Dancing with the Dragon (2002) (10 page)

"I'm having a problem with your plan," Jackie said.

"Would that be the expendable part of the operation?" "Lucky guess."

"That's why we get anything we want, any support we need, plus a huge infusion to our retirement portfolios."

"If we pull this off without being incinerated."

"We're going to be just fine, trust me."

"Let's see, where have I heard that expression before? Oh, yes, our last operation--when we were involved in two helicopter crashes and an aircraft ditching, in the space of one week."

"Hey, everyone has things go sour now and then."

"Sour? That's your definition of an ongoing disaster?" Scott braced for the inevitable backlash.

"Why didn't you discuss this harebrained idea with me before announcing your plan to Hartwell?"

"It just came to me as we were about to leave."

"Oh, no, no, n000. That didn't just fly out extemporaneously. You had thought it through and decided not to discuss it with me. Why?"

"That's not true."

"I've been laboring under the illusion that we're a team."

"We are a team--a good one. I had thought about the idea, but it didn't really gel until Todd Justice told us he thought his flight leader could have been struck by a laser."

"Come on."

"Jackie, if you'll take the time to think about this, it isn't crazy.

The Pentagon and the CIA are convinced that the Red Chinese, with the help of Soviet scientists, have developed an antisatellite laser that could cripple the U. S. military's orbiting reconnaissance spacecraft."

She nodded. "It's probably like the MIRACL chemical laser--the vintage mid-infrared advanced chemical laser."

"That's right, but the Chicoms may have come up with something much more powerful. Something that can fire a laser beam hundreds of miles into space and obliterate our spies in the sky, the space station, or even a space shuttle--who knows?"

Jackie glanced at him. "If they can do that, it seems like hitting a rocket or an airplane would be relatively easy."

"Sure--look at our breakthrough in directed-energy weapons. The future belongs to DEW, and they're making great strides at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson and at Lockheed Martin."

"But that's a system using an airborne laser in a radar-like function to foil SAMs and air-to-air missiles--send them off course."

"I'm just looking at the concept," Scott said. "A laser can be pointed down to jam or destroy something as easily as it can be directed upward. If the Chinese do have the capability to hit our re-con satellites and space shuttles, we're facing an eventual war in the heavens. The same with our desire to control the ultimate high ground. When we deploy a whiz-bang weapon to protect our interests in orbit, it will trigger an arms race in space and eventually lead to a war with somebody."

"just like the seventeen hundreds."

He looked at her. "What?"

"We had to form a navy to protect our interests on the high seas. And that led to a number of famous sea battles over the years."

"Yeah, and space will be the battle zone of the future."

"Well, that's the future. At the present time we don't know what the Chinese really have or what they plan to do."

"Correct. That's why we're going to have spacecraft and reconnaissance planes eyeballing everything within a five-hundred-mile radius of our carrier. If there's an airborne laser or surface laser out there, we want evidence of the platform--the mother ship or whatever we find."

"I still don't like the idea."

"Jackie, we're going to be using an unmanned, brightly lighted Fox-4 as a drone--piece of cake."

" That's the upside?"

"What better target than a remotely piloted Phantom to draw fire from whatever it is we're up against?"

Jackie slowly shook her head. "What if it, whatever it is we're trolling for, targets us instead of the drone--blows us out of the sky?"

"Our Harrier is going to be blacked out and offset about two hundred yards. We won't be visible."

"Let me try this again. What if it targets us?"

"That should be obvious. We jump out--jettison the airplane." "And if we don't have time?"

"Everyone who has witnessed these encounters says the same thing. The 'bogey' plays with the target before any--"

"Before it turns them into crispy critters."

"Jackie, there are a lot of tools of manipulation and deception that make potential enemies hear, see, and believe things that don't actually exist. Our job is to find out what's going on and who's behind it."

He glanced at the dark clouds and turned to her. "I get the distinct impression that you're not uninhibitedly enthusiastic about the Phantom mission."

"What gave you that idea?"

"You know"--he paused and then gave her a sidelong glance "you don't have to do this with me."

"Don't be ridiculous. Who else could you get to operate the camera and video equipment?"

"Well, that could be a problem."

She ignored him. "Besides, after the other dumb things I've seen you get away with, I'm convinced God isn't going to let anything happen to you."

Scott laughed and then maneuvered the Ferrari into traffic on the notorious Capital Beltway. "New subject?"

"Sure."

"Are we positive the man we saw at the Grant Hotel was Chinese?"

"I can't swear he was, but that was my impression."

Scott reflected on the encounter. I glanced at him only once or twice. "You mentioned the passenger," Jackie said quietly. "The Oriental man in the white Mazda."

"Yes."

"Was he Chinese?"

"I don't know," Scott said, trying to remember the details. "He could've been Japanese for all I know."

"What was your first thought?"

"Chinese, but I saw his face for only a split second." They locked eyes momentarily before Scott spoke. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm just thinking about all these strange encounters. A Hornet goes down off southern California, a Cobra Ball. down in the Bay of Bengal, another Hornet down in the Strait of Taiwan, and a B-2 downed near Guam."

"Do you think the Chicoms or Japanese are behind these encounters?" Scott asked.

"That's always a possibility. Except for the incident off the coast of California, the other planes were lost--attacked is a better description--in an area of the world with a lot of chilly relationships."

"True." A flash of lightning caught his eye. "The steady growth of the Chinese military is an ongoing crisis for Washington--the jitters over the eventual clash between China and Taiwan."

"Yeah, and the prowling dragon isn't going to ask Washington for permission."

"Not on your life."

She hesitated a few seconds. "Do you think China's burgeoning economy might keep Beijing from invading Taiwan?"

"No, unless China breaks out in a flurry of democracy--about as likely as an orangutan piloting the space shuttle."

Scott exited the beltway and turned toward their home in Georgetown. "In the last twelve years, China has increased military spending by more than three hundred percent. That buys a lot, including three Russian-made Sovremmennyy-class destroyers equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles--antiship missiles that travel at twice the speed of sound. That's raising the stakes very high in the Taiwan Strait."

Scott glanced at Jackie. "Wait until Taiwan takes delivery of our Aegis-class destroyers. They could defend the island against China's medium-range missiles."

"Yeah, that could trigger a harsh response."

The entire sky had turned black as Scott watched the first few drops of rain splatter on the Ferrari's freshly waxed hood. "Beijing may think we're too involved in our war against terrorism to respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan."

A brilliant flash of lightning and a booming clap of thunder signaled the beginning of a downpour.

Jackie watched the rain stream across the window. "Yeah, that's the big one. Under the Taiwan Relations Act, an assault on the island would be tantamount to the Chinese attacking the United States."

She thought about the scenario. "Do you think Beijing would really be crazy enough to test us over a renegade province?"

"Who knows? America and China are at another crossroads in history. In 1992, China's National People's Congress passed a law asserting ownership of the Spratlys, the Senkakus, the Paracels, and Taiwan. The Chicoms may feel like it's time to recover the territories lost during the bainiande ciru."

"The what?"

"The century of shame."

Her voice became flatter. "When I think about it, Beijing has shown an increased willingness to take risks."

"Well, we've been treating the regime with kid gloves, and Beijing just keeps slapping us in the face--like holding twenty-four of our military personnel eleven days after the Chinese pilot slammed into our recon plane. Accommodating the Chinese leaders isn't going to prevent a military clash."

"Bull's-eye." She half turned in her seat to face Scott. "After our past policy of appeasement, I'm afraid we're going to have an armed conflict with China at some point. It just seems inevitable."

"That's the way I view it. Appeasement is not what you want to do with the People's Republic of China. Beijing is trying to convince Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines that we're a declining power that can no longer protect them."

Scott turned onto their street. "They're making steady progress in the Western hemisphere too. From Canada, to Cuba, to
Panama, to South America, Beijing is working on eroding U. S. ties to our allies. It's insidious and reaches into every segment of society, whether it's defense contractors, scientists, politicians, or whoever.

"The PLA and the Chinese government have penetrated U. S. capital markets. They're methodically sucking billions of dollars from unsuspecting Americans, and we're letting them get away with it--billions of American dollars to help Beijing build a powerful military to confront us. Incredible--while our politicians just waddle along, blissfully dancing with the dragon."

His jaw became rigid. "Here's the real problem for the Chicoms in Beijing. Time is not on their side."

"In what way?"

"One of these days the boys in Beijing will look around and see the rise of the Chinese middle class, the growing social unrest, America's ever-expanding technological edge, the U. S. military becoming stronger, Taiwan's increasing assertiveness, and conclude that they have to do something drastic. That's what makes the situation so dangerous."

Jackie's satellite phone rang and she answered it.

Scott drove into their driveway.

"Okay, have fun, enjoy yourself, and we'll keep you informed." "Merrick?"

"Yes. We missed her at the base by ten minutes."

"Where is she?"

"In a hotel near Santa Barbara."

Scott eased the dripping Ferrari inside the garage. "You didn't tell her about Lou Emerson?"

"No, for a reason."

"At this stage, that was probably the right thing to do." Scott got out of the car and double-locked the garage door from the inside. "At least she's in a safe place."

"Let's hope so."

Georgetown

The early morning sky was showing a hint of daylight as Jackie brewed a pot of mint tea and poured fresh orange juice into their glasses. While she fixed breakfast, Scott brought in the Washington Post and USA Today. He checked the weather for the flight to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, filed an instrument flight plan, and called Signature Flight Support at Washington Dulles International Airport.

He instructed the customer service representative to have the fuel tanks on his Beech A36 Bonanza topped off, then sat down to have a light breakfast with Jackie. He was about to pepper his scrambled eggs when he turned to the third page of USA Today and fixed his eyes on the leading headline.

"Here we go again."

"What?" Jackie asked while she poured tea.

"Another mysterious crash."

"Where?"

"The Sea of Japan --a Japanese AWACS." He scanned the article and handed the paper to her. "All military aircraft so far--no civilian airplanes in these crashes."

She folded the paper to look at the headline. "An AWACS isn't a fighter plane or bomber--it isn't a direct threat, so why was it downed?"

"Who knows?"

She studied the article.

No SURVIVORS IN JAPANESE AWACS CRASH

By Thad K. Marlow

NAGOYA, JAPAN--A Japanese Air Force Boeing 767 AWACS reconnaissance plane crashed into the Sea of Japan approximately 125 miles northwest of Kanazawa, apanese Air Force sources have confirmed. There were no survivors, and the cause of the crash is being investigated.

Operating from the Hamamatsu Air Base near Nagoya, the $450-million aircraft, the most expensive in the Japanese inventory, went down at 11:37 P. M. local time while conducting a routine patrol flight. The remaining fleet of Japanese 767 AWACS planes will be grounded pending the outcome of the initial accident investigation, said Lt. Comdr. Yoshio Okura, spokesperson for the Japanese Air Force.