Sky Masters

by Dale Brown

  called himself a general had to be insane-wasn't the entire country

  filled with so-called revolutionaries, peasants who would carry the

  revolution's flag long enough to get a better-looking woman or a few

  extra dollars before heading off into the jungle? It would be an insult

  to throw in with this character. "Tell him I wish to have my officers

  taken to the Hong Lung immediately, " Admiral Yin ordered at Tran. "I

  request that the men be returned to their ships as soon as possible.

  Tell him we fully support his revolution, but my first responsibility is

  to the members of my flotilla. Humor him. Tell him anything as long as

  we are freed and helped back to the ship." Tran nodded and began to

  speak with di Silva, slowly at first, but soon he was rambling on and

  on, his speech becoming less formal and more flowery-he really seemed to

  be laying it on thicker and thicker, and di Silva was eating it up. A

  few mo ments later, with di Silva wearing a firm but rather dejected

  expression, the two men were bowing deeply and smiling to each other.

  "General di Silva says he admires your sense of duty, " Tran reported

  with a sense of relief. "He has agreed to help us back to the ship and

  organize the surviving officers." Yin put on his best smile and

  extended a hand, and di Silva accepted as if Yin had just offered him

  the Crown Jewels. "Tell him he should be held up as a shining example

  of the great leaders of Communism-and any other drivel you think he will

  be impressed by, " Yin said impatiently. "Then ask him to bring the

  senior officers in here immediately so that I can organize-" There was a

  sudden flurry of voices coming from the hallway, and a wave of people

  pushed their way into Yin's room. Several of them had small automatic

  weapons and wore earpieces-Secret Service agents, most likely, or

  Presidential Guards, Yin thought. Well, the Chinese Admiral thought, he

  was right all along; his room was bugged, and as soon as the Philippine

  intelligence agents realized that he was not going to cooperate and try

  to enlist the aid of the Philippine General in trying to escape or

  overthrow the country, he was going to be captured like any other enemy

  of the state and hauled away to prison. ... The wall of onlookers and

  guards parted suddenly, revealing a tall, young, handsome man with fair

  features, a thin dark mustache, and carefully coiffured dark hair.

  Doctors and nurses were staring at him as if they were looking at a god

  from Heaven, while the security guards were now gently pushing them

  away. General di Silva spoke at length to the man, who seemed to be

  very good friends with him. The man then stepped up to Yin's bed, his

  hands crossed before him, smiled pleasantly at Commander Tran, then said

  in rather good Chinese, "Welcome, Admiral." Yin was clearly impressed.

  "Thank you, sir. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

  "I am First Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, Daniel

  Francisco Teguina. Admiral Yin Po L'un, I welcome you to Palawan." The

  First Vice President! Yin exclaimed to himself. Well, things were

  getting very interesting-if he was who he claimed. "So. Am I to be

  your prisoner, Comrade Vice President?"

  "No, " Teguina replied, struggling through Yin's sentence and struggling

  to compose a reply. "You are my guest and are to be welcomed."

  "As a conquering hero?" Teguina made a sideways glance at the receding

  wall of people around the bed-none were within hearing range, and

  probably did not understand Chinese in any case-then at di Silva, and

  then back at Yin. "If you have the strength, Admiral, we will speak of

  it, " Teguina replied. "I will speak of nothing until I am reunited with

  my officers and receive report from them on the status of the men under

  my command, " Yin said. His words were obviously too much for Teguina,

  who shook his head, and Yin motioned for Tran to translate. "You will

  have what you wish, Admiral Yin, " Teguina said. He smiled evenly.

  "Then, we will speak of the future of the Philippines-and of our

  future." JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CONFERENCE CENTER, THE PENTAGON

  WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 1994, 0730 HOURS LOCAL eral Wilbur Curtis and

  the other Joint Chiefs of Staff ~ wenere seated around the triangular

  table in their Pentagon conference room, the Tank, listening to Navy

  Captain Rebecca Rodgers give her morning briefing. Since the nuclear

  device had been detonated, things had still not cleared up. If

  anything, save for the fact that no other devices had gone off, the

  situation was worse. "The Chinese government continues to deny any

  knowledge or claim any responsibility for the nuclear blast, " Rodgers 1

  told the assembly. "The official announcement from Beijing stated that

  People's Liberation Army Navy Forces came under sustained and unprovoked

  attack by Philippine naval and air forces, and that an F-4E attacked

  their flagship in the vicinity of ground zero before the blast. They

  claim that the attack was a retaliation by President Mikaso for the

  patrol action against the so-called illegal oil-drilling platform in the

  Spratly Island neutral zone. The Premier denies that Chinese warships

  carry nuclear devices, but they do point to the presence of nuclear

  weapons at several former American bases in the Philippines..."

  "That's bull, " General Falmouth of the Air Force retorted. "We took

  all special weapons out of the Philippines years ago. "I know, Bill, I

  know, " Curtis said. "We've got inspection records from the United

  Nations and from the Soviet START Treaty inspection teams to verify

  it-the President will authorize disclosure of those inspection reports

  soon. Let Captain Rodgers finish." Captain Rodgers continued. "ASEAN,

  the Association of South East Asian Nations-the Philippines, Brunei,

  Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and most recently Vietnam, who

  are, in effect, a counter-Chinese economic and military coalition-have

  not made a comment on the disaster. But they are meeting tomorrow in

  Singapore in emergency session to discuss the issue." While the Joint

  Chiefs weren't surprised at China's denial of launching the warhead,

  they were surprised how readily others in power, namely the President

  and his advisers, were willing-for the time being-to accept it. Whatever

  was going on, and whoever was behind it, one thing Curtis knew without a

  doubt was that the situation was going to escalate. In fact, it seemed

  to have already . Captain Rodgers, standing at the end of the triangle

  behind the podium, kept going. She informed the Joint Chiefs that in

  accordance with the 1991 START Treaty, the Soviet Union had activated

  six mobile ICBM battalions in Central Asia, a response to the United

  States' DEFCON Three status. Along the Chinese and Mongolia borders,

  the Soviet Union had activated four missile battalions, equaling forty

  missiles, and were generating nuclear-capable forces at four bomber

  bases in south-central Russia. Although eleven hundred other known

  main, reserve, dispersal, rail-mobile ICBM, and crosscountry road-mobile

  ICBM sites were under manual or satellite surveillance, it didn't
appear

  that the USSR was gearing up for a major counteroffensive-at least with

  long-range nuclear forces. Rodgers switched to an enlarged chart of the

  mainland of China. "The source of continuing tensions in the past

  forty-eight hours continues to be the buildup of Chinese tactical forces

  in deployments along the Mongolian and Soviet border, " Rodgers said.

  "This is being done, according to the Chinese, as a response to the

  Soviet buildup." General Curtis and the others listened as Captain

  Rodgers rattled off the Chinese deployment numbers: nineteen total

  active divisions, four reserve divisions, four hundred thousand troops

  along a two-thousand-mile front in the north and northcentral provinces.

  The units included twenty-one infantry divisions, seven mechanized

  divisions, one heavy missile division, four air defense divisions .

  There was an uneasy rustle among the Joint Chiefs. Captain Rodgers was

  talking about a force that was almost as large as America's and the

  Soviet Union's combined. General Curtis was shaking his head.

  Thirty-three divisions-over one-half of China's ground forces and

  one-third of their total military, and what had the President of the

  United States given him? Two aircraft carrier groups and the STRATFOR.

  Worse, the President later cut Curtis and the Joint Chiefs out of the

  loop by insisting that Admiral Stoval, the Commander in Chief of Pacific

  Command, who was responsible for the carrier task force moving to the

  South China Sea, report to Thomas Preston, the Defense Secretary,

  through the National Security Council. That left Curtis not only

  seething, but in a rather embarrassing position with the other Joint

  Chiefs, who knew what the President had done. Rodgers switched her

  electronic screen to a zoomed-in view of the South China Sea region.

  Specifically, the Spratly Island chain. "The Chinese are moving half

  their fleet into the area, Curtis observed with some alarm. The other

  Joint Chiefs murmured in agreement. Captain, I want to know what ships

  they're moving in there and why. I also want a letter from State

  spelling out precisely what the Philippine government has authorized the

  Chinese Army Navy to do. This makes me pretty damned uneasy. "Well, it

  should, " Chief of Naval Operations Randolph Cunningham grumbled. "We

  don't have diddly in the area and the damn Chinese know it. They set

  off a nuke, then rush in and claim it's a major threat to their

  sovereignty. They're taking over the South China Sea faster than you

  can blink-and we're just sitting here. This is bullshit." It certainly

  was, but what could Curtis do? He answered his own question thirty

  minutes later, after the briefing, when he got back to his office. His

  aide, Colonel Wyatt, entered and said, "Sir, you have a scrambled phone

  call from CINCSAC-General Tyler. He says it's a conference call."

  "Conference call? With who?"

  "General Brad Elliott and a Doctor Jon Masters . Elliott? A smile came

  across Curtis' face. He took a sip of the coffee Wyatt had just brought

  in. He hadn't seen Elliott in months, even though he was one of his

  favorites. Elliott had had some up and down times-first as Deputy

  Commander of SAC, then as Director of HAWC, then as head of the

  government s Border Security, only to be fired and bounced back to HAWC,

  again. And Masters?. . . Of Sky Masters, Inc.? The NIRTSats? Curtis

  took the phone call. After pleasantries were exchanged all around,

  Elliott and Tyler got right to the point: "General Curtis, we need

  clearance on something we think we're going to need down in the

  Philippines." Curtis' ears picked up. "Go on. "We want to deploy the

  NIRTSat recon system that Doctor Masters has built, with a few of my

  Megafortress escort bombers that are out at the Strategic Warfare

  Center. We also want some on a few of the RC- 1355 that'll be deployed

  for STRATFOR. We need your blessing, though." Curtis thought about the

  briefing he'd just come out of. Two carriers in the face of a possible

  Chinese land-grab. The President had authorized STRATFOR into position

  on Guam. They'd have to be ready. "Doctor Masters, " Curtis said, "you

  can really put that reconnaissance system on tactical aircraft?"

  "You bet I can, General, " Masters said over the pop of the scrambled

  line. "We can make the Megafortress the most high-tech flying machine

  this side of Star Trek."

  "Plus I've got a B-2 Black Knight bomber equipped the same way, except

  with even more surprises, " Elliott said. "They've all been tearing up

  the Air Battle Force in exercises out at Jarrel's SWC, and if we have to

  go out against the Chinese in the Philippines, I think you'll want them

  out there." Curtis smiled. "Do it, you old warhorse. You just made my

  day." THE PRESIDENT S RESIDENCE, MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES THURSDAY, 29

  SEPTEMBER 1994, 2212 HOURS LOCAL (28 SEPTEMBER, 0912 WASHINGTON TIME)

  Daniel Teguina was ushered into President Mikaso's residence by a

  Philippine Presidential Guard, then left alone in front of the door to

  Mikaso's office. Teguina straightened his tie and his shoulders,

  cleared his throat quietly, then knocked on the door. After receiving a

  curt "Come, " he entered. Teguina paced before the small desk in the

  center of the room and stood impatiently as Mikaso continued to work on

  something. Everything in this room was small, understated, almost

  peasantlike-Mikaso kept this office spartan, with only a few native wall

  hangings, simple wood furnishings, and bookcases crammed with every type

  of book, written in several languages. It was here that Mikaso did his

  best work, as productive as a monk in solitude. Look at him, Teguina

  thought. An old man trying to act as if he is in control. Teguina

  wanted to laugh out loud at the absurdity of the scene. Since the

  nuclear explosion in the Palawan Strait there had been a panic

  throughout the islands. Here in Manila rioting had broken out, troops

  were in the streets trying to restore order, and the presidential palace

  had been besieged by protests from thousands of citizens and rebel

  troops-troops, he smiled inwardly, who were loyal to him. No, things

  were definitely not in control, no matter what this old man wanted to

  believe, and if Daniel Teguina had anything to do with it, they would

  continue to spin into chaos. "What is your report, Daniel?" Mikaso

  finally said. Teguina squinted at Mikaso, feeling anger flush into his

  temples. Mikaso was dressed in a brown suit, with a miniature

  Philippine Badge of Honor pinned to his lapel. Teguina knew that the

  sight of that badge on television made many Filipinos proud-it was the

  highest honor the military could pay to a civilian. Teguina had never

  even been considered for such an award. "I have nothing to report, " he

  said lamely. "You have spent two days in Palawan, with almost no

  communication with my staff the entire time, " Mikaso said. "Yet I see

  editorials and articles in the newspaper, condemning the United States

  and the military for releasing the nuclear weapon and praising the

  Republic of China's navy for its relief efforts. I have been told

/>   nothing officially-communications are still disrupted in and out of

  Palawan. Do you have a report for me?"

  "I was not aware that I was required to "I have learned that you have

  ordered New Armed Forces personnel in Puerto Princesa to surrender to

  the provincial police, and the airfields there and at Buenavista to be

  shut down, " Mikaso interrupted. "I hear reports that say that Chinese

  patrol boats were seen in ports throughout Palawan, including Puerto

  Princesa, Buenavista, Teneguiban, and Araceli, and that Chinese vessels

  patrol the Cuyo West Pass and even the Mindoro Strait. I hear the

  screams in the streets outside, saying that you accuse me of being a

  traitor to our country. Are these reports true?"

  "The Philippine Navy is severely crippled, sir, " Teguina replied. "The

  Chinese patrol boats were graciously loaned to provincial police

  officers in an effort to restore order to the province-"

  "Is the Army assisting the provincial police in restoring order?"

  "No, Mr. President, " Teguina sniffed. "According to my research and

  the reports I received, it was an American B43 bomb that exploded off

  the coast of Palawan; the experts I consulted said that the weapon was

  old and thankfully did not produce a full yield." Teguina knew enough

  about nuclear bombs to know that it takes a smaller nuclear explosion to

  trigger the main explosion; this obscure factoid made the lie even

  easier. "The Chinese vessels were attacked without provocation by a

  Philippine Air Force F-4 fighter-bomber carrying this American nuclear

  weapon. The jet fighter crew, who was working for the American Central

  Intelligence Agency, de stroyed a Chinese ship, along with several

  Philippine ships, during the attack. "Because I am not sure as yet

  exactly who is responsible for the unprovoked attack on those Chinese

  vessels, 1 thought it best to turn all local police and military

  functions over to the provincial police and to curtail all military

  operations until an investigation is completed."

  "General di Silva is in command of the Palawan defense forces?" Mikaso

  asked. He registered surprise for a moment, then relaxed and studied