“The element of surprise is most critical, Mr. President. With complete surprise, we believe it is much better than fifty-fifty. Without, the issue will be in doubt. No word of this plan can be mentioned outside this room. Otherwise, it will be a slaughter: ours, in this battle and strategically, for our country if they should launch such weapons.”
“Marge, your opinion?”
“Mr. President, this game plan is idiocy. We can’t risk our entire nation to nuclear and biological war!”
“Surgeon General Carolyn Weber, what’s your opinion as if they launch those rockets?”
Carolyn Weber began her career as a Public Health Nurse in Texas. She worked with minorities in the eastern part of the state in a county health department. In frustration with having to deal with physicians who were political appointees as the county health officer, she decided that she would become a physician herself. Her nursing school courses were not sufficient to meet the pre-medical programs of most universities. Consequently, she returned to school to take the necessary courses part time. She supported herself by working as a floor nurse in the University Medical Center. After two years, she applied to the medical school and the college of osteopathic medicine in the northern part of the state, and the Uniformed University of Health Sciences Edward F. Hebert School of Medicine on the Bethesda Naval Medical Center campus. She wasn’t accepted at the University Medical Center, which was quite a disappointment, but she was accepted at the federal institution. Four years later, she graduated third from the bottom of her class.
Since the Public Health Service is considered one of the six uniformed services, she elected to join it rather than one of the military services. After an internship at the Public Health Hospital on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Browning, Montana, she applied for and was accepted into a residency in community medicine and epidemiology at her alma mater. Biometry was a considerable challenge for her, but she was successful in becoming board certified in epidemiology and industrial medicine. Her work on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation, her experiences with minorities as a public health nurse in Texas, and her residency in community medicine in and around the Washington D.C. area, especially with the homeless, left her with a decided socialistic bent. She believed that medical care should be free to all. Vice President Atkinson and Surgeon General Weber on occasion had some rather heated discussions over how such a program should be funded. Since she never married, the rare remark was heard that her intemperance was due to a lack of male companionship. Jason Thornton often wondered whatever possessed him to offer her the position of Vice Admiral, Surgeon General of the United States. Now that he had her, he felt he was stuck with her.
“Mr. President, I would have to have much more detail in order to give you any kind of rational estimate of casualties if this operation should fail. I don’t know the size of these nuclear warheads, to what radiological effects they are tailored, meteorological conditions at the time of detonation, height of burst, and so on. Biological agents are another matter entirely. They are quite likely a greater threat than nuclear bombs. What biological agents they might contain, and they are probably genetically engineered, transmissible agents against which we have no defense, their persistence in the natural environment, and where they are aimed, are major variables. There are so many variables that it is impossible to give you any kind of a realistic answer. Suffice it to say, in a worst-case scenario, it could be a nation-destroying event.”
Thornton reflected on his conversation with Colonel Burgess from the Medical Intelligence Unit at Fort Detrick, Maryland some months earlier. A knot formed in his stomach. He was very aware of the friction between the military medical services and the U.S. Public Health Service. The military medicos considered the Public Health Service and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people as a bunch of socialist-liberal weenies riding on the back of the military medical community. The military physicians thought they should have representation at this level rather than Doctor Weber, but Thornton wanted a better balance between the military representation provided by the SECDEF and the Joint Chiefs and the more or less civilian medical community. He wasn’t sure he achieved it.
“Marge, once again get with the Europeans, the British, Germans, French, Italians, Poles, Swedes, Norwegians, and whoever the hell has a stake in Middle East oil. Feel them out again given the continued Chinese advance. Ask if they are ready to risk war and at what point. What is their threshold threat level? Where will they draw the line? It is your highest priority. Tell them where we stand. We will go to war if they approach Iran, Iraq, the Trucial Gulf States, or any place else on the Persian Gulf. Report to us at Friday’s meeting. Make sure they understand that. Will they go to war as coalition allies, or will they expect us to do it all alone? We went down this road before without any results when the Chinese first broke out of their borders. I’ll talk to Vassily Chernikov myself.
“Jim, Generals and Admiral, how much lead time do you need for a warning order? I know the more time you have the better, but what is your estimate right now if I give the order to go? How long will it take you to get everything ready to move? What geographical positions can we take without tipping our hand? Get your heads together and let me know ASAP.”
“Mr. President, a week would be critically a minimum. The longer lead time, the better job we can do of coordinating, stock piling, mobilizing, and so on. The downside is that the longer we wait, the greater the chance of a leak or somebody figuring out where we are going and when. God knows how good the Chinese intelligence network is. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a bug in this office.”
“Could you do it disjointed, a little piece at a time, sneak up on it so to speak, so no one could put it together, General Craig?”
“Possibly, Mr. President, but that entails some risk as well. The major risk is the same, that of loss of surprise. Once committed, we can’t back out. We have no missile defense, and if those missiles are launched and get through General Shelton’s fighters, God help us all. If the biological agents aren’t destroyed in the heat and blast of being shot down, they could easily spread over Central America and Mexico. Transmissible agents dispersed there would be here in one or two weeks under such an occurrence. That would give us a little time to prepare, but not much. Our preparations probably wouldn’t be successful anyway without shutting down our entire southern border to include all incoming shipping. It would be almost the same thing.”
“Carolyn, what about vaccines for these agents?”
“Mr. President, we have to have the agent first, to study its genetic makeup. We have to know where the parts of the organism are that invoke an immunological response that will be protective. These immunological parts of the molecular surface of the organism are called epitopes, and it requires experimentation to determine which are the appropriate ones. Then there is the problem of manufacturing on a grand scale, enough for everyone in the country. That doesn’t include distribution and inoculation of the citizenry. That alone could take weeks. Remember that we have been looking for a vaccine for AIDS for more than thirty years without success. Many of the vaccines we have today aren’t all that good either. 70% efficacy is considered a standard. With a highly pathogenic and virulent agent, we would still lose a lot of vaccinated folks with a vaccine that was only 70% efficacious. Therefore, if this operation goes down, we have to be one hundred percent sure those missiles are never launched.”
“Jim, is there any way we can be absolutely certain those missiles will never be launched?”
“Yes, sir, Mr. President. We can take them out with small tactical nuclear weapons in a complete surprise attack, launched from multiple sites. That is a 99% plus. Only thing is, the geologists wonder what kind of effect that would have on the geological faults in the area, and if there would be a shift in the tectonic plates as a result of that. That is why we didn’t use nukes to build another Panama Canal in another country when we surrendered the Canal to the Panamanians. It is still a valid concern. It could set off a chain of very severe earthquakes. One just might slide California into the Pacific Ocean. Still, if we used small enough nukes, we could probably get away with it, especially if they were tailored for an electromagnetic pulse that would screw up their guidance and control systems.”
“We won’t respond with nuclear weapons. That’s out. So, it becomes more critical as the Chinese armies close in on Iran and the Caspian Sea Basin. Jim, you and your folks review all your plans. Fill in any gaps, revise it, get started doing it, piece meal it; get the units started in training, practice, stockpiling, moving around, as routine training exercises. Nobody is to know the overall plan until the very last minute. We won’t wait to see what happens. We will be ready to move if and when the time comes. We’ll see how much time those Pakhtuns buy us, how well they practice badal, their code of revenge, on the Chinese.
“Either we go with this operation or surrender our place as the number one power on the world stage and let China dictate its policies to us, even in this hemisphere. We must weigh the risks and decide. If we launch this operation and fail, we could lose tens of millions of American citizens. Alternatively, if we fail to act, or this operation fails, then there will be no one left in the world to stand against them. Europe could never get its act together to do so. There isn’t time, even if they could work together for a change. Under those circumstances, the Mongols wouldn’t have to stop in the Middle East, Russia, and the Balkans or at the gates of Vienna like the Ottomans. All of the world will be open to them. They won’t have to invade in order to control. They could do it through intimidation, coercion, threat of nuclear or biological war, through control of the sea lanes of communication at critical passages such as the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, the Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Hormuz and world trade. They could dominate the remaining world sources of raw materials. Maybe the biblical description in the Book of Revelation in Chapters Nine and Sixteen might just come to pass, literally, after all. Does anyone see this final scenario any differently?”
Chan visited the Mexican restaurant where Miguel worked. Miguel motioned Chan to the back room with a nod of his head. Chan nodded affirmatively and followed Miguel to the rear room. “Where are your friends today, Señor Ito?” inquired Miguel.
“They are on vacation. I will be dining by myself for a while. I’ll have the big burrito today, with a cold beer, and a beef and bean taco as well, thank you, Miguel.”
Miguel nodded and departed. In ten minutes, he returned with Chan’s order and a frosted bottle of Michelob. After serving Chan, Miguel pulled a chair out and sat down, to the surprise of Chan. “I think we might have a little business to conduct, Señor Ito, if indeed that is your name. I know you are supposed to be a middle level clerk in COSCO, but we both know that is not the truth, don’t we, Mr. Ito?”
“What is it you want, Miguel?”
“You were behind, or had some part in those raids across the border that attacked those towns in Texas and Arizona. You had some role in that. Those trucks and vans that we supplied you with were seized in the raid. They are being traced to my people. We don’t like that. The FBI has many resources, and many tongues might wag.
It could take much to ensure that no one talks, Mr. Ito. Should I continue to call you that? I know you are not the Japanese citizen that you pretend to be. I know that you are a Chinese citizen, almost certainly a Chinese operative or spy. You must be someone special to be accompanied by two bodyguards most of the time. Something must have happened, or they would be with you now. My friends in the police department have identified one of your guards as an individual wanted for murder. That murder has ignited the enmity of some of the other forces in the area. Surely you do not wish to engage them in any altercations. It seems to me that now you have two forces to contend with: the FBI and the Russians. Which is worse?”
Chan continued eating and took a sip of his beer. “Again, what do you wish of me, Miguel?”
“My people are being questioned by the FBI. I think five hundred American dollars for each of them would ensure their silence. They will each claim that the vehicle was sold, but they did not complete the paperwork, or that they were afraid to go to the police to report it stolen, or that they loaned it to a relative who left the area with it, or some other such thing. There are over thirty people involved, none of which wish to go to jail. Wouldn’t you think fifteen thousand dollars is a modest price to purchase their silence?”
“Yes, Miguel, I do. I will speak to my superiors. I must be careful with my contacts. It will take several days to have an answer for you. Do not be impatient. I am sure that some reconciliation can be reached.”
Thank you, Señor Ito, I knew you would understand.” Miguel dismissed himself with a smile on his face. That night, as he left the restaurant, a 64-grain bullet from a silenced Ruger Mini-14 found its way into Miguel’s brain.
Chapter 33
“Secretary Talbott is here with a letter from the Chinese ambassador, Mr. President.”
“Fine, send her in, Peggy.” Marge Talbott came in with a drained look on her face, something between a frown and a scowl.
“Well, what did our yellow brethren bequeath upon us this time, Marge?”
“The Chinese ambassador Kuan Sheng delivered a nice little letter to us earlier this morning, Mr. President. I made several copies for my own office, but I have the original here for your eyes. It isn’t very nice.” She handed Jason Thornton a single sheet of paper with the Chinese government’s letterhead. It was signed by the Prime Minister of China.
Dear President Thornton:
For decades the renegade providence of Taiwan has acted as an independent political entity. This situation can no longer be tolerated. It is time that the Province of Taiwan became incorporated into the nation of the People’s Republic of China.
