by James Rosone
VP Jackson tried to say something, but Wilson cut her off before he would be interrupted again. “We have been wondering why some countries have had major breakouts of COVID while the neighboring countries have not. Now we know. Some of them had been given a vaccine ahead of time by the Chinese.”
Now the Vice President interjected. “So what the intelligence is telling us is the Chinese created and then weaponized this new COVID virus strain and then made sure their allies had a vaccine in place ahead of when it would be released?” she asked incredulously. “If that’s the case, Blain, what’s their endgame? What are the Chinese hoping to get out of this? Because once everyone learns the true extent of what they have done, they have to know the world will unite against them.”
Secretary of State Edison leaned forward as she jumped in before anyone else could. “Not necessarily, Madam Vice President. Blain, maybe you can back me up on this, but if the Chinese provided the vaccine to their allies, did those allies happen to coincide with the members of the Belt and Road Initiative?”
Wilson frowned as he thought about that. He looked down at his notes briefly. When he looked up, he only nodded in reply.
Edison blew some air out her mouth indignantly. “They’ve played me like a fiddle this entire time. If the Chinese divested themselves of our debt and then liquidated their other financial positions in America and Europe, then they’ll be sitting on a mountain of cash. For all we know, they’re waiting for the rest of the global economy to finish being flushed down the toilet and then they’ll glide in and take control of entire industries. I’ll bet they’re waiting until the entire world is on its knees over this virus and then they’ll swoop in like the saviors of humanity with a vaccine they’ll provide if we only grovel on our knees and ask for it,” she said with venom dripping from her mouth. She was clearly irate at having been played by the PRC all these years.
“This will throw the world into chaos,” commented the President’s Chief of Staff.
Peter Morris, the Secretary of Defense, raised his hands to stop the crosstalk. “I think this is about Project Ten—the Chinese master plan to dominate the world politically, economically, and militarily. I’m not sure if any of you have heard of a book called Unrestricted Warfare: China’s Master Plan to Destroy America. It came out in 1999 and was coauthored by Major General Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui.
“It outlines everything Project Ten is about. When you examine what’s been happening the last ten years and then more closely over the last twelve months, you can see it all makes sense. The patterns to everything come into focus. This book, like Hitler’s Mein Kampf, is the blueprint they’ve been following for twenty-plus years. With our economy in the toilet, our election months away, and our people living in fear of contracting this virus, we’re helpless to stop them. Which is exactly the position they’ve been jockeying to get us into.”
Sheila Jones, the Secretary of Homeland Security, added, “This all makes sense now with the drugs—why the CDC was finding all this heroin and fentanyl originating from China laced with COVID. They wanted to spread the virus across as many facets and demographics of our country and Europe as possible. With a vaccine already in place, the Chinese knew in advance that society wouldn’t get wiped out by it, only China’s enemies. Un-freaking-believable if you ask me.”
“Damn Chinese,” muttered the President. “Can the CDC synthesize a vaccine for us based on the vial we obtained from Havana?”
“They’re working on it as we speak. They started the first phase of trying to replicate it. We should know in a couple of days if it’s possible and approximately how long it’ll take to mass-produce it. In the meantime, Mr. President, we need to figure out what to do about China,” Jones explained.
“What’s the status on that shooting out in Idaho?” President Alton asked. “That was an ugly incident.”
“The FBI is still tracking the shooters down,” Secretary Jones explained. “Nearest we can tell, this was an organized hit by the Chinese on a recent defector, a man by the name of Ma ‘Daniel’ Yong. He had defected through MI-6 and was later transferred to the CIA. Ma had apparently been the lead architect in building this PLA supercomputer AI thing, Jade Dragon. The Agency was working with him to gain entry into the program when they believed they had been discovered. That’s when they made the move to evacuate to an alternative safe house. It was during that transition they were ambushed.”
“Do we know if it was Chinese military or intelligence that did the hit?” asked the President’s Chief of Staff.
“We’re not one hundred percent sure yet. Homeland is coordinating everything with the FBI, but they’re lead on the case. Right now, we’re assuming the Chinese have an unknown number of operatives here. We’ve made finding them our top priority,” Jones explained.
“I think we have a bigger issue to deal with,” the SecDef insisted. “Like what are we going to do with the nearly one hundred thousand Chinese workers in Cuba, El Salvador, and Venezuela? Not to mention the seventy thousand plus soldiers already in these countries. We can’t allow them to continue sending more military units to the Caribbean. This a direct violation of the Monroe Doctrine, and it places a large foreign army dangerously close to our own shores. We need to stop them now and tell them to withdraw these forces from our hemisphere.”
“We could issue a red line,” Secretary of State Edison countered. “If they don’t begin to withdraw these forces, then we’ll impose sanctions on them. We could go after them with technology components, things they can only purchase from us.”
“And what do we do if they shrug off the sanctions?” asked Wilson, crossing his arms. “Then what?”
“We impose a blockade,” Edison replied. “We prevent them from sending more forces to our hemisphere, and we blockade the countries they’re in. This would force them to back down.”
Morrison countered, “If we impose a blockade, we better be willing to enforce that with military force if it comes down to it. You can bet the Chinese will test our resolve. They view us as weak, especially right now. I would not put it past the Chinese to run right up to the blockade and then push on through it with their navy.”
President Alton grunted angrily. “Two hundred thousand plus Americans are dead because of a second Chinese virus in barely four years. More than forty-three million have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic shutdowns this time around. I’d say the Chinese have already fired the first shots in this Cold War. Heck, I’d say they’ve already won the first few battles. No, if the Chinese want to test our resolve, then let’s make sure we have the necessary military assets waiting for them.”
Alton turned to look at his Secretaries of Defense and State. “Riley, please schedule an emergency meeting of the permanent Security Council members. Brief the others ahead of time and then confront the Chinese with the facts and data we have. Pete, meet with our counterparts at NATO. Do the same as Edison and let’s work on getting our NATO allies on board with whatever may come next. Remind them it’s the joint task force they’re all a part of that’s uncovered this. It needs to be a joint response.”
Chapter Twenty
Escalation
Following Day
Joint Task Force Nine
Doral, Florida
Nigel Younger bit his lower lip, deep in thought about what he’d just heard from the American National Security Advisor, a bloke named Blain Wilson.
This conspiracy was under our noses this entire time, he realized. He couldn’t believe Hank Iverson had been right about this all along. I only wish he had lived long enough for us to tell him…
Nigel listened to the others ask their questions, waiting silently for his turn.
Finally, General Bridges motioned with his hand in Nigel’s direction. “Mr. Wilson, this is Nigel Younger. He’s from the British SIS. His agency has been instrumental in providing us the information about Jade Dragon and Project Ten.”
The man smiled warmly at him. “Mr. Younger, it’
s truly a pleasure to finally meet you,” Wilson said. “I’ve read nearly every report you provided us about Project Ten, Jade Dragon and DragonLink. It’s an incredible program the Chinese built and your organization managed to uncover.”
Nigel smiled curtly and nodded. “I wish we could provide more. Sadly, as you know, our defector was killed in your custody last week.”
“I know. We lost Jessica Parker in that attack as well,” Mr. Wilson replied sullenly. “We’re still trying to figure out how the Chinese knew where Ma Yong was being held. I’m sure you know a slew of undercover operatives have been turning up dead all over the world. Our assumption is this AI must have found a way to uncover who they are or someone is tipping them off. In either case, it’s an enormous security breach and it’s costing us lives.”
“I wish I could help you out with that one,” Nigel replied. “I’ve had a few friends have mysterious accidents as well. General Bridges has been kind enough to allow me to stay with him at his residence with beefed-up security for the time being. Right now, I have to assume I’m also a target. It’s all a bit unnerving if you ask me.”
“Do you think it’s possible the Chinese realized Ma Yong’s death was staged?” Mr. Wilson inquired. “I mean, that would explain why they put resources into trying to locate him.”
Nigel nodded slowly. “That’s our working theory, or at least my working theory. Before Ma was gunned down, he began telling us about a program Jade Dragon was managing called Project Jedi. We don’t have all the details, unfortunately, but we believe it is linked to all these intelligence operatives being killed off around the world.
Mr. Wilson nodded somberly. “We need to figure out what this Project Jedi is, then,” he sighed. “We also need to further flesh out this Project Ten. Right now, we believe it has something to do with the activities going on in the Caribbean, but we’re not one hundred percent sure. Personally, I believe it has something to do with China’s overall strategy to become the dominant economic, military, and financial power in the world, but I could be wrong.”
“I think you’re probably on the right track, Mr. Wilson. We just need to keep digging,” Nigel concluded before Wilson had to leave to speak with some others at the command.
*******
As the National Security Advisor left the room, Major General Gary Bridges cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Take your seats, everyone. We have more new information to talk about.”
The task force members all filed back to their seats.
After everyone sat down, General Bridges began, “First, thank you, everyone, for the long hours and hard work you’ve put into this effort. Over the last nine months, we’ve put together a comprehensive overview of what the Chinese have been doing in the Caribbean and around the globe. It’s clear now that the pandemic was engineered by the Chinese to further their global plans by weakening the West—hell, weakening the rest of the world so no one could stand up to them.”
Bridges continued, “Today, the Secretary of State is meeting with the UN Security Council to present the facts about the Chinese activities and give the Chinese an ultimatum to withdraw their military forces from the region. Tomorrow, the Secretary of Defense will present the information to the NATO leadership to bring them on board. In three days, the President, along with his national security team, will present the evidence that’s been collected up to this point about the pandemic, and the underlying goals of their Belt and Road Initiative.”
“A lot of tough information will be made public in the coming days,” General Bridges counseled. “It’s going to cause quite the stir and it’s likely to rile people up. There will also be some good news presented to help soften the blow and give everyone hope that not all is lost. At the end of President Alton’s address, the Director of the CDC will announce that a vaccine has been found and is being mass-produced for the world. The Director will also disclose how we obtained the vaccine, and how the Chinese produced and distributed it prior to the release of the virus. It is important for people to know how this virus started and why certain countries have been affected by it while other nations have not.”
General Bridges put his hands on his hips. “Per the President’s guidelines, the US will be issuing a red line to the Chinese. Once it’s issued, they will have two weeks to begin withdrawing their military units from El Salvador, Cuba, and Venezuela. If they don’t, then the US will begin a series of sanctions aimed at crippling their economy until they do. If the Chinese still won’t withdraw from Latin America and the Caribbean, then the US may institute a blockade in the Pacific to prevent them from sending more soldiers and supplies to these nations.”
A French colonel interjected to add, “Your president is aware such actions may lead to a conflict, maybe even to a war?”
General Bridges nodded. “He was made aware of that, yes. He’s also emphasized that three million Americans have died from a virus the Chinese knowingly unleashed on the world. I believe six hundred and thirty-eight thousand French citizens died also.”
The French military officer nodded slowly. “Yes, and I fear that number will increase before the vaccine can be widely distributed. I think many people in my country agree with you—something needs to be done about what they did. Worldwide, the death toll has now surpassed thirty-two million people. It’s devastating parts of Africa and India.”
Several of the foreign representatives nodded in agreement. The pandemic was ravaging their countries and destroying their economies. It was becoming abundantly clear that the Chinese had engineered the virus to do exactly what it was doing—weaken the world powers, bringing them to their knees and preventing them from standing up to China.
General Bridges concluded their meeting by saying, “What I would like you all to start figuring out now is what kind of naval and air support your nations may be able to provide should we be asked to implement a blockade. Our task force will start supporting some taskings from US Northern Command in addition to Southern Command. This is the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis that the US has had so many adversarial forces positioned this close to our homeland.”
*******
Special Operations Command – South
When Major General Bridges finished his meeting with the task force, he went over to his own command, SOCSOUTH. He needed to get things rolling on their front as well. If things turned hot with the Chinese in Cuba, then his command would be the one leading the charge into the country.
Walking into the operations room of his group’s building, Bridges spotted the soldier he needed. “Captain Pruitt, follow me back to my office, I need to go over some information with you.”
Captain Paul Pruitt was a twenty-four-year veteran of the Navy SEALs. He’d spent a few years with DEVGRU and JSOC. Bridges had been told to take Pruitt under his wing when he’d been assigned to be his deputy commander. They were grooming Pruitt to be a senior admiral in the SEALs.
The Navy SEAL lifted an eyebrow at the cryptic message but dutifully followed him to his office.
When the two of them sat down, Bridges got down to brass tacks. “Paul, things are about to go sideways in our AOR. We need to be ready to deal with it. How are we looking for operational teams should we need to rapidly scale up operations?”
“We can meet the need, but I think we should start preparing now,” Pruitt responded. “I recommend we cancel all future training courses for the rest of 7th and 20th Group so we can draw on them rapidly. I also recommend we do the same with SEAL Teams Two, Four, and Eight. If things calm down in, say, four to six months, then we can restart their training cycles again.”
Bridges thought about that for a moment. “I don’t think we can get their training cycles paused, but we can request they redirect them. They’ve all been through jungle warfare training before, but let’s cycle them back through the schoolhouse at Schofield Barracks for a refresher. Also, have them work on jungle infiltration, either from the sea or the sky. We may be tasked with insertin
g some teams on the ground in Cuba or Venezuela. We need our soldiers to be ready for that.”
Bridges suddenly had an idea. “Oh, if I’m not mistaken, you SEALs train on how to take down an oil platform, right?”
Paul nodded. “It’s one of the scenarios we train on. Especially if the team will be rotating to the Middle East.”
“Propose some additional training on that as well,” General Bridges ordered. “The Cubans now have a lot of Chinese-operated platforms in the Straits of Florida. If there’s going to be a conflict between our two nations, we’ll need to secure those platforms ASAP. The last thing we need them to do is sabotage the rigs and create an ecological nightmare in the Gulf.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Pawn for a Bishop
September 2024
UN Security Council
New York, New York
Foreign Minister Han Jinping clapped his hands several times, the noise of it echoing within the chamber. “That was quite the performance, Madam Secretary. It was also false—more lies from a declining superpower that is unable to even take care of its own people a second time during a pandemic.”
Secretary of State Riley Edison stared down the Chinese Foreign Minister as she replied, “You mean a pandemic once again spawned and unleashed on the world by your country,” she shot back.
The two stared daggers at each other for a moment before Secretary Edison added, “For the last three years, I have been working with you to bring our nations closer together through trade and doing my best to ease the simmering tensions beneath the surface. Now I find out it has all been a ruse on your end to buy time—time for you to poison the world and collapse the global economy.”
