Ice Station - Matthew Reilly [190]
The Camerons had come along with him. For, if by some chance, Shane Schofield, or indeed, any survivors from Wilkes Ice Station were on board the Wasp then it would be the story – and the scoop – of a lifetime. Other reporters saw a damaged flight deck. The Camerons saw the inside running on the Wilkes Ice Station story.
But when they had got to the dockyard at Pearl, Trent had seen Chuck Kozlowski standing next to a navy-blue Buick, waiting for the Wasp to dock.
Trent had felt a sudden chill. Why was Kozlowski here? Had the ICG won – as it had in Peru – and was Kozlowski here to congratulate the traitors? Or was he here for some other reason? For if Schofield had survived, then the ICG would almost certainly want to eliminate him.
And so Trent and the two reporters had just watched and waited. And then, when they saw Schofield emerge from the ship and get escorted to Kozlowski’s Buick, Trent had called the only person he could think of who could – and would – pull rank on Chuck Kozlowski.
Jack Walsh.
‘Who’d have thought it?’ Walsh said, coming over. ‘There I am, on the bridge of my wrecked boat, minding my own business, when my comtech comes running in and says he’s got some guy on the external switch who says he has to talk to me. Says it’s an emergency regarding Lieutenant Schofield. Says his name is Andrew Trent.’ Walsh smiled. ‘I figured I oughta take the call.’
Schofield just shook his head, amazed.
‘You’ve been through a lot,’ Trent said, putting his arm around Schofield’s shoulder.
‘You should talk,’ Schofield said. ‘I’d like to hear about Peru sometime.’
‘You will, Shane, you will. But first, I have a proposition for you. How would you like to be on the front page of The Washington Post?’
Schofield just smiled.
On June 23 – two days after Schofield and the Wasp docked at Pearl – The Washington Post ran a front-page story containing a photo of Shane Schofield and Andrew Trent holding a copy of the previous day’s Post between them. Beneath the photo were displayed copies of their official United States Marine Corps death certificates. Schofield’s death certificate was three days old. Trent’s was over a year old.
The headline read:
ACCORDING TO THE US MILITARY,
THESE TWO MEN ARE OFFICIALLY DEAD.
The accompanying story about the events that transpired at Wilkes Ice Station – a feature that ran for three pages – was written by Peter and Alison Cameron.
Later stories that ran about the events at Wilkes Ice Station told of the ICG and the systematic infiltration by it of elite military units, universities and private corporations. Flashbulbs popped across the country for the next six weeks as ICG moles were expunged from various regiments, institutions and companies and charged under various statutes with espionage.
No mention, however, was made in any of the newspaper and TV reports about the presence of French and British troops at Wilkes Ice Station.
Rumours abounded in the tabloids about which other countries had sent troops to Wilkes Ice Station. Iraq. China. Even Brazil had rated a mention.
It was claimed in some quarters that The Washington Post knew exactly who else had been down there. One rival newspaper even went so far as to say that the President himself had paid a surprise visit to Katharine Graham – the legendary owner of the Post – and asked her, in the name of America’s diplomatic relations, not to publish the names of the countries who had been present at Wilkes Ice Station. This rumour was never confirmed.
The Post, however, never mentioned Britain or France.
It reported that a battle had taken place down in Antarctica, but it steadfastly maintained that it did not know the identity of the opposing force or forces. Every article that appeared in the Post simply said that the conflict had been against ‘enemies unknown’.
In any case, the Wilkes Ice Station story ran for six whole weeks before it was forgotten.
A few days after the Wasp returned, the NATO conference