“The Joint Chiefs reported that a Chinese fast-attack submarine was detected off the coast of Chile. Course and speed will put her in the waters around the Antarctic Peninsula in a day or two.”

“They’re playing for keeps,” Juan remarked. The move didn’t come as a surprise.

“Sure are. The Argies confirmed they have our scientists from Palmer Station as well as more than a dozen others from Russia, Norway, Chile, and Australia. The numbers are thankfully low because these are the small winter-over crews.”

“What’s our official response to this? What’s the President going to do?”

“China’s announced that any attempt to censure Argentina at the UN will be vetoed immediately. There will be no resolutions or sanctions.”

“Gee,” Juan said sarcastically, “that’s a major setback. How will we ever stop them without the UN throwing harsh words their way?”

Overholt chuckled through his exhaustion. He shared Cabrillo’s low opinion of the international body. “Here’s the really bad news. The President will not authorize the use of force. England and Russia are rattling their sabers, but the political will in Parliament and the Duma just isn’t there. The leadership in the House and Senate have also indicated they aren’t willing to defend the Antarctic Treaty with American lives.”

“So that’s it?” Juan said with disgust. “We call ourselves a moral nation, but when it comes to fighting for an ideal the politicians ram their heads in the sand.”

“I would say they’ve rammed their heads in a far less hospitable place, but, yes, that’s it.”

“We are backing down from our moral and legal obligation. I’m sorry, Lang, but this decision is wrong.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, my boy,” Overholt said affably. “However, I serve at the discretion of the President, so there’s not much I can do. For the record, my boss thinks we should kick the Argentines out of Antarctica, as does the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. They also see the dangerous precedent this sets.”

“What happens now?”

“Why, nothing. We’ll craft some UN resolution that the Chinese will shoot down—and that’s about it, I’m afraid.”

Now that he had Antarctica, Paraguay and Uruguay would be next on Generalissimo Ernesto Corazón’s list. Cabrillo thought that the only thing sparing Chile was the difficulty of moving an army across the Andes. In Venezuela, Chávez had built up his military with oil-for-weapons deals with Russia, and he had been looking for an excuse to unleash it on Colombia. Iraq’s teetering democracy would fall like a house of cards if an emboldened Iran started throwing its weight around.

Juan wanted to say all of this to Overholt, but he knew it was wasted breath. The President’s advisers, he was sure, had already laid out the same scenarios and had been unable to sway the man’s opinion.