Free Code Word: Paternity, A Presidential Thriller by Doug Norton Page A

2009.”
    “Well, that’s just great!” said Easterly.
“Two of our validators are presidents who are widely believed to be liars—Clinton about Monica and
Bush about WMD.”
    “But,” replied Hendricks, “we also have
the Chinese government.”
    “That’s what he meant!” said Anne
Battista. “The Chinese foreign minister, when he said we’d know soon who did
it.”
    Listening to Battista, Martin realized that
her outburst would show Griffith that he was not
the only one outside of Paternity until today, but Griffith’s red cheeks and balled fists,
resting on the table, told their story.
    “Does anyone here think the Chinese would be willing to back us on
Paternity?” asked the vice president, his right hand flicking
imperiously to include everyone.
    Battista looked at Griffith coolly and said, “A lot would depend
on who Paternity points to.”  
    The president stepped in. “You’re right,
Anne, and when we know that, the Chinese connection will be an aspect to
pursue. But right now let me throw out a hypothetical: let’s say I decide that
we must have independent confirmation
of Paternity. I then authorize sharing of portions of our database.”
    Martin turned to Hendricks, pausing for a
beat, and everyone knew he was reminding him who was president.
    He continued: “So how does that work? Who
do we share with? How do we share credibly?”
    “Well, I’d say for sure the IAEA,”
replied Battista, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency. “And the
permanent members of the UN Security Council. We’re going to need their support
to do anything at the UN, and probably each member still has expertise in
analyzing fallout.”
    “Who are the
strongest skeptics going to be?” asked Martin.
    In unison, Griffith and Easterly
said, “the press!”
    “OK, and how can
we handle their skepticism?”
    “Well, we really should turn Sam Yu loose
on that angle,” Griffith
replied, “but here’s a top-of-the-head thought: How about if we bring Bob
Woodward inside Paternity? He has a record of
reporting from behind the scenes without either pulling punches or revealing
the most sensitive information.”
    Well
I’ll be damned! thought
Martin. Bruce wants to be sure he comes
out of this on the side of the angels. That’s no surprise, but I expected he’d
be more subtle. Well, if Woodward starts revealing inside information, I’ll
know where to look first.
    Easterly responded to the VP: “Hell,
others are so jealous of him that they’ll go out of their way to debunk
whatever he writes! And he’s a Washington
Post guy. The Times would hate us
if we did that. I bet Sam won’t go for it.”
    “Just a
thought,” said Griffith.
“Like I said, Sam’s the expert.”
    “You know,” said Battista, “somehow we’ve
got to get away from Colin Powell briefing nonexistent WMD to the UN. We’re
going to see that footage played over and over.”
    “Mr. President,” said Griffith, “the turn this discussion has taken
shows the danger of trying too hard to be understood, to get everybody to agree
with us. As it has here, the issue shifts from the terrorists to the
credibility of the United
States. I’m all for lining up support, but
after we’ve considered the evidence here in this administration, we’re going to
have to do what we in Pennsylvania
call takin’ care of business. That’s our responsibility to Americans!”
    “Mr. Vice President,” said Battista, “we
have a responsibility to the world as well as to Americans. That goes with
being the only superpower!”
    Martin thought, Yes, Bruce is going to be a problem! For many reasons I don’t want to
cut him out of this, but I need to find some way to insulate the process from
his aggressiveness.
    The president closed his briefing book
and slid his pen into his shirt pocket, those actions as dismissive as closing
a door. “Bruce, when the time comes to take care of business, we will. And
we’ve taken care of a lot of it here.