“About what?”
“About keeping the peace. The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the White House about this, did you know that?”
“Well, I would goddamn hope so. They have eighteen Americans hostage. What did they say to that?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“You didn’t ask the Chinese about the Americans being held prisoner on the island?”
He shook his head.
Chase said, “Why not?”
The Assistant Director sighed. “Because we don’t have enough agreement on that issue.”
“Unbelievable. That’s what this all comes down to. They don’t believe me or Henry. Unbelievable.”
“The president and the secretary of state don’t want us to broach that subject until we have concrete proof. They appreciate the warning of a possible Chinese war plan, but they feel that since a warning has been given, even if the Chinese were planning to attack the United States, they would be crazy to do so after we already know about it. And since there are no Chinese military assets storming across the Pacific, it appears that you have accomplished your mission anyway. Look, David, I wanted to speak with you men to let you know that I do believe you. We are working on ways to prove that those men and women in the Red Cell are or were on that island. And once we get that proof, we’ll work to free them. But understand that I agree with the Washington leadership that China no longer has plans to attack. You brought us the warning and the information in time. You have saved us, David.”
Chapter 20
Chase sipped from his bottle of Sam Adams lager. He wore a woolen sweater and jeans and sat comfortably in a wicker chair on his brother’s patio. David sat in the chair next to him, feeding his baby girl from a bottle. The two men watched David’s three-year-old play fetch with the Jack Russell terrier in the backyard. Lindsay, David’s wife, was making a spaghetti dinner inside in the kitchen. Every so often she would look through the window at them, smiling at David.
Lindsay was still worried about someone coming after them. Chase didn’t think that was likely. Not at this stage. David had already spilled the beans on everything he knew about Lena and the Red Cell. Chase had done the same. They were no longer a threat to Jinshan’s plan. Besides, there were two armed FBI agents standing watch in an unmarked car down the street.
Chase took another swig of beer. It was almost December and the air had a chill to it. He said to his brother, “Have you heard anything from Dad?”
David said, “No. You think we will?”
“Probably not much. He’ll be busy as hell again with the Ford strike group. Just the way he likes it. We’ll hear from him when he’s back in port, I guess.”
“I just worry about where they’re sending him is all.”
Chase said, “He’ll be fine. The Ford is just doing training exercises off of Norfolk. He won’t be in the Pacific…”
David nodded and shut his mouth. The two brothers were both glad for that.
The United States was a different place since they had arrived home. It reminded Chase of the way things were in the months after 9/11. People were nicer, but more afraid. There was a sense that something big was on the horizon. A sense that the world had changed, and was changing still.
The Blackout, as it was being called, had created chaos in more ways than one. The US Internet, for all intents and purposes, was a shell of what it once was. In the first few days of the Blackout, nothing worked. People would just get error messages on every webpage they went to. Air travel was grounded. Store shelves dwindled down to scraps. The stock market, down for the first day, plummeted enough that trading had to be stopped on the second day. Three weeks after the attack, things were getting better — but major damage had been done.
When David and Henry had given their testimony, they had informed the many government agencies that would listen of the Red Cell plans, which called for simultaneous attacks on US communications, utilities, and defense networks.
This had not occurred, however. Either the plans had changed, or they’d been disrupted. A cyberweapon had taken down GPS networks and data centers. The US-based Internet had been greatly harmed, but the damage was being repaired. The US government was taking David and Henry’s word seriously, but their reaction was slow. And not everyone believed their allegation that China as a country would attack the United States. It was a large pill to swallow. Many of the government executives really thought that it was Iran who had attacked the US, that the cyberattack was their doing. David and Henry explained that this was part of the plans. That it was a staged war — a ploy.
The skeptical politicians and government executives balked. Cruise missiles had destroyed several American military assets in the Persian Gulf, and inflicted catastrophic damage to the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman while it was docked in Dubai. US military air defense crews in the region had picked up Iranian missile radars just before the attack. This was clear evidence that it was Iran who had launched the attacks.
Chase thought the answer was obvious, and consistent with David’s statement. Every step of this plan had been a deception. Whether Jinshan had acted with the authority of the Chinese government or not, he had succeeded in sending the US into an economic recession, and perhaps worse. The value of the dollar had collapsed. Despite the cries of foul play from the US, the Iranian-UAE bitcoin-backed currency was being adopted by more nations as a substitute for the ailing dollar.
Many American politicians were hesitant to outright accuse China of an act of war. After the Persian Gulf Attacks, American military assets were immediately moved to reinforce the Middle East. Shortly after, the network blackout had set military communications back to the World War II era. When David and Henry’s story finally convinced enough of the American national security circuit to be wary of China, they saw the risk of leaving the Pacific theater underdefended. With the military communications networks in disarray, however, correcting that error was proving to be a slow process.
Several units in training and maintenance cycles were being made ready for deployment. This included the newest American carrier, the Ford, commanded by Admiral Arthur Louis Manning IV. While the Ford was technically not yet ready for deployment, hordes of contract maintenance personnel were working around the clock to finish what needed to be done.
The decision had been made to confront China through diplomatic channels. China officially denied any and all of the accusations. They refused to grant US investigators access to Cheng Jinshan. And they claimed to have no knowledge of any person by the name of Lena Chou.
Henry Glickstein opened up the slider door and came out on the porch with a beer in his hand. “You got a bottle opener?”
Lindsay called from the kitchen. “There’s one next to the sink.” She had instantly liked Glickstein, finding him quite funny.
The FBI had suggested that both David and Henry go to a safe house for a few weeks until they were sure that no one was coming after them. David had insisted on remaining at his home with his family. Glickstein was staying at the safe house with a rental car. Lindsay invited him over for dinner frequently.
Through the sliding glass door, Chase glanced at the TV screen inside. He couldn’t hear it, but he saw the ticker tape of the news on the bottom of the screen. It was all about the effects of the network blackout. Some people hadn’t been able to work in three weeks because their jobs were so dependent on the Internet. Smartphones were much less smart, so people were forced into the ancient practice of social interaction. TV and radio had seen record audiences.