Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 03 (44 page)

           
O’Day was familiar with most aspects
of Moslem life; she was especially versed on its feudalistic treatment of
women. In many ways ASEAN, where four of the seven member nations were
predominantly Islamic, was little more than an exclusive all-male country club,
their play interrupted occasionally by short periods of more or less serious
work and debate. Women performed the usual secretarial duties and little
more—except, of course, for the courtesans who could be seen wandering the
halls of the adjacent hotel where most of the delegates and foreign ministers
stayed.

           
It was important for these delegates
to not look upon her as a woman, but a representative of the
United States
government. She even went as far as wearing
a very male-cut outfit, with a double-breasted jacket, a long ankle-length
skirt that resembled a Muslim robe, and had even cut her hair very short for
this meeting. Anything to blend in was fair game.

           
The meeting got under way with the
last series of short speeches concerning the Chinese presence in the
Philippines
, and one by one the delegates voiced their
opposition to
China
sending so many troops and so many warships to those islands.

           
As expected, the delegation from the
Philippines
urged restraint, patience, and
understanding through these troubled times. O’Day had not met the new
ambassador from the
Philippines
, knew nothing about him, and had not been
granted an appointment with him. The ASEAN executive council had immediately
credentialed him, however, so he had full authority to vote and debate during
the meeting: “The
Philippines
are in the process of enacting the first
meaningful, productive change in our nation’s history,” the Philippine
ambassador said. “Our nation has been dominated by foreigners almost since our
inception ...”

           
O’Day cocked an eyebrow. She got the
drift—the ambassador was obviously somebody’s parrot. Well, she sure as hell
wasn’t buying it. “Mr. Ambassador, let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Where is
President Mikaso? Has he been assassinated? Taken captive?”

           
“Silence, Ambassador O’Day,” the
chairman of the executive council, the ambassador from
Indonesia
, said. “You are not permitted to speak in
this forum . . .”

           
She ignored him. “I would like proof
that it was an American weapon that detonated off your shores, as you claim.
This council has been given substantial evidence that it was a
Chinese
warhead—”

           
“Lies,” Ambassador Perez spat. “I
demand that this woman be removed from our presence and that her government
apologize for her insulting behavior . . .”

           
“Sit up and take it like a man,
Ambassador,” O’Day said evenly. “After all, I’m
only
a woman . . .”

           
That was too much for the ASEAN
delegates; even the Brunei Crown Prince, who could not keep his lascivious eyes
off her and had nodded approval when she first spoke up, shook his head.

           
“Ambassador O’Day, you have been
granted observer status only,” the chairman said. “You are not permitted to
speak. You will not be warned again. Ambassador Perez, continue with your
statement.”

           
“Thank you. My country has been bled
by the former regime’s failed economic policies and by American imperialism.
The Chinese were victims of rebel aggression as well. When they offered
humanitarian aid after the nuclear attack—a gesture that was not made by any
other nation until days later, including many nations represented here—we also
requested assistance in quelling the well-armed and bloodthirsty rebels . . .”

           
“You ought to write
techno-thrillers, Mr. Perez,” the Crown Prince from
Brunei
said with a laugh. “They are very popular
in my country. Unfortunately, your lies are not.”

           
Perez pressed on. “I urge my fellow
delegates to vote to disapprove sanctions against my country and to follow
continued relief and police efforts by the Chinese government. My people beg
for your help and understanding. Thank you.” He turned and gave O’Day a
murderous glare, then stared straight ahead, waiting for the Council’s
decision.

           
“The resolution before the council
would approve full economic sanctions against the Republic of China and the
Philippines
,” the chairman summarized, “and would
restrict all trade and commerce with
China
, and would authorize the Association to
implement all policies and invoke all measures to urge
China
to withdraw its military forces from all
members’ territorial or disputed waters. We vote by open- voice ballot. Five
votes are required to pass the resolution. If all discussion is concluded,
please record your vote.”

           
One by one, they voted.

           
Indonesia
.

           
Malaysia
.

           
Singapore
.

           
The
Kingdom
of
Brunei
.

           
All in favor of the resolution.

           
The
Philippines
voted against it.

           
As did
Thailand
, who along with
Vietnam
—the last two ASEAN countries to vote—had
waived any closing arguments to the resolution. That had O’Day worried. She had
tried to talk to each ambassador before the meeting, but had no luck. Both were
critical countries; both had borders with
China
, and their huge neighbor was always a major
presence in any political and military situation.

           
But both were members of ASEAN to
counter
China
’s influence, and so far it was working. They finally had the political
clout to stand up to their powerful neighbor.

           
“The
kingdom
of
Thailand
,” its ambassador said, “is convinced that
such a resolution, made in the heat of passion and without extensive study and
debate, would be counterproductive. As much as
Thailand
seeks an end to violence and fear, we
cannot support such a resolution without further study.
Thailand
abstains.”

           
O’Day couldn’t believe it. Of all
countries,
Thailand
stood to lose the most if
China
were allowed to exert a greater influence
in the region; she had never expected them to abstain . . .

           
That left
Vietnam
as the deciding vote. They would
have
to vote yes, O’Day thought. After
all,
Vietnam
and
China
were all but enemies. True,
Vietnam
was the only Communist country in ASEAN,
and true,
Vietnam
and
China
had once been uneasy allies, but . . .

           
“
Republic
of
Vietnam
.”

           
“
Vietnam
abstains.”

           
Deborah O’Day shot to her feet in
absolute shock. “
What!”
she shouted.
“You’re abstaining? Why?”

           
The chairman was pounding his gavel
over the sudden flurry of excited voices. “Ambassador O’Day, your outbursts
will not be tolerated! You are ordered to leave. I will have order in this
chamber . . .”

           
“I want an explanation!” O’Day
shouted. Security guards were quickly rushing to her side. “Don’t you
understand? You’re handing over the keys to your cities to the Chinese if you
don’t stop them now!”

           
O’Day was still shouting as she was
unceremoniously pulled to her feet and half-dragged, half-escorted to the rear
of the conference room and outside. Her aide was deposited beside her a few
moments later.

           
“I don’t believe this,” O’Day told
her aide as they made their way to the entrance. “What the hell is going on?
Vietnam
should certainly be opposed to Chinese
aggression.

           
. . . Something is very odd . . .”

           
“We’ve got to notify Washington
about this immediately,” her aide said as they made their way to the limousine.
“We’ll have to brief the President . . .”

           
The Marine Corps driver from the
embassy staff, in full dress blues—spotless white gloves, white belt with
.45-caliber sidearm, spit-shined boots, and round hat with the brim pulled down
so low it almost obscured his racing-style sunglasses—quickly stepped around
from the driver’s side to the curbside rear door, opened it, and stood at
attention as O’Day and her aide entered the car. “How’s the traffic on
Bukit Timah Road
, Corporal?” she asked her driver
distractedly. He grunted a perfunctory, “Poor, ma’am,” in reply and quickly
closed the door.

           
“Go ahead and take the central
avenue to Government House, then,” O’Day’s aide said as the driver re-entered
the limousine. “Call ahead and ask Communications to get a line open for us.”
The driver pulled out into the traffic and, with usual Marine flair and
urgency, roared down the wide central city avenue toward
Singapore
’s Embassy Row.

           
“
China
’s just been given the green light to occupy
the
Philippines
and make a grab for the rest of the
Pacific,” O’Day’s aide said. “The President won’t have any choice but to
respond militarily.”

           
“But he won’t like it,” O’Day said.
“He wants the endorsement of some
Pacific Rim
government or organization before he commits troops, and he just lost the most
important one. God, is he going to be pissed.”

           
“This will be one phone call I don’t
envy you,” her aide said. He turned to the Marine Corps driver. “Corporal, you
didn’t call the embassy communications office like the ambassador asked. Now
please do it.”

           
His order was answered with a
clunk!
as the locks on all the doors
engaged.

           
O’Day immediately scanned all the
windows, looking for pursuing cars or any sign of a threat; there were none.
Her aide immediately reached down below the seat to the hidden compartment
where a Uzi submachine gun was stored. “Corporal, why’d you lock the doors?”
O’Day asked. “What’s going on?”

           
“The Uzi’s gone,” her aide said. He
fingered the door unlock buttons and power window switches—none were operable.
“What the hell is going on?” He reached for the cellular phone in the backseat,
but the “Ready” lights were all out—the phone too was dead.

           
A .45-caliber Colt semiautomatic
pistol appeared in the hand of the driver; he showed it to O’Day and her aide
but then immediately lowered it, out of view. “Please sit still and do not try
anything foolish,” the driver said. “You will not be harmed unless you try to
resist.”

           
It was not until O’Day looked at the
man through the rearview mirror that she realized he was wearing
sunglasses—their Marine driver had not been wearing them before because of the
early hour and overcast skies. “Where’s our driver?”