Chapter 1 / Page 5

“Where is the Chinese sub now?”

“Still in the Gulf.”

“And the surface vessel?”

“Unknown—most likely port of origin was Basra.”

“What happened to the red guys?”

“Unknown—presumed dead.”

“Why’d the Chinese leave their own guys?”

“Unknown—maybe they detected the U-2.”

“What do you know?”

“Nothing for sure.”

“What do you think you know?”

Stillwell cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Captain.” The idea of civility and politeness from someone as antisocial as Stillwell caused some of the hubbub to subside, and most everyone turned in his direction.

He sat up. “Does anyone have any idea why the Iraqis shot those Chinese sailors?”

“What shots?” demanded the Navy Secretary.

The NSA held up his hand commanding silence and turned back to Stillwell. This was something no one had mentioned up to this point. “Go on, Mister Stillwell.”

“The last picture after the submarine disappears. There are flashes from the surface vessel.” The photo reappeared on the screen. “Now, something certainly scared the Chinese captain. He dropped back into the Gulf without waiting for his men to get back inside. You know what—the same thing scared the Iraqi sailors. Those flashes look like muzzle blasts from automatic or semiautomatic weapons. My money would be on automatic weapons. The Iraqis are shooting the Chinese guys in the water. So something scared them real bad.”

He had their attention now. Center stage, all he needed was a white board to draw pictures on. Instead, he asked the briefing officer to back up several photos to the point where the red blobs disappear.

“Up to this point everything looks fine. We’ve got the Iraqis in DayGlow yellow suits, and the Chinese in DayGlow red suits. Kind of strange don’t you think? Here they are under cover of darkness, in the middle of the Gulf during a US satellite blackout. The sub is obviously black. The surface ship is probably some sort of gray or mottled brownish green thing. So why do we have a bunch of people bouncing around in reflective clothing?” His eyes locked with the Two Star sitting closer to the front of the room. The General knew the answer, but being a General in this administration brought him under suspicion. That’s why Brian had been invited. A civilian expert was needed to tell the political appointees the truth.