Vanishing Point - Marc Cerasini [90]
"You tell me you have assets in the vicinity of this raid," the President said without preamble.
"That's correct, Mr. President," Henderson replied before Chappelle had a chance to speak. "I have an agent working undercover at Groom Lake. He's the one who destroyed the aircraft the strike team planned to use in their escape. My man is still active, though there's only so much a single agent can do against a small army."
"What other actions has your agency initiated?" asked the Secretary of State.
"We've mobilized our strike team, Madam Secretary," Ryan Chappelle replied. "They'll reach Las Vegas within the hour."
"Too little, too late," scoffed the President.
"You're correct. It's not enough, Mr. President," Henderson said. "I also have three other agents in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, due to an ill-advised operational review..." Henderson glanced in Alberta Green's direction. "...those field assets have been deactivated pending a judicial review."
"That's ridiculous," roared the Chief of Staff. "Have them reinstated immediately."
Ryan Chappelle nodded to Alberta Green. "Could you take care of that?"
"Of course," the woman replied.
"He said immediately," Henderson said with undisguised contempt.
Eyes downcast, Alberta Green rose, gathered up her papers and left the conference room.
"The Chinese must be mad. This is an act of war," the President declared. "How can I end this crisis without bloodshed. My Joint Chiefs want to bomb Groom Lake, level the base. They claim that's a better option than the dissemination of top secret technology and I tend to agree."
"Give us a little time," Richard Walsh said. "With our assets in place, we can move against these commandos at once..."
"I have another suggestion," Christopher Henderson interrupted. "While we formulate a military solution, I think I know another way to influence the Chinese government. A little economic pressure may convince them to see the light."
Hope dawned in the President's eyes. "What do you suggest?"
Henderson rose and adjusted his tie. He leaned over the table to stare into the monitor.
"With your permission, Mr. President, I'm going to ask a close friend of mine to place an informal phone call to Zeng Ju, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China..."
20THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 7 A.M. AND 8 A.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME
7:06:09 a.m. PDT
Orange Blossom Country Club
La Quinta, California
Samuel L. Wexler, President and CEO of Omnicron International, was ready to tee off when he got an unexpected cell phone call from his old college roommate, Christopher Henderson. Wexler was immediately suspicious. In his capacity as head of a major defense contractor, Wexler seldom received a social call before ten AM, and never one from a departmental director at the Counter Terrorist Unit.
Henderson explained the situation at Groom Lake to Wexler, who immediately knew what he had to do to protect his company's interests. After the call ended, Wexler excused himself, tipped his caddy and drove his golf cart back to the club house. The CEO retreated to one of the plush lounges and used the country club's land line to place an international call.
It was early evening in Beijing, the work day ending, but Zeng Ju, Premier of the State Council, accepted the powerful American business tycoon's call. He was instantly sorry he did, because Samuel L. Wexler read the Chinese bureaucrat what the Yankees called "the riot act."
"Your man Jong Lee instigated an international incident that will have dire ramifications in the future relationship between our two nations," Wexler cautioned. "Beside the fact that you've committed an act of war, half the stuff your pirates are stealing is patented to my company. Now you don't think Omnicron International is going to sit idly by and let that happen, do you?"
"Why would the state of your patents matter to China, Mr. Wexler?" Zeng Ju asked, rather disingenuously, the CEO thought. It was time to slap the bureaucrat down.
"My