Hong’s eyes widened as he noticed them. So did the Lion Guardsmen along the walls. Tang lurched forward as he smoothly drew a gun.
“How dare you come armed into my presence,” Hong said.
“You said to rush here,” Kiang said.
One of the Army men noticed the advancing Lion Guardsmen. He went for this gun.
Three loud retorts from three different pistols cut the soldier down. The other two Army men let their arms hang limply at their sides.
“What is the meaning of this?” Kiang asked. “You just shot my son.”
Hong glanced at the dead Army officer on the floor before examining Marshal Kiang.
“This is an outrage!” Kiang shouted. “I’ll have you—”
Hong made a slight gesture. This time seven guns discharged. Marshal Kiang crashed to the floor beside his son, as did the two other Army officers. Another salvo finished them. The stink of gunpowder drifted through the chamber and blood pooled around the dead men.
Shun Li watched in frozen horror. Beside her, Tao seemed indifferent.
“I had no choice,” Hong said to no one in particular. “You shot his son,” he told Tang.
“That was an unpardonable sin, Leader,” Tang said, lowering his head. “I request—”
“Silence,” Hong said. “I will tell you what is unpardonable. You will not tell me.”
Tang went to one knee.
“No, no, get up,” Hong said. “Pick several men. Clean up this mess. I have no more time for it. These Americans—we must launch a full scale nuclear attack against them.”
“Leader,” Shun Li said in a submissive tone. “You are the wisest among us. You shine like a star in the heavens compared to us.”
“All true, but what is your point?”
Shun Li nervously licked her lips. It dazed her how quickly Hong could order the murder of his most important servants. Kiang had saved China, and now Hong had killed the marshal. It was astonishing, and frightening.
“If these are orbital missiles—”
“Orbital bombs,” Hong said, “nuclear bombs to rain down on China.”
“Ah, I stand corrected. Cannot the PBW sites knock them down?”
“Possibly,” Hong admitted.
“Can our strategic missiles—our ICBMs—pierce the American ABM defensive net in any number?”
“It is doubtful,” Hong said slowly. He studied the wall image. “The treacherous Americans have beaten us into space. That is unpardonable.”
“We have the power to knock down satellites over China,” Shun Li said. “Can it be that the Americans have made a terrible mistake with this launch?”
“Explain yourself,” Hong said.
“I do not have your expertise, but could not our laser stations shoot down or annihilate these orbital bombs—once they are in range?”
“Yes, yes, you may be right.” Hong tapped on a screen embedded in the conference table, putting an order through to the ABM laser stations. Then he, Shun Li and the rest of the people in the chamber waited to see what would happen next.
Generators roared with power, pumping the main laser coils. Outside, a concrete clamshell rotated open. A huge laser focusing system poked out the tip of its snout.
Radar arrays tracked the three American super missiles. They appeared over the horizon, lifting from North America. The chief operator believed it would be better to wait until the US missiles came closer, but the Chairman had given the order.
An invisible laser beam shot out of the mirror, clawing upward into the heavens, racing to intercept the giant missiles that used nuclear fireballs to propel themselves into orbit.
In the East China Sea between Japan and Taiwan, two hundred miles from Shanghai, a Virginia-class submarine glided under the surface. It slowed, and hatches opened.
The captain had his orders. He began launching nuclear-tipped Tomahawk II missiles. Three Tomahawks per Chinese ABM laser station. One after another, the missiles burst out of the ocean, heading for their destinations.
Before the submarine could leave the area, a Chinese land-to-sea missile appeared.
Klaxons wailed in the submarine, and the vessel glided away, diving into the depths. It wasn’t fast enough, though. The missile struck the water, detonating a nuclear warhead.
The blast destroyed USS Texas, sending the twisted, torn submarine and crew toward the bottom of the East China Sea.
Shun Li sat at the great table, with Fu Tao behind her at attention.
Technicians strode into the Ruling Committee chamber. Behind them, workers rolled in portable command units. The techs sat down as Tang returned from the grisly task of disposing of the bodies in the incinerator.
Chairman Hong watched the wall image. It was spilt into four quadrants now. One the lower right square, the Shanghai ABM station disappeared in a mushroom cloud explosion.
“No, no!” Hong cried. “That is the third laser site destroyed so far.” He glared at Shun Li. “Can you have any doubt, Police Minister? The Americans are attempting to grab our throat. Somehow, they must have discovered Konev’s treachery.”
“What about the orbital bombs?” Shun Li asked. “I know we’re hitting them with some lasers. Send nuclear missiles at them. Knock them down from space.”
“Is that possible?” Hong asked the chief technician.
“Leader,” the slender woman said. “I don’t think the Americans have launched giant missiles or orbital bombs.”
“What are they then?” Hong asked.
“I remember studying about various spaceships,” the chief technician said. “These are Orion vessels, using nuclear bombs as fuel, as propellant.”
“What?” Hong said. “That is preposterous.”
“It works in theory, Leader.”
“What do they hope to achieve with these Orion vessels?”
“Perhaps they are going to build an accelerator on the moon.”
“Are you mad?” asked Hong.
The chief technician shook her head. “We have similar plans, Leader. You yourself gave the go-ahead for them.”
“If those spaceships are headed to the moon,” Hong asked, “why are the Americans using their submarines to attack our coastal ABM stations?”
“Because we fire at their spacecraft,” the chief tech said.
“You spout folly,” Shun Li said. “The American spacecraft would have taken a different flight path if they sought the moon. No. The Americans are using these spaceships to do something directly against us. How badly are the strategic lasers hurting them?”
“The Orion ships are heavily armored,” the tech said. “They must be to endure their own fuel. I cannot agree with your original proposal. If we launch nuclear warheads at them, we risk harming ourselves with massive EMP blasts. It could knock out much of China’s power and electrical grid. It would leave us open to anything.”
“You’re suggesting we’re doomed?” Shun Li asked.
“No, Police Minister,” the technician said. “I suggest we target each Orion ship at a time with our lasers and PBWs. We pour fire into one until our beams destroy it. Then we begin on the second vessel.”
“Yes!” Hong said. “This is a sound proposal. See to it at once. And after this is over, I shall order our Mexico army to invade. Then I will launch the biological agents. After the continental diseases weaken them enough, I will wipe America off the face of the Earth with our nuclear weapons.”
“Could that be their plan, Leader?” Shun Li asked.
“To die hideously?” asked Hong.
“No,” Shun Li said. “Perhaps they are trying to entice us into launching all our nuclear weapons while they are on high alert. If they can destroy our arsenal…”