Episode 110

Pacific Command HQ

Joint Base Hickam Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

“… Say again, NEGATIVE TORCHLIGHT…”

Everyone in the operations room at Pearl Harbor exhaled at once. The tension in the room had been rising steadily since the original Torchlight call.

“Please inform the NCA that we are standing down from Torchlight.”

“Aye, aye sir!”

While the Admiral had been prepared to make North Korea pay for a nuclear attack on Japan, he hadn’t been looking forward to it. That type of escalation could end in any number of horrible ways.

He turned to his intelligence chief. “Tom, any word on the Chinese?”

“Yes, sir. It looks like they are going to maximum alert posture. Plenty of signals intelligence coming in.”

“Any sign that they are going to escalate to nuclear?”

“Not yet. A JSTARS bird picked up a mobile launcher about an hour ago and we’re watching it now. Seems to be on the move to protect it, but no signs they’re going to shoot.”

“Hopefully, the DPRK launch scared them as much as us.”

“Hell, they’re closer. I wouldn’t want that madman for a neighbor.”

The Admiral looked around the room. “Walk with me, Tom.”

Once outside the building, Braverman savored the fresh tropical air of Hawaii. It was strange to be involved so closely in the grim business of running a war from such an idyllic place. He had been so focused on the conduct of the war, the rest of the world had slowly faded from his awareness.

“Tom, I have to tell you, that attack scared the hell out of me.”

“Yes, sir. Me too.”

“Do you think that Long Snap is going to work?”

“I still think it’s our best chance.”

The Admiral walked on, obviously thinking hard. “In a way, this could work in our favor.”

“How so?”

“Do you think that our opposing numbers had similar thoughts to ours just now?”

“Yeah, unless they’re completely psychotic, they must have been worried about the outcome.”

“OK, green light phase three.”

“Yes, sir.”

Within thirty minutes, all of the AWACS and JSTARS aircraft within five hundred miles of China began to broadcast the same message, in the clear and over a range of frequencies known to be monitored by the Chinese.

“Attention, Commander Chinese Forces Pacific Theater. As you are now aware, allied forces are able to strike your homeland at will. To date we have refrained from these attacks in the interest of preventing further escalations. We understand that China has similarly refrained from unnecessary civilian casualties. We believe that our two countries are at risk from further escalations such as the attack on Japan by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In order to prevent unnecessary and dangerous escalations, we propose negotiations at your choice of location and time. You have forty eight hours to respond before the next phase of engagements begin.”

Thirty hours later, the response came back: “Yǒngxīng Dǎo, 22:00 zulu.”