Admiral Manning knew that the cities were the worst hit. The population centers were reliant on a constant high volume of food and supplies. When the transportation of goods ground to a halt, the cities would begin to starve. And burn, in many cases, as rioters and looters took to the streets.
The brief ended, and once again the room stood at attention. Normally the admiral gave a little pep talk. Today he only said, “Thank you, all.” Then Admiral Manning walked out with his chief of staff and warfare commanders in tow.
The CAG, the commodore, and several other senior leaders were soon seated in his office. The admiral stood behind his desk, arms folded across his chest.
“The US plan is to hold Guam and Hawaii at all costs. With those, they can maintain control of the Pacific.”
“I’ve heard that there’s a Chinese special forces unit inside the US. There are even rumors of a brigade-size force that flew in from Canada. Is that true?”
“Scuttlebutt.”
Admiral Manning interrupted the gossip of his senior commanders. “Gentlemen, I suggest that we worry about the things that we can control.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Our concern is the mission of this strike group. Right now, that is for us to ensure as many Americans as possible get from Asia to US soil.”
The CAG said, “Sir, the Chinese are using this as part of the strategy. They’ve gotten us to give up our positions…”
Admiral Manning met his eye. “And we will do the same.”
The CAG raised his eyebrow.
Admiral Manning nodded to his chief of staff, who said in a low tone, “The US is also using the cease-fire to reinforce its strongholds. As we speak, the Air Force is readying for a massive deployment to Guam.”
Admiral Manning said, “The Chinese didn’t attack us to make peace. We’ll be ready if and when the fighting resumes.”
The chief of staff continued. “East Coast naval assets are en route to the Pacific through the Panama Canal. As many of you know, CENTCOM has opened up as a hot spot in the Arabian Gulf. Russia is deploying more of its troops to Syria, and the moment our carrier in the gulf headed east towards the Pacific, Iran launched missiles on Saudi Arabia. We believe Iran is being prodded along by China. China wants us to play zone defense. We’re being stretched thin around the globe. Our CENTCOM assets will be taken out of the war if we choose to keep them in the region. But if we don’t, we risk cutting off our long-term fuel supply.”
“That fuel will be crucial down the road.”
“We’re already seeing signs of supply issues…”
“Where is the carrier headed? The one that was in the gulf.”
“Truman. The destination is a question for Big Navy. Diego Garcia has been demolished. Nothing can land there for now. Our Australian allies and US military assets in the country were attacked as well. The Pentagon is looking at options that would send the majority of our CENTCOM forces to Australia, but they’re examining the details of the peace treaty to find out if that would be in violation. China’s invasion of Taiwan is all but complete, and the Philippines will be a hot zone once the fighting begins. Australia was hit by the Chinese, but not hard. And assuming we can put our forces there, it’ll be far enough away to provide a defensive buffer, but close enough that we can access the region quickly.”
The CAG said, “So if and when hostilities resume at the end of the cease-fire, where will Ford be located?”
“That’s what I want to discuss with you,” Admiral Manning said. “PACFLEET has asked us to evaluate land-based landing sites. They want our take on whether we could use World War Two — era island airstrips as bases, if need be.”
Someone laughed.
“You’re kidding?”
Admiral Manning shook his head. “I’m not. They’re calling them unsinkable carriers.”
“Unsinkable doesn’t mean indestructible.”
Admiral Manning said, “There are only a handful of islands that fit our criteria. Ones that are big enough to fit a runway and face into the prevailing winds. We can use helicopters or tiltrotor, but PACFLEET prefers not to station anything at an island we can’t get larger air transport into, for efficiency. The Air Force likes the idea too. They want to send two to four fighters and a C-17 filled with gas and maintenance equipment to each island.”
“So we’re going to be deploying to… where, exactly? Midway?”
The chief of staff nodded. “We have the contracts all drawn up. The Navy Seabees are being flown out in waves. Contractors will arrive via boat to most locations within a few weeks. These new US bases will be our virtual pillboxes in the Pacific. With the reduction of our aerial refueling capability, our strike range has been diminished. This plan helps restore our reach. If the Chinese attempt to bring over a large force, we’ll have multiple Pacific bases from which to strike.”
“How many are we talking about?”
“The exact number is still being discussed. But they’ve brought up Midway, Wake Island, the Johnston Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, and Samoa.”
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. The information warfare commander poked his head in.
“Please, come in.”
The carrier’s navigator followed him in. A commander and an aviator, the navigator didn’t normally have much interaction with the strike group’s IWC. Admiral Manning’s mind raced ahead, looking for the problem that would connect the two men.
The IWC said, “Sir, I’m afraid we have some bad news.”
The navigator looked sheepishly at the aircraft carrier captain, who was sitting on the admiral’s couch. The aircraft carrier captain was the navigator’s boss.
The IWC said, “About an hour ago, just before the morning brief, the navigator came to see me about a few anomalies he had discovered…”
The navigator continued. “Sir, we’ve been plotting out our course using the ship’s navigational software. We have a RAS tomorrow, and I wanted to double-check something…” The RAS stood for replenishment at sea, the periodic evolution where warships would go alongside the supply ships to replenish fuel, food, stores, and ordnance.
Admiral Manning said, “Spit it out, Commander.”
“We’re in deep water here and will be for the RAS. But that’s not what the computer’s navigational software was telling me.”
The CAG shifted in his seat. “I don’t understand. So go by the charts. Why is this—”
The navigator said, “CAG, I did that. That’s not my concern. The problem is that I think these false shallow water zones were maliciously inserted into our software.”
The room went quiet.
Admiral Manning looked at the IWC. “What have you found?”
The IWC said, “I have our experts looking at it now. But the preliminary results aren’t good. Our cyber experts found a back door in our network that had recently been exploited. They’ve identified a logic bomb that had been implanted in our servers and managed to quarantine it, as well as the worm that had been manipulating the carrier’s onboard navigational software.”
The navigator said, “We’re adjusting our procedures to make sure we cross-reference all of our software data with paper.”
“Weren’t we already doing that?”
“Yes, sir, but previously if the nav computer told us there was shallow water, we would have turned the ship’s course.”
Admiral Manning looked to the ceiling, reaching the conclusion first. “But if the software has been intentionally corrupted by Chinese hackers, then these false insertions of shallow water may be directing us to places they want us to be. Correct?”
“Herding us like sheep. That is a possibility, sir. If they can direct the strike group along a certain path, they could lead us into a trap. A minefield. A group of attack submarines. Anything.”