Lieutenant Kahn talked to his classmate from the Military Academy for ten minutes, then they said good-bye and hung up. Kahn was trying to figure out how he could find out about the prevailing winds coming from Biratnagar. Would they bring deadly radiation with them? Or would it blow the other way into the mountains?
He had just hung up the phone when one of the Nepalese men who had been instructing the soldiers how to run the switchboards pulled a pistol from a desk drawer and shouted at Lieutenant Kahn. He bellowed a dozen words, then began firing from six feet away. He fired four shots. The first hit the lieutenant in the chest, driving him backward. The second hit his neck, bringing a spurting gush of blood. The third and fourth missed but Kahn slumped to the floor, his life’s fluid spurting to the ceiling from a ruptured carotid artery in his neck. Each spurt came lower, from six feet down to five in the air, then four and at last a bubbling at his throat as the soldiers around him tried to stop the flow.
The Nepalese man with the pistol threatened the rest of the soldiers, then fled out the door. Two guards at the front of the building had heard the shots. They saw the man rush out, his eyes wild, waving the pistol.
They shot him four times and he died in a screaming storm of angry words and the last two shots in the pistol all aimed at the invaders.
For the third day, the UN Security Council tried to hold a special session. Fewer then half of the thirteen delegates were at the emergency meeting. No business could be conducted, but some delegates there charged China, a permanent member, and Pakistan with butchery in their unwarranted invasion of Nepal.
Chinese delegate Chou Kao-Feng reached for his microphone and stared hard at the other members. “I am shocked that delegates to this august body would lower themselves to use such undiplomatic language. The People’s Republic of China has for many years claimed most of the area called Nepal. We are simply taking back what was stolen from China many, many years ago. We are a peaceful people, but when our rights and our borders are threatened, we will respond with devastating effect.
“Yes, we have used a nuclear bomb. Even as the Americans did twice in recent history. And we say as the Americans did at that time, that despite the loss of life at the target, the bomb itself has reduced the fighting and has saved thousands of lives on both sides.
“We have welcomed our ally Pakistan in this struggle. They too have territory in the area that is under dispute with India and Nepal and have cooperated with us to settle these disputes once and for all in a way that the world can understand.”
The session continued with each nation presenting its view on the use of the nuclear weapon against defenseless women and children.
The delegate from China sat back and turned down the volume on his translation ear phones until he could hear only a few whispers. Then he kept his eyes open and concentrated on his small garden in his home near Nanjing where he had a fountain, several plants, a small stream, and a bridge. He concentrated so hard that his face fused into a soft smile and he was totally oblivious to everything that was happening around him. His aid would gently bring him back to the present if there was any need for him to make a comment.
Captain Irving B. Robertson II glanced at the two envelopes that had come to his desk the day before. One was marked with a heavy blue line an inch wide. The other had a heavy red line just as wide. Both were inscribed: “Sealed Orders. To be opened only by order of the Chief Naval Officer by radio contact.”
Sealed orders. The last time he had seen those had been on training exercises, but outside of that he had seen sealed orders twice in the Gulf War. They usually meant action, but action of what type here, he had no idea. The only thing he could think of was a job for the SEALs onboard his ship. Yes, it could be for the SEALs.
He put the envelopes out of his mind and concentrated on the flight operations training drill they had in progress. They were launching F-18s, refueling them in air, and then recovering them. Drills were essential to keep every man involved sharp and sure. Every phase of the operation was important. In most of them, the smallest mistake or misjudgment, could lead to one or more instant deaths of his aviators and those on the deck. He wouldn’t allow any such mistakes to be made. Drill, drill, drill.
It was the third day of the Nepal invasion. CCN had flown a reporter in with Chinese permission and now the world had up-to-date details on the rapid takeover of the small nation. CCN was the only media news team allowed in the area. Reports told that by the end of the third day, 90 percent of the population centers of Nepal were under China — Pakistan control. Only a few mountainous areas had not been touched, and would not be until there was some administrative need.
The CCN feed was carried throughout the ship on TV sets and the men of the carrier were current on the war.
Lieutenant Commander Blake Murdock and Lieutenant (j.g.) Ed DeWitt sat in the wardroom watching some bulletins. The video showed a Chinese armored personnel carrier smashing into a small army garrison in some unnamed town. The six soldiers there had been routed quickly, three killed and three captured.
“And so it goes,” the reporter said. “China and Pakistan continue to mop up any last resistance to their invasion. One Chinese general, who I talked to this morning, said he would declare the fighting over sometime early in the evening.”
“That’s one we missed,” Murdock said. He finished his coffee and stretched. “We had all of our workouts today, or is there one more?”
“We’re wrapped for the day,” DeWitt said. “Eight miles this morning, then PT this afternoon followed by four more miles. The troops are sharp and ready to go anytime.”
“Good, I’m ready for a short nap before chow.”
“Go ahead. I have a half-finished chess game with Jefferson. He won the last one and I’m mad as hell. Well, almost. You have a good nap. I have to go play war on the chessboard.”
The call came at 2030. Murdock and DeWitt were both in quarters, a six-man officer’s bunking area. DeWitt had answered the phone.
“The Captain wants to see us right now,” DeWitt said. “He told me that Don Stroh would be there, too.”
“That means we’ve got some work to do,” Murdock said. “At least I hope that’s what’s afoot.”
Ten minutes later, the two SEALs and Don Stroh, dressed in officer’s khaki without any insignia, sat in front of the captain’s large desk. Two other officers Murdock didn’t know were present. The captain didn’t bother with introductions. Two files lay on top of it. He pointed to one.
“Orders just came through from the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. I have been ordered to open sealed orders that have been on my desk for two days. I talked to the CNO a half hour ago. He said he has early advice that China will invade Bangladesh at dawn tomorrow, less than eight hours from now. The president has given orders that the Bangladesh Embassy will be evacuated at the first possible moment. He said he had no idea of our distances, but that he had been assured that there had been arrangements made for U.S. military planes to land in Calcutta, India, which is only a hundred and fifty miles from the embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh.”
“But, Captain, if we’re still way up here by Hainan Island, we’re one hell of a long way from Calcutta,” Don Stroh said.
The captain smiled. “Yes, we were up there. So how would we get permission for an overflight of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar? That’s what we’d need if we were up there by Hainan so we could fly directly west to get to India.”