Beyond all Limits (10 page)

But then he’d been told to await the arrival of the C-5 Galaxy and its cargo of the Dry Dock Shelter and SEAL Delivery Vehicle, and he’d instantly felt better.

The DDS and SDV meant special operations.

Which meant that things were changing up a gear instead of down – the US military was finally going in.

The Galaxy had arrived from Pearl Harbor just in time to meet Sherman’s sub, and its crew had gone to work immediately. As well as the engineers who were fitting the Dry Dock Shelter, there was also a team of trained divers from SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1.

The SDV was a mini-submarine launched from the DDS, and used to infiltrate onto a target area further and faster than divers could hope to achieve alone.

Even though a team of SEALs had arrived from Pearl, Sherman knew that their job was merely to get the SDV out into the water – they were not the commandos who were going to go into action.

Sherman knew nothing about the special operations unit who would actually be performing the mission, only that they were travelling from a further location, and he would have to liaise with them at sea.

Despite his unease at not knowing all the details, Sherman was nevertheless grateful that it was the
Texas
which had been given the honor of running the blockade, and the potential dangers of his mission only made him happier.

He still hadn’t been given his full mission orders – apparently they would come once he had returned to sea – but he assumed he would be attempting to infiltrate the special ops unit onboard the USS
Ford
, the first action of what he hoped would be a full-scale rescue attempt.

He gazed across the dock at his beloved ship, its sleek black hull glowing wetly above the warm Okinawan waters. All base personnel had been removed from this area except for the skilled technicians who had flown in on the Galaxy, and the area was camouflaged from above by corrugated roofing and expansive blue netting due to the presence of Chinese surveillance drones which flew over the area on an increasingly regular basis. From the air, nobody could ever tell that an eight-thousand ton, three billion dollar, nuclear-powered fast attack submarine was resting beside the half-mile long Navy pier that stretched out into Nakagusuku Bay.

Captain Sherman checked his Rolex diver’s watch, then looked up again at the crew working away feverishly, determined to get the job finished within the shortest possible time. The DDS could be comfortably fitted and tested in three days, a timeframe that could be narrowed down to a single day in emergency situations. The specialist team working on the
Texas
right now had been given an even more onerous task – to fit the DDS in just twelve hours. Sherman wanted to get sailing by last light.

He had been told to set sail from Nakagusuku Bay by twenty hundred hours tonight, and head around the southern tip of Okinawa Island and then head back north towards the East China Sea. They would liaise with the special operations team before first light, and then Sherman would receive the rest of his orders.

He threw the butt of his cigarette onto the pier and ground it to dust under his boot, striding towards his submarine with a smile.

He couldn’t wait.

3

General Wu De adjusted his corpulent frame in his chair, getting himself comfortable for his first real press conference since becoming Paramount Leader of China.

He had made a brief statement to the Xinhua News Agency – which had since been seen worldwide – the day after he had assumed power. It had been mere window-dressing, a short speech just to let his people know who was now in charge. The Politburo was no more – the military reigned supreme.

Just as it should be.

For this television presentation, Wu had decided to speak from a chair, seated like the emperors of old. Indeed, the chair was more a throne really, and he hoped that the implication would be clear – China was emerging from decades of self-imposed exile to retake her rightful place at the head of world affairs.

Women from Xinhua’s makeup department made last-minute adjustments to his wide, fleshy face, and Wu was sure to catch their eyes, give them a knowing smile, an inviting nod. They would be his after the show, he had decided. That was now his right, and he would be sure to exercise that right whenever he had the opportunity.

It amazed him how far he had come since his early days in that foul, cesspit of an orphanage in Chengdu. He was forced to adjust himself in his seat again as he thought of Sichuan Provincial Orphanage, the memories having a physical effect on him that was less than comfortable. They had been dark times indeed, and Wu had had to struggle against fate herself to attain the status he now enjoyed.

He had joined the army at his earliest possible opportunity, just seventeen years old. The anger that dwelled within him, seething to the surface at any moment, would have seen him imprisoned in the civilian world; in the People’s Liberation Army, however, his ruthless streak saw him gain citation after citation for valor and courage in the face of the enemy. Before long, Wu had been a man going places, elevated to officer status and later given a place within the Communist Party, despite his socially questionable background.

He had attained all he had in life through ruthless manipulation, and savage violence. It had been the recipe of success for Wu, and he had no compunction to change his ways now. The only thing that was going to change, now that he was in charge of the world’s most populous country, was simply the sheer scale of the violence he would be responsible for.

He patted the backsides of the women with his thick, wide hands, winking at them, sealing their fates for his afternoon pleasures.

But first things first, he told himself, turning to the Xinhua cameras.

The women withdrew, the lights were focused on Wu and his throne, and the countdown came.

At the director’s nod, Wu began.

‘Tonight I come before you, my people, a troubled man. You all know me as a man of peace. When the US entered our territorial waters, I did not attack them, I did not kill them as was my right; I took defensive action against one aggressive ship, and asked the others to leave.

‘But now I discover that my diplomacy, my desire for peaceful negotiation, has been taken by some as a sign of weakness.

‘My people, I am horrified to tell you that today your country came under attack.’ Wu nodded his head earnestly. ‘Yes,’ he continued slowly, apologetically, ‘it is true.’

He knew the live statement would now cut to video of an incident in the South China Sea, footage of a Chinese Type 054A Frigate being hit by what appeared to be missiles; the deck was engulfed in flame and the ship slowly began to list until it sank beneath the waves.

‘Our own vessel, the
Huangshan
, a frigate of the PLA Navy, was sunk this afternoon by a Harpoon missile fired by the Taiwanese submarine
Hai Hu
. This was an unprovoked attack by the Taiwanese government, who obviously wish to capitalize on our current situation, take advantage while we are preoccupied with our change of government.’

The audience across China – and later the world – would now see radar tracking footage identifying the passage of the missile, the position of the Taiwanese submarine; and then the military ID photographs of the crew of the
Huangshan
, one hundred and sixty-five images rapidly flickering across the television screen.

‘The entire crew was killed,’ Wu’s voice said over the images with regret. ‘Every single sailor, dead – killed at the command of the Taiwanese government.’

Wu knew that the camera would be back on him now, and he was sure to make the disgust he felt plain across his face.

‘We – our beloved nation, our cherished republic – have been attacked,’ he exclaimed, hands slapping down onto the arms of his throne. ‘Without mercy! Without quarter! A cowardly attack meant only to kill!’

Wu shook his head as if in wonder. ‘Have we not been tolerant of Taiwan?’ he said. ‘Even though the land belongs to us, even though it was stolen from us, have we not been reasonable?’

Wu gestured at the camera, opening his arms, palms up as if in surrender to the situation. ‘Well,’ he said gravely, ‘no longer. My fellow generals and I have declared this barbaric attack on our naval fleet to be an act of war. And as such, we have no option, no recourse whatsoever, except for ourselves to reciprocate and declare war on Taiwan and her people.’

He shook his head sadly. ‘Her military will be crushed, and we will take back what is rightfully ours. I have notified the Taiwanese government of our intentions to defend our interests, and I promise you, my people, that Taiwan will be ours within days.

‘And I would like to take this opportunity also,’ Wu said, eyes clear and focused like laser beams at the Xinhua cameras, ‘to confirm that any nation that attempts to aid Taiwan in any way will be declaring war on the People’s Republic of China, and we will respond in kind. And please do not forget,’ he finished with a terrible, knowing smile, ‘that my will to use our nation’s vast resources is infinitely stronger than your own.’

‘Holy shit,’ said an amazed India Parshens, Secretary of Energy – and
holy shit
was right, Ellen Abrams had to admit.

President Abrams was seated at the head of the conference table which took up almost all of the available space in the West Wing’s Situation Room, the members of the National Security Council gathered round it with their complete attention.

Some members of the council already knew about the incidents occurring in East Asia, while others were only just finding out now. Parshens was one of them, and Abrams didn’t mind her outburst in the least – it was what they were all thinking.

They had just watched Wu’s broadcast on the flat-screen monitors which hung from every wall, a CIA-derived translation cutting across the bottom to transpose Xinhua’s own English subtitles.

It had been Bud Shaw – Director of the National Security Agency – who had informed her of the incident initially, having been briefed on surveillance images recorded by National Reconnaissance Office
Key Hole
satellites.

The information had been shared with military intelligence at the Pentagon, as well as CIA and Homeland Security, and it quickly became obvious what had happened – a Taiwanese submarine had fired upon, and sunk, a Chinese frigate.

Abrams had raced to call Rai Po-ya, the President of Taiwan’s Republic of China, but he had beaten her to it – the phone was already ringing when she got there.

Rai had assured Abrams that no order to attack China’s navy had ever been given, and he had no idea what was going on. The man had been terrified, and Abrams understood why – a Chinese invasion was a terrifying thing.

But why had the
Hai Hu
fired on the Chinese frigate? Abrams’ initial thought was that it was a clever ruse by Wu to create a pretext for his invasion of Taiwan, although there was no proof to back this up; not yet, anyway.

She hoped that she might learn something more at this meeting, as the American military and intelligence services had been working overtime to get to the bottom of this mess.

Abrams turned to Catalina dos Santos, eyes raised. ‘So what’ve we got so far, Cat?’

Dos Santos looked around the room, making sure that everyone was paying attention. She needn’t have worried; all eyes were locked on her.

‘CIA has discovered the name of the
Hua Hin’s
captain was Chen Chu-Sun – seemingly a model officer, except that his wife and children are reported to live in mainland China. Efforts to contact them have failed, and it is possible that they were used to influence Chen’s actions.’

‘Can that be proved?’ asked Clark Mason.

Dos Santos shook her head. ‘Not at present,’ she said, ‘but we are still developing intelligence as we speak. We should know more in the next few hours.’

‘You said the captain’s name
was
Chen Chu-Sun,’ White House Chief of Staff Martin Shaker said. ‘Does that mean he’s dead?’

Dos Santos nodded. ‘Yes, him and the rest of his crew; the PLA Navy responded instantly, blew the submarine out of the water.’

‘So you think it was all a set-up?’ Shaker asked.

‘We think that’s a distinct possibility, yes,’ Abrams interjected. ‘It makes no sense at all for Taiwan to attack China, absolutely no sense at all. To my mind, it’s the same as Hitler using his own troops to attack that German radio station in Poland, to create a pretext for the invasion. Nothing else makes sense.’

‘Unless the captain of the
Hua Hin
went rogue?’ suggested John Eckhart, National Security Adviser. ‘A man with his own personnel vendetta? Just one lone madman?’ He looked at dos Santos. ‘Have we managed to get his file yet?’ he asked. ‘Can we assess his background? Mental state?’

‘Not yet,’ dos Santos admitted, ‘but we’re working on it, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense have offered us full cooperation.’

‘But we do have other indicators that it was a set-up,’ Pete Olsen announced, his bulky frame ensconced in full military uniform as he sat two places down the table from the president. ‘The Chinese military have already moved in – from positions they had already taken up
prior
to the attack on the
Huangshan
. In this light, we can also see the invasion of the Senkaku Islands as a preliminary step in taking Taiwan, as the Chinese military will be using those islands as staging posts.’

‘So what are you saying, Pete?’ said Mason, eyebrows knitted.

‘I’m saying that elements of the People’s Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force were all lined up to invade Taiwan before they had any reason to, and that the attack on the Chinese frigate was just the catalyst – or, rather, the
excuse
– Wu and the other generals needed for that invasion to go ahead.’

‘But they can’t possibly have thought that we would believe them!’ India Parshens said, still struggling to come to terms with what was happening.

Abrams shook her head. ‘It doesn’t matter what other countries
believe
,’ she said sadly, ‘only what we can
prove
. And at this stage, all that can be proven is that a Taiwanese submarine opened fire on a Chinese frigate and killed her entire crew. Wu is just reacting as he would be expected to, especially by his own people.’

Dos Santos nodded. ‘Let’s not forget that the Xinhua broadcast was to a large extent aimed at drumming up support from his own people. He has taken over the country by force, taken away the ‘elected’ government, and he will have no idea how long he can hold onto such power for. This attack on a Chinese ship gives him something to rally the people behind; he’ll invade Taiwan – an island most mainland Chinese believe should be theirs anyway – and he’ll be admired and loved for it.’

There was silence in the room for a time, as the ramifications of Wu’s actions began to sink in.

‘So what are we going to do about it?’ Parshens asked, breaking the silence.

‘What can we do?’ Abrams said candidly. ‘We have no defensive agreements with Taiwan, and in fact, under the ‘one China’ doctrine we haven’t even officially recognized her government since we recognized Beijing in 1979. China has a
de facto
reason to go to war with Taiwan – engineered perhaps, but legitimate as far as anyone can prove at this time – and our hands are tied.’

It pained Abrams to admit it, but what she had said was the truth. There was simply nothing that the United States could do to help Taiwan, and she inwardly cursed General Wu. A clever bastard, she had to admit, but a bastard nevertheless.

What concerned her most was what would happen next. If Wu succeeded in taking Taiwan – which he surely would, if given enough time – then when would be his next target? Abrams had already started to field the phone calls from China’s worried neighbors – India, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, the list of panicking Asian nations was growing by the hour.

Abrams sighed inwardly, careful not to let the rest of the council see her agitation. The invasion of Taiwan was already underway, and there was nothing anyone could do to help her.

She could only hope that Mark Cole was able to stop General Wu before too many people were killed in the process.

Clark Mason watched Ellen Abrams closely, as he always did at these meetings. He was probing for a weakness, anything he could use against her.