The last slide was summary recap. The targets were major Chinese ports; the weapons were rogue Russian nuclear weapons, placed in torpedoes by a Russian technician, and delivered by INS Chakra. The unexplainable changes in Chakra’s schedule refit were made immediately after the Kashmir explosion, and everything associated with the changes came from Vice Admiral Dhankhar’s office.
Joanna theorized that Dhankhar might have been motivated by the stagnation of the Indian offensive and the ongoing peace negotiations. She cited some of the admiral’s own public statements expressing his concern about the direct military aid Pakistan was receiving from China. She closed by warning that should Dhankhar successfully destroy several major Chinese ports, the retribution against India would be catastrophic. The plot was no longer a secret. Too many people in Russia and the United States now knew about it. It would be unwise to think that China wouldn’t eventually learn the truth.
Joanna turned off the screen feed and sat down. The situation room was absolutely silent. The Indians looked completely amazed. No one spoke for at least a minute. Finally, Myles rose. “There you have it, Mr. President. You’re now in possession of the same information that we’ve been working with. I trust you now understand why we had to have this meeting.”
Handa remained silent, running his right hand over his goatee. He was struggling with the revelation presented by Patterson. Myles then saw the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation lean over and whisper to the Indian president. The older man nodded, and Kumar faced the camera.
“President Myles, what you’ve shared with us is very disturbing. But I must ask, how did you get many of those photos? If I understand Dr. Patterson correctly, they could only have been taken within our shipyard at Visakhapatnam.”
“You’re correct, Mr. Kumar. They were provided to us by a confidential source.”
Kumar’s face visibly tightened; his voice became hard. “I see. So what you’re saying is that you have a spy in our shipyard!”
“No, sir,” Myles countered firmly. “The photos were provided by individuals who had already reached the same conclusions and sought outside help, not to hurt India, but to save her!”
“Very commendable, if true!” hissed Kumar.
Handa raised his hand, silencing the director. “President Myles, I accept that you believe this information to be factual, and that you have shared it out of a genuine concern for the well-being of India. And for that I thank you, and I also forgive you for demanding that we meet this evening.”
“But?” asked Myles.
“The information you’ve provided does seem to implicate Vice Admiral Dhankhar, but it is totally at odds with my personal experiences with the man. Yes, he’s been a critic of our peace negotiations with Pakistan, but he is a loyal and faithful officer who has followed orders in the past. He has done nothing that would cause me to distrust him.”
“I see. So you believe this information was manufactured? To possibly discredit Admiral Dhankhar?”
“Since I do not know who supplied you this information, I cannot rule out the possibility that it is a smear campaign to ruin Dhankhar’s excellent reputation,” Handa protested. “He has served me and my predecessors well, Mr. President.”
“What do I have to do to get you to believe us?”
Handa hesitated, considering Myles’s question. Kumar leaned over again and whispered to his president. Facing the camera, Handa said, “We’d need to have direct access to your sources.”
Joanna suppressed a smirk; President Myles had nailed it perfectly, and was ready to reel them in.
Without flinching, Myles exclaimed, “Done! Milt, please bring up the consulate in Hyderabad.”
The VTC screen suddenly cut in half with Petrov and Samant now visible on the left-hand side. Myles launched immediately into the introduction. “President Handa, may I present Captain First Rank Aleksey Igorevich Petrov, Russian Navy, retired, and now chief technical advisor to the Indian Navy on INS Chakra’s refit. And I believe you are already acquainted with Captain Girish Samant, the previous commanding officer of INS Chakra.”
The four Indians sat stunned; a single feather could have knocked all of them over. Upon seeing Samant, Handa began trembling, and his voice was unsteady, quavering; his tone sounded more like a plea than a question. “Cap… Captain Samant, is what the Americans have told us true?”
Samant wavered momentarily. He regretted the pain he was about to cause his nation’s leader, but the Indian captain had already made his decision. There was nothing left to do but carry on. “Yes, Mr. President, everything that Dr. Patterson has said is correct. It was Captain Petrov and I that discovered Dhankhar’s dark secret. Dr. Patterson helped to provide the missing pieces that enabled us to collectively put the entire puzzle together.”
Handa slumped back into his chair, his hands cradling his head. The prime minister and foreign secretary were equally dumbfounded and remained silent. Director Kumar recovered first and asked the only obvious question.
“Captain Samant, are you confident of your findings? Is there no other credible alternative explanation?”
Petrov looked at Samant, the Indian nodded his approval. “Mr. Director,” began Petrov, “I have considerable experience with Project 971 submarines. I was a first officer on one of our boats and I have detailed technical knowledge of the Omnibus combat system. There is only one reason for a panel in that position on the console: to pass firing data and unlocking codes to a nuclear-armed weapon.
“Chakra wasn’t equipped with those panels when my country leased her to you. But the refit plan I had to execute required running new data communication wiring from the console to the torpedo tube junction boxes. Orlav was to install and test the panels, and he worked directly for Vice Admiral Dhankhar.”
“Director Kumar,” interrupted Samant. “Both Captain Petrov and I looked into every other possible weapon, both Russian and Indian. The only new weapon we’re ready to field is this new Russian torpedo, and even if there were a new Indian weapon, which there isn’t right now, it would be incompatible with the Russian combat system. I’m sorry, but we were unable to find a credible alternative explanation.
“We went to the Americans because we needed an informed outsider to confirm or deny our theory. I couldn’t report our suspicions up the navy chain of command, or indeed the Defense Ministry, as we had no idea how widespread this conspiracy had become. Admiral Dhankhar could not possibly do this on his own — we believed he had to have help from above.”
President Handa lifted his head from his hands; his face looked drained. Myles and everyone else could see that he’d been presented with an unexpected nightmare. Everyone waited as he processed the news and considered the many dangers.
Finally, Handa asked, “Have you told the Chinese? How much do they know?”
“No,” Myles replied quickly. “We have no indication that the Chinese know about this yet, and we haven’t told them a thing. We believed it would be better for all concerned that you resolve the matter internally — if the first thing the Chinese hear is that you stopped a plot and the conspirators were in custody, then the danger would have passed.”
Visibly relieved, Handa replied, “Yes, tensions with China are high enough right now. I agree, and appreciate, the opportunity to settle this matter within India’s borders.” He gave a slight nod toward the camera. “We will act quickly to stop these criminals before they ruin us all.”