permission and without an approved plan from the General
Staff?" Chin stammered.
"General, as Admiral Sun has so accurately pointed out, it
190 DALE BROWN 7-
has become apparent that the Americans are waging a war of
terrorism against us," President Jiang said by way of response.
"The Americans are choosing to use their stealth aircraft and
guided standoff missiles to destroy our forces and keep our
government off balance. They could have destroyed our ships
and killed thousands of People's Liberation Army Navy sol-
diers and sailors, just as they did in their skirmish with the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
"It is now obvious that the Americans hold the Mao Zedong
carrier battle group at risk with their stealth bombers," Jiang
went on. "This situation has become intolerable, and drastic
action must be taken immediately. In keeping with my wishes
and those of the people to rid our waters and our legacy of
illegal and harmful foreign influences, Admiral Sun has de-
veloped a plan to do just that-first isolate, then cripple, then
destroy the American air and naval forces operating off our
shores. "
General Chin's mind was spinning with confusion. Was he
being replaced? Was his career in jeopardy from this young
idealistic philosopher-quoting upstart? "Comrade President, I
agree with everything you say," Chin said. "It is indeed the
time to act. But are you proposing to place the forces of the
world's largest military power in the hands of Admiral Sun Ji
Guoming? He does not have the experience or the training. He
possesses only rudimentary knowledge on how to deploy and
command large naval forces, and very little knowledge or ex-
perience in commanding large ground.and air forces."
"We will not place our military forces in Admiral Sun's
hands, General-you will retain your cormnand," Jiang said.
"Admiral Sun will take command of certain ... irregular
forces. "
"Iffegular forces? What do you mean, sir?"
"In time, you will be briefed on the deployment of his
forces," Jiang said, rising from his chair and heading for the
door. "In the meantime, Admiral Sun has full authority from
the Central Military Commission and my office to conduct
whatever maneuvers or operations he sees necessary. He is
obliged to notify you prior to the start of operations, and he
is.encouraged to seek your guidance and support, but he has
no obligation to do either. Admiral?"
"Thank you, sir," Sun Ji Guorning said, bowing deeply to
Jiang Zemin. He then bowed to General Chin and said, "Gen-
FATAL TER RAI N 191
eral, you will order the Mao carrier battle group to withdraw
from its attack on Quemoy and proceed at best speed to Xiang-
gang-"
"Xianggang? Xianggang?" Chin repeated in disbelief.
Xianggang, formerly known as Victoria, was the capital and
main port city on the island province of Hong Kong, which
was set to return to Chinese control on the first of July. "Why
should we sail it all the way to Hong Kong when it may be a
critical weapon in the defense and occupation of Quemoy
Dao?"
"The Mao and its escorts will be used to help celebrate our
Reunification Day festivities," Admiral Sun said. "We shall
-stage fireworks demonstrations from its decks, invite guests
and the international media aboard, even give cruises around
Hong Kong on it."
"Use our aircraft carrier, our most powerful naval vessel ...
to give rides?"
"After that," Sun said calmly, "it will be deployed for an
extended shakedown cruise to Lfishun."
"Liishun? Wh y sail it to Lfishun, sir?" Chin protested again
to Jiang. Lfishun, once known as Port Arthur, was an important
international shipping and naval facility located on the tip of
the Liaotung peninsula, between the Bohai, or Gulf of Chihli,
and Korea Bay, 250 kilometers west of the North Korean cap-
ital of Pyongyang. "Do you plan to involve it in any attack
operations in defense of North Korea, in case the Americans
Or South Koreans invade? If so, I think that is a foolhardy
plan. The carrier will be more vulnerable to air attacks from
South Korea, Japan, even Alaska. If anything, we should send
it back to the Nansha Dao to defend our rights to access to
the South China Sea."
"Comrade General, it is so ordered," Minister of Defense
Chi Haotian intedected. "Withdraw the carrier battle group
from Quemoy Dao and have them proceed to Xianggang at
best possible speed."
Chin looked at Chi, then Jiang, with a stunned expression,
but at the moment therd was little he could do. He bowed and
said, "Yes, Comrade Minister. Immediately. Any other de-
mands?"
"No, sir," Sun replied, bowing respectfully. "My thanks to
YOU."
General Chin Po Zihong ignored the gesture. He stood as
192 DALE BROWN
the president and the defense minister departed, then stopped
Admiral Sun as he headed for the door. "So," Chin said
haughtily, "you now have the ear of the president. I see that
spouting all that ancient military crap has paid off for you."
"Yes, sir," Sun responded simply.
"You may speak freely now, Admiral," Chin said. "We
are practically colleagues, contemporaries." Sun's eyes nar-
rowed at that very sarcastic remark. "Please. Tell me about
your plan."
Sun Ji Guoming hesitated, not knowing whether or not to
trust Chin's sudden friendliness; then he responded, "Sir, my
staff has prepared a briefing for you and the general staff,
outlining my ideas and suggestions. But this operation is not-
under my command, sir. I am merely advising the defense
minister and Paramount Leader as to-"
"You are nothing more than a bold, loudmouth upstart,"
Chin said, "tossing about ancient maxims that no longer apply,
to old men who were spoon-fed that crap since they were
young boys and who long for a time when Maoist psycho-
mystical garbage could conquer the world."
Admiral Sun smiled and actually appeared to relax when he
saw the anger rising in Chin's words. "You do not believe in
applying the teachings of Master Sun-tzu to today's chal-
lenges, General?" Sun asked. "We have spoken on this many
times. "
"Forget that Art of War shit, Sun," Chin intedected angrily.
"What will you do against the Americans? I must know!"
"I am going to humiliate them, sir," Sun replied hotly. "I
am going to show the Americans that they cannot roam freely
over our waters and our region. I am'going to make their allies
turn against them, isolate them; then I am going to make the
American people isolate and hate their own military forces."
"How? How will you do all this? What forces will you
need? How many ships, planes, divisions?"
11 This is not a mission for conventional military forces, sir,"
Sun said. "My forces will be everywhere, but nowhere; they
will be as light as ghosts, but as powerful as the largest ships
and the most powerful bombs in the world."
Chin saw he was going to get no more concrete information
than that from Sun, so he shook his head and turned to leave.
"It shall be a pleasure for me to see you collapsed and dis-
graced," he said over his shoulder at Sun Ji Guoming. "Quot-
FATAL TER RAI N 193
ing a bunch of dead philosophers will not help you when the
American stealth bombers head over the horizon to decimate
our cities and armies."
"They will not be able to launch anything against us, be-
cause they will have no targets on their radarscopes or sonars
to attack," Sun said. "They will see nothing but empty
ocean-and their own allies, out of control."
THE WHITE HousE OVAL OFFICE
TUESDAY, 3 JUNE 1997, 2105 HOURS ET
"My fellow Americans, good evening," President Kevin Mar-
tindale began his televised address to the nation. "I have some
important news of a serious disaster that may have potentially
serious implications for Americans both at home and overseas.
"At approximately six forty-five P. East Coast time, two
large-scale explosions were reported in the vicinity of the
southern portion of the Formosa Strait, between mainland
China and the island of Formosa, the home of the newly in-
dependent, democratic Republic of China. Unconfirmed re-
ports indicate that both explosions were nuclear, with yields
measuring somewhere between one and seven kilotons.
"I want to assure the American people that we are com-
pletely safe, and the situation is under control," the President
went on, deliberately slowing his delivery and speaking as sin-
cerely and as firmly as he could. "First, no American military
forces, except for some surveillance units, were in the area at
the time of the blast, and the last reports I was given stated
that there were no American casualties as a result of the ex-
plosions. Second, these explosions were not a prelude to a
nuclear war between China and Taiwan or anyone else. It is
not yet certain if the explosions were a result of an accident,
a deliberate attack, or an act of terrorism. In fact, it is too early
to tell precisely who launched the attack in the first place,
although our suspicions rest with the naval forces of the Peo-
ple's Republic of China's Liberation Army, which have been
threatening the Republic of China with attacks for many years.
However, both sides in the conflict in the Formosa Strait suf-
fered many casualties, and so we are still investigating. In any
case, no one retaliated with similar weapons; no other attacks,
194 DALE BROWN
nuclear or conventional, took place; and no nations have de-
clared war upon anyone else. Third, there is no evidence so
far of serious nuclear contamination or fallout. There are re-
ports of Taiwanese and Japanese nationals fleeing their homes
for fear of radioactive fallout, so as a precaution we are ad-
vising against travel into eastern China, Taiwan, or southern
Japan until the panic has eased and we can assess the danger.
"Fourth, and most importantly, the United States is secure.
The government is functioning, and we are carrying out the
people's business, right here in Washington, same as ever. As
commander in chief of our nation's military forces, I have not
ordered any retaliatory strikes, and we have not mobilized any
of our nuclear forces, nor do I intend to do so. I have ordered
our overseas military bases around the world into a heightened
state of alert, and I have ordered the Pentagon to hold meetings
with high-ranking officers to determine the best course of ac-
tion to take, but at this time none of our forces anywhere on
earth are on a wartime footing. We are ready to respond if
necessary, but so far all nations of the world are responding
to this tragedy with patience and intelligent reasoning, and so
I see no reason to elevate the level of tension by mobilizing
any of our forces to a higher state.
" The United States stands ready to assist any countries who
request aid, no matter who pushed the button. The nuclear
genie has somehow sneaked out of the bottle after being safely
sealed away for so many years, and the United States govern-
ment pledges to do all it can to help see that the genie stays
locked away again forever. I assure you, myself and all of my
top advisors, civilian and military, are hard at work investi-
gating this horrible tragedy. I will report back to you as soon
as possible with more details.
"I'd like to leave you with one last thought, if I may," the
President said. "When I was a kid, I remember a gag poster
of an old crusty Navy guy, had to be a hundred years old, at
the helm of an old weather-beaten wooden rowboat, with about
a dozen more old sailors crowded into the little boat manning
the oars, all lit up by a single lantern, and the caption on the
poster said, 'Sleep tight tonight, the U. Navy is awake.' All
joking aside, my fellow Americans, I can tell you that a good
in arms in the Air Force, Army, Marines, Coast Guard, and
all of the other paramilitary, Guard, Reserves, and civilian
FATAL T ER RAI N 195
members of the best fighting force in the world, the United
States anned forces, are awake tonight, watching and ready to
defend our homeland, our freedom, and our way of life. Give
them your support and trust" and sleep tight-we are awake.
Thank you, good night, and God bless America."
The President knew enough to keep his eyes straight ahead,
looking into the camera, until well after the red light was off
and technicians started coming over to unplug the mikes from
his suit jacket lapels. He shook hands and offered thanks to a
few of the technicians, the director, and the all-important
makeup person, then made his way to his private study while
the cameras and sound equipment were removed from the Oval
Office, where Chief of Staff Jerrod Hale had the bank of six
regular-screen TVs and two big-screen TVs on in the Presi-
dent's study. Already in the study with Hale was National
Security Advisor Philip Freeman and Secretary of State Jeffrey
Hartman; Communications Director Charles Ricardo followed
the President.
The study was where Martindale did his real office work-
the Oval Office was usually reserved for important meetings
and "photo opportunity--type office work, like signing im-
portant legislation. The study had two curtained bulletproof
windows, but unlike the Oval Office, the Kevlar-reinforced
curtains were always kept closed. Along with the bank of tel-
evisions, the study had two computer systems, with which the
President was thoroughly educated; it had an exercise tread-
mill, plenty of seats for secretaries and staffers, and wall-size
electronic monitors to display computerized charts, d
iagrams,
or images. It was a good place to watch and listen to the
media's reaction to the President's address. Afterward, the
President's "spin doctors" would prepare Q&A point papers
for all of the top advisors, and within minutes of the address
they would be sent out to talk with the press and put some
finer finishing touches on the President's remarks.
"Good speech tonight, Mr. President," Ricardo offered.
"It sucked," the President said grumpily, retrieving a can
of Tab from the little refrigerator near his desk. "Too skimpy
on details-the press will be clamoring for more from anyone
they see. The rumors are going to start flying. Let's get the
point paper done and get the staff out there so we can head
off the rumors as much as possible. First thing I want to know
is, what about the screwup with the Democratic leadership
196 DALE B ROW N
getting on Air Force One? What in hell happened?"
"The Secret Service screwed up, Mr. President-there's no
polite way to put it," White House Chief of Staff Jerrod Hale
replied. "I'll talk to the Presidential Protection Detail chief
myself. The PPD got confused because they were still escort-
ing the press out of the building when the choppers showed
up and they got word of an 'actual' evacuation. Anyone they
didn't recognize or specifically not accompanying you were
held back."
"They didn't recognize Finegold? She was on TV more
than I was during the last five months of the campaign!"
"When the Secret Service realized it was an 'actual' evac-
uation rather than an 'exercise,' " Hale went on, "they went
a little bonkers. They should have escorted everyone from the
Cabinet Room into. a chopper and taken them to Andrews with
you. But once you were on board Marine One with an 'actual'
evacuation warning order, they ordered all choppers to launch.
If this continues to be an issue in the press, I'll get the chief
of the PPD on the morning talk shows to explain the mix-up."
"No," the President snapped. "No one takes the heat for
'mix-ups' around here but me."
Hale was flipping through a small stack of messages that