Dancing with the Dragon

Chapter 30

Dalton approached the fuel truck driver. "Hey, we need to move your truck out of the way."

The short driver with the hooded rain jacket slowly looked up and tossed the hood back.

Scott was in total denial for a few seconds when he saw the 9mm handgun pointed at him. His heart skipped a beat and he stopped dead in his tracks. I have to move fast — do something.

"I have been ordered to block the jet until the police arrive." The Chinese man spoke English very well.

"Who are you?" Dalton asked.

"I'm the airport manager."

"Why are you blocking our plane?"

"Apparently there is some doubt about your reason for being in Chengdu."

"We've been here on business."

The manager eyed Dalton from head to toe. "Dressed like that?"

"Yes, of course."

"What kind of business are you in?"

"Research and restoration." That was lame.

"And you do this on rainy nights?"

Scott heard the sounds of sirens approaching. In the distance, he could see flashing lights on the street leading toward the airport. "Well, let me shut down the helicopter before we talk to the authorities."

"Go ahead, but don't try anything — I won't hesitate to use this."

Jackie wondered why the fuel truck driver was following Scott, and then she saw the weapon. No, this can't be happening.

She drew her 9mm Glock at the same time Scott reached the helicopter. In one swift movement, he swept his H & K 9mm off the seat, spun around, and shot the airport manager twice in the chest. "Cut the engines — let's go!"

They carried their gear to the jet and flung it into the passenger compartment. Scott glanced at the left engine. "Is the other engine cover off?"

"Yes."

While Jackie moved the fuel truck, Scott piled into the left seat and initiated the engine start procedure.

She ran to the plane, jumped in, and quickly locked the door. "Chocks are clear — let's hit it."

With their lights and transponder turned off, Scott started taxiing to the nearest runway. Lights along each side of the taxiway and runway made it simple to stay on the pavement.

He was fastening his seat belt and shoulder straps when more than a dozen police cars and military vehicles converged on the airport parking ramp.

"We have company," Scott said as he added power to taxi faster. Jackie strapped in and tuned the radio to the tower frequency.

Some of the police cars raced down the taxiway after the Lear, while the other cars and military vehicles headed for the midpoint of the runway.

Scott made a wide sweeping turn onto the runway and shoved the throttles forward.

Jackie could not believe what he was doing. "Scott, there's an airliner on short final — cleared to land!"

"I know."

"They can't see us!"

"Jackie," Scott said in a calm, even voice, "the police won't block the runway with an airliner about to touch down."

She shook her head. "It'll be academic if they land on top of us."

The China Airlines Boeing 737 was just touching down when the captain saw the Lear in his landing lights. He started to go around and instantly rejected the idea. The risk of having a midair collision was too high. He went into full reverse on the engines and commenced heavy braking.

The police and military personnel were astounded when the Learjet appeared out of the glaring lights of the airliner. The Boeing's engines were howling in reverse and the tires were screeching as the plane almost overran the small jet. The Lear rotated at the same moment the 737 blew a smoking tire and veered slightly to the right. The authorities stared in frustration as the darkened corporate jet hugged the ground and disappeared into the rainy night.

Scott adjusted the power and began a shallow climb. "We'll have to expose ourselves to radar to get over the ridge."

"I don't think it'll make much difference — too much clutter if we hug the ridge like a crop duster."

"We better stay low and head straight for Hong Kong."

The Chinese authorities had a visual identification on the Learjet that had taken flight. They had associated it with the helicopter that had recently landed at the secretive Mianyang complex. In the eyes of the senior officers in the military, the people in the jet were spies and they had to be stopped at all costs. The powers that be already knew the Americans in the corporate jet had the hard drives to one of China's most sensitive weapons systems.

President Liu Fan-ding, who understood what was at risk, had ordered the military to use whatever resources they needed to find and destroy the Learjet and its occupants. The plan was to put an aerial net out in every direction for a thousand miles and slowly pull it in. The jet wasn't going to disappear.

"On second thought," Scott said dryly, "there are a couple of problems with going straight to Hong Kong. Every asset the Chicoms can get airborne is going to be looking for this jet, plus the airports are going to be saturated with police and military personnel — including Hong Kong."

"Oh, yeah — they have the color and the tail number."

"Absolutely." Scott concentrated on flying as low as he dared at night. "It isn't like we kidnapped the night manager of some fast-food restaurant. We have the blueprint to China's highly sophisticated laser weapons system."

"I still can't believe it."

"They know the Lear came from Hong Kong, so that route is probably going to be swarming with search planes and fighters."

"What do you suggest?" she asked.

Scott checked their fuel. They were burning it rapidly at low altitude. "We don't have the fuel to reach any sovereign U.S. territory, and we can't take a chance on landing anywhere in China or any neighboring countries."

"Where we could be arrested?"

"Right." Scott altered his course to a more easterly heading. "Jackie, we need to get offshore in the East China Sea and ditch the Lear next to a carrier battle group."

"At night?"

"Well, we don't have enough fuel to stay airborne until it gets light outside — plus the longer we're up here, the better chance the Chinese will find us."

"True."

"The other option would be a night approach to a barricade arrestment on a carrier."

"Ditching sounds like a better deal." Jackie reached for the satellite phone. "We might even get a fighter escort."

"Let's hope so."

She tried to contact Hartwell Prost, but the signal kept breaking off.

The weather continued to improve as they flew east over the expansive rice fields and the small rural communities and villages. Minutes later, they were flying under a moonlit sky splashed with stars.

Jackie studied the city of Changsha as it flashed past on their left. "The moon is so bright it's like daylight."

"That's what worries me."

When the launch orders were received, the East Wind crews quickly but thoroughly went through their checklists. This was not a rehearsal, and their spirits were high. There was no room for mistakes. Unlike all the practice sessions and redundant game playing, the teams were about to deliver a major blow to their primary adversary.

At three-minute intervals the powerful DF-31 ICBMs ignited and lifted off on their history-making flights. The plumes of flame and smoke were mesmerizing to the launch crews. The missiles accelerated out of sight in a thunderous roar. Rocketing toward their targets in the gravity-free near vacuum of space, the lethal weapons were precisely tracking their programmed courses.

Staffed around the clock seven days a week by Russian and American personnel, the Joint Data Exchange Center (JDEC) was humming with activity. The multilateral warning center for information on missiles and space launches was fully manned. The senior American and Russian officers were trying to deal with the ambiguous situations arising from the launch of the Chinese ICBMs.

Although the United States and Russia provided each other launch information that was near real time, the Chinese ballistic-missile strike had caused a glitch in the computers. Instead of data relating to the time of the Chinese launch, the launch azimuth, the generic missile class, the geographic area, and estimated time of impact, the information indicated missile launches from the Great Plains of the United States and the interior of Russia.

JDEC vice commander Brig. Gen. William W. Burgess, USAF, was livid. He was using a backup communications channel to assure his Russian counterpart that the 90th Space Wing at F. E. Warren Air Force Base was not launching ICBMs from Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming.

The reassurances had to be cross-pollinated between the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Moscow, and the U.S. Air Force Space Command located at Peterson AFB, Colorado.

Once things stabilized to the point that no one was shouting, General Burgess turned to his director of operations, Capt. Clay McMasters, U.S. Navy.

Burgess spoke in a quiet voice. "This whole thing goes back to insufficient attention to four major policy concerns."

"A big one was Taiwan," McMasters said.

"And the others were American missile defense, our nuclear diplomacy with Russia, and the Chinese nuclear modernization."

"Yes — exactly," McMasters said. "All of them are tied together, and we took a laissez-faire approach that has backed us into a corner."

"Any bets on where the missiles will land?"

"No, sir — I've blocked it out of my mind."

Burgess studied the data displayed on his computer-generated screen. Both sides were supposed to be able to monitor each other's information, but things were scrambled to the point of being useless.

McMasters looked at his boss. "Thank God we have our Russian counterparts at NORAD and Space Command."

Burgess sighed. "True, but we have some major work to do on this program. It's a piece of junk garbage."

Located deep inside the hundred-million-year-old Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colorado, NORAD is charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Aerospace warning includes validating an attack against North America by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles.

Canadian general Derek Bancroft, the commander in chief of NORAD, was responsible to both the president of the United States and the prime minister of Canada. As CINCNORAD his duties included providing integrated tactical warning and assessment of an aerospace attack on North America to the governments of Canada and the United States.

This would be a day General Bancroft and his deputy commander, U.S. Air Force lieutenant general Kurtis Wentworth, would not forget.

Because of the deadly clash with China, NORAD, like many other military commands, was on high alert. The first indications of a missile launch from inside Manchuria, China, were quickly verified by reconnaissance aircraft and space-based assets.

However, the information had been sabotaged before it could be displayed in Moscow. Someone had hacked into the Joint Data Exchange Center and displayed erroneous information. The Russian officers inside NORAD had calmed down and were busy monitoring every aspect of the operation.

Although Bancroft and Wentworth had anticipated a possible retaliatory strike on the United States, the actual authentication of the missile attack was still a shock for both of them.

"It's validated," the barrel-chested Wentworth said to his boss while the first missile was still accelerating.

General Bancroft impatiently waited to receive the first indication of a probable impact point and then picked up the phone to contact President Macklin.

Bancroft tried to steady his nerves while the seconds passed, but he couldn't take his eyes off the status displays.

When the president came on the line, CINCNORAD spoke with sadness in his voice. "Mr. President, General Bancroft at NORAD. We have an authenticated missile launch from a location in Manchuria."

He saw Wentworth hold up two fingers. "Our information indicates the first missile is targeted at Hawaii."

The serious-minded Canadian officer glanced at the status displays. "No, sir, we can't verify whether it's a conventional warhead or a nuke — we have a second launch and it appears to be targeted at Alaska."

The president drummed his fingers on the conference table while General Bancroft updated him on the inbound ballistic missiles. When CINCNORAD paused to talk to his deputy commander, Cord Macklin looked at his advisers.

"Four in all, two headed for Alaska and two tracking toward Hawaii."

"What about the time?" Hartwell Prost asked.

The president glanced at his wristwatch. "As of now, approximately twenty-nine minutes to Hawaii — less to Alaska. Warnings have gone out to all military commands in the targeted areas and to the appropriate civilian authorities."

General Chalmers was on another phone talking to the senior officer at the secret experimental missile defense site in Alaska, and to his colleague on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Chalmers cupped the phone in his hand and turned toward Macklin. "They're ready — going to do the best they can with what they have."

The president looked at Pete Adair and Les Chalmers. "Our response needs to be equal but measured — even if these are nukes."

The scientist and engineers, both military and civilian, were working at a feverish pace at the national missile defense test site. They had two exoatmospheric kill vehicles ready to launch, but they wouldn't have time to ready a third interceptor.

On Kwajalein Atoll they had only one EKV ready for immediate launch. It would be aimed at the first East Wind en route to Hawaii.

The kill vehicles were quickly launched and the nerve-racking waiting games began. As the technicians proclaimed, the challenge was akin to hitting a bullet with a bullet.

Guided by experimental radar units and space-based sensors, the EKVs zeroed in on their prey. Once free of its booster rocket, the ungainly-looking 120-pound assortment of thrusters, star-sighting telescopes, mirrors, antennae, liquid propellant tanks, and batteries closed on the enemy ICBMs at incredible speeds.

The men and women at the test sites prayed as they watched the clock and monitored the EKVs. The control rooms were totally silent. The gravity of the situation had sunk in.

The scene was the same at NORAD and at the White House. The waiting was painful and the results weren't guaranteed. With only a limited missile defense system in place, they all knew at least one ICBM would penetrate the barrier and reach the Hawaiian Islands.

The residents of the island chain were extremely fortunate. The EKV interceptor launched from the Kwajalein test site shattered the first ICBM into a million fragments. The second East Wind missile, which developed a minor malfunction in the inertial guidance system, flew directly over Honolulu and exploded in the Kaiwi Channel between the islands of Oahu and Molokai.

The tremendous explosion created an intense light flash, a sudden wave of superheated air, and an earsplitting roar. The shock wave echoed across the water and slammed into the southeastern side of Oahu and the western side of Molokai. A ball of fire rose rapidly, followed by a huge mushroom cloud that billowed to more than sixty thousand feet. The trade winds carried most of the fallout away from the islands.

The horrendous explosion boiled the ocean water for a radius of nine hundred yards, created a ten-foot tidal wave, and vaporized or heavily damaged several private boats, killing sixty-three people and injuring more than two hundred others in the area. Although the aftereffects were minimal compared to what could have happened had the nuclear missile landed in the middle of Honolulu, the message was clear; Hawaii had dodged a major disaster.

The leading DF-31 survived a close encounter with the first kill vehicle, but the second EKV destroyed the trailing East Wind ICBM. Aimed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the home for the Eleventh Air Force, 3d Wing, and other commands, the first missile impacted ninety miles north of Elmendorf near the Talkeetna Ranger Station.

Miraculously, due to faulty engineering, the nuclear warhead did not detonate, but the powerful blast killed two rangers and seventeen tourists who were on a nature-hike camping trip. It also destroyed the ranger station and started a fire that would take two days to extinguish.