“JCS doesn’t agree with the DCI’s estimation, sir,” Curtis said. The look the President, as well as Wayne, gave him could have chilled a polar bear. “We don’t discount the DCI’s theory, but we have evidence of another possibility that I feel it would be more prudent to act upon.” The President had a very slight — but very noticeable — exasperated frown — he didn’t like being told that he was wrong. He rolled his hand as if to say, “Get on with it.” Curtis said, “My staff feels that this attack may be a prelude to an all-out attack and invasion of the Philippines by China…” Everyone in the room sat up. Voices started coming at Curtis and at President Taylor all at once.
“Ridiculous…”
“Totally off the mark…”
“They’d never try it…”
Curtis pressed on. “All I have is speculation, sir, but we’re forgetting China has long historical claims to many of the Philippine Islands and the fact that ethnic Chinese make up a great majority of the Philippine population. Couple that with someone like Daniel Teguina, who has strong Communist ties, and you’ve got the makings of a real land-grab.” Voices of dissent were heard from the CIA director, the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Advisor. The President cleared his throat — loudly. All heads turned to him. “Look, we can speculate all we want, but without any information, speculation’s not going to do us a damned bit of good.” He turned to the DCI. “No word from Manila yet? Or Mikaso?”
“All lines are still jammed, sir. Satellite and HF networks are still down.”
This got a grunt from the President. “And what about China? Have we heard what they think about all this?”
DCI Kenneth Wayne said, “We’ve got calls in to everyone, sir, including Premier Cheung.”
The President turned to Tom Preston, his Secretary of Defense. Preston had been silent so far. “Thomas, what do you think?”
“Well, this is an extremely vulnerable region, sir. And we’ve lost a lot of influence there since… leaving. So I think we’ve got to do at least an on-site military inspection. A task force sent from Hawaii or Japan would be sufficient and,” in partial acknowledgment to Curtis, he added, “would deter any possible aggression, if that were going to happen.”
“Uh-huh.” The President nodded. “We do have ships patrolling the area all the time, right? So we send a few in, check it out, keep them on station for a while, and get the CIA in as well. Meanwhile I can sell everyone — for the time being — on this being an accident.”
“Excuse me, sir, but there are several standard OPLAN responses that should be implemented, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have a few plans we’d like to offer as suggested responses,” Curtis interjected.
“You don’t think just a few ships — say, sending one carrier group — are enough?” the President asked. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Sir, the nuclear blast itself is cause enough for concern. But a single twenty-kilometer nuclear device detonated in the middle of one carrier battle group would destroy everyone and everything within five miles, including an aircraft carrier.
“This is why the standard OPLAN calls for the deployment of at least three carrier battle groups to the region, along with a Marine Expeditionary Force, the Twenty-fifth Infantry Division of the Army Western Command, and the Air Force First Air Battle Wing. They would deploy afloat or from Okinawa or Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, as appropriate. It is especially important these days since we have no… military forces in the Philippines. Even if we don’t use three, at least two carrier battle groups would be more appropriate.
“The only two carrier battle groups available are two fossil-fueled carriers,
The President still had that pained look in his eyes, but Curtis continued nonetheless:
“Because the two carrier groups have fewer air-to-ground attack planes, it was suggested to augment the task force by forming the First Air Battle Wing at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to—”
“The First — what? What the hell is that?” the President asked with irritation.
