Briggs was mesmerized as he watched the barrage of missiles streak through the sky, homing in on their prey. Pain shot through his stomach, and then his chest. He winced again, opening his eyes just in time to witness the impact. But it wasn’t a Russian jetliner he was watching explode. This time it was an African freighter, erupting in a massive fireball, sinking to the bottom of the frigid Atlantic, with an unfired Scud sinking with it. The ops center erupted in applause. But Briggs collapsed to the floor.
23
Only a handful of people knew of the drama in the Atlantic.
The rest of the world was riveted on a new drama unfolding in China. Bennett certainly was. He shook off the fatigue that had been lulling him into inaction and asked Dr. Kwamee to turn up the volume as several more doctors and a few off-duty orderlies crowded into the physician’s cramped office. Kwamee quickly complied as the anchor — looking shaken and pale — began to speak.
“This is Terry Cameron at CNN Center in Atlanta. We will continue, of course, to bring you the latest on the horrific events unfolding in four American cities at this hour, but we now have word of breaking news in Beijing. We’re going to take you live to a press conference that is about to begin at the Great Hall of the People…. CNN correspondent Wang Li Peng is standing by. Wang Li, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Terry, I can hear you.”
“I understand you have some serious developments there. What can you tell us?”
“Terry, just a few moments ago, Foreign Minister Zeng Zou gave an off-camera briefing to a hastily assembled group of Western reporters,” the correspondent said, his voice quick and agitated. “He expressed sorrow for the attacks on the United States. He condemned those attacks in no uncertain terms. He insisted that China had absolutely no role in the attacks whatsoever. But what he said next struck my colleagues and me as quite ominous, to say the least. The foreign minister said that Chinese satellites have observed U.S. strategic nuclear forces going to DefCon One — or Defense Condition One. That’s military lingo for America preparing for all-out war. The question is, against whom? The foreign minister also claimed that two U.S. nuclear aircraft carriers have just been ordered into the East China Sea, which in the next few hours would put them right off the western coast of China, not far from Shanghai, one of China’s most important cities. The foreign minister called these — let me make sure I quote him precisely….”
Peng flipped through his notepad to find the exact quote. “Yes, here it is — the foreign minister called these ‘highly provocative military moves’ that are ‘tantamount to a declaration of war’ and could push China and the United States into what he called ‘an apocalyptic moment.’”
Was China behind these attacks? Bennett wondered. Did the president know it? Was he considering a nuclear retaliation against the most populous country on the planet?
The CNN correspondent in Beijing said that they were awaiting a hastily called press conference with the Chinese premier himself. He said that based on his conversations with high-ranking officials in Beijing, he believed there was a real and growing fear in the Chinese government that the U.S. may believe China was somehow behind the attacks and might be planning to retaliate. What’s more, the correspondent noted that one of the problems the Chinese government was having was that its own ambassador to the United States — as well as all of its embassy staff in Washington — had been killed in the nuclear attacks. The same was true of its consulate staff in New York and Los Angeles.
“The government here is finding it difficult to get precise information on what is happening in the U.S.,” Wang Li Peng explained. “Government officials here are not exactly sure who to speak with in the U.S. or how to establish direct contact. So far as we can tell, that’s why the premier himself is about to come out and make a statement. We’re not sure if he will take questions. I can tell you, Terry, that the PLA — the People’s Liberation Army — has gone into a state of emergency. Mobile antiaircraft batteries are being positioned around the capital. We’ve seen numerous fighter aircraft scrambled to protect the capital, and we assume this is happening in other cities as well. According to state radio, all military leaves have been canceled, and the mood here is darkening very quickly.”
Terry Cameron in Atlanta asked, “Has the U.S. Embassy in Beijing had any comment yet?”
“Not officially, not on the record,” his correspondent replied. “But one senior American Embassy official told me by phone just a few minutes ago — on the condition of anonymity — that he himself is not sure who to talk to back in the U.S. As he understands it, the State Department has been destroyed. Secretary of State Marsha Kirkpatrick is believed to be dead. The presidenT — President Oaks, that is — has apparently been sworn in aboard Air Force One, as you’ve reported, but no one seems to know where Air Force One is or how to reach it.”
Events were about to spiral out of control, Bennett realized. Why in the world would the Chinese have attacked the U.S.? It made no sense. They had to know the U.S. would launch an all-out retaliation that could leave a billion Chinese dead in less than an hour. Had they calculated that taking out the American president and his Cabinet would prevent a response? The notion was as insane as it was suicidal.
Then again, Bennett thought, what if the Chinese weren’t involved? What if the president and whatever staff he still had around him were misreading the intelligence? Or what if they were ramping up for retaliation against someone else, and it was the Chinese government that was misreading the signals? He had to call someone. He had to do something. But what?
Now a CNN military analysT — a former two-star U.S. Air Force general — was on the air from a studio in Berlin explaining just what military assets Beijing could bring to bear in a war with the U.S.
“Red China has 1,525 fighter jets,” the general said. “At least 425 of these jets are typically pre-positioned within range of Taiwan. Beijing also has almost eight hundred bombers, some of them very sophisticated. About a quarter of those — about two hundred bombers — are also typically stationed within range of Taiwan. By contrast, Taiwan has barely three hundred fighter jets and no bombers to speak of.”
“Is it possible that China could be using the attacks on the U.S. — whether Beijing was responsible for them or noT — to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan?” Cameron asked.
“It’s certainly possible,” the American general said. “When I served in the Pentagon, one of my responsibilities was to plan for a Chinese move on Taiwan. Beijing has wanted to do it for as long as any of us can remember. They’ve been building up military assets for years. They’ve been planning, preparing, biding their time. Now let me be clear: I’m not saying the Chinese had anything to do with the sickening attacks. I have no access to classified intelligence. It’s all moving too fast anyway, and I’ve heard that the CIA and DIA were completely destroyed in the attacks on Washington. But I am saying we’d better watch the PLA closely because they could take advantage of a terrible situation.”
“That’s a very chilling picture you’re painting, General,” Cameron said. “Hard to imagine, even.”
“It would have been yesterday, maybe,” the general replied. “But not anymore. Everything has changed. We’re not living in the same world we were in even a few hours ago. And let me also be clear that while I am not accusing Beijing of being behind these nuclear attacks against the U.S., we cannot rule out that they could be involved in some way, shape, or form.”