“How the hell are you able to do this?” asked General Foote.
Josh Mayfield relished the moment. It was not very often that the CIA had the respect of the Joint Chiefs. “The system is called Eyeball. It is a series of satellites that are up there in pairs. These pairs are linked together so that any time we want to look at an area it’s like seeing things with your own eyes. We get back this 3-D image. It can be zoomed in and out to regulate the size of the area we want to see. But more importantly, there are eight sets of cameras on the satellites to do this, allowing seven different groups to watch specific areas. The eighth is a fixed set, linked to a computer, so that any movements are detected and immediately relayed back to us here or to any other people on the net,” he said. Mayfield motioned for the operator to go to the fixed image. The ground before them suddenly expanded to the entire continent of Europe and much of Russia. Looking closely, the men could still see things on the ground and in the air.
“This is amazing,” said Black, still staring at the display. “I thought the KH-14s were beyond compare, but this puts them to shame. What kinds of things have you been able to do so far?”
Mayfield turned to one of the men. “You want to give them what we found from this morning’s efforts?” he asked.
The younger man returned the view to the battlefield image, expanded to cover Poland and about 400 miles into Russia. He looked at his screen. “The American and French units destroyed 847 armored units and killed approximately 17,000 troops. We have at least temporarily gained air superiority over the battlefield and the German and Polish units are now closing in behind the Russians and are turning back to the west. The Russians are sending a large force of tanks up this road. There is also a large formation of planes joining up to make more strikes. I believe you call this situation, ‘fluid.’”
“My god, we can see every move. How can I get this information to the local commanders?” Foote asked.
“That’s the best part,” said Mayfield. “My people can integrate our signal into your Link 16 data system. With your okay, that can happen tonight. We have also manufactured seven more sets of displays just like this. If you have a space for it, we can begin transporting the equipment tomorrow. Once we take care of this line of death the Russians have set up along the mid-Atlantic, I can have another sent to Germany for the Allied Supreme Commander. Then it’s a matter of where else you feel you need a unit,” he said.
“Is there a way to warn them about what’s happening now?” asked Admiral Johnson.
Mayfield grinned. “What’s the number to your operations center. If you can call them, and set up a line, we can talk them through it for now,” Mayfield said.
The President looked over the initial report from the FBI. Former CIA Director Harmon had made several phone calls the morning of the attack to Senator Clark, who was not only on the Senate Armed Services Committee, but also on the Senate Intelligence Committee. One call, coincided with the time the attack commenced. A further look at Clark’s calls included other members of the minority party both on the committee and off. Now there was general concern that Eyeball had been leaked.
The President looked up at Director Phelps. “What’s the next move?” he asked.
“Sir, the Bureau will now look into each of those senators to try and ascertain if they leaked information to other members of the senate who are not cleared for such information. It’s going to get sticky. You need to know that once this gets going, the media is bound to find out. You will not receive any further information from us. The Attorney General has convened a special prosecutor to look into this.”
O’Bannon handed the papers back to the Director. “One thing we don’t need is a scandal right now. With the elections coming up it could mean chaos. How many of those senators are up for reelection?” he asked.
“All but one, Mister President.”
The President closed his eyes and hung his head. This was beyond party politics. For years he had watched both parties gnaw at each other. Nothing of substance could get passed, including a budget. The bickering, accusations, recriminations and general hatred going back and forth was ruining the nation. The American people were fed up, but because many key senators and congressmen held sway in Washington, real reform was impossible. Now, during a war, it threatened everyone in uniform. He would have liked to use his position to make sure the media was gagged, but he knew if he did it, he would never have their trust again. He looked up at Phelps. “What a mess.”
Phelps nodded. “Yes sir. At one time I might recommend getting hold of the committee chairs and getting things taken care of behind the scenes, but not this time. Plus, if we did, this whole thing would get blown out of proportion and into the general public’s eyes. There’s no way to win.”
The President let out a sigh. “Then just do your job. Gather everything you need and hope the special prosecutor can keep a lid on things. If it does look like something will come out, then maybe you both will need to come see me. With the war on, we just can’t afford something like this,” he said.
Phelps placed the document in his briefcase. “We’ll do our best,” he said.
“Thanks, Director,” said the President.
Phelps left the office and O’Bannon stared at the wall. Any minute he expected it to come crashing down around him.
Chapter 9
First strikes
COMUSFF, Vice Admiral Josh Lineman had flown aboard almost immediately after the fighting began. The carrier’s COD had touched down, disengaged her tailhook, and taxied next to the island. The rear of the plane opened and Lineman quickly stepped out the back. He was met by Captain Rick Toland, the Kennedy’s commanding officer.
“Welcome aboard, Admiral. Word of your coming got to us just a little over an hour ago. Your quarters are ready,” he said while shaking the admiral’s hand.
Lineman waved him off. “No time, Captain. You are within 500 miles of a Russian aircraft carrier. We’re going to take it out and open the skies again. Let’s head to your combat information center,” he said as he breezed past Toland into the island. Toland watched as the rest of Lineman’s staff dragged in behind him.
Captain Mack Haines, the admiral’s Chief of Staff, gave Toland a sorrowful look. “Better keep up with him or there’ll be hell to pay,” he said in a moan. “I’ll sit down with you later.”
The men made their way into the ship’s island and up the ladders to the ship’s combat information center. Walking over to the chart, Lineman measured off the latitude and longitude of where the Russian carrier was positioned. He pointed to the spot. “According to intelligence, this is where they are. I need to be within three hundred miles in the next four hours. How fast do we need to go?” he asked.
The quartermaster took his dividers and measured off a 300 mile radius of the position, then measured a course to intercept the line. “Assuming they are maintaining a position, we would need to make 27 knots to be at this position within four hours. That would be a course of 037, speed 27, sir” he said.
Lineman nodded. “Make it so, Captain.”
Toland look at the admiral with slight surprise. “Just reminding you there may still be submarines out there. At 27 knots we will be making a lot of noise to home in on,” he said.