Ghost Fleet : A Novel of the Next World War (9780544145979) (59 page)
Read Ghost Fleet : A Novel of the Next World War (9780544145979) Online
Authors: August P. W.; Cole Singer
“Martin Simmons, who taught you that word?” said Lindsey.
“Grandpa,” said Martin sheepishly.
“Well, that's appropriate,” said his father.
Jamie could see the boy was blushing even under his sun hat. He drew a cooler to his feet and opened it up. He got out a can of Coke, took a sip, then passed it to his son. “You're doing great; your grandpa would be proud of you . . . and of your new vocabulary. We'll just wait here for him to send us some wind.”
The sailboat slowly floated past the
Zumwalt
. One of the sailors onboard recognized the captain and snapped a salute. Claire saluted back first, then Martin, and, finally, Jamie, smiling.
The jib stiffened, and Martin took up the slack in the line as the wind picked up and the sailboat took off.
Writing a book is a team effort, which is what made this partnership such a rewarding experience. But the members of the team went well beyond the two of us.
Thank you to the DC defense-policy community and the Washington Metro system for leading us continually to cross paths at meetings, interviews, and subway stops and strike up a friendship and, now, a writing partnership.
We were drawn into trying our hand at fiction by our shared love of authors who had thrilled, inspired, and addicted us as readers. They range from Arthur Conan Doyle and Herman Wouk to William Gibson and John le Carré to Tom Clancy and George R. R. Martin. Part of the fun of this effort was revisiting old memories of reading books like
Red Storm Rising
on the way to the beach in the back of the family station wagon, and then going back to read them again decades later, this time to look for tips from the masters but enjoying them just as much.
The research for the book encompassed not just the references you'll find in the endnotes section (a bit of an anomaly for a novel, but we hope it will be useful for readers who want to learn more, as well as demonstrate the story's grounding in reality), but also interviews, meetings, and conversations with a real-world cast of professionals who are reflected in the characters found in this book. We chewed through scenarios and lingo with U.S. Navy ship captains and Air Force fighter pilots, learned worldview and strategic thinking from Chinese generals, and tested out ideas with everyone from Special Forces veterans and computer hackers to Harvard scientists. We are deeply grateful to all of them. A special thanks goes to the group of expert readers who powered their way through the early texts and made the final product so much better, including Kenneth Eckman, Nathan Finney, Allan Friedman, Mark Hagerott, John Jackson, Mark Jacobsen, D.K., Greg Knepper, Jeffrey Lin, Fernando Lujan, Aaron Marx, Rich McDaniel, Ian Morrison, and Tammy Schultz, among others.
Our agents Dan Mandel, Bob Bookman, Ike Williams, and Katherine Flynn helped with everything from setting up the meeting that was the original spark for the book idea to finding the manuscript a home with a great editor.
Eamon Dolan took a risk on us as first-time novelists and then not only provided valuable edits and big ideas but also continually challenged us along the way to try harder and be better at the craft. He is also even more brutal at eliminating characters than the Black Widow herself. RIP, Kyle and Dorothy. We would also like to thank Tracy Roe, MD, whose double-barreled copyediting prowess and medical knowledge were ably brought to bear on the manuscript.
Finally, we'd like to thank our families for their love, for their support, and, most of all, for convincing us that we could and should take this leap.
P. W. S
INGER
(left) is Strategist at New America and a consultant for the U.S. military, the intelligence community, and Hollywood. His award-winning nonfiction books include
New York Times
bestseller
Wired for War
. He lives in Washington, D.C.
A
UGUST
C
OLE
is an Atlantic Council non-resident senior fellow, focusing on using fiction to explore the future of war. Previously, he was defense industry reporter for the
Wall Street Journal
. He lives in Boston.
Foreword
1
He reached down for his:
John Bishop, “HEXPANDO Expanding Head for Fastener-Retention Hexagonal Wrench,” NASA Tech Briefs, August 1, 2011, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/10720
.
2
cloud of smog stretching from Beijing:
Global Bearings, NASA image, December 12, 2013, accessed December 12, 2013,
https://twitter.com/Global_Bearings/status/411174216596074498/photo/1
.
Part 1
1
The screens inside the Jiaolong-3:
“Manned Sub Jiaolong Completes Deep-Sea Dive,” CCTV.com, June 17, 2013, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://english.cntv.cn/20130617/106712.shtml
.
2
deep below the COMRA:
Qian Wang, “China Bids for Rights to Search Seabed,”
China Daily,
September 6, 2012, accessed August 19, 2014,
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-09/06/content_15737233.htm
.
3
Tianjin University developed the submersible:
Phil Muncaster, “China Seeks âOceanauts' for Deep Sea Exploration,” TheRegister.co.uk, December 24, 2012, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/24/china_ocean_exploration_plans/
.
4
P-8 Poseidon's recent engine upgrades:
“P-8 Poseidon,” U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, February 2014, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.display&key=CFD01141-CD4E-4DB8-A6B2-7E8FBFB31B86
.
5
“U.S
.
Exclusive Economic Zone”:
“Ocean Facts: What Is the EEZ?,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accessed August 19, 2014,
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/eez.html
.
6
“as designated by the Mariana Trench”:
Dan Vergano, “Bush to Make Pacific's Mariana Trench a National Monument,”
USA Today,
January 6, 2009, accessed March 14, 2013,
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2009-01-05-mariana-trench_N.htm
.
7
“drop a Remora”:
“RemoraâFast Reconnaissance AUV,” L-3 Ocean Systems, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.l-3mps.com/oceansystems/remora.aspx
.
8
viz glasses:
Chris Smith, “2020 Vision: The Future of Google Glass,”
TechRadar
, October 19, 2013, accessed February 22, 2014,
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/world-of-tech/2020-vision-the-future-of-google-glass-1190832
.
9
“stuck in the Ghost Fleet”:
“National Defense Reserve Fleet,” U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.marad.dot.gov/ships_shipping_landing_page/national_security/ship_operations/national_defense_reserve_fleet/national_defense_reserve_fleet.htm
.
10
Aegis cruiser:
“The U.S. NavyâFact File: Aegis Weapon System,” U.S. Navy, November 22, 2013, accessed August 19, 2014,
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2100&tid=200&ct=2
.
11
“something like five hundred ships”:
Craig Miller, “Suisun Bay âGhost Fleet' a Shadow of Its Former Self,”
KQED Science
(blog), November 25, 2013, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2013/11/25/suisun-bay-ghost-fleet-a-shadow-of-its-former-self/
.
12
“DD(X) is what they”:
“Navy Designates Next-Generation Zumwalt Destroyer,” U.S. Navy, April 7, 2006, accessed August 19, 2014,
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=23064
.
13
“Navy was going to build”:
“Cost to Deliver
Zumwalt
-Class Destroyers Likely to Exceed Budget,” U.S. Government Accountability Office, July 31, 2008, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-804
.
14
the USS
Coronado
's wardroom:
“Littoral Combat Ship ClassâLCS,” U.S. Navy, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/pages/LittoralCombatShips.aspx#.U-_P_Ej6L6A
.
15
remote-piloted MQ-8 Fire Scout:
“MQ-8 Fire Scout,” U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.display&key=8250AFBA-DF2B-4999-9EF3-0B0E46144D03
.
16
where a pirate attack:
Marex, “Petro-Pirates Plague Busy Shipping Lanes,”
Maritime Executive,
July 9, 2014, accessed August 17, 2014,
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/PetroPirates-Plague-Busy-Shipping-Lanes-2014-07-09
.
17
“More than half of the world's shipping”:
“World Oil Transit Chokepoints,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, August 12, 2012, accessed August 16, 2014,
http://www.eia.gov/countries/regions-topics.cfm?fips=wotc&trk=p3
.
18
ever since Chinese special operations forces:
Dean Cheng, “The Chinese People's Liberation Army and Special Operations,”
Special Warfare
25, no. 3 (JulyâSeptember 2012), accessed March 18, 2014,
http://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/10629
.
19
renminbi, the Chinese currency:
Xinhua, “RMB to Be Global Reserve Currency by 2030: Economist,”
China Daily,
April 9, 2014, accessed August 19, 2014,
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-04/09/content_17420923.htm
.
20
“sail with our own oil”:
Mark Thompson, “U.S. to Become Biggest Oil ProducerâIEA,” CNN, November 12, 2012, accessed November 12, 2012,
http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/12/news/economy/us-oil-production-energy/index.html?iid=HP_LN&hpt=hp_c2
.
21
“heightening regional tensions”:
CNN wire staff, “Obama Announces WTO Case Against China over Rare Earths,” CNN, March 13, 2012, accessed March 14, 2012,
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/13/world/asia/china-rare-earths-case/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
.
22
“depend on rare-earth materials”:
“What Are the Rare Earths?,” Ames Lab, U.S. Department of Energy, accessed August 19, 2014,
https://www.ameslab.gov/dmse/rem/what-are-rare-earths
.
23
“Their big mistake”:
Edward Wong, “China's Communist Party Chief Acts to Bolster Military,”
New York Times,
December 14, 2012, accessed December 14, 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/world/asia/chinas-xi-jinping-acts-to-bolster-military.html
.
24
“just like back in '89”:
Jeffrey T. Richelson and Michael L. Evans, “Tiananmen Square, 1989: The Declassified History,”
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 16,
National Security Archive, George Washington University, June 1, 1999, accessed August 19, 2014,
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/
.
25
“saw the problem differently than they did”:
Edward Wong and Jonathan Ansfield, “China's Military Seeks More Sway, Worrying Communist Party,”
New York Times,
August 7, 2012, accessed March 18, 2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/world/asia/chinas-military-seeks-more-sway-worrying-communist-party.html
.
26
“those âlittle princes' ”:
Cheng Li, “Rule of the Princelings,”
Cairo Review of Global Affairs,
February 10, 2013, accessed August 19, 2014,
http://www.aucegypt.edu/gapp/cairoreview/Pages/articleDetails.aspx?aid=295
.
27
British trading routes:
“First World War: A Global View,” UK National Archives, accessed August 25, 2014,
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/a-global-view/#
.
28
“Some say we're fighting”:
Wang Jisi and Kenneth G. Lieberthal, “Addressing U.S.-China Strategic Distrust,” Brookings Institution, March 30, 2012, accessed March 14, 2014,
http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/03/30-us-china-lieberthal
.