Drone Command

FIFTY-NINE

The cabinet room on the fourth floor was much larger than the prime minister’s circular private conference room, matching the shape and scope of the enormous blond birchwood table in the center. The walls were a combination of birchwood and diatomaceous earth, and a window afforded a view of yet another tranquil rock garden. For Myers, the intention of the design was to induce a kind of natural serenity, but the mood in the room this morning was just the opposite.

Prime Minister Ito’s entire cabinet was seated around the table in supple white leather chairs, while their assistants and secretaries stood anxiously behind them, clutching file folders, tablets, and smartphones.

Myers sat to Ito’s right, a position of high honor. She wore an earpiece linked to an official government interpreter in an adjoining room. Lane had informed her about the Chinese fleet setting sail and the latest Chinese demands. The crisis was escalating, yet Lane’s calm voice reassured her. For a president on the verge of war, he was amazingly composed. Another advantage of having a commander in chief with combat experience.

Lane asked her to attend Ito’s emergency cabinet meeting. She agreed, of course. Anything to help. They discussed his agenda. Under no circumstances could she allow the Japanese to undertake unilateral action. She concurred, silently wondering how in the world she could possibly prevent them from doing so. Lane wished her luck.

Ito called the meeting to order.

“Today’s session will be recorded for posterity, but the information discussed is top secret. Under no conditions are any of the matters we discuss in this room today to be released to the general public.”

Heads nodded around the table.

“What is she doing here?” Tanaka asked, glowering at Myers.

The translator’s voice echoed with Tanaka’s anger. The emphasis was hardly necessary, Myers thought. His eyes were enough.

Ito stiffened. “President Myers is here today as my guest and as a personal envoy of President Lane. As many of you know, President Myers and I have been friends for many years. I trust her as I trust my own sister. She also enjoys the complete confidence of President Lane. We may speak freely and candidly in front of her, and I encourage her to speak frankly as well. Her role is to convey the substance of today’s meeting to President Lane and his cabinet, which will be meeting shortly as well. Does anybody object?”

As both the prime minister and party leader, Ito’s authority in the room was unquestioned. But anti-American sentiments were escalating around the country — it appeared as if the United States were abandoning the Japanese to their fate. The elected officials and representatives seated in the room reflected those public sentiments.

Several shifted uncomfortably in their seats, but no one objected publicly. Tanaka already had by inference.

Ito nodded at his minister of defense. The MOD reported that the Chinese fleet was twenty-two hours away from breaching the territorial waters around the Senkakus. He briefed everyone on the extent of the Chinese ship, aircraft, and troop complement, as well as Japanese and American forces in the area.

The foreign minister then read the letter hand delivered to her office personally by Ambassador Pang and signed by Vice Chairman Feng. The letter began with a virulent protest against the “war-era suicide assault” on the Tiger II oil-drilling ship before launching into a reassertion of China’s historical and legal claims to the disputed islands. Feng’s letter then announced the arrival of Chinese PLAN marines who would occupy the two largest islands in the chain “in order to protect Chinese lives and property in Chinese territorial waters against future Japanese aggression.”

The letter also demanded unobstructed passage of their ships to Mao Island and no armed resistance to Chinese landing forces, and ordered the Japanese government to turn over all of the islands in question to Chinese authority and further demanded immediate recognition of the them as sovereign Chinese territory in perpetuity.

The letter concluded ominously. “Failure to comply with our demands or violating the terms set forth herein shall constitute an act of war against the People’s Republic of China.” The foreign minister practically hissed as she read the last sentence. So did the translator.

“So there we have it,” Ito said. “The Chinese fleet is on its way to seize the Senkakus, daring us to oppose them. We’ve discussed our options at length. Do nothing, wait for the Americans to dispatch the Sixth Fleet, or dispatch our own fleet to fight them.”

“If we do nothing, we’ll only encourage the Chinese to seize other disputed territories throughout the region,” the defense minister said. “Our inaction puts several of our regional allies at risk.”

The foreign minister nodded vigorously. “If we do nothing, we declare ourselves to be vassals of both the Chinese and the Americans.” She waved a hand for emphasis. “Completely unacceptable for a sovereign nation.”

“Our conference with President Lane yesterday made it clear that he will not dispatch the Sixth Fleet to block the Chinese,” Tanaka said. He turned to Myers, switched to English. “Do you agree with my assessment?”

Myers shook her head. “Not necessarily. President Lane has personally contacted President Sun, strongly opposing the current Chinese actions. He reaffirmed our treaty commitments to Japan and reminded him that any attack on Japan was tantamount to an attack on the United States.”

The aides of the few cabinet members who didn’t speak English whispered translations into their bosses’ ears.

“And what was President Sun’s response?” Ito asked.

Myers sighed. “He thanked the president for his concerns and promised to look further into the matter.”

The room exploded in a flurry of outrage. The translator did her best to keep up, but it was impossible to translate everything. It didn’t matter. Myers got the gist of it. They were mad as hornets, both at China and the U.S. She would be, too, if she were in their seats. She folded her hands politely in front of her and tried to calm the room with her disarming smile. “What matters is that President Sun has been formally warned about the consequences. I promise you those consequences were heard. President Lane also reminded President Sun that the George Washington carrier battle group was deployed to Okinawa two days ago for a training exercise.”

“President Sun is a liar if he is saying he has no idea about what’s going on,” Tanaka insisted.

“What would you expect him to do? Immediately apologize and promise to withdraw his fleet? If he’s behind all of this, he’s not going to back down with a phone call. But if other forces are at play, he might be helpless to act immediately,” Myers said.

“Other forces at play? It’s Communist China. He’s a dictator!” one of the ministers shouted.

The foreign minister leaned forward on her elbows. “But President Myers makes an interesting point. The letter was signed by Minister Feng, not President Sun.”

“He’s only covering himself in case something goes wrong,” Tanaka said. “Feng will suffer the consequences of failure, but Sun can seize the credit if they succeed.”

“That suggests some kind of schism within the leadership. A gap that perhaps we can exploit,” Myers said.

The room buzzed again as heads leaned in close for private conferences among themselves. That was a good sign, Myers thought. They’re thinking about the possibilities.

Everyone except Tanaka, who only glared at her. “Politburo politics are irrelevant. A fleet of Chinese ships loaded with missiles and marines is the reality we must address. Doing nothing is out of the question, in my opinion, and I still believe the Americans are hoping the Chinese will change their minds without the U.S. deploying the Sixth Fleet. Prime Minister Ito, I ask for a vote right now. I believe in the third option. I believe that Japan must act on its own. We should send our fleet now and dispatch our air force. We have a long and glorious history of defeating the Chinese dragon.”

Ito turned to the minister of defense. “What hope do we have of defeating the Chinese fleet?”

Like many of his counterparts in the West, the defense minister was a lawyer by training and a bureaucrat with no prior military service. His background had been entirely in government, working his way up the chain of security subcommittees and chairmanships in the legislature until he was appointed by Ito to head the defense ministry. He removed his glasses and set them on the table. “The commanders of the naval and air services assure me we can mount an effective attack on the Chinese fleet, but only with a high casualty rate of ships and aircraft and only if the Chinese don’t commit further air or naval assets. If the Chinese deploy long-range bombers or missiles, we risk a catastrophic defeat.”

“Sakai-san showed us the way! Death is not defeat!” The shouting cabinet minister was a former chairman of the Izokukai, one of the most conservative public-interest groups in Japan, responsible for the care of the controversial Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japan’s war dead.

“Hai!” Tanaka grunted. “I would rather suffer a catastrophic defeat in defense of our homeland than suffer the living humiliation of cowardice.”

Half the room shouted agreement. Several others nodded. Tanaka was running the room now. Ito turned to Myers, his eyes questioning her. Myers feared the worst.

“Mr. Tanaka, if Japanese forces cross the red line, China will consider it an act of war,” Myers said. “Do you want to bear the personal guilt of starting a war before Japan is even attacked?”

Tanaka laughed. “Guilt? That’s a strange word coming from an American. When did Afghanistan attack your country? Iraq? Libya? Syria? Yemen? How many others? You Americans have waged war all over the planet against countries that never attacked you. If you can bear the guilt, so can I.”

Myers flushed with anger. Probably the reaction Tanaka was looking for, she realized. Her job today wasn’t to defend American foreign policy, right or wrong. It was to prevent a war.

“My country is able to wage war all over the planet because it has the means to do so. We have the means to defend Japan as well, and we have been committed to doing so for more than seventy years. We will do everything in our power to prevent anything from happening to Japan now during this time of crisis.”

Tanaka sneered at her. “The same way your country protected the Syrian people when they were gassed by Assad? Defended Ukraine against the Russians? South Vietnam from North Vietnam? I could list a dozen examples of you Americans sacrificing your weaker allies on the altar of your own ambitions.”

“Tens of thousands of Americans have shed their blood in defense of her allies for no material gain whatsoever. When has Japan ever done that?” As soon as the words left Myers’s mouth, her heart sank. It was a huge insult and a terrible mistake. Her face stung with embarrassment.

The room quieted as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of it. All eyes turned to her. She lowered her gaze. She wanted to apologize, but couldn’t. What she said was hurtful, but it was true nonetheless.

The long, awkward silence was finally broken by Ito’s humble voice. “I thank President Myers for her frank and forthright opinions today. I have no doubt of her sincerity and integrity. She has presented the views of her nation, and I believe she wants the best for her country as well as ours. But our security, ultimately, depends on our own actions. We have relied on the United States far too long. This only proves to me once again it’s time to change the Constitution and begin our rearmament program as quickly as possible, even if this crisis should end peacefully.”

“Agreed,” Tanaka said. Other heads nodded.

“But the crisis is still upon us. We must decide what we shall do next.”

Myers was still stinging with embarrassment. She had offended everybody in the room, and in so doing had jeopardized everything, including the security of the United States. If Japan acted foolishly now, it might be because of her, and if they did, the Chinese would respond, and the United States would be at war. She took a deep breath.

“Mr. Prime Minister, please allow me to say one last thing if I may,” Myers said, softening her voice to nearly a whisper.

Ito’s mouth flattened. She was taking advantage of their friendship. But she was a former president of the United States, and she was here at his invitation.

“Yes?”

“The Chinese fleet is still twenty-two hours away, and as we discussed earlier, there seems to be some disconnect between President Sun and Mr. Feng regarding the deployment of that fleet. You’re right to say that you and your government are ultimately responsible for the security of your nation, and I agree with you wholeheartedly that you must do what you think is right. But as a friend of Japan, I would suggest that your government refrain from any provocative action for the next twenty-two hours. At least give us that much time to continue direct negotiations with the Chinese and pursue other avenues. If we have failed to stop the Chinese from violating Japanese territorial waters, then you should act according to your own best interests.”

Ito nodded, considering her words. He cleared his throat.

“In my opinion, if the Americans aren’t able to persuade the Chinese to turn around or if the Sixth Fleet isn’t willing to act decisively to stop them, then we should dispatch our armed forces into the region to defend the Senkakus. But we will wait for twenty-two hours before doing so.” He turned to the defense minister. “I assume the service chiefs have battle plans to defend the islands?”

“Hai.”

“Then I want those plans on my desk within the hour. And make all preparations necessary as if we are going to war twenty-two hours from now.”

The defense minister nodded violently. “Hai!”

Tanaka stood and began applauding. The other ministers followed. Ito remained seated, nodding his thanks. He shot a glance at Myers. That’s the best I can do.

She nodded her thanks and prayed it was enough. In twenty-two hours, she’d know for sure whether or not Pearce had pulled everything together and what stuff Lane was actually made of.