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mood was murderous.
 I just wanted to assure you personally that I had absolutely no knowledge of
this appalling 
Gazaghin interrupted.  Don t waste the breath, Toddrel. I don t believe for
long time anything you say.
It makes no difference now who does this, in any place. I warned you. Now it s
not your war now.
 What do you mean?
 Is too much. We trust to let Terrans in charge. Look what happens. Now there
is protest risings and angry questions all over Chryse. We have orders from
our government to put the stop. We control now.
 But it s not within their jurisdiction to, Toddrel objected.  You are still
aliens within a sovereign territory. . . .
Gazaghin slammed a hand down on the surface where he was speaking.  When
Hyadean dead are hundreds, it our jurisdiction! he bellowed.  When illegal
propaganda pictures are flooding our world, is it s our jurisdiction. Your
President Ellis has just signed the order. This country s armed forces are now
under my command.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
C
ADE DECIDED THAT
the luxurious Newport Beach mansion offended him. He instructed Henry to have
the valuables and personal effects packed and put into storage, and the house
made available to the authorities for housing evacuees. The influx would
improve the tone of the neighborhood, he told Marie.
As for the yacht, Warren was to place it at the disposal of the military for
the coastal transportation fleet being hurriedly expanded. He and Marie would
move into quarters at the mission. Luke elected to come too, retaining his
position as Cade s right-hand man for the duration. Besides putting them close
at hand for the work there, it would ease traveling. Marie preferred this
arrangement.
Luodine planned to tour the front-line areas, rear bases, refugee centers,
hard-hit zones, collecting original material that the mission would send back
to Chryse along with whatever could be got from other sources the fruition of
the idea that had begun forming in her mind during her experiences in Segora.
The plane that the Air Force provided turned out to be a C22-E twin turbofan
military airlift VIP transport, normally carrying sixteen passengers, but in
this instance fitted out as a flying communications post. It arrived with a
pilot, copilot, and technical sergeant for support at Edwards Air Force Base
in the high desert above Palmdale. The base had been hit by intermediate-range
conventional missiles launched from over the Rockies but was still flying
operations. Yassem flew out there with Hudro and Nyarl in one of the mission s
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flyers to meet the crew, brief them on the mission, and check over the
equipment before tomorrow, when the team was due to depart. Since Hyadean
flyers were few and in demand, after being dropped off at Edwards, they sent
it on to Newport Beach to collect Cade, Marie, and Luke, and take them to the
mission with the belongings they were bringing from the house.
Meanwhile, Luodine was organizing the mission s communications room as a
clearing center for forwarding despatches to Chryse. A Colonel Nacey from FWA
military intelligence, along with a small staff, was attached to the operation
to ensure that sensitive information was not released prematurely. The main
item that she had not mentioned in her outgoing reports although the Union
commanders who needed to know would be aware of it from their own sources in
any case was that a mixed AANS force under a Chinese flagship had sailed from
Hawaii to intercept the carrier groups moving north, now approaching the
equator west of the Galapágos Islands. The officers on Nacey s staff called
the situation
 Midway in reverse.
But it was becoming clear that the move from Hawaii was just part of a far
larger and more audacious plan only now beginning reveal itself. Luodine sat,
stunned, alongside Nacey, while on a screen in front of them a spokeswoman
from Beijing summarized the action that had been taking place since early that
morning. Confused reports had been coming in from various sources about air
drops in Mexico and fighting along the Panama Canal Zone, but this was the
first coherent account linking it all together.
President Jeye himself had been notified officially only within the previous
hour although Nacey thought it likely that he and his military commanders had
known privately before then.
 Scattered resistance only is being encountered at Acapulco. We have already
commenced air
operations farther to the south, supporting the landings north and south of
the canal. The main Hyadean defenses were neutralized before they could come
into effective operation. . . .
 Wyv, you d better get Orzin here, Nacey told Wyvex, who was hovering behind.
 This is unbelievable. Wyvex tried calling Orzin on his communicator, failed
to get a response, and left. Luodine thought of calling Nyarl at Edwards with
the news, but then decided to let it ride. He would find out soon enough.
The Chinese had intervened in Central America with a series of long-range
airborne landings and support strikes to secure air bases. So far, they were
down at six locations in Mexico and two in Costa
Rica, with planes refueling and flying missions from one of them already. In [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]