Captain Sabata woke his company at midnight, 00:00 hours. He saw that they had a hearty meal in the mess, then final gear check, faces and hands blackened, rifles loaded and locked on deck. Quickly and quietly, they inflated the Zodiac rubber rafts with CO2 cartridges. The onboard Marine complement secured the Panamanian pilot and his Chinese colleague on the bridge. When they objected to the activity on deck and threatened to radio the shore installations, the Marine Sergeant in charge of the detail slapped the Chinese pilot alongside the head with his Beretta. It sent him to the floor holding his head; while it didn’t render him unconscious, it did get his attention. He made no further objections. Alpha Company, First Ranger Battalion and three SEAL Teams slipped out of the loading well of the assault ship in their boats and made for their assigned sides of the locks. The SEALs slid into the water with their SCUBA gear on to explore the locks beneath the surface, leaving the two Rangers in each of their Zodiac boats to paddle them to shore and secure them. In thirty minutes, the Rangers had surrounded the locks and secured a four-hundred-yard perimeter on both sides. They encountered absolutely no opposition. There weren’t even any guards on duty. Captain Sabata radioed the ‘all secure’ code to the battalion commander.
When the warship entered the lake channel through the cut at the continental divide, eight miles downstream where the Pedro Miguel locks that lower ships thirty-one feet to Lake Miraflores were located, SEAL Teams Eight, Nine and Ten repeated the scenario in the company of Bravo Company, First Ranger Battalion. They slipped over the side with their Zodiacs equipped with outboard motors, and while the SEALS explored the gates, the Rangers seized the controls without firing a shot.
SEAL Teams Two, Three, and Five had the same mission at the Milafores Locks on the western side of the continental divide.
At 02:00, the C-130s began to drop the 82nd Airborne on their objectives. At 02:30, the first C-17A landed on Howard Air Force Base. There was minimal opposition. The few Panamanian Defense Force Guards present decided that deserting their posts was the better part of valor. Landings continued for the next ninety minutes. As soon as the troopers evacuated the aircraft, it lined up for takeoff. Landings and takeoffs were three minutes apart. Some pileup of aircraft occurred, with those waiting to land circling at three thousand feet while those taking off exited the area at one thousand feet. The tremendous noise of the aircraft woke almost the entire population surrounding the Canal Zone.
A platoon of Chinese soldiers guarded each large warehouse. Chinese guards at the warehouses resisted but were quickly overwhelmed. There were no survivors among them. Using black parachutes, elements of the 82nd were on their objectives before the Chinese guards had any significant reaction time. The 82nd Airborne soldiers were equipped with night vision goggles and sights on their rifles. It wasn’t much of a firefight. There were two battalions of Chinese at both Balboa and Cristobal, but the warehouses were in American hands before their full weight could be brought to bear. As soon as a Chinese company formed to counterattack, it came under fire from an AH-64 Apache helicopter equipped for night attack. When troops began to pour out of the Chinese barracks, the Warrant Officers flying the Apaches decided to spray them with machine gun fire. One intrepid Chinese soldier fired a shoulder fired rocket, a Chinese copy of the Stinger missile, at an Apache, and scored a hit. The Apache exploded in a massive ball of light. The other Apaches in the section then laid down a field of fire that covered a football-field-sized area. When they withdrew, a Joint Strike Fighter put improved conventional munitions bombs on the area of their barracks to ensure there would be no further resistance.
Companies of the 101st Airborne quickly moved to cordon off the entire area of the Balboa docks and warehouses while the 82nd secured the warehouses themselves. A perimeter was established that provided overlapping fires from mortars and machine guns should any Chinese or Panamanian Self Defense Forces be foolish enough to counter attack.
The USS Bataan of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit launched amphibious Assault Vehicles loaded with Marines for an over the beach assault on Cristobal. From her decks, OV-22 Ospreys loaded with two squads each of Marines took off for vertical envelopment. The 23rd Marine Expeditionary Unit made a similar assault on Balboa to act as reinforcements from the sea. The massive assault from the air and the sea ensured that no significant resistance was offered.
By dawn, all objectives were secure. The remaining Chinese who were alive were held under close guard until trucks could be unloaded and they could be transported to Howard Air Force Base, where the Engineering Battalion had constructed a hasty prison camp. One C-17A had a cargo of eight foot fence sections that quickly bolted together, along with dozens of rolls of razor wire that was quickly strung along the top and on the outside bottom of the fence.
At 08:00, upon receiving the all-clear signal, Army rocket experts from Redstone Arsenal, Alabama aboard the USS Iwo Jima were in the Balboa warehouses to inspect the intermediate range DF-21A rockets while physicists from DARPA were examining the warheads. Some warheads contained multiple re-entry vehicles with nuclear devices. It appeared that several rockets carried two MIRVs with nuclear bombs in the two-hundred-kiloton range, while others carried four smaller bombs that the experts believed were in the twenty-five to fifty-kiloton range. These were carefully disarmed and flown in Blackhawk helicopters to waiting C-130 aircraft at Howard Air Force Base, where they were flown back to the United States. Their guidance systems were also removed and placed in shielded containers so that their guidance could not be scrambled. Later analysis would reveal their flight paths and their targets.
The rockets at Cristobal, however, were different. They really weren’t rockets, but cruise missiles launched by a rocket booster. They contained a different kind of warhead. These were found to carry multiple re-entry canisters of an unknown substance. Samples of these were removed by trained NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) specialists wearing containerized suits. These canisters were placed in biochemical hazard bags, then in padded containers, then in rigid aluminum lock boxes and transported by helicopter to a waiting C-130H Hercules at Howard Air Force Base. From there, they were flown to Dover Air Force Base and transported in military convoy to the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, MD for examination. Round the clock research revealed seven days later that they contained a genetically engineered strain of influenza A virus of very high morbidity.
The rockets themselves, with their guidance systems and warheads removed, were taken to the docks for loading aboard a US Navy fast sea transport vessel.
General Anderson personally called upon the President of Panama at his residence at 08:00 that morning. His helicopter, covered by two Apache gunships, landed in the front yard of the Presidential Palace. General Anderson politely informed the President that the United States had assumed control of the Panama Canal, effective immediately. Any attempts to re-take the Canal by anyone would be met with the greatest of violence. Protestations by the President resulted in a smirking General Anderson remarking, “If you bastards hadn’t sold your country and offices out to the Chinese, if you had lived by the Treaty, if you had maintained the Canal in a satisfactory manner, none of this would have happened. We built it, we paid for it, and we are going to keep it this time. If you don’t like it, we’ll re-attach the eastern half of Panama to Colombia where you really belong, and give the western half to Costa Rica or maybe keep it for ourselves. We really do need new bombing ranges and jungle warfare training grounds.” With that, he turned abruptly on his heel and departed.
The satellite SUBDUED I received a coded radio message. It was relayed by the satellite to a DARPA laboratory in the western American desert. The DARPA engineer made a copy of the recorded signal and placed the tape in a supercomputer. He picked up the phone and reported the receipt of the signal to his superiors in the Pentagon. Twenty minutes later, the computer identified the specific code, the location and time from which it was sent. The technician then sent a secure fax with that information to the Pentagon and to DARPA Headquarters.
Diane Foster was asleep on the arm of James Carter in his modest suburban home when the call came through. He had specifically insisted that his home not be wired with hidden cameras or microphones. His superiors gave their word that they would not, but bugged the entire house except for the bedroom. Fred Gateway figured he was entitled to at least that much privacy. Dr. Foster was to report to her laboratory immediately. She and Special Agent Carter hurriedly dressed, giggled, and decided that they were hungry. Ignoring the agents assigned to guard them as they left the house, Carter drove them to an Arby’s that was open all night. At the drive-up window, they each ordered a breakfast sandwich with hash browns and an extra sized coffee. Then they proceeded to her office.
The laboratory director, Larry Corning, and Fred Gateway were already there. They entered with their breakfasts in sacks and began eating after the customary greetings. Larry Corning began to brief everyone.
“Each individual received a copy of the code for the SUBDUED I satellite. Only, each team member received a different copy of the code. There was just enough of the real code present in each one for the satellite to receive it and re-transmit it, to us. Only Diane and I had the complete and unaltered codes. Each member’s code contained a unique section that would identify it. The decoded signal revealed which code had been supplied to whom and therefore who had supplied it to a foreign source, or attempted to send it themselves. In this case, the signal was generated from China. It came from the Chinese research laboratories at Tien Shan. In other words, the Chinese government sent the signal. This particular signal had been sourced to Choi, We Hin, in our laboratory. Of that there is no question. How he supplied the code to the Chinese is out of my realm. I can only state unequivocally that he, and he alone, had that particular code. There can be no mistake, as each code contains almost two and a half million lines. There would be no way to search through them and identify which are valid and which are not, nor any way to compare them with anyone else’s code. I am certain, therefore, that Dr. Choi supplied his copy of the code to the Chinese and is, therefore, a traitor in our midst.
“I might add that, based upon the reports from our anti-submarine forces that have come in over the last forty-eight hours, SUBDUED I and II are an enormous success. They pinpointed the Chinese submarines on the nose. They were simply too big to miss.”
Fred Gateway rose from his chair and picked up the phone. He called Hugh Collier. “Sorry to arouse you, Hugh, but we have conclusive evidence of our spy. I want a warrant for a wiretap and complete surveillance and all the other paperwork for a complete activities trace and investigation, for one Choi, We Hin; C H O I is how he spells it. I’ll have one of our people deliver the details to your office promptly at 08:00 tomorrow. In the meantime, if you don’t object, I will order complete surveillance for him as of right now.”
“No, Fred, I don’t object. Go for it. We won’t let him slip through the net because of three or four hours delay in paperwork. Congratulations on the make.”
Fred Gateway smiled. “Hell, Hugh, I didn’t do it. A couple of computer sharpies in DARPA did. See you sometime tomorrow.” He hung up the phone. “I’m sorry to rouse everyone, but we don’t want to waste any time, do we? We don’t want this fish to slip out of the net. We’ll see what other fish he leads us to. Agent Carter, I think you have earned a two week vacation. We’ll see if we can find you some temporary duty in Bermuda or something. If I might speak for DARPA, Dr. Foster deserves a simultaneous two weeks as well.”
An Aegis destroyer, cruiser, or DDX destroyer or frigate parked directly over each missile carrying submarine located off the west coast of the United States and in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Sonar operators aboard the Chinese submarines listened with increasing anxiety as the warships approached, slowed and then came to a halt immediately over them. They heard sonar buoys dropped in the water. Then, they were pinged. A recorded message was sent to each submarine. “Immediately surface and contact your government for further instructions. Failure to comply will result in initiation of hostile activities. Opening your outer torpedo tube doors or missile hatches or any indication of preparation to fire any weapon will result in your being immediately attacked with guided torpedoes. Rise or be destroyed.”
The submarines slowly surfaced with their bows pointed towards the American warships. U.S. Navy Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk helicopters hovered over them, with anti-submarine torpedoes suspended beneath them very visible. Within the hour, all submarines set a course for China. The catamaran convoys reversed their courses. Those which had picked up troops in Southeast Asia returned them to their embarkation points.
All of Pakistan except a one hundred fifty kilometer strip along the Iranian border was occupied by Chinese. The eastern half of Afghanistan was occupied in a northeast-southwestern orientation. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan were wholly occupied but not conquered. Chinese forces in Kazakhstan withdrew to the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. Chinese troops in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan withdrew towards Lake Baikal. Russian forces moved south into Kazakhstan to the northern and western shores of Lake Baikal. Intelligence reports filtering out of the occupied areas indicated that the Chinese troops were in very poor physical condition, short of food, medical supplies, and fuel and with very low morale. Surveillance flights every six hours, day and night, monitored the Chinese withdrawal. In most cases, the retreating Chinese were severely harassed by guerilla forces along their flanks and rear without respite. No prisoners were taken, and those that were captured alive lived, albeit shortly, to regret it. Russian troops were invited into the former member republics of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Spetsnaz troops guarded the Caspian oil fields. The Iranian government was extremely quiet, with all its armed forces deployed to their western border.
Everyone was present at the breakfast meeting. During the Presidential Daily Briefing, Ralph Gardner recounted the success of the Panama Canal invasion with glee. He couldn’t restrain himself. Reports were still coming in regarding the number of prisoners taken, the number of wounded, both Chinese and American. All in all, casualties were considered remarkably light on both sides.
“Marge, tell the Chinese ambassador that they can send one of their new ocean-going catamarans to the Panama Canal Zone to pick up their people, to include those who are not seriously wounded. Tell him we are providing the best of medical care to those who are seriously wounded, and they can follow at a later date. The deceased will be prepared for shipment home as well. All should be ready by the time of arrival of one of those fast ships. It will give us a chance to look at one of them up close should they send one instead of some old tub.” Marge Talbott nodded in agreement.
“Then call our Ambassador to Panama and give him my personal apology for not bringing him into the loop. Tell him it was my decision out of concerns that the word of our invasion might leak out one way or another. Let me know how diplomatic he is about accepting my apology.” Marge Talbott just smiled. She didn’t care much for the Ambassador to Panama anyway. She regarded him as a rather wishy-washy excuse for a man, let alone a diplomat.
When Gardner finished, Fred Gateway motioned that he had something to say. “We lucked out yesterday on another front, Mr. President. DARPA didn’t get the decoding finished until the middle of last night, but they called us as soon as they did. We found our spy in DARPA. Ed and I got with the DARPA folks last night and had a chat. The signal was sent to China, which then attempted to influence our satellites. The code revealed it was one Dr. Choi, We Hin. We need to get with Hugh Collier today to see what we can do about prosecution. There is absolutely no doubt Dr. Choi is the man that provided the codes that screwed up our satellites many months ago. We don’t know how he got those codes to the Chinese, but he did. I have ordered complete surveillance of him as of last night. The paperwork regarding the wiretaps and his rights is on its way to Hugh’s desk as we speak. The question now is one of prosecution. Those people over at DARPA deserve a big pat on the back, Mr. President.”
The President picked up his phone. “Peggy, get Hugh Collier over here, along with Fred Gateway and Ed McCluskey, Jim and Ralph here, for a meeting. Give it thirty minutes.” He hung up the phone without waiting for an answer. Peggy began to put through a conference call with their secretaries to set it up. It was routine for her. Itineraries were changed on a daily basis for all concerned.
“Any indication that the Chinese ships have reversed course, or have any more left their ports? What do we have on their movements, Ed?”
“As of thirty minutes ago, Mr. President, there hasn’t been any change in their activity. I imagine the Supreme Council is still debating the issue. Until they do make a decision, I expect they will continue with their game plan. Four more ships left their ports within the last twelve hours to form a convoy in the South China Sea. I have left word for our monitors to call me as soon as they have any indication of reversing course or halting their advances on land. I’ll be surprised if they completely abandon their plans for an overland march for the Persian Gulf oil, especially since they didn’t even get the Caspian Basin. They are getting pretty close to the line Russia has drawn. If our satellites pick up any more nuclear blasts, we are all going to be hurting. There’s a lot of desert there that will be easily sucked up into the atmosphere, adding to more global radioactive dust.”
“Is there any other way to stop them?”
“Short of use of biological weapons, no, Mr. President. Nobody has the mass of men, weapons and materiel to meet them head on. Chemical agents are really tactical in nature, not strategic. It would take thousands of tons of chemical weapons to cover so wide an area. There are some biologicals out there that would do a very good job of it, that are not transmissible person to person but are still highly infectious, such as certain strains of tularemia. You would have to dust tens of thousands of square miles with that agent in order to bring all of their fronts to a halt. Nobody wants to contaminate their own environment for God knows how long. Tularemia is known to infect over one hundred and thirty species of animals, including most livestock species. If a transmissible agent is used, it will probably spread around the world to really put mankind in a hurt.” The President reflected again on his conversation with the physician from the Medical Intelligence Unit, Colonel Burgess.
Peggy called on the President’s phone. “Mr. President, the only time today they are all free is on their lunch hour, 12:30 to 14:00. Shall I confirm that?”
“Yes, Peggy, do that. We’ll have a working lunch here. 12:30 to 13:30 then. Have their secretaries write it in. Then call the kitchen and tell them we are having guests for lunch today. Make it a choice of two entrees. I really don’t care what’s on the menu. Everybody can eat whichever or claim they are on a diet.”
“Jim, do we have any idea of the size and quality of the Russian tactical nuclear arsenal? Have they really been truthful with us? If push comes to shove, do they have enough that will go bang when they push the button to bring the Chinese to a halt? Do we need to loan them any if it goes that far? What will China’s reaction be to nuclear weapons on their field armies? Will Russia also attack Chinese soil, especially the coastal cities? I have been trying to weasel that out of Vassily without success. As soon as it is 18:00 Moscow time, I will give him a call today. The Russians are going to have to make a hard decision. I wouldn’t count on the Europeans and their European Union for anything but tears and gnashing of teeth. They haven’t done anything to prepare since the Chinese first started moving. Maybe if the Chinese knock on the door the way the Mongols did when they laid siege to Vienna in the fifteenth century, they will remove their heads from their rectums.”
Everyone was rather stunned by the President’s phraseology. He certainly did not usually speak in such a vulgar manner. “All right then, if there is nothing else of catastrophic news, those of you involved with our traitor, be back here at 12:30 with appetites and ideas.”
