Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [8]
With trepidation, he knocked on the door to Shangri-la, entered, and said, “Mr. President, I’m so sorry to bother you, but there’s been a development you need to know about before you get calls from foreign leaders.”
Still hurting from his violent stomach spasms, Burkmeister was more than a little annoyed. “It must be awfully serious for you to come here and roust me, George. What is it?”
“The code-red lines from the CIA and other sources are ringing off the hook, Mr. President. They are picking up some very unusual messages from both the Chinese and Japanese navies in the East China Sea suggesting that a major naval battle has just occurred between the two countries.” Gleason took a deep breath before continuing.
“We don’t know the extent of it yet, but I suspect we’re in for a barrage of new intelligence and media inquiries—maybe even calls from the Japanese and Chinese leaders. We thought it vital to get a jump on this immediately, Mr. President, but I do apologize for the intrusion.”
A surge of adrenaline overcame the latest round of stomach pains and, sensing Gleason’s concern, Burkmeister graciously let him off the hook.
“You were absolutely right to wake me, George. Please call whoever you can get to the Situation Room for a meeting at six o’clock tonight. What else do I have scheduled for the day?”
“You have a meeting with the vice president and Secretary Canton for a progress report on the new ETCC department plan, plus a few photo-op meetings with large campaign contributors. Other than that, it’s remarkably light.”
“Please cancel all appointments with regrets and get whatever intelligence you can from the usual sources. In the meantime, I’ll be doing a little digging on my own.”
The president then went into his private bathroom, washed his face, took a hefty dose of antacids, and said a prayer. He hoped he would be up for whatever might happen. He often felt like a triage nurse trying to decide which critical case took precedence over the other. It was difficult to follow an orderly schedule when dealing with a new crisis every hour. Japan squaring off with China? He had a gut feeling that this could be a defining moment in his presidency.
5
Beijing, China
14 September 2017
Wang Peng enjoyed the give-and-take strategy sessions with his boss that preceded the weekly Politburo Standing Committee meetings. They were comparable, he thought, to a boxer’s physical and mental preparations for a championship fight, and like the boxer, he and Chairman Lin Cheng usually had cuts and bruises to show for their efforts after a PSC battle.
While Lin Cheng chaired the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee charged with making the important decisions in China, it was by a consensus arrangement. Lin never forgot this, even though he controlled the other levers of political, military, and party power by virtue of his positions as general secretary of the Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Lin had been reluctant to take the title of chairman instead of president, but he had agreed at the insistence of the PSC. A sign, Wang felt, of his boss’s humility and pragmatism.
“Good morning, Mr. Chairman,” said Wang cheerfully, noting that his boss looked a little tired. Together, they had scaled the labyrinth of the Communist Party, and Wang sensed that something big was in the air today.
“Good morning, comrade,” Lin said quietly. He poured Wang a cup of tea with the deference of a servant and not the leader of almost one-fourth of the world’s population. He took a sip himself and then continued.
“An extraordinary and terrible thing has happened early this morning. For reasons we don’t understand, our Dragon II oil platform at Chunxiao was attacked and sunk by Japanese naval forces. We retaliated by sinking two Japanese naval ships, two platforms, and one auxiliary vessel.” Wang was stunned, but remained silent as Lin continued.
“We will scratch our PSC agenda for today and turn our full attention to the Chunxiao issue. I was in my office when the first