Sky Masters

“Christ,” Stone sighed. He had watched the repercussions build over the last week since the skirmish. “Do the Chinese expect anyone to believe that? Why the hell would an oil company have any antiship missiles on an oil-exploration platform?”

“They did have machine guns, sir. Twenty-millimeter. World War Two vintage American Mk 4. Pretty good operating condition, too — before the Chinese melted it with a Fei Lung-7.”

“Idiots,” Stone muttered. “Opening up on a warship like that. So what are the Chinese doing now?”

“Laying low,” Krieg replied. “Only occasional incursions in the Spratly Island neutral zone. President Mikaso’s government is being very understanding about it so far. Vice President Samar issued a statement calling for reparations from the Chinese.”

“Lots of luck.”

“Vice President Teguina called for an investigation — not of the Chinese, but of Mikaso’s government,” Krieg added.

“Of Mikaso’s government? Not the Chinese? ’Course — that’s typical,” Stone said. “Whatever it takes to distance himself from Mikaso… just as he’s always done. Anything for a headline.”

“The little bastard’s got balls, that’s for sure.”

Major General Stone grunted. “You can say that again — Teguina loves to stir things up. Now, what do we have out there keeping an eye on things?”

Krieg looked at his boss with a look of pure concern. “In two hours — nothing.”

“What?”

“Message from CINCPAC.” CINCPAC was the acronym for Commander in Chief Pacific Command, the U.S. military organization responsible for all military activities from the West Coast of the United States to Africa. “He wants no combat aircraft or vessels near the area until they can get a reading from the Chinese. Strictly hands off.” “Well, what did we have out there?” Stone grumbled, irritated at CINCPAC’s order.

“A couple F-16s from here checking it out, maybe a P-3 subchaser diverted to Zamboanga Airport or Bangoy Airport near Davao — er, sorry, they call it Samar International Airport now — to take some pictures. Apparently the Chinese feel our presence is threatening. CINCPAC agreed. No more flights within fifty miles.”

“A fitting end to a perfectly lousy day,” Stone said, straightening his uniform and heading toward the reviewing stand for the ceremony.

Major General Richard “Rat” Stone was the commander of the now disbanded Thirteenth Air Force — the principal American air defense, air support, and logistics support organization in the Republic of the Philippines. General Stone — whose nickname was short for “Rat Killer” after a strafing run in his F-4 along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam had killed dozens of rats with 20-millimeter cannon fire — commanded the twenty different organizations from five major operating commands at Clark Air Base.

Principal of all the organizations on his base was the Third Tactical Fighter Wing, composed of F-16 fighter-bombers and F-4G “Advanced Wild Weasel” electronic warfare and defense suppression fighters; and the 6200th Tactical Fighter Training Group, who operated the various tactical training ranges and fighter weapons schools in the Philippines and who ran the seven annual “Cope Thunder” combat exercises to train American and allied pilots from all over the Pacific. The Third Tactical Fighter Wing, whose planes had the distinctive “PN” letters on the tail plus either the black “Peugeots” of the Third Tactical Fighter Squadron or the “Pair-O-Dice” of the Ninetieth Tactical Fighter Squadron, flew air-to-air and air-to-ground strike missions in support of American interests from Australia to Japan and from India to Hawaii.

Clark Air Base had also been home to a very large Military Airlift Command contingent of C-130 Hercules transports, C-9 Nightingale flying hospitals, C-12 Huron light transport shuttles, and HH-53 Super Jolly and HH-3 Jolly Green Giant rescue and special-operations helicopters. The 374th Tactical Airlift Wing shuttled supplies and personnel all across the South Pacific and would, in wartime, deliver troops and supplies behind enemy lines. The Ninth Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, the Twentieth Aeromedical Airlift Squadron, and the Thirty-first Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron all provided medical airlift support and would fly rescue missions over land or water to recover downed aircrews — these were the organizations that first welcomed the American prisoners of war from Vietnam in 1972. Clark also housed the 353rd Special Operations Wing, whose MC-130E Combat Talon aircrews trained to fly psychological warfare, covert resupply, and other “black” missions all across the Pacific.

The base also supported the other American and Filipino military installations, including Subic Bay Naval Station, Sangley Point Naval Station, Point San Miguel Air Force Station, Camp O’Donnell, Camp John Hay, Wallace Air Station, Mount Cabuyo, Mactan Airfield, and dozens of Philippine Coast Guard and National Guard bases.