by Bobby Akart
“No, Mr. President,” offered Brad. “As you know, the demonstrations in Taipei City have escalated each evening for the past several days. The demonstration started peacefully in the middle of the day with protestors carrying printed signs that read Taiwan is not China. Matters escalated when activists in opposition to the One China policy beheaded the statue of Chiang Kai-shek and drenched it in red paint.”
“Let me get my bearings straight,” interrupted Sarge. “If you would, when briefing me on specific events, advise me of the local time in Taiwan when they occurred.”
“Of course, Mr. President. Currently it is 6:00 in the evening in Taipei City. It’s been dark for about an hour.”
“Okay, now when did these initial protests begin?”
Brad continued. “The protestors arrived at China’s Ministry of Economic Affairs at 1:00 local time while Ambassador McBride was at a State luncheon with the president. Soon, the Ministry was surrounded and they began to engage the Chinese military personnel guarding the complex. That was when things got interesting.”
Brad paused and Sarge asked him to continue. “Go ahead.”
“I would like the CIA to describe the events, if I may, sir. Max Chen can provide the details.”
“Fine. Mr. Chen, what was unusual about these protests?”
“Sir, over the last two days, we have assigned more CIA field operatives to conduct surveillance on Chinese government facilities and housing units in Taipei. We were trying to determine where the large contingent of pro-China demonstrators lived and how they could be mobilized so quickly.”
Sarge was growing impatient. He wanted to make a decision based upon the facts on the ground, but he was tempted to dispense with the preliminaries.
Chen continued. “The Chinese military appeared to allow the demonstrators to overrun the compound without allowing them full access to the building. By 4:00 p.m. local time, the facility was overrun and the military had retreated. The demonstrators began to deface statues and symbols of Chinese heritage throughout the grounds.”
Sarge asked, “At this point, where was our ambassador?”
“He had just completed his visit at the Presidential Palace. About the same time he was departing the palace, a group of several hundred Chinese nationals descended upon the Ministry and engaged the demonstrators. The two groups fought in what can best be described as brutal hand-to-hand combat. According to my most recent intel, after the fighting had waned, many dozens had been killed.”
“How does this relate to the disappearance of Ambassador McBride?” asked Sarge.
“Sir, the actions of the Chinese security forces and the sudden appearance, yet again, of Chinese nationals to counter-demonstrate leads us to believe that the distraction was used as an opportunity to abduct the ambassador.”
Donald had remained silent until now. “Who would abduct an American ambassador and for what purpose?”
“We still cannot provide you an answer to those questions. The situation is very fluid.”
“Come on,” said Donald, who was becoming annoyed, and rightfully so, thought Sarge. The CIA’s budget was enormous because they were tasked with anticipating these types of events and having answers, or at least plausible explanations, when the president asked.
Chen turned his attention to Sarge. “Mr. President, Langley’s working theory is that Beijing has set into motion a series of operations intended to destabilize—” Chen stopped midsentence as a text message crossed his phone.
“What is it?” asked Sarge.
Chen read the message aloud. “This is from news reports in Taiwan. The electricity supply to Taipei City has failed. The outages are limited to the northern provinces and as far south as Nantou province. The government has not issued a formal statement.”
“It’s starting,” mumbled Sarge. “Brad, where’s the Petersen strike group?”
“An eternity away if this thing blows up further today. They’ll regroup near Okinawa in just over twenty-four hours.”
“The Ronald Reagan?” asked Sarge.
“They’ll be in the immediate theater around the same time, although both strike forces can engage with air support as needed before then.”
Sarge leaned onto the table and stood. He walked around the room. On this day, pacing had to substitute for his normal morning run to clear his head.
“Mr. Chen, is the CIA prepared to suggest that the Chinese government actually orchestrated the confrontation at the ministry as cover for an American ambassador’s abduction?”
“Mr. President, we have no concrete proof of that, but—”
“Well, what do you have?”
“Sir, I have an opinion, but it’s not the official position of Langley,” started Chen.
“I wanna hear it,” barked Sarge.
“Sir, over the last few days, there has been virtually no conversations between the Chinese Ministry and Beijing. We monitor everything they transmit through official channels. Ordinarily, with unrest taking place near their facility, especially coupled with the attendance of the American ambassador for an occasion as momentous as this one, the control freaks within the PLA would be calling for constant updates. To the contrary, they’re doing nothing.”
Sarge stopped dead in his tracks and caught the eye of both Brad and Donald.
“Sneaky bastards,” he mumbled. “Chen, you mentioned official channels. Do we monitor unofficial channels?”
“Yes, Mr. President, of course. But the point is the official channels would be buzzing. There would be no need to utilize unofficial means of communications unless—”
Sarge completed the young analyst’s statement. “Unless they’re orchestrating everything to avoid our detection. Back to Donald’s question. Why would they abduct the ambassador?”
“There are three possibilities, Mr. President,” replied Brad. “One, based upon the proximity of the Presidential Palace to the ministry to the AIT complex, the security team may have avoided the area and taken the ambassador to another safe house.”
“Wouldn’t we have heard from them by now?” asked Donald.
“Not necessarily,” replied Brad. “If they suspected a connection, the security team is focusing on the ambassador’s safety first and then finding a secure form of communications second.”
“Brad, what are the other possibilities?” asked Sarge.
“Second, pro-Taiwan, anti-American activists may have seen this as an opportunity to make a statement by snatching the most recognizable symbol of America available at the moment—McBride.”
“Third?”
“Third, Mr. President, if our suspicions are correct, and this is part of a larger operation to invade Taiwan, would it be out of the realm of possibility that the PLA would abduct McBride and use him as a pawn?”
“What kind of pawn?” asked Donald.
Sarge dropped into his chair and responded, “The kind they kill if we don’t mind our own business.”
Chapter 46
7:00 a.m. ET
The Jackson Family Home
Muddy Pond, Tennessee
Drew finished his conversation with Brad and then passed the phone back to Abbie, who exchanged a few more words with Sarge. After a minute, she disconnected the call and placed her right arm under her protruding belly before she sat on the edge of the bed. Downstairs, the hustle and bustle of their family and guests could be heard as the large group lined up for a breakfast of oatmeal with apples.
“This is nuts, Abbie.”
“No doubt about it. I know the Chinese, and they wouldn’t pull a stunt like this without careful planning and placement of the proper personnel. This may have been months in the planning.”
Drew sat down next to her and placed his hand on her belly. He needed to tell her how he felt about his involvement with Aegis.
“Abbie, we’ve discussed this before, but now I’ve been deployed to an extremely unpredictable, hostile environment. It’ll be as bad as any locale in the Middle East. I’ve made my
decision.”
Abbie shook her head and took his face in her hands. “No, you haven’t, so don’t say another word. I love you and I trust your abilities. Just as importantly, I trust those men downstairs with your life. They are your brothers, which makes them my brothers too.”
“But, Abbie, this will be dangerous. I have you and the baby to think about.”
“Drew, before I became pregnant, did you hesitate to serve your country in whatever mission Sarge requested of you?”
Drew hesitated. She was outmaneuvering him. “Um, no. But it’s different now. We’re having a baby.”
“Yeah, so? Did you lose your skills or your desire to fight for our freedoms?”
“Of course not,” he said sheepishly.
“Then get to work. King has kids. In fact, most of your team does. I’ve talked to their wives and looked at their kids’ pictures. You know what they all told me when I asked how they do it?”
“What?”
“They said you guys are warriors. It’s what you love and you’re great at it. I know this already because we went through it in Boston together, right?”
“Yeah, Abbie. I understand. But the guys don’t need me to do this.”
“You’re wrong, Drew. They do. I’ve seen how they look at you. They respect you. You’re their leader. I’m not sure they could retrieve Ambassador McBride without you.”
“Maybe, but—”
“Besides, are you gonna tell the Judge and Janie Jackson that you’ve decided to sit this one out while their longtime friend Ambassador McBride is missing? You’re gonna be safer dodging bullets in the streets of Taipei.”
Drew began laughing. “Okay, okay. Jeez, you’re relentless. I gotta tell Mom and Pop what’s going on.”
Abbie rose off the bed and hugged her husband. She whispered into his ear, “We’ll do it together. Just so you know, your mom supports me on this. It’s been discussed.”
“Whoa, hold up!” he protested. “You had a family discussion without me?”
“Sure did, and it was settled because I knew a situation would arise sooner rather than later. You know what, there will be other missions and you will conduct them with one hundred percent of my love and support. Got it?”
“Dang, where are those Guard transports? It’s gettin’ hot in here.”
Drew and Abbie made their way to the kitchen and pulled his parents aside. As Abbie represented, after the mission was laid out for them, both the Judge and Janie gave him the full support he needed to go to Taiwan.
Abbie continued her conversation in the kitchen and extended her regrets for abandoning them before Thanksgiving. Drew made his way into the large family room, where most of the guys were finishing up their coffee and watching CNN’s coverage of the unrest in Taiwan. Thus far, news of the ambassador going missing hadn’t reached the media.
“Hey, guys, I need y’all to listen up.”
The conversation started to die down, but the elevated volume of the television became a distraction.
“King, can you turn that down, please, sir?” asked Drew.
“What’s up, Drew? You’re lookin’ pretty dang serious.”
“It is, King. Guys, I’m afraid we’ve got to cut the week short. We’ve been called back to Andrews.”
“Where to?” asked one of his men.
Drew simply pointed to the television. “The ambo’s gone missin’. We need to get our collective asses to Taiwan immediately to help cover our diplomats and find Jimmy McBride.”
“When do we pull out?” asked King.
Before Drew could respond, the massive tandem rotors of the Tennessee Air Guard’s Chinook CH-47 could be heard arriving from their east.
“Now. Let’s pack it up. We’ll hitch a ride with Abbie to Andrews and then deploy from there.”
Chapter 47
8:30 a.m.
The Roosevelt Room
The White House
Washington, DC
Prior to the daily briefing, Sarge huddled with Donald and the White House communications team just outside the Roosevelt Room. Donald was studying the announced schedule for the president’s activities. This was supposed to be an easy day. The House vote should have put an end to the Pacific statehood bill and no international crisis would be consuming their minds. The most challenging matter on the schedule had been the traditional pardoning of the turkey followed by some early afternoon cocktails as Sarge wished his staff happy Thanksgiving and sent them home for a well-earned day off.
“I take it Sarah and Paul were agreeable to postponing their meeting until after the PDB?” asked Sarge. Senator Rutledge, unaware of the disappearance of the ambassador, was a bit perturbed with Donald at the delay. He reiterated the importance of their meeting, and the delay placed them within hours of the start of Senate proceedings on the vote.
“Yeah, sort of,” replied Donald without elaborating. He returned to his iPad. “All public events after the turkey pardon are cancelled or rescheduled. With the Senate vote this afternoon, the media wouldn’t be surprised at a few minor appearances and meetings being put off. The turkey pardon is typically picked up by the networks for dissemination to their local affiliates. We’ve got to keep that in place.”
“Also, I don’t want to cancel my address to the troops for Thanksgiving. That’s very important to me.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” said Donald.
“Will we have time to get together before the White House press briefing, which will begin just before the Senate gets started this afternoon?” asked Ocampo.
“No, but don’t disappear on me,” said Donald. “If something breaks on the Taiwan situation, we’ll need to be in a position to respond. At this point, we’re saying nothing until we can locate the ambassador.”
“Mr. President, we had prepared remarks to be delivered following the House vote,” started Crepeau. “I believe they still apply for today, unless, of course, the vote doesn’t go our way.”
“I understand,” said Sarge. “Let’s see how the vote goes and we can modify them on the fly. Now, we better get inside. Thank you both.”
Sarge made his way toward the Roosevelt Room and Donald hustled to catch up with him. Before they entered, Sarge stopped and whispered back to Donald, “Message the attorney general. Make sure she doesn’t go anywhere this afternoon. I might need her.”
“Will do,” replied Donald.
Before Sarge sat down, he told the attendees to take a seat and looked directly to Brad. “Have we located Ambassador McBride?”
“No, Mr. President, but we have analysts poring over NSA imagery and local security camera footage. There’s been an additional development in that regard.”
“What’s happened?”
“It’s almost nine o’clock in the evening in Taipei, with darkness settling in about three and a half hours ago. The protests began, as has been the case for the last several days, except now they are much larger. Based upon the opinion of State, who is represented by Mrs. Walton again, these demonstrators are more organic.”
“Mrs. Walton, what leads you to believe that?” asked Sarge.
“The sheer size of the crowd, Mr. President. Taiwan has a large population, but it would be difficult to find five to seven thousand Chinese nationals in Taipei City. The protests, which are occurring as we speak, are well in excess of ten thousand on multiple fronts. Security at the Legislative Yuan has been breached and the facility is now occupied by young militants advocating the One China policy. The Presidential Palace is surrounded by thousands of protestors as well.”
“What are they doing to get the matter under control?” asked Sarge.
“Once again, they’ve called in the military, which has resulted in several violent clashes.”
“Are they shooting at one another? I mean, is this another Benghazi situation?”
“Not yet, sir. The military is using traditional crowd-control measures, including water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, and the LRAD sound devices.”
Walton looked to Chen, the CIA analyst, who had remained in constant contact with CIA personnel within the AIT facility. “Mr. President, at this time our people believe the compound is well secured. There are a lot of people milling about outside the building, but there haven’t been any threatening movements yet. It appears the brunt of the hostilities are directed toward the Taiwanese government.”
“General,” said Sarge as he directed his attention toward Brad, “bring us up to speed on our immediate military response.”
“Mr. President, the Pentagon is primarily interested in the protection of American citizens within the country. I’m informed that our diplomatic personnel have sought the protection of the AIT complex. However, there are over ten thousand Americans who currently reside in Taiwan, most of whom are long-term residents. It’s impossible for us to account for all of the tourists or short-term visitors, but the State Department did issue the travel advisories, and reportedly, Americans cut their trips short and returned home.”
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves here,” began Sarge. “But if this thing escalates into a full-blown military conflict, we need to look at an evacuation of Americans. Do we have a plan for that?”
“We do, Mr. President. Our evacuation protocols involve the use of a military airbase at Hualien County on the east coast of Taiwan. Our assumptions have always been that an evac would be necessary because of a Chinese amphibious invasion along the west coast. Hualien is centrally located and farthest away from anticipated points of attack, should it come to that.”
“What about the diplomatic personnel at AIT?” asked Sarge.
Chen took that question. “Mr. President, the facility is well equipped to repel most attacks, including those initiated by a rioting mob, with our existing group of private contractors. If Taiwan is invaded by the Chinese, however, we’d be at a huge disadvantage because there is no manner of escape if the complex is surrounded. The buildings there are not suitable for helicopter extractions.”
