The marines were cold and silent throughout the drive. Arriving at Norfolk, the car zipped through the security with a flash of the driver’s ID. The base was immense, and the warships towered in the background as the car made its way through the congestion of the busy day. The marines drove on, leaving the docks and administration buildings behind.
They drove to a wooded area with a cable gate. A single sentry stood watch, rifle at the ready. He allowed them through. After that, it was a short stretch in the woods until they arrived at what looked like a gigantic, old, dilapidated warehouse nestled in the trees, with one end stretching into the ocean.
Josh was escorted inside and found that the interior was the antithesis of the exterior. It was one massive, disguised dry-dock; and it was empty. He could see the floor had been dug away to allow water to fill it. It was well maintained and spotless. The moorings were smartly arranged, awaiting the next occupant. He was escorted to a small room at the end, and then the marines left.
The room consisted of a small coffee table and some chairs. Seated there were Admiral Sukudo, Mikhail, and Nick.
“Glad to see that you could make it, Captain.” Sukudo rose from his chair to greet him.
“Never turn down an invitation to a party.”
“You remember Mikhail.”
Both men nodded politely. Sukudo continued. “The new guy is Nicholas Shaw. He’s along for the ride.”
“Nice to meet you, Nick.”
“Same here.”
Josh grinned. “I guess you can imagine that I have a lot of questions.”
“I bet you do,” answered Mikhail.
Sukudo interjected. “There is the possibility of larceny on a grand scale. It turns out that our little submarine may be stolen by another country.”
“Holy shit!” Josh coughed. “Who would have the balls to do that?”
“I’d like to tell you the whole story, but I’m not sure we have it completely straight just yet. Your job will be to locate the sub and track her, if you can.”
Josh became a little uncomfortable. “Admiral, we lost her when she dived under that inversion layer in the water. ODIS might be able to pick her up if her nuclear reactor gets close enough to the surface. Other than that, we have no way of finding her.”
“I know. We need some insurance,” said Sukudo as he and Mikhail glanced over at Nick. “Nick is going to try to get on board the ship if and when she goes back into service.”
Josh turned to Nick and looked at him as if he were insane. “That only helps me if you get the sub at periscope depth.”
“That’s the least of our worries,” replied Nick. “How I’m getting on is still a question, much less bring her to the surface.”
“We’ll get you there,” said Sukudo. “It’s being arranged as we speak.”
Josh tried to think of another way he could find the ship. “You might be able to signal me using the lower frequencies on the sub’s radio. Sometimes those bands interfere with my equipment, and I can locate the source by using the radio waves from which my satellites work.”
“All US ships operate with ELF — extremely low frequency — waves,” Mikhail stated.
“I know. So does ODIS, except he packages the information differently. Since all the satellites are continuously fed energy by the sun, I’m able to piggyback more information than regular ELF bands. That’s why other ELF transmissions appear as static on my screen. ODIS unscrambles them and then bakes the transmission, looking for more information that isn’t there. He’s rather picky about that. It’s just a matter of interfering on the right frequency.”
Then it hit Josh. “I’m not doing this from an office, am I?” Nobody had said Josh would be going out; he just knew. He knew there would be no way he would be stuck in a basement looking for this one. It was safari time, and he was leaping with joy on the inside. Sukudo’s silence confirmed his suspicions.
A small buzzer sounded in the room. Kenneth jumped to his feet and left without a word. The other three followed.
Dusk set across the water at the end of the covered dock. Sukudo strained his eyes watching the darkening ocean. The sun had almost completely set when three hundred yards away a submarine’s sail penetrated the surface. It rose until it was halfway out and moved slowly toward the warehouse. Three men popped out on the top and verbally guided her in.
With precision, the workers moored her, and the back gate to the warehouse closed. Only then did the sub blow her ballast and rise. Three hatches aft were thrown open, and the crew mustered on her back. The colors were run up the mast displaying the USS War Eagle and Old Glory.
Sukudo came back to where the three stood and waited for Jim Hickman to cross the gangplank and present the ship.
“War Eagle secured and ready for inspection, Admiral,” Jim said stoically as he approached.
“Good, Jim. How’d she run?”
“Perfectly, sir. She passed all preliminary tests with flying colors.”
Mikhail interrupted. “Did you take her to her maximum depth, Captain?”
“Yes, Mr. Nemokov. Absolutely no problems. We have the data ready to be analyzed.”
Sukudo cut in. “All this formality will have to wait, Jim. We have a situation that will put the War Eagle back out.” He took him by the arm and led him back to the ship.
Mikhail smiled with pride as he gazed at the sub. “Here it is, Nicholas, the last Seawolf class submarine.”
Nick was a little befuddled. “Only three were made, Grandfather?”
“True. On paper,” said Mikhail.
“Uh-oh. I smell a six-hundred-dollar toilet seat,” said Josh.
“Even the military must have its playthings before the rest of the world knows.”
“Being a pilot I’m used to seeing the hide-and-go-seek game with airplanes. I didn’t know you did it with ships,” Josh replied.
“We have our own area fifty-one.” Mikhail reveled in the idea. “Sometimes we have to hide projects from our own country… except for a small Senate committee. Very small committee.”
Sukudo nodded. “Okay, the crew has four hours of R and R. Then you’re out. Nick, you come with me.”
“What about me?” Josh demanded. “Are you expecting me to go on that boat?”
“Exactly, Captain. You need to be there, as close as possible,” Sukudo said, pointing to the War Eagle. “We need you to find that sub, Josh. ODIS may be the only thing that can track it. If she gets loose, then we’re all in a big mess.”
Fear was suddenly etched on Josh’s face.
Nick slapped him on the back. “Don’t worry. I deep-dive in these barrels all the time. You’re perfectly safe.” Nick felt uncomfortable giving any encouragement. The irony being that he was reassuring someone to board a sub when he now had problems doing the same thing.
Mikhail had already bounded across with the enthusiasm of a child. A crew member checked his ID, and he slipped below.
One of the marines reappeared with Josh’s tote bag and threw it down a hatch to a waiting man. Others in the crew scampered about, making the sub ready. Josh slowly went across and met Jim by the sail. He turned and waved pathetically to Sukudo before he slipped in.
“That flyboy is not going to like being surrounded by millions of tons of water,” Nick said.
“He’ll get used to it,” Sukudo replied. “He better get used to it.”
Dan was too deep in thought to notice the worried look on Sharon’s face. He marched past her into his office, and she followed. When he sat, she was sitting across from him. “Yes, Sharon? Is George here?” Tears began to stream down her face, and she found herself unable to speak.