Page 269 of Never
Everyone in the room was watching her in silence.
Bill said: ‘It’s confirmed. That was nuclear.’
Pauline’s last faint hope vanished.
She said: ‘Call the War Room.’
Her phone rang and she picked up. A voice said: ‘Madam President, this is General Evers in the Pentagon War Room.’
She said: ‘General, in accordance with my earlier instructions, you have targeted nuclear weapons on every military base in the rebel-held zone of North Korea.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘I am now going to give you the authentication code. When you have heard the correct code, you will give instructions to fire the weapons.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
She looked at the Biscuit and read out the code: ‘Oscar November three seven three. I say again, Oscar November three seven three.’
‘Thank you, Madam President. That is the correct code and I have now given the order to fire.’
Pauline hung up. With a heavy heart she said: ‘It’s done.’
***
At Zhongnanhai they watched a radar graphic that showed missiles rising into the American sky like a flock of grey geese embarking on their great seasonal migration.
Chen said: ‘Launch an all-out cyberattack on American communications of all kinds.’
This was routine. Kai’s best guess was that it would be only partly successful. The Americans had prepared for cyberwar, as the Chinese had; and both sides had fall-back plans and counterattack options. The cyberattack would do some damage without being decisive.
Fu Chuyu said: ‘Where are the rest of the missiles? I see only twenty or thirty.’
Kong Zhao said: ‘It seems to be a limited attack. They’re not starting an all-out nuclear war. Which means the target is probably not China.’
Huang said: ‘We can’t be sure of that. And we can’t take the risk of leaving it too late to counterattack.’
Kong said: ‘We’ll know soon. But right now the target could be anywhere between Vietnam and Siberia.’
Kai could see from the radar feed that the missiles were already over Canada. He barked: ‘Someone give us an estimate of arrival time.’
An aide said: ‘Twenty-two minutes. And the target is not Siberia. The missiles are now too far south for that.’
Kai realized the target could even be the very building he was in. The Situation Room was armoured against anything but a direct hit by a nuclear bomb. If the American missiles were accurate, he would be dead in twenty-two minutes.
Less, now.
He had an urge to phone Ting. He resisted it.
The missiles were now over water.
‘Fifteen minutes,’ said an aide. ‘Vietnam is not a plausible target. It’s Korea or China.’
It was Korea, Kai felt sure. This was not just wishful thinking. President Green would be crazy to attack China with only thirty missiles. The damage would be survivable, and the Chinese would retaliate with everything they had, destroying much of the American military before it could be deployed. Anyway, it was not China but General Pak who had nuked Seoul and Busan.
Foreign Minister Wu Bai said: ‘I have received a formal communication from the White House saying that they are attacking nuclear bases in North Korea and nothing else.’
Huang said: ‘Could be a lie.’
