“Them?”
“Colombians. Contractors. They’re going to fly us to the coast of Colombia. From there we will take a boat.”
“To where?”
She didn’t answer.
The small propeller plane landed on the near side of the runway, which was clear of debris. The plane taxied over to Lena and Natesh’s jeep. The pair got out and threw their things into the plane.
Moments later, they had taken off, headed north.
Over the loud noise of the plane’s engine, Natesh spoke into Lena’s ear. “Can you please tell me where we are going now?”
Lena leaned over, her long black hair flowing down over Natesh’s arm and shoulder as she spoke. “Back to the United States.”
2
Captain Ning read the email for the third time, shaking his head. Ning had taken his submarine across the Pacific as fast as possible, per Admiral Song’s orders. Their original mission had been to support the other Chinese naval forces in the area.
But a lot could change during a journey across the Pacific.
A week ago, the Americans had sunk a Chinese submarine and destroyer and severely wounded three other Chinese warships in the Eastern Pacific. This was the naval group that Captain Ning was supposed to assist. Ning knew the men aboard the submarine that was lost. The captain’s wife was friends with his own. He clenched his fist, thinking about the loss.
The email was from the senior PLA Navy commander. It came as background information — an addendum to the submarine’s official orders. Their official orders were to stand down and cease all further hostile activity towards US Navy warships. There was no further explanation about what they were to do after that.
But the email from the admiral contained extra information. Ning was to continue into the Eastern Pacific and await further instructions. He wasn’t sure why this was but had hypothesized that it might be to escort the wounded Chinese navy vessels on their way into Panama. After discussing the matter with his XO, however, he had become convinced of an alternative reason. Ning had precious cargo on board his boat — highly trained naval commandos.
Captain Ning rose from his desk and headed to the bridge.
“Status report.”
“Sir, the American carrier group is to our north. We haven’t noticed any active sonar activity in the past day. One unknown submerged track is coming in and out of contact in the vicinity of the American carrier group. We believe this to be either a Los Angeles — class or a Virginia-class attack submarine.”
The captain nodded. “Keep working to identify who it is. We must be very careful here. We cannot afford to be detected.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The communications officer entered the bridge. “A message from the island, Captain.”
The island. Those two words were spoken with a hushed reverence now. Or was it worry in the young officer’s voice?
The captain nodded and followed him to the communications room, where he hunched over the computer and adjusted his reading glasses. He read over the message and sighed. “Please fetch the executive officer.”
“Right away, sir.” The young officer scurried off.
The captain wasn’t sure what was going on in Beijing now, but at least this message answered one of his questions. His XO had been right about using their special cargo.
Admiral Song had warned him that something like this might happen. The fog of war spreading into the hallways of government. Confusion and misinformation were byproducts of such a radical body of work. Jinshan’s operation must have been rejected by Chinese leadership.
Was a coup underway? But if Admiral Song was behind bars… would Ning be imprisoned when he returned to home port? Maybe there was still a way out of this conspiracy. He shook off the thought. Ning had already picked his side.
Admiral Song had chosen a dozen of his most trusted and capable commanders, and Ning was among them. Song had brought them into Jinshan’s inner circle and explained what would happen to China if they didn’t make war upon the United States.
The operations that they were to participate in would be classified at the highest level. Even members of the Politburo would not know the truth. The loyal and patriotic officers of the South Sea Fleet had pledged to do whatever needed to be done, and Admiral Song had begun deploying them in clandestine operations around the world, in preparation for Jinshan’s war.
Captain Ning’s boat had been training near the island, practicing with the elite naval commandos before traveling across the Pacific Ocean. While Captain Ning didn’t know Cheng Jinshan, he trusted Admiral Song implicitly. Admiral Song was a brilliant strategist, and an outstanding officer.
Still, he wondered how the charade was being kept up in Beijing. Were the political and military leaders there still so confused as not to know where their military units were, or what they were being told to do? If Song and Jinshan had been arrested, why was the island still sending them orders? Orders that appeared as if nothing had changed.
Could it be a test? To see if Ning was loyal to Beijing or the island?
Or maybe Jinshan and Admiral Song hadn’t really been arrested. Perhaps that was a ruse, too. But then why had Beijing sent out their message last week after the naval battles — the one that told all Chinese military forces to stand down and cease further hostilities?
He read the computer screen again, shaking his head. The island had just sent him orders that directly conflicted with the stand-down instruction. Now he would have to decide which instructions he would follow.
“Captain, you wanted to see me?”
The captain nodded toward the screen. “Read.”
His executive officer was the number two officer on the submarine. His subordinate, but also his closest and only confidant. Captain Ning thought highly of the man.
“What do you think?”
The XO looked him in the eye. “Very odd, after what the PLA Navy high command sent us last week.”
“My thoughts as well.”
The captain turned to the bulkhead, thinking. “Tell the conning officer to head us towards these coordinates. See if sonar is picking up anything that matches this description. If it’s there, we’ll follow these orders.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The executive officer left the communications room and began issuing orders to the different members of the crew.
The captain picked up the phone and dialed a three-digit number. The commander of the South Sea Fleet’s naval special operations detachment answered from his stateroom several spaces away.
“This is Lieutenant Ping.”
“Lieutenant, please have your men get ready for immediate deployment.”
A moment’s hesitation. After two months at sea, and the news of the last week, the young officer was as surprised as anyone. “Yes, sir, of course.”
“And come see me as soon as you are ready. I’ll provide instructions. We have received an urgent message from the island.”
Chinese special operations forces are very different from the United States’ own units. The PLA has almost two and a half million active-duty members, and an estimated thirty thousand special operations personnel. The United States active-duty military is about half that size, although its numbers of special operations personnel are comparable.
But while the Chinese special operators are high in quantity, they are low in experience. United States special operations forces have been sharpened by decades of war around the globe. Their units are made up of experienced veterans, and they are often integrated with organic specialized aviation units.