“All active, reserve, national guard, inactive reserve, and former militia members under the age of sixty are ordered to active duty immediately. Report only to a district or city militia commander; do not report to a federal, National People’s Party, or New People’s Army official, or to anyone you do not know personally. If it is not possible to contact a militia commander, attempt to travel to Davao and report to a militia outpost.
“To all other citizens of Mindanao: Do not report for work. Do not surrender your weapons to anyone under any circumstances; keep them hidden. Report movements of Chinese or New People’s Army troops, or anyone you suspect of aiding or informing to the Chinese or NPA, to a militia member known to you. My militiamen will attempt to contact all residents of Davao, Samal, Panabo, Santo Tomas, and other towns on the Davao Gulf and take your women and children out of any known battle areas.
“If your town is under attack or is threatened, move toward the coast as quickly as you can. Do not move toward Davao, as you might move into the middle of a battle area, trapped between opposing forces. Avoid Chinese or NPA troops; travel on secondary or back roads, at night if possible. If you can travel by boat, do so only at night, stay hidden near the coastline, and avoid all large coastal towns. Do not assist any Chinese or federal government representatives or military personnel. If you are forced to assist them, do so to save your own life, but escape when it is safe to do so and resist to the best of your ability. Provide aid and comfort to any of my militia members known to you.
“Above all, pray for the strength and courage we will need to resist the Chinese invaders. As long as I live, I will do everything in my powers to remove the foreign invaders from our homeland. May God give me, and you, my loyal brothers and sisters, the strength to continue fighting until our country is once again free.
“This transmission will be recorded and repeated several times daily. Do not give up the fight.
“What do you mean, it’s down?” Brad Elliott asked. He kicked off the sheets, and his one good foot was hitting the floor milliseconds later as he readjusted the phone.
“Sorry, General, but that’s what it looks like,” Jon Masters said over the phone. “Carter-Seven didn’t download its last sensor pass over Mindanao. We’re checking on it right now, but I think our ground equipment is malfunctioning. I can’t poll the satellites.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Five minutes later, Major General Stone and Lieutenant General Elliott were racing for the command post. They found half of the back panels off the control consoles, the large-screen high-definition computer monitor was blank, and technicians scrambling everywhere. In the midst of it all was Jon Masters, wearing cut-off jeans and a flowered Hawaiian shirt, with his ever-present squeeze bottle of Pepsi in hand.
“Doctor Masters, what’s happening…?”
“We’re finishing our checks, Brad,” Masters replied. “It’s no problem. We’ll have the birds back on-line in no time.”
“You mean we lost
“It’s only temporary…”
“Can you launch another one?” Stone asked. “Do you have a backup?”
Masters wore an uncomfortably pained expression. “Ahhh… I might have a problem there, Dick,” Masters said. “I have the launch aircraft here, but I didn’t bring a spare booster or payload. They’re all back in Arkansas.”
“Big deal. Fly back to Arkansas and launch another one,” Stone snapped. “The EB-52s from HAWC will be here in less than fourteen hours, and the First Air Battle Wing will be here in less than eighteen…”
“You see, I got a problem back home,” Masters said. “My board of directors voted not to approve any more launches until our other contractual obligations are—”
“Doctor Masters, you have a contract with the United States Fucking Government!” Stone exploded. “I don’t want excuses, I want your butt back on that plane of yours so we can get another satellite up there. Now you either get me one or I’ll fry your ass.”
“That’s not necessary, General,” Masters said, totally unperturbed. “I can have the satellite back up shortly. Not one NIRTSat has ever failed, and this will not be the first, I promise you. Now let me get back to work.” He did not wait for a reply, but turned and left Stone with a drop-dead apoplectic look on his face.
