Fatal Thunder: A Jerry Mitchell Novel by Larry Bond Read Free Book Online Page A

repeatedly claimed that the LeT terrorists were operating under probable Chinese influence. If the U.S. were to indirectly corroborate that view, and then suggest that the LeT terror group had nuclear weapons, India might be compelled to conduct a preemptive strike to counter an unprecedented and unacceptable threat. One nuclear blast could become many.
    Myles shook his head, depressed. He really didn’t need this right now; the U.S. economy was still trying to recover from the Sino–Littoral Alliance War. He then looked over at Patterson and noted she hadn’t said a word. “You’re being awfully quiet, Joanna. What do you think?”
    I’m trying hard not to, she thought to herself. But recognizing that that wasn’t a proper answer, she said, “Both Milt’s and Secretary Lloyd’s views are valid, Mr. President, but neither recommendation is free from the possibility of political backlash against the United States. I’m afraid this is a case of choosing what you believe is the lesser of two evils.”
    Myles chuckled, his face sporting a tired grin. “That sounds like our good friend, Ray. He always did have a knack of walking a very fine line.”
    Joanna looked down, blushing. Being favorably compared to her former boss and predecessor was quite an accolade—Raymond Kirkpatrick was a Jedi master in the policy world. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Mr. President,” she said softly.
    “As it was meant to be,” responded Myles. Taking another deep breath and rising, he continued, “Okay, Milt, we’ll withhold the results of the airborne samples for now. But I want a well-crafted and coordinated press release to go out the minute after Joanna gets back to us with the ground-sample analysis.
    “Andrew, I want the State Department to reach out, quietly, to our allies, the Littoral Alliance, and yes, even the Russians and the Chinese. Tell them what we are doing, but not what we’ve learned. Ask them for their patience as we evaluate the samples.”
    Both Alvarez and Lloyd replied, “Yes, Mr. President.”
    “And you, Joanna, I need those ground sample results as soon as you can possibly get them to me. But, they have to be done right. We can’t afford a mistake on this, we have to be extremely confident of our findings.”
    “Absolutely, sir.”
    “Good. We’ll also need to release the results of the analyses at the same time, we just can’t make a claim like this and ask the world simply to believe us. I want a succinct, but very basic report that we can release publicly. Remember a lot of non-tech-savvy politicians are going to read this, so we have to make this easy to understand. Got it?”
    The three advisors all nodded and headed for the door.
    13 March 2017
    1955 Local Time
    Visakhapatnam, India
----
    Samant took another swig of his cold Kingfisher lager; he badly needed a morale boost. He’d arrived early so he could have some time to unwind; the day had been one long serving of bad karma. Petrov walked in exactly at eight o’clock, signaled the bartender, and ordered, “A Kalyani Black Label, please.”
    Samant chuckled as his friend sat down. “Going native on me, Aleksey? I thought you Russians preferred vodka?”
    “No, no, Girish, vodka is for cooler climates. In this heat a cold lager is much better.”
    “Heat? What are you talking about? It was only thirty-one degrees Centigrade today!”
    “Where I come from, we cook at those temperatures,” Petrov said with a wink. The waitress delivered his beer, and after thanking her, he raised his bottle and said, “Nostrovia!”
    “Cheers!” replied Samant as they clinked their bottles.
    After ordering dinner, and taking a sip or two of beer, Samant finally broke the ice. “So, what luck did you have?”
    Petrov smiled as he spoke. “Actually, better than I thought. I confirmed with the naval liaison staff that the only new Russian weapon being added to Chakra ’s arsenal is the UGST-M torpedo, and that the necessary combat system