Invasion: Alaska (48 page)

ARCTIC OCEAN

Paul was almost asleep when an immensely bright light illuminated the darkness. The bush plane’s engine roared, the only sound any of them had heard for some time.

“What is that?” shouted Pete. The small pilot began to turn around.

Paul bolted upright and shouted in the pilot’s ear. “That’s a nuke, friend.”

The intensity of the light grew, and it hurt their eyes.

Red Cloud groaned in his seat.

“I didn’t sign up for this,” said Pete.

“Ditto,” Paul said, as he gripped his seat belt.

Pete bobbed his head, finally turning forward again. “It’s bad. I wouldn’t want to be closer than we are now. But I think it’s too far to hurt my plane.”

Paul glanced back then too.
We’re using nuclear weapons
. He shook his head. Nuclear weapons in the Arctic—war couldn’t get any dirtier than this.

“Hang on!” shouted Pete. “Just in case, I want put more distance between us.” The small bush plane roared through the Arctic night, racing the bright light shining in the pack ice.

AMBARCHIK BASE, SIBERIA

As he rubbed his aching eyes, Jian Shihong settled himself before a screen. One of his bodyguards had shaken him awake and told him grim news. The Chairman was calling an emergency meeting of the Ruling Committee. The Americans had used a nuclear weapon on the pack ice. Hearing that, Jian had bolted out of bed.

Now he sipped hot tea, trying to focus his thoughts. Bojing had already left for the Arctic Front to find General Nung.
What if I had boarded that plane? Now
I
would be traveling onto a nuclear battlefield.

Jian shook his head. He would
never
willingly tour a battle-zone. One trained soldiers for such a task, hotheaded fools eager to become heroes.

Jian read the report for the fifth time. The Americans had launched a nuclear-tipped torpedo! They’d destroyed a forward supply depot, one meant to replenish stocks of advancing hovers and snowtanks.

His screen changed from its holding pattern. Instinctively, Jian sat up, sliding his tea out of view. He saw the members of the Ruling Committee: the Chairman was at the head of the table. On one side of him were the admiral and the Police Minister. On the other side sat Deng Fong and the Army Marshal.

I should be there. I am at a disadvantage speaking through a screen. I am like a ghost, haunting the meeting.

Jian knew that his features would be on the large computer-scroll at the other end of the table as the Chairman. Each of his gestures and features were being recorded. He’d have to remember that.

“The Americans have broken an unspoken accord between us,” the Chairman was saying.

“They have an affinity for using nuclear weapons on peoples of Asian descent,” the Police Minister said.

“Is that really true?” Deng asked.

“They once dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan,” the Police Minister said. “Now they are attacking us. Yes, it is true.”

“I don’t think you’re aware of all the facts,” Deng said. “You must understand that Japan was a uniquely dangerous opponent for the Americans. Militarily, no one has ever been able to strike such devastating blows against modern America as the Japanese. They attacked Pearl Harbor and drove the Americans out of the Philippines.”

“What is your point?” the Chairman asked.

“Sir,” Deng said, “I do not believe the nuclear attack was racially motivated as our illustrious Police Minister has implied. I think our invasion has frightened the Americans into using nuclear weapons.”

“The point is they’ve used them on Chinese soldiers,” Jian said.

No one in Beijing appeared to hear his words.

“I will not tolerate this use of nuclear weapons against us,” the Chairman said. He sat rigidly in his wheelchair, with pain creased across his features. “Do the Americans think Greater China is a secondary power? A power they can indiscriminately attack with nuclear weapons?”

“I have studied the attack,” Deng said. “I do not believe it was indiscriminate.”

“Explain that,” the Chairman said.

“They used a torpedo to explode pack-ice,” Deng said.

“That is completely immaterial,” the Chairman said.

“Respectfully, sir, why didn’t they attack our forces in the Kenai Peninsula with nuclear weapons? It would have proven much more effective there toward the defense of Alaska.”

“Your question reveals a lack of knowledge concerning the present battlefield,” Admiral Qingshan said. “We have laser batteries and anti-missile rockets whose primary purpose is shooting down tactical and theater-level nuclear weapons. That is why the Americans haven’t attacked there. They cannot.”

“Have the Americans used nuclear-tipped torpedoes against our fleet?” Deng asked.

“It’s only a matter of time now before they will,” the Chairman said.

“But they haven’t,” Deng said.

“Make your point.”

Deng moved his water glass before answering. “Sir, I suggest we hesitate before retaliating with nuclear weapons.”

“I will not tolerate the use of such weapons against Chinese forces,” the Chairman said.

“It is unspeakable,” Jian said.

“Why use torpedoes?” Deng asked. “There must be a reason for that. Why haven’t they fired missiles at the cross-polar assault?”

“Excuse me, sir,” the Army Minister said. “But it would prove difficult for the Americans to hit our forces on the ice with long-range missiles. Our strategic pulse-lasers protect the higher altitudes over the pack ice. With space-mirrors, we could knock down such missiles before they reached our assembly areas.”

“I see,” Deng said. “Interesting.”

“The torpedo attack shows the Americans’ desperation,” Admiral Qingshan said. “I suggest it means they have little in way of defense on the North Slope. Mr. Chairman, I suggest an immediate assault on the military bases there.”

“I appreciate your concern,” the octogenarian Army Minister said. “Yet I wonder if you desire the immediate assault in order to draw attention away from your naval brigades.”

“The ice itself is an enemy,” Qingshan said. “This torpedo attack proves that. I cannot understand why you would want your polar formations on it any longer than necessary.”

“Do not worry about them,” the Chairman said, as he glanced at Jian. “The Chinese Army will soon launch its attack on the North Slope.”

“We will light a fire under General Nung,” Jian said.

“The Americans have already lighted that fire under him,” Qingshan said dryly.

“You seem to feel the Army is tardy in its assault,” the marshal told Qingshan. “First, you must understand that crossing the pack-ice has proven harder than my planners had anticipated. It was and is a nightmare journey, with many unforeseen incidents and accidents. A few formations are almost ready for the final lunge as they gather the needed supplies. But there is a problem.”

“Yes?” Qingshan asked.

“The most dangerous zone is the last four hundred kilometers,” the marshal said. “If ground units become stalled in that area, they become easy targets for the Americans. Therefore, operational theory calls for a swift and continuous advance across the last zone. In order to achieve that, forward supply depots are needed.”

“I find it interesting that the Americans chose to destroy a depot with their nuclear torpedo instead of directly destroying a military assembly area,” Qingshan said.

“They likely don’t know the whereabouts of such an assembly area,” the marshal said.

“These military details are secondary,” the Chairman said, interrupting. “The point is: the Americans have used nuclear weapons against us. I refuse to let that go unpunished.”

“Are you suggesting
we
use nuclear weapons?” Deng asked.

“Yes,” the Chairman said.

Deng appeared uneasy. “May I ask where, sir?”

“Perhaps Fairbanks would do,” the Chairman said.

“They have strategic lasers protecting Fairbanks,” Qingshan said.

“We must find a place to retaliate,” the Chairman said. “I demand it.”

“Maybe we already have such a place,” Deng said, “a non-place.”

“I do not care to hear any more of your clever suggestions tonight, Deng,” the Chairman said. “I want revenge. I want the Americans to feel my anger. It is intolerable that they think China will lie supine while they launch nuclear weapons upon us.”

Deng nodded. “You carry the soul of China in your heart, sir. You are outraged, and you feel this assault upon our honor because of your special connection with the people.”

“You guide us, sir,” Jian said, trying to keep his hand in the conversation.

“Yes,” Deng said. “You guide us. Yet I wonder if in this instance the Americans haven’t handed you a gift.”

“A gift by incinerating Chinese soldiers?” the Chairman asked dangerously.

“Never that,” Deng said.

Jian yearned to attack Deng verbally, but he feared the man’s cunning. He also feared Deng’s ideas.

“Very well,” the Chairman said. “Speak your mind. Let us hear what your cleverness can concoct from American savagery.”

“That’s my point, sir,” Deng said. “Much of the world views us as aggressors.”

“We
are
the aggressors,” the Chairman said. “Despite our propaganda campaign, it is never wise to lie to oneself.”

“I agree,” Deng said. “Many view us as aggressors. Now the Americans have used nuclear weapons. That will lose them support. Every torpedo they fire will create a worldwide groundswell against them. It will create an outcry against nuclear weapons. We will be able to use that later.”

“People respect strength,” the Chairman said. “If the Americans destroy the polar forces, others will fear them more. How could that possibly help us?”

“From what I’ve heard here,” Deng said, “the Americans might destroy a few more supply depots, but they will be unable to reach our military forces. We wait outside the four-hundred kilometer danger-zone. Once we’re ready, we will invade and capture the North Slope.”

“What if these attacks embolden the Americans to use nuclear weapons against our fleet in the Gulf of Alaska?” the Chairman asked.

“I think there is a message in their use of a torpedo under the ice,” Deng said.

“If they use such weapons against our fleet,” Jian said, “we should use nuclear weapons in the Kenai Peninsula.”

Every member of the Ruling Committee finally glanced at him.

“I don’t agree,” Admiral Qingshan said. “We need the Kenai Peninsula intact. We would have to use nuclear weapons elsewhere.”

“I have made a resolution in my heart,” the Chairman said. “If they destroy our cross-polar formations with nuclear weapons, we shall destroy their oilfields in retaliation, crippling their economy. And I have another more devastating way to use our nuclear weapons, one that none of their strategic lasers can stop.”

“What is that, sir?” Jian asked.

The Chairman stared at him. “It is an idea I will hold in reserve at the moment. You, however, will carry on with your assigned task.” The Chairman gave him a meaningful nod.

“Yes, sir,” Jian said.

The Chairman pressed a button on his wheelchair, and Jian’s screen went blank. If left Jian staring at his cooling tea, wondering if he should signal Bojing’s plane, telling the lieutenant-general to return to Ambarchik. Should he find General Nung himself? The Chairman had given him the nod.

Jian was still wondering twenty minutes later.

-14-

Drive on Anchorage

PRCN
SUNG

The Chinese supercarrier and its escorts were well out to sea. It was overcast and gray rolling waves spread in all directions.

Deep inside the mighty vessel, Admiral Ling stood before the OBS, the operational battle screen, studying the situation on the Kenai Peninsula. With his single hand, he keyed up information as the need occurred to him. As Ling ingested the data, several certainties began to become clear.

The hatch opened and Commodore Yen entered the chamber. Before approaching the admiral, Yen murmured a greeting to a keen-eyed operator.

Ling nodded as the Commodore sidled near. Then the admiral cast a suspicious glance at the operator Yen had singled out. Why would the notoriously snobbish Commodore even notice a battle-intelligence operator? Oh. Then it became clear.

“The man is an East Lightning spy?” Ling asked in a whisper.

Commodore Yen turned away from the operator, one among several in the OBS room. He moved so now his mouth was hidden from the man’s view. The tall flag officer adjusted his VR monocle as he regarded the admiral. “I thought you knew, sir,” Yen said quietly.

“No. I had no idea.”

Yen shrugged dismissively. “They are everywhere. The chief political officer aboard ship spends much of his time recruiting naval personnel to spy on their superiors.”

“I thought the men in here were all vetted.”

Yen said nothing.

Scowling, Admiral Ling returned his attention to the OBS. “We have a limited time to crack the glass vase that is Anchorage. So far, the Americans have held fast.”