“The bureaucrats and foreign industrialists are getting drunk on foreign money and the power they can buy with it, Colonel General Zu,” Zhou said angrily, finding a cigarette and lighting up. “And the Communist Party Central Committee and the People’s Committee are doing nothing to rein in these fat cats. The foreign industrialists, bankers, and the bureaucrats who support them want nothing more than accommodation with a resurgent American military presence in the Pacific so they can keep on churning out goods and making themselves rich. The industrialists do not want to confront the Americans. They value their balance of trade figures and profits over sovereignty, and they forget basic Communist ideals. The Party is confused about what to do—side with the industrialists who are stripping China of its sovereignty in the name of profit, or repel the outsiders.”
“Then nationalize the foreign companies and banks and make the Party toe the line, Comrade President,” Zu said. “You have the power to do so. The military will stand beside you. You have shown your commitment to a strong air force and blue-water navy, and the general staff and corps commanders agree with you that we need to get rid of this rampant capitalism and return to our revolutionary roots before yet another generation is corrupted.”
President Zhou took a deep drag of his cigarette and stared off into space. “It is not that simple, Comrade General,” he said. “The people want jobs, and they are moving more and more to the east where the jobs are. If we do not have jobs, the peasants will rise up against the government. The industrialists guarantee to the bureaucrats that the jobs will be there. The Party committees in each province get payouts in exchange for more factories. It is the infection of capitalism, General.”
“Then take command of the situation, Comrade President,” Zu said. “The Party and the military have always been successful in controlling both the countryside and the cities by working together. We can retake control of the people and our basic Communist tenets by removing all the corrupt bureaucrats and nationalizing the foreign companies and banks. Take the next step, sir—the military will stand with you, I guarantee it.”
“Tread carefully here, General,” Zhou said. “If foreign investment dries up, the economy could collapse.”
“The world wants Chinese labor, they want us to buy their raw materials, and they want us to supply inexpensive goods from our factories,” Zu said. “We will still supply all those things . . . except the Party should control how our resources are managed, not the foreigners and the greedy bureaucrats.”
Zhou nodded, staring into nothingness. “Thank you for your candor and insights, Comrade General,” he said finally. “It is good to know others share my concerns about the direction our country is heading.” He paused again, then asked: “Is there any evidence about what happened to that American patrol plane, General?”
“No, sir,” Zu lied. “The P-8 Poseidon is a relatively new system, although the aircraft itself, based on a popular commercial airliner, is very reliable. They chose to mount a great deal of new equipment in a smaller aircraft than the previous P-3 Orion. I would suspect a massive electrical fault crippled the aircraft.”
“I am not inclined to pull our own search helicopters away from the area,” Zhou said. “I think it is important for China to show a large and dedicated presence when major incidents like this happen in the South Sea. We should offer full and complete assistance in conducting a search and rescue.”
“I agree completely, sir,” Zu said. “The intelligence value of this incident must not be overlooked. America chose to take the risk by flying one of its spy planes close to our warships, and it lost. We owe it to ourselves to gather as much intelligence information as we can before the American Navy pushes us aside, which they can and will do. If we can recover the fuselage intact, we could gather a great deal of information about the Americans’ latest signals-gathering systems. That is the reason they want us out of there, sir, not because they are afraid of a collision. We should make all efforts to gather as much of the wreckage as possible before the Americans move an aircraft carrier battle group in position.”
“Then that is how we shall have it, Comrade General,” Zhou said. “I do not want a shooting war, but I will not be pushed around by the American secretary of state. Recover as much as you can before the American aircraft carrier arrives. Avoid hostilities unless your forces must defend themselves. Withdraw your forces after the American warships arrive.”
“Yes, sir,” Zu said. He saluted and departed.
Zu was met by his deputy chief of staff, Major General Sun Ji. Both men said nothing until they were back in Zu’s staff car and were on their way to army headquarters, then Sun spoke: “Sir, we received yet another message from the American naval attache.” He handed over a message form. “They are asking us to withdraw our search helicopters from the crash site. They are sending a Coast Guard vessel with its helicopters to start the search, and they fear a collision.”
“Foreign Minister Tang spoke with the American secretary of state, stating the same thing,” Zu said. “Zhou authorized us to proceed with our own search until the American searchers arrive, and then back off.”
“That will be in just a few hours, sir,” Sun said. “An American Coast Guard aircraft is already approaching the area, and they have a Global Hawk aircraft overhead. The Coast Guard vessel will be on station in a few hours.”
“I want to talk with Admiral Zhen.” General Sun activated the car’s on-board secure satellite telephone, waited for a secure connection and a reply, then handed the receiver to Zu.
“Admiral Zhen here, sir,”
“Status of the search.”
“We have collected a few artifacts, sir, and a few items such as antennae that may have some intelligence or technology value,” Zhen said. “Nothing yet of any personnel, the fuselage, or the engines.”
“I want to delay the Americans finding out about Silent Thunder or the air attack on the P-8 patrol plane as long as possible,” Zu said. “Increase the number of search helicopters.”
“Yes, sir. The
General Zu was silent a moment, then said, “You may use Silent Thunder against the cutter’s search aircraft only.”
“Understood, sir.”
Zu passed the phone back to Sun. “A wise precaution, sir,” Sun said. “Knocking a helicopter down is one thing, but knocking down a Global Hawk would certainly invite added scrutiny.”
“President Zhou is weak and indecisive, but in this case he is probably correct: we can overstep ourselves if too much attention is directed toward our activities in the South Sea,” Zu said. “I want just enough activity for the Americans, Japanese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, and Australians to wonder what is going on, maybe even become a bit fearful, but not enough to elicit a response. I want the Americans to be thinking twice before parking their aircraft carrier battle group in the South Sea.”
OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, NEAR THE P-8 POSEIDON CRASH SITE
THAT SAME TIME
“The Eagle Eye will be on station in about ten minutes, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Edward Fells, the tactical officer aboard the United States Coast Guard cutter
“Any hits yet, Ed?” Sheridan asked.
“Negative, sir,” Fells said. The Eagle Eye was a long-range tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle that carried surface-search radar and infrared cameras to conduct searches from very long range until the cutter got within range of its HH-60M Jayhawk search-and-rescue helicopter and its crew of rescue swimmers. “A few more minutes and we should start picking up debris, if our estimates of where the crash occurred are correct.”
Sheridan studied the large tactical display in the center of the room. The tactical display merged sensor data from a variety of sources into one map. The main sensor shown on the display was from an RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft that had arrived on station over the crash site just a couple hours earlier. “Those Chinese ships still heading toward the crash site?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” Fells said. “The carrier
