A map of the Cayman Islands and surrounding water appeared on the display at the front of the operations center; a mass of black with intermittent bright spots scattered throughout. If Kazan had been running at twenty knots, its nuclear reactor would have been operating at high power and the submarine’s Reactor Compartment would be very hot. If Kazan surfaced to cut the net, the event should have been detectable.
The satellite imagery advanced in ten-minute intervals, and three hours after the reported incident, a bright white blip appeared at the coordinates reported by the trawler, disappearing two hours later.
There was no doubt in Wilson’s mind — the trawler had snagged Kazan.
To the watch officer, Wilson ordered, “Plot an area of uncertainty, starting at the lat/long reported by the trawler, expanding outward at twenty knots. Give me four-hour contour rings.”
After the rings appeared, Wilson calculated how long it would take to reposition the P-8A squadrons currently in the Atlantic Ocean, then issued orders for a new ASW barrier in the Gulf of Mexico, through which Kazan must pass if it moved closer to the U.S. southern shore.
Although the new barrier was much smaller than the East Coast version, it was still a wide arc — over six hundred miles long — spanning from Mérida, Mexico, to the base of the Florida Keys, and Wilson had only the P-8As to work with. The submarines and surface ships off the East Coast would take too long to reposition.
However… a thought occurred to him. It was a risky plan, but there was one more asset available, which might prove handy.
Wilson called the COMSUBFOR chief of staff, requesting an urgent meeting regarding Kazan’s status.
Inside the admiral’s conference room, Wilson explained the situation. Kazan had almost certainly skirted the East Coast ASW barrier and was heading into the Gulf of Mexico to launch its Kalibr missiles at a larger target set. The P-8A squadrons were being repositioned, but submarine and surface ship assets were too far away. Except one.
USS North Carolina was getting underway today, her first journey to sea since she was sunk two years ago during America’s devastating war with China. Fortunately, North Carolina sank in the shallow Taiwan Strait in only two hundred feet of water and had been raised from the bottom. With the Navy’s normal repair yards swamped, repairing five aircraft carriers and over two dozen submarines damaged or sunk during the conflict, North Carolina had been sent to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for repair.
Wilson made the request. “I’d like permission to employ North Carolina against Kazan.”
Captain Mark Graham, the COMSUBLANT training officer, objected, as Wilson expected.
“This is North Carolina’s first time underway since she was repaired. Her replacement tactical systems and hull patch haven’t been tested at sea, she’s got a new commanding officer, and her crew isn’t certified for deployment. One-third of her crew has never even been to sea.”
Wilson pointed out, “The crew completed their shore-based tactical training and passed. They’re ready to go to sea.”
Graham replied, “Getting underway and engaging in combat are two different things. It normally takes a six-month at-sea workup to certify a submarine for deployment. I have a high regard for our submarines and our crews in general, but if we send North Carolina against the premier attack submarine in the Russian Navy, the odds of success are low.”
“Then we need to improve the odds,” Wilson said. “Transfer me aboard.”
There was no immediate response as Admiral Andrea and his staff evaluated Wilson’s unexpected request.
Wilson added, “That’s what COMSUBPAC did during the Kentucky incident. I was transferred aboard Collins because it was the only submarine within range. It’s a similar situation here. Let me take command of North Carolina.”
Admiral Andrea considered the request. Wilson was well into his second submarine command tour, and with the two tours bracketing his assignment as senior submarine command course instructor, he was the Submarine Force’s most experienced captain.
Andrea surveyed his staff around the table; none had additional objections.
Finally, Andrea spoke. “I’m not a fan of the proposal. It places North Carolina and her crew at excessive risk. However, I have to weigh the pros and cons, and employing North Carolina improves the odds of locating and sinking Kazan. Ultimately, that’s what matters.”
He turned to his operations officer. “Arrange a personnel transfer. Get Wilson aboard North Carolina as soon as possible, placing him in command.”
Admiral Andrea stood and shook Wilson’s hand. “Good luck, Murray.”
56
LANGLEY, VIRGINIA
In the seventh-floor conference room in CIA headquarters, Jake Harrison sat between Khalila Dufour and Pat Kendall, opposite Deputy Director Monroe Bryant and Deputy Director for Operations PJ Rolow. Their case manager, Asad Durrani, also joined them, while CIA director Christine O’Connor was seated at the head of the table.
It was a short-notice meeting, with Kendall taking the call in the NCTC from Durrani less than an hour ago. There had been a break in Mixell’s case and the DDA was running down another lead. To pull everything they knew about Mixell together, the DDO had directed they meet at Langley.
The previous day, when Harrison returned to the NCTC, Kendall had asked how things had gone in Sochi. It was a loaded question, which Harrison had to answer carefully. Until Sochi, he thought Kendall’s opinion of Khalila was off base, colored by her suspicion that she had killed her boyfriend. He hadn’t put much credence in her warnings, but now he had to admit that she’d been right.
However, he had made a deal with Khalila and couldn’t reveal anything he had learned about her, or anything she had done that hadn’t made it into the official CIA reports.
To prevent Kendall from prying into the matter, Harrison had replied, “It went well. Khalila helped track down Bogdanov.”
Kendall seemed satisfied with the answer, or perhaps it had been a polite inquiry and she didn’t really care, because she returned to her computer screen, studying the document on her display. The call from Durrani had come shortly thereafter, requesting their presence at Langley.
Khalila seemed at ease during today’s meeting, as if nothing unusual had happened in Sochi, while Harrison had to focus on his responses and body language, trying not to raise suspicion that there was an issue between them. At one point, Christine cast a curious look his way, then shifted her gaze to Khalila, and he wondered if he had given anything away. Christine had known him his entire life, from the time they’d begun playing together as toddlers through the ten years they dated in high school and beyond. Although he’d been married to Angie for fifteen years, he wasn’t willing to wager as to which woman knew him better.
He tried to stay focused on the case, and after the DDO reviewed what Khalila and Harrison had learned thus far, next up was the minor break Durrani had mentioned over the phone. Rolow took the lead.
“We tracked down Mixell’s cell mates at Leavenworth, and he talked to one of them about his fiancée. They never married, but Mixell referred to her as his soul mate, and she was indeed a stripper, as Harrison mentioned while reviewing Mixell’s file. The bad news is that Mixell was tight-lipped about the woman and never mentioned her name. The good news is that we know where she worked. Mixell recommended the strip club to his cell mate if he ever found himself in Baltimore — the Player’s Club.”