Paths of Courage (22 page)

In the packed Briefing Room at the White House a month later, President William Marsh faced the world press and a barrage of TV cameras. He gave a sanitized account of the events surrounding the incident at Rum Cay in response to intense media pressure after unsuccessfully attempting to keep the whole episode under wraps. When he eventually finished, question time began.

A female journalist from the
Washington Post
fired the first. “Sir, why has it taken you so long to inform the world of this incident?”

“A number of reasons, but the most important of which at the time was not to alarm the world unnecessarily. The whole incident has been quickly brought under control and contained. Due to the complexities of the situation, however, it was decided to classify all information involving this incident – whether morally right or wrong.” Marsh quickly turned away and pointed towards another reporter in the front row. “John.”

“Sir, our sources say the warhead contained a super bug for which there is no known vaccine. Is that true?”

“I have no knowledge of that. As I have said: the virus found in the warhead is a variant of smallpox for which a vaccine is available. The Bahamian Government, and ourselves, took all necessary precautions to ensure the virus was contained on the island.”

“Sir, smallpox has been eradicated since 1979. What was it doing in the warhead?”

“Good question. Small amounts are preserved for experimental purposes in laboratories at Atlanta and also in Russia. It is possible some of the Russian stock may have gotten into the wrong hands. However, the survivability of the virus in the temperatures experienced on the cay is less than several hours, so there was no risk whatsoever that it would be passed on to others outside of the island – and time has proved that.”

The president turned away and pointed towards a journalist in the front row from the
Los Angeles Times
.

“Mr President, you say the missile was fired from a Russian submarine. What are we doing about that?”

“The Russians were as much a victim of all this as ourselves. The submarine was sold to the North Koreans and then stolen from them by terrorists.”

“How do we know they were terrorists?”

“Through our intelligence services. More than that I cannot say.”

“Al-Qaeda?”

“Possibly; no other organization would have the capability.”

“Was the sale to the Koreans with our knowledge?”

“We have protocols in place to cover that.”

“Is that a yes, sir?”

“Correct.” The president then pointed to another reporter, this time from the
New York Times
.

“Sir, how did they obtain a bio-warhead carrying a supposedly eradicated virus, and who could manufacture such a weapon?”

“To the first part of your question: it was no doubt purchased on the black market through an intermediary organization sympathetic to terrorist aims and unsympathetic to the Western world's. To the second part, all nations capable of making nuclear weapons, including a few third-world countries, are capable of manufacturing bio-weapons.”

“Such as the North Koreans?”

“Possibly, but we have received assurances from all those countries, including North Korea, that they did not supply the warhead.”

“In the light of this, what are we doing about North Korea? Can we believe them after all the sabre rattling and threats recently from Kim Jong-Un?” another reporter questioned when pointed at.

“I believe we can. As you know, the recently recommenced non-proliferation talks, although at times difficult, are moving forward. As part of these talks they are currently allowing inspectors in to check the decommissioning of nuclear and biological weapons manufacturing facilities, in particular those at Yongbyon, Onjong and Pyorha-ri. Our aid to them increases proportionately to the level of concessions made.”

“Many believe, under the current leadership, North Korea will remain a dangerous, unstable nation, despite agreements, and would need to be closely watched in the war against terrorism and the proliferation in the uncertain future,” pressed the reporter.

“That may well be so,” answered the president, “but I believe North Korea would not risk its future by supplying terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.”
If only that were true.

President Marsh turned to another reporter at the rear.

“Sir, how was the submarine allowed to come so close to our shores?”

“First, the submarine was outside our territorial waters, and second, I was advised that it entered the Atlantic through the Magellan Straits and then hugged the South American shoreline, right up to the Caribbean, making it extremely difficult to discover. It was an allied submarine that eventually tracked it down and destroyed it, but not before the missile was released. Fortunately, one of our surface ships intercepted the missile before it could land directly on American soil.”

“What was the nationality of the allied sub?” asked another reporter.

“At this time, that is classified information,” Marsh shot back. He was a little embarrassed it was not American, but it was not his place to reveal the identity of an allied vessel without that nation's prior agreement. He knew well enough that no sovereign nation wanted the whereabouts of their submarines to be known to the public under any circumstances. He pointed to a raised hand in the front row.

“Sir, I understand another Russian submarine was involved too?”

“That may well be; Russian submarines do prowl the Atlantic. However, you should put that question directly to the Russians. Next.” President Marsh pointed to a reporter from the
Chicago
Tribune.

“Mr. President, there was a lot of unusual naval activity in the Western Pacific and in the South and North Atlantic a month or two prior to the event, particularly off the Korean Peninsula – some talk of a blockade. Is there a connection?”

“We did blockade the Korean Peninsula for a short time, yes, as intelligence had reported that Taepo-dong long-range missiles were being transported to Iran in violation of international agreements. This occurs from time to time. Regarding activity in the Atlantic: they were combined exercises undertaken with the British to coordinate naval strategies and to jointly test new technology.” The president turned away and nodded towards another journalist.

“Sir, what are we doing to ensure this doesn't happen again?”

“We cannot ensure that this will not happen again, but we are doing everything in our power to monitor the movement and whereabouts of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. Our Homeland Security policies are fully operational guarding our borders and tracking down terrorists that might be within. You can rest assured that our military and intelligence services both here and abroad are ever vigilant to counter terrorist attacks against our nation and to prevent other nations from upsetting and railing against world peace.” He paused, gripping the sides of the lectern with both hands, his strong black features shining under the lights. Then abruptly, and to everyone's surprise, he said, “Thank you all and God bless America.”

With that, amidst the clamour of journalists still wanting to know more, he turned away and left the Briefing Room, satisfied that he had, for the time being anyway, given the nation, and the world, what they wanted to hear: that there would be no uncontrollable virulent epidemic, no retaliation against any nation and that the war against terrorism would continue on as before.