“That is certainly a good start, sir,” Phoenix commented, the surprise on his face obvious. “What about air patrols?”
“We still reserve the right to conduct air patrols of the South China Sea,” Gao said, “but they will be conducted solely for reconnaissance, customs and fisheries, and search and rescue, and the aircraft will be unarmed. We would like to see the United States use patrol aircraft other than B-1 bombers or P-8 Poseidon aircraft, because they can be armed with offensive weapons, but if you guarantee that the aircraft will be unarmed, and we are allowed to visually inspect them for verification on a short-notice basis, that will be sufficient. Of course, China will continue to research the ecological damage to the South China Sea and pay any cleanup or restoration costs, as well as costs associated with recovering the Taiwanese submarine and repairing the Vietnamese warship.” There was a rather long silence, then: “Naturally, in the spirit of cooperation, we expect the United States to follow all these guidelines as well,” he said.
“I will certainly discuss this at length with my national security staff, Mr. Gao,” Phoenix said, “but it sounds very promising. I would like to see details, of course, but I think this is a very good place to start.”
“Excellent,” Gao said. “I will have Foreign Minister Tang, Defense Minister Cao, and General Zu draw up details. The plan will need to be ratified by the Central Military Committee and the Politburo, but I think you can expect swift agreement.” Gao got to his feet. “Now I must go.”
Phoenix stood, somewhat surprised. “We haven’t talked about Taiwan or the disputed islands in the South China Sea, Mr. Gao,” he said.
“It must wait for another time, I am afraid,” Gao said. “But I will say this: they belong to the People’s Republic of China.” He looked at Phoenix’s suddenly stony expression. “I know you do not accept this. You believe the South Sea belongs to the entire world and that Taiwan should be an independent country, but those are not the views of my government or most of my people. These issues will someday be resolved.” He tapped his forefingers together again. “Contact, infrequent and not deliberate, but no penalties. That is our mission.” Gao gave Phoenix a slight bow of his head, and they shook hands. “Thank you for receiving me today, Mr. President. Good-bye.” The door of the Oval Office was opened from outside by a Secret Service agent, and Gao departed.
Phoenix returned to his desk, and Vice President Ann Page entered the Oval Office a few moments later. “How did it go?” she asked.
“Very well,” Phoenix said. “What an interesting meeting. He doesn’t sound at all like any Chinese politicians I’ve ever listened to. He’s part of the new breed of politicians, probably the first generation that didn’t fight in a civil war or was subjected to a cultural revolution. Did you read his proposal on demilitarizing the South China Sea?”
“Yes,” Ann said. “I think it’s a big step in the right direction.”
“I hate to pull those extra B-1s from Guam,” Phoenix said. “But, unfortunately, our good buddy Patrick McLanahan got in China’s face, and I think withdrawing some of those planes and going down to a maximum of six long-range bombers on Guam at any one time will go a long way to defusing tensions out there.”
“I feel we’re giving up too much, but I agree: I don’t think things will get better if we keep the status quo,” Ann said.
“Very good,” Phoenix said. “Let’s get a meeting set up with the national security staff and the congressional leadership, and we’ll look at that proposal. I’ll give Patrick and the colonel in charge of that task force a heads-up that they should start packing up some of their bombers for a flight home.”
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
“It was fun while it lasted,” Sondra Eddington said as she began packing her clothes in a suitcase. “But it’ll be nice to get stateside again. I can’t wait to do some skiing. Ever been heliskiing at Ruby Mountain near Elko, Brad?” She got no response. “It’s the most incredible experience. They fly you up to the tops of these ridges, where the snow is powder dozens of feet deep and hasn’t been touched by another living creature, and they drop you off and you ski down. It’ll blow your mind. I flew the helicopter for a couple years but thought I’d never try skiing it, but when I finally did, I was hooked. You’ve got to come with me this season—you’ll love it.” Still no response, so she looked over at Brad and noticed him looking at her. “What?”
“I am just getting to know you,” Brad said in a quiet voice, “and now we’re going to leave.”
“Hey, we’ll see each other again,” Sondra said. “I work for your dad, remember—that is, if they keep the Excalibur project going. If you finish up your certificates and ratings and get your degrees, maybe you’ll get hired on at Sky Masters.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Besides,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him toward her, “we still have to unload and pack up the weapons on the birds, and that’ll take a couple days at least with no flying. We’ll have a few days to hang out at the beach, get some sun, and learn more about each other.” And she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. “How does that sound, stud?”
“Sounds great,” Brad said.
“Good,” she said. She waved a hand at the door to her tent. “Now get out of here and let me finish packing before I get too distracted and we start doing something we’ll be embarrassed about if someone walks in.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Brad said, and he left.
OVER THE PHILIPPINE SEA, SEVEN HUNDRED MILES WEST OF GUAM
THAT NIGHT
“Siren One-Eight flight, Spyglass, radar contact aircraft, bearing two-eight-five, range two-eighty, altitude thirty-one thousand, heading eastbound at four hundred knots,” the radar controller aboard an E-3C Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) radar aircraft radioed. The E-3C Sentry had a thirty-foot rotating radome mounted atop its fuselage that provided three-dimensional air and surface search, IFF identification interrogation, and over-the-horizon communications relay, and it could share its radar imagery with other aircraft, ships, and battle management areas through JTIDS, or the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System. “Looks like a formation of two aircraft. Squawking a civilian mode three code, negative mode Charlie.”
“Roger, copy,” Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy “Juju” Maili, the leader of the flight of two F-22A Raptor fighters on patrol west of Guam, replied. Maili was also the commander of the 199th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron of the Hawaii Air National Guard based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Honolulu, Hawaii, in charge of the four Raptors deployed to Guam. The two Raptors were flying loose formation with a KC-135 Stratotanker, making sure the fighters had plenty of fuel during their long-range patrol. “Brewski, why don’t you get topped off, then I’ll top, and we’ll go check it out.”
“Two,” replied Major Robert “Brewski” Carling, Maili’s wingman. “Break. Esso Three-Six, Siren One-Nine, clear me to precontact position, please.”
“Roger, One-Nine, you are cleared to precontact position,” replied the pilot of the KC-135. With Maili still on the tanker’s right wingtip, Carling smoothly slipped down off the tanker’s left wing and slid expertly into precontact position beneath the refueling boom. After making contact and topping off his fuel tanks, he went back up to the tanker’s left wingtip, and Maili was cleared in. A few minutes they were all topped off, and they left the tanker and headed west.
“Your bogeys are at twelve o’clock, two hundred miles, still at thirty-one thousand, still at four hundred indicated airspeed,” the AWACS radar controller reported. “Still squawking just mode three.”
“Any report from Guam Oceanic?” Maili asked. While out of direct radar contact, civil aircraft used satellite position reporting to Guam Oceanic Control to keep track of their flights and deconflict with other aircraft.
“Several airliners are transiting the area,” the controller reported, “but they’re all in the upper thirties or forties. These guys are fairly low. Their squawk code doesn’t match any assigned codes.”
“Roger,” Maili responded. Not unheard of, but not common either.
