“We can expect calls to start coming in from Congress, too,” the President said wearily. “All right, Jerrod, I’ll start making calls — the Japanese prime minster first, then the Leadership, then Russia, then any other Asian allies that want a call. North Korea can go screw itself in the corner. What about Taiwan? What’s Lee’s explanation, dammit?”
“As best as we can figure without talking to President Lee,” Freeman said, “Taiwan wanted to knock that carrier out of commission, then cripple Lang-Ch’i Army Base, which is the main staging point for China’s invasion force for the Matsu Island chain.”
“One plane? One bomb dropped by a transport plane? What kind of damage can one transport plane do?” the President asked.
“The transport was a C-130 Hercules,” Freeman replied, “and Taiwan has the BLU-82 bomb in its inventory — that’s a 15,000-pound fuel- air explosive bomb. It’s enough to level anything aboveground for a radius of two miles. We don’t have any verification that Taiwan employed a Big Blue, but it would be a logical weapon to use against Lang- Ch’i Army Base.”
“Hold it, hold it — we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” the President said irritably, getting more and more confused. “Why hit this Lang-Ch’i base? Were the Chinese getting ready to invade Matsu? Was it supposed to be a preemptive strike to avert an invasion?”
“The PRC attacks on Matsu and Quemoy have been expected for many months, ever since the Chinese war games in 1996,” Freeman replied. He searched his notes, then added, “China had deployed the 117th and 134th Marine Divisions, both reserve units, to Lang-Ch’i last year; they deployed the 54th Group Army, including the 165th Airborne Regiment, as well — nearly two hundred thousand troops in that area alone.”
“Under the circumstances, I wouldn’t blame Taiwan for lashing out in these two areas, if in fact they did,” the President said. “So did China take Matsu?”
“Latest word is that no PRC troops have been landed on Matsu,” Freeman replied, “but China has a very limited amphibious landing ship fleet, so a massive marine invasion was not anticipated right away Matsu Air Base was bombarded and heavily damaged. But overall it appears that China is showing a bit of restraint.”
That was a bit of welcome relief, however little. “What in hell is going on around here?” the President repeated. “Is Taiwan trying to goad China into attacking? If so, it’s a suicidal plan.”
“Mr. President, the first thing I’m noticing here is the coincidental placement of these video cameras on both the carrier and the ferry,” Plank said. “They’re obviously not civilian models — they look almost broadcast quality. Both cameras recorded the weapons impacts as if they knew exactly where they’d hit — they weren’t photographing persons or events on deck, but pointed out over the side. China also got those tapes to the CNN bureau in Beijing in an awful damned hurry — they didn’t even bother to review the tapes themselves, as if they knew what would be on them. And the observation that General Freeman made earlier — that those Chinese attack planes showed up within a half hour of the strike on the ferry — well, it looks suspicious.”
“Bob, are you suggesting that China staged these attacks?” the President asked. “How is that possible? How could they know a Taiwanese sub was approaching the carrier? How would they know we had a bomber near that ferry, and how would they know when or if they’d launch missiles? It’s a real stretch.”
“I know it is, sir — I’m making an observation based on what I’m seeing on the news, with Chinese-supplied video,” Plank said. “But it wouldn’t be hard to set up. The attack on the carrier would be easy— simply lay some torpedoes in the water, shoot ’em off, and take pictures as they hit the carrier. The ferry attack would be harder to stage, but not impossible — lay the torpedoes in the water, send the ferry out when our Navy ships approach, set off the torpedoes by remote control, and hope the frigates fire back. I don’t think they anticipated the Megafortress attacking, but they knew we had stealth aircraft in the vicinity.”
“It’s crazy, Bob,” the President said. “Let’s concentrate on what we know, instead of what we don’t. I want—”
He was interrupted by Jerrod Hale’s hand on his shoulder. “Prime Minister Nagai of Japan, on the ‘hot line’ for you.”
“Oh, shit,” the President muttered. Kazumi Nagai was fluent in English, so the President needed no translator — no reason to postpone taking this call. He picked up the phone: “Mr. Prime Minister, this is President Martindale. How are you today, sir?”
“I am fine, Mr. President, and I hope I find you well,” Nagai responded. His speech was clipped and sharp, yet still respectful enough.
“You are calling concerning the news reports about the attacks against Chinese property, supposedly by American and Taiwanese forces.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Nagai said sharply. “I was surprised and dismayed by the photographs — we knew nothing of such aircraft, and are very concerned that it was employed by you in this monstrous attack. Is it true that the aircraft photographed by Chinese reconnaissance planes that have been shown on CNN belongs to the United States, and was it involved in the attack on the passenger ferry in the Formosa Strait?”
“It’s true, Mr. Prime Minister,” Martindale replied. “I can explain further, as long as we are guaranteed full confidentiality of all the information during this call.”
“I agree, Mr. President,” Nagai said. “Please continue.”
“It’s an experimental long-range reconnaissance and attack plane, derived from the B-52 bomber,” the President explained. “The same plane was involved in the skirmish that resulted in the Chinese nuclear missile attack, but our plane did not not have anything to do with the nuclear attack, except to intercept at least one of the Chinese missiles while in flight.”
“Intercept? How?”
“That’s not important right now, Mr. Prime Minister,” the President said. “Revealing all the capabilities of the plane has nothing to do with the two incidents.”
“It would be better if you allowed us to make that determination, sir,” Nagai said acidly. “But please continue.”
“In the most recent incident, the plane was on patrol when it detected a multiple missile launch from a nearby vessel. The aircrew incorrectly identified the vessel as a Chinese warship. One of our surface vessels was hit by a rocket-powered torpedo and was disabled. Fearing a second attack would destroy the crippled vessel, the armed reconnaissance aircraft returned fire.”
“But if it was not a warship that initiated the attack, how could the aircrew launch an attack on an unarmed passenger ferry?” Nagai asked.
“This is as monstrous a mistake as your accidental downing of the Iranian Airbus over the Persian Gulf! ”
“Mr. Prime Minister, this was an accident precipitated by China by making the ferry look like a warship on electronic sensors, and by launching some kind of missile attack from the direction of the ferry, perhaps by submarine,” Martindale said. “I assure you, this accident will not happen again. The aircraft have been recalled, and an investigation has been launched.”
“Will the results of this investigation be kept secret, as the existence and use of this aircraft has been?”
“i’ll see to it that you get a copy of the results of the investigation as soon as it is prepared,” Martindale said. “I only ask that this matter remain totally confidential. I hope I’ve answered all your questions. Thank you for—”