“Well, you were right about the refinery in Hormuz,” said Admiral Dixon. “We’ve heard nothing from China by way of complaint.”
“That’s because they know,” said Admiral Morgan. “They know and they understand. And quite honestly, I don’t think they care. Their objective was Taiwan, and they were prepared to pay the price for it. I doubt they’ll ever bother to rebuild that refinery. But in the next several months you’re gonna see the start of a trans-Sino pipeline, all the way from Kazakhstan to their eastern seaboard. It’s the Chinese way. They’ll build the world’s longest ditch, containing the world’s longest pipe, just the way they built the world’s longest brick wall, and the world’s greatest dam at Three Gorges. They have the labor, and they’re not afraid to use it. A lot of it, one suspects, slave labor.”
“Meanwhile,” said Admiral Dixon, “how the hell are we going to get the guys into Haing Gyi, and what are they going to do when they get there?”
“First question, how to get in.” Admiral Morgan moved closer to the chart, zooming back a little to show the water depths out in the bay.
“And that’s a problem,” he said. “You can all see the fifty-meter line out here, fifteen miles from the central seaway into the estuary. I’m not completely crazy about this chart, but they have the fifty-meter line well defined. It follows the coastline very accurately, all the way down from the narrow border with Bangladesh. Anywhere you look it’s showing depths of around one hundred sixty-five feet to the left and one hundred twenty feet to the right. So we gotta assume it’s more or less correct. So our submarine is going to have to make a rendezvous point somewhere right there on that line, where she can still hide in one hundred fifty feet of water.
“But that’s up to the SEALs and to Shark’s CO. More important is the insertion of the troops. And I’ve given it a lot of thought, because that ASDV is so damned slow. And fifteen miles is a long way at only six knots, and that only gets us into the mouth of the estuary. It’s another ten up to the deeper water off Haing Gyi. That’s a total running time of more than four hours, and it leaves us with the ASDV in a pretty vulnerable spot.
“My conclusion, therefore, is that we bring the guys into the estuary, which will take two and a half hours, and then creep up the new channel as far as Rocky Point, right here on the southeastern headland of the island, and let ’em swim in. We then have the ASDV return to the Shark.”
“Leaving the guys alone in there?”
“For a short while. Because I think we have to get ’em out with fast, rigid inflatables. The possibility of pursuit by the Chinese is high, and they may have fast patrol boats out searching. If they locate the ASDV crawling through the mud, in a channel less than forty feet deep, with nowhere to maneuver right or left, we could be light one boatload of very precious guys. And that would not be good.”
“You mean we set up a rendezvous point somewhere right along the island beaches?” asked General Scannell. “Then get ’em out fast, running all the way back to the submarine at high speed on the surface?”
“No alternative. ASDV in, for maximum stealth, when we’re not expected. Top speed run out, when the Chinese Navy is searching around in the dark, but may not catch us. Those fast inflatables make twenty-five knots. The guys will obviously get a good start…maybe fifteen minutes…and that way they have a real shot no one’s gonna locate ’em.”
“Okay, Arnie. Sounds good, so long as they don’t get caught in the base. We got a contingency to rescue if the crap hits the fan while they’re still working?”
“No, Alan. No I’m afraid we don’t.”
“Nothing?”
“How can we? We wouldn’t know if they were in trouble. The only thing we can do is have an accurate rendezvous point on the island, with fast boats waiting to evacuate. The ASDV cannot fight, and the submarine is too far away.”
“Jesus, that’s a tough call for the guys. Who’s in charge?” asked Tim Scannell.
“Commander Rick Hunter.”
“That makes me feel better. But it’s still tough. I hate to send the guys in with no backup.”
“So do I. But they will be armed to the teeth, and very thoroughly prepared. Chinese guards wouldn’t have a prayer against them if push came to shove.”
“They didn’t have one against Ray Schaeffer, either,” replied Admiral Dixon. “But shit happens.”
The four men were thoughtful for a few moments. And as they each contemplated the horror of discovery while the SEALs were ashore, plying their devastating craft, the door swung open and the beautiful Kathy O’Brien came in bearing a brown envelope addressed personally to Admiral Arnold Morgan, delivered by hand from Fort Meade to the White House.
“Just a moment,” said the Admiral. “This might be just what we need. If it is, it should have been here two hours ago. But if Borden’s taken my advice, the newest observations are gonna be real thorough.”
And thorough they were. Fort Meade had apparently solved the mystery of the power source of the sprawling Naval complex on Haing Gyi Island.
Comprehensive overheads have revealed no external power sources or supplies to Haing Gyi Base. This includes possibilities of the use of a generating ship or nuclear power plant.
Power supplies for operation of the base facilities all appear to emanate from a single large building in the center of the base.
Detailed examination of the foundation area of this building, in particular its size and scope beyond the building itself, suggests a possible geothermal source of power. This is confirmed as entirely consistent with local geophysical characteristics, supported by the known existence of mud volcanoes within 15 miles of the Haing Gyi facility.
An attachment is a full engineering statement of how geothermal energy is tapped. It indicates its vulnerability, and opportunities for disruption/accident.
Arnold Morgan mumbled about another cup of coffee, and asked his three colleagues to “hold everything” while he skipped through the notes on geothermal power. Bob MacPherson poured, and Arnold yelled “KATHY!” once again, and asked the goddess of the West Wing to have three copies made of the photograph of Haing Gyi.
Three minutes later, the Admiral looked up, complained that his coffee was half cold and told his guests that the principal mission of the SEAL attack on the Chinese base would be to destroy a power station, and with it the entire electronic network that runs from it. There would also be some other Naval hardware that had to go, but basically they were knocking out a major power supply, which would shut down the base entirely.
The three color photocopies arrived and were duly studied by Admiral Dixon, General Scannell and Bob MacPherson. Admiral Morgan pointed out the building in the center and asked if anyone knew how a geothermal power station worked. And no one did.
“Well, what you’re always looking at is an area where heavy rainfall has filtered through the earth’s surface for millions of years. And right here we have such an area. It’s sandy in a lot of places, and it gets a lot of sudden, fierce rain from the monsoons in a very flat basin, where it can hang around and filter through.
“And right here we have an area with volcanic activity, where the earth’s plates can pry apart, shifting way below the surface, forming giant, hollow caverns thousands of feet deep. Now in these caverns we get huge underground lakes, and the bottoms of those lakes are so deep the water becomes colossally hot from the earth’s core.