* * *
McDowell watched the scene from New York with a wry smile: Cavanagh’s reaction to the drug had been more rapid and far more dramatic than planned, but they could hardly have timed the effect better, the President illustrating to the world his apparent frailty. Most observers would assume that the stress of recent weeks had finally ground him down; either that or he was seriously ill. Yet Cavanagh’s near-collapse also created problems for McDowell, it now certain that the drug used would be revealed significantly earlier than anticipated, the White House perhaps even regarding it as a failed assassination attempt.
McDowell was one of five men and women seated in the computer centre, every console occupied, the large screen now split into thirty-two separate views. The vast majority were live images, the remainder data streams revealing the latest economic and voting statistics. So far, everything was progressing as well as McDowell could have hoped and his main concern was the tenacious nature of those arrayed against him. It surely couldn’t be too long before the FBI located the farmhouse complex. To abandon it was always an option, McDowell just not wanting to do so without good cause; all of those involved were well aware of the risks, the potential rewards for success far outweighing the penalty for failure.
Anderson hooking-up with the FBI was to be expected; the torpedo attack on the USS Milius was not, the artillery bombardment of Khabarovsk also looking to be part of the same strategy. President Golubeva was definitely working to an accelerated agenda, the reason for her willingness to commit substantial resources to this second phase now easier to understand.
It was a problem McDowell had struggled with: he could threaten to delay or even pull out completely, but their schedule was now virtually self-sustaining. In any case, his team was already fully committed and Sukhov would know it was no more than an empty threat. Events in the South China Sea were certainly well out of McDowell’s control, everyone now waiting to see how China would react. In the end he had demanded Russia refrain from further action, reinforcing to Sukhov the need for at least forty-eight hours of stability.
Sukhov had at first been non-committal, returning McDowell’s call within the hour to agree everything he had asked. McDowell assumed Golubeva had recognised that the situation in Washington was still fluid, and was wary of ruining everything they had all worked so hard for.
McDowell glanced up at the main monitor: the CNN news ticker was reporting that Cavanagh was being taken to Mount Sinai Hospital east of Central Park. There was no update as to his condition, the anchorman stating that the President had looked exhausted, ‘the demands of the last few days obviously taking its toll’.
McDowell could well imagine the turmoil at Mount Sinai, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment once again raising its convoluted head. Section four of the Amendment specifically dealt with the problem of a President becoming unable – or incapable – of discharging his duties effectively. In the latter case, it could only be enacted with the agreement of the Vice-President and a majority of the Cabinet: with no Vice-President, that criterion was thus impossible to meet. Attorney General, doctors, lawyers and advisers would presently be arguing as to what to do, and whether the President could actually be considered ‘unable’. When Reagan had been shot in ’81, Bush as Vice-President had simply refused to invoke the Amendment, leading to demands for future clarification; yet even after forty years nothing had been resolved and whatever the state of Cavanagh’s health, he could not legally be replaced.
Directly below the CNN segment on the wall monitor was a more static scene, a long-range shot showing the gated entrance to the home of Republican Congressman James Bennett, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He might presently be under a cloud over the recent claims of financial impropriety, but with the Vice-President’s resignation, Bennett had become first in the presidential line of succession.
So far, there had been nothing unusual to see, the expectation being that Bennett’s level of security would prove to be a reliable indicator of the President’s health. As next-in-line, the number of Secret Service agents had already been increased the once, but McDowell now hoped that there would be no further additions.
After all, he wanted a lame duck President, not a dead one.
The Trust Of The People Page 47
