He had agreed to launch all twenty missiles in return for his daughter’s medical treatment, but thus far had launched only one. Nineteen more to go.
But first, he had to find the American submarine and sink it.
73
WASHINGTON, D.C.
In the Oval Office, with an emerald-shaded lamp illuminating the papers on his desk, the president worked late into the night, not because he had a backlog of documents to review, but because he couldn’t sleep. The last few days had passed slowly, and he had stayed up late each night as the predicted time for Kazan’s missile launch came, then went.
One of their assumptions had proven wrong, and as hope grew that their conclusion Kazan intended to strike the United States was incorrect, he’d been briefed yesterday that a new ASW barrier was being established in the Gulf of Mexico. The Navy believed the Russian submarine captain planned to launch from the Gulf, where his missiles would threaten over eighty percent of the country, and would most likely launch within two days.
He had again briefly considered issuing evacuation orders, but his secretary of homeland security, Nova Conover, had pointed out the obvious again — the roads couldn’t handle the simultaneous evacuation of almost three hundred million people. Even if they could, where would they go? They couldn’t just park themselves in the middle of nowhere; food and water would be an immediate issue, followed by shelter and sanitation.
If Kazan didn’t launch soon and an extended evacuation was required, they needed infrastructure — some way to feed and house the population long-term — and the country’s emergency plans and supplies could handle only a fraction of the requirement. Hurricane Katrina had highlighted the difficulty in evacuating New Orleans — a single metropolitan city — while an effective response to Kazan’s potential launch could produce hundreds of Katrina-level nightmares. A mass evacuation was far more complex than he had realized, and after concluding it would be ineffective within the time frame expected, he relented.
The phone at the president’s desk rang and he picked it up. Secretary of Defense Tom Drapac was on the other end. Satellites surveilling the Gulf of Mexico had detected a cruise missile launch a few minutes ago.
Kazan had commenced launching.
The president’s blood chilled as images of incinerated cities flashed in his mind.
“How many missiles?”
“Just one, so far.”
“Where is it headed?”
“Toward the Northeast. Most likely Washington, D.C.”
“How much time do we have?”
“The missile is traveling at 0.8 Mach speed. If D.C. is the target, you’ve got ninety minutes left, depending on which route it takes. Now that the missile is overland and hugging the terrain, we’ve lost track of it, but we should pick it up again once it approaches any of our anti-air missile batteries, which are positioned in every major city.”
Special Agent Ashley Tobin, tonight’s shift leader for the President’s Protection Detail, entered the Oval Office, having apparently been apprised of the issue.
“We need to leave, sir.”
To Drapac, the president said, “Keep me informed,” then hung up.
Tobin added, “We’re helping the First Lady and rounding up all personnel in the White House. Marine One is on its way to take you to Joint Base Andrews, where you’ll board Air Force One.”
74
USS NORTH CAROLINA
As North Carolina raced toward Kazan’s last known position, Wilson studied the sonar displays. The Russian submarine had faded from North Carolina’s sensors, and Wilson had chosen to close the distance aggressively, increasing speed to ahead full, but turning thirty degrees to starboard in case Kazan counterfired, which was likely.
“Torpedo in the water! Bearing two-five-two!”
Sonar’s report confirmed Wilson’s assessment, and a red bearing line appeared on the geographic display. As Wilson evaluated the best evasion course, Sonar made another report.
“Second torpedo in the water, bearing two-five-four!”
The Russians had fired two torpedoes; a horizontal salvo by the look of it. Torpedo evasion just got harder. However, assuming both torpedoes were heading in the same direction and running side by side, which was typical for Russian salvo tactics, the pair could be treated as a single torpedo with a wider target acquisition range. An evasion plan that worked for one torpedo should work for both.
“Pilot, ahead flank! Hard right rudder, steady course three-five-zero.”
To his Officer of the Deck, Wilson ordered, “Launch countermeasures!”
A decoy was launched into the water as North Carolina changed course and increased speed, followed by an acoustic jammer that would interfere with the torpedoes’ ability to detect the submarine.
As North Carolina reached ahead flank, Wilson evaluated the incoming torpedo bearings. Both were drawing aft, indicating the torpedoes remained on their original course; they hadn’t detected North Carolina, nor had steers been inserted.
That indicated the Russian crew didn’t hold North Carolina on its sensors either, which meant the first submarine to regain the other would have the advantage. Even though North Carolina was the older vessel, Wilson was confident he had the acoustic advantage. The hydrophones in the Virginia class submarines were likely better, plus North Carolina’s sonar processors and detection algorithms had just been upgraded to the latest versions.
Wilson waited until both Russian torpedoes drew aft, verifying they remained steady on a course away from the submarine, then slowed to increase the range of North Carolina’s acoustic sensors.
“Pilot, ahead two-thirds.”
Once North Carolina slowed to ten knots, Wilson ordered, “Sonar, Conn. Report all contacts.”
Sonar performed a detailed search in all sectors, then reported no contacts.
Wilson examined the geographic plot again. The launch transient had come from a bearing of two-four-two and the first Russian torpedoes had been picked up on a bearing of two-five-two, which told Wilson Kazan had turned north after terminating its missile launch.
However, Kazan could have turned again after launching the torpedo salvo and could be headed in any direction now. After considering their failure to regain Kazan on sonar, Wilson concluded the Russian captain was running away, hoping to elude American forces and reposition his submarine where it could complete its launch.
The only way to catch Kazan was to increase speed and correctly guess which direction Kazan was going, or perhaps go active. As he evaluated which direction to head, Sonar made another report.
“Conn, Sonar. Hold a new contact, designated Sierra four-seven, bearing two-six-five. Simultaneous gain on spherical and towed array sensors. High signal strength. Analyzing.”
Sonar’s report caught Wilson by surprise. Contacts were normally picked up first on the towed array, then on the spherical array at a closer range. A simultaneous gain on both sensors, especially a high signal strength, made no sense.