Weapons of Choice

''Weapons of Choice'' is a science fiction novel by Australian author John Birmingham, the first in his Axis of Time alternative history trilogy.

Plot

In 2021 off East Timor, a US-led multinational task force commanded by Admiral Phillip Kolhammer prepares to liberate the Indonesian islands from an Islamic government calling itself the Caliphate, which is slaughtering the Chinese nationals living there. In the book's backstory, the Chinese government was planning to send a task force but was warned by the US government not to do so. The flagship of the task force is the aircraft carrier USS ''Hillary Clinton'', named after "the most uncompromising wartime president in the history of the United States". The task force is made up mainly of US and British units alongside French, Australian, Japanese, and '' Free Indonesians'', along with a few other units like Spetsnaz from Russia and Kommando Spezialkräfte from Germany. Alongside the navy task force is JRV ''Nagoya'', a scientific ship that is experimenting with wormholes; the navy ship protecting it is ordered to join the task force. A new ship from the Royal New Zealand Navy is sent as escort, but prior to its arrival, ''Nagoya''s project director, Manning Pope, decides to make a trial run. The task force is constantly watched by a Caliphate spy on the mainland.

In late May-early June 1942, Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and Lt. Commander Daniel Black are on the bridge of , on their way to face the Japanese sent to invade Midway. A growing commotion outside the bridge prompts them to investigate, only to find a large group of what are, to them, unknown and strangely designed ships. They spot a ship with the Japanese ensign and assume it is the Japanese fleet sent against Midway and they order their own ships to open fire. The multinational task force Combat Intelligence, referred to as CI, takes defensive action; the 21st-century fleet nearly wipes out the US fleet, including and . During the battle, Kolhammer and the rest of the multinational task force commanders learn that not all ships of the task force came through and those that did, did not all end up in the same place.

The light aircraft carrier ''Ryūjō'' encounters the Free Indonesian ship KRI ''Sutanto'' and boards it. The Indonesian crew are taken captive, but the Japanese learn that the Americans already broke their codes prior to Midway and upon learning the navy's history after their defeat, prompting Yamamoto to withdraw back home.

After the battle between the 1942 US naval force and the 21st-century multinational task force, an unsteady peace starts after they both reach Pearl Harbor. However, murders, rapes, and riots happen as the 21st-century people try to mix with the locals. Kolhammer is flown to California to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Albert Einstein. As time goes by with no sight of JRV ''Nagoya'', more and more 21st-century personnel start to realize they are stuck in 1942.

Captain Karen Halabi and HMS ''Trident'', a ''Trident''-class trimaran stealth destroyer, are ordered back to the Home Island for evaluation and possible transfer of ''Trident''. However, prior the ship's and her departure, they take part in a prisoner of war rescue in Singapore and Luzon. The rescue is carried out by both 21st-century and 1942 personnel.

Through the Japanese, Hitler learns about the results of the invasion of the Soviet Union and sends Ribbentrop to negotiate peace with the Soviet Union.

Historical characters featured

Allies

British Commonwealth

* Winston Churchill: British Prime Minister
* John Curtin Australian Prime Minister
* Sir Dudley Pound RN Admiral of the Fleet
* Sir Leslie Murray RN Rear Admiral

U.S.

* Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. President
* Raymond Spruance USN Rear Admiral
* Chester Nimitz USN Admiral
* William Halsey USN Admiral
* Ernest King USN Admiral
* Douglas MacArthur U.S. Army General
* George Marshall U.S. Army General
* Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. General Staff Brigadier

Axis

Germany

* Adolf Hitler Nazi Germany Führer and Reichskanzler
* Heinrich Himmler Reichsführer
* Joseph Goebbels Reichsminister
* Joachim von Ribbentrop Foreign Minister
* Hermann Hoth Oberführer
* Otto Skorzeny Standartenführer
* Erich Raeder Gross Admiral
* Karl Dönitz Admiral
* Otto Ciliax Vice Admiral

Japan

* Isoroku Yamamoto IJN Admiral, Commander in Chief Combined Fleet
* Boshirō Hosogaya IJN Vice Admiral, Commander Northern Area Force
* Kakuji Kakuta IJN Rear Admiral, Commander Second Carrier Striking Force
* Tadeo Kato IJN Captain '' Ryūjō''
* Hiroshi Ōshima IJA General, Japanese ambassador to Germany

Ships of the MNF

This list reflects the knowledge of the MNF as of the end of ''Weapons of Choice''. A number of ships of the MNF did not go through the Transition with the rest of the fleet; as of the end of the book, it is unclear which of these ships remained in the 21st century, which were destroyed by the Transition or immediately after, and which fell into enemy hands. More information about the fate of the missing ships is revealed in the sequel, ''Designated Targets''.

* USS ''Hillary Clinton''—''George Bush''–class supercarrier
* USS ''Kandahar''—''Baghdad''-class littoral assault ship
* USS ''Leyte Gulf''—''Nemesis''-class stealth cruiser (Overlapped . Stripped for equipment and destroyed.)
* USS ''Amanda L. Garrett''—''Cobb''-class air warfare destroyer /nowiki>James H. Cobb">James_H._Cobb.html" ;"title="/nowiki>James H. Cobb">/nowiki>James H. Cobb/nowiki> (missing after Transition; lost in waters off Antarctica)
* USS ''Providence''— ''Harpers Ferry''–class amphibious landing dockship
* USS ''Kennebunkport''—LPD-12-class landing assault ship
* USS ''Denver''— Nuclear-powered attack submarine (with nuclear weaponry">Amphibious transport dock">landing assault ship
* USS ''Denver''—SSN (hull classification symbol)">Nuclear-powered attack submarine (with nuclear weaponry on board, missing after Transition)
* USS ''Chicago''—Nuclear powered attack submarine (with nuclear weaponry on board, missing after Transition)
* HMS ''Trident''—''Trident''-class stealth destroyer (trimaran">Royal Navy">HMS ''Trident''—''Trident''-class stealth destroyer (trimaran)
* HMS ''Vanguard''—''Trident''-class stealth destroyer (missing after Transition)
* HMS ''Fearless''—''Aden''-class helicopter assault ship (destroyed in Transition)
* Royal Australian Navy">HMAS ''Havoc''—''Woomera''-class attack submarine (erroneously called Savage class in certain editions' dramatis personae, non-nuclear)
* HMAS ''Moreton Bay''—''Jervis Bay''–class troop-carrying catamaran
* HMAS ''Ipswich''—''Newcastle''-class light littoral assault ship
* JDS ''Siranui''—Modified ''Nemesis''-class stealth cruiser
* KRI ''Nuku''— ''Parchim''-class corvette (arrived on island in New Guinea, stripped by Japanese)
* KRI ''Sutanto''—''Parchim''-class corvette (recovered by Japanese; destroyed by Allied forces)
* ''Dessaix''—French ''Sartre''-class stealth destroyer (missing after Transition)

(For the 1942 ships, see Midway order of battle.)

Walk-on roles of real people

* Harry Turtledove, an alternative history author, appears as "Commander Turtletaub", an aide to FDR. Turtledove has on occasion used the pseudonym 'H. N. Turteltaub'. References to Turtledove's Worldwar series also appear.
* S. M. Stirling and Eric Flint, also alternative history authors, were tuckerized as Secret Service agents.
* "Lieutenant Matt Reilly—Australian thriller writer. Meteorology Officer, USS ''Leyte Gulf''. Redshirted.
* Garth Nix, Dale Brown, Tom Clancy and Stephen Euin Cobb—thriller writers appearing as counterboarding specialists aboard USS ''Leyte Gulf''.
* "Captain Harry Windsor"—an SAS officer sometimes referred to as "Prince Harry". Prince Harry of the United Kingdom, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and currently () fifth in line for the British throne.

See also

* '' The Final Countdown''
* ''Zipang'' (anime), ''Zipang'' (manga)

References

External links

*

{{Axis of Time

2004 Australian novels
2004 science fiction novels
Axis of Time
Australian alternative history novels
Australian science fiction novels
Fiction set in 1942
Fiction set in 2021
Novels about World War II alternate histories
Novels set in the 1940s
Novels set in the 2020s