The Chinese ambassador turned his thoughts into carefully phrased English. “China is grateful for the American offer. I do not have the authority to answer for my government, but I believe they will accept your proposal. What type of assistance could you provide?”
“Maritime patrol aircraft searching along Chakra’s path, surface ships and submarines as well, although they will take longer to get in position,” Hughes answered.
Ambassador Xi nodded his understanding, but turned to Yeng. The attaché replied to Hughes, “Then you will need to know the locations of our ships and submarines, and we’ll need to know your units’ positions, of course.”
While Major General Yeng discussed details with Hughes, Xi tried to imagine the reaction back in Beijing. This was a much greater threat than losing the Littoral Alliance war, with the only possible help coming from enemies and rivals. There was nothing good in his message, and he could only hope his superiors wouldn’t shoot the messenger. Inside, he cried for his country, already suffering. China’s humiliation would be complete — and that was the best possible outcome, the one they would have to hope for.
There had obviously been no time for Patterson to actually travel to Manila, the new headquarters of the Littoral Alliance. The Philippine capital was centrally located for the member nations: Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, and India. Only six months after the end of the war, it was still very much a military headquarters, but diplomats from all the member nations were in residence.
Manila was also twelve hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast, so the American request for a videoconference had reached the alliance headquarters at the start of the working day. Most of the representatives were just arriving, and were available in relatively short order. The videoconference had been set for 8:00 A.M. in Manila, or 8:00 P.M. in Washington, but it was a little after that when her deputy stood in the open door and knocked twice. “We’ve got a quorum. All the seats are filled.”
Admiral Hughes was already in the room when Patterson arrived, and had been chatting with the different representatives as they logged in. The large flat-panel display showed the nine countries’ civilian and military representatives in the main conference room. Ambassador Liao of Independent Taiwan had the rotating chairmanship, and introduced the civilian and military officers.
While her staffer transmitted photographs, diagrams, and maps that were displayed for the alliance officials, Patterson laid out the plot, the source of the bombs, and the status of the investigation in India. The last diagram was a nautical chart showing Chakra’s likely position in the Bay of Bengal, as well as arcs showing all possible positions at different speeds.
As soon as it was clear that she had finished, Ambassador Liao immediately asked, “Why are we finding out about this from the United States, instead of our own Indian representative?”
Indian ambassador Kanna was actually back in India, so his place had been taken by his deputy, who pleaded ignorance. Nobody believed he would be privy to such sensitive information. Still, this meant there was no way to corroborate Patterson’s information.
Ambassador Suzuki, one of two diplomats speaking from their homes, said, “Dr. Patterson, we accept the information you present as true, but it’s simply too much to take in all at once. Logic would demand that you wish us to assist in finding and possibly — no, probably sinking one of our own ally’s submarines, to protect a country we recently fought. Destroying China’s economy by attacking her commerce was part of our strategy,” he reminded her.
“Not with nuclear weapons,” Patterson countered. She gestured to her assistant, who displayed another image, a map of the Chinese coast. “These are the ten ports on the list we obtained.” She nodded, and the aide pressed a key. “Here are the prevailing winds for late April in that region.” Arrows appeared showing the general easterly wind patterns over Asia. She nodded again. “And here are the positions of the fallout from a one-hundred-and-fifty-kiloton surface burst at each of the ten locations.” Elongated ovals stretched across the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea to the countries that lined China’s coast.
“We can’t know which of the ten ports the conspirators have actually chosen, but the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, and even South Korea would likely be in the path of the fallout. Some of it will certainly settle in the waters surrounding China, and you can imagine the effects on the fishing grounds. More environmental cleanup, and a lot of hungry people.
“Ignoring the effects of the attack on the Chinese economy, which would likely trigger a catastrophic worldwide depression, ignoring the humanitarian disaster of millions of Chinese injured and killed, some of your own citizens will suffer and die as a direct result of the attacks.
“And if any of you are reluctant to sink an ‘allied’ Indian submarine, remember that India is doing her level best to arrest the people who planned this, and that the plotters don’t seem to be concerned about collateral damage to the other alliance members.”
She could see nodding heads, and pressed home her point. “This is the alliance’s problem as much as China’s. When something this bad happens, everyone suffers.”
Liao spoke again. “Normally, a matter like this would be discussed at length, with the senior military and civilian representative from each country speaking in turn. However, given the urgency, I will speak for the alliance without discussion and say that we will assist our Indian ally in finding, and if necessary, sinking this submarine. We welcome U.S. participation in this effort. Are there any objections?”
Each representative said “no,” in turn, even the Indians, but the military representative quickly changed his vote to “abstain,” sounding confused and unhappy. “I must believe this is actually happening, but my heart cannot let me vote yes.”
The Taiwanese ambassador nodded sympathetically. “I understand, but your help will be vital in this.”
The Indian’s expression hardened. “You will have it, I promise.”
Liao asked, “Doctor, do you have any recommendations? You have been working with this for some time now and presumably have some thoughts.”
“Our chief of naval operations will start sending your military staff what intelligence we have on Chakra, as well as any information on our own and Chinese ship, submarine, and aircraft movements. And although your countries have excellent submarines, we strongly recommend that you do not use them in the search. In fact, if you have any submarines operating in that area, you should recall them immediately. There is too much risk of a blue-on-blue incident.”
The military officers were nodding agreement. The senior military officer was a Philippine Navy captain, and he said, “We concur, and will provide location data for any of our subs in Chakra’s path until they are all clear of the area. We will also share and coordinate our plans with our American friends.” He paused, then added, “It might be best, if for the moment, that any information on Chinese movements came from you, rather than directly from Chinese sources.”
Hughes nodded, smiling. “And we will, of course, inform the Chinese of Littoral Alliance movements, to make sure there is no duplication of effort.”
Or unfriendly encounters, Patterson thought. Nerves were still raw, and this business didn’t need any more complications.