Chapter 41: It's not over yet Mr President

Once again Jamie managed to catch some sleep on the flight across the Atlantic. The security detail kept a close eye on the terrorist and their monarch, politely heading-off those adults on the flight who approached to get a look at their King. When Jamie awoke he made a point of moving through the cabin, speaking to people and finding out a little about them. He seemed to have a natural ability to put people at their ease and get them to open up.

Many of the adults had watched his broadcast on TVs inside JFK airport and they told him he had made them feel extra proud to be Scottish. They too were amazed at the support from their American friends for the UK, some of them even explaining that the Americans were almost as determined as they were to cross the Atlantic to help.

By the time they landed at Glasgow Airport it was already 17:00, the five hour time difference working against Jamie. His security detail let all of the returning adults leave the plane before they hustled their prisoner down the stairs and onto the runway. Shafiq gazed around her nonchalantly, a fact that Jamie noticed and filed away.

There was a hold up of half an hour while the chickens were unloaded from the plane and a small crowd had gathered, bemused by what was going on. Jamie just smiled and ordered that the chickens be well looked after until he could arrange for them to be moved to a new home.

The Lynx was sitting where he had left it barely thirty-odd hours before and Jamie, his security detail and Shafiq loaded up for the short hop back to the Dreghorn barracks. When they landed, Jamie ordered Shafiq to be taken to the guardhouse meantime while he dealt with more important things. He made sure to say this loud enough so that she could hear how unimportant he considered her.

Striding across the barracks' parade ground, Jamie asked that Stuart, Lee and Laura be found and sent to the briefing room they normally used for meetings and videoconferences. He arrived there first and quickly set up his laptop before opening one of the little fridges and opening a bottle of fresh juice.

When the other three arrived they found Jamie slumped over, tiredness catching up with him, but he roused himself as he heard them entering the room.

"How was the trip your Grace?" Stuart asked.

"Well, I got what I wanted. Sir David had someone recording the broadcast I made, so you should be able to see it later," Jamie replied.

"And they handed over the terrorist?" Lee enquired.

"Yep, she's in the guardhouse here even as we speak. To be honest, I got the impression that the Americans were glad to get rid of her in the end," Jamie replied.

"What did you give them in return?" Laura wanted to know.

A huge grin suddenly appeared on Jamie's face.

"I know it's going to be very hard for you to believe this, but I gave them nothing. I think they were so amazed that I would speak to the President the way I did, were so focussed on the damage a leak to their press would do, that they completely missed the fact I gave them no undertakings whatsoever.

"The only thing I promised was that I wouldn't disclose anything during my broadcast. Perhaps they assumed that I meant I wouldn't disclose anything full stop, but I didn't give any such undertaking. That's one of the reasons I wanted you here. We need to discuss what we do now. Should we disclose what the President has done or not?" Jamie asked them.

"Oh, I think there's a bit more to it than that," said Laura, "I've been doing some research on this while you've been away. I also found some of the adults on the database showed themselves as qualified solicitors and I've taken soundings from them too."

"It sounds like you've been busy, Princess. Do you want to share with us what you've learned?" Jamie asked.

"Well, it seemed to me that it was the President's actions that played a large part in many of the deaths in Liverpool. Nothing could probably have been done for the teenagers who were murdered in the camp, there just wasn't time to do anything to warn them. However, the deaths that followed over the next few days could easily have been prevented if the President had allowed the US security agencies to give us a warning.

"In my book that makes him guilty of a number of counts of accessory to murder. We have some solid evidence here. The log file from Cheltenham makes it clear the US was aware of the communication. It would beggar belief if the President wasn't made aware of that message. We also have survivors from the camp in Liverpool who can testify to the sudden change in tactics by the terrorists. We even have an e-mail to you Jamie, which gives a clear time stamp of when the teenagers alerted us to the massacre that was taking place," said Laura.

"I agree with all of that, but where does it get us?" asked Jamie.

"I think, and the solicitors agree, that we have strong grounds to extradite the President and put him on trial in this country for his crimes," said Laura.

There was silence in the room as each of the others looked at her as if she was mad. No one said anything for several minutes before Jamie broke the silence.

"We do have strong evidence. I suppose we could also look to have officers of their security agencies testify in a court, but of course they would just refuse to appear and there's nothing we could do to force them. Are you telling me that the solicitors actually think there is some merit in this?" asked Jamie.

"Not only that, when I told them all of the details of what has gone on, they were so outraged they demanded we do it. If you've never seen a lawyer hungry for blood, I don't recommend it," said Laura.

"I'm all in favour Of the President being made to pay for his actions, but what is the likely response of the US if we follow such a course?" Jamie asked.

"No idea," said Laura, "why don't we ask the ambassadors when you speak to them in your nightly videoconference?"

"We can do even better than that, why don't I try and contact them now? It's still afternoon over there, it's worth a try, as I'd like to post something on the SIS web site quickly. If I leave it too long to spill the beans, it will look strange," said Jamie.

Having already set up the laptop, it didn't take long to call up the software and click to make the link to Sir David's site. As had happened before, instead of the Ambassador there was one of his staff sitting behind the desk. Jamie asked if Sir David was available and the 'suit' disappeared to go and find him.

Ten minutes later the Ambassador made his way in front of the web cam and greeted his monarch.

"I wasn't expecting your call so soon your Grace, you can't have landed too long ago," the Ambassador opened.

"There are some important matters that need to be discussed Sir David, nothing was really settled with the President this morning," said Jamie.

The Ambassador looked somewhat puzzled.

"But I thought you did splendidly your Grace, the President conceded everything that you asked for," said Sir David. "I admit I was taken aback by your tactics, as was President Bush I suspect, but they worked admirably."

"Oh I don't mean that playacting," said Jamie, "I'm referring to how to deal with the release of the information about the President's actions and how they led to the murder of hundreds of survivors."

"But your Grace, I thought you had agreed not to go public with these matters," said the Ambassador, clearly appalled at what Jamie was suggesting.

"At no time during our meeting did I give any such undertaking Sir David. You were there, think back. If I had been asked to give an assurance that I wouldn't go public, I would have refused. The man needs to be exposed for what he did and it's my duty to do so. I believe it is particularly important for those who hold high office to be seen to maintain the highest standards. The American people do not deserve to be represented by a man like that," Jamie replied hotly.

"And what do you hope to achieve by exposing the President in this way your Grace?"

"Well, I will have the satisfaction of telling the American people the truth. I will be able to look the survivors in Liverpool in the eye and say that I have done what I can to see justice done for the friends that they have lost. Hopefully I will also have the satisfaction of seeing a man without honour removed from the most powerful position in the world," Jamie responded.

"You mean you hope the President is impeached?" asked Sir David.

"Yes, but even more than that we have been discussing the possibility of seeking to extradite President Bush to stand trial in this country as an accessory in the murder of the hundreds of teenagers who lost their lives in the south," said Jamie.

"You can't be serious your Grace! Such a step would be unheard of. There was some talk about President Bush and Prime Minister Blair being charged with war crimes over Iraq, but that's all it was, talk. No serving President has ever been faced with such charges and I think you need to consider this very carefully before you do something you might regret."

"My only regret Sir David, is that I won't have the pleasure of seeing the look on the man's face when he discovers that I have exposed him for what he has done. We have reviewed the evidence that we have and have taken some legal advice here too," said Jamie.

The discussions carried on for some time longer, with the Ambassador urging Jamie to show restraint. He couldn't see what could be gained by Jamie releasing the information he had, while Jamie could only see that doing anything else would be virtually telling the President that it was okay to continue acting as he had been.

"Sir David, I want your legal team to research the process for extradition from the United States to the UK. I want that information by the time we videoconference at our usual time tonight if at all possible," ordered Jamie.

The Ambassador nodded his head in defeat and they wound up the conference.

Jamie asked someone to find Kalif and to tell him that he wanted to discuss something of some importance. The Pakistani teenager and his friends had been warmly accepted at Dreghorn, despite everything that had happened.

"Kalif, I need some advice on how to deal with the terrorist leader. I'm pretty sure that the Americans have tried all of their techniques to get her to talk, but I wonder if our different situation might allow us to use slightly different tactics to get her to open up. Given the magnitude of what she has done I am determined to get her to crack.

"This woman has resisted all of the Americans' efforts, and we still know virtually nothing about who planned the awful attack on our country. I mean no insult Kalif, but I need to ask you if there is anything that you can think of from your own culture, from within your faith, that might help get this woman to talk," said Jamie.

"Your Grace, I am a Scot and a Muslim - in that order. What these fanatics have done is a source of immense shame and deep anger to me. The colour of my skin does not make it more likely that I will betray my country and my countrymen. I have suffered just as much pain at the deaths of my parents, family and friends as everyone else. I have lived through the past few weeks with the same fear of the terrorists as everyone else.

"I would argue strongly that the fanatics cannot call themselves true believers. Islam, the holy book and its teachings would never countenance such a horrible act as the one that these lunatics have perpetrated. Yet they claim to be even more devout than the rest of us.

"It is that unshakeable belief your Grace, that very fundamentalism that might give a clue as to where this woman might be weakest. I too have seen the video messages that suicide bombers have left behind. I have listened to their words about entering the gates of paradise as a martyr, beloved of the prophet.

"The possibility that the paradise of Islam might be littered with such evil people is anathema to any real believer. I would do anything to keep such people from such grace and it is the threat that she might never achieve that final journey that could be an Achilles heel for the terrorist," said Kalif.

"How would she be convinced to talk Kalif? I will not sanction physical torture, that way lies a sure path to being just as bad as the terrorists. Psychological pressure is another matter however. How do I get her to open up and tell us everything that she knows?" asked Jamie.

"You need to find a way of making her believe you have the power to stop her entering paradise your Grace. That threat is likely to be the greatest fear she has ever had to face," replied the Pakistani teenager.

The techies and the armed teenagers guarding them were quite frankly bored. It had been fun having free rein of the Cheltenham complex at first, there were lots of gadgets and computers to check out, but it had all quickly become boring and routine. When words started scrolling across the screen of the computer hooked up to the mobile phone monitoring system, there was therefore great excitement - something was happening!

The excitement turned to disappointment as the speech recognition software converted the call to words and the techies could see that their friends in Scotland seemed to have begun to use mobile phones to communicate with each other.