Now the tone of the meeting changed. Admiral Tanning spoke first. “We now have intel that shows us almost one hundred percent that five of the six Satan missiles taken from Ukraine are on this Chinese ship which you now claim is a warship. Our problem: How do we confront the ship and the Chinese government? How do we stop and search the ship without causing an international incident? How do we get the missiles out of Chinese hands?”
“Some more information for you,” General Archibald said. “We have intel from our people in the Ukraine that the two managers of the secret missile storage area outside Odessa evidently were the traitors who sold the missiles. The price tag was something over seventy million dollars.
“However, both the managers were found shot dead in the warehouse where the missiles were stored before on-loading on the Chinese ship and the Libyan-bound freighter. Traces of nuclear leakage were found on the floor of the warehouse. There was no trace of any payment money, so the Chinese probably faked that or took the money with them.”
“So, how do we treat this ship?” Admiral Tanning asked.
Murdock looked around and saw no one ready to comment, so he did. “We treat them the same as we did in Libya. Just because China is already a nuclear power should not make any difference. We committed an act of war against Libya by going in with our military and destroying the remaining warheads that they had purchased on the open market. We felt in the name of international peace we were justified. We should treat the Chinese ship the same.”
“Are you suggesting that we attack her, maybe sink her?” General Archibald asked.
“As a last resort,” Murdock replied. “There are many ways we can slow, harass, even stop the ship in mid-Mediterranean. One example would be to disable the ship, force it into port for repairs, and then take it over by force. Along that line, SEALs can plant a pair of limpet mines on each side of the hull aft and flood some of the holds. This would require some quick porting.”
The admirals and the general looked at each other. “An act of war now could save millions of lives if these warheads went to the wrong parties,” Admiral Tanning said. “We realize that. The President and NATO are extremely concerned. If we do anything to that Chinese ship, it will be under NATO auspices, a spread-the-blame procedure.”
“What ever happened to the Cowpens, that U.S. cruiser that was in Athens when we began this?” DeWitt asked.
“Plans were changed when we found out the Chinese ship was so close to Athens,” Murdock said. “Forget to tell you that. I understand that the Cowpens is playing a role.”
Admiral Tanning nodded. “Indeed. She sailed as soon as we were sure the Chinese ship had the missiles, and has been shadowing her about ten miles off. The Cowpens would be a good platform for any SEAL operation, or any other move on the Chinese.”
The quizzers talked to Kat then, asking about the type of warheads she had worked on, how they were set up, how she deactivated them, how long it took. And what she suggested they do if they did capture the five remaining missiles with the fifty warheads on board.
Admiral Tanning shook his head. “As for our next step, we don’t know. We’ll talk with the President within the hour. He will consult with NATO. Anything we do must be authorized by the highest authority, as well as NATO. But this does not mean it will take weeks to happen. I expect that some decision will be made within three or four hours. Until then, we hold fast.”
Then the session was over and Murdock tarried, so he could ask Admiral Tanning if he had any orders for him and his platoon.
“No sense your going back to the carrier. We’ll have our other carrier in the Mediterranean that’s a lot closer come up to this area. In the long run, we may have to push a battle group around the Chinese ship and make her show her true colors or get blown out of the water by any one of fourteen ships or eighty-five aircraft.”
He stared at Murdock for a moment. “Commander, I admire what you and your men do. See to your wounded and I’ll get orders cut so you remain here on this NATO base until we figure out what to do. That’s not going to be long. That Chinese ship could kick up to twenty-five knots and be in the Suez Canal within a day or two. We can’t let that happen.”
At the temporary quarters the SEALs were assigned, they settled in and cleaned their weapons and oiled them. They always had to clean them well after a dunking in salt water.
Murdock called the hospital where his men were. After several tries with operators, he got one who spoke English and was connected to the nurse who was attending his men.
“Commander, your one man with the lung problem is doing fine. A week’s rest here and he’ll be good as new. Your other man with the bullet wound… He’s in surgery right now and the doctor told me, if you called, to urge you to get over here as fast as you can. The operation isn’t going well.”
Murdock grabbed his clean cammy shirt and pulled it on as he ran out of the officers’ quarters looking for some transportation to the Athens hospital. Damnit, he wasn’t about to lose Ching.
12
The driver of the NATO sedan who took Murdock to the Athens hospital told him the Greek name of the hospital meant mercy. Murdock hoped the name was accurate. He talked to two people at the front desk before he found the English-speaking nurse who had talked to him on the phone. She met him in the lobby and took him to a waiting room just off the operating room.
“Mr. Ching is still in the OR, but the operation should be nearly done. I’ll go and check. He has improved since I spoke to you last. One doctor said that they had found several fragments of the bullet, and that no vital organs had been hit; however, there has been serious damage to his upper body and one shard penetrated his left lung. It has been removed, and the lung is back to normal functioning.”
“Good. Let me know when I can see him.” The nurse nodded and went through a door into the operating room area.
Murdock sat down, and couldn’t stop thinking about the Chinese ship. She had to be a destroyer, camouflaged and outfitted to look like a freighter. They must have changed all of the antennas, or fixed them so they could be raised when needed.
He’d seen the book on Chinese destroyers. They were loaded with highly efficient missiles, torpedoes, and all sorts of firepower. He was certain that the admiral would ask him how the SEALs could disable the ship and force it into a nearby port, where the national port authorities could take over, seize the ship, and confiscate the nuclear warheads. Great idea if it worked. It would depend on how much damage the SEALs could inflict.
It couldn’t be so much that they would sink the craft. No real chance of that with limpet mines. Just damage her enough to make her go into port. He wished he had a schematic of the ship showing its structure. Somewhere aft would be best. Not the engine room.
He was still trying to work out a plan when a doctor came through the OR doors and walked up to Murdock.
“Your sailor is alive. Getting better. My English poor.”
The nurse who had talked to Murdock before hurried up and spoke with the doctor, then translated.
“This is Dr. Arjarack. He was the surgeon who worked on Mr. Ching. He says that all of the metal is removed and Mr. Ching should be fine in two months. No strenuous exercises from now to then. He’ll be in the hospital here for a week to watch for infection and any other developments. Then he’ll be released.”