period of months, and perhaps indefinitely. To do anything else would have
carried with it great dangers for a country whose military had been down-
sized and whose next-door neighbor was the nation with the world’s largest
standing army, and an historical enemy at that. Han hadn’t even been forced
to bring up that unseemly thought. He’d simply delivered an observation.
There seemed to be difficulties between America and Japan. Those difficul-
ties did not pertain directly to the Republic of Korea. Nor would it appear
that the Republic had any immediate ability to ameliorate those differences,
except perhaps as an honest broker of influence when diplomatic negotia-
tions were undertaken, at which time the good offices of the Republic of
Korea would be most welcome indeed by all sides in the dispute, certainly
by Japan.
He’d taken no particular pleasure at the discomfort his mild words had
given lo his hosts. There was much to admire in the Koreans, a fact lost on
Japan in their blind racism, Zhang thought. With luck, he might firm up the
trading relationship between the PRC and the ROK, and they, too, would
profit from the ultimate objective-and why not? The ROKs had no reason
to love the Russians, and even less to love the Japanese. They simply had to
get over their regrettable friendship with America and become part of a new
reality. It was sufficient to the moment that they had indeed seen things his
way, and that America’s one remaining ally in this part of the world was off
the playing field, their president and foreign minister having seen the light of
reason. And with luck, the war, such as it was, might already be over for all
intents and purposes.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” The voice came from the living room, where Mrs.
Oreza had left the TV on. “In ten minutes there will be a special announce-
ment. Please stay tuned.”
“Manni?”
“I heard it, honey.”
“You have a blank tape for your VCR?” Burroughs asked.
Catching lip
Robby Jackson’s day had started off badly enough. He’d had bad ones
before, including a day as a lieutenant commander at Naval Air Test Center,
Patuxent River, Maryland, in which a jet trainer had decided without any
prompting at all to send him and his ejection seat flying through the canopy,
breaking his leg in the process and taking him off flight status for months.
He’d seen friends die in crashes of one sort or another, and even more often
had participated in searches for men whom he’d rarely found alive, more
often locating a slick of jet fuel and perhaps a little debris. As a squadron
commander and later as a CAG, he’d been the one who’d written the letters
to parents and wives, telling them that their man, and most recently, their
little girl, had died in the service of their country, each time asking himself
what he might have done differently to prevent the necessity of the exercise.
The life of a naval aviator was filled with such days.
But this was worse, and the only consolation was that he was deputy J-3,
responsible to develop operations and plans for his country’s military. Had
he been part of J-2, the intelligence boys, his sense of failure would have
been complete indeed.
‘ ‘That’s it, sir, Yakota, Misawa, and Kadena are all off the net. Nobody’s
picking up.”
“How many people?” Jackson asked.
“Total, about two thousand, mainly mechanics, radar controllers, loggies,
that sort of thing. Maybe an airplane or two in transit, but not many of those.
I have people checking now,” the Major replied. “How about the Navy?”
“We have people at Andersen on Guam, co-located with your base. The
port, too, maybe a thousand people total. It’s a lot smaller than it used to
be.” Jackson lifted his secure phone and punched in the numbers for CINC-
PAC. “Admiral Seaton? This is Jackson again. Anything else?”
“We can’t raise anybody west of Midway, Rob. It’s starting to look real.”
“How does this thing work?” Oreza asked.
“I hate to say this, but I’m not sure. I didn’t bother reading the manual,”
Burroughs admitted. The sat-phone was sitting on the coffee table, its an-
tenna extended through the drill hole in the bottom of the mixing bowl,
which was in turn sitting atop two piles of books. “I’m not sure if it broad-
casts its position to the satellites periodically or not.” For which reason they
felt it necessary to maintain the comical arrangement.
“You turn mine off by putting the antenna back down,” Isabel Oreza ob-
served, causing two male heads to turn. “Or you can just take the batteries
out, right?”
“Damn.” Burroughs managed to say it first, but not by much. He lifted
the bowl off, put the little antenna back in its hole, then flipped off the bat-
tery cover and withdrew the two A As. The phone was now completely off.
“Ma’am, if you want to get into the master’s program at Sanford, use me as
a reference, okay?”
‘ ‘Ladies and gentlemen.” Heads turned in the living room to see a smiling
man in green fatigues. His English was letter-perfect. “I am General Tokiki-
chi Arima of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces. Please allow me to
explain what has happened today.
“First of all, let me assure you that there is no cause for alarm. There was
an unfortunate shooting at the police substation adjacent to your parliament
building, but the two police officers who were hurt in the exchange are both
doing well in your local hospital. If you have heard rumors of violence or
death, those rumors are not true,” the General assured the twenty-nine thou-
sand citizens of Saipan.
“You probably want to know what has happened,” he went on. “Early
today, forces under my command began arriving on Saipan and Guam. As
you know from your history, and indeed as some of the older citizens on this
island well remember, until 1944 the Mariana Islands were possessions of
Japan. It may surprise some of you to know that since the court decision
several years ago allowing Japanese citizens to purchase real estate in the
islands, the majority of the land on Saipan and Guam is owned by my coun-
trymen. You also know of our love and affection for these islands and the
people who live here. We have invested billions of dollars here and created a
renaissance in the local economy after years of shameful neglect by the
American government. Therefore, we’re not really strangers at all, are we?
“You probably also know that there have been great difficulties between
Japan and America. Those difficulties have forced my country to rethink our
defense priorities. We have, therefore, decided to reestablish our ownership
of the Mariana Islands as a purely defensive measure to safeguard our own
shores against possible American action. In other words, it is necessary for
us to maintain defense forces here and therefore to bring the Marianas back
into our country.
“Now.” General Arima smiled. “What does this mean to you, the citi-
zens of Saipan?
‘ ‘Really, it means nothing at all. All businesses will remain open. We, too,
believe in free enterprise. You will continue to manage your own affairs
through your own elected officials, with the additional benefit that you will
have status as Japan’s forty-eighth prefecture, with full parliamentary repre-
sentation in the Diet. That is something you have not had as an American
commonwealth-which is just another word for colony, isn’t it? You will
have dual citizenship rights. We will respect your culture and your language.
Your freedom to travel will not be impeded. Your freedoms of speech, press,
religion, and assembly will be the same as those enjoyed by all Japanese
citizens, and totally identical with the civil rights you now enjoy. In short,
nothing is going to change in your daily life at all.” Another charming smile.
‘ The truth of the matter is that you will greatly benefit from this change
in government. As part of Japan, you will be part of the world’s most vibrant
and dynamic economy. Even more money will come to your island. You
will see prosperity such as you have never dreamed of,” Arima assured his
audience. “The only changes you will experience will be positive ones. On
that you have my word and the word of my government.
“Perhaps you say that such words are easy to speak, and you are correct.
Tomorrow you will see people on the streets and roads of Saipan, surveying,
taking measurements, and interviewing local citizens. Our first important
task will be to improve the roads and highways of your island, something
neglected by the Americans. We want your advice on the best way to do this.
In fact, we will welcome your help and participation in everything we do.
“Now,” Arima said, leaning forward somewhat, “I know that some
among you will find these developments unwelcome, and I wish to apolo-