by Stephen Makk
“Now, let’s think why?” Nikki smiled at the Officers.
“Could it be that the Shang is on a recon mission for the People’s Liberation Army’s 1st Amphibious Mech division, and 164th Marines?”
It was clear that they’d not been spoken to by a female Lieutenant like this before. Each wore an expression like a Prom Queen playing the pink oboe. She placed her fists on the table and looked at each man in turn.
“Let’s take a look at some intel I have. Some of it is via satellite, some I can’t tell you.”
A TAR BLACK DARKNESS lay over the strait. Nikki sat in the rear of the Blackhawk, her eyes closed in rest, not sleep.
A light flashed twice from the darkness below, the pilot indicated the position to his observer who flashed a signal back. The Blackhawk descended toward the flash, there it was again. He moved the aircraft towards its rendezvous.
The crewman prodded Nikki and helped her into the hoist sling. He slid open the side door, the prop downwash and noise filled the cabin. She was lowered over the side and dangled down. Within thirty seconds a submarine’s sail appeared and she was helped down by two crewmen. They took off the sling and it was pulled away. The helicopter pulled up and away into the dark sky. Nikki climbed down the sail’s steps to the main companionway.
“What’s on in the galley?” She asked the waiting crewman.
“Midrats sir.” Nikki smiled.
“I’m on it, Midrats and then hit the bunk, use up some zzees.”
MAY SAT WITH A BOWL of noodles in the expansive front window of the Jade Rabbit café.
There was a view over the river in the Sheshang district of the huge metropolis of Shanghai. The skyline was a forest of glass office towers.
It had been a long journey, she’d showed her MSS pass to the guard at the Lingshui river Naval base. He hadn’t even examined it. She put on plenty of hard faced authority and dominated him. She’d said she was there to check out base security and hit him hard with questions about his routine and what he’d done so far that night. When she’d finished, he was glad to see the back of the bossy Beijing bitch.
It was then a ferry crossing of the Qiongzhou strait to the mainland, a train ride to the large growing city of Guangzhou. Then a China Southern flight to Shanghai. She’d made her way here as she been told to. May looked about the place, there were a few men from some lawyer’s office by the topics they discussed. A couple of middle-aged women chattering away. A few others, nobody stood out. May scooped in the noodles, she was hungry, and the food was good. She was thinking about getting seconds when a young woman with a stroller looked to her.
“Could you help me with the door, it’s a bit heavy and hard to handle?”
“Yes.” She stood and opened the door for the girl, she stepped outside so the girl could lift the stroller over the small step.
“Thanks for that. It’s hard work with a little one.”
“I don’t mind, you’re ok.” The girl looked up at the scudding clouds.
“Weather’s looking up at last.”
May looked to the sky. “Is it? I’ve been away for a while.”
The girl smiled. “Yes, it’s looking better. The wind blows change, it’s time, a balmy change from the East.” May tried to hide her shock, that was the pass phrase.
“Yes May,” the girl nodded, “let’s go for a walk.”
The girl reached down into the stroller’s carry rack and took out two paper smog masks.
“Here wear it. It’s not bad today, but It’ll hide your face.” The two set off and made several turns. They came to a café, The Golden Garden, and May held the door. Men and a few women sat at tables with cups of tea, most were playing the game of Go. The girl walked to the rear of the café and pushed the stroller into a back room. The door hung in drapes.
Sat at two tables were an old man with a long drooping moustache, a middle aged woman and three men in their thirties. One wore a black eye patch over his left eye. They looked at her as if she was from another world.
One of the younger men leaned towards her and scratched his chin. “Well, who are you?”
She knew they’d expect the pass phrase.
“I bring a change, from the sea to the East. I’m with the Tiger.” The man smiled and reached out to shake her hand.
“Welcome to Shanghai. You’ll know me as Hue.”
“I’m May,” she gave him a faint smile.
The younger man sat back and looked at her with a careful stare.
“May, we know who you work for, we consider the NSB an ally. Could you tell us in your own words what you’re here for?”
She glanced at the five of them, the three young men, the old man and the girl. The child was impassive in its stroller.
“I’m to help you in any way I can. My understanding is that you have a mission for an NSB operative and I’ve been selected to help. Anything I see that I think the NSB could be of assistance with, I’m to note and recommend to my superiors.”
“We do have a mission for you,” he looked at her intensely, “it will be difficult.” May nodded. “That’s not much of a surprise.”
“Your mission needs to be carried out tomorrow. May, what we need to do is...”
He described the mission to her. She knew it would be difficult and unpleasant. Tomorrow too, she knew she was deep in it alright.
She looked down and gathered her thoughts, it wasn’t exactly unexpected. But tomorrow? She was being thrown into the deep end, May was NSB and they’re who you call when you’re in the shit. This was her job, the job she’d been trained for, May knew she worked for her nation. If the nation wanted it done then she’d have to do it, no ifs no buts no choice. It was all down to her, the responsibility was hers and hers alone. She then looked at him with a determined stare.
“I’ll do it.”
“You don’t need to actually do it, the act I mean, but you must be there,” Hue replied.
“I said I’ll do it and that’s it” The young man smirked.
“Then this is what we’ll do.”
Chapter 5
A gentle poke in the ribs, she slept on. Another poke. “Ohh, go away.” A softness against her lips. Nikki opened her eyes.
“Morning, Nik.” It was him, it was Nathan.
“Hi.”
“The cabin’s clear so I came to wake you myself.” He smiled. “It’s watch time, get your breakfast and I’ll see you in the CR.”
“Thanks, you do a nice wake up, morning sir,” a playful smile danced over her lips. He glanced back at her and grinned.
SHE WALKED INTO THE Galley and up to the server counter.
“Morning sir, welcome back aboard. Omelette and coffee?”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to a boat’s breakfast. Plenty of onions please?”
“Nice and overdone sir.”
“That’s it.”
She sat with a dark-haired woman.
“Hi Nikki, how was it ashore?”
“Hi, I didn’t get much time to look around, but it looks a happening city.” Kate LeDonns a Lieutenant in Engineering and Nikki had become fairly close whilst aboard the boat.
“Winched up onto a helicopter too. That beat’s the bus Nikki.”
“Yeah,” she grinned, “but being winched back down at night, just a few lights down there and a shit load of sea. That’s not good Kate.”
“You can stay onboard, just come aft and play with a few engines if you like.” Nikki laughed.
“You’re a grease Monkey, that’s your thing.” The women chatted, and after a while Nikki left for the control room.
“WELCOME BACK LIEUTENANT.” Sayers looked up from his console and grinned.
“Hello Lieutenant, all go well?” asked Nathan.
“Yes sir. I’d like to request a war committee.”
“Ok, get some coffee and bring it to the Wardroom.” The three of them Nikki Kaminski, Larry Sayers the XO and Nathan took their places at the table.
“You get some of the lo
cal chow ashore Nikki?” grinned Larry.
“Yes, some kind of fish and fried rice. It beats a Groton hotdog.”
Larry shrugged. “Get some onions and mustard on there and the cadet in me would give you a hard time over that.” Nathan swallowed a mouthful of coffee.
“Ok Nikki let’s hear it.”
Nikki placed her Tablet on the table and opened the Ghost Crab file. She switched on and linked into the wall monitor screen, the display showed a map of Taiwan. Very roughly a football shape it tilted backwards, at the top towards the east. The Island had a protuberance at the bottom.
“Taiwan.” she used a laser pointer to highlight what she talked about.
“I’ve been putting plenty of hours in on this file, I’ve called it Ghost Crab, I started thinking about this after we tracked the Shang close in off the coast, I thought why Taichung City? What the hell’s there? So, I started doing some research. As you know the city has very impressive port facilities and it faces the west, the strait.”
The XO held his palms up. “Yeah, I expect Joe Chinaman will keep a close eye on the place. They probably do this sort of thing all the time. Port facilities matter to a navy.” Nathan crossed his arms and looked at the screen. “The PLAN probably has a rolling program to keep up to date on Taiwanese ports, airports and the like.” Nikki leaned forward over the table and placed both palms down. She shook her head.
“That’s what I thought,” she looked at them in the eyes one after the other, “then I found out, I was wrong.” She stood and paced the room then pointed the laser light at the screen.
“Not again Kaminski,” said the XO, “sit the fuck down.” Larry knew that pacing walk, the intense stare she always adopted when she was going to drop a bombshell.
Nathan just sat back and smirked. She zoomed in on the coastal Taichung City to the centre west of the Island about 60 miles south southwest of Taipei.
“You see this river here, it’s just to the north of the docks area, follow it inland and it skirts to the north of the airport. It then turns south where it’s crossed by several bridges, you can then drive over a bridge and onto highway 8, around the centre of the island you join highway 7. This takes you north towards the southern outskirts of Taipei.”
“So, you know your Taiwan geography,” the XO shrugged.
Nikki ignored him. “The PLAN knows that to invade and conquer Taiwan you must cut off its head and that’s Taipei. The Taiwanese know this too and concentrate their defences on and around the city. To make an opposed amphibious landing close to Taipei is asking for it big style.
How do you invade then?” She pointed again at the coastal city.
“You go in here, and up through the soft underbelly of the nation. Taichung City, highways 8 and 7 north then come into the city from the relatively unprotected south.”
Nathan rubbed his temples.
“The ROC army must be aware of this?”
“Yes Nathan they are, I met senior Officers at the National Ministry of Defence building.”
“You what?”
She smiled. “Chen Huo, Director of 2nd Division NSB likes my legs and ass, so I just flashed them and asked if I could make the visit and he said I could.” Nathan smiled and shook his head.
“They’re aware of the issue but they admit it’s lightly defended,” she said, “if they draw troops away from the Taipei area they could be caught out. They are aware of a possible diversion attack from the south, but don’t pay it much attention. So, we have two close inshore passes by the Shang. Larry, if you had diesel electric boats? Would you use them for close in reccon? It’s obviously an important close recon of landing zones.”
“But?”
“No but Larry,” smirked Nikki, “butts are what you sit on and Joe Chinaman’s not sitting on his. I got the DOD to lean on the NSA for satellite intel and Joe is off his butt and mobilising.
1st Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Division based in Hangzhou is charged with the Taiwan repossession. They have columns of trucks choking the highways to the ports. Much of the transport is done at night to minimise disruption, but not all. Wenzhou, Fuzhou and Quanzhou are major ports and are beyond full. Airports are at full capacity.
The 1st and 164th Marine brigades, South Sea Fleet, based in Zhanjihang will form the strike force. They’ll come in from the sea, up and along roads near the river, and along the river too. They’ll capture and cross bridges. PLAN armour will move along highway 8 and then north on highway 7. The 1st Amphibious Division has plenty of units to press on inland after the Marines have kicked the door down. Taichung City’s ports and airport will fall quickly, and reinforcements will pour in. Gentlemen, the NSA’s big birds tell us these forces are mobilising.” She put her knuckles on the table and leaned forward.
“I may be just a broad to you. But we know when a guy’s trying it on and Joe Chinaman is looking to get into Taiwan’s panties, I can smell it from here.” Larry laughed.
“So that innocent, proceed to the Taiwan Strait message COMSUBPAC gave us, puts us into a potential war zone. Sheeit why me?”
“Nathan, I’ll get my report from Taiwan off to the puzzle palace after this meeting.”
Nathan nodded. “We can be sure of one thing, if this Goddamn mess does kick off the PLAN won’t be tied up in port. We’ll have company both down here and up there, both surface and airborne ASW. Landing ships, warship protection, fighters flying top cover. It’s gonna be a party. Uncle Joe’ll open a fried rice and noodles store. And right in the thick of it will be good old USS Stonewall Jackson.”
He remembered May Hsin’s words at breakfast in the hotel in Taipei. “I’m afraid for my country. Afraid of what you’ll do, what you’ll feel you have to do.” He now knew just what she was going on about. This was all going to hell in a handbasket.
SHANGHAI.
TANG LI DESCENDED THE steps from the modern apartment building and crossed the busy road by a grey metal bridge. At the far side she walked off to her office. It was a long walk twenty minutes, but she knew it was good exercise and she’d arrive fresh. The MSS liked its staff athletic and clearheaded. The crowds bustled their way by, all ignoring each other. Tang was in her late twenties and walked with the cool panache of someone sure of herself. Just ahead were raised voices, a man’s and a young woman’s. As she got closer Tang saw a man and woman dressed in clothes that hadn’t been cleaned in months, several holes with insulation jutting out covered his arm. She pushed a stroller with a child in it. Tang couldn’t see it’s face but she felt sorry for the young thing.
“You fucking lazy bitch, were you on your ass again. With that shower of snotty cows. Next time you’ll get what I tell you.” He slapped her about the face time after time, the girl cried and shouted “No, no, you..” A policeman had heard the commotion and had walked over to investigate. The man slapped the girl harder, then he hit her twice with his fists. Blood dripped from her nostril.
“You. Stop that,” the Policeman shouted. He hit her again. “No.” The policeman took the man and pushed him against the wall and roughly put handcuffs on him. “You’re off to the yard. So, we’ll see how you like it there.”
The girl with the stroller sobbed, she looked pitiful. Tang stopped, she knew she shouldn’t, but she’d seen that sort of thing in the town she’d once called hers.
“Come on, let me get you home. I’ll get you some food and a coffee. How’s the child?”
“Ji’s ok, he’s seen it before.” She sobbed again. Tang helped her along a couple of blocks, they passed a stall and Tang bought the girl a plastic pot of noodles and a coffee. She pushed the stroller now that the girl had her hands full. “Thanks Miss.”
“I’m Tang, and you?”
“Gao, or bitch that’s what he calls me the bastard.” They walked on, the last thing Tang expected this morning was pushing a stroller. Gao hungrily scooped up the noodles. “It’s down here.” They turned right into a side street. Rubbish and discarded fast food boxes littered the narrow street. A
dog had its nose buried in some dumped plastic bags.
“Here, up these steps, it’s my older sisters.”
Tang had to tip the stroller and pull it up the steps behind her, Gao was still gulping coffee and slurping noodles. They reached a door, Gao dropped the empty plastic cup down the steps and opened the door.
Tang looked around. On the couch laid out a wretch of a girl. Lank unkempt hair, dried flaking eye shadow, she was dressed like whore, probably was, thought Tang. With a cigarette and bags under her eyes, she was gutter material. Around the couch were two empty wine bottles.
“Gao. He hit you again?” She dropped her head back down, too tired and high on something to care.
“You got some drinks for Ji?”
She pointed to the cupboards. “In there.” The young woman walked over and took out a plastic bottle. She opened the bottle, walked over to the stroller, then doubled up in pain.
“What’s wrong.”
“My stomach. I must go to the toilet now. Please spoon this out to Ji. Please?” The girl walked off down a side corridor. Tang looked at the baby and the bottle. How did I get myself into this?
She crouched down. How was she going to feed the boy?
“Do you have a spoon?”
“Ohh...” Came the sound from the wretch on the couch.
“Yeah I’ll get.” She stood up and stumbled into the kitchen.
Trust me to get involved, Tang Li looked at her wristwatch, she had to leave soon. She heard the sister behind her stumbling back into the room. A hand closed firmly around Tang’s mouth and chin and pulled her roughly up. She felt a sharp pain as a blade was drawn across her neck. Her eyes were wild with surprise and pain. The hand gripped her hard pulling her back against a body. She realised she’d misjudged the wretch. Tang’s vision faded, she felt the warm blood on her chest, and then, and then she slept...