Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [19]
“I don’t think it’s prudent to speculate on hypothetical events at this time. As I mentioned earlier, America will protect its interests in the Pacific and do whatever it can to bring about an amicable solution, but it’s simply too early to speculate on what forms those solutions might take.”
“Mr. President, there have been rumblings about conflicts within OPEC and within and among Middle Eastern governments. Are you concerned with the impact the Chunxiao situation might have in these areas or the direction of Western policy?”
President Burkmeister paused for a moment before answering. He had growing concerns about the intelligence reports coming out of Saudi Arabia, but he did not want to give the media any hint of his concern. The tempo of his answer slowed.
“Having open access to OPEC oil and maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East are matters of utmost concern to the United States and our allies. The common denominator, let’s be honest, is oil. The Chunxiao Incident occurred several thousand miles away from the nearest OPEC producer, and the amount of oil produced there is infinitesimal compared to what OPEC produces; it’s unlikely the incident would adversely impact OPEC. Clearly, the United States is committed to protecting the diminishing supply of global oil, and we would hope that the Chunxiao Incident is not seen as an opportunity by any nation or group to exploit an already tense situation for private gain.”
“Mr. President, Senator Tom Collingsworth, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was concerned that your administration would waffle in its support of Japan, our long-time Pacific ally. Your ‘wait and see’ statement could be seen as confirming his concerns. Can you comment on this, sir?”
“The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee,” he said, too irritated to even acknowledge Collingsworth’s name, “has the luxury of making such injudicious statements before knowing all the facts. As president, I don’t have that luxury. I can’t just take a ‘ready, fire, aim’ position as the chairman seems to take, and I might advise him to ease up until he knows all the facts. For now, I’ll stand by my opening statement.” Mentally, he rolled his eyes, thinking, That Washington Post reporter will be thrilled knowing she now has a week’s worth of controversy to write about.
Burkmeister felt a sudden chill and was hit by a powerful wave of fatigue; for a moment he actually wondered if he could walk away from the Rose Garden under his own power. Calling on a reservoir of inner strength, he said, “I think that will be all for now. We’ll keep you advised and wish you all a good day.” With that, he slowly walked back to the Oval Office and immediately summoned Dr. Toomay.
After quickly examining the president, a concerned Doctor Toomay said, “I’ve arranged for you to take a battery of tests at Walter Reed this afternoon, Mr. President—the usual blood workups, urine tests, and so forth, and I have asked that they do some ultrasounds, CT scans, and a liver biopsy. This will all be done discreetly, of course, and if something should inadvertently leak out, we’ll say your general health is good and you were in to check out some flulike symptoms. For all we know, that might be all there is.”
That is not completely true, Toomay thought, but he didn’t want to unduly alarm the president. He could not help but be alarmed by the president’s yellowed skin, loss of weight, fatigue, stomach and back pains, and generally run-down condition. He learned long ago to never jump to a medical conclusion until all the data was in, but in his heart of hearts he had a premonition that was almost too unpleasant to even imagine. The president, he knew for sure, was a very sick man.
7
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
14 September 2017
Wellington Crane was particularly cheerful as the news of the Chunxiao Incident started to filter in. The stock market had plunged