He received one.
"You must not!" Ho's eyes narrowed and his fist slammed down on the edge of the bench
"It is imperative that you stay, Mr. Secretary "
"Why, General?" Van Lynden demanded quietly "That is something that I may not reveal. However, I can say that the status of these talks may alter radically during the next few days Should that occur, your presence here may be urgently needed The hours it would take for you to return could prove critical "
"Why me, General? What's so vital about my presence?"
"Because, Mr. Secretary, I may soon be making my first presentation here at this conference When that storm breaks, there must be someone here who is both distant from the problems that are tearing my nation apart, and yet has influence with both the Nationalists and the United Democratic Forces There must be someone here who can make them listen!"
"And what about the People's Republic?"
"It must rest upon the others, Mr. Secretary They are the ones who must listen, for we will not'
There was a third group of agents deployed within Rizal Park that evening, suspected possibly, but unknown to either the American Secretary of State or the Communist General
They were a sleeper team, long before recruited from within Manila's Chinese ethnic community Activated specifically to monitor the comings and goings of the diplomatic delegations assigned to the crisis talks, they observed the meeting between Van Lynden and Ho Kept at long range by the guard screen, they overheard
nothing that was said However, they could report to their cell contact that the meeting had taken place Relayed through a series of security breaks, the report did not reach the suite occupied by the combined Taiwanese/UDFC delegation for several hours When it did, the recipients were pleased
54 MILES EAST OF XIANGSHAN, CHINA 1201 HOURS ZONE TIME; AUGUST 10, 2006
To the ballerina, Borodin is beautiful, yet very challenging As the closing strains of the
"Polovtsian Dances' crashed out, Amanda completed the choreography that she had patterned herself, sinking to one knee and tossing her hair back in exhaustion There was no applause Her only audience was a handful of her crewpeople working out on the weight machines across the ship's gymnasium from the exercise mat
Once, she would have been reticent about dancing where anyone could see her But now she considered herself rather good for an amateur At one time, an involvement in ballet didn't seem appropriate for a female naval officer who wanted to be taken seriously However, after Drake's Passage, she had become less self-conscious about her hobby If a Presidential Unit Citation and a Navy Cross weren't adequate professional credentials, then nothing would be She'd even started to do a little teaching on the side Amanda switched off the portable CD deck and leaned back against the bulkhead "I missed you on toward the end,"
she said, addressing the small pile of panting, multicolored spandex huddled on the mat beside her
"That's because I gave it the hell up back around where I was supposed to tie my left leg into a granny knot," Christine Rendino wheezed "I don't get it I'm seven years younger than you are, and yet you're the one with the India rubber muscles and the cardiovascular system of a Clydesdale "
"That's because there's more to my life than a CRT screen and a case of Milky Way Us," Amanda replied smugly "Aaah! Fa' sure, if I wanted to be insulted, I'd get Mckelsie to teach me ballet," the blond Intel moaned, rolling over onto her back
"I'm down there in Raven's Roost, twenty five hours a day, trying to outguess a billion and a quarter moody Chinese, and I'm still underappreciated Everybody hates me Nobody loves me I think I'll go eat worms '
"Ban appetit." Amanda stretched and straightened her leotard sheathed legs
"Oh, we appreciate you, Chris. According to Admiral Tall man, Fleet Intelligence seems to be very pleased with how Operation Uriah is shaking down So am I, for that matter Give yourself an Atta girl, first class ' '
"I'd rather have something else "
"Such as?"
Chris rolled back over onto her stomach ' ' me Shanghai for my birthday, Mommy "
Something in her voice indicated that she had shifted from casual banter to something more serious
Amanda cocked an eyebrow "What do you mean?"
"I want a chance to take a look in at Shanghai A long, close look."
"Have you seen something?"
"It's not so much what I'm seeing as what I'm not seeing," Christine replied, a calculating look coming to her gray-blue eyes
"Something odd has been happening around Shanghai for the past couple of weeks Can we get secure for a few minutes?"
"Sure," Amanda replied, looping her towel around her shoulders They got to their feet and left the gym Moving forward a few frames, they paused in an empty section of the corridor adjacent to the number two Vertical Launch System "Okay, what have you got?"
Christine shot a quick glance both up and down the passageway, verifying that no one else was within hearing range "It's sort of like in those old jungle-adventure movies, Captain," she began "You know, the ones where the daunt less hero comments about things being too quiet Well, all of a sudden, the Shanghai Operations Area is getting way too quiet."
"Specifics?"
"Shanghai is the largest transport and communications terminal the Communists have left on the coast," Christine replied, leaning back against the bulkhead "They've got everything there dockage, marshaling yards, warehousing The facilities are fairly up to date, undamaged by the war, and not operating at anywhere near peak capacity Yet they're channeling troop and supply convoys around the Shanghai terminus
"Shanghai has the most extensive air-basing complex south of Shenyang, and yet they haven't staged a thing out of there since we arrived off the coast. It's the natural command and logistics center for the campaign against the Nationalist invasion, and yet the Communist Signal Intelligence load out of Shanghai has been dropping steadily Things that should be happening in Shanghai, aren't The place is be coming an operational desert "
"Could it be a disbursement? Maybe they're afraid of a Nationalist counter strike "
"Uh-uh, Boss Ma'am Shanghai is also one of the most heavily defended positions the Reds have The Nationalist Air Force hasn't even attempted to penetrate the city's airspace "
Amanda leaned back as well, bracing herself against the corridor grab rail
"All right, what do you think is going on?" she asked, intrigued
"I think the Communists are overreacting I think that they're up to something in Shanghai and that they're bending over backwards trying not to attract attention to the area "
"What do you think they're up to?"
"Frankly, I haven't got the faintest idea But, whatever it is, it has got to be pretty fraggin' big to justify shutting down one of the largest cities in China That's why I want to take that long, close look
"
"What's your definition of long and close?"
"I'd like at least a couple of hours of loiter time right off the minefields at the mouth of the Yangtze estuary Long enough to get a good cross section of the tactical Elint environment I'd also like to see if I could tap into the sidelobe of their local telecommunications net While we're about it, we could also chart those minefield perimeters out a little better "
"The Red Chinese would probably consider our lurking around just oft their primary defense line more than a little provocative, Chris "
"Probably," Christine nodded, "but only if they catch us I've been talking with Fleet meteorology, and they say that a mild storm front will be moving in across the Chinese coast from the south within twenty four hours Good stealth weather
"Also, tomorrow night, there is going to be an unavoidable gap in our theater recon coverage For several hours during the late evening and early morning, we won't have a satellite in position to cover the Shanghai area If the Reds are up to something, this would be a natural window of opportunity for them to go about doing their dirty deeds And if \ e were right outsid
e listening at the keyhole "
"Yes, I see what you're getting at Have you bounced this off Fleet Intelligence yet?"
"I've sent in a preliminary situation estimate and I've talked to some of the Flag Intels over on the Big E They're willing to concede that there might be an atypical pattern developing, but they think that we need to further monitor the situation before making any kind of call on it Well, that's what I want to do I want to monitor this real close "
Amanda lightly bit her lower lip in an old habitual reaction to deep thought If Chris said something was going on in Shanghai, then there was, Amanda had no doubt about that The question was, would this probe be worth the risk to her ship, her crew, and the crisis situation as a whole?
Of course, there was the easy out She could put together a situational update and mission proposal and kick it upstairs to NAVSPECFORCE They could make the judgment call But then, the concerns of one comparatively junior intelligence officer might not carry much weight, even with Amanda's strongest endorsement
On the other hand, she could make the call herself She'd wanted an independent command and she'd gotten
one She could interpret this operation as being within the mission parameters she had been given If something went wrong, though, there would be no one in the whole world to take the blame but herself To hell with it She had bragged about never having been caught She wanted to dance on the edge one more time
"Okay, Chris Let's do it Draw up a set of mission intents and requirements, we'll run it through an Operations Group this evening "
"Yes'" The Intel lifted her fists in exaltation Amanda smiled and reached for the CD player
"This doesn't come for free, though, Chris In return, I want us to go back to the gym and put at least another half hour in on your modern improvisational before we call it quits for the day "
"Ahh!" Christine moaned and slid limply down the bulkhead to the deck
"Nobody loves me!"
HOTEL MANILA REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
1919 HOURS ZONE TIME; AUGUST 10, 2006
Professor Djinn Yi lifted the delicate porcelain cup of green tea from the tray offered to him As he always did at such moments, he acknowledged the dichotomy of the experience There was the pain that had been with him since the day a Maoist thug had smashed his knuckles with a steel bar But then, there was also the gratitude that his hand still worked at all He nodded to the silent serving man and joined with Secretary Duan of the Foreign Ministry in taking a first sip of the hot beverage "It goes well," the Ministry man said after a moment "Reports from all fronts indicate success Our forces continue to hold the beach head stable, while yours have commenced their march north "
"Another inch cut from the dragon's tail," Djinn replied, setting his cup onto the low table that separated the two men The two men were in the central sitting room of the combined Taiwanese/United Democratic Forces suite complex It had been converted into an ad hoc security space for the delegations Every inch of the room was swept hourly for bugs, and white noise generators purred in each corner The curtains were kept tightly drawn and vibrator units had been taped to the windows, ensuring that a laser or radar beam could not be used to "read" any conversation taking place within
"Quite so," Duan continued "However, we have also had word from our people in Peking The Communists are reacting as we had feared They are initiating their special operation "
"Ah " Djinn lifted his cup once more "They see their future They are afraid "
"Speaking truthfully, Professor, so am I "
"We knew that this eventuality would have to be faced sooner or later The Communists have their plan We have ours The one shall block the other "
"In theory " The solidly built Taiwanese diplomat grimaced and set his tea aside
"I must confess that I have my reservations I still wish we could notify the United States and the other Pacific Rim states "
"No They would have their suspicions about any pronouncement that we might make They must make the discovery themselves Anything less would take the edge off the peril "
"But should they miss the sailing, what then." We may have little time before the Communists act "
"We must trust in the technologies of the Americans to spot the departure As for the time, that too may work in our favor We wish for the Americans to act, not to think "
"Trusts and theories," Duan grunted, and sat back in his chair
"We are playing a dangerous game with both your people and mine "
"With all of China," Duan replied The former professor from Canton emptied his cup and returned it to the table A smile crossed his seamed features and he stiffly flexed his fingers once more
"But then, the path to freedom is not necessary a safe one "
75 MILES NORTHEAST OF SHANGHAI, CHINA 1854 HOURS ZONE TIME; AUGUST 11, 2006
"Yes?"
"It's only Lieutenant Arkady, ma'am "
"Come in "
Amanda wasn't in the office section of her cabin as Arkady entered He could hear stirring beyond the curtained doorway that led to her sleeping quarters
"Be out in a second," she called "Have a seat " Arkady set his flight harness and helmet down on the deck and dropped into the office space's single guest chair Tilting it back into the corner the couple of inches permissible within the cabin's cramped confines, he braced one foot against the edge of the desk Since coming aboard the Duke, he had lounged a lot of hours away in this position As he always did, he explored the work space with his eyes, seeking for some new fragment of Amanda's essence
On the bulkhead behind her workstation, a row of sticky notes had been tacked up beneath the small oil painting of Amanda's Cape Cod sloop The corner of Arkady's mouth quirked up He had some fond memories of that little sail boat Especially of a warm evening spent in its cockpit during their last layover in Norfolk
On this cruise, the painting had been joined by a framed pen-and-ink sketch of a Navy Fleet ocean tug Another gift from her admiral-turned artist father, the little vessel, the Piegan, had been Amanda's first command There was a small stack of books on the edge of the desk Tilting his chair forward again, Arkady turned them so he could read the titles Regional reading a copy of Tuchman's Stillwell and the American Experience in China and an English version of Mao's Red Book He didn't recognize the third volume, a large green bound paperback titled Can the Chinese Armed Forces Win the Next War' Selecting it from the stack, he read the title page and learned that it was a Naval Institute Press translation of a Red Chinese publication
He was leafing through the first chapter when Amanda Garrett brushed past the door curtain and entered the office Her usual sober demeanor vanished for a moment in the bright flash of her smile ' ' home How did the recon flight go?"
"No problems Say, who is this Liu Huaqing guy, anyway?"
"They call him the Chinese Mahan," Amanda replied, slipping into her desk chair and swiveling to face him Slouching back, she comfortably matched Arkady's posture "During the 1980s and '90s, Admiral Liu was a major voice for reform and modernization within the Red Chinese armed forces He was one of the first to call for China to abandon its had fangyu naval strategy " She formed the Mandarin phrase carefully "That sounds like the Chinese version of an extremely obscene suggestion "
Amanda chuckled "Jmhai fangvu means ' defense ' Historically, the Chinese Navy has always been a small-craft coastal force They have no tradition of open-ocean operations Liu felt that for China to truly be come a world power, they must develop that tradition and an effective blue-water doctrine to go along with it Fortunately for us, things fell apart for the Chinese before they could implement many of his proposals
"
"Hmm, could I borrow this?"
"Be my guest," she replied "With the Chinese, we're dealing with a vastly different culture structure Whether they're enemies or friends, we're going to need to learn how to understand their worldview Now, what did you find out there?"
' ' things were real quiet"
"Unusually so?"
"I dunno, babe I stayed about thirty miles out and executed four pop-up sweeps above the radar horizon Nothing on the scope No guard ship No shipping traffic Not even any fishing boats "
"Sub activity?"
"Nobody stuck up a periscope or a snorkel while I had my radar hot. I also ran a line of passive sonobuoys while I was out there without kicking up anything. That isn't saying that there couldn't be somebody lying on the bottom closer in."
"Air? The signal environment?"
"Air ops seem to be just what we've been reading off the Aegis screens.
No sign of a BARCAP off the coast. No surface searches up. No standing combat air patrol over the city.
"As for the signal environment, the Reds have a lot of air-search sites radiating around the Shanghai perimeter, but my threat boards reacted to only one surf ace-search radar. A single low-powered unit out at the mouth of the estuary." Amanda nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Those are what your systems said. Now, what did your gut read?"
Arkady grimaced. "Instincts, huh? All right. Vibes-wise, I'm burying the needle. Little Miss. Chris is right--something unnatural is going on out there." She sighed and brushed her copper-brown bangs back from her forehead. "I was hoping that you would say that we silly females were just imagining things."
"No such luck."
"Do your vibes also say whether or not this recon pass tonight is going to be worth it?"
' ' the Reds are up to something in Shanghai, it behooves us to find out what."
"And if the Reds are up to something, attempting a probe of the Yangtze estuary now could be the equivalent of sticking our hand right into a hornet's nest." An introspective frown passed across her face.
The aviator had come to recognize the phenomenon.
Amanda Garrett seldom ever had any difficulty in intellectually making a decision. Sometimes, however, she had to work a little bit to coerre her heart and soul into line.
Christine Rendino had instructed him in the proper protocol to employ at such times. Listen, and let her talk herself around. Arkady put his own spin on the procedure, however.
Sea Strike Page 13
