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"Well, Mr. President, I can't say positively, of course. What it looks like is that he got to the old service tu
"You don't think this time he might be bluffing?"
"Mr. President, I've played a lot of poker with Steve Westman. One thing about him; he don't bluff worth a damn, and he never has. He's not bluffing this time."
"So you think he's actually planted explosives under the System Bank of Montana?"
"Yes, Sir. I do."
"And he'll actually set them off?"
"Don't see any other reason to've put them there."
"My God, Chief Marshal! If he sets those things off, blows up the national bank, it'll be a devastating blow to the entire economy! He could trigger a full-scale recession!"
"I expect he's thought of that, Mr. President."
"But he's gone to such pains to avoid angering the public. What makes you think he's ready to change that pattern here?"
"Mr. President, he's told us all along he's prepared to go to the mat over this. That he's prepared to risk being killed himself, and to kill other people, if that's what it takes. And everything he's done so far's been a direct, logical escalation from the last thing he did. Sure, he's going to piss off a lot of people if he blows the economy into a recession. However, pissing people off is what he's been after all along. And however pissed they're going to be at him, he's figuring they're going to be just as pissed at you, me, and the rest of the Administration, for letting him do it. The man's willing to get himself killed over this-you really think he's going to lose sleep over people thinking unkind thoughts about him?"
Suttles felt his teeth trying to grind together, but this time, he knew, at least two-thirds of his frustration was directed at the absent Westman, not at Ba
"All right, Chief Marshal. If you're convinced he's serious about it, and if you're also convinced he's somehow planted explosive charges in the bank service tu
"Mostly because Steve obviously thought of that, too. He warned us not to, and I'm pretty sure if we try something like that anyway, we'll just set them off early."
"Don't we have experts who specialize in disarming bombs and disposing of explosives?"
"We do. So does the Navy. I've talked to them. They say there's at least a dozen ways he could have rigged his charges to go off the instant anyone steps into those tu
"They're not even willing to try ?"
"Of course they are. Question is, are we willing to send them in?"
"Of course we are! How can you even think of not sending them?"
"First, because I'd just as soon not get them killed," Ba
"Of course he'd be responsible for their deaths! He's the one who put the damned bombs there in the first place!"
"Not saying he didn't. All I'm saying is the public perception's going to be that your Administration sent those bomb disposal experts in knowing the bombs would go off-and kill them-if you did. They'll blame Westman, all right. But they'll blame you for ignoring his warning almost as much as they'll blame him. And do you really want the voters thinking we're just as clumsy, stupid, and ineffectual as Westman's been claiming we are right along?"
Suttles opened his mouth to snap a reply, then paused. A part of him couldn't help wondering if just possibly Trevor Ba
But that thought wasn't what froze him in mid-snap. Partly because, even at his most irritated, he knew the very idea was ludicrous. Not that it was impossible Ba
"Have you talked to the Treasury Secretary about this, Chief Marshal?" he asked instead of saying what he'd started to say.
"I have."
"What was his estimate of the consequences if the bombs go off?"
"I understand he's prepared to give you his formal estimate at the emergency Cabinet meeting, Mr. President."
"I'm sure he is. And I'm sure you expect me to make my decision only after every member of the Cabinet's had a chance to express his or her own views on exactly what I ought to be doing."
There was an ever so slightly biting edge to the President's voice, and Suttles was rather pleased to see a faint spark of surprise in Ba
"However," he continued, "let's not waste time pretending anything any of them say is going to weigh as heavily as what you recommend, Chief Marshal. So just go ahead and tell me what Secretary Stiles had to say."
"He estimates, worst-case scenario, that we'll lose about two weeks worth of electronic records. Everything's backed up immediately on the Bank's secondary computer net, and twice a month a complete new backup's generated for the remote storage location in the New Swans. Unfortunately, Westman timed this to hit just before the bi-monthly backup, and the secondary computer net is in the Bank building's subcellars... which means they're even closer to the bombs-assuming they're really there-than the primary computers. 'Pears he's managed to cut the land line to the New Swans site to prevent any emergency dumps, too, and the Bank's security staff's already evacuated the building-my orders, Mr. President-so even if there was time, there's no access for physical downloads.
"Course, losing the records is only part of it. When those bombs go, they're go
"And did he happen to mention what effect he expects that to have on the economy?"
"I don't think he has the least idea, Mr. President. I don't think anyone does. It's never happened before. I don't expect it to be good, and neither does he, but his feeling is that unless it sparks an outright panic-which, I think is unlikely-the effect should stop well short of the sort of panic-induced recession you referred to earlier."
"Which isn't the same thing as saying that it won't cost us millions, possibly even billions."
"No, Mr. President. It isn't."
"And your recommendation is still that we accept the damage rather than sending in bomb disposal units to try to prevent it?"
"Mr. President, if I thought there was a chance in hell of disarming those bombs without setting them off, I'd personally lead our BDUs into those tu
Suttles looked at him for several moments in silence. Then the System President inhaled deeply, planted his hands on his desktop, and shoved himself erect.
"All right, Chief Marshal," he sighed. "Let's get on into the Cabinet meeting. And, if you don't mind," he actually managed a smile, "let me at least pretend to listen to everyone else before I decide we're going to do things your way."
"Of course, Mr. President," Trevor Ba
Be damned, he thought, following Suttles out of the office, might just be the man's got a spine, after all. Be nice if he had a brain to go with it, but who knows? It may turn out he's even got one of those if he ever decides to stand up on his hind legs and use it.