.

Rose knew that the Supreme Council sometimes promulgated secret directives and this would be a prime candidate for secrecy. She needed to rule this out first so as to narrow the options.

She had met a number of the Council members but none she knew enough to trust with this, let alone to seek their help. The only real candidate who had access was the Senior Political Advisor in the Defence Minister’s office, Bernie Wong. She didn’t like Bernie and didn’t like dealing with him. She had crossed swords with him more than once. He had a towering intellect and an ego to match. He was also a rabid gatekeeper for his minister, Joe Ubabe. But Bernie was a staunch advocate for the supremacy of civilian control over the military.  She recalled his much televised mauling of the opposition senators who had advocated more powers to the military.

‘Mmm…maybe’ she thought. She checked the time. It was approaching 2030 hours. She tapped her fingers on the desk as she agonised over whether to call him.

“Bernie, it’s Rose McCubbin.”

“Yes Rose. What is it?” asked Bernie, obviously still very busy.

“Have you got some time to talk tonight?”

“Not really. What’s it about?”

“I can’t say over the phone.”

“How important is it?”

“More important than anything you are doing now.”

That got Bernie’s attention. “You better not be messing with me Rose. OK come on over.”

“No we need to talk privately.”

“Oh stop playing games Rose. I don’t have time for this.”

“Stop being a dick Bernie. This is very important. I’ll meet you at Tommy’s in twenty minutes. Come alone.” She hung up, not giving Bernie time to argue.

Fifteen minutes later, still in her uniform, she walked into Tommy’s bar, ordered a chardonnay and sat at the only vacant table. It was noisy, which suited her purposes just fine. She saw Bernie enter. His business suit looked like it had been adhered to him for the past week. His greying hair hadn’t been washed in days and even in this subdued lighting she could make out the dark rings under his eyes. He ordered a beer and sat down at the table.

“So, what’s so goddam important?” he demanded.

“This” and she handed him her communicator with Phil’s message open on the small screen. He read the message without showing any emotion. He checked the attachments. Then he passed back her communicator. He took a fairly casual scan around the bar then leaned forward. “Do you believe it?”

Rose nodded. Bernie rolled his lips inwards and pressed hard. “And you want me to make some enquiries?” Rose nodded. “I see. You know where this could go, don’t you?” Again Rose nodded. “Why are you trusting me with this? It’s not as though we’re best buddies.”

“You might be an egotist Bernie but there’s no stronger advocate of civilian control of the military. If the council didn’t authorise this then…”

Bernie nodded. “And what if they did?”

“Then we need to know whether they were apprised of the offer to negotiate. If they were then all is good. Otherwise we have a rotten apple.”

“Or apples.”

“Exactly” said Rose. “So you are not aware of this directive then?”

“No, I’m not, which is why I’ll look into it.”

“Discreetly.”

Bernie nodded. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Bernie nodded, left his half full glass of beer and walked out. Rose stayed and finished her wine. ‘To think I gave up a fleet command for this.’

Chapter 2. Washington DC 0930 6 June

The military band was rehearsing for their commemorative D Day parade out on the lawns of the Arlington Cemetery. From her office, high up in the Eisenhower Tower, Fleet Admiral Lisa McKew looked on, though her mind’s focus was elsewhere. She momentarily glanced over to the Pentagon building and wondered if the Joint Chiefs of olden days had the same problems.

She turned to Cmdr Abe Mueller, her go to man, when there were ‘problems’. “You sure about this?”

“Yes Maam. Eyeball sighting” confirmed Abe. He had perfected the ability to stand to attention for long periods. His lean wiry frame didn’t complain anymore. It was a form of self-discipline and he was big on self-discipline.

“Find out what she’s up to and get back to me. Don’t alert her.”

“Of course not Maam. Will that be all?”

“Yes Abe. Thanks for letting me know.”

Abe closed the door as he left, leaving Lisa staring back out at the marching troops. ‘What are you playing at?’ she asked herself. ‘Definitely not the actions of a loyal subordinate.’

Chapter 3. Washington DC 1015, 6 June

In the nearby Federation Tower, Bernie Wong, took in a deep breath. He was tired. He was always tired these days. But he knew he had to gird his loins. There were dragons to slay and they resided across the Federation Square in the Eisenhower Tower.

But right now he was focussed on a location 73 floors above and in particular on the office of the Secretary to the Supreme Council. The right honourable Barry Fey owed Bernie big time and it was time he repaid his debt.

Bernie secured his office before heading to the elevator. It was a habit that had stood him in good stead and one he was not going to throw away. With stooped head and shoulders as if to emphasis the burden he carried, Bernie stepped into elevator five. It was nearly full and the current passengers resented having to make space for him.

He watched the floor count tick over from his own 66
^th
Floor. By the time he passed 120 he had the lift to himself. At the penultimate floor he got out, turned right as he had done on numerous occasions and smiled at the platinum blond guarding Barry’s office door.

“The old man’s expecting me” said Bernie. The blond looked at him disapprovingly but waved him on with a flick of her head. Bernie walked in and shut the door behind him.

Barry Fey was a big man with a big belly. He had a big appetite that extended to pretty girls and it was for this appetite that he was now being squeezed. “What is it then?” asked Barry in his deep gruff voice.

“Two things. I want confirmation of a directive from the Council and confirmation of receipt of a report” said Bernie matter of factly.

“What directive and what report?”

“The report was originally penned by Admiral Yomoto and concerns a possible offer to negotiate peace terms with the rogan.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“No, never seen it. Someone’s pulling your chain.”

“The directive is for a series of retaliatory nuclear strikes against rogan cities.”

“My god” said Barry as he slumped back in his chair. His big belly rising as he rocked back. Embarrassed by the sight of his own belly, he quickly sat upright again. “You gotta be kidding. Definitely not. The Council may be dominated by hawks but they’re not mad. Well not all of them.” Barry leaned over his desk towards Bernie “Where did you get this cock and bull?”

“Don’t worry Barry. You never heard this. We never had this conversation. Not a word. Right?”

“All right Bernie but the ledger just went back to zero.”

“Near zero Barry, but not quite” said Bernie as he opened the door and left. He smiled at the gatekeeper and headed for the elevators. Thanks to the priority afforded to the floor above, elevator one soon appeared. As it whisked down the shaft Bernie’s mind was now working overtime.

‘If these are genuine transmissions then either the Fleet Admiral or the Combined Chiefs have acted beyond their authority’ he thought. ‘First thing is to stop the execution of the directive. But how?’ Bernie knew that Rose was the obvious choice but he also knew that Lisa McKew watched her staff more closely than the enemy.

Across the square in the Eisenhower tower Lisa McKew walked into Rose’s office unannounced.

“Maam” said a surprised Rose as she looked up from her chair.

Lisa sat her diminutive trim figure down on the chair opposite Rose. She gave a smile, the same one that appeared on her framed picture hanging in the foyer down below. “How is everything going Rose?”

“Busy Maam.”

Rose’s communicator rang – called ID withheld. Lisa looked down at the communicator but Rose double tapped it, sending the caller through to the message bank, and looked back at Lisa.

“So I can see. I’m trying to get in touch with Bernie Wong. Have you seen him?”

“Not today. He hardly leaves his office these days.”

“Yes but for some inexplicable reason he’s not in his office this morning. So you don’t know why?”

“No.”

“Oh well, if you do see him; tell him I’m looking for him. You’ll have that op order ready for my signature by 1200?” asked Lisa as she stood up.

“Will do Maam.”

As soon as Lisa left her office, Rose glanced down at the communicator. She was momentarily startled when it rang. She picked it up and answered the call. It was Bernie’s voice. He simply said “Clean slate. Same place 1230.”

Rose took in a big breath as she pondered the ramifications. But the pressing need to finalise the operations order meant the analysis would have to wait.

She finished the op order just before 1200 and decided to walk across to Tommy’s. As she closed her office door Lisa hailed her and asked to see her. ‘Blast’ she thought.

Lisa kept her in her office till just before 1230. Rose was starting to worry if Lisa knew anything but she couldn’t see how. It was normal for the Fleet Admiral to discuss op orders with her ops officer. By the time she exited the building it was already 1235 and it took her another five minutes to walk across the square and enter Tommy’s.

Being lunch time it was full. She looked around for Bernie and finally made him out towards the rear. She ordered a club sandwich at the bar and sat down at Bernie’s table. There was earnestness about Bernie’s expression. ‘Understandable’ thought Rose.

“You’re sure about the clean slate?” she asked.

He swallowed and dropped his sandwich on his plate. “Definitely. The Council knows nothing about an offer to negotiate nor did it authorise any directive for strikes. We need to let Yomoto know post haste so he ignores that directive. Can you do that?”

“I haven’t had time to think about this yet. Hum…”

“Look the most important thing is to stop these strikes. We can then work out who’s responsible.”

“Yeah OK. I’ll let Yomoto know” said Rose. “How are we going to find out who’s responsible?”

“Before we get to that, you need to be careful. McKew keeps a close eye on her staff. Assume that she’s onto you.”

“Right. I will.”

“You know that she must be complicit? Either by herself or in cahoots with the other chiefs.”

“Yes” said Rose as she let out a big breath. Part of her couldn’t believe it.

“We know she sent the directive to Yomoto and we know it didn’t come authorised from the Council. What we don’t know is whether the other chiefs are involved.”

“Yeah” said Rose. She found her jaw tightening as it did when she got stressed.

“That’s going to be hard to prove. The Chiefs met for their regular weekly pow-wow four days ago. I have a copy of the agenda and the minutes of the meeting. But there is no mention of it. On occasions they can go into camera and then sometimes they may issue secret minutes. We need to find out if they did so four days ago and get a hold of them.”

Rose was struggling to come up with a means for doing so.

“Do you know Malcolm Muggeridge?” asked Bernie.

“Their secretary?” Bernie nodded. “I’ve passed things to him on occasions but that’s all.”

“Pity.”

“What about you?”

“He hates my guts. Too much bad blood, I’m afraid.”

“It’s a wonder we function at all.”

“The scum rises to the surface Rose.”

“So you say.”

“We have to be very careful with this next move. Let me think on it a bit more. In the meantime, warn Yomoto but don’t get found out.”

Rose left Tommy’s first and was videoed by a wiry figure in the car parked down the street. The same figure also got footage of Bernie as he exited a few minutes later.

Chapter 4. Washington DC 1400, 6 June

Rose arrived back at her office. She looked calm but felt distinctly uneasy. Part of her just couldn’t believe what was happening. She knew that Lisa McKew was a hardliner, but she would never have thought she would usurp her authority. ‘How could it have come to this?’ she asked herself.

Lisa strode into her office completely surprising Rose. Rose took in a breath trying to steady her composure. She waited for her boss to speak first. “Rose I’m still trying to locate Bernie Wong.”

“Oh yes Maam I bumped into him at lunch time and told him you wanted to see him.”

“Did you?” said Lisa seriously.

“Yes Maam, not more than an hour ago. He’ll probably call you shortly. Do you want me to call him?”

“No. That’s all right. Thanks.”

Lisa left as quickly as she had come. She knew something was not right. Her subordinate was up to something and she had to find out what. ‘Let’s hope Mueller can work some magic’ she thought.

Rose got up from her desk and went down the hallway to the elevators. She took it down two floors and turned right towards the op centre. The op centre was run on similar lines to the command centre of a ship, with a big holo display surrounded by workstations, well in this case, rows of workstations. As she approached the noise level increased with the voice of the watch officer firing off questions to the respective staff officers.

This was Rose’s domain, her crew, and when she entered the watch officer nodded but continued on. It was always understood that the watch officer held sway unless the Ops Officer (Rose) or the Fleet Admiral specifically interrupted. Rose just sat down at a workstation and deliberately ignored the watch officer. This was her usual signal that she did not want to interrupt.

Rose knew that the operation was a training exercise. As such all signals sent from the ops centre during this exercise would not be logged as normal traffic but instead bundled within the exercise data. She was counting on that fact as she prepared her message to Phil Yomoto. She marked it for his eyes only and used the default Exercise Director for the Sender. She hit the Send button. Removed the local copy and then sat back and listened to the exercise unfold.