When the rain was finished, there was nothing left of either cruise missile. Weapons one and two, however, would live on in the lethal effects of their warheads.
Their missions were accomplished.
Finally the video display on the tabletop flashed as the image of the compound vanished.
“That is it?” Len asked.
“The weapons are now destroyed,” Nakamoto said.
“I want you to know that many people argued against this course of action. None of us thought you would say no to us. It is regrettable that—”
“Nakamoto, now that your movie is over, you must go. My missiles are not for sale. But thank your prime minister for the interesting video. The special effects were outstanding.”
“But, Mr. President—”
“I must go now. Mr. Lee Chun Wah will take you to the airport.”
Len turned and left.
The forty steps to his office had seemed a lifetime as Len thought about the strange presentation by the Japanese.
When he opened the door to the office. Lee Chun Wah gestured to him rapidly.
“There’s a phone call from Tamga, sir. The crew from the American television show ‘Conspiracy Exposed’— the ones you sent to interview the base commander— want to talk to you — they said something awful is happening.”
Len listened for a moment, knit his brows. “No one picked up. I only heard screaming.”
Len put the phone down, a dread beginning to fill him.
If the Japanese had truly attacked the weapons, the survival of Greater Manchuria was at risk. In fact. Greater Manchuria might not exist a week into the future without the SS-34s.
A frantic knock came at the door. Intelligence officer Col. Ni Han Su rushed in.
“Sir, the video, turn it on, now!”
Len had spent too much of his life on battlefields to berate a junior who screamed at his superiors — a disciplined subordinate who behaved in this fashion did it for a very good reason. Len turned on the video to see an announcer from BBC Asia speaking, reporting on the destruction. The American reporters must have made their report before dying. The reality of the attack on his missiles was too clear.
“Get Ambassador Nakamoto back in the conference room.”
“Sir, he’s still there packing his equipment.”
Len fairly burst into the room. Nakamoto looked up at him.
“Ambassador Nakamoto, you and your countrymen are treacherous felons. You come here, make impossible demands, and while I receive you, you stab me in the back, just as you did the Americans at Pearl Harbor while you talked of peace. You have attacked my missiles, which I have kept only for defense. You have killed my men and will blame this savagery on my alleged in transigence. I promise you that the world will know every detail of what has happened here.”
“Sir, I will overlook your unreasoned outburst for now and urge you to realize that it is in your best interests, and Greater Manchuria’s best interests, to keep this matter quiet. If so, Russia and the Chinas will not know you have lost your weapons. Japan will not, I guarantee you, speak of it. You keep your deterrent while Japan has its security, its freedom from fear of your former SS-34 nuclear missiles. This, sir, is the perfect solution.”
Len looked at him in disbelief. “Surely you realize the world already knows. I have just heard it announced on the BBC. No more talk. You will be driven to the airport under escort from the palace guards. There you will meet the others from your embassy. You will all be put on a military transport and flown back to your island. God have mercy on your souls.” Len walked out of the room, motioning Lee Chun Wah to follow. Inside Len’s office he gave his command to Lee while raising the phone to his ear: “Go out to the airfield and see the commanding general of the air force at the tower. Allow the transport with Nakamoto and his people to get out over the Sea of Japan, but just on our side of the twenty kilometer territorial limit. When they are there, one of the escorting F-16’s will blow them out of the sky.” Lee Chun Wah nodded, his face grim. “And Lee, the disk of the meetings inside the conference room, copy and send to BBC. I want them on the air tonight. Unedited. We will let the world know exactly who the Japanese are behind their masks.
Greater Manchuria may not survive but Japan will suffer with us.” Len stood, looking out the window at the approach to the palace’s entrance.
He could see Nakamoto’s bent form walking to the limousine, then duck into it. The man looked old. It was later than he knew — his last day on earth. The operator clicked into the connection. “Yes, sir?”
“Get me the President of the United States.”
