Mounting Fears Read Online Free PDF Page B

asked.
    “No, sir. We have attack submarines present in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman as well as in the eastern Mediterranean that can hit the sites with multiple cruise missiles.”
    “I want it clearly understood that, should it become necessary to hit the missile sites, all our missiles will be armed with conventional, non-nuclear warheads.”
    “That is confirmed, Mr. President. Our plan calls for staggered firings, dependent on the distance of each sub from the targets, so that we get simultaneous strikes, thus giving no opportunity for a retaliatory nuclear attack. We have allotted four cruise missiles for each target.”
    “What sort of casualties would such an attack engender?”
    “All the sites are on military bases, except the one captured, which is thirty miles from a base. Large numbers of Pakistani troops man the bases, and there are some military dependents there, too, as well as civilian employees. However, the missiles are accurate to within three meters and can be programmed to explode after entering the ground at the sites. Virtually every person manning the sites would be killed, but those in the surrounding area would have a better chance of survival.”
    “Can you put a number on the fatalities?”
    “Likely several hundred at each of the five remaining sites. Do you wish us to target the site from which the missile was fired?”
    “Plan for it, but I’ll make that decision after I speak with President Khan.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Stand by. Madame Director?” Kate was on a phone at the other end of the conference table.
    “Yes, Mr. President?”
    “Have you been able to obtain any information from your sources in Islamabad?”
    “Sir, we have reports from our station there and from our resources on the ground that the blast was seen in the sky from Islamabad, but at the moment the city is reasonably calm. The streets are full of people waiting for news from the president, but no official announcement has been made, except to request calm and that people remain in their homes, which many are not doing.”
    “General, did you hear that report?” Will asked.
    “Yes, Mr. President, and with that I believe you have everything we can now confirm, until you speak with President Khan or we speak with Pakistani army headquarters.”
    “Thank you, General. Please call when you have further information, we’ll be here.” Will hung up. Kate was still on the phone.
    “Kate?”
    She put her hand over the phone. “Yes?”
    “Is there any indication that the attack on the missile installation was part of a planned coup d’état?”
    “No, not at this time.”
    She continued to talk on the phone, presumably to Lance Cabot, and Will sat and tried to think if there was anything he could do that he had not already done.

7

    WILL FIELDED CALLS FROM AIDES, THE JCS, AND CABINET MEMBERS FOR THE NEXT hour; then Tim Coleman came into the room. “President Khan for you, Mr. President.”
    Will picked up the phone. “President Khan?”
    “Yes, President Lee.”
    “I’m very glad to hear from you; we were all very concerned. What is your situation?”
    “We have put down a small rebellion in the military—fewer than fifty officers, none of them ranked above colonel.”
    “That’s good. What is the status of your nuclear capability?”
    “When we attacked the northwestern missile site someone inside managed to fire one missile before we could disable it, but we were able to detonate it electronically a few seconds later.”
    “What about the second missile?”
    “Once at close range, our troops were able to disable it electronically.”
    “Was there damage to the facility?”
    “Some of the aboveground buildings were knocked down by the shock wave, but everything belowground was undamaged. We managed to pump an odorless gas into the tunnels, rendering everyone inside unconscious. We captured all of them.”
    “What about the other installations around your country?”
    “All the