Drone Command (Troy Pearce Book 3) by Mike Maden

Author:Mike Maden [Maden, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-TWO

EAST SEA FLEET HEADQUARTERS (PLAN)

NINGBO, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA

14 MAY 2017

The dimly lit air-conditioned room was filled with computer monitors and handheld tablets along the periphery. In the center of the cavernous space stood a massive digital chart table with two dozen uniformed faces hovering around it, focused intently on the digital ships and aircraft coming into virtual contact on what Pearce assumed was the East China Sea.

Myers could hardly believe her eyes. Three-dimensional aircraft were flying over the table as three-dimensional ships sailed on the virtual sea.

“Holographs. Impressive.” Myers and Pearce stood next to Admiral Ji and Feng on an elevated platform that gave them a bird’s-eye view of the chart table. “When did you steal that from DARPA?”

Admiral Ji ignored her insult.

An oversize three-dimensional holographic representation of an oil rig glowed in bright red near a small collection of islands in the center of the map.

Pearce pointed at the oil rig. “The Senkakus.”

“The proper name is the Diaoyu Islands,” Vice Chairman Feng said through clenched teeth. “Unless you prefer the Japanese mispronunciation.”

Pearce counted fifteen ships steaming from the coast of China and saw what appeared to be an American carrier battle group hovering off the southwestern coast of Japan. Overhead stereo speakers carried what Pearce guessed was chatter between pilots and ships’ crews.

“This is live?” Pearce asked.

Ji pointed at a ten-foot-wide 4K HD digital screen on the far wall. A live satellite image popped on. An overhead view of an aircraft carrier and the nearly two dozen support ships that surrounded it in real time.

“Do you recognize it, President Myers?” Ji asked.

“The George Washington carrier battle group, stationed out of Japan.”

“Correct.”

The admiral barked an order. The overhead satellite image zoomed in to the deck of the George Washington. F/A-18 Hornets and F-35Cs were lined up and taking off in combat launch operations. The detail was incredible. Myers could read the letters on the vests of the multicolored flight-deck crews scrambling on the tarmac. A bloodred target reticle suddenly appeared, centered on the carrier deck.

A junior female PLAN officer at the chart table shouted an order. Another officer answered back, followed by a dozen more.

A missile launch roared in the loudspeakers overhead, drowning out the chattering voices.

On the chart table, a missile rose from a mobile launcher on the coast of China. The missile track arced high above the table. It disappeared into the unlit ceiling. The Americans were mesmerized.

Admiral Ji pointed at the HD digital screen. The George Washington image was still live. “Watch the screen, please.”

Suddenly, an explosion ripped into the George Washington. The carrier erupted in flames.

“Oh, my god!” Myers shouted.

The holographic George Washington on the chart table burned furiously, listing to one side.

The room erupted in cheers and applause. Ji and Feng clapped their hands approvingly at the officers below them as the lights popped on. The chart table went blank and all the holographic images disappeared. But Ji let the burning hulk of the George Washington continue to blaze on the HD screen.

“We find that

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