This is Alessandra Cristoforetti, and you’re watching NBC’s 40 minutes.”
JOZEF FITTED THE LIGHT case seal, replaced the transparent cover and screwed the light’s cover shut. He took out his walky-talky. He stood atop the ship’s tall superstructure to the rear of the ship and spoke. “Hi, test stern running light.” The light came on bright white.
“Ok, it working.” Now for the red lights on the port side of the ship.
The huge container ship, COSCO SHIPPING SCHELDT had left the Port of Shenzhen China, with eight thousand five hundred TEUs. That is Twenty foot Equivalent Units; the size of a container. She was bound for Rotterdam, Netherlands. Her vast bulk was 1,100 feet long and 140 feet in the beam. She was another spoke in the world’s commerce wheel.
Jozef decided to take a break, he was ahead in his tasks for this watch and there was plenty of daylight left. He’d traced the fault; an electrical spike had blown the lights after somebody had fitted the wrong fuse. No problem. He lit a cigarette, leaned on the rails and looked over the side. The ship’s wake trailed off behind and below. He drew another breath and took in the smoke. Then he saw something in the sea.
“What? It can’t be? What the…”
An enormous explosion to the port side shook the ship under the superstructure, and Jozef was blown up into the air and fell into the sea. Two more explosions erupted, amidships and forward. Her engines and drive shafts were heavily damaged, but her momentum would carry the ship forward for some distance. Her double hull had failed in the explosions. The great ship started to list to port as she took on water. Torn steel groaned as it buckled with the new loading. Around five minutes later another three powerful explosions blasted their way through the starboard side of the hull. Her remaining crew got out a mayday call and deployed life rafts. Within twenty minutes, the COSCO SHIPPING SCHELDT had sunk from sight.
SHE KISSED HIM. HE stretched and yawned, sunlight streamed in through a gap in the curtains.
“Morning sugar.”
“Morning Mi tang. I’m going for a long hot bath, ok?”
“Yeah, go ahead. I’ll have to be at the department later, you hang around as long as you want.”
“Thanks.”
She got out of bed naked and his eyes followed her cute bum as she walked into the bathroom. Paul Wicks heard her running the bath.
He’d met Zhi Ruo whilst having a coffee in a café near Union Station and she’d asked about a track for an arrival. He didn’t know, but they’d ended up having a coffee and had swapped phone numbers. They’d had dinner one night and that was it, the next thing he knew, her head was on his pillow. She wrote for three newspapers, two in the US and one in Singapore.
He wondered about her. It was his nature, he supposed. The CIA did that to you; made you suspicious. Was she an agent of the Chinese Ministry of State Security? He had eventually run a check and when it came out clean it had made him feel so guilty. But there was a lingering doubt. Curse this job, he told himself.
He’d told her that he worked for the Department of Energy, it was a cover he’d used before. He got up and dressed, then he spotted her bag. Could he? He opened the bathroom a little. There she was climbing in, he smirked; like Zhi Ruo, oriental women tended not to shave much down there. She’d be in there a while. He opened her shoulder bag. There were the usual women’s things, makeup, a mirror, cotton buds. A bowl of string; why would you carry a bowl of string? There was a brown paper envelope. He took out the papers.
Paul’s eyes were as wide as the horizon. He couldn’t read Chinese, but he did recognise that string of characters: MSS, Ministry of State Security. Shit. He took out his cell phone, photographed each sheet, and replaced them.
“Sugar, I’m off now. You OK in there? Need your back scrubbing?”
“Come in here Paul and I’ll drag you in. I’ll see you at the Jade Rabbit at seven?”
“Yeah, see ya.”
SHE KNOCKED ON REAR Admiral Sutton’s office door. The sign read COMSUBPAC.
“Sir,” said PO McFadley, “I just took a call from The Pentagon. The joint Chiefs want to conduct a video conference in fifteen minutes.”
“Ok thanks Kelly, route it to my desk.”
She set down a packet of Oreos on his desk. “I will, and we’re re-stocked now too, sir.”
He smiled. “Thanks.”
A few minutes later on his monitor, the Department of Defense logo disappeared to be replaced by a group of uniformed senior officers sat around a table.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Ian Cotton USAF spoke.
“Hello, Admiral Sutton. We have you, is your feed ok?”
“Yes sir.”
Also present were the Chief of Staff of the Army General Sally Weingarten, USA.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Nicolaj Kamov, USN.
Commandant of the Marine Corps Bruce Nanut, USMC.
Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Neil L Cooper, USAF.
National Security Advisor, Stockhaisen.
“Right, we’re here to discuss the situation in the South China Sea,” said General Cotton. “Anybody have any initial comments?”
“Yeah,” said Commandant Bruce Nanut, “it’s going to hell in a handbasket.”
“Nicolaj?” asked Cotton.
“We know that the PLAN sunk the Philippine Navy Corvette, by a Luyang II Destroyer, probably the Haikou. We think they used a C802.” He saw General Weingarten frown. “That’s a sea skimming missile, somewhat like our Harpoon. As for the container ship, we’ve no idea. I can’t think why they’d sink one of their own sea transporters, unless it was to put the blame on someone else.”
“Someone like us?” General Cooper frowned.
Nicolaj nodded.
“But they haven’t accused us so far.”
“I was briefed last week on the issue,” said Stockhaisen. “The Chinese protested when one of our warships came within sixteen miles of the shoal. They promised to take necessary measures to protect sovereignty. The Philippines conducted a maritime air patrol over the shoal last week after the incident, using a C-295 plane of the Philippine Air Force.
The shoal is within the Philippines’ two hundred nautical mile exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. China has been asserting ownership of the shoal. But in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which is backed by the United Nations, ruled that the Philippines had the sovereign rights to fish and explore for resources. Also, China had interfered with these rights by restricting access.”
“These guys are out of hand,” said Cooper.
NSA Stockhaisen raised the palm of his hand. “I was on to a CIA contact just before this meeting. Jackpot tells me they just found out, via a humint source, that the Politburo Standing Committee is about to announce a stop and search policy for shipping passing through the South China Sea.”
“Jackpot?”
“That’s what you’ll know him by, I can’t divulge his real name.”
“That could get interesting,” said Admiral Kamov, “civilian, military or both?”
“He doesn’t know yet. Jackpot also says that they’re looking to use the incident to advance their goal of taking undisputed control of the South China Sea.”
“Is this humint source reliable?” asked General Cotton.
“He says so,” said Stockhaisen, “don’t ask me who it is. He won’t even tell me, but it must be someone well placed in the Communist party hierarchy.”
“I suppose they’ll be fully mobilising these Island bases down there.” said General Cooper.