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Praetorium Honoris

Friday, July 12, 2024

No Rest for the Weary ...

Site B
VA Medical Center, Martinsburg, WV

Source
The President was sitting in his makeshift office going through the overnight message traffic. He noted that the Maryland State Police were bringing in Johansen. As the message didn't say how or when, he realized that he'd have to be patient on that front.

Another message was far more concerning, apparently the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian and her escorts had put to sea and were reported to be heading south. Weather in the area was bad, none of that group had been picked up by satellite yet, but the NRO¹ was working on it.

"Bill." Nakagawa buzzed his chief aide and bodyguard Bill Aspinall on the phone.

Aspinall entered the President's office, "Yeah, Boss?"

"How reliable is the NRO these days?"

"Technologically or politically?"

"Both."

"Their technology is top notch, none better on the planet. Politically? Most of the technical guys are very apolitical, they don't care who is in charge as long as they get to play with their toys. Their bosses are the usual mixed bag of bureaucrats and political appointees. A lot of them flew the coop when the trouble started."

"Okay. The reason I ask is because we have a PLAN carrier group underway, headed south. Might be routine, might have something to do with the Spratlys. But the weather is bad in the area ..."

"It is typhoon season, Boss."

"Yeah, I know." The President thought for a moment, "Get the Chiefs in here."

Aspinall left to make that happen.


Choe's stomach was in knots as the State Police helicopter stayed low, climbing up over one ridgeline, only to slide down into another valley. But he kept watching his sector.

The Medivac helo was somewhere to their rear, flying a little higher. The idea was that Choe's helo had the lead so that in the event someone opened fire on them, the Medivac helo could take evasive action and avoid that area. The three Marine helicopter escorts were up high, ready to swoop down and destroy anything that posed a threat.

Choe had an odd thought, as breakfast threatened again to come up, he'd been in some pretty bad storms at sea but had never gotten seasick, but damn, helos always made him airsick.


Admiral Zhang Wei shifted his stance slightly as the big carrier took another wave over the bow. The ship was pitching viciously as the violence of the storm washed over them.

"Admiral, message from Anshan, 'Rolling badly, engine room casualty, request permission to change course.'" The messenger handed the Admiral a clipboard, he glanced at it briefly, then initialed the message.

"To Anshan, permission granted, all escorts to run with the storm. Fujian will follow."

As the messenger went to send the new commands, Zhang knew that Beijing would be furious. But the prevarications of the PLAN's weather-guessers were no match for the fury of the sea. Better to arrive late in the operation area then never arrive at all. He would take whatever heat was forthcoming from the Party.


Ted Anderson walked out to the jeep where the former Secretary of Defense and pretender to the Presidency of the United States, Matthew Burleson sat, eating another disgusting gas station burrito.

"Sir, we need to get moving. Guy inside had the TV on, says there is a statewide manhunt for you and the other insurrectionists."

Burleson stopped chewing and looked at Anderson, "Insurrectionists? The sons-a-bitches allegedly running things now are the goddamned insurrectionists. I'm the damned President, not that Jap bastard Nakagawa."

Anderson climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine, as he pulled out of the gas station he wondered how the hell he'd ever seen anything in this man.


Aspinall came into the President's office, "Sir, Johansen and Choe are ten minutes out. No issues on the trip, they decided to fly. Somehow they managed to get Marine attack helicopters as an escort."

Nakagawa looked up, "Are those Marines coming here as well?"

"Negative, they're going to land at Eastern West Virginia Regional, 167th Airlift Wing is over there. They're loyal, if you were wondering."

"Okay, who's in command of those Marine? I want to talk with him."

"I'll let them know."


Ramirez' helos hovered around the landing pad, all facing outward, ready for any threat, real or perceived. As the police helicopter waited nearby, the Medivac touched down. There was an ambulance waiting and he saw the stretcher come out of the bird and go into the ambulance.

"Tommy Boy, this is the boss, you and Hoss head over to the 167th's field. I'm going to land here, I want to see if I can get in to see the President."

Over his headset he heard, "Copy that, Boss. As soon as the police bird lands we'll head out."


Johansen opened his eyes, they'd had him sedated for the trip to Martinsburg, he had no idea how they had gotten there. He wasn't even sure if they really were at Site B. Everything was fuzzy.

He sensed someone standing at the foot of his gurney, he blinked and tried to focus, when he did get his eyes working he nearly gasped. Jason Howard was standing there, studying him, a bland expression on his face. Then Howard spoke.

"Good morning, Ephraim. As you might imagine, you and I need to talk."

"I've got nothing to say to you, Senior Chief."

"Hhmm. Well, alrighty then." Howard grinned and left the room.

Johansen didn't like that grin, he knew Howard well, they'd worked together in Yemen. He knew the man was dangerous as hell, he might be the most dangerous man Johansen knew.

Source
Lieutenant Junior Grade Frank Seymour braced himself as USS John Basilone (DDG 122) buried her bow in another heavy swell, then pitched up throwing spray back over the forecastle. His grin grew ever wider with each wave.

"JOOD!² You're having way too much fun out there, get your ass back on the bridge!" Lieutenant Mike Winslow, the OOD³, shouted as he ordered Seymour in off the portside bridge wing.

Seymour closed the hatch behind him, laughing as he did so, "Man, I wanna stay in the Navy forever!"

One of the helmsmen shook her head, Seymour was crazy, but she loved standing watch with the man. His enthusiasm was infectious.

Winslow was about to tell Seymour to go aft and get the captain when he heard the quartermaster snap, "Captain is on the bridge!"

"Mike, message from Pearl, set course to 090, let's get out of this damned storm. A P-8 out of Yokosuka reported that the PLAN carrier has turned around, she's running from the weather as well. Typhoon Fong is looking to be one big sumbitch."

Operations in the western Pacific would have to wait for Mother Nature to have her say.


Johansen was more nervous now after having seen Howard. He had worked closely with the small team Howard had led in Yemen, the CIA had been heavily involved there trying to stop the Houthi attacks on nearby shipping. Howard and his team, Chuck Bertram, Hector Driscoll, and Avram Stein were four very capable, very ruthless men.

Rumor around DC was that Howard was working for a new boss, word on the street was that this new guy made Howard's team look like Boy Scouts. But hell, rumor always had a way of exaggerating things. He hoped that he could square things with the new President.

A tap on the door, a nurse peeked in, "Mr. Johansen, are you in any pain?"

He nodded, it still amazed him how a missing appendage could feel like it was still there. He supposed the nerve endings still transmitted messages to the brain, regardless of the fact that the original sender wasn't there any more.

After the nurse adjusted his IV, giving him an injection through that, he felt himself begin to relax a bit more. The pain ebbed, but he was drowsy now.


"How long will he be out?" President Nakagawa asked the nurse.

"Until this afternoon, Sir, five or six hours usually with that dosage."

"Alright, thank you nurse."

As the nurse left, Howard came in.

"What do you think, Boss?"

"I'm not sure Senior Chief. Did he hear rumors of the operation, did he get any details? Knowing the name is concerning, but it may be that's all he knows." Nakagawa looked briefly at Johansen, drugged out of this world.

"We need to know, any word from the Agency?"

"Nothing yet, the new director is really knocking heads together over there. Oddly enough, it seems the CIA has been loyal, not to any individual, but to the law."

"Operating in the United States is against the law for them." Nakagawa pointed out.

"Last I checked, forcing a government official to resign at gunpoint is of questionable legality as well."

Nakagawa chuckled, "You have a point, Jason. Do try and hurry things along though, there isn't much time left. Once that typhoon peters out, the Chinese will put to sea again."

"We'll be ready to move by then, won't we?"

Nakagawa sighed, "Lord, I hope so."

Aspinall came into the room, "Sir, the Chiefs and that Marine helicopter pilot are waiting for you in the briefing room."

"Okay," he glanced at Howard, "no rest for the weary, right Senior Chief?"

"No Sir, none at all."




¹ National Reconnaissance Office
² Junior Officer of the Deck
³ Officer of the Deck

32 comments:

  1. "apparently the Chinese aircraft Fujian",,,,... missing carrier perhaps Sarge? And "Choe had an odd thought, as breakfast threat again"........ maybe "threatened" ? Liking this tale I am. Taught by Yoda I was........ :)

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  2. Love the continuing story line Sarge, Two quick finds:
    1. "apparently the Chinese aircraft Fujian and her escorts..." s/b "aircraft carrier"
    2. "as breakfast threat again to come up..." s/b "threatened"
    As a Wx guesser I have seen first hand that the best laid plans of mice and men are Trumped when Ma Nature decides to go on the War Path.
    Ma Nature does get a say in things.
    My very first Duty Forecaster position green fresh out of school was an ORI at Hunter Army Airfield in March of 1993. I had to brief the Full Bird that he would have to close out his Exercise one day before completion and no grade. If I had been wrong I would have been the Joke of the Wing and would not have been there very long.
    Then the center of the Storm of the Century rolled over the top of us.
    As it was, my forecast was correct and I was Very Unpopular with the senior staff for several weeks.
    But I did manage 25yrs of service, and a rep for being right.

    MSG Grumpy

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    Replies
    1. Mother Nature always gets a vote!

      (Somehow your comment wound up in spam, darned Google can't find a real spam comment but randomly sends things to the spam bin. I did fix those errors.)

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  3. Beat me to it Nylon 12 :).

    Still some wanna be presidents around I see.

    Hopefully no PLA spooks start offering "support " as to keep America in political chaos. They see no problem to support many sides to have the "winners " owing them.

    Better yarn Sarg than the copycat Clancy I'm reading.

    Michael

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    Replies
    1. We'll see more of China, they love to make trouble.

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  4. "Ted Anderson walked out to the jeep he where the former Secretary of Defense ..." Shouldn't there be a comma after "jeep?" ;-)

    Judging from other comments, either OTTO had fun as you posted or Muse needed more coffee.

    Back to the storyline, Muse is keeping it interesting. About the only thing that seems clear to me is that Nakagawa, Choe, and Chapman are Good Guys.

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    Replies
    1. No missing comma, extra word. Which has been removed.

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  5. I saw a President fly by once, the early-mid 70's in Sonoma County Calif, he was flying up to Geyserville, Calif. Anyway.. it was a gunship, two passenger helicopters and another gunship...
    That was the closest I've ever been to a President!
    I'm enjoying the story. :-)

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  6. I am very curious about where things go for Johansen. He may or may not still have key pieces of information.

    As I child, I remember watching "The Caine Mutiny" and seeing the representation of bad weather at sea. It was terrifying, even made up like that, and any sort of shipping makes me nervous, partially because of that movie.

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    Replies
    1. Out at sea, you realize just how insignificant you really are.

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    2. Never love the sea too much; it doesn’t love you back.

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    3. Oh you can love it, just can't trust it, ever.

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    4. The first enemy of all sailors is Mother Nature. Then usually some bureaucrats back home. Other navies are a distant third.

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  7. Heavy weather at sea will make a believer out of just about anyone. Water throwing large ships around; the impact as a ship slams into a huge swell; white water over the bridge, or even green water way up over the fo'castle; the constant sliding back and forth of anything not firmly secured. Then the harrowing rolls when the seas are abeam, rolling heavily to 20+ degrees before righting again, with all eyes on the bridge looking at the clinometer [which is a pendulum to show how many degrees the ship is heeling], with growing pride and fear as rolls become more extreme. The howling winds driving spray. Ships may challenge the sea, but "a man's gotta know his limits."

    Sailors need to understand the sea, and respect its power, but they can also become attached to it. Sailors are a special breed, drawn to the sea seeking what many seek to avoid, and developing skills many don't even know exist. Special men (and some women.)

    I've got something on that general topic that will get finished someday, involving square riggers hauling fertilizer from Chile to Mozambique, the 1920s equivalent of "flying rubber dog sh!t out of Hong Kong."
    John Blackshoe

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    Replies
    1. And I look forward to reading that someday!

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    2. Not only the sea. The Great Lakes can be equally treacherous, and a ship is never far off a lee shore. When the Edmund Fritzgerald vanished, there was another big salty that had departed upbound from the Soo. The captain (accustomed to the North Atlantic) replied to the Lake pilot's comment "We have no business being out here" with "It's just the Lakes, Pilot". Eight hours later, they had made 12 miles, and for the last two hours they had not gained a ship's length (By then, the wind was gusting past 100 miles an hour at the Soo and freshwater waves are steeper and taller than in salt water). Two big pounders reached high enough to take out the radars; a third ripped off the wheelhouse door. The Captain turned to the Pilot "We have no business being out here".

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    3. The Great Lakes are inland seas, just as violent, just as treacherous.

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  8. Pretty ships that aren't built to handle a bad normal day in the North Atlantic are in trouble in typhoon conditions. Something that the PLAN doesn't seem to get, yet. Their ships tend to be lower decked than US vessels, with less of a weather bow, too. Great for being more stealthy-ish, but not good in bad weather.

    The Japanese Naval Self Defense ships, on the other hand, are built for really bad seas.

    So is the crazy JOOD Frank a male or female? Or is 'Frank' her handle? Not really important, just wondering.

    As usual, excellent story, and I concur that this is better than faux-Clancy, as good as Clancy with a tad less handwavium (sometimes even Clancy made leaps of logic that got a tad big jarring.)

    Can't wait for the questioning of Johansen. Will it be legal and above board or will more... physical methods be used?

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    1. LTJG Seymour is a black kid out of the bad part of Baltimore, had a good Dad and Mom, made himself something with their support, went to the Naval Academy. Grades were good enough, the kid is no rocket scientist but has a huge amount of common sense. He loves the sea, has loved it since his grandfather used to take him fishing on the Chesapeake as a boy. The one time they went blue water fishing Frank fell in love and has never looked back.

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  9. y' know u've got a good tale when the grammar-nazis aren't 'fraid t' come outta hidin' n' everybody's (and I mean everybody n' their uncle) guessing (aloud) whut their favorite character gonna do/say next
    (he shudda gotten y' to write the script for "Horizon")

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    Replies
    1. Glad you're enjoying the tale, I'm really enjoying the writing of it.

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  10. Dang, I was hoping for some BRRRRT outta some helo!

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    1. I'll tease, but sometimes I hold back for later.

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  11. Incoming typhoon has right of the way...
    Halsey managed to ignore it at cost in ships and lives - twice!😂😂😂

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    1. Yup, they're big storms, saw a few on Okinawa.

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    2. During COBRA, WISCONSIN lost bridge windows to the seas, 300 feet aft of the bows, and 68 feet above the waterline.

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    3. Even the biggest ships are dwarfed by the ocean.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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