Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 03 by Sky Masters (v1.1) Read Free Book Online

were currently on an eastward heading,
cruising well north of the ninth parallel—and as far as Yin was concerned, the
“neutral zone” meant that he might consider issuing a warning to trespassers before opening fire on them. The shoal
water was also south of their position, near Pearson Reef, and he wanted to
stay clear of those dangerous waters.
                “CIC to bridge,” the interphone
crackled. “Wenshan reports surface
contact, bearing three-four-zero, range eighteen miles. Stationary target.”
                Captain Lubu keyed his microphone
and grunted a curt, “Understood,” then checked the radar plot. The Wenshan was one of the Hainan-class
patrol boats roaming north and east of the Hong
Lung; it had a much better surface-search radar than the small
Huangfen-class boat, the Xingyi, in
the vicinity; although the Xingyi was
equipped with Fei Lung-7 surface attack missiles, often other ships had to seek
out targets for it.
                Lubu turned to Admiral Yin. “Sir,
the surface contact is near Phu Qui Island , in the neutral zone about twenty miles
north of Pearson Reef. No recent reports of any vessels or structures in the
area. We have Wenshan and Xingyi in position to investigate the
contact.”
                Yin nodded that he understood. Phu Qui Island , he knew, was a former Chinese oil-drilling
site in the Spratly Islands ; the well had been capped and abandoned
years ago. Although Phu Qui Island disappeared underwater at high tide, it was
a very large rock and coral formation and could easily be expanded and
fortified—it would be an even larger island than Spratly Island itself. If Yin was tasked to pick an island
to occupy and fortify, he would pick Phu Qui.
                So might someone else. . . .
                “Send Wenshan and Xingyi to
investigate the contact,” Yin ordered. “Rotate Manning north to take Wenshan's position.” Manning was the other
Hainan-class patrol boat acting as “rover” in Yin’s patrol group.
                Captain Lubu acknowledged the order
and relayed the instructions to his officer of the deck for transmission to the Wenshan.
                Yin, who had been in the People’s
Liberation Army Navy practically all of his life, was proud of the instincts
he’d honed during his loyal career. He trusted them. And now, somewhere deep
down in his gut, those instincts told him this was going to be trouble.
                Granted, Phu Qui Island , and even the Spratlys themselves, seemed
the most unlikely place to expect trouble. The Spratlys—called Nansha Dao, the Lonely Islands , in Chinese—were a collection of reefs,
atolls, and semisubmerged islands in the middle of the South China Sea , halfway between Vietnam and the Philippines and several hundred kilometers south of China . The fifty-five major surface formations of
the Spratlys were dotted with shipwrecks, attesting to the high degree of
danger involved when navigating in the area. Normally, such a deathtrap as the
Spratlys would be given a wide berth.
                Centuries ago Chinese explorers had
discovered that the Nansha Dao was a treasure trove of minerals—gold, iron,
copper, plus traces or indications of dozens of other metals—as well as gems
and other rarities.
                Since the islands were right on the
sea lanes between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, the “round-eyes”
eventually found them, and the English named them the Spratlys after the
commander of a British warship who “discovered” them in the eighteenth century.
It was the British who discovered oil in the Spratlys and began tapping it.
Unfortunately, the British had not yet developed the technology to successfully
and economically drill for oil in the weather-beaten islands, so the islands
were abandoned for safer and more lucrative drilling sites in Indonesia and Malaysia