Striding into his office, Hudson saw General Draven sitting in the guest chair at the desk and, with his peripheral vision, noted the general’s aide seated on the couch behind him.
He immediately went on the offense, using his most officious voice. ‘General, your plan was a disaster; our forces have been destroyed. The Chinese have an open highway to our key mines and the public wants answers — what do you think I should tell them?’ He walked around the side of his desk and lowered himself into his chair, fixing Draven with a level stare.
Draven wasn’t thrown by Hudson’s candour in the slightest. Returning Hudson’s gaze he responded, ‘Tell them what they want to hear, sir. That the man responsible for the defence plan has resigned. That diplomatic relations have been established with China to negotiate an acceptable compromise. I understand you are seeing Ambassador Xian first thing in the morning to discuss terms of surrender and I have here my letter of resignation.’
Hudson didn’t break his stare at Draven. ‘Lieutenant Jackson, you’re excused, please leave,’ he said to Draven’s aide, the whole time staring Draven in the eye.
When the aide had left, Hudson’s eyes narrowed. ‘You think you can simply wash your hands of this mess now? Go and retire in Noosa and live out the rest of your life in the sun? No. It’s not that easy, Draven. I will not accept your resignation.’
‘Sir, you need a scapegoat. I am offering myself. Let me take the blame.’ Draven lowered his eyes to the desk. Hudson wasn’t the only one who’d been ravaged by the past few weeks. Draven had clearly been suffering, too, his skin greyish and slack. ‘It was my idea. It failed. I’m no longer fit to serve.’
Hudson felt no compassion for the man sitting across from him. ‘Paul, you don’t get out of this so easily. The public will be happy to hear that we have pulled our boys back from the killing zone and are taking a diplomatic approach. They don’t need a scapegoat. You’re here to see this through.’
‘Sir, as you wish.’ Draven knew there was no point pushing the issue further. And, as much as the events of the past few weeks had made him question his own judgement, he knew Australia would be better off with him there to advise Hudson.
‘Get out,’ said Hudson, finally averting his eyes from Draven, looking down at his desk as though he couldn’t stand to look at Draven anymore.
Draven left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. So things could get worse, thought Hudson. If Draven was ready to jump ship, what must the rest of them be thinking? What must the public be thinking?
‘Jesus,’ he muttered to himself, fumbling with his pen. He felt the onset of vertigo, familiar to him now, the dizziness taking over his mind. He tried to shut his eyes — not that it ever helped — opening them again to try to focus on one spot in the room.
After what must have been five minutes the feeling passed and he felt more anchored in his seat. But he still didn’t know what to do.
Thinking more clearly now, he asked himself aloud: ‘How did it get to this point?’
He pulled one of the hundreds of reports that had been sent to him since the invasion up on his screen. Entitled ‘Historic Causes of the Chinese Invasion’, he’d seen it before but decided to go through it again, if only to occupy his mind. Pressing play, he sat back and watched the screen as a calm female voice began to speak. Images started flickering across the screen, illustrating the points as she spoke.
‘We can trace the causes of the invasion back to the start of the century. Australia was benefiting from the skyrocketing resource prices due in large part to China’s massive economic growth. Chinese state-owned companies were snapping up resources faster than most countries around the world could dig them up. These same companies were on a worldwide shopping spree, not just buying from Australia. The Congo, Sudan, Myanmar — they were all countries rich in minerals, but in desperate poverty. They were also countries that the West had taken advantage of and then turned its back on. Where the US and the now-defunct EU would lecture and chastise the governments of these countries, China would simply come in and offer them what they needed so desperately: infrastructure. China simply traded infrastructure for resources. This, combined with the resources China could afford on the worldwide market, made the 2010s a relatively stable and peaceful decade, with the exception of America’s ongoing and tedious struggle with the Middle East. It was also a peaceful period because China was able to control its growth. For much of the decade the Australian Government capped China’s growth.
‘The intention was to ensure that growth was evenly spread across the country and that the very poorest people were able to grow in prosperity with the country.
‘This all changed in 2024 when China, on the back of unheralded growth in technology and export since 2020, invaded and successfully took control of Taiwan. For decades the small island off mainland China had been a manufacturing and exporting hub that had long frustrated the Chinese Government. After a wave of nationalistic pride had built up in China, the military went on a recruitment drive that saw hundreds of thousands of young Chinese join the armed forces. Their military had the might and the will to flex its muscle. All it needed was a target. The Chinese Government did not hesitate — the newly appointed Chairman Yun was eager to demonstrate his power and strength.’ Hudson narrowed his eyes as an image of Chairman Yun, standing on a balcony and coolly observing a precise military drill, flickered across the screen.
‘Taiwan bore the brunt of a grossly over-zealous Chinese military. Still, it sent a strong message to the world — China was not pulling any punches. This naturally sent the Asia-Pacific region into a tailspin. Alliances were formed, peace agreements were signed, and promises were made — and broken. Shortly after the invasion of Taiwan, the US President at the time, David Reynolds, made a visit to Canberra. This was likely the beginning of the end for Australia. Reynolds declared that China’s growth needed to be controlled, as the invasion of Taiwan highlighted how great a threat they had become. He explained that it would take a worldwide effort to slow China’s growth and that Australia could play its part. Then-Prime Minister Alexander Hastings, a Liberal, agreed that something had to be done to address China. He instigated heavy quotas on the exportation of iron, copper, uranium and coal to China. This was met with fury from China and the mining companies who enjoyed exporting to China, but Australia stayed firm, trusting in the wisdom of its alliance with the US. Every year the quotas changed and China was forced to make do with what it could get. The mining companies managed to find new customers without any difficulty and at the same time continued to push the prices up. So Australia’s economy was booming while it did its part to slow down the tyrant of the East. Relations with the US were strong — and life in the “lucky country” continued to be blessed. The government put all the money it was making into the coffers and into upgrading infrastructure — such as schools, hospitals, and transportation. Lucrative construction contracts went to American firms, further building the alliance with the US. And because the relationship with the US was strong and their military might was still all-powerful, very little money went towards Australia’s own defence force. The navy’s duties were reduced to the policing of fisheries and illegal immigration. The air force became a relic and the army was reduced substantially, training more for operations in the Middle East to support the American force.
‘And so Australia was deeply unprepared for what has happened. We can only speculate how long China has been planning this. We do know that their timing was sublime; America does have its hands full with Canada and the Middle East. England, even if it wanted to send over troops, is tied up in Africa and the Middle East. They would have known that the help Australia would get from New Zealand, which has amounted to 5000 troops, would be nominal.’