“I’m fine, sir,” she lied, having no earthly idea how she was feeling. Her emotions were a jumble of confusing and competing thoughts which was unsettling to say the least. For years her emotions had been kept strictly in check. She’d never allowed confusion or disquietude into her perfectly ordered mind. In fact, she’d assumed she was immune to regular human emotions.
Until recently.
“I’m worried about you,” he told her bluntly. “Sean says you’ve been through a veritable hell the last few weeks.”
Kristen looked forward to the control room and then back at the Admiral. “Did the captain ask you to talk to me, sir?”
“No, of course not,” he said honestly. “I wanted to make certain you’re okay, and you haven’t had too much trouble from the crew.”
Kristen realized he was offering her a chance to get off the Seawolf. She just had to say the word, and he would quietly transfer her back to his staff. In fact, she didn’t even have to speak. If she allowed a few tears to fall, she would be packing her bags for sunny Hawaii and leave the Seawolf behind forever. But she shook her head. “No, Admiral, this is where I belong.” She then added, “And forgive me for saying so, but would you ask me this if I were a man?”
“No,” he admitted. “But the fact is you’re a woman, and this boat is filled with one hundred and forty men. The entire crew has been under incredible stress since leaving Bremerton. I just want to make certain you’re getting along okay.”
“Never better, Admiral,” Kristen answered without thought.
After the admiral departed to the sounds of bells and whistles, she returned to the control room and found an impromptu officer’s meeting already underway. Brodie was going around the control room and receiving status reports and repair needs from each department. Once these reports were complete, he addressed his assembled officers, “Gentlemen, I don’t know exactly what’s going on, and I’m not certain anyone else on our side does either. But I’m certain our problem is not with North Korea. I’m also reasonably certain trouble is coming, and wherever it starts it will be someplace where the National Command Authority isn’t expecting it, which means we can expect fresh sailing orders at any given moment.”
“Sir,” Ryan Walcott asked, “if North Korea isn’t where our problem is, then why have we dragged battle groups from the Pacific, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean to the Sea of Japan?”
According to message traffic they’d received recently, the National Command Authority, fearing a nuclear exchange on the Korean Peninsula, had redeployed three separate carrier battle groups from their normal patrol areas and ordered them, with all expedience, to the Sea of Japan.
“Answer that one and they’ll make you an admiral tomorrow, Ryan,” Brodie replied with a shake of his mane. “That’s why, although I want to run a regular liberty schedule and get everyone off the boat for some time ashore, we have to hit it hard and see to our repairs. Not to mention get the DDS off and, as soon as possible, remove those two TLAM-Ns from the torpedo room.” He shook his head, clearly not liking the two nukes being on board. “Those damn things are giving me ulcers.”
“Captain, what about the SEALs?” Graves asked.
“Our guests will be departing within the next few days,” he said simply. “Or so I’ve been told.”
Brodie looked around for any other questions. Everyone except for Kristen and the XO looked at him expectantly, assuming he would explain what had occurred over the last few hours in the wardroom. He unbuttoned his dress coat and loosened his tie, finally looking uncomfortable in the formal clothing. “Anything else?” he asked, offering no hint as to what occurred in the wardroom between himself and the review board. There were no more questions, and he departed, keeping whatever thoughts he had concerning the visit by the admirals and the civilians to himself.
Several of the junior officers shook their heads in disbelief after he departed. “Not so much as a word,” Terry whispered to Kristen. He’d conveniently stood next to her, as he always tried to do in such meetings. “He didn’t say a damn word about the meetings.”
“Perhaps we’re better off not knowing,” she told him and, without another word, returned to her cabin.
Chapter Three
Smoke from multiple cigarettes and cigars rose above the assemblage of Russian power players gathered around the long mahogany table forming a bluish cloud above their heads. On the table were several serving trays with alcohol and water. Almost all had chosen the former. The Russian President was seated at the head of the table. Flanking him along each side of the table was the rest of his Security Council. Although not part of the government according to the Constitution, the Security Council was truly where all decisions in the Russian Federation were made. As the head of the Council, the President’s thoughts held considerable influence, but he valued the opinions of the power ministers he’d selected for the Council.
“The American Navy has responded as predicted to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula,” the Minister of Defense explained. His name was Sergei Sokolov. At fifty-three he was one of the younger men present. Unlike most of the others, he’d chosen to drink only water, and the President trusted his council more than most. “Of their ten operational carrier battle groups, three are currently either in the Sea of Japan or in Japanese ports undergoing emergency repairs.”
“What about the other seven?” the Foreign Minister asked nervously. Everyone in the room was privy to the grand scheme, and the Foreign Minister was one of the more cautious of the group. Her name was Veronika Puchkov, and at sixty-two she’d been involved in foreign policy longer than anyone else at the table. But she was another trusted councilor who was willing to offer a difference of opinion the President often found refreshing. More importantly, her loyalty was unquestioned.
The Defense Minister explained, “One of their carriers is currently in dry dock at Newport News undergoing a lengthy refit and will not be available for service for at least another eighteen months. That leaves six. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is preparing to leave Norfolk with her escorts. We believe she is heading to the Persian Gulf to fill the gap left in their usual patrol areas after they redirected the Nimitz and George Washington battle groups in response to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.”
“And how long will it take before they reach the Gulf?” Puchkov asked, knowing the presence of even one American carrier could ruin the carefully laid plans.
“If they left today,” the Defense Minister estimated, “they wouldn’t arrive for at least four weeks.”
“And the rest of their carriers?” the President asked, understanding that it was America’s fleet of nuclear aircraft carriers that allowed them to project military power. Neutralizing their carrier force was absolutely essential to success.
“They maintain five of their carriers on each coast,” the Defense Minister explained. “Normally one from each are forward deployed. The others are involved in either maintenance or training for the next deployment, so the fact they have surged three carriers to Japanese waters to face the crisis on the Korean Peninsula is a significant effort on their part. Two of these carriers are from their Pacific Fleet, leaving three still in port on their west coast. It is believed none of these could be ready for sea in less than three months.”
“And their carriers on the east coast?” The Foreign Minister inquired cautiously.
“The Roosevelt’s battle group is a potential threat to the operation, but if the Iranians move quickly, by the time the Americans arrive, it will be too late,” the Defense Minister assured her.