Susan glanced at him. “Read up on the Double-Cross System, David. It’s not in our best interests to just have them stop. That’s the essence of the whole game. Once we identify someone as a legitimate Chinese spy, we want two things. One, we want to know everything they know, and two, we want them to keep providing information to their Chinese handlers via radio transmission, dead drops, and more. We’re managing over sixty separate networks now.”
David began to see. “You want to spread false information.” He shook his head. “But wait. Don’t the Chinese suspect that their spies have been compromised?”
“Of course they do. And we suspect that many of our intelligence streams from HUMINT sources in China are also compromised. Proper deception is an art form. We feed them some truths, some half-truths, and some outright lies. But the whoppers, we save for when it really counts.”
David stared at her, amazed. “Why are you telling me this?”
“You’re being brought in on the operation, David. General Schwartz and I discussed it. You’re bright and at the heart of much of our planning. My belief is that organizations are best served when the cadre of planners and decision makers are all well aware of current and future operations. This allows them to realize the impact of their choices.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that, considering you’re a CIA officer.”
She smiled. “Don’t get me wrong. I still value the importance of secrets. I just think it’s damaging to keep secrets from the people who should know them.”
David nodded. “Okay. What do I need to do?”
“We’ll take you over to the other side of the base later today. You can see for yourself what we’ve got going on. You’ll have full access if you need it. The three of us will meet once per day to go over new information and how it might impact other recommendations SILVERSMITH is making up the chain of command.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
General Schwartz leaned forward. “David, how’s the progress with the Jiaolong-class ships?”
David had been placed in charge of a team of scientists and engineers looking for ways to defeat the new Chinese technology. There were two groups, one focused on the antisubmarine warfare threat, the other on the air-defense problem. David wasn’t nearly as well versed in the details as the experts he had brought in, but his work at In-Q-Tel had made him somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades on future technologies and their military applications, so he at least knew enough to comprehend what the scientists and engineers came up with and could translate it to the decision makers, like General Schwartz and his bosses.
“Sir, we have a few ideas. But they could take a long time to test.”
The general shook his head. “Time isn’t available. The Chinese fleet at Guam is already resupplying. Our intelligence reports that they want to take Hawaii next.”
“How long will it take them to get there?”
“We need to be prepared for an attack on Hawaii within two weeks’ time. That’s what the Office of Naval Intelligence is telling us. We need to make a recommendation to Pentagon leadership by tomorrow.”
David swore.
Susan said, “David, I know it seems impossible. Just get us whatever you have.”
David met with his technical experts later that afternoon. The same three men that had been at Raven Rock had relocated to Eglin, and they had each recommended several other leaders in their respective fields. Security was tight. Some of those individuals were denied access based on past actions and political views that might be seen as sympathetic to China. Others couldn’t be located, which was a legitimate problem in a nation that was still facing food and water shortages from an EMP attack. Nevertheless, the group of a dozen men and women that David did have access to were top-notch.
David addressed them in one of the secure conference rooms. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve got food and coffee coming. We’ll be pulling an all-nighter. We’ll need to get a recommendation on General Schwartz’s desk by tomorrow morning.”
“Regarding what?”
“We expect the Chinese to attack Hawaii just like they did Guam. We need to find a way to defeat the Jiaolong technology.”
“What’s the timing?”
David told them, and they provided him with the expected response. “Calm down, please. Trust me, I feel the same way. But we’ve got to come up with something. We cannot cede the Pacific.”
“Aren’t there conventional ways of fighting the Chinese Navy?”
Someone said, “You read the papers, right? You see what happened in Guam? We’re in a new arms race. He wouldn’t be holding this meeting if there was another way.”
David sighed. “I’m afraid he’s right.”
And with that, the group set to work, brainstorming new ideas and rehashing ones that had already been proposed in previous meetings. Until today, no one had given them a timetable.
In his mind, David was realistic. He knew that this was a near-impossible task. But he also knew that wars were the catalysts for technological breakthroughs.
Six hours later, they had gone over countless ideas, but each one had been poked full of holes by the group.
Someone had proposed copying the Chinese version of the directed-energy weapons. “We’re years behind them, by the sound of it. Nothing but a blueprint would be ready in time.”
Using submarine-launched nuclear torpedoes. “Not an option. That would trigger Russia entering the war.”
Another idea was to use a new type of electronic jamming device that could cause very-low-altitude aircraft to be completely hidden from radar.
David was excited at that one. “Can we place that on our LRASM missiles? That might get them through—”
“No way. This would need to go on an aircraft.”
“What about fitting it on a fighter or bomber and having them attack—”
“They would guzzle fuel at that altitude. Plus, we’re talking really low. Like twenty-five feet above the ocean’s surface. As soon as the aircraft came up to get on an attack profile, they would be toast.”
“What about helicopters?”
“We don’t have anything that’s outfitted for electronic attack right now, but maybe. But then you have the issue of ordnance not being suitable. Helicopters won’t have a good antiship missile option like the LRASM.”
The group shifted to other possible options. Finally, one scientist brought up some type of weapon system based on black hole energy waves.
David did a double take. “I’m sorry. Did you say black hole? That sounds like something out of a science fiction novel.”
The scientist, a woman in her midforties, said, “When we say black hole, we’re really just naming it for the radio frequency it operates at. It’s not like we’re actually making a black hole. That would be impossible.”
“Sure. Sure.”
The woman continued, “Black hole jets, or gamma ray bursts. Black holes create huge amounts of power at very high frequencies — higher than anything we have in the US electronic warfare arsenal today. Theoretically, we could put out these bursts of energy from an antenna.”
David shook his head. “And what would it do?”
She looked at him as if that was a stupid question. “Obviously it would fry whatever it came into contact with. Enemy electronics being our target.”
“And the Jiaolong’s air defense system — does that operate the same way?”
“No. Completely different technology. But the black hole weapon could do some serious damage to the Jiaolong’s antenna system.”
“And we have this capability?”
“Well… we’ve been doing some testing…” The scientist began arguing with two other physicists using terms that David couldn’t understand.