Hidden Dragons,
Sleeping Dogs

For over 4,000 years the Chinese have hungered for global dominance. That day has arrived. China hid its most closely guarded secret in the dense and craggy forests of the remote Nanling Mountains. Genetically enhanced Chinese soldiers. Products of a highly advanced, long-range program, they had physical and cognitive abilities vastly superior to all other Homo sapiens.

The 150 genetically enhanced Chinese soldiers were known as Yǐncáng de lóng, the Hidden Dragons. The first generation was produced in a secret genetics lab known as Lóng de dànshēng dì, Birthplace of Dragons. They literally were supermen.

Captain Tian Longhua was their commanding officer. Ironically, his name meant Field of Dragon Splendor.

The morning was cool and dry as Tian left his temporary quarters and walked briskly to the genetics laboratory that had created him and his supersoldier colleagues. The mountain air felt refreshing after his strenuous morning training exercises. Like all of the Hidden Dragons, he had a precise awareness of time. He knew with absolute certainty that his meeting with General Liang Chungwu was in five minutes—no more, no less. Tian adjusted his pace to arrive at the meeting in exactly four and a half minutes. He reached the entrance to the lab with thirty seconds to spare.

Liang Chungwu was commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command, and one of the most powerful military commanders in China. More importantly, he also was a favorite of China’s president Jiang Qui Xing. To be late for a meeting with General Liang was unthinkable, and potentially fatal.

The lab was housed in a nondescript, multi-story building surrounded by high-security fencing and guarded by elite PLA special operations soldiers. Surveillance cameras, motion detectors, and biometric scanners ensured that only authorized personnel could access the facility.

At the entrance, Tian was challenged by two heavily armed sentries who carefully examined his credentials. Then the biometric devices authenticated his identity by fingerprint and iris scans and voice recognition. After passing these security measures, he entered a small foyer. Its walls and ceiling were painted a flat white. The floor was covered with two-foot squares of drab brown tile. No furniture or decorations broke the monotony. The ambience was sterile to the point of antiseptic. The same atmosphere bled into the corridors that branched off to various specialized areas, each dedicated to different aspects of genetic research and enhancement.

Tian took the first corridor on his right, the research and development wing. Here, scientists and geneticists conducted experiments on CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and other gene-editing technologies. The R&D wing included advanced computing systems for genetic modeling and analysis. Halfway down the corridor he entered a room that served as a spartan lounge area for the scientists working in R&D.

A short, thin, middle-aged man sat in an ancient lounge chair. He wore a white lab coat and was sipping tea. He looked up as Tian entered and regarded the captain through wire-rimmed glasses. Tian immediately recognized Dr. Wei Jianguo, chief molecular biologist in the research division at the Birthplace of Dragons.

Wei, a perpetually nervous little man, made a jerky wave of recognition and stood. Tian towered over him.

“The general asked me to remind you that you and your men are exceptional beings. You have been … ah, altered by my colleagues and me to be perfect physical specimens. You have been created to be superior to all other human beings on this planet. There is nothing that can stop you from carrying out your mission.”

Tian stared at Wei. The scientist’s comments triggered a memory, something he had read while studying Western culture. It concerned the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic. Before its first and only voyage, someone supposedly had said that not even God could sink the ship. His thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of General Liang Chungwu.

The general was a tall man, a six-footer. His slicked-back hair was thinning and morphing from black to gray. Still fit-looking in his sixties, Liang favored dark blue zhifu suits with only four small gold stars on each side of his collar to indicate his rank as a full general in the PLA. He was famous for his aversion to wearing service ribbons. If forced to wear them, the left side of his jacket would have been covered with endless rows of “fruit salad,” as the colorful ribbon bars were called.

As Dr. Wei scurried from the room, Captain Tian drew himself up and snapped a crisp salute to Liang.

The general made a dismissive gesture. “Such behavior is appropriate on the parade ground. In less formal conditions, such as this, we are just two loyal soldiers working together for the greater glory of China … and our president.” Liang’s usually impassive face offered a slight grin with the last three words.

Tian tried to relax, but remained tense. General Liang was renowned as a dangerous man, one who didn’t tolerate failure or mistakes. His close relationship with China’s president gave him great power to the point of summarily executing those who disappointed him. The captain knew the Hidden Dragons’ assignment was key to China’s strategy to defeat the West, especially America. It was audacious to the point of foolhardy. Almost certainly a suicide mission.

“I appreciate your meeting with me, Longhua,” the general said, using Tian’s given name. In China, the surname comes first followed by an individual’s given names.

“It is my honor, General.”

Liang motioned toward a countertop where coffee and tea pots simmered. “Would you care to join me?” He filled his cup with coffee. In a nation famous for tea, Liang was infamous for his consumption of coffee. Upwards of a dozen cups a day.

As much as Tian wanted a cup of tea, he feared he was too nervous to drink it and his shaking hand might spill it. “No, thank you, General. I am fine.”

Liang smiled and pointed to a chair. “Please sit, Longhua.” The general chose a similar chair that faced Tian’s.

When they both were seated, Liang set his coffee cup on a small side table next to his chair. “All the training and preparations must have seemed like an eternity to you, did they not?”

Tian flashed a quick nervous smile. “It was necessary, the only way we … my men and I could be ready for what we must do.”

Liang studied the younger man for a few moments, then said, “Do you remember when you and the others first arrived?”

“Yes.”

“Your unit was among the best our armed forces had to offer—young, strong, fast, smart, and exceptionally well-trained. Did it seem possible to you at the time that our scientists could make you so much better, could enhance your abilities and talents to such a degree?”

Tian shook his head slowly, as if still in disbelief. “No. We thought the experiments would probably kill us or leave us badly disabled and helpless.”

“But instead, our gene-editing procedures have turned you into supermen, soldiers such as the world has never seen. Using a combination of gene therapy, stem cell research, and bioprinting technologies, your physical attributes, including muscle growth, bone density, and cardiovascular efficiency, have been vastly enhanced. In addition, techniques such as neural implants, cognitive training programs, and neurogenetic modifications have vastly boosted cognitive enhancements like intelligence, memory, and reaction times.”

Tian held his hands up and looked at them. “I would never have believed we could become what we are. It still seems like a dream to me despite the physical and mental suffering we experienced.”

“Do you have regrets?”

“None! We are the vanguard of the new People’s Liberation Army. There is no one like us on this planet.” His voice rising with excitement, Tian said. “Using sabotage and terror with our new skills and abilities, we will destroy America from within. They will not know how to deal with us!”

A brief smile animated Liang’s face. “I’m told your personal best in the bench press is 900 kilos. Yes?”

“I matched that in my workout this morning, but I believe I could have handled more.”

Liang’s eyes narrowed as he calculated. “That’s almost 2,000 pounds. Excellent. And what is your most recent time for the 100 meters?”

“8.51 seconds.”

“Also excellent! That combination of strength and speed is inconceivable. As are your cognitive abilities. In addition to your native Mandarin, I am told you speak six languages fluently.”

“Yes. English, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Farsi.”

Another rare smile from Liang. “And all of the men in your unit are similarly talented, yes?”

“Yes. There are only differences of a few pounds in the weight room and hundredths of a second in the sprints.”

Liang’s eyes narrowed and he stared straight into Tian’s eyes. “So, after all the medical procedures, gene-editing, neurogenetic modifications, and emotional, physical, and psychological stress you and you men have been through, how do you feel?”

“Indestructible!” Tian said without hesitation. An image of the Titanic flashed across his mind.

“Excellent, Longhua. The staff at this laboratory assures me you and your men are ready, and I agree. Your unit will begin its journey to the United States quite soon. Let’s review our mission and its purposes once again.”

Tian nodded quickly and silently in agreement.

“For 4,000 years, it has been China’s destiny to rule this world.” Liang paused and smiled enigmatically like the Mona Lisa. In reference to China’s extra-planetary ambitions and space program, he added, “And perhaps others too.”

“Although weakened by its recent political choices, America is still our greatest and most powerful enemy. It would be suicidal on China’s part to engage the West in a conventional war. But the present is clearly the time to wage unconventional warfare. Do you agree, Longhua?”

“Yes, General. The American people are deceived by their false sense of security. More than two decades later, they have forgotten their vulnerability on 9/11. Those who do remember think of it as an attack on specific financial and political targets, New York City and Washington, D.C. The ones who don’t live in or near those cities feel safe and secure.”

Again the general smiled. “The two greatest dangers to the western world are its people’s ever-shortening memories and their unmerited optimism. You and your Hidden Dragons will soon be loosed in the American heartland, targeting its civilian population physically and psychologically. Those weaklings will be terrified by your genetically-enhanced powers. They’ve never seen anything like you other than in their silly superhero movies and comic books.”

Out of respect for the general, Tian sat rigidly at attention, head held high on a muscular neck, eyes sparkling with intellect. His shoulders were broad, his chest deep, his arms and legs stocky with newly developed muscle.

“We will redefine the term “terrorism” through the intentional use of violence against America’s civilian population,” he said. “We will spread subversion and propaganda by training, equipping, and advising native resistance fighters and other locals who oppose their government. Through political assassinations, disruption of communications and power grids, commando raids, and other special operations, we will exhaust and destroy the enemy’s will to fight.”

General Liang gave a single nod. “Excellent, my young dragon. You and your men are ready for the boldest and most aggressive act in China’s long and glorious history. Have your men ready. Your journey begins tomorrow.”