Джон Болл - The First Team

“I most sincerely hope that it is,” she answered him. “If anyone is sufficiently interested, I would much prefer him to have that belief; it would probably satisfy him.”

That was not the answer the senator had expected. “You mean — the occupying forces?”

“Senator, the men who were in your home today were not here to examine the wiring; they were a security detail. Their real purpose was to make sure that no listening devices had been installed.”

“In preparation for your visit?”

“Yes.”

The senator stirred himself. “Mrs. Smith, are you sure that you wouldn’t care for some refreshment?”

“Tea, then, if it’s convenient.”

The senator left the room long enough to place the order. When he returned he was cautious and serious. “Now, Mrs. Smith, please tell me what I can do for you.”

“Very well, senator, I shall. It has come to me through roundabout channels that following the tragic death of your son you wanted to know if there was such a thing as an American underground, and if Gary had belonged to it.”

“Yes,” Fitzhugh said, “that’s correct.”

“From this point forward our conversation must be totally confidential. I am aware of your sworn obligation to protect the national security.”

“You may absolutely rely on it, madam.”

“I am doing so, senator. The answer to your question is that there is an active and powerful American underground. It is very well organized and equipped. It was established some time ago under the previous administration when the President foresaw the possibility of what has since taken place.”

“But I knew nothing of this!”

Mrs. Smith leaned back in her comfortable chair and carefully crossed her legs without display. “At that time, senator, some careful steps were taken to see that you did not hear of it. It was kept secret from all but a very few people who were directly concerned.” “But they did not hesitate to recruit my son,” he said bitterly.

Mrs. Smith looked at him. “I understand your distress, senator, and I sincerely sympathize with it. Gary did become a member, because for some time he had been going with Sally Bloom and she was a very patriotic young woman.”

“But what could a group of undergraduate students hope to do?” “Principally, senator, they were to serve as a listening post; institutions of higher learning have been under attack for some time.”

Fitzhugh passed a hand across his face. “Yes, I know that.” He thought some more and then framed a question. “Mrs. Smith, I take it that you are acquainted with Mr. Hewlitt?”

She shook her head. “I’ve never met him, senator, and I’m certain that he’s not aware that I exist.”

“I see, I thought perhaps…”

“Mr. Hewlitt is extremely cautious and discreet, senator, but I am aware that you had a conversation with him a short while ago and my call on you this evening is related to that.”

“I am reassured.”

“Senator, I have some news if you would care to hear it.”

“By all means.”

“One of the reasons why I am being so candid with you in telling you about the underground is because our enemies have already found out.”

Senator Fitzhugh leaned forward. “You mean that they are now in a position to destroy it?”

Mrs. Smith smiled. “No, senator, on the contrary — they know only for sure that it exists. I believe that at one time you opposed the construction of the Ramon Magsaysay and the series that was to follow her.”

The memory came back. “It was an extremely provocative appropriation at the time — that was my position.”

“Your position, senator, is quite well known. I don’t wish to be cruel, but I am forced to say that I consider the death of those eight students very provocative also.”

Despite himself sweat broke out on the brow of Senator Fitzhugh. He was a proud man and the tenets to which he had clung for so long refused to loosen their grip on him. “I was defeated,” he said, “they built the submarine anyway.”

Mrs. Smith was about to speak when the door opened and the senator’s man brought in the tea. He served them and then withdrew. Not until he had been gone several seconds did the conversation resume; then it was Mrs. Smith who spoke.

“Senator, yesterday, very early in the morning, the underground succeeded in putting a fully qualified Navy crew on board that ship, getting her away from the enemy, out of the Golden Gate, and into the Pacific. The submarine is out there now, fully armed, and under American control.”

The senator jerked forward. “Good God!” he said. “This is terrible. To provoke them like that, at a time like this — it’s a disaster.”

His guest’s manner hardened. “Senator, you seem to be constantly concerned with what our enemies think of us. I could name the man who is directing their entire campaign, and I can assure you that he is not to be appeased. He is a ruthless murderer; it was on his direct orders that your son Gary was slaughtered, and all of those who died with him. Are you still trying to win his goodwill?” Fitzhugh felt literally ill. “No,” he said, “of course not.”

“The man of whom I speak respects force and nothing else. I could tell you a great deal about him. He is a sadist, a torturer, and a man of insane ambition and vanity. He is already in a position of great power and is using it ruthlessly to increase it still more. He is here now.”

“In this city?”

“Yes. Furthermore, the Actor is having some increasing troubles that even his very fancy footwork may not be able to overcome. If he is overthrown, and there is a steady history to support that, this man will become the new premier.”

The senator looked searchingly at his guest. “The submarine?” “It is barely possible, Senator Fitzhugh, that with this potent a weapon at our disposal we may be able to fight fire with fire. Magsaysay carries more than one hundred and fifty nuclear warheads, and she can deliver them to practically any target in the world. That the enemy can understand. Because they understand it, they have no desire whatever to be on the receiving end.”

“It’s possible, then, that we might be able to bargain.”

“Not bargain, senator, dictate. They have more firepower than we do, but if they can’t find and destroy that submarine, their goose will be cooked and they know it. She can fire at will and they have no knowledge of who is controlling her. If they do find out, it makes no difference; her captain is one of the finest the Navy has and he already has his orders.”

The senator gave up. “It’s nuclear war, then.”

Mrs. Smith took her time to drink her tea. “No, senator, not necessarily. You yourself might help to prevent that.”

“Are you a member of the underground, Mrs. Smith?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Your name, then, isn’t Mrs. Smith.”

“No, senator, it is not.”

“You seem very well informed. Tell me, are genuinely responsible people in charge of all this? Please reassure me if you can.” “Senator, we call them the First Team, and for good reason. They are the best that this country has, better by far than either of us.”

“Would I know any of them?”

“I’m sorry, senator, apart from the quality and ability its members represent, I can give you no information whatsoever concerning the First Team. Now I have a question for you: if you found yourself in a position where you could support and help your country in this struggle, as a representative of our legally constituted government, would you be willing?”

“Why do you ask me?”

“To obtain an answer.” She returned to her teacup, her poise unruffled.

Solomon Fitzhugh let his head sag as he understood what was being asked of him. The old stubbornness returned and then, once more, the image of his son.