Susan said, “With our reconnaissance satellites down for the past few weeks, it would have been relatively easy for them to make that voyage undetected, sir.”
The director sighed. “I’ll contact the president. General, please make sure that our SILVERSMITH military units get this information as soon as possible.”
“Will do.”
The director said, “Hold on. As I think this through… General, this should not, I repeat, not be put out wide yet. I don’t want to start a shooting war between the US and China if it turns out that this is all the work of two rogue Chinese men. If we can still contain this and prevent World War Three from breaking out, I’d like to do that.”
The general nodded. “I agree. I’ll speak to Pentagon leadership as soon as we’re off the phone. We’ll keep this information compartmentalized to just the SILVERSMITH Task Force and leadership.”
FM CNO WASHINGTON D.C.
TO TASK FORCE SILVERSMITH
SUBJ / EMERGENCY WARNING NOTIFICATION
RMKS/1. US MILITARY FORCES IN EASTPAC SUFFERING COMMUNICATIONS OUTAGES. POSSIBLE ATTACK IN PROGRESS ON USS FARRAGUT AND ACCOMPANYING ALLIED VESSELS.
2. SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION INDICATES CHINESE SURFACE ACTION GROUP (STRENGTH UNKNOWN) BELIEVED IN VICINITY OF EASTPAC AND TASKED WITH ATTACKING USS FARRAGUT.
3. SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION INDICATES CHINESE SHANG-CLASS SUBMARINE BELIEVED IN VICINITY OF EASTPAC AND TASKED WITH ATTACKING USS FARRAGUT.
4. FORD CSG SHALL CONTINUE NORTHBOUND AT BEST SPEED AND RENDEZVOUS WITH USS FARRAGUT. MAINTAIN APPROPRIATE WEAPONS POSTURE AND OPERATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH PREVIOUSLY SPECIFIED RULES OF ENGAGEMENT.
Admiral Manning sat at his desk, reading the high-priority message that his chief of staff had just handed him.
“What do you think, COS?”
The admiral’s chief of staff stood across from his desk.
“Sir, it sounds like a shit show up there.”
“That’s what I think too.”
The COS said, “Sir, I understand that your daughter is on the Farragut.”
Admiral Manning looked up at the Navy captain. “That’s right.”
The COS looked uncomfortable. “Sir, just let me know if—”
The admiral stood. “I appreciate your concern. I’ll let you know if my emotions get in the way of performing my duties.”
“Oh hell, sir. I didn’t mean it like that. I more just meant — well, if you need anything, sir, just let me know.”
The admiral nodded. He realized that this was just one emotionally challenged military man attempting to comfort another. “Sorry. Thanks, COS. I appreciate the gesture.” He took a deep breath. “Everyone ready?”
“Yes, sir, they’re all waiting.”
“Alright, let’s get started.”
The chief of staff opened the door that lead to the large conference room next door.
“Attention on deck!” A group of thirty or so officers jumped to attention.
It was packed. At the long wooden conference table sat no fewer than five Navy captains and a host of commanders. The CAG, who was in charge of the air wing, and the commodore, who was in charge of the surface and subsurface warfare, sat closest to the admiral. The COs of the ships in company were teleconferenced in, their faces on the projector screen forward of the conference table.
An outer row of chairs surrounded the table. In them, the squadron commanders and staff officers sat shoulder to shoulder, many with notepads in hand, ready to start scribbling at the first hint that their boss would task them with an order.
“Seats,” called the admiral as he sat down at the head of the table. Everyone immediately did as commanded.
The admiral looked at their faces. “Ladies and gentlemen, as many of you now know, we may soon be in open hostilities with Chinese warships in the Eastern Pacific. I’ve been briefed on three scenarios. The first, which seems out of the question now, was that China is completely friendly to us and this whole exercise was a waste of time. As of a message I read just a few minutes ago, I now consider that scenario to be ruled out.”
Many of the faces staring back at him nodded. A few looked confused — those were the ones that the information hadn’t gotten to yet.
“The other scenarios are as follows. Either there is a contingent of rogue Chinese military and intelligence personnel who have, without orders from Beijing, executed an attack on United States interests… or, there is a far larger and more comprehensive Chinese attack in the works. Because we do not yet know which scenario we are facing, and because we wish to avoid triggering the worse of the two, we must act in such a way to avoid unnecessary hostilities with the Chinese military.”
Admiral Manning watched the faces of the men and women in the room as they digested his words. “Simply said, we do not yet know whether to shoot some of them, or all of them.”
The room was dead quiet. He held up the message in his hand. “They have just attacked the USS Farragut. And there are now several ships and at least one submarine headed to finish her off. That can’t happen, team. Not on our watch.”
He looked at the group. “Alright, I want options. When will we be in range with our aircraft?”
CAG said, “Sir, with tankers, we could be in range tomorrow. We’ve got about another forty-eight hours before we’ll be in range without tankers. We’re working with the Air Force to get support for that as we speak.”
“Could we launch the air wing onto shore somewhere and let them operate from there?”
CAG nodded. “Yes, sir, but the intelligence reports we’ve been given are now suggesting possible Chinese surface-to-air missile defenses set up in the area of Manta, Ecuador.”
The admiral rubbed his chin and thought it over. At least thirty faces looked back at him from around the room, waiting for him to speak. Their looks were eager. They all wanted to get in on the fight. He wondered how many of them knew that his daughter was aboard Farragut. He smiled inwardly. They all knew. This was a Navy vessel. Nothing was a secret around here.
“CAG, tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Admiral, the Warfare commanders and I were just discussing this. We suggest launching an E-2D and keeping them out of missile range of Ecuador. We’d be able to set up a link connection with the Farragut. We’ll be able to talk with them, share data, and get a sitrep.”
“Approved, what else?”
“Once we either get tanker support or get in range — whichever comes first — we can then launch a pair of Growlers and a pair of F-35s. We could use the Growlers for electronic attack on the Chinese surface ships. This would help prevent them from detecting or launching their missiles on the Farragut. The F-35s will be armed and ready to drop bombs and conduct strafing runs on the Chinese ships if needed.”
“Bombs and strafing runs?”
“Correct, Admiral.”
“The F-35s don’t have any anti-ship missiles?”
“There are some prototypes in development, sir. But we don’t have any on board.”
The admiral kept calm. While the news was extremely frustrating, it would have been counterproductive to show anger in front of his men. “Understood.” He turned to the commodore. “Any thoughts, Commodore? What’s the best way to fight those Chinese surface ships from your perspective?”
“Admiral, the Farragut has anti-ship missiles it can use. We’re working on getting an Air Force JSTARS to conduct a mission to the area and help us locate the Chinese, without getting too close as to alert them. Once we do that, we’ll be able to go over attack options, if it comes to it.”