“Commodore, does SUBPAC realize I’m just a few hours behind Chakra? We’re in a position to overtake her within the next six hours. We can stop her from launching any more torpedoes.”
“Can you guarantee that, Captain?” demanded Simonis.
Jerry paused to let himself calm down; he knew he couldn’t. “No, sir, I can’t. But the odds are in our favor. We know where Chakra was about six hours ago and we know she’s not moving at high speed. This gives us a much better chance of catching her.”
“I completely agree, Captain, flaming datums have a habit of doing that. But the president is far more concerned with the threat of nuclear torpedoes being lodged in the mud inside two of China’s busiest ports. The Chinese government has formally asked for assistance in locating the torpedoes and your UUVs are the best and quickest way for us to help.”
Simonis’s tone was sympathetic. “I don’t like it either, Captain, but it’s his call to make and it does make sense. We’ll just have to let North Carolina deal with Chakra.”
“Sir, no disrespect to Scott Nevens and North Carolina, but he has a lot more area to cover and he doesn’t have anything other than her organic sensors — and her towed arrays aren’t as good as mine!” Jerry pleaded.
Simonis took a deep sigh; he was experiencing a bad case of déjà vu. Mitchell’s argument was essentially the exact same one he’d used with SUBPAC. But Admiral Burroughs was adamant; the UUVs had to get to Hong Kong as fast as possible. “You’re preaching to the choir, Captain,” replied Simonis. “The bottom line is we have our orders and we are expected to carry them out. Besides, you and I both know where this plan came from, don’t we?”
The smug look on the commodore’s face confirmed what Jerry had suspected. “Yes, sir, I’m sure this was Dr. Patterson’s idea. It sounds like something she’d come up with.”
“Then there’s nothing left to discuss then, is there? You’re to get the UUVs to Hong Kong ASAP and conduct a thorough search of both harbors. The Chinese are going to provide detailed hydrographic information, as well as any previous bottom surveys to assist you in planning your surveys. I’ll have the data sent to you as soon as we get it.” Simonis saw Jerry nod his acknowledgment. His face was crestfallen. Deep inside, the commodore felt bad for the young captain; he could sense Mitchell’s disappointment. The commodore decided a short pep talk was in order.
“If it’s any consolation, Jerry, you and your crew have the best chance of finding these nukes before they cause untold damage and millions of casualties. That’s not exactly a weak FITREP bullet, Captain.”
Jerry’s eyes lit up, and a slight grin popped on his face. “Commodore, I have one question.”
“And that would be?”
“Do you believe the assumption that my crew is the best qualified for this mission played a key role in Dr. Patterson’s suggestion to the president?”
“Undoubtedly. Why?” Simonis asked. Mitchell’s question perplexed him.
“Then I would argue, sir, that the assumption is incorrect.”
Simonis was now completely baffled. “What are you talking about, Captain!? Your crew has more experience with the ISR UUVs than anyone else in the fleet!”
“Yes, sir, I completely agree. But only in regard to the ASW search mode. We’ve hardly used the mine-hunting function at all. In fact, the last time we used it was during workup training.”
Simonis was getting more and more annoyed with Jerry’s line of reasoning. It was obvious that Mitchell had something in mind, it just wasn’t very clear and the commodore’s patience was waning. “Captain, if you have a point, would you please make it!”
“Sir, I would argue that you have the most qualified operators for this mission. Your training staff has more time using the mine-hunting mode than anyone in the Navy. They should be the ones to run the port surveys,” argued Jerry strenuously.
“Ridiculous!” yelped Simonis. “We don’t have an appropriate facility to run a remote search like this. The trainer lacks the necessary communications gear.”
Jerry smiled broadly. “With all due respect, sir, yes, you do—Oklahoma City.”
Simonis’s eyes grew wide as soon as Jerry mentioned the stranded submarine.
“Dobson’s boat has the necessary comms and some UYQ-70 workstations on board. The UUV control and display software can be downloaded into them and your training staff can run the entire op from Oklahoma City’s control room,” stressed Jerry.
Simonis was clearly intrigued by the suggestion, but altering an order flew in the face of everything he believed in. “Are you suggesting that I intentionally ignore a direct order, mister?”
“No, sir. What I’m suggesting is that as a squadron commodore, you have some leeway to make the best use of your resources to maximize the success of both missions. I’ll bust my butt to get the UUVs to Hong Kong as fast as I can, but your staff runs the mine-hunting operation while I go after Chakra. Besides, this gets some of Bruce’s guys into the fight.”
Simonis’s scowl slowly melted into a devious smirk. “Captain, why do I get the distinct impression you’re trying to goad me into going around one of your close friend’s pet schemes?”
Grinning, Jerry shrugged and admitted his guilt. “Because maybe that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”
Simonis shook his head, but there was a smile on his face. “All right, Jerry, I’ll go with your recommendation. It makes good sense, and I like the idea of getting Dobson’s boat involved. And I find the idea of tweaking Dr. Patterson very appealing. It would be nice to win at least one argument with that woman! However, since I’ll be putting both our butts in a sling, you’d better get that Indian Akula.”
“We will, sir.”
20
EVASION
The videoconference image was blurry, and angled upward. It looked like something taken by a handheld cell phone rather than a mounted camera, but the picture quality was really irrelevant. The audio was perfectly clear, even if the situation wasn’t.
Commodore Simonis was first introduced to Hong Kong’s garrison commander, a gray-haired general named Tian. Thin and distinguished-looking, Tian spoke not a word of English, so a thirtyish army lieutenant named Li translated. Li had explained that translating was not his primary occupation, but he was doing a creditable job.
“When will the devices arrive?” Tian asked through the translator.
Simonis replied, “North Dakota is launching them as we speak, and they should take about three hours to reach Victoria Harbor and four to Shenzhen Harbor. I’ll give you a definite arrival time once her captain sends me the information.”
“How will we know where they are?” The general’s expression showed some confusion, as if he was still trying to understand how the UUVs operated.
“They don’t really need to be tracked, General. They have accurate navigation systems that use GPS updates, so they don’t require human assistance to reach their destinations. But they are equipped with a sonar transponder, which can be heard by any sonar operating at the proper frequency.”