by Dale Brown
the President said. "Thank you for your time and assistance.
Good night, Mr. Ambassador." Hou was still thanking Mar-
tindale profusely for his time and patience when the President
hung up. The President took a deep breath, then a sip of coffee.
"Well, either Hou was a very convincing bullshitter or one
sincere Chinese. They admitted they screwed the pooch."
4
"They admitted they overreacted, but they didn't admit they
were wrong or not responsible," Freeman pointed out. "I still
think they're too easygoing about all this. Hundreds of Chinese
citizens and soldiers were just killed, supposedly by Taiwanese
and American sneak attacks, and their ambassador is apolo-
gizing? Doesn't feel right to me."
"Still think it's a setup, Phil?" the President asked. "Still
think China started it all, hoping to start an invasion?"
"As far as would the PRC risk attacking their own ships
just to force a showdown with Taiwan?" He paused for a
272 DALE BROWN
moment, then said, "I won't speculate. I suppose it's possi-
ble..."
Admiral Balboa shook his head and gave a sound of dis-
agreement that sounded like an exasperated snort. Balboa was
shorter and not as lean or athletic as Freeman, but he corn-
pensated for a lack of stature with an animated, expressive,
restless demeanor that could not be ignored. He said, "Ex-
cuse me, General Freeman, but in my opinion, it'.s ridiculous
to suggest that the Chinese would shoot four torpedoes at its
own warships just to hope to provoke Taiwan into starting a
war. I think we can rule that idea out."
"I'm not ruling anything out, Admiral," Freeman said, "but
I'll agree, it's pretty unlikely. But this incident is only ninety
minutes old. It's just too early to know anything. Everything
that Mr. Plank said rings true with me, tells me that perhaps
the Chinese set this whole thing up."
"Like you said, General," Balboa interjected, "the invasion
plans on Matsu were in place and well known for over a year.
Taiwan's been threatening to sink that carrier if it ever entered
the Formosa Strait. None of this is a big surprise."
"Well, the press has latched on to this incident like it's the
beginning of World War Three," the President said irritably.
He glanced at his watch, then looked at Jeffod Hale, his chief
of staff. "Jer, have Chuck work up a media point paper for
me for tonight. I want it made clear that I view these incidents
with great concern, and I make myself available at any time
to assist in negotiations for peace. I'm calling for a cessation
of all hostilities in the Formosa Strait immediately."
I IYou may want to consider a line acknowledging our cul-
pability in the escalation of this conflict, sir," Hale said. "We
can't kill a hundred civilians and then say, 'Everyone, back
off or else.' "
"I don't want it to look like I'm the one that started it all,
either, Jerrod.-
"I'd consider mentioning the call from Ambassador Hou,
the pledge of cooperation, and your pledge to remove all
armed patrol aircraft from the region," Hale said. "You're
going to come under tough scrutiny anyway-now's not the
time to be evasive."
"You're right. Let's set up a press conference for tomorrow
morning." The President turned to Robert Plank and asked,
"What's China's military up to these days, Bob? They've been
FATAL T ER RAI N 273
pretty quiet over the past few weeks, haven't they?"
"Quiet, except of course for this carrier group that they
claim just got attacked by Taiwan," Plank replied. "It's in-
credible to me how much the balance of power shifts when
that carrier relocates-it's the biggest warship and most pow-
erful battle group in the South China Sea region. Its escorts
are considered third-rate, but the carrier group represents a
significant threat to the entire region. The South China Sea
belongs to China now."
"I think that's a little premature, Bob," Freeman interjected.
Director of Central Intelligence Robert Plank was another one
of President Martindale's political supporters, a partner in a
prestigious Atlanta law firm before cochairing the President's
election committee and running the campaign in the strategi-
cally important southeastern states. Plank knew little about
politics and nothing about running an intelligence bureau. To
his credit, he knew people, he knew international law, and he
knew how to manage a team and manage a crisis. But in Philip
Freeman's'eyes, Plank was pretty much disengaged from the
everyday business of the intelligence game and really put his
skills to work only in tight situations.
"The Agency has their best team on the case," Plank said
to the President, ignoring Freeman. "I can have someone brief
you on China's specific military standing."
"What's China's next move, Bob?" the President asked.
"I think they'll sit and wait, hope this blows over, keep the
pressure on Taiwan and us, and see what we'll do about it,"
Plank replied. "I see no reason whatsoever to get excited over
yet another shoving match between the two Chinas."
"This is not a damned 'shoving match,' Bob-the Chinese
brought nukes into the region and used them against Que-
moy!" Freeman retorted.
"I think there's a power play going on in the Central Mil-
itary Commission, and the nukes were not Jiang's idea," Plank
said earnestly. "The dispersal of the Chinese carrier battle
force, after spending so much time and money in assembling
it, is proof that whoever came up with the nuke idea has been
discredited. It would be a mistake, in my estimation, to escalate
this thing any further by any overt actions on our part. We
should definitely exclude the modified B-52 things from the
area. B-52s have always had a very negative connotation-as
in 'doornsday,' as in 'global thermonuclear war.'
274 DALE BROWN FATAL TER RAI N 275
"I agree," Balboa interjected. "Things have been messed
up pretty good with the Megafortress fiasco. But we need a
presence in the Strait-we needed it two weeks ago, but now
we need it more than ever. The Independence is fired up and
ready to depart Yokosuka-I suggest we let it head down the
Strait to assist the Duncan and James DanieL It was supposed
to be in Hong Kong for Reunification Day ceremonies, but I
don't think that's a good idea now, for obvious reasons. The
Vice President was supposed to be in Hong Kong for Reuni-
fication Day-is she still planning on attending the carrier ren-
dezvous?"
As far as I'm aware, she's still on," the President said.
He turned to his national security advisor. "Phil ' You agree
with the plan to send the carrier into the Strait now?"
Freeman hesitated-which angered Balboa, although he
kept silent. Finally: "Sir, the only problem in this whole thing
is that I feel we're being led around by the nose by the PRC1-
Freeman said. "I smell a setup. Perhaps we should wait until
Director Plank has a chance to investigate the incidents further
before we send Independence into the area."
"Always gotta be the odd man out, don't you, General?"
Balboa asked with undisguised exasperation. "With all due
respect, neral, I think it's you that's being led around by
the nose-not by the PRC, but by Elliott, McLanahan, and
Samson. We gave them a shot, and they couldn't come
through, thanks to Elliott. If things get really hairy for the
Independence, we can triple-team China with all three carri-
ers-the Washington will be on station in a few days, and Carl
Vinson will be right behind it."
"We should continue air patrols over the Strait--
"We can send the P-3s out of Misawa or the S-2s shore-
based at Atsugi," Balboa said. "If things get out of hand, we
can send in F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers out of Okinawa. 1
think we can count on the Navy guys to simply observe, and
not start, World War Three over there. U. presence should
be a major stabilizing influence in Asia, not a destabilizing
one."
Balboa was the definition of interservice bigotry, the Pres-
ident decided, but now was not the time to argue about any
lack of objectivity he might be displaying. "Philip, anything
else?" the President asked. When Freeman had no reply, he
continued, "Have Defense draw up a plan of action; I want
the Independence moving as soon as possible. Don't delay
getting whatever help is needed for the frigates, but I want it
known that Independence is going there to assist in recovery
efforts only." He paused for a moment, then added, "Just for
my own peace of mind, Admiral-none of our carriers carry
any nuclear weapons, right?"
"Absolutely not, Mr. President," Balboa said. "All special
weapons-nuclear, biological, and chemical-were removed
from all Navy warships except ballistic missile submarines at
least five years ago. None exist in the surface fleet."
"Not even pieces of one? No nuclear components?" the
President asked. It was a well-known fact that the U. gov-
ernment "fudged" information on nuclear weapons aboard
Navy vessels to bypass a country's "nuclear-free" policy by
simply dismantling the weapons on board, so technically there
were only -nuclear components" on board, not "nuclear
weapons. 11
"No nuclear components either, sir," Balboa said. "Of
course, we still have nuclear delivery components in the
field-aircraft, missiles, et cetera-but I can certify to you that
we have no nuclear weapons or nuclear weapon components
in the field at this time."
"Good-because you will have to certify it, in' writing,"
the President said. "Make your commanders do it, too."
"The.security review that you ordered was completed on
both Sky Masters, Inc., and the Megafortress project office at
Edwards Air Force Base-all clean," Freeman intedected.
"No special weapons have been detected, no special-weapon
delivery subsystems have been installed or ordered or de-
signed."
"Good-I want that report in writing as well, Philip," the
President said. "Next, Admiral Balboa, get together with the
Chiefs and Secretary Chastain and put the Megafortresses back
in mothballs. Get them off Guam and back in the States
soonest. We gave them a try, and it didn't work. Then get
together with Naval Investigative Services and the Justice De-
partment and start an investigation on those missile launches
and the attack on the Chinese ferry. We might have to sacrifice
some heads to show the world we're not on the warpath."
Admiral Balboa's smile was unabashedly broad and self-
satisfying. "Yes, sir," he said with undisguised enthusiasm.
"I'll take care of that embarrassing mess right away."
276 DALE BROWN
Balboa's anxiousness to start tearing at Elliott was a little
unnerving, but the President let it go--it was time for Balboa
to retake charge of his military forces, and time for the Pres-
ident to back off and stop micromanaging the military. He
asked, "Status of the Strategic Command stand-up?"
"All of the Combined Task Forces are fully manned and
ready to move when you give the word, sir," Balboa said.
"Of course, the CTFs agree that we see no reason right now
to gain any nuclear assets whatsoever. CINCPAC is still in
command of the Pacific-China theater. If we identify a target
in Asia, CINCPAC should gain whatever resources he wants
to handle it."
"Fine," the President said. "I agree with them-we don't
need any nuclear forces unless China tries to make another
move using nuclear weapons. But I don't think we'll see any
more of that. Give me a report from CINCPAC tomorrow
afternoon.
Jerrod Hale had picked up the phone again to answer an-
other call. The President noticed Hale's silent, almost expres-
sionless signal. "Anything else for me, Admiral?"
Balboa was in mid-sip. He swallowed, looking expectantly
at the President, then at Hale, then back again. "No, sir."
"Thank you, and good night," the President said, curtly
dismissing him. Hale bent over to talk quietly with the Presi-
dent, effectively isolating the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. Balboa blinked in surprise, put down his cup of coffee
with an irritated clatter of china, and departed. After Balboa
departed, the President sighed aloud. "Senator Finegold-al-
ready? She couldn't even wait until morning?"
"You don't need to take this call, Kevin," Hale said.
"You're busy handling the crisis. I'll tell Finegold that we'll
brief the leadership before we issue any statements to the
press."
President Martindale sighed heavily, rubbing the dull ache
developing in his temples. He knew he should talk with Fi-
negold; he knew that, if he didn't, the first thing she was going
to do in the morning was get on the network morning shows,
complain about not getting briefed in a timely manner by the
White House, then put her own ridiculous spin on the devel-
opments. Without hesitating any longer, he hit the button on
the phone: "Hello, Senator."
"Thank you so much for taking my call, Mr. President,"
FATAL TER RAI N 277
Senator Barbara Finegold responded. "I'm sorry for inter-
rupting you-I know how busy you must be right now."
I'm afraid there's not much I can tell you right now, Sen-
ator," the President said cautiously. "The facts are that two
Navy frigates were hit by Chinese submarine and air attacks
in the Formosa Strait, and one of our patrol planes accidentally
attacked a Chinese ferry. I don't have any independent confir-
mation on any other incidents over there."
"What kind of patrol plane was that on the news, Mr. Pres-
ident?" Finegold asked. "On the news, it looked like a B-52
bomber."
"It was a new, experimental class of long-range patrol and
attack aircraft, based on the B-52 but with some modem en-
hancements," the President replied. "Its actions were totally
defensive in nature, occurring only after one of our frigates
was hit."
"Have you spoken with China yet, Mr. President? What are
they saying about all this?"
"I have, and the Chinese are apologizing for their rash ac-
tions," the President replied. "Of course, they're blaming
everything on preemptive attacks by Taiwan, an allegation that
we have not yet confirmed."
"A Chinese aircraft carrier and a military base were at-
tacked-if we didn't do it, then who else could have done it
except Taiwan?" Finegold asked. "They got the submarine
that attacked the carrier, and they shot down a bomber over-
flying their military site. I think that's pretty compelling evi-
dence, don't you, Mr. President?"
"Do you want to take China's word for all that's happened,
or would you like some independent confirmation first, Sena-
tor?" the President asked heatedly. Jerrod waved his hands
palm-down at the President, reminding him to "take it easy."
"I see lots of innocent civilians killed and hurt on CNN,
Mr. President," Finegold said testily. "Are you saying that all
this is a fake, a fabrication by China? If it is, it's pretty good
work."
"What I'm saying is, we don't have independent confir-
mation of anything right now."
"I'd like a joint congressional task force to go out there to
look for themselves," Finegold said. "Can we count on Pen-
tagon travel support?"
278 DALE B R OWN
"Of course. Military, common carrier, whatever's availa-
ble.
"We'd like to see that patrol plane first," Finegold said.
"We'd like to talk to the crews, interview the commander, get
some details."
The President hesitated, and he could feel the tension build-
ing. "That may not be possible, Senator," he responded.
"They're still on patrol, assisting in recovery efforts. I've or-
dered the plane brought back to the States after they finish
their patrol-that might be the best place to look at it and talk
