Page 211 of Never

At every place there was a computer workstation and a telephone headset. Luis was wearing his headset, and as soon as Pauline walked in he began speaking, without preamble. ‘Madam President, two minutes ago one of our infra-red early warning satellites detected the launch of six missiles from Sino-ri, a military base in North Korea.’

Pauline did not sit down. She said: ‘Where are the missiles now?’

Gus put a mug of coffee in front of her, dark with a splash of milk, just how she liked it. ‘Thanks,’ she murmured. She sipped gratefully while Luis continued.

‘One missile misfired and came down in seconds. The remaining five headed into South Korea. Then another broke up in flight.’

‘Do we know why?’

‘No, but missile failures aren’t unusual.’

‘Okay, carry on.’

‘At first we thought they were aimed at Seoul – the capital seemed the logical target – but they have now passed over the city and are approaching the south coast.’ He pointed to a wall screen. ‘The graphic, built up from radar and other inputs, gives a picture of where the missiles are.’

Pauline saw four red arcs superimposed on a map of South Korea. Each arc had an arrowhead that crept slowly southwards. ‘I see two likely targets,’ she said. ‘Busan and Jeju.’ Busan, on the south coast, was South Korea’s second city, with three and a half million people and a huge naval base for both Korean and American forces. But the much smaller Korean-only base on the holiday island of Jeju might have symbolic importance because it was where the North Korean submarine had been destroyed yesterday.

Luis said: ‘I agree, and we’ll soon know which.’ He held up a hand, asking everyone to wait while he listened to his headset, then he said: ‘The Pentagon says the missiles are now more than halfway across South Korea and they should reach the coast in two minutes.’

The speed at which the missiles travelled a hundred miles was breathtaking, Pauline thought.

Chess put in: ‘There is a third possibility, which is no target at all.’

‘Explain,’ said Pauline.

‘The missiles could be meant only as a demonstration, to scare South Korea, in which case they could overfly the entire country and come down in the sea.’

‘Something to hope for, but somehow I don’t think that would be the Supreme Leader’s style,’ Pauline said. ‘Luis, are those ballistic missiles or cruise missiles?’

‘We think we’re looking at medium-range ballistic missiles.’

‘High explosive or nuclear?’

‘High explosive. These missiles came from Sino-ri, which is controlled by the Supreme Leader. He has no nuclear weapons now – they’re all at bases controlled by the rebel ultras.’

‘Why are those missiles still flying? South Korea has anti-missile missiles, doesn’t it?’

‘Ballistic missiles can’t be shot down in mid-flight – they’re too high and too fast. The South Koreans’ Cheolmae 4HL surface-to-air system will engage them in their descent phase, as they approach their target, when they slow down. The system couldn’t hit them when they passed over Seoul.’

‘But it should now.’

‘Any second.’

‘Let’s hope so.’ Pauline turned to Chess. ‘What have we done to stop this?’

‘I called the Chinese foreign minister, Wu Bai, as soon as we got the warning about signals activity. He gave me some bullshit but it was clear that he had no idea what the Supreme Leader was up to.’

‘Did you talk to anyone else?’

‘The South Koreans don’t know why they’re under attack. The North Korean envoy to the UN didn’t return my call.’

She looked at Sophia. ‘Anything from the CIA?’

‘Not from Langley.’ Sophia usually looked glamorous, but tonight she had dressed in a hurry: her long wavy hair was scraped back and tied up in a bun, and she had put on a yellow warm-up jacket and green running pants. But her brain was working. ‘Their best man in Beijing, Davidson, is desperately trying to speak to the head of the Guoanbu, whom he knows well, but he hasn’t reached him yet.’

Pauline nodded. ‘Chang Kai. I’ve heard of him. If anyone in Beijing knows what’s going on, he will.’

Luis was listening to his headset again. ‘The Pentagon is now certain the target is Jeju,’ he said.