“Chase, how has the progress been?”
Chase said, “Solid results. Good improvements. The JSOC teams have been very effective. At first, it was rough. We’d get reports from local law enforcement or surveillance drones about a Chinese troop movement or attack. Data on Chinese strength and capabilities was unreliable. The Chinese were moving quick, attacking utilities or infrastructure and then leaving before we could respond. But as we implemented tactics learned from the sandbox, things got progressively better. We set up forward operating bases with small teams, each with their own organic air support detachments. This allowed us to react faster. Every night — sometimes multiple times per night — we would conduct raids on suspected Chinese locations. Most of the ops were kill-and-capture. JSOC has its own interrogators. We would get information as soon as the raids ended and used that to uncover new targets. Every night the same thing. Hunt. Kill and capture, interrogate, learn new information, orient, get new targets, and do it again.”
David could hear the intensity in his brother’s voice. Chase’s eyes darted around as he spoke, remembering what he’d done, thinking as he spoke.
“The big breakthrough came the night before last. Two companies of Chinese infantry. Most of them surrendered. We think the total strength in the US is now less than one hundred personnel.”
“Excellent work. Those prisoners that you captured are providing us with a treasure trove of information.”
Susan fidgeted with her pen as she studied Chase’s face. She seemed to be deciding something. “How much has your brother told you about this place?”
Chase looked at David, whose face was impassive.
“He just told me it was the prison… where you’re holding some of the Chinese soldiers that we captured.”
Susan turned back to the TV screen as another prisoner entered the interrogation room. His mask was removed, and Chase saw that he was just a kid. Probably no more than eighteen or nineteen years old. The overhead speaker broadcast the conversation from the room. It began in Chinese.
Then the prisoner said, “We may speak in English, if you want. I speak English good.”
The interrogator looked up at the camera.
Susan reached for a microphone device on the shelf and tapped the transmit button. “That’s fine. English, please.”
She turned to Chase and said, “We’ll continue after this is over.”
Chase recognized the kid. He was one of the prisoners they had taken from the highway raid a week earlier.
The interrogator was a young woman. A white girl. Dark hair. Chase found himself wondering whether she’d had to learn Chinese in Defense Language School. It was probably pretty tough to interrogate someone in Chinese if you had just learned the language a few years ago. She was probably pretty happy to be conducting the interview in English. “Lin Yu, we appreciate how much help you have been thus far. Your show of good faith will greatly improve your situation when China and the United States make peace.”
“I only want peace. I want no more war,” the kid mumbled. He looked shell-shocked.
“Of course. Listen, I have some paperwork that my superiors need us to get through. Would you mind signing this statement here? It’s just some administrative stuff. Making it official that you’ll agree to help us however you can. After all, we want the same thing, right? Peace.”
The Chinese kid looked at his interrogator and gave a weak smile. “Sure. Yes. Okay.” He took the pen and signed the paper, which the interrogator quickly placed into an envelope and moved away.
She asked a series of questions about what he had been doing over the past few weeks. Then she said, “The last time we spoke, you mentioned that your platoon had come into contact with a — how did you put it? — an elite special team. These were Chinese special operations soldiers, is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“And your team was not special operations?”
“They were a different type.”
“What made this elite team different?”
“They have more training. Better training. They are the best of our region. Guangzhou. I believe this is where they were from. I heard them speak, and the dialect and accents were from the south.”
The interrogator glanced at her notes. “That’s where you are from as well, is it not?”
“Yes.”
“So did this team have a name?”
“I know the Chinese name.” He said something in Chinese. “I think you call this South Sword.”
“Yes. South Blade or South Sword. Okay. So what was the South Sword Team doing?”
“They receive special instructions. They meet with my commander and use our radios. Then they get special instructions and leave quickly.”
“Do you know where they were headed?”
“I do not know.”
“What were their special instructions?”
Lin Yu shifted in his seat. His interrogator waited patiently.
Lin Yu said, “They were to meet with a Chinese woman. She enter United States soon. I hear this when they speak to my commander. I was not supposed to hear. I think this is important.”
“Do you know the name of the woman they were to meet with?”
“No.”
“But you are sure she is Chinese? And that she is entering the US soon?”
“Yes. She very important, I think. She have to send radio communication back to China. This is why they take radio communicator device from my commander.”
The interrogation went on for another fifteen minutes, and then the prisoner was led away.
Susan turned back to the others.
The technical expert said, “If the Chinese team transmits every day around the same time, and we have the rough time and location of their transmission from a few days ago, I can run a cross-check through our database. I’ll look for similar metadata tied to the transmission. We might get lucky.”
Susan said, “Do it.”
The tech expert rose from his seat and left the room.
Susan turned to Chase. “The men and women in these cells aren’t just prisoners you’ve captured. They include anyone that we suspect may have been providing intelligence to the Chinese. Whenever we can, we’re obtaining the exact communications procedures that they use. If the prisoners cooperate, we’re turning them into double agents. They will continue to provide the Chinese with regular updates, but we control the new content of their updates.”
Chase said, “Didn’t the Brits do that during World War Two?”
David nodded. “She made me look it up. You’re right. The British Security Service had done something similar with Nazi spies. The idea was to keep the Nazi intelligence analysts’ desks filled with disinformation.”
Susan smiled. “Exactly.”
Chase said, “Have many have cooperated?”
“Enough. But you can bet the Chinese are playing the same game. We’ve already seen signs that many of our China-based assets have been rolled up. Yet I’m afraid several of those same persons are continuing to communicate with us. You can draw your own conclusions.”
Chase looked at his brother again. David said, “This isn’t the first we’ve heard of this South Sword Team. It’s an elite naval special warfare team from southern China. We think they were involved in several other special operations inside the US over the past few weeks. They’re one of the last units that remain unlocated.”
“So you want me to help find them?”
David glanced at Susan.
Susan said, “Sort of.”
Chase looked between them, sensing a problem. “What’s the problem?”
Susan said, “That interview we just listened to? It corroborates other intelligence we’ve recently received. Chase, we think Lena Chou is headed to the US, if she isn’t here already.”