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GWOT VII - Destiny
GWOT VII - Destiny
"We put up the Ambassador's spouse and kids in her quarters. The Psyche and one of his assistants are with them," Rize said as she led me out of the room, once my weeping had reduced to an occasional sob.
It would be the social thing to say that I felt bad about her decision. I didn't feel bad at all, however. She was an obstacle to my mission. I hoped that some part of what had motivated her to kill herself was the realization, at some level, that one of the more helpful things she could do would be to remove herself from the equation.
Of course, it would have been far better for her and for California if she had done the brave and smart thing and cooperated once it became clear that I was in charge, for reasons. Because then I could just hand things back to her and go get some sleep.
So I had to leave it all on the Station Chief. He was competent and he could handle it.
As for me, general's stars on my lapels notwithstanding, my purpose in the service of the state of California had now been served. America was no longer a genocidal - hypercidal? meglocidal? - threat to the survival of humanity on the planet.
And I was way, way behind on some time off. Just some simple rest wondering if I would be permitted to wake up - or wake up strapped to yet another interrogation chair, with or without butt plug.
I wasn't going to go back to my quarters, that dingy little room picked primarily for security. I didn't have a bed anymore anyway; Rize and I had broken it. Vigorously.
Fortunately I didn't have to plan a thing. Colonel RIze (she'd gotten a promotion too) and the two SDF troopers escorted me to the embassy mess. The four of us were joined by a fifth person.
It was only the second time she had dined there. And she had changed into her proper uniform. Major Yao Sha, People's Armed Police, with the shoulder flash for counterintelligence. And her proper uniform actually fit her generous bust. As was proper, she was now armed as well.
In modern China, takeout food is very much the thing. A selection of dishes was spread around, not just on our table but the entire room.
I happened to glance out the window. Froze. Snuck over to one edge of it.
"Colonel, you do know there are several thousand people standing in the street watching the Embassy, yes?"
"Um-hm," she mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Been there for hours. City government set up some TV sets for them."
"Major, a pleasure to meet you under more honest conditions."
The 'courtesy constable' nodded. "Our first loyalties must always be to our peoples. You have no idea how pleased I am that these are in close alignment."
She took my hand, squeezed it once firmly.
"Very pleased."
The SDF sergeant and his subordinate guiltily let go of each other's hands. Technically, their liasion had been a serious military offense.
I found that I was ferociously hungry. The food was really good.
There was however no alcohol, at least in reach of me. That was apparently not an accident.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked Betty.
"You may remember the hotel the Embassy was first asked to stay at?"
Oh, did I now. And so, by her blush, did Major Sha.
"We've reserved the penthouse. The Embassy CI team is safing it now. We'll have a token pair of Marines for proper diplomatic protocol. But under the circumstances, I've decided that you need a _close-in_ detail."
Had my ears deceived me?
"The five of us will adjourn there. At length. And depth."
Now I was certain that I must have mis-heard. Or misunderstood the subtext.
"Sir, you have a call," someone came in and said beside me. "The Governor."
###
I took the call, of course. In the SCIF, not that I expected it to matter a damn. The Embassy was thoroughly compromised, of course, we'd had all manner of uncleared persons wandering about for some hours during our fight to castrate America.
"Governor."
"General 18."
"I would say thank you for the promotion, but am I guessing that it signals the end of my Ambassadorship?"
"Correct. We have a full diplomatic team now running the dealings with the Americans. I would like you on reserve for a few days, just in case, but we are not likely to need you. Stay within an hour of the Embassy. But on to more important news.
"General. Echo. It is my honorable and pleasurable duty to confer upon you the Thanks of the Republic. It is my less pleasurable duty to clarify your new rank, role and chain of command. Are you sitting down?"
"Go ahead," I said without using title or honorific. Obviously this wasn't going to be good.
"You are a General in the Strategic Defense Forces and you report directly to the Commanding General of the SDF. Your duties are at his discretion. You report to him, he reports to the Secretary of War, and you know who the SecWar reports to. Very short chain of command. You do not exercise supervisory authority over any member of the California Republic armed forces. Nor do you give orders to any Americans or Chinese or Russians. You may give your CO suggestions and using only the authority delegated by him to you, you may then make any threats that may be needed in the future. Hopefully none.
"I don't have to emphasize that all of this is secret."
Except that the Chinese are certainly overhearing it.
"Colonel Dr. Rize is tasked by Bear Force. Other folks are tasked by their respective organizations. Particularly including the two SDF team members you took with you off-site.
"Just for the record, I did not appreciate the video clips of you and Dr. Rize in flagrante delecto. Nor did SDF appreciate the clips of the aforementioned team members. Or for that matter, the clips of you and a Chinese intelligence officer in the hotel shower. And any combination that might be easily, or less easily, imagined. I don't care who sent them, or if they were real or staged, or some artistic combination."
My jaw opened rather wide.
"Therefore, in order to prevent further scandal, and on the advice of Colonel Dr. Rize, I am ordering you - and them, as applicable - to adjourn promptly to that hotel penthouse and, what was the phrase from your file, 'screw like minks' as the five or more of you may see fit to do. Keeping in mind that I have no particular need to view any resulting video. Ever.
"You are dismissed to your carnal duties for at least three days. Enjoy. GovCal, out."
I didn't even have a chance to protest.
###
As happens when GovCal is involved, within ten minutes we were all gathered up within a larger combined Chinese-Californian diplomatic convoy.
I'd seen refugees cheering us when we left Iowa.
Now I saw ordinary folks, the same people whose lives I'd risked and city I'd endangered, cheering us.
We were whisked in past the crowded lobby and to the elevators.
The five of us in particular were tightly pressed together.
This left me armpit to elbow with the SDF sergeant, as he was cuddled with his new girlfriend.
He and I exchanged a glance.
My gaydar was never properly installed, let alone calibrated.
His was apparently in proper working order.
At the top he put his other arm around me, perfectly confident in doing so.
Through the doors and into the penthouse, with Marines to close the doors behind us.
What happened after that?
I could tell you, but I don't want to.
####
Some time later, the five of us lounged, naked and at least temporarily sated, on the room's two enormous king-sized beds pushed together.
Fireworks were visible out the windows.
There had been plenty of fireworks inside as well.
Because each of my companions had been modeling a selection of frilly, lacy and silken undergarments. A conspiracy, and a present to the genocidaire who had had everything.
My head was pillowed on Betty's ample bosom. My thighs were pillows for the SDF sergeant - damn it, I still didn't have his first name! - and for Yao. Cuddled on the other side, somehow touching all four of us, was the SDF private.
What do you get when you put five practicing bisexuals in a ....
Never mind.
Let the record show that I obeyed the Governor's orders, the spirit and the letter.
Oh, my orders with respect to America?
Those too.
/// ####### \\\
||| The End |||
\\\ ####### ///
Author's Notes:
When I started writing this series years ago, I felt confident that I'd tackled a task too large to finish. I'll be filling in the holes (much like Echo 18) for months to come, but I at last have the entire story arc sketched out.
Each novel examines some element of modern warfare.
I - the home front.
II - insurgency.
III - interrogation and imprisonment.
IV - military and post-conflict justice.
V - border control and 'Operations Other Than War'.
VI - counter-genocide.
VII - strategic nuclear war.
It is also the evolution of a premise. "When you take the purpose from a man, you are left with a man without a purpose."
The change in Echo 18 can't precisely be called growth. But he discovers a noble purpose and finds himself in more and more dangerous and uncomfortable places until he achieves it.
Could California as described become the California Republic?
As the story would start with nuking San Francisco, as this one did, I sure as hell hope not!
Could the United States successfully carry out an offensive strike against China, in the manner described?
Absolutely. For reasons of national security and operational art, I have deliberately abstracted some details. I have seen nothing in the public literature that suggests that China would be able to do anything to prevent it.
Would the planet survive?
Probably not. Once the taboo is broken, once nuclear weapons become ordinary military instruments, the story of humanity truly will become that of monkeys playing with matches on a gasoline dump. Because China would certainly do 'things' to avenge her losses. And that is another detail I have deliberately abstracted.
Preventing that is up to you.
"Only people can prevent global thermonuclear war."
I wish I could say the same for genocide. But as long as people hate other people that much, and others won't lift a finger to save the victims, that ditch full of bodies will be part of our heritage.
Not 'inhuman.' Not 'unspeakable.' Certainly not 'impossible.'
Just Tuesday.
"We put up the Ambassador's spouse and kids in her quarters. The Psyche and one of his assistants are with them," Rize said as she led me out of the room, once my weeping had reduced to an occasional sob.
It would be the social thing to say that I felt bad about her decision. I didn't feel bad at all, however. She was an obstacle to my mission. I hoped that some part of what had motivated her to kill herself was the realization, at some level, that one of the more helpful things she could do would be to remove herself from the equation.
Of course, it would have been far better for her and for California if she had done the brave and smart thing and cooperated once it became clear that I was in charge, for reasons. Because then I could just hand things back to her and go get some sleep.
So I had to leave it all on the Station Chief. He was competent and he could handle it.
As for me, general's stars on my lapels notwithstanding, my purpose in the service of the state of California had now been served. America was no longer a genocidal - hypercidal? meglocidal? - threat to the survival of humanity on the planet.
And I was way, way behind on some time off. Just some simple rest wondering if I would be permitted to wake up - or wake up strapped to yet another interrogation chair, with or without butt plug.
I wasn't going to go back to my quarters, that dingy little room picked primarily for security. I didn't have a bed anymore anyway; Rize and I had broken it. Vigorously.
Fortunately I didn't have to plan a thing. Colonel RIze (she'd gotten a promotion too) and the two SDF troopers escorted me to the embassy mess. The four of us were joined by a fifth person.
It was only the second time she had dined there. And she had changed into her proper uniform. Major Yao Sha, People's Armed Police, with the shoulder flash for counterintelligence. And her proper uniform actually fit her generous bust. As was proper, she was now armed as well.
In modern China, takeout food is very much the thing. A selection of dishes was spread around, not just on our table but the entire room.
I happened to glance out the window. Froze. Snuck over to one edge of it.
"Colonel, you do know there are several thousand people standing in the street watching the Embassy, yes?"
"Um-hm," she mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Been there for hours. City government set up some TV sets for them."
"Major, a pleasure to meet you under more honest conditions."
The 'courtesy constable' nodded. "Our first loyalties must always be to our peoples. You have no idea how pleased I am that these are in close alignment."
She took my hand, squeezed it once firmly.
"Very pleased."
The SDF sergeant and his subordinate guiltily let go of each other's hands. Technically, their liasion had been a serious military offense.
I found that I was ferociously hungry. The food was really good.
There was however no alcohol, at least in reach of me. That was apparently not an accident.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked Betty.
"You may remember the hotel the Embassy was first asked to stay at?"
Oh, did I now. And so, by her blush, did Major Sha.
"We've reserved the penthouse. The Embassy CI team is safing it now. We'll have a token pair of Marines for proper diplomatic protocol. But under the circumstances, I've decided that you need a _close-in_ detail."
Had my ears deceived me?
"The five of us will adjourn there. At length. And depth."
Now I was certain that I must have mis-heard. Or misunderstood the subtext.
"Sir, you have a call," someone came in and said beside me. "The Governor."
###
I took the call, of course. In the SCIF, not that I expected it to matter a damn. The Embassy was thoroughly compromised, of course, we'd had all manner of uncleared persons wandering about for some hours during our fight to castrate America.
"Governor."
"General 18."
"I would say thank you for the promotion, but am I guessing that it signals the end of my Ambassadorship?"
"Correct. We have a full diplomatic team now running the dealings with the Americans. I would like you on reserve for a few days, just in case, but we are not likely to need you. Stay within an hour of the Embassy. But on to more important news.
"General. Echo. It is my honorable and pleasurable duty to confer upon you the Thanks of the Republic. It is my less pleasurable duty to clarify your new rank, role and chain of command. Are you sitting down?"
"Go ahead," I said without using title or honorific. Obviously this wasn't going to be good.
"You are a General in the Strategic Defense Forces and you report directly to the Commanding General of the SDF. Your duties are at his discretion. You report to him, he reports to the Secretary of War, and you know who the SecWar reports to. Very short chain of command. You do not exercise supervisory authority over any member of the California Republic armed forces. Nor do you give orders to any Americans or Chinese or Russians. You may give your CO suggestions and using only the authority delegated by him to you, you may then make any threats that may be needed in the future. Hopefully none.
"I don't have to emphasize that all of this is secret."
Except that the Chinese are certainly overhearing it.
"Colonel Dr. Rize is tasked by Bear Force. Other folks are tasked by their respective organizations. Particularly including the two SDF team members you took with you off-site.
"Just for the record, I did not appreciate the video clips of you and Dr. Rize in flagrante delecto. Nor did SDF appreciate the clips of the aforementioned team members. Or for that matter, the clips of you and a Chinese intelligence officer in the hotel shower. And any combination that might be easily, or less easily, imagined. I don't care who sent them, or if they were real or staged, or some artistic combination."
My jaw opened rather wide.
"Therefore, in order to prevent further scandal, and on the advice of Colonel Dr. Rize, I am ordering you - and them, as applicable - to adjourn promptly to that hotel penthouse and, what was the phrase from your file, 'screw like minks' as the five or more of you may see fit to do. Keeping in mind that I have no particular need to view any resulting video. Ever.
"You are dismissed to your carnal duties for at least three days. Enjoy. GovCal, out."
I didn't even have a chance to protest.
###
As happens when GovCal is involved, within ten minutes we were all gathered up within a larger combined Chinese-Californian diplomatic convoy.
I'd seen refugees cheering us when we left Iowa.
Now I saw ordinary folks, the same people whose lives I'd risked and city I'd endangered, cheering us.
We were whisked in past the crowded lobby and to the elevators.
The five of us in particular were tightly pressed together.
This left me armpit to elbow with the SDF sergeant, as he was cuddled with his new girlfriend.
He and I exchanged a glance.
My gaydar was never properly installed, let alone calibrated.
His was apparently in proper working order.
At the top he put his other arm around me, perfectly confident in doing so.
Through the doors and into the penthouse, with Marines to close the doors behind us.
What happened after that?
I could tell you, but I don't want to.
####
Some time later, the five of us lounged, naked and at least temporarily sated, on the room's two enormous king-sized beds pushed together.
Fireworks were visible out the windows.
There had been plenty of fireworks inside as well.
Because each of my companions had been modeling a selection of frilly, lacy and silken undergarments. A conspiracy, and a present to the genocidaire who had had everything.
My head was pillowed on Betty's ample bosom. My thighs were pillows for the SDF sergeant - damn it, I still didn't have his first name! - and for Yao. Cuddled on the other side, somehow touching all four of us, was the SDF private.
What do you get when you put five practicing bisexuals in a ....
Never mind.
Let the record show that I obeyed the Governor's orders, the spirit and the letter.
Oh, my orders with respect to America?
Those too.
/// ####### \\\
||| The End |||
\\\ ####### ///
Author's Notes:
When I started writing this series years ago, I felt confident that I'd tackled a task too large to finish. I'll be filling in the holes (much like Echo 18) for months to come, but I at last have the entire story arc sketched out.
Each novel examines some element of modern warfare.
I - the home front.
II - insurgency.
III - interrogation and imprisonment.
IV - military and post-conflict justice.
V - border control and 'Operations Other Than War'.
VI - counter-genocide.
VII - strategic nuclear war.
It is also the evolution of a premise. "When you take the purpose from a man, you are left with a man without a purpose."
The change in Echo 18 can't precisely be called growth. But he discovers a noble purpose and finds himself in more and more dangerous and uncomfortable places until he achieves it.
Could California as described become the California Republic?
As the story would start with nuking San Francisco, as this one did, I sure as hell hope not!
Could the United States successfully carry out an offensive strike against China, in the manner described?
Absolutely. For reasons of national security and operational art, I have deliberately abstracted some details. I have seen nothing in the public literature that suggests that China would be able to do anything to prevent it.
Would the planet survive?
Probably not. Once the taboo is broken, once nuclear weapons become ordinary military instruments, the story of humanity truly will become that of monkeys playing with matches on a gasoline dump. Because China would certainly do 'things' to avenge her losses. And that is another detail I have deliberately abstracted.
Preventing that is up to you.
"Only people can prevent global thermonuclear war."
I wish I could say the same for genocide. But as long as people hate other people that much, and others won't lift a finger to save the victims, that ditch full of bodies will be part of our heritage.
Not 'inhuman.' Not 'unspeakable.' Certainly not 'impossible.'
Just Tuesday.