The TEL was too far away for the scope to get a good look at what was under the camouflage netting. Sean cursed himself for not keeping Hunter’s binoculars. The site was at least a kilometer away. He could see the little white blobs that were soldiers dancing around the outside of the launcher. They were prepping the unit for a launch.
Chun had kept to the background. It was better that way, for him, for everyone. It had been wise to leave Forest on the Eisenhower. He would have turned into a liability here. The west had far too few who understood the North Korean mindset. Chun would have regretted having to kill Forest if he had gotten in the way. Sung was here. The man was too vain to let this culmination of his work go by without his hand hard upon it. Chun had to get away. The more he waited, the less chance it would be his hand that would bring the about end of Comrade Sung. Chun felt the weight of the Tokarev pistol inside his coat pocket. He had managed to slip the small pistol off of the dead guard at the other missile site. Every one of the bullets inside its magazine were for Sung. Every one.
Sean hunkered down beside Hunter at the satellite uplink. “This stinks. They’re crawling all over that TEL out there. Looks to me like they’re getting ready to launch the thing on a moment’s notice. Trouble is I can’t see the payload section well enough. But one thing’s for sure, that sub’s going to be here in a hurry.”
Hunter looked at the lightening gloom outside on the other side of the grime-streaked warehouse windows. “Well the bastard had better get here soon or we’re doing this in daylight.”
“There’s one other thing.”
“Spill it.”
Sean spat on the dusty concrete. “The TEL’s too big.”
“What?”
“It’s too big. The launcher looks longer than the ones we took out in the desert.”
“Yeah well, you know how much the NKs are into modifying their missile units.”
Sean was unconvinced. “I think it’s a launcher for one of their Nodong-2s.”
Hunter scratched at his chin. “Shit, I hope not. Those things can hit mainland Japan from here… oh fuck.”
“Oh fuck is right.” Sean keyed his throat mike. “Gayle you’d better come over here. Bring Bill and the Russians if they’re with you.”
Gayle got there first. “What’s up Addison?”
“That launcher out there is too big to be a standard TEL. I think it’s one of the new Nodong-2 launchers.”
Harris crouched down on his heels beside Sean. “I love it when research programs are ahead of schedule.”
Yevgeny nodded in agreement with Sean. “Da, of course. It would make sense for it to be this new Nodong launcher. There is nothing worth a nuclear warhead within SCUD distance of here.”
Gayle cut in, “The Nodong can hit mainland Japan.”
Hunter was puzzled. “But why? They rely on Japan as a source of hard currency. It would be like cutting their own throat.”
Sean spoke up, “It doesn’t matter why or where they want to send the bloody things to. If one of them gets off the ground, it’ll be hell to pay wherever it lands. We take out the sub, we take out the warheads, we take out the Koreans. No pissing about, no crap, that’s the game here, nothing else.”
Harris grunted agreement. “Sean’s right. The higher-ups can deal with the who’s who later.”
CHANJON HARBOR
The dark oily waters of the bay split as the thin reed of the Great Leader’s search antennae pushed its way above the surface. It was soon joined by the attack periscope.
The Leader’s Captain panned the periscope view over the dock and sub tender. “What’s our bottom, Helm?”
“One hundred meters, sir.”
“Still nothing on the threat receivers?”
“Just our own radar sets, sir, and a pair of helicopter sets to our rear. Ours as well. Definitely not American. Probably a security patrol.”
“Very well. Prepare to surface.” The periscope slid with oiled precision down into the deck. The Captain moved under the hatch to the fair-weather bridge. He was joined a second later by the most senior of the political officers. Now that the mission was nearly complete, the political officer was beaming over the career success this would bring him. The Captain turned his back to the man. “Take us to the surface. XO, you have the conn.”
“Aye, sir. XO has the Conn.”
The Great Leader started to rise under the Captain’s feet.
Donovan and Macintyre kept their Hinds low and fast. If the waves ahead of him suddenly swelled, there was a good chance both helicopters were going swimming. The two door gunners waited at the ready by machine guns slung on nylon straps, hanging from the ceiling.
It would get hot enough for everybody soon enough. A South Korean radio operator, a last minute addition to the crew sat by the front bulkhead of Donovan’s hind, just in case the NKs got curious about the arrival of the two helicopters without orders.
“Movement in the bay. Looks like a sub,” one of the SEALs called down.
Hunter nodded to the communications tech and grabbed his rifle. “Send the go code the second things go loud. I want the Hinds to nail that missile launcher on the first pass. The sub can wait.”
The SEAL observer called down his next observation to Hunter. “The NKs are forming up on the dock.”
Sounds of truck diesel engines being started rumbled through the corrugated steel walls. All of them watched as the stubby sail of the Great leader broke the surface of the bay. It took only seconds for more and more of the sub to raise itself out of the murk.
Sean sighted his rifle on the sail. “I’ve got movement on the sub’s open air bridge. Three men.” He could tell little else. The sub turned and began to nose its way towards the dock.
“Bold as brass,” Harris breathed beside him.
Sean looked at Harris. “Cheeky sods.”
Hunter checked his watch. “Looks like they’ll be at the dock in about fifteen minutes. Those warheads are going to start coming off that thing in a hurry.”
Hunter called out to his men. “Check your weapons. It’s almost show time people.”
Sean kept his scope trained on the Great Leader’s bridge. Details were getting sharper by the second. He swung the rifle down to take a look at the dock.
“Hello, what’s this?” A government sedan pulled onto the dock and parked. Sean watched as a man in a Colonel’s uniform got out, followed by a thinner man in a light gray overcoat. From the way the two were talking, Sean figured the one in the overcoat was the one in charge. “Guess who just came to the party?”
Hunter took a look at the dock through his binoculars. “Looks like that Sung guy decided to see this through.” He keyed his throat mike. “Sanchez, you have that Colonel all lined up like I told you?”
Sanchez’s voice scrambled and decoded, warbled in Hunter’s ears. “Yes, sir. He’s a Colonel in the engineers in case you needed to know.”
“Good work, son. Send your package on my call.”
“Roger that.”
At the far end of the mezzanine, Chun heard the exchange. Sung was here, as he had hoped. He began to work his way slowly towards the stairs.
The Leader continued to bull nose its way across the bay. The Captain pulled out the small steering helm and had the steering controls transferred to him. Parking a hunter/killer like the Leader was a challenge. It was also one of the Captain’s favorite times of a voyage. A final testament to his skills as a leader and as a sailor.
“Helm ahead one quarter.”