Lethal Trajectories (18 page)

Just then, a blaring commercial jarred Hugo from his dreamy reverie. He did a quick scan of the quad screens in front of him and found nothing that interested him. The Save America campaign trumped everything else. That was where he would invest his efforts. But, once the program launched, he anticipated a strong backlash from the White House, the Senate leadership, and their own party. His job now would be to help his ineffectual boss weather the storm, and to do that he needed to think this out.

For openers, there was little love lost between Senate Majority Leader Fred Anders and Collingsworth. Anders was still seething over the bullet he took for the party in appointing Collingsworth to chair the Foreign Relations Committee, a sop to the vocal fringe elements. His boss was unpopular on both sides of the aisle and a thorn in Anders’s side. His initial reaction would be to remove Collingsworth from the chairmanship, but here again, Wellington had thought of everything.

Attempts to remove Collingsworth would be political suicide. Crane could muster grassroots support and induce wealthy contributors to bale out on anyone opposing his boss, and they all knew it. He was safe under the powerful air umbrella of Wellington Crane.
All is well,
Hugo thought as he settled in for a restful nap.

A
fter playing with the kids and giving Maggie a good-bye kiss, Clayton McCarty left for his Sunday morning meeting with President Burkmeister. The late-night heart-to-heart talk he’d had with Maggie upon her return from California had energized him.

Like him, Maggie was stunned by the news of President Burkmeister’s terminal illness and perplexed by the idea that she would soon become First Lady. As the shock wore off, they talked about the more practical aspects of the presidency: their move to the White House, where the kids would go to school, and how their lives would change. Maggie was a trooper, and he had felt comforted when she said, “We’ve been through so much together already. We’ll get through this, and you can bet there’ll be a whole lot of people out there praying for us to succeed.”

He also felt good about the ground he and Jack had covered. They developed a plan of action that Clayton could follow over the next thirty days as he prepared for the presidency, and he would now have the opportunity to bounce their ideas off President Burkmeister.

After the short drive to the White House, he was promptly escorted into the Oval Office. Burkmeister was seated behind his desk, wearing a blue pinstriped business suit, white shirt, and red silk tie. Clayton was far more comfortable in this setting than in the president’s private quarters. He wondered if the president had sensed that and switched back to the Oval Office intentionally. Whatever, it worked.

“Good morning, Clayton,” Burkmeister said in a voice almost too cheery to match the purpose of the meeting.

“Good morning, Mr. President. May I say that you look like your old self today?”

“Thank you. I must confess our meeting on Friday night, with the thunder cracking and my awful news, was a bit surreal, but with that shock out of the way we can get on with things in a normal manner. Anyway, that’s my hope.”

After pouring coffee and chatting idly about the weather, the Redskins football game, and other mundane matters, the president finally asked, “Have you had a chance to talk with anyone about our conversation on Friday night?”

“Yes I have, Mr. President. I took your advice about getting a chief of staff as a first order of business and asked my brother, Jack, if he would take the position. He told me all the reasons why he shouldn’t take the job and then agreed to take it. But I’m interested in your thoughts on the choice, Mr. President.”

Pondering the question, Burkmeister replied, “It sounds like a good move to me. Oh, you’ll take some hits for nepotism, but the most important thing is that you trust and respect your chief of staff. You’d better, because you’ll probably spend more time with him than anyone else, including your family. Besides, I know Jack, and he’s one sharp cookie.”

Clayton breathed a sigh of relief. It was his job to do, but Burkmeister’s approval was important to him.

“I had a chat with George Gleason, and he was devastated by the news,” the president said sadly. “With all due respect to you, Clayton, he said he would like to resign on the day I do and hopes you’ll understand. I told him I was sure you would.”
That works for me,
Clayton thought.

“I also talked to the White House lawyers about the legalities of succession. As it turns out, it’s a pretty straightforward process. Without boring you with arcane constitutional law, the basics are that the Twenty-Fifth Amendment—ratified in 1967—clearly covers succession for the president and vice president.” Burkmeister checked his notes before continuing.

“The amendment provides for the vice president to succeed the president in the event of death, resignation, or inability to perform the duties of the presidency, as well as provisions for filling the vice president’s vacancy, and so forth. Unlike the presidential succession, which automatically goes to the vice president, the candidate for vice presidential succession must be approved by majority vote of both houses of Congress. The process was well-tested in 1973, when Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president and Gerald Ford was nominated to replace him. Then in 1974, President Nixon resigned and Jerry Ford automatically replaced him. Less than two weeks later, Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller to replace him as vice president. It took four months to confirm Rockefeller. My point is that it’s a snap to move into the presidency, but it will take an effort and some politicking to get your vice-presidential nominee approved.”

“I’ve given that some thought, Mr. President, and I have a handful of names I’d like to run by you. Not now, though—in a few days.”

“That’d be fine, Clayton—glad to help in any way I can. Now about tomorrow night, let me run this by you. The dilemma I have,” Burkmeister said, scratching his head, “is that I want to give my cabinet and also other world leaders a courtesy call before I go public with my announcement, but logistically that could be difficult. If I talk to folks too far in advance, there’s a good chance the information will be leaked, and it’s important to me that
all
Americans hear the news at the same time.

“What I’m thinking is this: I’ll convene a full cabinet meeting about one hour before my public announcement and break the news to them. I’ll ask the cabinet to remain at the White House to meet after my announcement to get all of our signals straight. I’ll also talk to Secretary Cartright before the meeting and have her call our allies prior to my speech. I’ll personally call the leaders of the Senate and House and also China and the Brits. What do you think, Clayton? Is this workable?”

“Yes, Mr. President. I think it is. It’s probably the optimal way to make the necessary courtesy calls while minimizing leaks. Any premature news leak will be insignificant because your public announcement will occur before it can be fully disseminated. In this case, timing is everything.”

They talked for another hour about the logistics of the succession and agreed to meet daily until the succession actually occurred.

“Oh, by the way, Mr. President, my brother Jack received a call from Wang Peng, an old friend of ours who also happens to be Lin Cheng’s chief of staff. He’s in town this coming week for China’s meetings at the United Nations and wanted to get together with Jack for dinner. It sounded like a good idea to me, but I’m wondering if we should call it off given your announcement tomorrow night.

What do you think?”

“I think Jack should do everything he can to keep that appointment,” the president declared. “China has taken a reasonable position thus far on Chunxiao, and I’d do whatever possible to encourage the goodwill that seems to be developing.”

“Good, Mr. President” Clayton said, relieved, “I was hoping you would feel that way. I’ll pass it on to Jack and keep you posted.”

“Let’s try to meet at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon to go over the speech I plan to give tomorrow night. We can also strategize on how to handle the communications that will follow.”

As Clayton left the Oval Office shortly before noon, he tried to visualize the pandemonium that would erupt when the story was unleashed tomorrow evening.
Perhaps some things you’re better off not knowing,
he mused.

W
ang Peng was busily checking messages when his black limousine, provided by the Chinese Embassy, pulled up to the Waldorf Astoria. He was greeted at the door by the senior hotel executive on duty and quickly escorted to his suite on the forty-seventh floor. The whole process took less than five minutes, and Wang mused at how efficient the Americans were when they chose to be.

He could feel the jet lag and appreciated not having any appointments tonight. After ordering up a steak dinner and taking a piping hot shower, he sat down at the living room desk to fine-tune his schedule for the coming week He wanted to make sure nothing went wrong with his suddenly revised plans.

He had been pleasantly surprised by Lin Cheng’s last-minute decision to join him in New York, a move that would amplify the importance China placed on the Chunxiao Incident, changing the entire tone, tempo, and direction of their visit. It was uncharacteristic of Lin to act with such haste, but the chairman never did anything without a good reason.

“Peng,” Lin Cheng had said, “I am not as concerned with Japan or the position taken by the Western powers as I was a few days ago. Things seem to be settling down, and I am grateful to you for your good advice on how to deal with President Burkmeister.”

Wang was touched by the compliment and appreciated that his boss gave credit honestly for good ideas—a trait he wished others on the Politburo would emulate.

“I have always believed there are opportunities in any adversarial situation,” Lin had continued in a soft but determined voice, “and Chunxiao might provide China with such an opportunity. I plan to join you in New York, Peng.”

Astonished, Peng had nodded and waited for his boss to explain his reasoning.

“With Chunxiao as my justification, I wish to accomplish three major things during my visit with you to New York. The first, of course, is to make China’s grievances against Japan clear to the UN and the world and to seek recompense for Japan’s militant actions. We can assume Japan will be doing the same thing, and we need to offer a forceful counterbalance to whatever they’ll say.” Wang nodded in agreement, thinking,
Nothing new in that.

“Second, we need a permanent solution to doctrines defining the exclusive economic zones. It’s the only way to avoid future Chunxuios in the South China Sea. If my presence in New York will help make our case, then I must go.” This was absolute music to Wang Peng’s ears.

“Last,” Lin said, choosing his words carefully, “I have become increasingly concerned with the so-called cold war between China and other industrial nations as we compete for scarce resources. It places China in a constant adversarial position with the United States and other OECD nations, and everything becomes a zero-sum game. It is becoming costlier from a military and defense point of view, and it will get worse as the world’s oil supply tightens. Perhaps there is nothing we can do about it, but I’ve often wondered if it would be possible to find a more rational way of dealing with our economic needs.” Fascinated, Wang wondered where the chairman was going with this.

“I have not discussed this yet with our comrades on the Politburo, but I would be interested in seeing whether or not there’s any traction in some form of détente. I’m hoping to talk to as many Western leaders as I can at this meeting to see if we can’t improve the atmosphere and find ways to talk some of these issues out. A good start might be to feel out what your friend Jack McCarty might think. I know he doesn’t represent the American government in any official way, but as brother to the vice president, he might have some insights.”

The doorbell rang, shaking Wang from his thoughts. He opened the door and made way for the impeccably dressed attendant, who wheeled in a dinner cart and put the filet mignon Wang had ordered on the table. After thanking him and offering a generous tip, he continued his ruminations over the excellent meal.

Wang knew Lin Cheng’s visit would be a game-changer, but it would also require a major redirection of efforts to fully capitalize on Lin’s rare visit to a foreign country. The Chinese delegation would be dumbfounded to hear of Lin’s willingness to submit to well-staged media interviews. The practical logistics of beefed-up security and coordination between American and Chinese security agencies added a whole new dimension to the mission.

Given Lin Cheng’s desire for better relations with the United States, Wang knew his meeting with Jack McCarty was suddenly a matter of greater importance. While Jack was more of an energy and climate guy, he kept abreast of Washington news, and his backdoor access to the White House might come in handy. The thought saddened him, however. He loved Jack like a brother, and while there was much he wanted to discuss with him regarding the energy and climate situation, he also wanted to simply enjoy the company of his friend. He resolved to do his best to be up-front and genuine with him despite the pressures of their political connections. He would call Jack later tonight to confirm their meeting; he only wished Lin Cheng had scheduled an earlier arrival so that he could have met Jack.

Wang Peng looked down at his half-eaten steak as the effects of jet lag took hold of his body, and he dozed off with a premonition that this would be a world-changing week.

T
he thousands of workers making their Monday-morning commute into the nation’s capital had no idea it was to be an historic day, talked about for generations to come. Lyman Burkmeister awoke from a pleasant night’s sleep, but his mind churned as he thought about how the day might unfold. He prayed for the strength to handle the emotional and physical roller coaster he was about to ride.