Chapter 1
Frank Waters stirred from his sleep and reached for his cell phone, turning off the almost silent beeping that had awoken him from a deep slumber and cast his eyes towards his wife Jennifer who lay asleep on her side of the bed. He had had a tough few months with Jennifer who was still grieving the loss of her father just a few short months before.
He moved on almost silent propulsion towards the hall, a brisk, business like look on his rugged features. He was used to being summoned to his NCIS offices at all hours of the day and night, but this morning wasn't too bad, a 9.30 AM meet. Following his shower, he threw on a dark business suit and strapped on his shoulder holster last. He cast a glance back into the bedroom and saw that Jennifer was still asleep.
As he drove his Pontiac in towards the centre of San Diego, Frank wondered at the sudden summons from his boss, Harry Vince. He didn't have to wait long to find out. Vince was a big, gruff man who pulled no punches and he didn't leave Frank waiting around as soon as the man was announced.
For his part, Frank Waters was also a big man, taller and thinner than Vince and with a good twenty years on the older man. Though taller, he was still just of average height with deep sunken eyes in a rugged face. His eyes were watchful, like that of a cop.
Vince wasted no time in getting down to business. He motioned Frank to a seat after a brief handshake.
"What do you know about space, Frank?"
Waters shrugged. "Same as the man in the street," he observed wryly. His next words proved that he knew a bit more than the average man in the street and Vince suspected Waters kept up to speed because of the nature of his job. He knew the man devoured serious magazines like Newsweek and Time and the naval production Proceedings. Jane's Fighting Ships was also part of his reading repertoire. Waters began ticking points off with his fingers. "In 2003, China's first astronaut Yang Liwei completed 14 orbits of the earth over a 21 hour period."
He ticked another finger. "In 1958, they commissioned their first rocket test base and tested missiles based on the Soviet R 2 designs, and Germany's V 2 rocket program."
He ticked another finger of his left hand. "In 1967, they developed missiles for use in submarines."
He ticked a fourth finger. "And recently, they landed a probe on the far side of the moon, the Chang'e 4 and Jade Rabbit 2 rover and announced plans for more."
"The dark side of the moon," Vince mused, impressed by his colleague's breath of knowledge. "Reminds me of that Pink Floyd album. Did they experience any communication difficulties?"
Waters nodded. "They did. Communication from that side of the moon has always been impossible and that's one of the main reasons our Apollo missions always visited the near side."
"How did the Chinese get around that little problem?" Vince asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to see if Waters knew.
Waters smiled. "They sent out the Queqiao satellite, parked it up 40,000 miles into space like a car in a mall, and from there it was able to relay signals back and forth. Ingenious idea. By the way, it's not really the dark side of the moon. That's a common misconception. The moon gets equal light all over its surface."
Vince smiled. "You know your stuff. How about the plans by China to militarize our last frontier?"
"Well," said Waters, "that's why they're sending these probes. They did it when our heads were turned towards Ultima Thule, beyond Pluto, as you undoubtedly know. Four billion miles away." Ultima Thule was a frozen rock visited by NASA's New Horizon's space probe.
"Do you know they sent up a state-of-the-art satellite recently that had the ability to destroy one of their older satellites that had entered a lower orbit?"
"Yes," Waters confirmed. "I recall reading something about that."
Harry Vince made a face. "It started with the Chinese in space and now the rot has spread to the Russians."
"Sir?"
"One of our satellites is missing," Vince explained. "In space."
"Missing?"
"We suspect sabotage but proving that will be something else again. It's an important satellite because we use it to transmit to our naval packages."
"Submarines?"
"Submarines too," Vince confirmed, "but not exclusively so."
"The ultimate star wars?" Waters queried.
Harry Vince nodded. "You'd better believe it, Frank."
The talk of submarines made Frank think of his wife Jennifer and her previous service aboard the USS Obama. He too had been aboard the Obama. It was where he had met Jennifer.
Vince must have guessed at his thoughts. "We're flying your wife out to the Obama again. It left Bangor, in Maine yesterday."
Waters was silent for a few moments. "You haven't briefed her yet?"
"Not yet," Vince replied. "We paged her whilst you were driving in."
"Where do I fit into this operation, Harry?"
"We want you in Hong Kong tonight."
"Hong Kong."
"There's a Chinese double-agent we want you to meet. He claims to have information on this whole furore. Meet with him and see where it leads."
"Sir," Waters acknowledged. He took a file from Vince and inserted it into his briefcase. It contained everything he would need; airline tickets, credit cards, name and contact details of the meet, a dedicated cell phone and anything else that was relevant to the operation.
A sixth sense was kicking in. It was rarely wrong. He had the feeling that he was about to embark on a very dangerous mission. If he'd known how dangerous he might have turned and hightailed it there and then, but he didn't know and couldn't foretell the future. That kind of thing was best left to wizards and their ilk. However even if he had known of the dangers that would be posed by the mission parameters his sense of duty towards his country would have won the day. Of that, he was very sure.
It was what made him tick.
