by Chris Geater
The Australian, Russian and US governments made strong protests to China as well as the UN and the Antarctic Treaty members. China denied the whole thing knowing that they could go about their business with impunity while the various nations and global groups worked themselves into an impotent lather. Once firmly established in the region the Chinese would be here to stay and no amount of protests or media condemnation would make any difference.
Environmental groups threatened that in the event there was any mining or raping of the natural resources like drilling for oil they would blockade the port and prevent ships from sailing. I knew how that would turn out, these were not Japanese whalers, Greenpeace were in for a surprise.
My accommodation at Progress left a little to be desired compared to Davis but comfortable enough. A knock on my door informing me of a phone call.
“Ah Harris, there you are, all going well I hope,” Smurf as if we were about to meet for a round of golf.
“Charles, what a pleasure, hows the war wounds, couple of scars to impress the ladies?”
“Coming along nicely thank you, just fortunate young Ben is a better shot than we knew, first place in the small calibre nationals at Canberra last summer.”
“Well well, good for him. So, expanding my brief again are we?”
I think he picked up my tone. “Harris, big picture and all that, you know how it works. Besides, it was mostly voluntary.”
“Charles, I trusted you. They drugged me and I was swapped like a cold war communist. Wu-Dang sentenced me to a firing squad, he took the whole thing very personally.”
“Yes, stroke of good luck Wu-Dang and his vendetta, made the situation far more predictable, the outcome almost inevitable.”
“Yeh, stroke of good luck. Can't wait to discuss this good luck with you when we meet again. Well you got what you wanted, what are you going to do with it?”
“Come now Harris, this is bigger than all of us. I'm grateful for your sacrifice as are many people here. They're impressed by your commitment and the quality of intel, but you know the rules.”
I did, I knew if I caused trouble as an unauthorised civilian there would be no diplomatic immunity, no protests, no ambassador demands. But it still smarted that all these people sent me back against my will even though the situation was my fault, well sort of. Smurf and Len knew I wouldn't be able to resist when they revealed the situation.
“Hoisted by your own petard is the phrase that comes to mind old boy.” Smurf giggled.
I'd like to hoist him from his own petard.
“What now?”
“Out of our hands Harris, once it becomes common knowledge there will be diplomatic channels, a few American warships, possibly one of ours. I imagine the Chinese will dodge and weave whilst moving forward with their agenda. Their scheduled ship will be long gone before anything can be done.”
“Something must be done otherwise it will just be a repeat of the South China Sea.”
“We would like something to be done but other than yourself, Len and a handful of Alpha lads there isn't any resource into which we can tap, not exactly the Middle East.”
“Why not fly a heap of troops down here, more Alpha boys or special forces?”
“It has been considered but we are not quite sure about the rules of engagement.”
“I think the rules of engagement have been established Charles, a dozen dead Chinese and some dead Russians along with many wounded, that could be defined as engagement don’t you think?”
“Quite, but I honestly don’t think the political parties have the stomach for it, they’re not even convinced the threat is real. In reality the Australian stations down there are not that important to those with the money and the power. They’re not going to jeopardise the many and crucial trade agreements and they’re certainly not going to war over it.”
“So nothing, sit on our hands, my close call with a red firing squad for nought, not cool Charles, not cool.”
“You forget Harris, there are holes in my head and in my office, we all have skin in the game.”
He was right, Smurf would be far happier if we could do more, he had always been a man of action, doing little would not sit well with him.
“Remember I'm the messenger Harris, not even in the game any longer. You will just have to sit tight and wait to see what the powers that be come up with, if anything. It would be frowned upon should you choose to engage in any more ‘unauthorised activities’.”
“Frowned upon by our masters Charles, what about your good self?”
“Certainly by our masters Harris.”
None of this sat well with me and reading between the lines not well with Smurf. I mentioned my conversation to Len later, after all he had skin in the game as well.
“We know how these things roll out Hurry, net-sharov these bureaucrats, no surprise to us who have lived.” He sat back in my rooms spare vinyl chair, hands behind his head, relaxed as usual.
“True Len but this is a little different so I expected a less cowardly response. Armed conflict, aggressive actions, invading foreign territory, casualties, not the usual placid island grabbing we are used to from the Chinese.”
“You should spend time on Russia-China border. Only small but very active, kill each other all the time. It is different as you say, no invasion, we only do it for fun.”
“You know Len, we could do something ourselves, for fun. Maybe a little sabotage, make life difficult for them, slow them down, that sort of thing.”
He sat forward, a smile forming on his distinctly Slavic face. “I thought you would suggest this Hurry, I am not shocked. I have also thought we could do something small, annoy neighbours, make life hard.”
“Would be difficult to make any headway at Zhongshan as such but we could consider something outside of the station.”
“Outside?”
“We know Xue Long arrives in a couple of days. Might be possible to get up to mischief, not easy to guard, exposed.”
“Hmmm, and the station will have less men so maybe opportunity also,” Len replied.
Returning to Zhongshan didn't really appeal to me, some bad experiences put me off. Much rather be out in the open upsetting our neighbours in less confined spaces. But Len made a good point, the place would be less guarded, many resources would be required to unload the ship and provide security.
“I will have talk with Veodore and Andrey, maybe they have ideas, maybe they are not wanting ideas.”
Len and Andrey met up with me in his room later on and filled me in on their conversation with Veodore.
“Madness Vasily, we don’t have the men, any sort of retaliation with their type of equipment would wipe us out.” Veodore sat forward in the office chair behind a simple timber desk facing Len and Andrey.
Andrey less bothered. “We are wiped out anyway, inevitable once they are on the move, we are the first obstacle and we already have a reputation.”
“Provoking them puts us on the wrong side of world opinion. If they attack us we have a better chance of support from outside.” Veodore was a true academic, didn't quite understand the situation, even mentioned the phrase, ‘they wouldn't dare’.
“They will dare,” Len replied. “They will stop only when it suits their end game. We might not be able to stop operation but maybe hinder, slow it down until diplomats have a solution.”
“Diplomats have no solutions, only more problems come from diplomats,” Veodore said. “I can't authorise any international activities, we must wait and trust that our neighbours will only act if we provoke them. Remember, in the eyes of our masters we have been the antagonists. Remember none of this would have happened at all if it were not for your friend Mr Crook. Nothing has gone right since he arrives in the Antarctic.”
“This is often the case with Hurry,” Len admitted nodding his head.
“No, we have dead and wounded men to be flown home, this is bad enough. No more, this is the Antarctic for goodness sake! The last vestige of peace
and pure science where all nations work together for the good of the planet. The solution will come from people higher up than us.”
“So it's a no-go Len?” I said once he finished.
Len shrugged, he dealt with bureaucrats all the time and often saw situations in a different light. All intelligence agents butted heads with stubborn fellow government employees, we cut our teeth on the covert, the subvert, they on rules and regulations, two different worlds yet often the same departments. Sadly our cynicism came from experience, experience confirming that expression, ‘have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’
“What is wrong with you Hurry? What do you mean no-go? If you mean no mechanics and academics running around the ice with us then yes, no-go. If you mean two very capable agents with a dozen select Alpha lads stirring up hornets nest full of vyrodoks, then yes-go, go like the wind.”
He was excited, an old dog heading for action. “We show them, I have a plan.”
“Why not we borrow one of the tanks?” Andrey suggested, “some of us have experience with tanks.”
Everyone at the table went into thinking mode, all of us experienced in planning operations to some extent. Joining us was Major Sokolov whose nickname was Ptitsy pronounced ‘Titsy’, something to do with his name being about birds.
“Many of my boys have much tank experience, Lieutenant Portnov was tank commander before he became a man and joined Alpha.” Testosterone oozed from Titsy, chauvinism was alive and well in his crew, a good thing when you think of where we were and what we are about to do.
Len looked around. “Could be possible, design is not dissimilar to Russian T-72, probably inferior.”
“Mischief is what Hurry suggests, much mischief with tank.” Andrey’s eyes positively glowed with the thought.
“The retaliation could be an extinction event once Wu-Dang fully mobilised his boys,” I replied. “Might not end well for Progress.”
“Inevitable Hurry,” Len said. “They are rolling over us soon, once ship is done we are next. We give them something to be unhappy about.”
“I like the way you think Vasily, lets steal, I mean borrow a tank.”
Andrey nodded in total agreement, Titsy smiled, Veodore just shook his head.
Our plan was to coincide with the busiest time of unloading of the Xue Long where many of the stations resources would be tied up. Current AIS data indicated the ship was on time and would be warped alongside the sea ice about two kilometres from the shoreline and Zhongshan in three days time, we estimated the only location suitable for the unloading operation at this time of year. The ice shelf was seasonal and leaving it any later would entail unloading the ship by barge, a long winded affair. As it was the shelf often develops large cracks and can calve into the warming ocean as spring settles in, an interesting development for the Xue Long should she be tied up at the time.
Titsy and Andrey along with a dozen Alphas were responsible for locating a tank that was in a state of readiness while Len, myself and another dozen Alpha lads were to create a diversion that would distract the remaining crew at Zhongshan. The diversion would also have to draw any reinforcements who were attending the ship away from Zhongshan, not towards. The solution was to borrow two tanks, we were fortunate to have several ex-tank men in the troupe. One tank would pass close to the stevedoring operation and draw them away while the other tank would abscond to the airstrip hanger for photographing, inspecting and then back towards the ice shelf to cause general mayhem. Our job was to make it possible for them to gain access to the tanks.
We decided to blow up their generator and hopefully most of their fuel dump. Nothing upsets an Antarctic operation like the absence of electricity with which to warm the crew. Andrey presented the plan in fine detail to all concerned while a plan ‘B’ and ‘C’ emerged with the crews input. These plans entailed creating chaos without the tanks, something we hoped not to fall back on.
Once the generator went silent Len, myself and our lads were to mop up any Chinese in pursuit of said tanks and assist the remaining Alpha lads get clear.
All agreed that the plan seemed credible and we entered standby mode whilst trying to relax.
According to Progress meteorological expert the weather forecast was in our favour but we all cast a weather eye out the windows just to reassure ourselves, the Antarctic weathermen were notorious for breath taking inaccuracies when it comes to good weather.
As predicted the Xue Long turned up on time and several John Waynes pulled her alongside a suitable section of ice to allow unloading. Not a huge ship but large enough to freight a few thousand tonnes of cargo with all the suitable unloading cranes and equipment necessary to operate in remote polar regions. Painted the ubiquitous red of ice breakers she was in clear view to us as we looked out of the Progress cafe windows. A hive of activity as hundreds of ant like workers and machines moved around on a white background, an appearance of haste obvious to those who understood the vulnerability of a ship in Xue Longs position given the erratic nature of Antarctic weather.
We were set to embark on our mission of mischief early the next morning at 0200. Plenty of light to see what we were up to but not enough for others to notice too readily. Our actions over the next few hours would be considered an act of war and condemned by most of the world leaders and media were it common knowledge. The perspective of the men on the ground was often at odds with the view portrayed by those at a distance. We understood the aggressive agenda our neighbours intended to inflict on the Australian Antarctic Territory albeit denied vehemently by the Chinese Government. Diplomacy was the art of doing nothing while appearing to effect miracles, those of us with history in the espionage game knew this only too well, so we didn't put great faith in those channels. Our plan was to stop the Chinese in their tracks or at least make it more difficult to carry out their agenda and hopefully expose their aggression to the world sooner rather than later. My working life consisted of smoke and mirrors, Governments distracting with one hand whilst operating the puppet strings of their intelligence community with the other. Len and I, with Smurfs unspoken approval knew that we could well be the only chance Antarctic had to stop and or reveal the plans currently in action by the Peoples Republic of China. Not a decision to make lightly. Who was I kidding, we welcomed the opportunity to create mischief especially when we could justify it as defence of our sovereign nations.
Len, myself and our team of saboteurs set off a few minutes prior to the tank borrowing team hoping to create the necessary distractions thus allowing them access to the building where the fully assembled tanks sat, in we hoped, a state of readiness. Len carried an odd shaped backpack but I was not afforded the opportunity to question him. Two Alphas scouted ahead to place charges in the generator room and fuel dump, hopefully less guarded than the secure areas surrounding the tank buildings. Their part of the operation went smoothly and on their return we crouched behind an old shipping container awaiting the blasts.
Minutes later the curiously muffled sound of explosions reached us signalling the second team to approach their respective buildings and abscond with some military hardware. The fire ball resulting from the fuel dump explosion was less discreet as we made our way into Zhongshan fanned out and alert for action. Our distraction certainly took the residents by surprise and a number of them raced towards the fire along with a modified tracked fire truck. The distraction also alerted the station and as such the ants were roused. The Chinese, not to be caught with their trousers down a second time launched a fierce defence as we moved into position to provide cover to the tank team. Our team of tank stealing men took a nasty hit with several going down in the first few seconds of the foray. Len and I found ourselves retreating into a door only to discover it lead into the very building to which the tank boys were originally on-route. A couple of them joined us and I suggested we borrow a tank anyway while we were here if the machines were ready to go. One Alpha hopped into the tank nearest the roller door and informed us that not only was it ful
l of fuel but there was also ammunition loaded although he was not sure what type of ammunition and hoped it was not merely star shells.
The engines roared to life and I manually pulled the chain to raise the roller door. Upon boarding I strapped myself into a seat indicated by Len whose eyes were glued to some sort of periscope. Directly in front of his seat was a pistol grip, trigger and all. My seat faced another duel eyepiece and pistol grip that according to Len operated some sort of machine gun. We took off with the intention of drawing some of the Chinese away from the station and also distract the others who would be returning from the ship. The temptation was too great so I sent a stream of large calibre projectiles including some tracer into the crowd of green dressed defenders hiding behind a building. Decimation wouldn't describe the effect 20mm bullets effected on the fragile humans while the building itself almost collapsed. Our vehicle responded well to the administrations of the obviously experienced driver as we accelerated out of the station and onto the ice. Sure enough several vehicles loaded with men came racing towards us across the ice from the direction of the ship. We gave them a wide berth but many turned to cut us off.
The driver yelled something to Len who then pressed some buttons. The main gun loading device automatically placed a shell into the breach not far from my head, just about everything in the tank was not far from my head.
As I looked through my lenses the turret rapidly rotated towards the leading vehicle heading for Zhongshan. An almighty thump that resonated in my chest causing me to catch my breath, a smoky trail and the lead vehicle exploded, levitated ten metres into the air scattering bits of John Wayne and Chinese military longshoremen.
We had their attention, all vehicles turned towards us opening fire with an assortment of harmless small calibre arms. Surprisingly the Xue Long also opened fire and not with small arms, more like a hundred and fifteen millimetre naval gun. Ice and snow came crashing down on the turret as we sped along the frozen ocean.
