Secrets of State by Matthew Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

Men—they were all men—who were used to deference. It was simultaneously fascinating and a little repellent to watch, like looking at a school of piranhas strip a cow down to its bones one little bite at a time.
    She was attractive in a rather severe way, a look she accentuated by pulling her hair back into a tight librarian-style bun that she covered with a headscarf. As far as Sam could tell, Sara’s religious devotion did not go much beyond the headscarf and the halal food she brought from home. Certainly she had skipped over any verses in the Quran that advocated women being subordinate to men. A consistently stylish dresser, today she was wearing turquoise slacks with an alligator belt and a white tailored shirt. Her headscarf matched the slacks. A pair of chunky reading glasses hung on a chain around her neck.
    She opened a cream-colored folder with the latest intelligence reports. Sara liked to do most of her reading on paper copies. The monitors, she claimed, gave her headaches.
    â€œIt’s not good news,” she said. In truth, it rarely was. At least it hadn’t been in the last couple of months as India and Pakistan careened toward what many feared would be a disastrous confrontation.
    â€œThe Indian papers are pushing an anti-Pakistan, rabble-rousing line that has hardened popular attitudes,” Sara continued. “Rangarajan is doing what he can, but he’s increasingly boxed in by hardliners in the military. We have one report from a sensitive source that the BSP may be planning a no-confidence vote on the prime minister if he doesn’t harden his stance toward Islamabad. I’ll leave it to Ken to talk about the military angle on this, but the political pressure on Rangarajan is definitely building.”
    The Bahujan Samaj Party was the Congress Party’s most important coalition partner. If the BSP pulled out, it would bring the government down and trigger new elections. In the current climate, the Hindu nationalists stood to gain the most, and the prospects for peace had the most to lose.
    â€œSara’s right about the pressure,” Ken chimed in. “And the generals aren’t making it any easier for him. The Chief of the Army Staff, General Patel, is a particular problem. We have picked up a few rumors in SIGINT and HUMINT reporting about the parachute regiment under Patel’s direct command developing contingency plans for the introduction of martial law, which looks like some sort of soft coup option. No word on what the triggers might be, but it’s almost certainly tied in in some way with Talwar and Islamabad. I’d like to put together a piece outlining some of the possible scenarios ranging from a show of force as a tool for intimidation right up to the imposition of military rule. At this point, I don’t think we can rule anything out.”
    Although he looked like a high school intern, Ken knew his business. He had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the militaries in South and Central Asia, including their command structures, order of battle, hardware, and doctrine. Sam had come to trust his judgment and respect his ability to string data points together into a logical and understandable narrative. His products were easy to read and were what Sam called “senior policy maker friendly.” Political heavyweights would tell you that they wanted information before making decisions, but that was not entirely accurate. They wanted reassurance. It was not information that offered this so much as a story that was comprehensible.
    â€œGo ahead and get started on that,” Sam said. “Let’s aim to get something up to the fourth floor by Thursday for dissemination to the community on Friday. What about you, Shoe, what’s the latest from Islamabad?”
    â€œLike Sara said, not good.” Shoe was the complete nerd package: president of the chess club and captain of both the math and debate teams in high school, B.S.