A Deep Sleep (Valhalla Book 1) (31 page)

The agent watched with interest as the door descended. He figure he might as well see his work complete, for he knew there was no escaping this watery tomb. As the door met the cart, logic would have it that the thin sheet metal of the cart would simply fold under the weight of the door and have no effect. This was not a normal cart, however, instead being a thickly reinforced structure of the same high-strength plate used in the construction of battleships and power armor. The modified cart stood fast and held the door. The door settled onto the cart, creaking and groaning, but a gap of nearly a meter still remained. This pressure door would not be sealing.

Hearing the oncoming roar, he turned and faced his death.

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“It is done.” The Major whispered softly. Qiang nodded, still watching the display. It showed the status of the bunker and they were also tapped into the ISS monitoring of the bunker communications. There was cries for help and additional chatter and shock at the events of the last ten minutes.

“The Japanese just picked it up and are sending it out. The Americans will know inside of five minutes.” Called a junior operative wearing no recognizable insignia other than the ISS badge.

“Rear Admiral Chu should initiate.” The Major recommended in turn.

“Yes, and we must move quickly. Make sure all the teams move as one.” Qiang said, turning to head to the flag bridge.

“Yes Grand Admiral, right away sir!” The Major perked up, action and more pressing concerns turning them both away from the thousands of deaths that had just occurred.

“Alea iacta est.” Qiang whispered to himself as he strode down the passageway.

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“Sir, you need to take a look at this.” The technician pushed his headphones down around his neck and waved the watch commander over.

“What have you got?” The commander asked as he came up behind the technician.

“Hydrophones just picked up some massive activity in the vicinity of the Yellow Sea.” The technician replied, queuing up the playback. The watch commander nodded and he played it over his workstation’s speakers. The sounds were unmistakable, rumbling and escaping air noises.

“Better pass this up the chain.” The commander stepped briskly over to his own desk and lifted a timeless red phone. The connection to Pacific Command was nearly instantaneous.

“Pacific Command.” Came the gruff voice.

“Sir, this is Guam Undersea, we just picked up noises of probably underwater collapse in the vicinity of the Yellow Sea.” The Watch Commander said quickly, gesturing to the technician to forward the data along. “The raw data is headed to you now.”

“Damn, alright son. We’ve been getting some other indications of activity in that vicinity as well. Stay on it. The order is going to come down in a few minutes anyway, so you might as well bring your command to DEFCON TWO levels on my authority, Admiral Theodore Wallace. Computer will confirm authority and identity.” Admiral Wallace said, his voice sounding containing more tension and less of a gruff demeanor.

“Aye, sir. DEFCON TWO.” Every technician in the room swiveled at that.

“PACOM out.” The line went dead.

“You heard me, we are at DEFCON TWO. Let’s act like it. Look alive people, this is the real deal!” The Watch Commander snapped out. He was glad for the flurry of activity around him. Everyone was too busy with the tasks they needed to carry out to notice his cold sweat.

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“Mr. President, we have confirmation. Satellite imagery and thermal scans confirm the detonation of at least one nuclear warhead in the strategic-class and flooding of the main bunker site for the PRC Party members. Our intelligence indicates that all of the Party members were inside at the time of the incident.” Jamie McCreary, President Bill Samuels’ Secretary of Defense, placed the comm back into its cradle. She had just been conferring with PACOM and NORAD.

“And the Politburo?” Samuels asked quickly.

“Their status is unknown sir.” McCreary responded.

“That bunker is very well subdivided, Mr. President. My staff judges it highly unlikely that a single nuclear warhead could have done sufficient damage. Additionally, it is almost inconceivable that any group could have infiltrated enough of the facility to deploy a second warhead in such a way as to breach the subdivision. We’ve thought about this to some length.” The Director of the NSA, Carl Brilliant argued.

“We just can’t say either way at this point.” McCreary countered. “I must concede, however, that we need to consider the worst case scenarios.”

“Such as?” Samuels wanted it all laid out in front of him. Sometimes getting information from his staff was like pulling teeth.

“First sir, if the Politburo leadership has been eliminated, there could be a coup underway or even a serious power vacuum. This could lead to highly unpredictable actions on the part of the PRC military and intelligence apparatus. Second, whether they have been eliminated or not, it is likely that we or one of our allies will be implicated in this attack. That runs its own risk of fallout.” McCreary explained.

“Alright. We’ve already gone to DEFCON Two. I will not place us at One unless something much more direct occurs.” Samuels said forcefully. Nobody argued.

“Admiral, sir!” Admiral Mondragon’s Communications Officer jerked her head up quickly. “Incoming transmission from the PRC battleship
Shanghai
! It’s Grand Admiral Qiang, sir.”

“Now that is interesting.” Mondragon said with studied nonchalance. “I’ll take it on my personal line.” Mondragon picked up his helmet and put it on. He then locked the visor down and gestured for his communications officer to connect him. “This is Admiral Mondragon.”

“Admiral Mondragon, thank you for taking my call.” The video call connected and Mondragon saw the image of Grand Admiral Chen Qiang. While the PRC admiral had something of an accent, his English was excellent. “Troubling times we live in.”

“Some are more troubling than others, Grand Admiral Chen.” Mondragon tipped his head slightly in recognition of the higher ranking officer, even if he was the enemy. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Mondragon noticed with some satisfaction that his flag captain, Captain Olivia Twining, had brought
Missouri
quietly to GQ. Admiral Chen noticed his slight smile and glanced off-screen briefly, returning with his own smile.

“I see your battlegroup has gone to general quarters. An appropriate precaution. How paranoid war makes us?” He said with obvious humor.

“Or perhaps it is man’s paranoia that makes war?” Mondragon countered cautiously.

“Perhaps, indeed.” Admiral Chen seemed to pause. “Admiral Mondragon, there is much to discuss. Perhaps a meeting, on neutral ground? Face-to-face.”

“Neutral ground would seem to be in short supply. Indeed, even this solar system is hardly neutral ground.” Mondragon responded with slightly more bitterness in his tone that he had intended.

Qiang winced involuntarily at the jab. “That much is true.” He paused again, seemingly in thought. “I will fly to a set of coordinates in one of my ship’s cargo shuttles, alone. Once there, I will vent the aft bay and you can dock to meet me there. Would this be acceptable?”

Admiral Mondragon considered it for a moment. He could already see his Communications Officer reacting with horror to the mere thought of her commander heading out to meet in the middle of space with an enemy admiral, all with only a thin pressure suit protecting him from the void. Not to mention the enemy.

“I accept your proposal. Should anything happen to me…”Mondragon allowed himself to trail off.

“One should hope so.” Qiang responded without hesitation. “Very good. I will send the coordinates directly to your number two laser comm panel. Wouldn’t want anyone else to know these coordinates, now would we?”

“Just so.” Mondragon responded, watching as his Chinese counterpart nodded and began typing into his own command console. Mondragon turned to his communications officer. “Betty, I need the number two laser comm panel locked out of the main computer, my override.”

“Aye, aye sir.” She responded hesitantly.

Mondragon commed Captain Twinning. “Olivia, I have a favor to ask.”

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Mondragon had barely managed to get to the bay, let alone take off with all of the officers trying to stop him. After he had finally managed to persuade enough of them that he was going and that he was going alone, he had managed to get onto the flight line. Once there, he had inspected the SAR bird. As he had ordered, the small chin turret had been hurriedly removed and the wing pylons were bare of ordinance. He nodded his approval at the crew chief who simply nodded in return before drawing up to a full salute. Admiral Mondragon solemnly returned the salute.

“She’s all set?”

“Yes sir, she’ll take you where you need to go just fine.”

“Thank you Chief.”

Mondragon settled into the seat and watched as the strobing lights announced a spacecraft in motion. Mondragon noticed that the Deck Chief personally guided his SAR bird into the launch tube. Once the craft was settled into the multi-use tube and locked into the launching rails, Mondragon gave a quick thumbs up. The launch officer returned the thumbs up and indicated launch with a flick of his arm. An instant later, Mondragon was thrust back into his seat, even with the dampeners. As he was flung out into space, he expertly adjusted his trim and moved in a wide sweeping turn. He had waited to enter the coordinates, only now withdrawing his small tablet and punching the displayed coordinates into the nav comp. His small craft adjusted its heading and adjusted its heading to angle towards the point in space.

Behind him, aboard
Missouri
, another launch coil energized and fired, but at a somewhat reduced charge. Four black shapes flitted from the tube in tight formation, their armor stealthed and giving away no hint of their presence. Inside the lead suit of power armor, Captain Raymond Lockhart unclenched his jaw. The launch rails were a damn unpleasant way for a Marine to launch from a ship. Still, not nearly as unpleasant as the reason for the launch. When Admiral Mondragon had approached him, in person no less, and explained the mission the only thing that had prevented him from swearing on the spot was the Admiral’s very presence. The mission was insane, regardless of the Admiral’s assurances that they were merely a precaution. Lockhart didn’t like it, not one bit. But marines didn’t have to like it, not even Force Recon officers. They were marines and they went where they were told.

Semper fucking Fi.

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Mondragon could see the Chinese shuttle on his HUD now, though space was still far too dark to see her with his own eyes. Admiral Chen didn’t have the running lights on, but Mondragon didn’t regard that as suspicious since he had his own running lights secured. No sense in making it easy to be followed. As he approached his reached over and prepped the recon drones. Mondragon had selected the SAR bird because they were small, maneuverable, with reasonable stealth characteristics. On top of that, they also carried a dozen small drones, designed for searching wreckage for survivors so that they could be quickly rescued, or if they were too late recovered. He now instructed two of the drones to launch and fly to the Chinese shuttle. Lacking the training to truly make use of the full capabilities of the drone, especially while still piloting, Mondragon selected a preset program, with one drone flying around the shuttle and surveying it while the second looked for an open access to make its way inside. Mondragon brought his shuttle in a quick pass around the cargo shuttle’s starboard side before orienting himself so that his own shuttle faced the stern of the Chinese one. As he did, Mondragon spun his shuttle to show his belly, displaying for the side cameras that Admiral Chen was undoubtedly watching that he was unarmed.

A beep from the console indicated that the drones had found something. Mondragon quickly scanned the report, noting that the drones had located one male occupant in a pressure suit. Negative atmosphere, positive signs of shipboard power. No space large enough to house a person was detected. No anomalous power signatures were detected. The cargo shuttle was even empty. Based on the size, Mondragon figured he could almost fit his SAR shuttle into the much larger cargo shuttle. Instead, he locked his laser comm onto one of the Chinese panels and opened a secure channel.

“Admiral Chen, I am going to dock with your topside hatch, please remove all safety locks.”

“Of course, Admiral Mondragon. I await your presence. Is your drone exiting the craft or will it be remaining inside with us?” Admiral Chen asked simply.

Mondragon didn’t respond, but did push the recall button or the two drones. They flitted back to the shuttle and docked on her exterior. Mondragon brought his shuttle over the upper docking hatch and established a seal using his own in-deck hatch. Once he felt the gentle thump he waited for the shuttle to finish pumping the air out of his own compartment, rechecking his suit seals as he did out of habit more than anything else. When the panel blinked green Mondragon unbuckled and strode the few steps aft and opened the first hatch. After securing it, he reached down and pressed the entry button on the cargo shuttle. After a second the inner hatch rotated inward to reveal the interior. Mondragon stuck his head in cautiously, ignoring the unceremonious picture he was sure it formed. A quick survey revealed the same information as his drone. A single male sat in a pressure suit at the helm. The chair itself was swiveled to face the hatch and the figure’s arms rested comfortably in their lap. Mondragon turned and went down the ladder into the cargo shuttle’s command deck.

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Lockhart and his small team could see the shuttles as Admiral Mondragon finished docking with the Chinese cargo shuttle. The big bastard was just as dark as the Admiral’s own shuttle but the marines could see them both thanks to Mondragon surreptitiously directing a laser link to Lockhart’s armor. Lockhart’s own laser comms kept his team in the loop

“Alright, fire cold jets on my mark. Be dammed sure you follow the computer thrust plan, don’t do it by eye. If any one of you messes this up I will personally shoot you.” Lockhart said angrily.

“Yes sir.” They all said in unison.

On his cue, all four rotated in space and used their cold jet maneuvering thrusters to slow themselves relative to the docked shuttles. The cold jets would be effectively invisible to the Chinese cargo shuttle, particularly with the marines aiming for contact on the SAR bird’s topside. All four slowed to less than two meters per second and bumped softly into the shuttle. Lockhart motioned with hand signals now and the four split up, with two creping along the shuttle towards the open cargo ramp and Lockhart taking the other towards the viewport for the cargo shuttle’s small command deck.

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“Admiral Chen, I presume.” Mondragon stated as he established a short range comm link to the seated figure.

“Indeed, Admiral Mondragon.” He returned. “Would you be opposed to re-pressurizing this compartment?”

“Not at all.” Mondragon responded. He honestly would prefer to speak in a pressurized environment instead of using comms inside the uncomfortable pressure suit.

“Very good.” Chen said pleasantly. After just more than a minute the Chinese admiral reached up and popped his faceplate. As he removed his helmet entirely, Mondragon followed suit. “Now that is better.”

“Can’t disagree there. I swear those things have become even more unbearable since I started going into space.” Mondragon said gruffly. Mondragon seated himself in one of the bench seats near the helm.

“I must admit to having the same feelings about my own. I think some might suggest we are growing fickle as we grow older.” Chen joked lightly.

“Perish the thought.” Mondragon responded before turning serious. “Now why is it that I am here?”

“Your file does indicate a very straight forward personality, I am pleased that it is correct. Double talk is so damn frustrating, likely why all militaries seem to distrust their own intelligence services. But enough of that.” Chen also became serious now. “We are here to end the war, before someone does it for us.”

“Excuse me?” Mondragon said in shock, barely keeping the expression from totally dominating his face.

“This war has been disastrous for both sides, my own people no less so than your own. Our governments have led us into dangerous and uncharted waters. I must say, my government and our Russian allies do hold somewhat more of that blame, but there is plenty to be spread around.”

“You’ve got that right. The Solar Treaty? That was a disaster in the making.” Mondragon said angrily.

“I must agree completely. While I aided in the planning phases of that operation, I was most vehemently against such a blatantly suicidal maneuver. Regardless, needs must.”

“Speaking of governments leading people astray, what has happened to yours?” Mondragon interjected, steering the conversation.

“Ah yes, I assumed that your detection grid would easily pick up that unfortunate event.” Qiang sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a few seconds before he was composed enough to continue. He looked Mondragon straight in the eyes as he did. “I have deposed the existing government and am currently in command of the People’s Republic of China government.”

“Damn, you certainly know how to depose a government.” Mondragon said softly, recognizing both the audacity of the move and the high price that had come with it. “Not exactly a bloodless coup?”

“I fear it was not, but drastic steps were required before something untold began.” Qiang said.

“Something untold?” Mondragon said nervously.

“Not against your people, against mine. The Party was prepared to act against the people and following their orders would have caused far more deaths than my coup. Now the duty of ending this pointless and costly was falls to me and my officers.”

“Alight, let’s just shelve the specifics of your coup for a minute.” Mondragon shifted in his seat. “How do you propose to end this war so quickly? There is much to resolve.”

“I cannot disagree with that. What I propose is simple, we stop killing our sons and daughters while we resolve it.”

“There is no fault with your sentiment, but there are a lot of people who wouldn’t be happy with that right now. Ignoring my own government, such as I can say that, the Indians won’t be happy about the current status quo.”