Brodie and the XO exchanged nervous looks. Brodie nodded toward Graves and apparently it was enough communication for Graves to understand what needed to be done. “Aye, Captain,” Graves replied and immediately exited the sickbay.
Kristen saw him turn to move forward in the passageway in the direction of the torpedo room. Without a word being exchanged, Kristen understood. The XO was going forward to direct the loading of at least one of the nuclear-tipped Tomahawk missiles.
“Okay, ask him about the payload weight. How much can it carry?” Brodie asked after Graves left.
She did as ordered and Choi replied, but his answer was unusually long, and Kristen had trouble hearing it all.
“What was all that?” Brodie asked, his own nervousness revealed in his voice.
“He says the rocket can carry up to two hundred kilograms,” she replied. “But he also wanted me to tell you we have nothing to fear from the rocket.”
“And why is that?” Brodie asked. But Choi’s heart rate was becoming erratic and his eyes were fluttering.
“Captain, we’re losing him,” Reed’s warned with concern.
But Kristen understood the importance of getting the information and asked the doctor to explain. She then translated almost as fast as he spoke. “He says his country currently has no fully functional nuclear device. They’re trying to develop one, but they haven’t achieved true nuclear fission yet,” she told the others as she listened to the doctor continue with his rapid explanation. “He also says the smallest device they have so far weighs several tons and couldn’t possibly go into a warhead.”
The doctor grimaced in pain. Reed tried to step forward, but Brodie stopped him with a Medusa-like gaze, freezing Reed in his tracks. “Captain…” Reed whispered with concern for Choi who was clearly in distress.
Brodie had no sympathy in his eyes however, only resolve. “Ask him how he knows this information.”
Kristen did as ordered, watching Choi closely, seeing the old man growing more agitated. He began talking, his words coming fast, and she struggled with the proper translation. “Sir, he says he knows several of the engineers working on their strategic weapons. They have met several times to discuss the functional necessities of a warhead for the Unha-3.”
“Skipper, his heart rate is approaching dangerous levels. His blood pressure is increasing,” Reed warned.
Doc Hoover stepped forward and glanced at the data on the monitor. “He’s gonna stroke on you,” he offered calmly, his eyes on the vital signs.
Brodie ignored the warnings. “Ask him their names and the exact dates and places where they met.”
“Sir,” Kristen warned Brodie, “he’s not doing well…”
“Just do it!” Brodie insisted sharply.
Kristen did as he ordered, and Choi began giving a list of names as well as places and dates where the meetings occurred. She translated everything as quickly as she could.
Brodie then paused, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Why are they threatening nuclear war if they don’t have the capacity to actually fight even a limited one?”
It was a rhetorical question, but Kristen translated it regardless.
She’d lowered her head beside Choi’s so she could hear his answer as he whispered. But his words were now barely audible. He grimaced in pain and she gripped his hand. He lifted his head slightly, trying to speak to her. His words came in short, weakening bursts, accentuating the distress he was in. His words were becoming garbled, and she couldn’t make some of them out while others made no sense at all. Then his body tensed in pain and he gasped. She saw his eyes bulge slightly in terror. His hand clamped down on hers so tightly she grimaced herself.
The heart monitor sounded an alarm and Reed stepped in front of Brodie who relented, stepping back as Hoover grabbed an AED and pushed past Kristen, ripping the container open. Kristen stepped back as Choi’s eyes continued to stare at her. Reed was already doing emergency chest compressions while Hoover began placing the electrodes on the doctor’s unmoving chest.
Brodie glanced at Charles Horner who was staring in disbelief as Hoover and Reed began trying to revive the doctor.
“Send it all,” Brodie ordered, but Horner seemed transfixed by all that had happened and didn’t respond. “Do it now!” Brodie barked, startling Horner who bolted out of the sickbay.
Kristen sat down in a chair along the wall. She looked back at Choi whose eyes — now glassy and lifeless — managed to still stare at her accusingly.
Chapter Fifty Three
Brodie rubbed his sore eyes. He’d never known such exhaustion. Over the years he’d slowly conditioned himself to the long hours required of a submarine captain. But ever since he’d received their mission over a month earlier he’d struggled to sleep, and since leaving Bremerton, what sleep he’d managed had been brief and seldom restful. Once more beyond North Korean waters, the Seawolf was out of immediate danger, and he could turn his attention to making repairs and seeing to his crew. However, none of this good news meant he could rest yet. His boat was damaged, and Graves was finishing the damage report.
They’d been lucky.
The torpedo had detonated above them and far enough from the hull to cause only superficial damage. There had been some minor flooding and a few injuries. “The Dry Deck Shelter is badly damaged,” Graves explained as he completed his damage report. Brodie’s best friend and XO was seated in a chair, “but with the SDV destroyed, I don’t think we’ll be needing the DDS again.”
This was hardly the end of it. The bean counters in Washington would want Brodie to account for the actions that resulted in the loss of the very valuable SDV, not to mention the death of the two SEALs back in Korea, and — of course — Dr. Dar-Hyun Choi. “We’ll worry about the DDS when we get back to Sasebo,” he said and handed Graves a recent message from COMSUBPAC ordering them to the joint US naval base in Sasebo, Japan. “For now, let’s worry about patching ourselves up.”
Graves shook his head, exhaling tiredly. He looked as worn out as Brodie felt. “Damn, that was close,” he mused thoughtfully, referring to their orders to launch a nuclear strike that had been quickly rescinded after they’d reported what Choi had revealed. “I’ll be honest with you, buddy,” Graves admitted, “I haven’t been sleeping very well.”
Brodie nodded thoughtfully, feeling the same sense of relief. He could think of few things he wanted more than the two nuclear weapons removed from his submarine.
“Any other word on what’s happening in North Korea?” the XO asked.
Brodie assumed it was the same question everyone back in Washington was asking. None of it made sense. The DPRK had brought the world to the brink of war simply as a bluff. He shrugged, too tired to think about it anymore. “Insanity? Some sort of power struggle within the DPRK? Your guess is as good as anyone’s.”
“I’m getting too old for this shit,” Graves commented in frustration as he rolled his head on his shoulders to loosen his neck muscles.
Brodie nodded in agreement, thinking of the report he had to prepare for Washington. There had been a steady flood of messages demanding answers to an even greater flood of questions. The short run to Sasebo would barely give him enough time to gather the facts and prepare his report, and there would be no time for sleep. “How’s the crew?” he asked, knowing they’d all been on the ragged edge for weeks.