“You have helped my granddaughter,” Song said, matter-of-factly. “I am grateful for this. But I will not betray my country.”

“I understand,” Cathy said. “And so does Jack.” She purposely refrained from calling him “the President.” This was a one-human-being-to-another discussion. Not world leader’s wife to world leader’s general.

“Had you asked me about the Spratly Islands,” Song said at length, “or our military strength, or anything of that sort, I would have walked away. To be quite frank, I am not what you Americans would call ‘in the know.’ I do, however, have my suspicions, and I would confirm what your husband believes. The chairman has China’s best interests at heart. If he is given a weapon, something to make China stronger, I am sure he would use this thing, no matter how many people had to die in order to get it — just as your husband would use it for America. But taking something that is offered and ordering the methods used to achieve it are vastly different things.”

Cathy kept her face passive, but thought how far off that notion was from Jack’s personal philosophy.

“I will tell you this,” Song went on. “One of our generals, General Bai — your husband will know the name — has become quite brazen in his claims to the chairman. In truth, I know little of these claims, only that he is making promises regarding war.”

He fell silent. A more professional operative might have let him stew, but Cathy couldn’t stand it for long. “Promises? Why would anyone want a war? What could possibly be the end game?”

Song gave a sad chuckle. “You Americans always give your opponent too much credit. Sometimes, more often than not, I think, there is no master plan, just a brave — or reckless — person with the power to make things move. Do not forget, in 1961 the Soviets had no idea how to get Gagarin back to earth in his space capsule. They wanted to lay claim to putting the first man in space, so they sent him up anyway and had him bail out as the capsule fell to earth.”

“That’s a plan of sorts,” Cathy mused.

“Part of a plan,” Song corrected. He turned halfway to check on his granddaughter, speaking almost to himself. “And I wonder if General Bai has much more than that small piece of a plan he is making up as he goes along.” Song looked suddenly at Cathy. “Do you know what you Americans have over us in China?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Over us,” he said. “Superior to us. Maybe I am saying it incorrectly. You outspend us by far on your defense budget, but it is far more than that. The difference is, we only train. The United States military has fighting experience. General Bai has a calligraphy on his wall that translates to something like: One does not prepare for war with practice. One prepares for war with war. Bai is a general who has grown tired of scenarios and games. I believe he wants a fight.”

Song leaned in ever so slightly, prepared now to divulge the crux of his message.

“General Bai is very self-assured when he speaks to the chairman, going so far as to say he can assure a certain victory with any adversary in an armed conflict. You may tell your husband there is an operation under way called FIRESHIP, but I have no idea what it is. I am, however, certain of one thing: Mutually assured destruction is still complete destruction. No one wins. Like you, Dr. Ryan, my wife and I want a peaceful world for our granddaughter. Now, if you will excuse me, I believe I have committed enough treason for the day.”

<p>55</p>

Seamless coordinated communication through the E2-C Hawkeye between commanders on surface vessels, attack aircraft, and Special Operations war-fighters on the ground reduced the time involved in what was known as the “kill chain process.” Valuable minutes were saved in more quickly identifying a target, moving assets to a location of attack, ordering that attack, and finally destroying the target.

High-speed communication and the constant movement of military aircraft over USPACOM made Calliope’s jump to her next target a foregone conclusion. Replications of the same Calliope software made similar jumps, each working to reach the same target.

The copy of Calliope that was closest to target jumped from a command-and-control Hawkeye out of Point Mugu, hitching a ride via data-link handshake to her next host, a KC-135 from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron in Kadena Air Base, Japan. She deleted herself from the E2-C as she made the jump and settled in to explore the systems of the big fuel station flying miles above the Pacific Ocean.