“There you are. They used unrefined uranium for their power source. Actually, in some areas, the nuclear question was years ahead of the American enrichment program of that time,” Jenks said as the reflection of the findings continued to scroll across the screen and onto his face.
“Yeah, but our boys in New Mexico were going another way with it,” Jack retorted.
“Yeah, and didn’t that make the world a happier, kinder place?”
“Europa wasn’t compromised when she took over the Russian professor’s computer?” Jack asked, always concerned about the security of the most advanced computing system in the world, even if the laptop was only using 0.0001 percent of her capacity.
“Nah, that kid Morales, the new king nerd in the Group, said Europa has never been caught in the act.”
“Good. Now, how does this damn thing work?”
“Jesus, Colonel, do you have an extra three years for me to explain it to you?”
“That bad, huh?”
“Yeah, that bad. This stuff would give Virginia a raging migraine.”
At that moment, the Zodiac lightly bumped the boarding ladder, and the men were assisted to the deck of Shiloh. They were met by Captain Johnson, who looked worried. When Jack made the last step up, Johnson steered him away from the others.
“What’s up?” Collins asked.
“Number one, we tried several times to contact you by radio. We couldn’t raise you. My electronic warfare boys tell me we were being jammed.”
Jack pursed his lips, knowing that the Russians were up to their old parlor tricks again. But why now and why when other Russians were with them in their exploration of the village?
“Can you burn through it?”
“Yeah, now that we know someone is screwing with us, no problem. We’ll set the radios to random and roving frequencies.”
“What else? You don’t seem the type that gets worried over jamming.”
“Two other developments. One — we’re picking up a few sonar readings that we cannot figure out. The computers say they are transient in nature. But it sounds like hammering, voices on occasion, and escaping air. Computers are saying they are nothing more than biological sea life.”
“What do you think?” Jack asked, knowing that if the sounds from the sea bothered Johnson, he had better not ignore them either.
“No clue yet; we’ll keep evaluating. Now, number-two concern. Radar is working on and off. But at 1645 hours, we detected small craft moving toward the island. That was when the attempt was made to contact you. Don’t know the size or the disposition of these craft, but they did go to the island on the opposing side as your landing. Did you have any company at that time?”
Jack turned away just as Everett, Charlie, and Jenks walked up. He faced the captain once more. “Yes, there were visitors. One of the island’s children was murdered.”
“Children?” Johnson asked.
“We’ll brief you in the wardroom.”
Johnson nodded and moved off with the returning marines.
“What is it, Jack?” Carl asked when he saw his face.
Instead of answering Everett’s concern, he faced Jenks. “Look, Master Chief, we need to learn and learn fast how we can get that phase shift equipment operational with some modicum of control.”
Jenks frowned. “That will take some time. In a few hours, I should learn enough with the help of Captain Johnson’s electronics team on how to at least turn it on without blowing ourselves up.”
“Jack, why the white face?” Carl persisted.
Collins reached into his pocket and retrieved the dirt-encrusted blue diamond and rolled it over in his hand. He also explained the flag Henri had discovered.
“Swabby, I’m beginning to think our Russian friends know a hell of a lot more than they are letting on about this mysterious world we have here. We’re running so far behind in this game, we may never catch up.” Jack looked up and saw Carl was still in the dark. “Look, Salkukoff may not be a regular visitor here, but they knew somehow what it was they were going to find. These.” He held out his hand and showed the blue diamond.
“That’s assuming an awful lot,” Everett said. “I don’t suppose you have proof.”
“No, no proof. My only evidence is the fact that whoever is running things in Moscow these days would have never risked the life of their most experienced man unless it was for a reason that could not be ignored. He’s here for one of two reasons. Either he knew these were here and the Russians are somehow taking advantage of it, or he was sent to stop the phase shift project forever.”
“Seems like if that were the case, Salkukoff would just have blown the ship out of the water as soon they entered the eye of Tildy,” Charlie Ellenshaw offered.
“Maybe our friend had just those orders,” Farbeaux said as he joined the group.
“Running his own game against the wishes of his bosses?” Carl asked, raising a brow.
Jack tossed the blue diamond into the air, and Charlie fumbled and then caught it, and then it dropped to the deck and slid over the side and into the sea. Ellenshaw looked horrified.
“Don’t worry about it, Charlie,” Jack said. “I suspect they have a whole mountain streaked with them. There’s plenty more where they came from.”
They all watched Jack move into Shiloh. The Frenchman soon followed.
“You know what makes me the most nervous?” Everett said to Charlie, Jenks, and Ryan.
“What makes you nervous, Toad?” Jenks asked.
“When both of those men are confused and without answers concerning the motives of a man like Salkukoff, we may have a major problem on our hands.”
“I’m not following,” Jenks said.
“He means, is Salkukoff following orders or is he in this for himself?” Ryan answered for Carl.
“You guys are some worrisome sons of bit—”
Jenks found himself standing alone as the others followed Jack in the hopes of figuring this out before the Russian knew they were on to him.
Inside the wardroom of the Shiloh, Johnson, Carl, Jack, and Farbeaux sat with the captain and his officers and ate a light meal. In the far-off corner, coffee was being consumed at an extraordinary rate by Jenks, Charlie, Ryan, and the electronic warfare department of Shiloh as they tried to figure out the complicated design of the phase shift engine on Simbirsk.
“What makes you think that the sneaky little bastard won’t just up and vanish on us without us in tow?” Ezra Johnson asked, voicing the fear of his officers sitting around the table.
“Master Chief,” Jack called out until Jenks looked up from the newly printed schematics stolen from the Russians’ own computer. “What guarantee do we have Simbirsk won’t up and disappear on us in the middle of the night?”
Without looking up from the plans, Jenks reached into his front pocket and tossed something all the way across the wardroom, where Jack caught it and then held it up.
It was a small crystal-looking ball with several leads connected to it.
“What is that?” Johnson asked.
“It’s the power converter from the phase shift generator. One of a kind. They can’t start her up again without it. Unless they take some of those unrefined blue diamonds and construct a new, vastly improved converter.”
“And the master chief is just tossing the damn thing around?” Johnson’s first officer asked in shock.
“Jenks said the crystal is damn near indestructible. That’s why it was the only essential part he chose to steal.”
“I may be off point here, but just who in the hell are you people, Colonel?” the first officer of Shiloh asked.
Collins chose to ignore the same question he had been asked by everyone, from the leaders of the free world to his own mother.
“Captain, what is the EMP damage?”
“Some good news, some horrible. We have nothing but close-in weapons support. Four .50-calibers and handheld weaponry from the armory. Good news is that we do have the Phalanx system, but no radar for her targeting. No offensive or defensive missiles. Fire control on those systems was totally disabled. Radios are now working along with radar. Sonar, as we discussed, is still spotty at best.”
“Are the Russians in the same predicament?” Jack asked with hope.
“Their pulse shielding is damn near the same design as our own,” Johnson answered.
“What are you talking about, sir? It is the same design. Just like their missile control, all stolen from us before their prototypes were even built.”
Johnson smiled at his XO as everyone on board ship knew how the Russians obtained most of their sophisticated systems.
The men inside the wardroom continued their duties on through the midnight hour, and they would work until they were comfortable with their strange situation.
Within an hour, they would never be comfortable again.