"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.

Madox continued, "I'm sure there are a few more suitcase nukes that have been smuggled into the country, probably through our non-existent border with Mexico." He smiled at Harry. "There's probably one sitting in an apartment across the street from your office."

"No, I don't think so. We've swept the area."

"Well, I'm just making a point. Don't take me literally. The question is, Why hasn't a missing Soviet nuclear suitcase bomb been detonated in an American city? Do you think Islamic terrorists would have any moral or ethical qualms about obliterating an American city and killing a million innocent men, women, and children?"

"No."

"Me, neither. And neither does anyone else after 9/11. But I'll tell you why it probably hasn't happened and won't happen. Because for Wild Fire to be a reliable deterrent, as Mutually Assured Destruction was, it cannot be kept a complete secret. In fact, since the Wild Fire plan was implemented, the heads of all Islamic governments have been notified by succeeding administrations in Washington that an attack on an American city with a weapon of mass destruction would automatically ensure an American nuclear retaliation against fifty to one hundred cities and other targets in the Islamic world."

Harry said, "Good."

Bain Madox continued, "As these gentlemen here can attest to, Harry, Wild Fire is seen by the American government as a very strong incentive for these countries to control the terrorists in their midst, to induce these countries to share information with American intelligence agencies, and to do whatever they need to do to keep themselves from being vaporized. In fact, the tip about the nuke in Washington came from the Libyan government. So, it seems to be working."

"Great."

Madox added, "Something like NEST is a pathetic defensive response to nuclear terror. Wild Fire is a pro-active response. It is a gun to the heads of Islamic countries-a gun that will go off if they fail to keep their terrorist friends from going nuclear. Undoubtedly most, if not all, terrorist organizations have been warned of this by the Islamic governments that harbor, aid, and have contact with them. Whether the terrorists believe this or not is another question. So far, they seem to believe it, which is probably why we haven't been attacked by weapons of mass destruction. What do you think, Harry?"

"Makes sense to me."

"Me, too. The Islamic governments have also been informed that Wild Fire is hardwired-that is, no sitting American president can alter or cancel this retaliation against Islam. This keeps our enemies from trying to analyze each president to see if he-or she-has any balls. The president is pretty much out of the equation after a nuke goes off in America. Just like during the Cold War." He turned to Paul Dunn and asked, "Correct?"

Dunn replied, "Correct."

Madox looked at Harry. "You seem lost in thought. What are you thinking about?"

"Well ... I'm sure somebody in the government thought about this, but wouldn't fifty or a hundred nukes in the Mideast kind of fuck up the oil thing?"

A few men smiled, and Madox grinned as well. He glanced toward Edward Wolffer and said, "The deputy secretary of defense has assured me that there are no oil fields on the target list. No refineries, and no oil shipment ports. They will remain intact, but will come under new management." He smiled. "I've got to make a living, Harry."

"Yeah, right. But how about the environment and all that? You know, nuclear fallout, nuclear winter."

"I told you, the answer to global warming is nuclear winter. Just kidding. Look, the effects of fifty or even a hundred nuclear explosions detonating across the Mideast have been studied extensively by the government. It won't be that bad." He added, "I mean, for them, it's lights-out. But for the rest of the planet, depending on what computer model you like, life will go on."

"Yeah ... ?" Something else was troubling Harry Muller. "Well, it's not going to happen anyway because, like you said, if the terrorists know about this ... I mean, do you think, or have you heard, that they're going to nuke us?"

"I haven't heard anything. Have you? Actually, my colleagues here think that Wild Fire is such an effective deterrent that the likelihood of an American city being attacked with a nuclear device by Islamic terrorists is very small. That's why we have to do it ourselves."

"Do what?"

"We, Harry, the men here in this room, have devised Project Green-the plan to detonate an atomic device in an American city, which will in turn trigger the Wild Fire response-which is the nuclear obliteration of Islam."

Harry wasn't sure he'd heard correctly and leaned toward Madox.

Madox made eye contact with Harry and continued, "And the beauty of this is that the government doesn't even have to be certain that the nuclear attack on America has come from Islamic terrorists. There exists a very strong presumption of guilt toward Islamic jihadists so that conclusive evidence is not required to launch Wild Fire. Brilliant, isn't it?"

Harry took a deep breath and said, "Are you crazy?"

"No. Do we look crazy?"

Harry didn't think the other four guys looked crazy, but Madox was a little nuts. Harry took another deep breath and asked, "You got a nuke?"

"Of course we do. Why do you think we're here? We actually have four nukes. In fact ..." Madox stood, walked over to the black leather suitcase, and patted it. "Here's one of them."