Executive orders - Tom Clancy [65]
WHY DID THEY overreact so? the Prime Minister asked, before sipping her sherry.
Well, as you know I have not been fully briefed, the Prince of Wales replied, first qualifying himself, since he didn't really speak for Her Majesty's Government. But your naval exercises did have the appearance of a threatening act.
Sri Lanka must come to terms with the Tamils. They've shown a regrettable reluctance to enter into substantive negotiations, and we were trying to influence them. After all, we have our own troops deployed as peacekeepers, and we don't want them to be held hostage to the overall situation.
Quite so, but then, why don't you withdraw your peacekeepers as the government requested?
The Indian Prime Minister sighed tiredly-it had been a long flight for her, too, and under the circumstances a little exasperation was permissible. Your Royal Highness, if we withdraw our troops and then the situation flares up yet again, we will face difficulties with our own Tamil citizens. This is truly a most unhappy situation. We attempted to help assuage a difficult political impasse, entirely at our own expense, but then the Sri Lankan government finds itself unable to take the remedial action necessary to prevent an embarrassment to my country, and a continuing rebellion in their own. Then the Americans interfere without any real cause, and only bolster the intransigence of the Sri Lankans.
When does their Prime Minister arrive? the Prince asked. The substantive reply was a shrug, followed by verbiage. We offered the chance to fly over together so that we might discuss the situation, but he regrettably declined. Tomorrow, I think. If his aircraft doesn't malfunction, she added. That national-flag carrier had all manner of technical problems, not to mention a long-lived security threat.
If you wish, the ambassador can probably arrange a quiet meeting.
Perhaps that would not be entirely useless, the Prime Minister allowed. I also wish the Americans would get the proper spin on things. They've always been so hopeless on our part of the world.
Which was the point of the exercise, the Prince understood. He and President Ryan had been friends for years, and India wanted him to be the intercessor. It would hardly have been the first time for such a mission on his part, but in all such cases the Heir Apparent was constrained to seek guidance from the government, which, in this case, meant the ambassador. Someone in Whitehall had decided that His Royal Highness's friendship with the new American President was more important than a government-to-government contact, and besides, it would make the monarchy look good at a time when such appearances were both useful and necessary. It also gave His Highness an excuse to visit some land in Wyoming which was quietly owned by the Royal Family, or the Firm, as it was sometimes called by insiders.
I see, was as substantive a reply as he could make, but Britain had to take a request from India seriously. Once the brightest diadem in a world-spanning crown, that country was still an important trading partner, bloody nuisance though it might frequently be. A direct contact between the two heads of government might be embarrassing. The American harassment of the Indian fleet was not widely publicized, falling as it had toward the end of hostilities between America and Japan, and it was in everyone's interest that things should remain that way. President Ryan had enough on his plate, his old friend knew. The Prince hoped that Jack was getting some rest. For the people in the reception room, sleep was just a defense against jet lag. For Ryan it was necessary fuel, and he'd need plenty for the next two days.
THE LINE WAS endless, the typical cliche. It stretched well beyond the Treasury building, and the far end of it was like the ragged end of a rope, with new