Invasion: China (Invasion America) (Volume 5) (26 page)

Everyone in the control center became quiet and still. The small radio operator in his white uniform tapped his screen.

“Report,” Darius said in his deep voice.

“Captain,” Khan said. “I’m not sure about this. It’s a long visual. I could turn on the radar—”

“No,” Darius said.

Khan bobbed his head in agreement. “I’m at extreme magnification. I can’t tell one hundred percent, but that sure looks like a carrier to me, which would make it Chinese.”

With a grunt, Darius heaved himself to his feet. He walked to Khan’s screen. How the little man thought he saw a carrier, Darius had no idea.

“That’s a dot,” Darius said.

It was a small black dot in the great blue ocean. Even lighter spec
ks might have appeared beside the distant dot.

“You have to understand the range, Captain,” Khan
explained. “This isn’t Lake Ontario.”

Darius scowled. He
excelled at it, and no one aboard the
Grant
dared to stand in his way when he looked like that.

Khan bobbed his head again. “
In my humble opinion, that’s a carrier and those are its escort vessels. Ah, look, there’s another carrier.”

“Where?” Darius asked
, baffled.

Khan pointed to the
upper left part of the screen.

Darius bent lower, squinting. He saw it now
, a barely visible dot, but darker than the former specs. “You think it’s Chinese?” he asked.

“I don’t know yet
one hundred percent. I’d bet my savings it’s Chinese. Should I use the drone’s radar in order to make sure?”

“The
enemy would detect radar in an instant.”

“
I agree with you there, Captain, sir,” Khan said.

“
Take the drone down closer. We need visual confirmation of this.”

Khan twisted around to look up at
Darius. “Begging your pardon, Captain…”

“What
is it?” Darius snapped. He hated hints and innuendos.

“The drone is on a pre
planned flight. It’s giving these
aimed
signals in our direction using tiny bursts, changing its frequency all the time in tandem with our receiver. If I broadcast a signal, rerouting the small craft…”

“Go on,” Darius said.
“Finish your thought.”

“A Chinese electronics officer might pick up
our signal. In other words, it increases their chance of detection.”

Darius didn’t look around
at the others in the control center. That might indicate he didn’t know what to do or couldn’t decide. It had been different in Lake Ontario. Then it had just been Khan and him. Those days had been like playing one on one basketball. You didn’t have worry about shooting too much, because there was only you. Here, as in regular basketball, it was a team effort. His wrong choices could hurt other people.

“Where will the drone go
if it stays on its preselected route?” Darius asked.

“The range we’re seeing this
at…” Khan shrugged. “The drone might drift off in a different direction. The program
should
cause it to veer toward those carriers. But you can never be sure when the sighting is so slight. These drones have a built-in glitch—”

“We’re the eyes and ears of Task Force A,” Darius muttered.

“Yes, sir,” Khan said. “But if the Chinese know we’re here…”

Darius chewed his lower lip. What was the correct decision? He wasn’t sure. He could ask the Chief
of the Boat, an ancient enlisted man with by far the most experience. In fact, he should ask for opinions. But would that make him look weak-willed?

Allah,
grant me wisdom
, he prayed silently.

Darius squinted
at the screen, and he felt more confident. He was the eyes and ears of Task Force A. He needed to do his job. “Give the drone a short burst command,” he said in a soft voice. “I want a closer look at those ships.”

“Yes, Captain,” Khan said, although the small man hesitated.

Darius noticed, and he waited for someone to tell him he was wrong. No one did, and Khan sent the transmission.

PRCN
SUNG

Old Admiral Niu Ling commanded the carrier group from the supercarrier
Sung
. There were two flattops under his orders, together with their escorts of one battleship, some cruisers, more destroyers and various supply ships, submarines, helicopter tenders and other necessary vessels.

Sung
was massive, displacing one hundred and eight thousand tons. She had fought in the Alaskan War in 2032 and helped launch the amphibious assault at Santa Cruz, California in 2039. The supercarrier had missed the Battle of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands where the Chinese had annihilated the last American flattops. Instead, the super-ship had been near the coast of Australia with the waiting Chinese invasion fleet.

In 2032 during the Alaskan War,
Sung
held ninety modern fighters, bombers, tankers and electronic warfare planes. Now she had one hundred and sixty smaller UCAVs, giving her nearly double the punch. Her sister carrier had half as many drones. The North American War had devoured Chinese air power, just as the war kept eating the nation’s carriers.

Ling had been old during the Alaskan invasion. As always, he was missing his left arm, as he’d rejected a prosthetic replacement.
He had the empty sleeve pinned against his uniform so it wouldn’t flap around at inopportune times. He’d lost the arm many years ago in a flight accident while attempting to land a plane on a carrier. The left side of his face was frozen flesh, although he had a new eye that gleamed with hideous life. Ling found that the artificial eye intimidated people more than his rank or age ever did.

He stood in the ship’s command center, once again off the coast of Australia. The Americans had finally come out with a fleet. It amazed him. They fought well enough on land. On the sea, however, their time had passed. This was still China’s hour.

Oh, he admitted to himself the Americans had come up with technological surprises. Even during the Alaskan invasion, his fleet had been forced to withstand anti-ship ballistic missiles. What a terrifying experience that had been. Fortunately, superior Chinese technology had blunted the attack. Two years ago, the crafty Americans used THOR missiles and ICBMs against the powerful GD Atlantic fleet. Combined with US airpower, the North Americans had annihilated the GD vessels. That had been impressive, although Ling wouldn’t allow that here.

Y
es, the Americans knew how to use submarines. Grudgingly, Admiral Ling admitted that to himself. The Japanese during World War II had learned a similar lesson.

He had some surprises in case the Americans dared to attempt
THOR attacks against his carrier group. The sole battleship had an experimental particle beam cannon, able, the technicians said, to knock down the THOR crowbars. The carrier group also possessed tested, laser-armed cruisers, while destroyers carried SM-4B missiles.

Despite that,
Ling’s stomach churned. He admitted to worry. He was also far too old for any of this. Why couldn’t the Leader let him lay down his command? He did not care for nuclear depth charges or the nuclear-tipped torpedoes. The Americans used those, and now so did China.

In truth,
Admiral Ling feared for his land. They had played the Game of Great Nations too boldly. Perhaps it would have been better in the beginning to tie down American forces with a powerful Mexico. Then the Chinese navy could have snatched up the entire Pacific basin. With Australia under their belt…

Could the Americans really
believe they could lift Australia out of China’s hands? That was so preposterous. Yet sometimes, there was power in doing the unexpected.

He studied the command center personnel. No one seemed to watch him, but that didn’t fool Ling. They always watched him, usually out of the corner of their eyes.
His electronic orb recorded everything for him. Even a year ago, he would sit alone in his office and study the videos from his mechanical eye. The sessions had taught him much about human nature. Now he no longer bothered to watch the videos. He knew all he wanted to know about human proclivities.

Despite the knowledge that everyone watched him, he touched his artificial eye.
Yes, the doctors had told him the thing would not hurt, but it often did during times of increased stress. Did several officers recoil at his touch of it? That was possible. He could check recordings later, but why bother. How would it help him to know if they found him repugnant or not?

He was too old
for this. He knew the depth of human depravity, and—

“Sir!” one of the ratings said, a young boy with
such smooth skin.

Admiral Ling made a
n easy gesture. He might look and act as an ancient wreck, but he still had strength in his withered muscles.

“I
’ve just picked up a radio signal,” the rating said.

Ling clapped his hands. It’s all he needed to do.

The command center burst into life. He had a well-oiled machine in these men. He was old enough to appreciate something well oiled.

That was another age. Electronics
dominate this one
.

“Sir,” a
deck captain said. “I believe we can pinpoint the signal’s origin.”

“Please do so,” Ling said quietly.

Three minutes later, the captain put his discovery on the big screen. With an electric pointer, the meticulous man circled an area of sea.

“The signal must have originated
from somewhere in there,” he said.

He means submarines, likely American ones
. “Launch several drones,” Ling said. “Scour the area for underwater vessels.”

“
I’ve spotted an enemy drone, sir!” the smooth-skinned rating shouted.

Ling allowed the boy this breach of protocol.
These days, he hated it when others shouted. Everything should be done with decorum.

“Show me,” Ling said
quietly, trying to teach by example.

“Transferring it to the big screen, sir,” the
deck captain said.

Ling leaned forward. Oh yes, he saw it, a tiny thing really. “What am I seeing?” he asked.

“That is a Seagull-3,” the captain explained. “They are usually launched from Avenger VII submarines, using stealth broadcasts so we cannot pinpoint the location of the mother ship.”

“What did
the signal you picked up earlier tell us?” Ling asked.

“The submarine captain must have sent the drone a
movement order. In my opinion, Admiral…”

“Please, tell me,” Ling said.

“The Americans have spotted us.”

“Yes, that must be true.
So we must spot and destroy him before he launches a nuclear torpedo. Afterward, we will find the American transports and annihilate the lot of them.”

“What about the American drone, sir?” the captain asked.

“I fail to understand your question,” Ling said.

“We can destroy it.”

“Yes,” Ling said.

“Perhaps we should wait, Admiral,” the captain said. “We might make them think we don’t know it’s there.”

“I doubt it,” Ling said. “It seldom pays to act with delicacy in these affairs. Brute force prevails. Hmm…I should think the Americans would deploy their THOR missiles soon.”

“Because of one small drone, sir?” the captain dared ask.

Ling allowed himself a soft chuckle. It made the command center personnel uneasy. He recognized the signs.

“Consider,” he told the captain, speaking to all of them now. “The Americans are attempting an amphibious invasion.
How can they do that when we have the superior fleet? Because they have another weapon system. Yet what system could they employ so far from home? Their anti-ship ballistic missiles? No, I doubt that. What then? Why, their vaunted THOR missiles. Captain, destroy the drone and alert Chinese Space Command. We must stop the THOR missiles before they begin to fall on us.”

“And the American submarine?” the captain asked.

“We will begin using nuclear depth charges,” Ling said. He hated them, but they were useful. He could not allow China to lose any more of its precious aircraft carriers.

USS
GRANT

Darius’s head dipped as his eyelids drooped. He was tired. He’d been up for two watches already. He knew he should—

“Captain Green!” Khan shouted.

Darius’s head snapped up. A smaller man might have lurched to his feet. Darius found that his bulk helped keep him calm. He’d never told anyone else his secret, but he was sure it was true.

“
At ease, mister,” Darius said.

Khan faced him. “The Chinese took out our drone
, sir.”