He looked at Chase and the SEALs. “The room is two doors down on the left. About twenty men are inside, at least half of them armed. I have made sure they will not know we are coming. But some of them could still cause problems for our mission. It would be best to disable them all quickly. As soon as we enter.”
Chase and the men nodded.
The group left the security room and jogged down the hallway, weapons at the ready. The SEALs led the way, with Chase and the NSA guy following. Adrenaline surged through Chase’s veins.
Two of the SEALs took station on either side of the door. One of them held a flashbang. The Chinese agent grabbed his wrist. “No. It could damage the equipment.”
Chase wondered what this guy thought the bullets were going to do.
Then the Chinese agent was swiping his keycard and typing in another code, and the door opened with a hiss. The SEALs raced in, one after another.
And the shooting began.
Chase had never seen men move so fast. Five DEVGRU SEALs sped through the room like men possessed, their weapons spouting off suppressed rattles as they went. The air smelled of gunfire, and Chase could actually hear the thumps of bullets hitting bodies.
Within seconds, every Chinese target in the room was on the floor, covered in blood.
Chase forced away any contemplations of who these people were, or whether they deserved this ending to their lives. Those haunting thoughts would have to wait.
As the SEALs began yelling “Clear,” Chase looked at the Chinese agent. “Which computer?”
He pointed to one in a row of terminals in the front of the room. Chase removed a gray laptop from his water-tight backpack and placed it on the desk next to the computer. The NSA man took a seat at the terminal and they both went to work, Chase acting as a sort of surgeon’s assistant while the NSA man performed the meticulous work of cyber-hacking. Like surgery, it was a life-or-death matter.
Two miles away, the USS Jimmy Carter had just finished connecting an NSA-owned undersea fiber communications cable to a trio of nearly invisible communications buoys.
“Line-of-sight connectivity achieved,” the NSA cyber expert announced. A laser-communications signal was now beaming to the building’s roof, transferring vast amounts of data back and forth to the NSA’s fiber communications cable via the buoys.
This allowed a small army of NSA cyber warriors in Fort Meade, Maryland, who had been training for this mission for the past two months, to get to work. Chase could just imagine them sitting there, high on caffeine, looking at the clock, waiting for the indication that connectivity had been achieved like hungry stock traders waiting for the opening bell.
Chase felt a tremor in his feet.
A loud rumbling noise outside shook the building.
“It’s begun,” said the Chinese agent. Another rumbling sound. Chase glanced through the high slit of a window from his seat. He could see the rockets firing into the sky, one after another, each carrying dozens of mini satellites that would be deployed and operational within minutes.
The mass satellite launch had begun.
The SEAL commander tapped the NSA man sitting at the computer terminal on the shoulder. “Did we make the connection on time?”
The NSA man looked at his screen while he typed. “Good up and down links… Yeah. I think we’re good. Son of a bitch… I can’t believe this actually worked.”
David was on a secure video call with the president, Silversmith, and the two five-star generals in charge of SOUTHCOM and NORTHCOM, General Schwartz and General Mike Lowres, respectively.
Susan sat behind David, allowing him to speak.
“Mr. President, gentlemen, I have good news. Operation ARCHANGEL appears successful so far. The software overlay is operational.”
The president said, “What does that mean, David?”
“Mr. President, now that the software is operational, the NSA is able to access all of the data going in and out of the Chinese space launch facility, which, for security reasons, was the central hub by which all of the PLA’s satellite data had to flow.”
“So they won’t have access to their satellites when the attack begins?” the president asked.
“Sir, the Chinese will still see data from their satellites. But now the NSA can manipulate it. Within a few minutes, US Cyber Command will swap the data they receive. Think of it like robbers swapping the security feed of a bank vault. The new information the Chinese military and intelligence units receive from their satellites will be filtered through the NSA’s ARCHANGEL program. Except this isn’t just video feed to a bank vault. This is all of China’s surveillance, communications, targeting, and GPS location data. Crucial information needed for their imminent attack.”
General Schwartz said, “David, when will US units be able to access the datalink?”
“General, you can start putting out orders to all units to make the link connection immediately. Cyber Command has updated all crypto codes and software.”
The president said, “What impact will this have for us?”
“Sir, China will now see only what we want them to see. We have essentially hijacked China’s satellite network. Our military units will be able to use this network for targeting, communications, and datalink capability. We now have our own GPS and surveillance system, courtesy of the PLA.”
“Won’t they shoot it down, just like they’ve shot down our own satellites?”
“Eventually, yes, sir, they probably will. But because the Chinese don’t yet know this has occurred, there won’t be anyone trying to shoot these satellite constellations out of the sky.”
The president looked relieved. “Gentlemen, this is pure brilliance.”
39
Lena stood next to General Chen as they watched the Atlantic battle unfold from the Central Military Commission’s strategic operations command center. The next twenty-four to forty-eight hours might determine the fate of the war. And perhaps the fate of her child.
The PLA colonel standing duty greeted General Chen and said, “Our fleet travels north, General. The mass satellite launch is complete. Soon our GPS and datalink will sync up with all Venezuela-based weapons systems. Short-range missile attacks will commence as we target all air defense units along the American coast.”
The general pointed at the map of the region. “Take me through the rest of the plan.”
“Certainly, General. Our aircraft based in Colombia and Venezuela are standing by. The first units launched will be our fighters and airborne early-warning aircraft. The fighters will destroy any American aircraft that attempt to impede our progress. Then our airborne troops will begin parachuting into landing zones inside the continental US. We will deploy several thousand troops deep in the American countryside, gaining control of airfields and fuel depots. Our bombers will destroy military targets inside the US that had previously been protected by surface-to-air missiles.”
“And what of Central America, while this is going on?”
“Our Pacific naval fleet is moving north along the coast. PLA forces are fighting in Costa Rica. But we will launch simultaneous strikes on the American ground forces in Central America and Mexico.”
General Chen listened a while longer and then waved off the officer. “Fine, fine. How much longer until we begin launching our missiles?”
One of the senior officers announced, “Sir, the first strike is about to begin.”
Admiral Song could taste the salt spray on his tongue as a steady wind carried the sea up to the bridge wing of his Jiaolong-class battleship. All around him, he could see Chinese ships on the horizon, spread far enough apart to not be easily targeted by a single enemy submarine but close enough to reap the benefits of the mighty Jiaolong-directed energy air defense and anti-submarine capability.