Divide and conquer - Tom Clancy [56]
Investigations by Gable and his assistants failed to turn up any suspicious activity. Gable did not smile. He could not. The situation was too serious. But he was gratified. The reporter and many of his colleagues were very concerned about the president's state of mind. By tomorrow afternoon, the rest of the nation would also be concerned.
Events that were about to unfold a world away and in Washington had been very carefully orchestrated. Events that would be misinterpreted by everyone except the third and most important leader of their team: the vice president. The president would insist that Azerbaijan had attacked an Iranian oil rig. He would recommend staying out of the conflict because it was a local issue. As Iran built up its forces in the region, the vice president would publicly" urge a different tack. He would say that he did not trust Iran and would strongly advise building up an American military presence in the Caspian. Fenwick would back up the vice president. He would report that during his meetings with the Iranians, they had spoken vaguely of events that were on the horizon. He would say that they asked the United States to do nothing while they strengthened their hold on oil reserves in the region. The Iranians would deny that, of course. But no one in America would believe them.
The disagreement between the president and vice president would cause a very public rift. And when the Harpooner's Iranian cohorts were found dead with photographs and other evidence of sabotage on their bodies-murdered by the Harpooner himself-the vice president and Fenwick would be vindicated. Reporters would then openly discuss the president's questionable judgment. Washington would be abuzz with rumors that the president was unstable. Senators like Barbara Fox would have no choice but to support a motion to impeachment. Sex scandals were one thing. Mental illness was something much different. There would be calls for Lawrence to step down. For the good of the nation, Lawrence would have no choice but to resign. Vice president Gotten would become president. He would ask Jack Fenwick to become his new vice president. Congress would quickly endorse his selection. Meanwhile, the American military would move into the Caspian. They would help the Azerbaijanis protect their rigs. In the heat of rising tensions.
President Gotten would remain strong. And then something else would happen. Something that would demand an American response so firm, so devastating, that religious fanatics would never again attack a target under American protection. In the end. Gable told himself, the career of a president was worth that sacrifice.
Baku, Azerbaijan Tuesday, 6:15 a.m.
When forty-seven-year-old Ron Friday first arrived in Baku, he felt as though he had been dropped into medieval times. It was not a question of architecture. Embassy row was in a very modern section of the city.
The modern buildings could have been lifted whole from Washington, D.C." or London, or Tokyo, or any other modern metropolis. But Baku was not like those cities where he had spent so much time. Once you moved past the embassies and business center of Baku, there was a pronounced sense of age. Many of the buildings had been standing when Columbus reached the Americas. No, the architecture was not what made Baku seem so old, so feudal. It was a sense of entropy among the people. Azerbaijan had been ruled from the outside for so long, now that the people were free and independent, they seemed unmotivated, directionless. If it were not for petrodollars, they would probably slip deep into the Third World. At least, that was Friday's impression. Fortunately, when the former Army Ranger and his people were finished with what they were doing here, Azerbaijan would not be quite so independent. Friday entered his seven-story apartment building. The ten-year-old brick building was located two blocks from the embassy. He made his way up the marble stairs. Friday lived on the top floor, but he did not like being in elevators. Even when he