Tomcat on its tail, reveling in the feel of gravity cementing him back into the ejection seat. God, how he’d missed that! He punched in the afterburners and let the full-throated roar wash over him.
At ten thousand feet, he rolled the Tomcat out into level flight, completing the Immelmann. The Mischief Reef camp was now almost two miles below them. He eased back on the throttle and put the Tomcat into a gentle descent, bleeding off altitude and speed at the same time. Experimentally, he flicked off the auto-angle control and swept the wings forward. He felt the increase in drag and speed and let the aircraft slow almost to stall speed before reengaging the auto-control.
“Looks like everything works as advertised,” he advised Tomboy.
“Roger.” Had his RIO not been so much junior, Batman might have been tempted to hear the slightly grumpy note in her voice. He smiled. Backseaters never appreciated aerobatics.
Shih Tan glared at the aircraft circling so far away in the sky. Out of range of the Stinger missiles, no doubt. Despite the destruction of the neighboring rock camp, his superiors had taken no steps to upgrade the offensive capabilities of the island. The missile emplacements that were barely masked by bamboo screens and the Stingers were their only protection.
He’d heard the blast from Island 203 and rushed outside in time to see the rain of litter and rock fall back into the ocean. One sentry said he’d seen the American aircraft dip low over the island and release a bomb, but two other lookouts couldn’t confirm the report. Still, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind where the bomb had come from. The American aircraft had been the only possible source of it.
The lack of defenses on his tiny island bothered him. While it was well within China’s span of control, and should have been sacrosanct in the South China Sea, there was no telling what drove the Americans to do anything. Attacking an undefended, tactically unimportant island was just the latest in a series of American actions that made little sense to the rest of the world. That China should have to tolerate that sort of aggression in her own seas bothered him more than he could say.
Had Shih Tan been in charge, he would have armed the tiny islands to the teeth and ringed them with every capability in the Chinese navy. Not that there were really so many ships, but it was critical to maintaining China’s face in the region to put a stop to the American intervention.
A slight breeze rose up, ruffling the damp hair on the back of his neck. He heard the distant whine of insects, but dismissed it. In the next second, his head snapped up, and he gazed frantically around.
Insects? This far out at sea? It wasn’t-The vast bamboo structure behind him erupted in a fiery explosion. He barely had time to process the information in his brain before the shock wave reached him, blasting him off his feet and into the warm waters of the South China Sea just seconds in front of the fireball.
Shih Tan hit the water hard and plummeted fifteen feet beneath it. He retained just enough consciousness to try to struggle to the surface. He heard a muted series of thuds as debris hit the water around him, flames instantly extinguished and steam churning the water. As he stroked for the surface, he saw a film of flames spreading out above him, broken only by debris crashing through it to the water.
“Shit!” Batman yelled, instinctively putting the Tomcat into a sharp climb. “What the hell was that?”
Tomboy craned her head around and looked back at the surface of the ocean. Thick black smoke flecked with flames covered the surface of the ocean, obscuring Spratly Three.
“I don’t know, Batman,” she said finally. “But it looks like whatever happened to the other camp just happened again.”
“Where’re those goddamn Flankers!” he demanded. Over tactical, the other three Tomcats were buzzing about the explosion, each RIO denying that they’d seen anything out of the ordinary, and double-checking each other visually to ensure that all the weapons they’d left with were still on the rails.
“Fifty miles to the west.” She gave him a bearing to fly, then added, “Thor’s on his now, and I still don’t know if the other three were ghosts or real contacts. The one Thor intercepted didn’t have anything on his rails, and there was no indication of any communications downlink. Whatever happened to that camp, I don’t think Thor’s Flanker had anything to do with it.”
“It’s a damned strange coincidence that he just happened to be out here, don’t you think?” he asked sarcastically. “I mean, a nasty, suspicious mind might just be tempted to think that there’s some connection between a Chinese Flanker cruising toward an American battle group and a Chinese outpost smearing itself across five square miles of ocean.”
“Don’t have to tell me that,” she answered. “But you have any idea about what could have done it? It wasn’t us, and it wasn’t them. So who?”
“I don’t know, Tomboy. But if I had to bet between us being responsible and the Chinese, I know where my money’d be.”
“You and me both. Wait, Homeplate’s talking.”
“Flankers have turned and are headed back toward Vietnam,” she heard the Jefferson TAO say. The TAO then reeled off orders and directions recalling the five Tomcats and the Marine Hornet to the boat.
“And that ought to clinch it,” Tomboy said. “Soon as he saw the explosion, he turned and ran for home base.”
“Not exactly. He ran for Vietnam. And for a Chinese Flanker, that’s a little bit different than home,” Batman said.
“At some time,” Mein Low said, “we will have another conversation on this matter. You must know that we have only the best intentions for our southern brothers. In the interest of regional security, we must stand united. Would you have either of our countries become slaves to the American culture, as the Japanese have become? I think not. For too many years, we have both fought to avoid that.”
Bien nodded politely. “Naturally, the differences in culture are too extreme to permit that to happen. The Chinese have always been supportive of our independence.” While they have simultaneously fought to prevent us from assuming control of our own destiny. Throughout the Vietnam wars, first with the French and then with the Americans, you have sought to control events in our country.
“Our joint operations have been the beginning of even more cooperation,” the Chinese Commander continued. “You are wise to understand that we must present a united front to the world on this issue.”
“My pilots have gained a great deal of useful experience operating with your forces,” Bien added politely. Experience in being the victims of your aggression! In every exercise, we are forced to play the hapless victims patrolling the skies, while your Flankers pounce on them. It is just good joss, as you would say, that no one has been killed thus far.”
The Chinese Commander permitted himself a small smile. “We have tried to share our experience with you,” he agreed. “Your forces have shown much progress. Together, I believe we can repel this American battle group. With one stunning sweep, we will ensure that they will never meddle in our affairs again!”
“Our wish as well,” Bien murmured. At least that much was true. Vietnam needed neither Chinese hegemony nor American imperialism any longer.
“Then we are of one mind. As I said, we will talk more about these matters when we approach a final solution.”
Bien executed a tiny bow, one that almost verged on insolent. Pig.
The Chinese Commander stared after him as he left. Scum.
CHAPTER 14
