Thirteen kilometres to the south-west lay Loaita Island, another Philippine outpost with a permanent if small complement of marines. Lankiam Cay came under their jurisdiction, regular checks made as to the coral bank’s status via Loaita’s observation tower and the occasional visit.
That was the theory – in practice, little notice was taken of Lankiam, the boredom and isolation of their temporary home encouraging the marines to seek more worthwhile pursuits: snorkelling, gambling, sleeping.
The only officer was busy fishing when the first radio call came in from the mainland just before noon. By the time a second message demanded action some forty minutes later, six armed marines were already on their way to reclaim the bank for the Philippines.
By then it was far too late, the images shared worldwide. A plane from the Philippine mainland with a TV crew aboard had long since been and gone, their pictures confirmation that it was no computer-generated lie, and even as the marines beached on the coral bank, a helicopter hovered offshore, this time with the markings of China’s Coastguard.
Whilst it was more an embarrassment than anything else, the Chinese media made the most of their neighbours’ humiliation, one TV news reporter commenting that if that was an illustration of the Philippines’ level of readiness, then maybe China should plant more than just a flag the next time.
For Louisa Marcelo and her supporters it was the perfect stimulus, the calls to her office regarding the peace armada trebling in just one hour.
Marshwick, England – 10:13 Local Time; 09:13 UTC
Anderson had known it was pointless arguing, consoling himself with the thought that combining business and pleasure was actually an excellent idea. It was also true what Charlotte had said: when it came to holidays, she tended to organise everything. If there were any subsequent financial discrepancies, they were invariably resolved amicably, and money was not something they ever argued about. With luck, he might well be able to squeeze something out of The Washington Post, their meeting confirmed for the Tuesday morning.
Charlotte obviously had other plans, and deepest Virginia would definitely be a trip into the unknown. New York was a favourite destination for Anderson, and as a commercial pilot he had travelled to a score of U.S. cities, including Virginia Beach. The small community of McDowell didn’t quite seem to have the same allure, but Anderson was content to give it a go, happy to try and gain a few brownie points.
If anything worried him about the trip, it was the simplicity of Pat McDowell’s Virginia message. As with Markova’s package and Berlin, Anderson felt he was being manipulated. McDowell was almost placing a big pin on a map and saying ‘Here I am’, and it just couldn’t be that simple. Gabriel’s information had seemed genuine, but Anderson was starting to have serious doubts about everything that had happened in the last week.
If Charlotte had similar doubts then she was keeping them to herself, and packing for Washington was already well in hand. The British Airways flight was booked for the Monday morning, landing at Dulles. Anderson had no idea where they were staying and he sensed Charlotte was regretting her impetuosity, her stubborn streak meaning she couldn’t just back down. In that respect, they were both very similar.
The U.S. was undergoing a similar crisis of confidence, the Dow fluctuating wildly with the latest turmoil in the South China Sea adding to nervous trading. The other world markets were following suit, the Nikkei and Hang Seng suffering more than most. Other U.S. economic news was similarly depressing, an article in The Wall Street Journal emphasising the hidden flaws in the Administration’s economic policy; then there was the drop in home sales and a predicted rise in unemployment. November looked like it was going to be a tricky month, the Democrats suddenly apprehensive about the Midterm elections on the 8th.
Secretary of State Thorn was once more on the move: from Tokyo he had moved on to Taipei; now, instead of returning to Washington, he was heading on to Beijing, America quickly reacting to the Philippines’ discomfiture over the incident on Lankiam Cay. Japan’s disagreement with North Korea was still on hold, the five-day naval exercise with the United States due to go ahead as planned on November 1st.
Consequently there was nothing new in the media about Paige Hanson, her murder overtaken by events elsewhere. Overall, there was a lot for a journalist to get his teeth into but not when he was several thousand miles away from the action. Anderson’s interest in Markova’s report was waning and in a week he hadn’t actually achieved anything worthwhile: algorithms, acoustic signatures, submarine updates – it was all just too confusing.
Annoyed and frustrated, Anderson decided to make one final attempt to put the problem of Hanson and Wilhelmshaven finally to bed – he just needed someone rather more knowledgeable, preferably an expert who could translate submarine-speak into plain English.