CHILDREN OF TIME (2025 Edition) by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 10 – SOUTH CHINA SEA

 

09:16 (Philippines Time )

Monday, December 7, 2015 ‘A’

Filipino tugboat SAN MARINO

near Second Thomas Shoal

Spratly Islands, South China Sea

Captain Olivero Muños scanned again the western horizon with his binoculars as he stood on the bridge of his tugboat, feeling apprehensive. There had been bad blood for decades already between the Philippines and the Peoples’ Republic of China, or

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PRC, about the possession of the various small islands and reefs in the northern portion of the Spratly Islands. The Philippines were in fact not alone in this dispute, with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam all claiming some or all of the Spratly Islands area, while the PRC claimed the whole of the South China Sea, including even waters which were inside the traditional 200 nautical miles limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ, of the countries bordering the South China Sea. All that was basically to control the rich resources of the region in fish and in potential hydrocarbon deposits under the seabed. Some shooting incidents had even occurred in the past because of the dispute, like when Vietnam had been violently thrown out of the Paracel Islands by the Communist Chinese in 1974, or when Chinese ships had fired on Vietnamese fishing boats in 2005. More recently, a Filipino Navy ship had exchanged fire less than a year ago with two Chinese patrol boats near the Scarborough Shoal, another disputed area of the Spratly Islands. In the case of the SAN MARINO, Muñoz knew that he had reasons to be anxious, as his ship was towing a big tanker barge towards an oil exploration platform of the Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., or SPEX, which was anchored near the Second Thomas Reef, known to Filipinos as the Ayugin Reef and to the Chinese as the Ren’ai Jiao Reef. That tanker barge was presently empty, but not for long if all went well on this trip. The SPEX had done its best to keep this a secret, but its platform had struck gold a few days ago, with all indications pointing to a huge oil field under the seabed near the Second Thomas Reef, which was itself situated less than 200 kilometers off the western coast of the Philippines’ Palawan Island, thus well inside the Filipino EEZ. The problem was that only a few kilometers away from the Second Thomas Reef was the Chinese-occupied Mischief Reef. The Chinese had been building and expanding there since 1995 an outpost which supposedly was only a shelter for passing Chinese fishermen but which was in reality much more like an artificial fortress island, complete with radars, a runway and a military garrison. With the PRC insisting that the whole of the South China Sea was part of its territorial waters and with the growing aggressiveness of Chinese patrol ships, the eventual knowledge of a huge oil find in this area would certainly attract Chinese action of some kind. In view of the potential huge revenues at stake, the Filipino government had lent the support of one of its navy ships as an escort to the SAN MARINO, to keep at bay any Chinese ship that could try to intercept it.

Not seeing other ships except the Filipino escort ship and with the SPEX oil platform now visible on the horizon, Muñoz looked down on the forward deck at his three

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passengers on this short coastal trip. Two of them were SPEX employees, one an engineer and the other a production manager. The third passenger was a tall, athletic Canadian woman who had been the visual target of his crew since she had come aboard to go do a news report for CNN on the oil platform. Apart from exciting the libido of his crewmen with her fantastic body, stretching along 183 centimeters of height, she was famous all over the World for many reasons, one being that she had won the Women’s World Karate Championship in Tokyo only a month ago and had then defeated the World’s male champion in a challenge match after he had insulted her in public. Her numerous television reports and articles from various war zones as a war correspondent had also established her as a professional reporter of great courage and competence. Further, this Nancy Laplante was also a part-time actress, having played in two successful action films to date, including as the She-Hulk in AVENGERS 2, which was still breaking records at the box office and making a fortune for the Marvel Studios. She was certainly bound to attract the undivided attention of the men working on the oil platform once there.

The first sign of trouble came when a small, speedy ship appeared on the western horizon as the SAN MARINO and its towed tanker barge were less than a kilometer from the oil exploration platform. The Filipino Navy ship reacted to it at once, increasing speed and changing its course to interpose itself between the newcomer and the SAN MARINO. Muñoz swore to himself when he recognized the incoming ship as being a Chinese armed patrol boat, probably coming from the nearby base on Mischief Reef. Hoping that the presence of the Filipino Navy ship would be enough to keep that Chinese boat away, Muñoz concentrated on the delicate job of slowing down and maneuvering the big barge towed by his ship, so that it could be tied alongside the platform prior to being filled with crude oil. That was no easy feat by itself and took a good twenty minutes before the barge and the tugboat were secured to the oil platform. Muñoz’ three passengers then climbed aboard the oil platform with their luggage, while crewmen connected a large hose to the tanker barge in order to fill it. Thankfully, the presence of the Filipino Navy ship, an old ex-American minesweeper built in 1944 but bristling with guns and automatic cannons, seemed enough to deter the Chinese patrol boat from approaching too close from the SAN MARINO and the platform, but Muñoz could bet that it was transmitting by radio what it was seeing right now. More Chinese ships could thus very well show up soon.

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Nancy gave a worried look at the Chinese patrol boat as she reached the main level of the oil platform with the two SPEX employees who had traveled with her on the SAN MARINO. The dispute for the Spratly Islands had been tense enough for years but, now that a sizeable oil field had been found and was about to start being exploited, the stakes had just become much higher. From her long career as a war correspondent, she understood fairly well how the Chinese communist government functioned and behaved when what it perceived to be its national interests were at stake. With many competing bureaucracies and powerbrokers in the PRC trying to outdo each other constantly in order to get bigger pieces of the pie, diplomatic niceties were often thrown aside, with sometimes rash, uncoordinated actions taken while government spokesmen would spew with straight faces some outrageous statements in order to justify their actions. With the level of animosity and distrust that this dispute had reached, she was nearly certain that something bad was going to happen here, hence her presence as a war correspondent for CNN. As the senior field agent of the Time Patrol, she could have used her access to archives from the future to learn in advance about this crisis, but she had chosen not to, for many reasons. First, she was resolved to live this life of hers in the 21st Century, her true time of origin, as a simple war correspondent and, for the last few years, as a part-time actress, without using her time travel talents except when she had to protect herself in truly dire circumstances. Second, using foreknowledge from the future in order to help her career as a war correspondent ran the risk of creating time causality loops, with consequences often impossible to predict and which could damage the integrity of history, something she had vowed to prevent at all cost as an agent of the Time Patrol. Finally, using such foreknowledge would be plain cheating, something she was loathe to do. She prided herself of being a true expert in military and international affairs and had used strictly her professional knowledge and experience to predict this looming crisis and then propose to CNN to make an in-depth coverage and analysis of the South China Sea dispute. She had now been roaming the coasts and waters of the South China Sea for two weeks already, much of that time spent in and around Vietnam, one of the main players in that dispute and a country which was engaged in a particularly harsh, bitter confrontation with the PRC. Up to now, everything told her that this dispute was ready to turn sour very fast all over the South China Sea, with the PRC’s hard line and militaristic approach succeeding in making the other players in this dispute, tired of being pushed around, agree to form an informal alliance against China.

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A big Caucasian man greeted Nancy and the two SPEX employees once they set foot on the main level, shaking hands first with Ferdinand Santiago, the production manager sent from Manila to assess the true potential of the newfound oil field.

‘’Welcome aboard, Mister Santiago. I am Jack Simpsons, manager of this exploration rig. Unfortunately, as you can see, things may soon become tense here.’’

‘’I can see that, Mister Simpsons. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail. May I present you Mister Derek Blandy, one of our top engineers, who will help me evaluate the production potential of your field. Also with us is Miss Nancy Laplante,

correspondent for CNN, who is working on a story about the South China Sea dispute. She is here with the full blessing of our company.’’

‘’Welcome aboard, Miss Laplante.’’ said with a big smile Jack Simpsons while shaking hands with her, admiring her pretty face framed by long black hair, as well as her sparkling green eyes. ‘’It is both an honor and a pleasure to welcome such a famous person as you on our modest installation.’’

‘’Some would rather call me infamous, Mister Simpsons. I promise that I won’t be in the way while on your platform. I just need a bunk bed and a space to drop my kit and I will be happy. I would like your permission to set up my small portable satellite uplink unit near an external power outlet, so that I could transmit my reports to CNN. In fact, with this Chinese gunboat nearby, I may just send in a report as soon as I’m settled here.’’

‘’No problems, Miss Laplante. If you will all follow me, I will lead you to your quarters.’’

Nancy, along with Santiago and Blandy, followed Simpsons to a nearby access door situated just under the fringe of the platform’s helicopter landing pad, entering the fairly large section housing the crew of the platform and following a series of steel corridors. Simpsons finally stopped near three doors lining a side corridor, turning to face his visitors.

‘’We are now in the senior crew quarters section of the platform. You will each have a cabin with private bathroom and shower. I hope that you will be satisfied.’’ Nancy entered one of the cabins offered by Simpsons, finding it of fair size and reasonably comfortable in view of where she was. It had air conditioning, a small television set connected to a satellite downlink, a captain’s bed and a small work table,

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plus a large storage locker. A small adjacent bathroom contained a toilet, a sink and a shower stall. Dropping her kit bag on the floor but keeping her backpack satellite antenna unit and her video camera with her, she came out and smiled to Simpsons.

‘’This will do just fine, Mister Simpsons.’’

‘’Please, call me simply Jack, miss.’’

‘’And you may call me Nancy. Could you show me a spot where I could set up my antenna unit out of the way of your crew?’’

‘’I certainly can do that while Misters Santiago and Blandy unpack, Nancy. This way, please.’’

Describing the various compartments they were passing by while guiding her, Simpsons went up a series of steep stairs, going up the superstructures of the platform next to the drilling derrick tower. They finally emerged in the open air on the top platform, where a number of antennas were fixed to the steel deck. Going to an empty spot away from the other antennas, Simpsons showed to Nancy a nearby power outlet box next to a guardrail post.

‘’I believe that this should do for you, Nancy. You can use the guardrail post to tie down your antenna pack. This platform is quite stable but sometimes the winds can be fierce.’’

‘’Perfect! If you don’t mind, I will do a short report to Atlanta as soon as I’m set here, so that I can test the satellite link.’’

‘’You are welcomed to roam around the platform as you wish, Nancy. I will be in the control room, two levels down from here, if you need me.’’

‘’Thank you again, Jack. You are very helpful.’’

‘’To a beautiful woman like you, always.’’ replied the platform manager with a grin before leaving her alone on the top platform. It took only four minutes to Nancy to put down her backpack unit, secure it to the guardrail and deploy its folding antenna, then to point the latter towards a specific point of the sky, getting a satellite link signal. Next, she took out her handheld satellite telephone and called the communications center of the CNN headquarters in Atlanta, advising one of the duty technicians there that she was set up and ready to operate, giving him at the same time the coordinates of the exploration platform. Powering her video camera, which had a UHF radio linking it to her backpack antenna unit, she pointed her lens first at the nearby Filipino Navy ship, then at the Chinese patrol boat still turning around the platform, in order to make sure that Atlanta was receiving a good quality signal. When the CNN technician confirmed that he

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had a good picture and sound from her, Nancy thanked him and powered down her camera, intent on saving its battery pack for later. Her equipment, paid for by CNN, was the best there was on the market and, while compact and lightweight, had some very advanced features, including an integrated GPS positioning receiver in both her backpack unit and her camera. The GPS unit in her camera was further linked to an eye-safe laser rangefinder which, once powered and pointed, transmitted the precise coordinates of what she was filming, showing them and the date-time data in a small corner window of her recorded picture. She also had a special night vision lens that could be adapted to her camera if she wished to film in the dark. She was in fact about as well equipped as a modern artillery forward observer in terms of communications and surveillance equipment. The only thing she didn’t have with her was a weapon, but then she didn’t really need one. First, an openly armed reporter would be frowned upon and would repel potential sources of information. Second, she didn’t need weapons to be deadly, at any distance. Her supernatural powers as a Chosen of The One, the immaterial but immensely powerful spiritual being who had first connected with her in 1940 ‘B’, gave her ways to both defend herself and destroy or neutralize an attacker if need be.

With her video camera back in an equipment pouch she wore slung from one shoulder and with a still camera hanging from her neck, Nancy left the antenna platform, going back down to the main level and exploring the oil platform for the next hour or so, getting familiar with its setup and also reading up on the safety regulations and procedures of the platform, which were posted on a wall of the crew lounge. By then, most of the 37 men working on the platform had learned of her presence aboard, with many of them approaching her to get an autograph from her. She was in the process of signing one of her calling cards and giving it to a happy rig worker when the platform’s P.A. system came alive.

‘’Miss Laplante is requested urgently in the control room. Miss Laplante, please report to the control room at once.’’

From the tone of Simpsons’ voice, who had done the announcement, Nancy guessed that it wasn’t simply to invite her for lunch. Getting some quick directions from the rig worker, she then ran down a corridor and up a staircase, ending up in the platform’s control room in less than two minutes, barely breathing faster than usual. Jack

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Simpsons, who stood with Ferdinand Santiago and Derek Blandy in front of one of the large windows of the control room, gave her a worried look.

‘’I’m afraid that you may have something to report even sooner than you expected, Nancy: three more Chinese warships are now approaching our platform.’’

‘’Three warships on top of that gunboat? Let me look at them and I will be able to tell you which type they are.’’

Taking out of her equipment pouch her camera and pointing it in the direction indicated by Simpsons, she used her zoom lens to focus on three ships approaching fast. She tensed on recognizing them.

‘’This is effectively bad news, Jack. You have a TYPE 054 missile frigate, the latest type in service in the Chinese Navy, leading two fast missile catamaran boats of the HOUBEI class. I’m afraid that this will be more than just a courtesy visit. You better inform your company headquarters that trouble is brewing here. On my part, I will contact CNN headquarters in Atlanta and will start reporting live.’’ As Ferdinand Santiago hurriedly went to the satellite telephone of a nearby control station, Jack Simpsons looked at Nancy with apprehension.

‘’What kind of armament would those ships have, Nancy? Could our Filipino escort ship deal with them?’’

‘’Not a chance, Jack! Each of those two catamaran boats is armed with eight long range anti-ship missiles, while the JIANKAI-Class frigate has both anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, a main 100mm gun, four close-in Gatling 30mm guns and two anti-submarine rocket launchers. It also carries one medium helicopter. I’m afraid that this old Filipino corvette out there is hopelessly outgunned and outclassed.’’ Simpsons, like Blandy and Santiago, paled at these words.

‘’But, then, what could we do?’’

‘’I don’t know about you but, on my part, I will make sure right now that whatever happens here will be shown to the whole World. If you will excuse me, I will go outside on the open bridge to film those ships.’’

Leaving the control room by a door that gave on the open walkway surrounding it, Nancy grabbed her satellite telephone and called Atlanta, getting a technician there to answer her within seconds.

‘’CNN central communications center!’’

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‘’This is Nancy Laplante, calling from the SPEX exploration oil platform near the Second Thomas Reef, in the South China Sea. I have an urgent situation developing here which could turn into an international incident. Be ready to record my signal and to switch it to the live news desk. I am powering up my video camera right now.’’ Activating and pointing her camera, Nancy confirmed with the technician that he was getting her video and sound signal well, then asked to be connected to the live news room, getting there the duty editor in charge of collating and prioritizing the news presented live on CNN.

‘’Jeff, this is Nancy, reporting from the Filipino SPEX oil exploration platform in the Spratly Islands. I arrived on that platform about two hours ago, to report on a new and promising oil field just discovered under the seabed. The tugboat that brought me was towing an empty tanker barge that is presently being filled with 5,000 tons of crude oil from that new oil field. That tugboat was in turn escorted by a Filipino Navy ship that is still protecting the platform. One Chinese patrol boat at first tried to make the tugboat turn around but was kept away by the Filipino ship. However, I now have in sight three more Chinese warships coming fast towards the platform. This may turn ugly very quickly, with the Filipino ship hopelessly outgunned.’’

‘’I can see those approaching warships on my television screen now. What do you expect them to do once close to the platform, Nancy?’’

‘’At the minimum, they will try to intimidate the Filipino ship into fleeing, then could very well board this platform and take it by force, as they claim that this whole area is part of Chinese territorial waters. The new oil field just discovered by the Filipino SPEX company has too much potential not to attract greed, Jeff. At the worse, the Chinese may simply sink that Filipino escort ship and then take the platform. Whatever happens next, I will be transmitting live as long as I can.’’

‘’Christ! This could indeed become big news. I’m going to switch you to Bill, at the live anchor desk.’’

‘’Thanks, Jeff. I am ready to report now.’’

11:42 (Philippines Time)

United States Pacific Command headquarters

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

‘’Sir, you should see this on the CNN news feed.’’

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The duty operations officer in the big operations center of the United States Pacific Command, which controlled all the American forces in and around the Pacific, hurried to one of the television sets tuned at all times to various news channels, including CNN, and watched and listened for a few seconds the live report from Nancy before giving an order to a junior officer sitting at a nearby station.

‘’Show me what we have near the Spratly Islands at this time, Lieutenant.’’ The young officer frowned when he got that information, projecting it on a monitor screen for the benefit of the duty operations officer.

‘’It is rather slim, sir. We only have the USS INDEPENDENCE over there, but it is presently less than a hundred nautical miles from that oil platform. Our next nearest ship, the USS VIRGINIA nuclear attack submarine, is over 560 nautical miles away.’’ The rear admiral on duty frowned on hearing this: despite what official Navy spokespersons said, the LCS class, for Littoral Combat Ship, was an expensive lemon, overpriced, under-armed and full of design and construction flaws. The only thing it had in its favor was its high maximum speed of over forty knots.

‘’Very well, Lieutenant. Advise the USS INDEPENDENCE and tell her to head at highest speed towards that oil platform in order to assess the situation there. Then, advise as well the USS VIRGINIA and tell her to be ready to support the INDEPENDENCE if need be. Do we have any combat planes in or near the Philippines at this time?’’

‘’Uh, one moment, sir… Sir, we have four F/A-18F SUPER HORNETs on the ground at Clark Air Base, in the Philippines. They are there on a joint training exercise with the Filipino Air Force. With drop tanks, they could get to that oil platform and keep station over it for about one hour.’’

‘’Scramble them! I am going to inform the Admiral of this: this whole thing could turn ugly quickly.’’

11:58 (Philippines Time)

SPEX oil exploration platform

Near Second Thomas Reef, Spratly Islands

South China Sea

Looking gloomy, Jack Simpsons joined Nancy, who was still on the open catwalk and filming the approaching Chinese ships, now less than four kilometers away.

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‘’The Chinese just contacted us by radio: they gave us one hour to evacuate the platform and leave what they call ‘Chinese territorial waters’ before they will board and seize this platform.’’

‘’And what are the SPEX and the Filipino government saying about that, Jack?’’

‘’We still don’t have a reaction from them, but I suspect that they will try to call the Chinese bluff on this: there is too much at stake here to simply abandon the platform and flee.’’

Nancy gave the manager a cautious look.

‘’Jack, this may not be a bluff. If the oil field you found is as valuable as you think, then the Chinese will do everything to grab it and annex it. You know that the Filipino Navy is in no state to oppose such a Chinese move.’’

‘’Maybe, but Mister Santiago is not ready to let go our platform without at least some token resistance. He ordered me to arm my workers with the few rifles and shotguns we have aboard to deter local pirates. He also expects Manila to order us to stay put and to hope for the best. The escort ship will stay around in the meantime, at least until our tanker barge is full, in about half an hour. Then, it will escort the SAN MARINO and its barge back to port, but will leave with us a squad of armed sailors to help defend the platform against boarders.’’

‘’You realize that this could well result into spilled blood, Jack.’’

‘’I know, but simply giving in to these Chinese bullies is too infuriating.’’ Simpsons then returned inside, leaving Nancy to continue watching the Chinese warships.

Twenty minutes later, as the SAN MARINO and its now full oil barge were ready to separate from the oil platform, Ferdinand Santiago called Nancy inside the control room to give her the official Filipino response to the Chinese ultimatum. Waiting for Nancy to be online and filming him, the SPEX official put on a brave face and spoke up firmly in English while facing Nancy’s camera.

‘'My company and the government of the Philippines have just issued the following joint declaration concerning the attempts by Chinese warships to take control of this oil exploration platform. Despite what the government of the Peoples’ Republic of China may say, the Ayugin Reef, also known as the Second Thomas Reef, are Filipino possessions, along with the waters surrounding it, being well inside our Exclusive Economic Zone and having been claimed by the Philippines as such according to

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recognized international rules. The claims by the PRC that the Ayugin Reef and its waters are territorial Chinese waters are considered baseless by the government of the Philippines and will thus be ignored. Furthermore, the government of the Philippines will officially complain to the United Nations and to the ASEAN organization about this attempt at high seas piracy by the PRC. It is also resolved in defending its rightful possessions in the Spratly Islands from the abusive behavior of Chinese ships and has called for the help of its allies in the region to help it defend its maritime borders. It is now up to the Chinese government to show common sense and restraint and thus avoid the pointless use of violence over that of diplomacy.’’

‘’And what will be the response of the Filipino government if the Chinese try to seize by force this oil platform, Mister Santiago?’’ asked Nancy while still filming.

‘’It will defend its territory, as international law gives it the full right to do, Miss Laplante. The Philippines Navy ship QUEZON is now going to escort back to port the tugboat SAN MARINO and the barge it is towing and has been authorized to open fire if any Chinese ship tries to interfere with the tugboat or its barge. Let this be a warning to the PRC government about our resolve in this matter. That is all for now.’’ Nancy blew air out as Santiago finished his speech and she stopped filming him.

‘’This is a very dangerous game that your company and government is playing, Mister Santiago.’’

‘’Maybe, but we are proud people and we have been pushed too often and too far by the Chinese to back down from this. Please keep this to yourself, as it would only fire up Chinese greed, but our latest estimate of the capacity of this oil field is over twenty billion barrels of high quality crude.’’

‘’Twenty billion barrels?! But that could completely turn around the economy of the Philippines.’’

‘’Very much so, miss. That is why we are resolved to stand up at all cost to China on this. The QUEZON just sent by boat a squad of armed sailors to help defend this platform. Furthermore, more soldiers will arrive soon by helicopter to reinforce our defenses, while all the available warships of the Philippines Navy are starting to converge on us. If the Chinese want a fight, then it will get one.’’ Nancy had the good taste of not pointing out that such a fight could well turn into a one-sided massacre, but she also had to admire the resolve of the Filipinos. She could thus only wish like them that the Chinese would become reasonable and back down from their threats.

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That wish proved futile fifteen minutes later, when the SAN MARINO and its towed barge full of crude oil started sailing away under escort. The original Chinese patrol boat which had challenged the SAN MARINO on arrival at the platform moved at once to cut its path, despite the presence of the QUEZON. With the scene filmed and transmitted live on CNN, the QUEZON at first fired in succession three warning shots across the bow of the Chinese boat to warn it away. The Chinese captain still came on, going for the tugboat while pointing its guns at the QUEZON. Now out of options, the Filipino ship fired its three-inch guns again, this time shooting straight at the Chinese patrol boat from a distance of less than 400 meters and hitting it squarely with two shells. While seriously damaged and with casualties on board, the Chinese boat continued on towards the SAN MARINO while shooting back at the QUEZON with its heavy machineguns. Pumping out shells as quickly as they could, the gunners of the QUEZON were able to immobilize the Chinese patrol boat and turn it into a smocking, burning wreck, despite suffering casualties of their own. That triumph was however short-lived, as long flames and trails of smoke then marked the launch by the two HOUBEI-Class boats of two of their anti-ship missiles. Fired from what was for them short ranges, the missiles quickly hit the QUEZON and exploded. Under live CNN television coverage, the unfortunate Filipino ship broke in two and sank rapidly, pulling its entire crew to its death, save for one sailor. That drama was watched with both shock and horror on the oil platform. On her part, Nancy then concentrated her attention on the three surviving Chinese warships. To her surprise, her camera then caught the launch of one of the HongQi-7 surface-to-air missiles of the JIANGKAI-Class frigate. Tracking the outgoing missile with her camera, she then realized that a helicopter had been approaching the oil platform from the East. She was able through her zoom lenses to recognize the type of the helicopter just before the missile impacted it, disintegrating it into small pieces which fell into the ocean.

‘’ATLANTA, THE CHINESE FRIGATE JUST SHOT DOWN A SH-60 SEAHAWK HELICOPTER THAT WAS APPROACHING THIS OIL PLATFORM FROM THE EAST. I…WAIT A SECOND! I CAN NOW SEE ITS MARKINGS THROUGH MY ZOOM LENS: IT IS A UNITED STATES NAVY HELICOPTER! ATLANTA, A CHINESE WARSHIP JUST SHOT DOWN AN AMERICAN HELICOPTER INSIDE THE PHILIPPINES EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE!’’

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Both at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta and at the Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii, where a number of duty officers were watching Nancy’s report, men and women froze at that announcement for a moment. The admiral in command of the Pacific forces, cold rage filling him, grabbed at once a telephone linking him with his operations officer, barking in the handset.

‘’Vice Admiral Parker, contact at once our four SUPER HORNET fighter-bombers about to fly over that oil platform in the Spratly Islands and tell them that their mission is now to sink those damn Chinese warships which just shot down our helicopter… Yes, you understood me well: sink them! Put as well all our forces in the Pacific on high alert.’’

Totally oblivious of the huge mistake he had just made and thinking that he had simply shot down a Filipino helicopter bringing reinforcements to the SPEX oil platform, the captain of the Chinese frigate decided to concentrate for the moment on the main prize, the platform itself, instead of pursuing the fleeing SAN MARINO and its barge full of crude oil. Slowing down and stopping while the two missile boats kept watch from some distance away, the frigate started lowering a motor boat full of armed sailors in the water. With Nancy still filming live, the motor boat then sped towards the oil platform while the 100mm main gun turret of the frigate rotated to point at the big floating structure. The motor boat was still 300 meters from the platform when the captain of the frigate was advised that a speedy ship of apparently small size was now showing on the surface search radar, heading directly for him. Assuming that it was a Filipino fast attack boat rushing in to the rescue of the oil platform, the Chinese captain gave at once the order to fire on it, tasking the two accompanying HOUBEI missile boats for that. On the SPEX platform, Nancy was again able to film those missile firings, with a total of six anti-ship missiles flying away towards the East. Not knowing on what the Chinese were firing, she did a short comment for the benefit of her viewers before concentrating back her attention on the approaching Chinese motor boat. It was now less than 200 meters away and was visibly packed with armed Chinese sailors. The armed Filipino sailors previously transferred from the BRP QUEZON and who had taken defensive positions around the edge of the oil platform then opened fire with their M-16 rifles, resolved in avenging their dead comrades, when the Chinese boat came within a hundred meters. Eight of the platform workers rifles had rifles also opened fire then, helping to spray the Chinese motor boat with dense automatic rifle fire. A number of Chinese sailors were hit

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at once, while the boat’s hull was perforated in multiple spots, creating water leaks. The Chinese sailors who could return fire did so, but their aim from a small boat bobbing up and down on the waves proved erratic. It was however enough to send bullets flying all over the place, forcing Nancy to crouch while still filming the action. It soon became clear to the Chinese sailors that they were getting the worse of the fire exchange, with half of them becoming casualties within thirty seconds. The boat pilot then decided wisely to beat a hasty retreat in the face of this unexpected Filipino resistance. He however still had to contend with continuing rifle fire as he turned his boat around and fled. Nancy then saw through her camera lens the 100mm gun of the Chinese lower a bit, aiming at the oil platform.

‘’Aww shit! INCOMING! GET DOWN!’’

She barely had time to shout her warning to the occupants of the control room behind her before the frigate’s main gun barked, spitting a shell which crashed and exploded against the base of the platform’s superstructures, two levels below Nancy. The explosion shook the catwalk she was on and sent deadly shrapnel around. A second shell then followed a mere ten seconds later.

‘’ATLANTA, THE SPEX OIL PLATFORM IS NOW UNDER CHINESE NAVAL GUNFIRE. I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP FILMING FOR LONG AT THIS RATE.’’

‘’Don’t take unnecessary risks, Nancy.’’ urged in response the CNN anchorman, proving to Nancy that her satellite link was still functional. ‘’Go take cover and return on the air when it will be safer.’’

‘’There may not be an oil platform left for me to stand on by then, Atlanta. That frigate…’’

A third shell then exploded, this time to the left of Nancy and a mere thirty meters away. The shockwave both deafened her and projected her a good five meters down the catwalk. By some miracle she was able to keep her hold on her camera, but she landed hard on the steel deck and she felt as well multiple stabs on her left side. Thankfully, the steel decking and a steel beam stopped the worse of the shrapnel from hitting her, but she understood at once that she had been hit, with burning pain from her left leg and arm. With her ears ringing and unable temporarily to hear anything except a constant buzz, she quickly examined herself. Blood was coming out of maybe five or six small puncture wounds on her left arm and leg, but the wounds seemed relatively light compared to what she had seen in the past during her career as a war correspondent. She thus clenched her teeth against the pain and pointed back her camera at the

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Chinese frigate, which was still firing its main gun at the oil platform. Not able to hear herself, she involuntarily shouted in her camera microphone.

‘’ATLANTA, I’VE BEEN HIT, BUT MY WOUNDS SEEM MINOR. I HOWEVER WILL BE DEAF FOR A MOMENT, THUS WON’T BE ABLE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. I WILL CONTINUE TO COVER THE BATTLE HERE AS LONG AS I CAN, BUT IF THIS NAVAL FIRE KEEPS ON, THIS PLATFORM WILL SOON BE TOAST.’’

The anchor in Atlanta tried to tell her something as the dramatic pictures from her camera kept coming, but she didn’t hear him and concentrated on filming the action.

12:39 (Philippines Time)

Command operations center

United States Pacific Command headquarters

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

‘’What do you mean, the USS INDEPENDENCE is off the air?’’

‘’Just that, sir. She was reporting that she was under missile fire when her radio operator was cut off in mid-sentence. I tried to reestablish radio contact, but to no avail. Also, all our data links with the INDEPENDENCE went dead at the same time.’’ The four stars admiral in charge of the U.S. Pacific Command swore to himself, then looked back at the junior operations officer.

‘’When will our four F/A-18Fs be over that oil platform, Lieutenant?’’

‘’They should be there in a few minutes, sir. In fact, they should be within weapons release range of these Chinese ships by now.’’

‘’Good! The order to sink those Chinese warships is reconfirmed by me. I will now have to make an urgent call to the Pentagon: we need some quick policy decisions about this growing mess in the South China Sea.’’

Thousands of kilometers away, in the South China Sea, a drama was playing fast as the USS INDEPENDENCE, the lead ship of her class, was quickly sinking under the waves. Her stealthy design had actually played against her, making her appear on the Chinese radar screens as a much smaller ship than the 3,000-ton coastal combat ship she was. With her high speed, that had made her look like a small fast attack boat, of which the Philippines Navy had in sizeable numbers. Her extremely light armament for

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her size had however been the biggest reason for her demise, with only one single 57mm gun and one launcher for light, short range anti-aircraft missiles as her standard armament. Four of the six Chinese anti-ship missiles fired at the LCS-2 had broken through her short range defenses and had hit her squarely, penetrating deep inside her triple hull and superstructures before exploding. With all electrical power instantly gone and with half of her compartments open to water and flooding, the 700-million-dollar ship quickly became an aluminum coffin for her crew. While she was not the first ship to be sunk in this conflict, the USS INDEPENDENCE would be far from being the last one.

12:44 (Philippines Time)

SPEX oil exploration platform

Near the Second Thomas Reef, Spratly Islands

Nancy clenched her teeth as the fourteenth shell fired by the Chinese frigate impacted on the oil platform, this time at the level of the helicopter landing pad. She now could hear things somewhat and was able to understand the anxious anchorman in Atlanta if he shouted in his own microphone. Suddenly, as she was grimly filming the firing frigate, two small, speedy objects fell out of the sky, one slamming into her forward hull section and the other penetrating her helicopter hangar. Two huge explosions tore open the Chinese ship like a simple tin can, projecting its forward main gun turret high in the air. Secondary explosions then shook the mutilated ship as its forward gun ammunition magazine and torpedo magazine blew up. Nancy watched that with wide eyes, having expected to die in the next few minutes. Her professional reflexes then took over and she firmed up her grip on her camera to better cover the demise of the Chinese frigate.

‘’Atlanta, the Chinese frigate firing on the SPEX oil exploration platform has just been hit by two heavy air-to-surface missiles. I however don’t know who fired those missiles. That frigate is probably going to sink soon in view of the massive damage she just received. Its ammunition magazines are now cooking off, further mangling its hull. The…WAIT! One of the two Chinese missile boats which was escorting the frigate just blew up as well. THERE GOES THE SECOND ONE! ATLANTA, AN AIRSTRIKE JUST DESTROYED THE WHOLE CHINESE FLOTILLA OFF THE PLATFORM.’’

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‘’Nancy, can you see any planes in the sky?’’ asked the CNN anchorman. While still keeping her camera pointed at the doomed frigate, Nancy looked up for a quick scan of the sky but didn’t see anything.

‘’Negative, Atlanta. Those missiles must have been stand-off weapons, fired from many miles away. However, I am pretty sure that the Filipino armed forces don’t have such weapons. A third party thus just got involved in this fight. This may well be the opening salvo of a new conflict centered on the South China Sea.’’

Someone came to Nancy’s side as she was filming the breakup and sinking of the Chinese frigate. Looking up, she saw Jack Simpsons, concern on his face, hovering over her. Seeing the blood on her arm and leg, the man knelt beside her and quickly examined her wounds.

‘’Dammit, Nancy, you got me scared for you. You should have taken cover.’’

‘’To where? This whole platform was being thoroughly shelled. Besides, I had a job to do. Are there many other casualties on the platform?’’

‘’I’m afraid so. We will in fact need emergency medical evacuation for some of the men if we want them to survive. Damn those Chinese and their arrogance and greed! I will go get a first aid kit for you: that bleeding needs to be stopped.’’ Simpsons then left her at a run, going back inside the control room. As he was reappearing a minute or so later, a first aid kit in hand, the screaming of jet aircraft swooping by over their heads made Nancy and Jack look up, in time to see four fighter-bombers overflying the platform. Nancy raised her camera and filmed the receding jets, which then started wide turns to come back over the platform, their national markings clearly visible. Nancy nearly shouted with joy in her microphone as she filmed the four aircraft.

‘’ATLANTA, I HAVE FOUR BEAUTIFUL UNITED STATES NAVY F/A-18 FIGHTER-BOMBERS WHICH JUST FLEW OVER ME!’’

21:19 (Philippines Time)

Private patient’s room, Philippines Air Force hospital Clark Air Base, Northwest of Manila

Philippines

‘’Miss Laplante?’’

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Nancy, still a bit groggy from the painkillers she had received and half-sitting in her military hospital bed, looked away from the television set of her room on which she had been watching the latest news about the confrontation in the South China Sea. She saw a handsome United States Navy lieutenant commander in going out uniform, standing in the doorway of her private room.

‘’It’s me! Please come in, Commander.’’

She eyed from head to toe the tall, athletic man in his thirties as he approached her bed, his service hat under one arm, then smiled to him.

‘’That’s funny: I first met my boyfriend in similar circumstances, while sitting in a hospital bed. I must say that you are nearly as handsome as he was then.’’ The navy officer smiled at that, himself appreciating what he saw.

‘’Your boyfriend is certainly a lucky man, Miss Laplante, and thank you for the compliment. Let me present myself: Lieutenant Commander James Stockwell, Assistant Naval Attaché at the United States embassy in Manila. How are your wounds, Miss Laplante?’’

Nancy pulled away her bed sheet to uncover her left leg, which was like her left arm covered with a number of bandages.

‘’I had a total of seven pieces of shrapnel extracted from my left arm and leg. Thankfully, the damage was rather superficial and I will be as good as new in a few weeks. The doctors here however insisted that I stay overnight for observation.’’

‘’A wise precaution, I would say. You got very close to being killed…again, Miss Laplante.’’

‘’Please, call me Nancy. As for risking my life, I guess that it is part of the job as a war correspondent. So, what can I do for you, Commander Stockwell?’’

‘’I first came here to thank you for the way you covered live that confrontation at the SPEX platform. Your live report allowed our forces to react that much more quickly to the outrageous actions of those Chinese ships. You must have heard by now that the USS INDEPENDENCE was sunk by Chinese missiles while going in to investigate.’’

‘’I did catch that on the news. That Chinese flotilla commander was either brash as hell, or he had some very ruthless orders for the way he acted. Has the Chinese government disavowed him or apologized in any way for the sinking of the INDEPENDENCE and the shooting down of its helicopter?’’

‘’No…and no!’’ said glumly Stockwell. ‘’They are actually doing their best to paint themselves as the wronged party in all this.’’

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‘’You must be kidding!’’ said Nancy, incredulous. ‘’I recorded the whole thing live, for God’s sake!’’

‘’I know, and your video recording is helping us a lot in countering their arguments and lies. In this, the United States is grateful to you.’’

‘’Well, I certainly made the headline news…again.’’ she replied philosophically. ‘’What else could I do for you?’’

‘’Actually, the Navy is ready to do something for you, in view of the great way you reported while under fire. It probably won’t surprise you if I told you that our forces in the Pacific are now on top alert, with many ships and planes converging on the South China Sea. What I am offering you, once you are out of hospital, is a position as embedded reporter on the nuclear carrier USS RONALD REAGAN, which will be the command ship for our task force heading into the South China Sea.’’

Stockwell thought for a moment that he saw dismay appear for a fleeting moment on Nancy’s face, but she quickly grinned to him.

‘’That would be fantastic, Commander. I accept and thank you in the name of CNN. Uh, I know that your carrier crew is probably going to be at sea for at least a couple more months. Will I be allowed to disembark on relatively short notice if need be? I have a rather busy professional schedule next year, including some work to do in Hollywood.’’

Stockwell raise an eyebrow in interest at those last words.

‘’You are going to play in another movie, Nancy?’’

‘’Yes! Keep this to yourself, please, but Tony Gilroy has offered me to play the leading role in a prequel to my first movie, CROSSROADS. It will be about how my character of the Shadow Dancer became what she was in CROSSROADS. It should be one kick-ass of a movie, according to Gilroy.’’

‘’I bet it will! To answer you, yes, you will be able to fly off the carrier on a couple of days’ notice if need be. So, when are the doctors due to release you from here?’’

‘’They said that I could walk out tomorrow morning…in crutches. I should be able to walk normally within a week, albeit with some temporary restrictions.’’

‘’That’s perfect! The RONALD REAGAN is anyway going to need another three days before it is in position in the South China Sea. We will then pick you up from Manila by helicopter to drop you on it. You will just need to show up at the embassy once you will feel up to taking your embedded position.’’

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‘’I will do my best to heal as fast as I can, Commander. Again, thank you for offering me such a position.’’

‘’It was my pleasure, Nancy. Get well soon.’’

The navy officer then walked out, leaving Nancy to think over how she was going to handle her time aboard the USS RONALD REAGAN. The problem for her was that a number of members from the crew of that aircraft carrier were going to be lost at sea and declared missing in the Atlantic in the year 2021. In reality, those crewmembers were going to be rescued in-extremis by the Time Patrol and then enrolled as field agents of the organization. If any of those crewmembers were already serving on the RONALD REAGAN in 2015, then this could create some embarrassing causality loop in 2021. Finally chasing away that worry for the time being, she looked back at the television set, where the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, who was about to be kicked out, was reading a rather outrageous official Chinese statement meant to explain and excuse the actions of the Chinese ships sunk today. Nancy sneered on listening to him.

‘’Yeah! And I am a virgin.’’

Using the remote control, she shut off the television set, then lowered her bed frame to the horizontal, so that she could get some sleep. Today had been a truly rough day, even for her.

Nancy flew out of Manila to join the USS RONALD REAGAN four days later and ended up spending two weeks aboard the giant nuclear aircraft carrier. Thankfully, none of the persons she was worried about meeting on the USS RONALD REAGAN were aboard at this time. The PRC government finally backed down under the mounting military and diplomatic pressure, which included an American boycott of all Chinese imports, and pulled out its warships from the Spratly Islands waters. The Chinese had however time to lose many more ships during those two weeks, trying to bluff their way out of trouble and then finding the hard way that the United States and most of the countries bordering the South China Sea were in no mood to be pushed around or browbeaten by threats of military action. Seeing the way things were going, the Russian government studiously kept out of that mess, only proffering a few pious declarations wishing for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The coastal states around the South China Sea ended up the big winners in this, with China being forced to recognized their sovereignty over their respective 200 nautical mile EEZ. As well, the so-called shelter for fishermen built by the Chinese over the Mischief Reef, near the SPEX oil platform,

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was evacuated and dismantled under threat of being bombed out of existence, to the relief and joy of the Philippines government. However, the crisis deeply soured in the long term the relations between the United States and the PRC, something that not everyone in the United States regretted.

08:15 (New Zealand Time)

Saturday, September 2, 2999 BCE (Before Common Era) Residential section, secret main base of the Time Patrol Future site of Auckland, New Zealand

Nancy, having just arrived by time scooter from Montreal, where she had concluded another period of her life in the 21st Century, and still fresh from her adventures around the South China Sea, was all excited at the idea of finally being able to see again her three youngest children. Out of a common accord, she had left thirteen month-old Eli and two month-old Patrick and Suzanne in the care of her husband, Mike Crawford ‘B’, during her stint in 2015 ‘A’. She could have left them under the care of Diana, her faithful baby sitter in 1943 ‘B’ Jerusalem, where she reigned as Overseer of the Holy Land of Palestine, and return there barely ten minutes after leaving for Montreal, making her time in 2015 be what she called ‘hidden time’ for her babies. However, Mike had been dying to have them with him for some extended period, so she had brought her children to the main base of the Time Patrol. That base, which was actually mobile and could jump space-time and fly, was located far in the past, where it was mostly safe from potential historical manipulations meant to erase and rewrite history.

Still wearing a casual 2015 ‘A’ outfit of jeans and T-shirt, Nancy stopped in front of the door of the suite assigned to her as the operations officer of the Time Patrol, then put her right hand on the fingerprint recognition pad to unlock her door, which slid silently open. Grinning with anticipated joy and expecting a tender family scene inside, she braked abruptly to a halt and opened wide her mouth with surprise and shock when she walked in her lounge, finding her husband Mike and her adopted teenage daughter, Ingrid Weiss ‘B’, standing there in most disturbing garbs. Mike, a powerful man standing 193 centimeters and with green eyes and short black hair, was wearing a steel studded leather ‘submissive’ outfit worthy of the best S & M porno movies, complete with zipper-covered leather hood and spiked leather collar. The leather leash hooked to his collar

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was held by Ingrid, who was dressed in a sexy red leather S & M dominatrix outfit which included red, knee-high leather boots with high heels. The young, beautiful woman also held a short flogger in one hand. Nancy could only stare at them for a few seconds before she could speak.

‘’What the hell are you two playing at? You’re supposed to care for my babies.’’ Mike, his mouth barely visible behind the opened zipper covering it, grinned like an idiot and replied in a reassuring voice.

‘’Things are not like what they look, Nancy. Diana is in the main bedroom with the babies. As for us, we were about to go produce another segment of our latest historical documentary, in which we play the narrators.’’

‘’A historical documentary, dressed like this? Is the Time Patrol now producing pornographic movies?’’

‘’Some prudes would answer yes to that, Nancy.’’ answered Ingrid, grinning with malice. ‘’That documentary, which was my idea to make, is going to review and show the role of sex in history, complete with sex scenes and situations filmed in various periods of the past. It will be titled ‘Sex in History: an intimate relationship’.’’ Nancy then burst out laughing, taken completely off guard by this. She next eyed her husband and her adopted daughter with an amused smile.

‘’It certainly sounds like it will be quite fun to watch. You two are sure dressed appropriately for narrating it. Are any other members of the Time Patrol, uh, playing in that documentary?’’

‘’Not up to now, unless you want to pitch in, Nancy. We already have tons of juicy scenes and situations from many historical periods which we recuperated from visual mission records segments previously cut out or kept confidential in our archives. Many of our agents have also volunteered to play voyeur and go to the past with spy probes. I am afraid that the Vatican may not like what we will show about the sex life of past Popes. That documentary will however have a quite serious side to it, by showing the abuses caused in order to obtain sex and also the influence of sexual relations and desire on important decisions taken by prominent historical persons. You could think of, among other things, the love triangle between Queen Cleopatra, Mark-Anthony and Caesar as a good example of sex impacting on history.’’

‘’Hum, you do have quite a point there, Ingrid. If well done and if kept with a serious purpose in mind, this could turn out to be a most interesting and instructive

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documentary. Well, I won’t keep you further from your documentary work, you two perverts. I have three little kids to go cover with kisses.’’

‘’Right!’’ said Ingrid, who then slapped Mike’s bum with her flogger, making him yelp. ‘’Come on, slave!’’

The two of them then left the suite, leaving a laughing Nancy behind.