The president interjected. “The Navy is already working on tracking down Kazan before she launches. What are our options to reduce the number of lives lost if she does?” He directed his question at Secretary of Homeland Security Nova Conover.
“The short answer is — defend or evacuate.” Conover then asked Christine, “What’s the range of these Kalibr missiles?”
“About fifteen hundred miles.”
Conover processed the information, then turned back to the president. “Evacuation isn’t an option. If Kazan launches from near the coast, her missiles could reach all the way into Texas and Colorado. There’s no way to evacuate over half of the country in three days; the roads can’t handle it. An evacuation of that magnitude would take weeks.”
“That leaves us with defend,” the president replied. To General Bohannon, he said, “Put together a plan to defend all major cities in the eastern half of the country.”
“We’ll put something together, sir, but without knowing the targets, our missile defense will be spread too thin. Cruise missiles are difficult to shoot down, and Kalibr is one of the best. For a successful defense, we need to concentrate our assets near the targets.”
“Then we need to prevent the launch,” the president replied. “Where do we stand on locating Kazan?”
Admiral Tom Blaszczyk, Chief of Naval Operations, answered. “Kazan’s location is unknown, with her last reported position being northwest of Iceland six days ago. We’re sortieing all Atlantic Fleet ASW assets to sea and borrowing what we can from Pacific Fleet, but we’re in a similar situation as homeland security — the area Kazan could be in is too vast for our resources. Our current containment is too porous. We need queuing data so we can concentrate our forces.”
Silence enveloped the conference room as the men and women around the table waited for the president’s next words.
Finally, he said, “The way ahead is difficult, but clear.” He fixed his eyes on Christine. “First, find Mixell. We need to know what the targets are.”
To Secretary of Defense Tom Drapac, he said, “Locate and sink Kazan.”
49
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA
Captain Murray Wilson stood before the operations center display on the front wall, examining the location of Atlantic Fleet ASW forces, organized into a wide arc across the Atlantic Ocean. Thus far, there had been no detection of the Russian submarine, but that wasn’t surprising. The ASW barrier was stretched too thin.
However, Wilson’s new directive — prevent Kazan from attacking the East Coast of the United States, sinking her if necessary — offered hope of a better outcome. Wilson could disregard Kazan’s potential journey into the Mediterranean Sea and focus all ASW resources on detecting the submarine’s approach to the East Coast.
Wilson had spent the last hour analyzing the situation, beginning with the capability of Kazan’s missiles. According to the Russian Navy, Kazan had been loaded with the land-attack version of the Kalibr missile, designated by NATO as the SS-N-30A, with a range of 1,500 miles and armed with nuclear warheads. Kalibr was a formidable missile, traveling at up to Mach 0.8 at ten yards aboveground while automatically following the terrain height, and able to make 147 in-flight maneuvers during its approach.
The key question was — did Kazan’s crew intend to attack one city, or twenty separate ones? The answer was critical, because attacking twenty cities meant Kazan would have to come closer to shore, so that all twenty cities were within launch range at the same time. If Plecas intended to attack only one city, he could stay farther out to sea along a wider launch arc, stretching Wilson’s ASW forces thinner. Wilson decided the Russian submarine captain planned to attack twenty separate cities; it seemed pointless to plow twenty nuclear weapons into one place.
With that in mind, Wilson entered one of the submarine crew tactical trainers, directing the supervisor to load a Tomahawk missile attack scenario. When the supervisor asked which target set, Wilson’s response elicited a raised eyebrow.
“The twenty cities along the East Coast with the highest populations. Be sure to include Washington, D.C. Set missile range to one thousand, five hundred miles.”
The target set was loaded and Wilson waited while the Tomahawk software calculated the launch basket — the area where all twenty targets were within range. A hatched area appeared on the display, with its outer edge about a thousand miles off the Eastern Seaboard.
Armed with the necessary information, a new plan emerged in Wilson’s mind — a revised ASW barrier closer to the East Coast, which was helpful. It was a shorter arc, extending from Newfoundland in Canada down to Puerto Rico. Wilson analyzed the situation further, assessing whether to establish a single-layer ASW barrier, or a layered defense incorporating the P-8A submarine hunter aircraft, submarines, and surface ship assets.
Although the Newfoundland to Puerto Rico barrier was less challenging than one extending across the Atlantic, it was still a wide arc, spreading Wilson’s ASW forces too thin for a layered defense. A single line it was, integrating all ASW assets.
If Kazan slipped through it, however, there would be no way to prevent the launch.
After fermenting on the issue, Wilson changed his mind. Not having a backup plan was antithetical to Submarine Force training. If something could go wrong, it would go wrong. He decided to place the cruisers, the Navy’s most capable anti-air missile platforms, close to the coast, to shoot down the cruise missiles if Kazan made it through the ASW barrier and launched.
Wilson returned to the operations center and issued new orders, repositioning all assets.
50
SOCHI, RUSSIA • WASHINGTON, D.C.
Jake Harrison boarded the twin-engine Falcon at Sochi International Airport for the return trip to Reagan National. Now that Anatoly Bogdanov had been apprehended, flights had begun returning agency personnel to the U.S., and today’s flight was full. Upon boarding the aircraft, Khalila sat beside him as if nothing unusual had happened in Sochi.
As the aircraft took off, she pulled the trip report from her satchel and handed it to him for review. As in Damascus, the report omitted critical details. Obviously, nothing was included about almost killing him, nor did it mention impaling Bogdanov’s arm with her knife. Harrison signed and handed it back to Khalila, who filed it away before reclining her seat.
She pretended to sleep for most of the flight, presumably so they wouldn’t have to engage in conversation, but Harrison could tell she was still awake. His suspicion was confirmed while he was on the phone with his wife, who had just arrived in Baltimore for her annual visit with her mom. After informing her he was on the way back to the country, the topic had turned to arranging some time alone together, as there wasn’t much privacy in her mom’s one-bedroom apartment. Harrison had mentioned getting a hotel somewhere when Khalila spoke.