10 What if?
At Mach 6, two missiles made parabola's in the stratosphere and headed back to earth towards their floating target.
Nash had the peddle to the metal, redlining Airwolf and racing under the radar with a ground effect wake erupting on the water and behind the swift machine.
Dr Zuan was still white knuckling her seat and wondered if she would ever get the circulation back in her arms. She had almost passed out when the helicopter was in battle and wouldn't necessarily say that she particularly enjoyed it, but she was getting accustomed to the hairy ride and was surprised at herself for not getting airsick.
Back on the RV Dolphin, Le and the rest of the Project Guardian crew were also watching the progress of the two weapons and The Lady as they each barrelled to a common mark.
Aiming heavenward, the US Navy Destroyers only had a small window of opportunity to fire at the inbound nuke successfully.
Having already prepared their Intercept Missiles for their training session, it had saved them precious minutes and now they had to leave it to their systems to lock onto their new targets.
From China's relatively new Joint Command Centre in Beijing, the country's President was quietly watching the monitors in his camouflage fatigues. The man was at war in his own mind and the clothing made it easier for him to amerce himself in the scene alongside his comrades.
With a serene smirk masking his face, he observed his two Dong feng missiles hurtle through the Earth's upper atmosphere. That smirk belied his apprehension of whether those two weapons could make it through the re-entry process.
It would be nice if they did, but if not they would serve as the perfect distraction while one of his submarines moved into position.
With the heat exceeding one thousand degrees Celsius, on the leading edges of missile re-entry, an undetected hairline crack started to compromise one of the inbound rockets.
It wasn't long before the fissure opened up and fractured, leaving the entire structure to break up into thousands of fragments and display their glowing remnants to rain down towards the earth.
The second missile remained intact and continued to tear through the atmosphere, its sensors detecting the target and making small corrections to its trajectory.
The countdown was on to fire an Aegis Interceptor from the American cruiser USS Bunker Hill.
At the same time, in a deep channel just beyond Flat and Nanshan Island's, a long cigar shaped shadow headed closer to the surface in order to launch China's ultimate ship destroying weapon. For months they had waited, strategically guessing where one of the American Navy Fleets might have been sailing. The last twenty four hours made that prediction much easier.
With equal parts luck and espionage, their target was now within easy striking distance while all of the American's focus was on their current attack.
With a hypersonic glide vehicle mounted to the front a SRBM, the warhead was highly mobile once separated from its rocket body and on its final course. Being at relatively short range, they would be able to keep the course of the projectile close to sea level, generating maximum destruction when they hit the ship low on the hull near the waterline.
While distracted by the atmospheric arrival The American Fleet would remain completely unaware of it until it was too late.
Never had such a relentless attack ever been initiated on one small target.
This wasn't about inducing a conventional war. It was about persuading the opposition that their military might was more than a match for them and suppressing future firepower and being able to control in another way. President Li Chunglung had enough of playing second fiddle, the West had controlled that power for far too long and it was high time the tables were turned.
With all parties now overseeing the tense moment unfold, the US Interceptor was fired skyward, successfully destroying the offending missile.
Relief came from the American's while a smug assurance radiated from the leader of the CCP and only seconds later the man gave the order for his submarine to fire the first decider.
As if expertly synchronised, The Lady's sensors shouted loudly and identified the Chinese submarine as they neared the location of undersea vessel, now only a little over a hundred miles from the Roosevelt and her strike group.
Airwolf was almost knocked off her course and into the drink as the sea swelled just ahead of her only a moment before the missile burst from the water like a scene from Hunt for Red October.
Relaying the incident Back to the RV Dolphin, they only had minutes to act.
Branson looked at Michael, with trepidation "We can't keep leaving them in the dark, they need to know."
Michael pursed his lips in thought went directly against Chapman's orders.
The RV Dolphin contacted the massive Aircraft carrier and told them to dump Sam's body overboard, hoping that since the big boat captain actually bothered to take their communication, was a sign that he would consider what they said.
Simultaneously, Airwolf gave chase. She would soon be out flown with the missile increasing its speed to out number that of The Ladies' three to one. Nash was under pressure to make sure that his aim was perfect.
With his visor down, Nash knew he only had one shot at this. With his finger over the trigger, the Raytheon Peregrine waited in the chamber to fire.
Once in his sight, Nash squeezed, and the one hundred and sixty pound missile streaked after the other, much larger projectile.
Chaos ensued on the mighty Aircraft Carrier. They had no time to argue their quarantine case, or even why they should believe a civilian research vessel with such sort notice, they couldn't take any chances, especially after all the bizarre events leading up to this moment.
Goldstein's gut was all he had, and he placed highest priority on expelling the dead Delta Force Operator from below deck.
It was almost too late by the time the Flotilla received the official warning of the inbound missile just as the gliding body separated from its Rocket. With the alarms sounding and the crews doing their best with less than a few minutes to scramble everything they had, it was all they could do not to helplessly watch on as the low flying missile closed in low on the horizon.
With a bright flash only a mile or so from the Carrier, fiery debris hit the water over a large footprint.
Goldstein was well aware of the close call. After his strike fleet reported that they'd not been the one's to knock the missile down, he had to wonder if its flight had been aborted like the retreat of the fighters had earlier.
He wasn't completely convinced however. There was still the obscure warning from the RV Dolphin to contend with.
The fleet was powering along at fifty knots, continuing to head North West into open ocean and the crew had only just brought Sam's body to the nearest despatch point from the boughs of where the ship's morgue was located.
In Beijing, President Li was boiling underneath his cool exterior. Not knowing what had happened to make his missile fall short of its target, he ordered the second and last unit to be fired.
Simultaneously Airwolf had almost made it back to the American Strike group.
Saint John hadn't taken his eyes off the monitors, paying particular attention to the Submarine they had previously come across. He knew that it wasn't over until it was over, and when that would be was anybody's guess. Knowing that the missile couldn't have been the only one on board the People's Liberation Army Navy Shang Class Sub, it wasn't a surprise when another was launched.
"We got ourselves another bogie!" he called, similarly to the style Dom had once used.
Nash groaned as he piloted The Lady nearer the American boats and slowed the helicopter down to three hundred knots. "Engage Rotors," he said before confirming with Le, that he was onto latest threat and radioing the fleet to identify himself and warn of the submerged vessel that was hiding behind the island mass.
Goldstein was in a frazzle, he didn't have the luxury of time at that moment, the allied helicopters presence would momentarily delay a defensive strike.
That was compounded by anther radio call from the RV Dolphin. "Get that body off your tub!" Michael shouted, when it was noted that Sam's remains still hadn't been disposed of according to the blip still moving along with the giant ship.
Goldstein was furious that his orders had been delayed but would take it up with them later. The unusual protocol may have been questionable, but his command was not.
Saluting Sam as his body fell into the ocean, the mixed crew of officers and medical staff hoped they wouldn't be reprimanded over the strange incident, the distance quickly increased as the ship churned through the water as those who had accompanied the body went to go through a decontamination process.
From the bridge, eyes were again on mysterious helicopter as it entered their immediate airspace.
From the mysterious Helicopter Nash had locked onto the second East Wind, hedging his bets with a finger resting on the trigger, but as expected, he watched it go off course and hit the ocean harmlessly well behind the mighty carrier.
President Chunglung visibly vibrated with rage. His full proof plan had been thwarted!
America would pay for this!
Heads would roll. Starting with his incompetent second in charge. It was his fault for letting that extraordinary flying machine slip through his fingers.
From the bridge on the Aircraft Carrier, It wasn't only Goldstein who watched on in wonder as the attractive helo approached the Strike Fleet.
Back in the good old U.S of A, the DOD was unaware of much of what was really happening.
They did wonder about the timing of the drill the inexplicable malfunction in the computer systems that wiped out almost all usable information.
It was all such a failure that a gag was placed on the incident and nothing more than mention of an aborted military exercise would be covered by the media.
At Project Guardian headquarters, Ayden Chapman's team had successfully manipulated the DOD computer data while on the RV Dolphin, Le's skills had complemented the action with the Navy vessels on the water.
Ayden and the POTUS had worked hard with Project Guardian Operatives to pre-empt the unfolding Chinese Communist Party's next moves.
The question was what if this underground and highly covert private intelligence company hadn't developed?
What if they hadn't found the leak that started the string of events at the Wuhan Lab?
What if the security guard hadn't been a double agent for the CCP?
What if he hadn't planted the tracking chip inside Sam's neck wound as he lay bleeding out all over the floor?
What if Sam hadn't mustered enough strength to shoot the agent dead before finally succumbing to the blood loss?
The answers had been a series of events that had been decades in the making, although this chapter started in 2014.
Keith (Kwan) Chan had previously worked in a Fabs factory in California's Silicon Valley and was recruited by the CIA before being sent to China in early 2015 as an agent to see what they were developing with regards to microchip technology.
He was listed MIA, presumed dead in late 2016 just when President Tobias started to shake things up
A random thumb drive was accidentally dropped under a table at a Whitehouse event a couple of years later and at about the same time as Airwolf landed back on home soil. It was handed into the FBI who had been sitting on it ever since.
The President wanted to know exactly who was working for him and he made huge waves when secrets started to be uncovered.
He obviously wasn't happy about being purposely kept out of the loop, so he fired the director before uncovering what was on the thumb drive and the piles of other suppressed information that mysteriously happened to appear on (not just) China that he really should have known about.
Especially considering the feud on trade that he was having with the Communist country.
On it was a bombshell that he hadn't expected.
Files on Opposition leader James Bishon and his daughter Hanna, who he'd taken on a business junket to China not just once since the President was in office.
They visited a Fabs Lab where Hanna, who was daddy's little princess and came with a party girl reputation, bumped into agent Kwan Chan. She took a liking to him and thanks to a series of irresponsible actions on their part, ended up inadvertently exposing him and putting the agent's life on the line.
As a result, James Bishon was put in a very compromising position.
Long story short, the Hanna begged her father to save Keith Chan's life and Bishon made a political deal that would make the Bishon family millions in exchange for squashing any intel on Shǔ nián.
Agent Kwan Chan was given a reprieve as a double agent and sent to get close to Dr Zuan. His cover was as an unassuming cleaner and his path often crossed with Dr Zuan and her fellow immunologists. He was reassigned as security detail after catching Dr Zuan and one of her fellow immunologists in a suspicious tête-à-tête where upon the other doctor was swiftly disappeared leaving the suspect but still valuable Dr Zuan captive.
The CCP knew if she was interned, that America would come looking for her, so they made it easy to figure out that she'd been detained under duress and it became inevitable. They had already attained their objective.
They were patient and they knew that westerners... well... they weren't. They would lay in wait for years - if they had to.
And they had, for years they'd been developing the virus, waiting for the West to weaken enough to release it.
If only Amercan's had made better voting decisions, there wouldn't have been an unplanned delay.
But still the CCP continued to be patient and added to their plans.
They expected a rescue mission that would fail. Dr Zuan had done her job, it didn't matter to them at that stage of the game if she was dead or alive.
But America did. The price on a life was still higher on their side of the fence. Although for how long it remained that way, was directly proportionate to who was really in charge.
And that's what they were literally banking on. They bought their way into politics through the Bishon's and their relationship with some of the high ranking officials of the alphabet agencies.
But they didn't bank on Project Guardian.
Who knew what would have happened if President Darian Tobias hadn't banked on supercopter Airwolf and her extraordinary crew? He would thank them personally once he tied up all the loose ends he'd unravelled along the way.
There was a long silence after refuelling one more time on the rotor thanks to Captain Goldstein and one of a number of lighter aircraft that were fitted with fuel despatch capabilities.
Everyone was understandably exhausted.
Le was confident that Dr Zuan's tracking chip would be near on impossible to track if Airwolf took it to an unknown area whilst under stealth mode. That didn't mean that Dr Zuan's ordeal was over. She would barely get any rest before being transferred to the RV Dolphin's other chopper to make the trip to the Marshall Islands as they passed by. There she would have the chip removed before she and the tracker were sent back to the States for further process.
Only an hour or so later, they finally touched down on the RV Dolphin, sixteen hundred Miles nearer to home and Airwolf was quickly hidden in the hangar and out of sight.
Once the Doctor had safely left the ship, The Santini crew and the two Project Guardian agents kicked back a little on the jacuzzi deck blissfully reunited in their pairs.
Nash reclined back on the lounge, draping an arm around Dale's shoulders, his eyelids closing in contentment.
"Ahhh this is the life," he said squeezing Dale's shoulder, "wish we could stay here a while. When do we need get The Lady back?." Nash asked casually.
The collective silence caught his attention and he opened his eyes to look at the faces sitting in the luxurious surrounds of the Mega Yacht.
Everyone looked uncomfortable. Guilty even.
Nash felt his stomach drop and sat up abruptly.
"The Lady's not going back Wings." Branson said quietly.
