Dale Brown - Executive Intent

“Are the task-force ships and aircraft in that area all Chinese?”

“Affirmative. What’s going on, General?”

“We just downloaded a TacSat-3 image of the area,” Kai explained. “TacSat is a small purpose-built satellite, launched just a couple days ago to help surveil the East Africa region. It operates on a discreet datalink frequency-you can’t get the imagery until we’re networked together.” He thought for a moment, then added, “And the Chinese might not have known about it, since it was launched recently and they don’t have access to it, so they couldn’t have had a chance to jam its datalink.”

“I’m not following you, sir.”

“Sergeant Major, we’ve detected eleven Chinese ships, including four warships, less than forty-five miles from Mogadishu, heading west at eleven knots. It looks like the Chinese convoy and the task-force ships guarding it are all heading straight for Mogadishu.”

Kai was very surprised at the sergeant major’s rather muted reaction-he said simply, “Please stand by, sir,” and the line went dead. “Alert Space Command and Air Force,” Kai said, “and put out a general warning to all MAJCOM headquarters in the clear, reporting a line of warships off the coast of Mogadishu heading west.”

A few moments later, General Thomas Greene, commander of U.S. Africa Command, came on the line himself. “Greene, AFRICOM, secure,” he said breathlessly, as if he had run a very long distance to answer the phone. “Raydon?”

“Raydon, Space Defense Force-”

“I don’t give a damn who you are!” Greene thundered. “Did you tell my sergeant major there was a convoy of Chinese warships heading for Mogadishu?”

“Affirmative, sir. I just put out a warning to Space Command and-”

“Who the hell do you think you are spouting off with that nonsense?” Greene cried. “I’m looking at the CTF reconnaissance reports, and there’s nothing out there! You’d better goddamned explain yourself, and quick!”

“Sir, you have no reconnaissance reports from the area because all of the patrol planes were grounded due to radio interference and poor datalink,” Kai explained. “The only other CTF vessels out there are Chinese, and they’re reporting ops-normal-because they are engineering this whole diversion.”

“What diversion?”

“Whatever the Chinese are up to, sir, they’ve managed to blank out all reconnaissance in the area, turn the convoy west, and are closing on Mogadishu,” Kai said.

“If there’s this big blackout like you said, how can you see it?”

“We used a small tactical satellite launched just days ago, which operates differently from other reconnaissance assets,” Kai said. “I think the Chinese didn’t know about it, or couldn’t do anything about it if they did. We just spotted the convoy minutes ago.”

“I want to see those pictures, now!”

“I’m going to have to route them to you through Space Command, since you’re not on our network. That’ll take a bit-”

“‘Not on your network’? What in hell does that mean?”

“It means my higher headquarters has to give you the pictures-I can’t do it directly,” Kai said. “But until then, may I suggest you get some eyes up there to verify this sighting, sir. If the Chinese are still jamming all transmissions in the area, they may have to-”

“I don’t need your suggestions, Raydon!” Greene shouted. “I want those pictures, and I want them now! And don’t be blabbing about this contact to anyone except your bosses until I get it confirmed! That’s an order!” And the connection went dead.

OFFICE OF THE PREMIER, BEIJING, CHINA

THAT SAME TIME

“You asked me to notify you when China is about to act,” Premier Zhou Qiang spoke.

“This Operation Lightning you messaged us about earlier?” asked Russia president Igor Truznyev, speaking on the secure direct “hotline” between each president’s office.

“Yes. It is under way. We have another mission under way as well. A clever officer in our Strategic Defense Forces corps calls it Operation Zu-qiu-Operation Soccer, what the Americans call ‘football.’”

“May I inquire as to what you intend to do with this Operation Soccer?”

“You will learn more soon, Mr. President,” Zhou said. “But I will tell you this: We shall see how the Americans take a kick.”

“Very clever.”

“We anticipate that Operation Lightning will be on station for seven days,” Zhou said, “after which time they will cycle in to Aden for refueling and replenishment.”

“We will be ready.”

“Very well. It is nice to be working with Russia again, Mr. President.”

“I would feel better about our new relationship if you would give me more details about this Operation Soccer,” Truznyev said.

“It is merely another attempt to dissuade President Gardner from expanding this space-weapon constellation,” Zhou said. “You will detect more shortly. Oh, and Mr. President?”

“Yes?”

“Please disregard any launch warnings coming from central Myanmar. Classify it as a petroleum plant explosion and fire.” He terminated the connection, then dialed another number on a different secure phone. “Minister Zung, you may give the order to proceed with Operation Zu-qiu.”

11 TH STRATEGIC DEFENSE F ORCES O ERATIONS CENTER, HAINAN ISLAND, CHINA

A SHORT TIME LATER

General Hua Zhilun picked up the phone himself. “Operations.”

“Are your forces ready, General?” Minister of National Defense Zung asked.

“Yes, sir, we are ready.”

“Status of the target?”

“The launch window is open for another eighty-seven minutes, sir,” Hua replied. “No change in orbital path.”

“Operation Shan-dian is under way,” Zung said. “Based on radio traffic, we believe the convoy has been discovered, but the attacks are already under way. You are authorized to proceed with Operation Zu-qiu. Good hunting, General.”

“Yes, sir, thank you,” Hua responded. He hung up the phone, then put on a headset and keyed a button at his console: “All stations, this is Yi, authorization received, operation will commence immediately, repeat, authorization received, commence operation.”

Eight hundred miles west of Hainan Island in the nation of Myanmar, also known as Burma, a petroleum-gas storage tank located outside a refinery near the city of Taunggyi suddenly exploded, creating a massive fireball that ignited several other tanks and pipes and eventually became so hot that some trees in the nearby hardwood forest began to sway from waves of heat washing across them. Pipes containing pressurized petroleum gas with open check valves continued to feed fuel to the inferno.

At the very same time, three miles away, a rocket shot from an upraised launch tube, flew on a cushion of compressed gas for a dozen yards, then ignited its solid-fuel motor and streaked into the sky, heading almost straight up. Compared to the hot glow of the petroleum-gas fire, the DF-21’s motor exhaust plume was a tiny dot, and because the rocket continued to climb straight up, it did not create a very long streak in the sky when viewed from above. The first stage burned out within three minutes, and the second stage accelerated the rocket to ten times the speed of sound. A protective nose cap prevented any heat damage to the sensitive seeker in the nose as it rose through the atmosphere.

At Mach 10 and an altitude of 150 miles, the second stage burned out and the payload section began its hypersonic unpowered cruise, following its inertial guidance commands with refinements provided by datalinked steering commands from a Chinese radar site in Myanmar. The payload section continued its climb to 400 miles altitude.