Harry Muller, too, recalled almost every attack that Madox mentioned, and what surprised him was how many there were over the last thirty years. He was surprised, too, that he had forgotten so many of them-even the big ones, like the car bomb attack on the Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed 241 Americans, or the bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie that killed hundreds of people.

Harry felt himself getting angrier as each attack was chronicled, and he thought that if a terrorist-or any Muslim-were brought into the room, the guy would be ripped apart by everyone there. Madox knew how to inflame the crowd.

In fact, Madox looked around the table and said, “Every one of us here had a friend, or knew someone, who was killed in the World Trade Center or the Pentagon.” He addressed General Hawkins. “Your nephew, Captain Tim Hawkins, died in the Pentagon.” Next he spoke to Scott Landsdale. “You had two CIA colleagues who died in the World Trade Center. Correct?”

Landsdale nodded.

Madox turned to Harry. “And you? Did you lose anyone that day?”

Harry replied, “My boss… Captain Stein and some other guys I knew died in the North Tower…”

“My condolences,” said Madox, who then concluded his recitation of the atrocities, brutalities, and violence against America and the West. “This was all something new under the sun, and neither the world nor the United States knew how to react. Many people thought it would just go away. Obviously, it did not. It just got worse. In fact, the Western world wasn’t equipped to counter these terrorist attacks, and we seemed to lack the will to respond to these people who were murdering us. Even when the United States was attacked on its own soil-the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center-we did nothing.” He looked at Harry. “Correct?”

“Yeah… but that changed things-”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

Harry said, “Well, 9/11 changed everything. We’re more on top of-”

“You know, Harry, you and your ATTF friends, and the whole FBI, CIA, Defense Intelligence, British MI5 and MI6, Interpol, and the rest of the useless European intelligence services could spend the rest of their fucking lives chasing Islamic terrorists, and it wouldn’t make much difference.”

“I don’t know-”

“I know. Last year, it was the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Next year, it will be the White House and the Capitol Building.” Madox paused, blew smoke rings, then said, “And one year, it will be an entire American city. A nuclear bomb. Do you doubt that?”

Harry didn’t reply.

“Harry?”

“No. I don’t doubt that.”

“Good. Neither does anyone at this table. That’s why we’re here.” He asked Harry, “How would you prevent that from happening?”

“Well… actually, I sometimes work on the NEST team-the Nuclear Emergency Support Team. You know about that?”

Bain Madox smiled. “Harry, you’re sitting here with the deputy secretary of defense, a top national security adviser to the president of the United States, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the CIA liaison to the White House. If there’s anything we don’t know, I’d be very surprised.”

“Then why do you keep asking me questions?”

Madox seemed a little annoyed. “Let me tell you about NEST-known as the volunteer fire department of the nuclear age. Very quaint, and about as effective. A thousand or so volunteers from the fields of science, government, and law enforcement who sometimes disguise themselves as tourists and businesspeople. They walk or drive around American cities and other sensitive targets, such as dams, nuclear reactors, and so forth, carrying their gamma-ray and neutron detectors hidden inside briefcases, golf bags, beer coolers, and whatever. Correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you ever find an atomic bomb?”

“Not yet.”

“And you never will. There could be an explosive nuclear device or a dirty bomb sitting in an apartment on Park Avenue with the timer going, and the chances of NEST or Harry Muller discovering that bomb is near zero. Correct?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes you get lucky.”

“That’s not very reassuring, Harry.” Madox said, “The question is, How does the American government prevent a weapon of mass destruction-specifically, a nuclear device, planted by terrorists-from obliterating an American city?” He looked at Harry and said, “I want you to draw a lesson from the Cold War strategy of Mutually Assured Destruction, and tell me how we can keep terrorists from planting and exploding a nuclear bomb in an American city. This is not a rhetorical question. Answer me, please.”

Harry replied, “Okay, I guess like with the Russians-if they knew we were going to nuke them, then they wouldn’t nuke us.”

Madox replied, “True, but the nature of the enemy has changed. The global terrorist network is not like the old Soviet Union. The Soviets were an empire with a government, cities, hard targets, and soft targets. All laid out in a strike plan drawn up by the Pentagon and known to the Soviets. Islamic terrorism, on the other hand, is very amorphous. If an Islamic terrorist organization detonates a nuke in New York or Washington, who do we retaliate against?” He stared at Harry. “Who?”

Harry thought a moment. “Baghdad.”

“Why Baghdad? How would we know if Saddam Hussein had anything to do with a nuclear attack on America?”

Harry replied, “What difference does it make? One Arab city is as good as the next. They’ll all get the message.”

“Indeed, they would. But here’s a better plan. During the Reagan administration, the American government devised and put into place this secret protocol named Wild Fire. What Wild Fire is, is the nuclear obliteration of the entire Islamic world by means of American nuclear missiles, in response to a nuclear terrorist attack on America. How does that sound to you?”

Harry didn’t respond.

“You can speak freely. You’re among friends. Wouldn’t you, deep in your heart, like to see Sandland turned into a sea of molten glass?”

Harry looked around the table, then replied, “Yes.”

Bain Madox nodded. “So, there you have it. Harry Muller, who is an average American in most respects, would like to see Islam eradicated in a nuclear holocaust.”

Harry Muller was happy to go along with Madox’s bullshit-and it was just that. Bullshit. Right-wing loony fantasy talk that probably gave these guys hard-ons. He couldn’t see any connection between what Madox was saying and what Madox was able to do. It reminded him of his days in the NYPD Intelligence Division, when he’d interrogate left-wing radicals who talked about world revolution and the rising of the masses, whatever the hell that was. His boss used to call it pinko wet dreams. He looked around the table again. On the other hand, these guys didn’t seem like they were jerking themselves off, or jerking him off. In fact, they looked serious about something, and they were important guys.

Madox broke into Harry’s thoughts and said to him, “How do we get the United States government to put a quick end to terrorism, and to this clear and imminent nuclear threat to the American homeland? Well, I’ll tell you. The government has to launch Wild Fire. Right?”

Harry didn’t answer, and Bain Madox informed him, “There are about seventy suitcase-size nuclear weapons missing from the inventory of the old Soviet Union. Did you know that?”

Harry replied, “Sixty-seven.”

“Thank you. Did you ever wonder if any of those suitcase nukes has gotten into the hands of Islamic terrorists?”

“We think they have.”

“Well, you’re right. They have. I’ll tell you something you don’t know-something that fewer than twenty people in the world know-one of those suitcase nukes was discovered last year in Washington, D.C. Not by a NEST team having a lucky day, but by the FBI acting on a tip.”

Harry didn’t respond, but thought about that, and a cold chill ran down his spine.