“It is a very lonely place down there, sir,” the commander said. “Except for a rare deep-sea fishing boat, we did not see one single vessel — except our own — in the six months from November to June. According to my records, the only boat anyone saw was one morning last February…Australian-registered yacht, probably sheltering from the weather in Choiseul Sound. We never saw it, but the Hai Lung did. Through the periscope. It was gone by the afternoon.”
The President nodded. “No further incidents like that most unfortunate business with the American ship eighteen months ago?”
“Nossir. Nothing like that. We have not seen a ship in the fjord. No ships whatsoever.”
“Commander, I believe you were personally involved in that incident?”
“Yessir, I was.”
“Unhappily, the Americans made a huge fuss about it. I expect you know?”
“Nossir, I did not.”
“Oh yes. The State Department contacted several nations, including ourselves, Japan, and South Korea, even, I believe, mainland China. They were extremely anxious about the fate of their research ship and its crew. They actually sent a warship from the Seventh Fleet to Kerguelen.”
“Yessir. We saw that. It was there for several weeks, and it did once come down Baie Blanche. But it turned away at the last minute. We were watching it from Pointe Bras.”
“I understand you did open fire on the American research ship. What would you have done if the warship had proceeded right down Repos and come to a halt outside the laboratory?”
“I am uncertain, sir. We have no contingency for such a circumstance. I don’t think it ever occurred to anyone that any warships would ever visit us. Clearly we could not have taken on a fully armed American Naval frigate. That would have been suicide. I imagine we would have tried to reason with them about our intentions, and then attempted an evacuation, if we had a chance.”
“Yes. I suppose we have to accept that in those circumstances we would have to use diplomatic means…however I have always been profoundly concerned that we did open fire on the crew of that research ship.”
“Sir, we boarded it just when it came in sight of the two buoys that secure the nuclear submarine. I was in command, and my intention was to turn the ship away peacefully, on the pretext that we were conducting some secret experiments in the fjord, and that we had not informed the French government. Therefore we would prefer not to be disturbed. I am sure you will understand we could not afford to have the Americans come any closer…they would have seen the dock, which was uncovered at the time.
“However, my men were very agitated. And then one of the Americans came around the bulkhead with a machine gun and opened fire on us…shot and killed three of my men before we could move. I personally answered his fire…but not before he killed another of us. Then the situation deteriorated. We had to stop their radio operator, and with four men already dead…Well, I am afraid my men gunned down the radio man, and the Captain, and his number two, and anyone else who looked like an enemy.
“By this time, several other members of the crew were also armed. It took us another hour to subdue the ship. We lost a total of six men, with two more who were slightly wounded.”
“How about the Americans?”
“There were no survivors from the crew, sir. And I am afraid we may have killed one or two passengers. Plainly we were not able to leave any of them alive to tell their story.”
“Quite. But I did understand there were some prisoners.”
“Yessir. We found a small group of scientists in a cabin below. They were unarmed and very frightened. I could not bring myself to have them shot in cold blood. I am a soldier, not a murderer.”
“You took them prisoner?”
“Yessir. We towed the ship into a small cove, slightly beyond the main entrance, and secured it under a curtain overhang. Then we collected every document, every scrap of paper from the ship, and burned everything.
“The generators and engines still worked, and we just kept her running, the same as the nuclear submarine. We had plenty of fuel and food. And it just took one guard to ensure they remained aboard. I thought the best thing would be to keep them incarcerated until we eventually close down the facility and leave the island. So far as I know, none of them knew who we were, nor what we were engaged in. We did interrogate them, and none of them even knew where they were.”
“I see. Presumably they are still in the ship?”
“Yessir.”
“It will be difficult to release them.”
“Yessir. But you will recall, sir, that some of those Middle East terrorists incarcerated some quite eminent people for years on end and were mostly not caught because the hostages did not know where they were. I have been telling myself this is precisely our situation. I am, sir, most reluctant to have unarmed, nonmilitary US citizens put to death for no reason.”
“No doubt. But if anyone ever found out, the consequences would be monumental. The United States government would react violently to public opinion. It may be better to dispose of them.”
“Sir, I have spoken to my superiors about this matter. And I do not think any branch of the Taiwanese Armed Services would be anxious to carry out such executions.”
“Admiral Shi-Ta?”
“Nossir. That is not an order I would wish to issue. It would be different if the prisoners were in the military.”
“I too think the execution of American civilians is a very bad idea. And I accept the wisdom of my Commanders. We must however think long and hard about the method of release, when the time comes. Although they do not know who we are, or where they are. Which is to our advantage.”
“Yessir.”
“Do we have any contingency plan, should a Chinese warship come visiting?”
“Nossir, we do not. Though in that case I believe we would have to sink it, instantly.”
“Yes, I’m inclined to agree with that. Which would mean we might need another submarine down there, which we do not have…Admiral, I think we should discuss that with General Jin-Chung, at the conclusion of this conference.”
“Sir.”
And now the Captain of the Hai Lung was summoned to give his report, which was brief and efficient. There had been no problems with either submarine, they were running down to Kerguelen submerged, right on time, and had become experts at sliding into the fjord still underwater, and not coming to periscope depth until they were well down Repos.
The question of using the submarines as freighters was also working extremely well, particularly in the transportation of the unrefined Uranium-239, which was relatively easy to obtain, even while avoiding the international supervisory bodies. Packed in specially designed lead and polyethylene canisters, the radioactive uranium was transported in the safest possible environment — underwater, where it was undetectable from any form of surveillance, on or above the earth.
When the meeting broke for lunch at 1300, tea was brought in, served in the most beautifully painted china, which looked a lot like Royal Doulton but was, unsurprisingly, made in Taiwan.
The President went to the window with his Foreign Minister, Chien-Pei Liu. The two men were thoughtful as they stared east, beyond the spectacular gardens that surround the wondrous architecture of the Chiang Kaishek Memorial.
There was so much to protect here in this scenic, mountainous island, where the glorious rivers flow with money and the great oceans wash billions of American dollars into the economy each year. “Here in Taiwan we are on the verge of creating the world’s first genuine Shangri-la,” the President said. “We have opportunities that no nation has ever enjoyed. Only one nation stands in our way. I pray we will be in time to frighten them off, for good.”