Nevertheless, having the world watch their televisions and see Iranian soldiers dancing up and down on one of the Unites States’ four million dollar secret weapons was not something the Pentagon was willing to endure again.
Clay cleared his throat and answered Einhorn. “Well, sir, the failure was caused by a power fluctuation on one of the drone’s motherboards. It’s the same board that controls the transceivers and antennas. We think it’s a design flaw with the hardware since we’ve been able to reproduce the problem several times.”
Einhorn dropped the file on his desk and leaned back in his chair, clearly irritated. “So, was it hacked?”
“No, sir.”
“I didn’t think so,” the Admiral scoffed. “I told them they were sending you boys out for nothing.”
This time Clay and Caesare looked at each other. “Well,” replied Caesare, “it doesn’t necessarily mean that it couldn’t be hacked… sir.”
Einhorn furrowed his brow at Caesare. He didn’t care for either one of them. He had a department to run, one of the most important in the Navy, and he didn’t like these guys from investigations poking their noses wherever they liked. Yet, while Einhorn was not happy, he certainly wasn’t stupid either.
It wasn’t clear why, but he knew both of the commanders standing before him reported directly to Admiral Langford, the President’s new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Langford had replaced General Griffith, who moved to fill the role of National Security Advisor after that position was unexpectedly vacated. Now Langford had the President’s ear, so Einhorn wasn’t about to do or say anything stupid.
“So, what’s your recommendation then?” asked Einhorn, with heavy sarcasm.
Clay paid no attention to the Admiral’s tone. “A full analysis, which includes an audit of the hardware design and software computer code.”
“And how long will that take?”
“I’m not sure, sir. It would depend on the resources available.” Clay knew Einhorn wasn’t going to like any estimate he offered, so he simply left it at that.
Einhorn grunted and picked up the folder again. “Well, I trust Langford will let us know how to proceed. I suppose that’s all, gentlemen. Thank you for your time.”
Clay and Caesare both gave slight nods and spun around. They walked back to the door and exited without a sound.
After Caesare pulled the door closed behind him, he looked at Clay. “Have we ever discussed how thankless this job is?”
“Almost weekly,” smiled Clay. He turned to fall into step with Caesare when his cell phone rang. Stopping, he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the displayed number. “It’s Langford.”
He held the phone to his ear. “This is Clay.” After a long pause, he replied with a simple, “Yes, sir.”
Caesare raised his eyebrows, curiously. “That was quick.”
“We need to find a conference room.”
Truth be told, Admiral Langford never wanted the chairman job. But in the end, he was an officer and the President asked him to do it. And frankly, he was leery of who else would have been asked had he declined. Although he originally had his doubts, Langford decided that Carr actually had the fortitude and ethics to be a solid President. And that was something most military leaders longed for.
Langford’s weathered face appeared on the video screen in front of Clay and Caesare. “I see you’ve uploaded your report on the drone. Have you talked to Einhorn yet?”
“Yes, sir,” Clay nodded. “We just dropped off the signed hard copy.”
“How’d he take it?”
Caesare smiled. “He loved it!”
“I bet.” Langford couldn’t decide whether to scoff or roll his eyes. “I guess as long as he didn’t physically throw you out of his office, we can consider it a success. You’re probably aware that he’s not a big fan of Investigations.”
“We picked up on that.”
“Good,” Langford continued, glancing at his watch. “I’m sure I’ll be hearing from him shortly.” He looked back into the camera. “In the meantime, I’m sending a plane for you. I need you on it ASAP.”
“Where are we going?”
“Brazil. We have a bit of a situation. Call it a surprise.”
“I hate surprises,” Caesare chortled.
Clay looked at Caesare. “That’s true, sir. His second marriage was largely a surprise.”
The corner of Langford’s lip curled at the joke. “Relax. It’s not an engagement party. It appears we are the proud owners of a new sub.”
Clay and Caesare peered with anticipation at the screen.
“Last night the Brazilian Navy captured a submarine off the coast of French Giana. It’s Russian. November class.”
Both men’s expressions changed from curious to confused. “November class? I thought those were decommissioned.”
“So did we.” The admiral leaned forward onto his elbows. “It appears at least one was not. It was first detected three days ago and a Brazilian Tikuna was dispatched.”
“And they captured it?” Clay asked. A single submarine catching another was quite a feat.
Langford smiled, reading Clay’s face. “Well, they asked for a little help. We had two of our boats behind the Tikuna. Unofficially, of course.”
“What’s a November doing in Brazilian waters?” asked Caesare. “Something that old wouldn’t simply be out on patrol.”
“No, it wouldn’t. Unfortunately, we don’t know why. The crew isn’t talking. All twenty-seven of them.”
“Twenty-seven?”
“A skeleton crew,” confirmed Langford.
Caesare raised an eyebrow. “Is that even possible?”
“Evidently.”
“What did the Russians say?”
“We haven’t asked them yet,” Langford replied, with a smile.
“You’re not suggesting we talk to the crew, sir?”
“No, I want you two to get down there and take a look at that Russian sub. The pictures we got back suggest it has something important on board, and we want to know what it is.”
3
Lee Kenwood was thrilled with their new lab. Finally able to separate their systems from the main observation area, it gave him some much needed elbow room to work on the hardware for their next project. And it was a doozy.
He also appreciated the extra help from Juan Diaz, a Puerto Rican native and computer engineer, just a few years out of college. He was a fast study and incredibly sharp.
Lee and Juan both looked up from a large table they were standing over as Alison opened the door, letting in a loud roar from the yelling children behind her.
“Hi, Ali,” they said, in tandem. Lee punched a button on his keyboard and watched the results appear across the screen. Juan was carefully holding still a large device with a thin computer cable attached.
“Hello.” Alison let the door close behind her and crossed the room. “How are things looking?”
“Pretty good. We’ve got most of it uploaded and tested. I think we should be ready by Thursday morning.” He looked up from his screen. “I take it Dirk and Sally are back?”
“How can you tell?”
“Sounds like a zoo out there.”
The ‘zoo’ was approximately forty screaming, very excited children. During their big move to Puerto Rico, Alison and her team somehow managed to become local celebrities with all of the press. Earlier in the year, her team had officially revealed the amazing breakthrough of their IMIS translation system in a demonstration for several news crews. Not surprisingly, the news went global and people from everywhere quickly descended upon the aquarium to see for themselves. Their communications with the dolphins was deemed the ‘Achievement of a Lifetime’ by several magazines, and for the next two months, she and her staff were invited on hundreds of television and radio interviews. It was overwhelming, but it initially provided a welcome change of pace after what they’d been through. However, in the end, the attention and visits never seemed to let up, so their move off the mainland wasn’t just for their research; it was also for their sanity.