“From what the CNO said, you men have been through this procedure before. I haven’t. He told me that if we get a go-ahead on a mission for you, it takes total priority over anything else I might be doing or want to do, except the safety of my ship and my men. That’s an order I’ve never had before. In short, anything you need or want that I can provide, I give to you. In effect, you own me and my ship. I’m not pleased with that procedure. Whatever you need for your mission is yours. That could be a destroyer, a chopper, a COD, a squadron of F-18s, anything short of a nuclear weapon, which not even the CNO can initiate.
“The CNO told me to tell you that he’s putting orders through channels that you are temporarily assigned to my ship, and you will stand by under a red alert for further orders. My task force is to steam at once toward the South China Sea and generally closer to China off the Chinese island of Hainan. We have a twelve-hundred-mile move. Any idea why, Mr. Stroh?”
“Sir, that would put us closer to the conflict in Nepal.”
“True, but still twelve or thirteen hundred miles from the fighting. I understand that more than twenty thousand Chinese and Pakistani troops have entered Nepal, elite units by air drop, others from helicopters. Mounted troops are fighting their way into the small country by the few roads that link China with Nepal.”
“My guess is that in three days the war will be over,” Stroh said. “Nothing to stop them, and China and Pakistan will put as many ground troops in as they need. China alone has two point nine million men under arms; and as we remember from Korea, they don’t mind taking a high body count if it gets results.”
“At thirty knots it’ll be over long before we get there,” the Captain said. He rubbed his face with his right hand and winced, then massaged his right thumb. “Damned arthritis.” He looked up at Murdock. “Any requests, Commander?”
“Conditioning. We do need a place to run six to ten miles a day.”
“Try the flight deck when there’s no air operations. It’s almost eleven hundred feet long. Five laps to the mile. Talk to a white shirt down there before you run. He’ll help you work out a safe route. In fact he’ll find an area for you to run and work out even if we are having air operations. Anything else?”
“No, sir. If we get a mission, then I’ll want to talk to you, your CAG, and probably somebody in ordnance.”
“Will do, Commander. Now we head for the South China Sea and see what the big Chinese dragon does.” He watched them a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I think this will work out. That will be all, gentlemen.”
The three men stood, came to attention, then turned and left the cabin. When the door closed, Stroh let out a long breath.
“Oh, yes, I’m glad that’s over. Not a word about my shirt.” He grinned. “I guess the CIA has some clout after all. At least my clothes will make it easy for anyone trying to find me.”
Murdock looked down the companionway and shook his head. “What can we do for Nepal? Nothing. I guess we have an embassy there, but we’re twenty-five hundred to three thousand miles from that spot. Well, I guess we could have landing permission in India, if we pulled the right strings. India is to the south of Nepal if I remember right. New Delhi can’t be more than two hundred and fifty miles from that nuked-out Nepal city.”
“This is the biggest mistake China has ever made,” Stroh said. “She has stepped in a deep vat of shit and world opinion is gonna drown them in it. Reports coming in are all negative, especially from nations in the area.
“India pulled out her embassy staff from Bejing and broke off diplomatic relations. Gonna be all kinds of ugly shit flying around this one for years.”
“In the meantime China gobbles up Nepal,” DeWitt said. “What’s next for her? She want to take on India?”
“India has the bomb, too,” Murdock said. “We’re forgetting one element here. The official announcement of a state of war came from Bejing and it said the China — Pakistan forces are invading Nepal. What the hell is Pakistan doing teaming up with China?”
“I don’t see what Pakistan is trying for,” Stroh said as they worked their way through the big ship to the quarters assigned to the SEALs. They had one large compartment where they stashed their gear, weapons, and ammo and where they could hold meetings.
Murdock called the fourteen men around him. “The j.g. and I just came back from a chat with the Captain of this tub. He says he has orders to proceed to the South China Sea. We are assigned to stand by for possible work off this ship. That means we stay in top shape. Welcome to Fitness International. Senior Chief Dobler will take the platoon to the flight deck, check with a white shirt for a safe spot, and we will do an hour of calisthenics followed by a two-mile run. In case you wonder, this ship is almost eleven hundred feet long. Five laps to a mile. Uniform of the day, cammies. We have ten minutes before the Senior Chief leads us up to the flight deck. Any questions?”
“Yes sir,” Jaybird said. “What’s Pakistan have to do with this attack on Nepal?”
“Pakistan is supposedly an equal partner in the aggression; however, it was a Chinese nuke that opened the show. That’s all we know so far.”
“A week-long war?” Mahanani asked.
“The betting is for three days,” DeWitt said. “Take that long to get the Chinese and Pakistani troops in place. There won’t be much of a fight with only forty-five thousand troops with Nepal name tags.”
“Let’s get moving,” Murdock said and the men scattered to their lockers to get in uniform.
Three thousand feet over the capital city of Nepal, Sergeant Chiang Pio adjusted his gear and eyed the jump light. The door of the big transport was open and he stood by it holding his first out man by the shoulder. They were the first troops into Nepal since the big bomb hit the town well to the north. Now their mission was to go in and capture the civilian airport at the nation’s capital, which then would be used for military supply by air. He had been surprised when the word came down that they would be attacking Nepal. He had always considered the tiny country a fly speck on the edge of China. A nonplayer in international politics. So why were they and Pakistan going in there with troops after dropping a nuclear bomb on one of the northern cities? It didn’t make much sense to Chiang, but he was a soldier and did as he was ordered.
Then Chiang didn’t have time to think about the mission or his family back in China. The light went from red to green and a horn sounded.
“Go, go, go,” Chiang shouted, as he gave the man a gentle push and he jumped out the door into the new light of dawn over Katmandu. Twenty-seven men left the door, then Chiang held up his hand stopping the next man as he made sure his own cord was attached to the sliding rail, then he jumped out into the suddenly chilly air. His chute jerked him severely as the wide straps jolted into his legs and shoulders, then the sudden pain eased as he saw the chute opening above him and his rate of descent slowed to a normal jump and he eyed the ground coming up at him. He had come out at the right time. Some of his men would land just before the border of the airport. He would be about fifty yards down the runway. He pulled the cord on the right side of his chute to dump some air and aim to the side of the concrete runway into the softer grass and bushes. He held his feet up a moment as the ground rushed up at him, then he dropped them and ran as he hit the ground. He overtook his chute and fell on it to collapse it, then jerked his harness off, grabbed his submachine gun from the straps on his side and shouted to two men he saw. They were from his platoon.