Men of War (2013) (36 page)

Karpov
just looked at him. “But how will you get back?”

“I
don’t know.”

“You
don’t know? Well neither do I. Here you sit worried about a man like Orlov and
his Portable Wiki, and you assume this situation we’re facing here can be laid
at his feet, but then you can glibly suggest you go back yourself with Troyak
and his Marines? After what we saw with Markov? Damn it, Fedorov. Listen to
yourself! What makes you think Orlov is the devil incarnate now? For all you
know he died there, or in Baku, and that was the end of it. Anybody who found
his jacket wouldn’t have the slightest idea what they had in their hands. Orlov
may have done nothing. He could be completely innocent of the crime you fear he
has already committed.”

Fedorov
looked down, rubbing his forehead. Karpov was correct. What did he really know?
Who was he to say that Orlov was responsible for anything going on in the world
now. Was it just an easy way for him to excuse himself, the Admiral, Karpov and
the ship? No. They were all equally guilty if any crime had been committed
here. When he looked in that broken mirror he would have to be man enough to
say he saw his own face there.

“Perhaps
you’re right, Captain,” he said, feeling somewhat deflated. “Yes, it is a crazy
idea. There’s no way we could take the ship and do what I propose under these
circumstances, and what you say about plan B is equally compelling. If we try
to follow Markov and go back that way, then we’d all be trapped there in the
past. I’d like to think that I would be cautious enough to behave myself there,
but I’d be the man who knew tomorrow, and that is a temptation I would not wish
on any man.”

“And
then there would be Troyak and the Marines to think of as well,” Karpov put in.

“I
know…” Fedorov had a defeated look on his face. The Captain was the voice of
reason this time, and he had to put his wild notions aside and face the reality
of their situation now.

“What’s
going on out there, Captain? I’ve had my nose in 1942 the last two days.”

Karpov
scratched his head, thinking. “I’ve been watching the headlines and I can
rattle them off from memory: Russian Fighter Jets Breach Japan Airspace, Japan
Warns China Over Missile Attack, Vows Reprisal, North Korea Warned Against
Provocative Actions, Taiwan Enters Fray In China Japan Sea Spat. They’ve kicked
the football into the U.N. Security Council for the moment, but you and I both
know what’s going on behind the scenes—the telephone calls, the angry words,
the threats. And I have little doubt that men in every military base on the
globe are sharpening their spears. I heard they flew in two squadrons of
strategic bombers and new squadron of T-50 PAK-FA fighters. That’s our fifth
generation stealth fighter, so you know they mean business.”

“How
much time do you think we have?”

“Hard
to say. If things are taking the course we fear, then the U.N. won’t resolve
anything. Japan will ask for a resolution condemning China’s ballistic missile
attack on Okinawa. China will veto it. That was a big mistake the UN made long
ago to allow any single permanent member a veto. A vote of four to one from
permanent members should have been decisive.”

“In
another world,” said Fedorov.

“Precisely.
Well, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Russia would have voted with the
Chinese. As it stands now the Japanese have a small detachment camping out on
those worthless islands, and both sides are moving ships and planes around. But
the real threat is Taiwan. It was the major flash point in that newspaper we
found, yes?”

“That’s
what it sounded like.”

“The
Admiral called me yesterday to ask about the ship. He told me the satellites
have been seeing a big Chinese buildup along the Taiwan Strait. He thinks this
business over the Diaoyutai Islands is nothing more than the overture. The
curtain is about to open on act one of this little drama, and soon.”

“He
thinks the Chinese will attack Taiwan?”

“Most
certainly. It will start with a demand, of course. Then China will pass some
kind of resolution declaring Taiwan as an integral part of the People’s
Republic. The Taiwanese government will rebuke them and on and on it will go
for a few days while the Americans move their carriers.”

“Yes,
the carriers. That’s how it really caught fire according to that article.
Remember, the Chinese moved the
Liaoning
out to sea and the US stopped
it with a submarine. That led to the attack on the
Eisenhower
. Any news
on that ship?”

“It’s
coming,” said Karpov. “Volsky says it’s in the Indian Ocean at Diego Garcia.”

“I
don’t like the sound of that,” Fedorov fretted. “They may be loading nuclear
warheads from stockpiles kept there.”

“Sharpening
their teeth? Most likely, just as we are. They made a special delivery today.”

Fedorov
was not happy. “How many?”

“You
know that is always undisclosed until we actually put to sea with orders.”

“Martinov
knows.”

“Of
course Martinov knows. How do you think I pulled off that nonsense in the
Atlantic? Well I’m not asking him this time, and believe me, I’m have no great
urge to see any of them mounted on a missile after what we’ve been through and
seen. In the meantime, I hope we’ve put this plan of yours to rest, Fedorov. We
have more on our duty list than worries about Orlov.”

Fedorov
looked down at the folded paper he had handed Karpov, the letter from the dead,
feeling a strange connection with the man who must have surely met his own fate
and died decades ago. They were living now in the world Orlov and the men and
women of that generation left them. To think that Orlov alone could shape the
contours of the entire world was nonsense. Yet something told him that voice of
reason was wrong, some aching sense of warning that set his adrenaline rising.
Deep down, that persistent inner voice still whispered the truth: they had to
get Orlov or the world would end in fire.

Part X

Enter
The Dragon

“If
you ignore the dragon, it will eat you.

If
you try to confront the dragon it will overpower you.

If
you ride the dragon, you will take advantage

 of
its might and power.”

—
A Chinese Proverb

Chapter 28

Major
General Zhu Hong boldly strode down the long aisle into the Security Council, a
red bound book under his arm. He seated himself in the front row of the Chinese
delegation, and to see a military officer there was quite an omen, as well as a
message to the world that now watched with nervous interest on their television
screens when they could pull themselves away from the thousand other
distractions of the day.

The
heated discussion had been a typical theater of back and forth, with one side
making pronouncements, condemnations and threats, while the other side sat
stolidly waiting to make reprisal. Neither side was listening to the other, and
the stage was now littered with props and maps and displays showing photographs
and documents. The Japanese Ambassador showed video footage of the sinking of
the small DDE
Oyoko
. The Chinese Ambassador
showed photos of families weeping for the sailors lost aboard the submarine
Li
Zhu
. The Japanese showed film of the captured Coast Guard cutter
Howo
, and its hostage crew paraded before cameras in
China. The Chinese showed Japanese troops illegally landing on the reputed
Chinese soil of Diaoyutai, and the burning of the Frigates
Weifang
and
Shouyang
.

On
it went, with the Japanese showing the terrible destruction of their helicopter
carrier
Hyuga
and then the final images of the
missiles exploding on Naha airfield, a barrage of six ballistic warheads that
had cratered the runways and blasted a hanger to pieces there, with smoke and
fire making a dramatic backdrop to the scene. He shook his finger in solemn
admonition, stating that this was the homeland of the Japanese nation, and of
that there could be no dispute. The escalation, he said was a cowardly act by a
nation who had suffered military defeat at sea and a desperate attempt to save
face, and nothing more.

The
Chinese Ambassador brushed his accusations aside as nothing more than the
mutterings of an old fisherman, which brought the only ripple of muted laughter
to the scene, quashed quickly when the Japanese Ambassador stood stiffly and
led his delegation out of the room.

The
issue then passed to the American Ambassador, who lamented the inability of
nations to resolve their disputes without resort to military conflict, before
stating that China should be well aware of its obligations on the world stage.

The
Chinese Ambassador retorted by showing satellite photographs of the American
carrier
Eisenhower
at Diego Garcia, and asking where it was going?
“Before the distinguished American Ambassador decides to lecture the People’s
Republic of China regarding its obligations, perhaps it would explain why this
aircraft carrier now hastens to the scene. It appears that the United States is
also quick to put forward a military solution to the dispute now under
discussion, so their words are hollow when they presume to point a finger at
China in this matter.”

To
this the Americans gravely trotted out even more placards with additional satellite
photography mounted and showing the dramatic buildup on the coast of the Taiwan
Strait, week by week, as amphibious ships were being loaded, the power plants
of more frigates and destroyers blooming alive on infrared, the aircraft lining
up on coastal air fields, and finally the movement of mobile ballistic missile
launchers.

“Mister
Ambassador,” he said pointedly, “We now note that the Chinese military has
deployed army troops amounting to three full divisions on this coastline, with
up to two brigade sized elements now loading on the ships in these photographs.
The islands now under dispute in this discussion do not have sufficient space
for even a tiny portion force. So kindly tell us where
these
troops are
going? Why is China loading weapons and men of war on ships?”

The
cat named Taiwan was quickly out of the bag, as it was no mystery as to what
the Chinese intended. It was the Chinese Autumn Moon festival back home that
September, and the Taiwanese Ambassador angrily held up the traditional festival
moon cakes he had obtained that had been molded in the shape of his home
island. “The Republic Of China,” he scolded, “is not a confection to be eaten
by our greedy neighbors to the west! Taiwan will state categorically that it
will oppose any and all attempts to violate its territorial integrity with the
full might of its armed forces on land, air and sea.”

To
this the People’s Republic Of China warned that they may attempt to do so, but
would soon find their efforts lacking and they would be wiser now to acquiesce
and submit to the authority of their rightful masters in Beijing. He spoke at
length of the long years that China waited patiently for her wayward son to
come home, until he had well tried the patience of every delegation in the room
prompting the Taiwanese Ambassador to slap his hand on the table demanding to
be heard in the middle of this diatribe.

He
rudely reminded China that his nation did not stand alone, nor did the Japanese
nation stand alone, which set the American delegation to nervous whispers as
the inevitable strings of attachment would eventually bind both Taipei and
Tokyo to Washington, the work of treaties and mutual defense agreements that
had stood for eighty years.

China
shouted down the Ambassador, berating his bad manners. “The younger son should
never presume to speak thusly before his elders,” he said angrily. Then he
reminded the audience that the People’s Republic did not stand alone either,
which set the Russian delegation to nervous whispers, and on it went.

When
the American delegation next took the floor to make their closing statement
they did so with gravity and a somber, well rehearsed candor. “Yes, gentlemen,
it is clear that treaties and obligations now force the United States to the
regretful step of deploying deterrent forces in the region, in the hope that
they may never have to speak in anger over these matters, but with the firm
resolve to do so should China persist in this aggression and threaten or attack
any party to the treaties and mutual understandings I now speak of.”

China’s
Ambassador took this for the threat it was, looked hotly at the Russian
delegation, and began reminding the Americans that SinoPac was also an
organization dedicated to peace, but not peace at any price, and that any
interference in what it considered the internal affairs of the Chinese people
in the matter of Diaoyutai or Taiwan would be treated as an act of war.

It
was then that Major General Zhu Hong, made his sudden appearance, striding
boldly down the aisle and throwing his thick red book on the table as he took
the microphone.

“I
too, have pictures to show,” he said coldly, and he proceeded to hold up photos
of the USS
Washington
battlegroup at Yokohama, now putting out to sea,
the USS
Nimitz
battlegroup leaving Hawaii after a recent port call and
now heading west, the USS
Eisenhower
battlegroup now moving east towards
the Singapore Strait.

Then
he held up one last photo, of a chalky while stretch of sand in the Gobi
desert, around which there was drawn a thin red outline in the obvious shape of
an aircraft carrier. He pointed out two deep craters that would have been
direct hits on the flight deck by ballistic missiles fired from a range of 2000
kilometers. The day was long gone, he said, when the American Navy ships could
carry the big stick their president Theodore Roosevelt first gave them. China
had big sticks of its own, and then, to the utter shock of everyone present,
and right before the worldwide television audience, General Zhu threatened the
United States with a nuclear attack if it became embroiled in a conflict
between China and Taiwan.