“What about leave?” Vos inquired. “Surely you have some on the books.”
“I do,” Ryson admitted. “But where would I go?”
Vos smiled. “Can you ride a horse?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Would you like to learn?”
Ryson looked at her. Vos was a pretty woman. The kind that doesn’t think of herself that way but is. The lines around her eyes had been earned while staring into the sea-glare. And her mouth was what? Kissable? Yes. “I would like to learn,” Ryson told her. “Theoretically anyway.”
Vos laughed. “I own a cattle station back home. A neighbor runs it for me. We could spend a couple of weeks there.”
Ryson liked the look in her eyes. “Would the beer be cold?”
“Ice cold.”
“Would people shoot at me?”
“No.”
“Then I’m in.”
“Good,” Vos said as she stood. “I’ll make a dinner reservation for tonight. We can discuss the details then.” The door clicked behind her.
Ryson stared at it for a moment before returning to work. He felt better than he had in months. The war would continue. But something good was about to happen.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
As usual, I played fast and loose with some things, and was factual about others.
The Sea Dragon doesn’t exist. But the possibility of such a ship does. If you run a search using the terms “Arsenal Ship,” “Semi-submersible naval vessel,” and “Railgun” you’ll come up with some very interesting articles. The Sea Dragon qualifies as both an arsenal ship and a semisubmersible. Plus, she’s armed with a railgun.
Chinese politics are pretty opaque, but tensions between China’s top two leaders do exist, and could be a problem. Read the Wall Street Journal article “Discord Between China’s Top Two Leaders Spills into the Open” to get an inkling of what’s possible.
The Yulin Naval Base is very real, and capable of handling twenty nuclear submarines.
The Chinese list their surnames first. But, to avoid confusion for my western readers, I chose to put given names first.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet controls the Black Sea for all practical purposes, and occasionally sends ships into the Mediterranean.
In the sort of WWIII scenario imagined in my Winds of War books, the Allies would have no choice but to attack the Russian Fleet in order to protect countries like Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.
Plus, even though Turkey is a member of NATO, some people feel their present government can’t be trusted. I’m one of them. But I hope things will improve someday. I’ve been to Turkey and like the country.
Pegasus class hydrofoils were employed by the U.S. Navy from 1977 through 1993. The PHMs (Patrol, Hydrofoil, Missile) boats featured in this book are “next generation” PHMs as conceived of by me and the team of Pegasus experts listed under “Acknowledgements.”
As a group we had fun imagining what “Peg 2s” would be like, which is to say very similar to the originals—but with some improvements regarding size, speed, and technology.
I’m of the opinion that the United States should bring this class of vessel back for a wide variety of missions including those depicted in this book.
Samir island is a product of my imagination, but is similar in many ways to the very real atoll called Mischief Reef, which is presently occupied by the Chinese—and fictionally located north of Samir. (See map.)
Should you care to “visit” Mischief Reef, fire up Google Earth, and enter “Mischief Reef.” Once you “arrive,” you’ll see a lagoon with Chinese ships in it, plus a very serviceable airstrip—which wasn’t built to accommodate tourism.
Chinese Triads exist. They’re ranked as portrayed in the book, and there’s one in Hong Kong–Macao. And yes, they’ve been around for a long, long time.
I thought that “Sea Cow” submarines, like the fictional North Dakota were my invention until I Googled the name, and discovered that the Germans had Type XIV U-boats (modified Type IXDs), which were designed to resupply other U-boats. They were nicknamed “Milchkuh/Milchkühe” (milk cows).
Do such vessels exist now? Hmm. I wonder. Two of our ballistic missile subs were retrofitted to carry up to 66 special operations troops, so why not some diesel fuel too?
And yes, for any reader who may have questioned it, WD40 is available in China. I found it on the internet.
ABOUT THE WINDS OF WAR SERIES
In RED SANDS, volume six of the Winds of War series, WIII continues to rage as the Allies launch multiple raids deep into Iran looking for finished nuclear weapons that they believe exist.
RED SANDS is the story of Strike Team 3, a combined arms unit consisting of mechanized infantry Strykers and Tanks. Their objective is to seize control of the hardened Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz and search it. The facility is located twenty-six feet underground, and protected by a concrete wall that’s eight feet thick.
In February of 2003 General Mohamed El Baradei visited the site and reported that 160 centrifuges were complete, and ready for operation, with 1,000 more under construction. The site has been cloaked in secrecy ever since.
In order for Major Sean Finn and his troops to accomplish their mission, they will have to cope with the self-absorbed Saudi Prince (attached to the unit for political reasons), a company of Russian tanks that’s rolling south from the Caspian Sea, Iranian armor sent to kill them, and the Kavir desert.
And ultimately Strike Team 3 will have to deal with another enemy as well. A man so barbarous that he’s called the “Butcher of Kom,” and for good reason.
“It is,” in the words of the New York Times reporter embedded with Strike Team 3, “the definition of a suicide mission.”
ABOUT WILLIAM C. DIETZ
For more about William C. Dietz and his fiction, please visit williamcdietz.com.
You can find Bill on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/williamcdietz.
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