‘We’re through the screen!’ came the report from the CIC.
The calls of ship-sightings now changed. ‘Hull Number 928! Landing Ship Tank. Range four point two!’
‘Engage with ASROC,’ Richards ordered, calmer this time.
‘Aye-aye, captain,’ came the excited reply of the fire control coordinator.
A moment later, an enormous burst of white smoke obscured the windows of the bridge. A huge torpedo lifted out of its armored canister mounted flush with the deck. It rode the belching white thrust of its booster. More sightings led to more anti-submarine rockets — regular torpedoes flown to the enemy vessels by powerful rockets. Richards followed the flight of the first ASROC.
It splashed almost anti-climactically into the sea. It was three-quarters of a mile from the jam-packed landing ship. The sight was surreal. Richards counted off the seconds. A torpedo could make forty knots.
The Chinese LST broke in half. The ship’s midsection literally rose into the air. The flat-bottommed ship slipped into the sea at the bow and stern. Crates and light vehicles splashed into the water all around. The view through the windows of the still turning Laboon was constantly changing. Smoke rose into the air from horizon to horizon. Richards conserved his anti-ship missiles. A couple of five-inch shells or a single ASROC was all it took. They even turned broadsides to fire regular torps from the six tubes on the stem. In thirty minutes the Taiwan Straits were a flaming graveyard.
‘In the battleground state of Texas,’ Kate read — her stopwatch running — ‘the election appears to be up for grabs. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows President Marshall and Governor Bristol running neck-and-neck both nationally and here in the Lone Star State. The results of that poll were borne out by an unscientific survey we conducted of voters on their way to work.’ She hit the watch’s stop button — confirming that the voiceover would correspond roughly in length with the taped footage. Kate swivelled her chair and hit ‘Play’ to watch the man-on-the-street interviews. She then switched to a second player to see her taped conclusion.
The unedited tape began with Kate wiggling her shoulders to loosen up. Her heavier-than-normal make-up wasn’t obvious. She watched herself brush her bangs back. The navy blue cloth overcoat was a good choice. She cleared her throat and looked into the camera.
‘The voters seem to be asking two questions.’ Kate held the stick mike in her gloved hand. A small but distracting wisp of hair blew loose across her forehead. ‘First, how could the Marshall administration allow tensions with China to escalate into a shooting war? Although the invasion of Taiwan was repulsed, Governor Bristol spent much of the day hammering the Democratic ticket with the bitter remarks to Newsweek magazine made by former Secretary of State Jensen.’ Too long, Kate thought. ‘Governor Bristol’s finest moment came when he suggested the time for a show of U.S. strength was before our ally was attacked — not after.’ Should have used the sound bite, she thought. ‘But far more ominous for the President is the question many voters raise about the risks to American troops now stationed along the Chinese border in Siberia. With the World Court having agreed to consider China’s claim to much of eastern Siberia…’
She stopped the tape. Woody — if he would ever show up — would splice in video from the port of Vladivostok as Kate’s report continued. She turned to another tape deck. Maybe she should cut instead to the Japanese story. ‘Shit,’ she whispered, then played the tape from where it was cued.
‘… J-j-a-apanese constitutional amendment would allow the military to deploy overseas. Parliamentary proponents argue for easing the World War II-era restrictions due to skyrocketing tensions in the region. And the first act that the Diet should take — Japanese opinion polls suggest — should be to rename the “Self-Defense Forces.” The leading candidate is simply the “Armed Forces,” but even those words are fraught with significance in an Asia still wary of Japanese militarism. Meanwhile war stocks pour into Japanese harbors from American ports. But they’re all property of the United States military. And now that South Korea has gone on general alert, the East Asian rim of the Pacific Ocean is alive with instability. Urgent issues are debated nightly in Tokyo — both in posh clubs and along riot lines. Public officials here have quietly complained of America treating Japan like another aircraft carrier — once a taboo topic, now merely sexy.’
‘Damn!’ Kate said — stopping the tape. Did she want to take the time to edit the word “sexy” out?
She instead turned back to the first tape player.
‘The U.N. operation in eastern Russia is now entering its second month, and the Pentagon today announced the deployment of one additional Army and one Marine division to Siberia. Department of Defense spokesmen denied that the deployment was in any way connected to the Chinese attack on Taiwan and its ruthless suppression of Hong Kong. But the President’s Chief of Staff made it clear that no such aggression would be tolerated in Siberia. In a separate story, President Marshall requested today that Congress approve a Pentagon call-up in excess of the president’s 200,000-man limit. The current resolution would allow reserve activations to go as high as 500,000 men and women, although Administration officials refused to rule out requests for more. The Pentagon also announced that the six brigades of National Guardsmen previously deployed to the riot-torn areas would be formed into three new Army divisions.’
Then cut back to me, Kate thought. She looked at her watch and leaned toward the open door. ‘Woody-y-y!’ she shouted — then hit ‘Play.’
‘In responding to Republican attacks, administration officials point to their success in calming Anarchist violence worldwide. Confirming earlier rumors, a CIA spokeswoman today announced for the first time that they believe that Valentin Kartsev was killed in a bombing of Anarchist training camps shortly after my interview with him last month.’
Kate winced. She’d told Woody that the reference to her interview would ring hollow. They would now have to reshoot the entire piece.
‘In a race most thought would turn on the domestic issues of the economy, terrorism and civil unrest, it is foreign affairs that now looms as the deciding factor. In the photo finish for which President Marshall and Governor Bristol seem headed, the question analysts are asking is — will the boost that incumbents expect during periods of international crisis be offset by the perceived mishandling of Chinese aggression by the administration? And are there any more surprises in store for the candidates in the one week remaining before the election? This is Kate Dunn, NBC News, reporting from the campaign trail in Austin, Texas.’
Her toes were wiggling in her shoes. Her teeth were grinding despite warnings from her dentist. She willed herself to stop both.
‘Woody-y, would you please…!’ she shouted.
He suddenly appeared in the doorway.
‘Oh… Hey,’ she said. ‘Look, we’ve got a lot of editing to do before
‘You’ve got a phone call,’ Woody interrupted. He held her cellular phone out to her. He’d borrowed it to order pizza. Woody couldn’t quite suppress his grin.
‘Who is it?’ she asked.
He shrugged. ‘Well, let’s see. He’s Russian. About five-foot-four and bald. You may remember him better as the loveable but genocidal nut who controls worldwide Anarchist terrorism.’ She grabbed the small phone and held it to her ear. There was the hiss of a long-distance connection.