Harrison nodded and one of the SEALs advanced the slide on the display, which shifted to a satellite view of Arish. There was nothing noteworthy in the vicinity as far as Harrison could tell, no government or military facilities, just a single building.
“Our mission is to recon the area. Find out why Russia was interested enough to send Special Forces personnel to this building, and what, if anything, they did while they were there. Any questions?”
There were none, and Harrison wrapped up the briefing.
An hour later, with Michigan at periscope depth off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula, Lieutenant Harrison led his fire team into Missile Tube Two and into the port Dry Deck Shelter. Stowed in the shelter were two RHIBs, one of which would be used for tonight’s mission. Unlike SDV operations, there were no Navy divers in the shelter to assist aside from the diver on the other side of the Plexiglas shield, operating the hangar controls.
The four SEALs donned scuba gear and the shelter was flooded down, then the hangar door moved slowly open to the latched position. Harrison and the other SEALs hauled one of the RHIBs from the shelter onto the submarine’s missile deck and connected a tether line from the RHIB to one of the SDV rails, then activated the first compressed air cartridge.
As the RHIB expanded, Rob Maydwell and Richard Mendelson swam aft along the missile deck and opened the hatch to a locker in the submarine’s superstructure. The two SEALs retrieved an outboard motor and attached it to the RHIB, then actuated the second air cartridge. The RHIB fully inflated, rising toward the water’s surface. Maydwell and Mendelson followed the RHIB upward, and a few moments later, Mendelson returned, rendering the okay hand signal. Harrison informed the Navy diver inside the Dry Deck Shelter that the RHIB was operational and they were proceeding on their mission, then disconnected the tether line from the shelter and headed toward the surface with Mendelson and Brown.
Harrison and the other two SEALs hauled themselves and the tether line into the RHIB, joining Maydwell. The outboard engine was running, but barely audible as expected. Maydwell shifted the outboard into gear, and as their position updated on his handheld GPS display, he pointed the RHIB toward their insertion point on the Egyptian coast.
41
ARISH, EGYPT
As they approached the coast, Maydwell eased back on the throttle, reducing the engine noise to a low purr, inaudible above the waves breaking upon the shore. The SEALs had shed their scuba gear, and their diver face masks had been replaced with night-vision goggles and headsets. Under the faint moonlight filtering down between scattered clouds, Maydwell spotted their destination and angled the RHIB toward a rock outcropping, shifting the engine to neutral.
The RHIB coasted to a halt as it reached the rocks. Mendelson slid into the water, tether in hand. After securing the RHIB, he returned to retrieve his Heckler & Koch MP7 submachine gun, and Harrison led the team ashore onto the rock-strewn beach.
An hour later, they approached the specified latitude and longitude coordinates on the outskirts of Arish, spotting a windowless, single-story building. As they closed on their destination, Harrison noted a three-foot-diameter pipe exiting the building, turning down into the sand a few feet later. They stopped beside the building; there was no indication anyone was inside — the only audible activity was the steady hum of machinery. Moving along the perimeter, Harrison identified an entrance on the south side, along with another three-foot-diameter pipe exiting the building.
Harrison stood beside the door while their breacher — a demolitions expert — Petty Officer Maydwell, examined the door. Inside his backpack was the material required to gain entrance: C-4 explosives, initiators, and detonators, but he examined the lock first. It was nothing fancy, just a normal door lock. Maydwell pulled a set of universal keys from his backpack, and on the third try, the door unlocked.
The other three SEALs raised their MP7s to the firing position, and Maydwell shoved the door open. Harrison surged inside, stepping to the left as Mendelson followed, moving to the right to make room for Brown, who entered next, stopping in the middle of the three SEALs.
Harrison scanned the room. The two sections of pipe passed through opposite walls and were connected to machinery inside, which occupied almost the entire interior of the building. The wall to the left was lined with control consoles, with indicators of various colors glowing in the darkness. Maydwell entered and the four SEALs spread out, searching the facility for personnel. After scouring the building and finding no one, the four men gathered in front of the control panels.
Harrison directed his men, “Figure out what this equipment does and why Russian Spetsnaz would be sent here.”
The three other SEALs fanned out again as Harrison studied the panels against the wall. The nomenclature on the controls was Arabic, which Harrison couldn’t translate, but there were numerous pressure gauges on each panel, which indicated the machinery were pumps. Given the pipeline passing through the building, Harrison concluded the facility was a pumping station for either oil or natural gas. Harrison retrieved a camera from his backpack and took photographs of each panel and the machinery behind him. As he returned the camera to his backpack, he heard Mendelson’s voice in his headset.
“I found something. North side of the building.”
Harrison joined Mendelson and the two other SEALs, who were standing near the pipe entering the building, where it connected to the first piece of equipment. Mendelson pointed to a crevice in the machinery, where something had been placed. Harrison and the other SEALs lifted their night-vision goggles to get a better look as Mendelson activated a flashlight, examining a small one-foot-by-one-foot object. It was an explosive charge, with enough C-4 to blow the building sky-high. The detonator, however, was of an unusual design, one Harrison hadn’t seen before: no wires to cut, just an electronic module pressed into the C-4.
Maydwell moved forward and examined it, then stepped back.
“Russian design,” he said. “Their newest and most sophisticated. There’s no way to remove or disarm it.” As Harrison gave him an inquisitive look — there was always a way to disarm a detonator — Maydwell expounded. “It has built-in motion sensors, so if you try to remove it, it goes off. It’s detonated via a satellite signal, and if you jam it for too long, it goes off. This charge is coming off only one way — in a million pieces, along with the rest of this building.”
Harrison took photographs of the explosive charge and its detonator, and as he returned his camera to his backpack, he reflected on the intel provided for this mission: Russian Spetsnaz had been dispatched to various points throughout Egypt. If their missions had been the same as this one, the entire Egyptian oil and natural gas pipeline infrastructure had been wired with explosives.
42
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Seven hours after departing Joint Base Andrews, with the early morning sun hidden behind overcast skies, Air Force One landed at Zaventem Airport, a few miles northeast of Brussels. The president was met on the tarmac by the U.S. ambassadors to Belgium and NATO, along with senior NATO staff and Belgian government representatives. After the requisite greetings, the president slipped into the back of the presidential car, nicknamed Cadillac One. A hybrid Cadillac built upon a truck frame and extensively modified with armored plating and bulletproof windows, Cadillac One had been transported to Brussels during the night with the rest of the president’s motorcade and backup vehicles.