Fatal Thunder: A Jerry Mitchell Novel (45 page)

Jerry’s eyes lit up, and a slight grin popped on his face. “Commodore, I have one question.”

“And that would be?”

“Do you believe the assumption that my crew is the best qualified for this mission played a key role in Dr. Patterson’s suggestion to the president?”

“Undoubtedly. Why?” Simonis asked. Mitchell’s question perplexed him.

“Then I would argue, sir, that the assumption is incorrect.”

Simonis was now completely baffled. “What are you talking about, Captain!? Your crew has more experience with the ISR UUVs than anyone else in the fleet!”

“Yes, sir, I completely agree. But only in regard to the ASW search mode. We’ve hardly used the mine-hunting function at all. In fact, the last time we used it was during workup training.”

Simonis was getting more and more annoyed with Jerry’s line of reasoning. It was obvious that Mitchell had something in mind, it just wasn’t very clear and the commodore’s patience was waning. “Captain, if you have a point, would you please make it!”

“Sir, I would argue that you have the most qualified operators for this mission. Your training staff has more time using the mine-hunting mode than anyone in the Navy. They should be the ones to run the port surveys,” argued Jerry strenuously.

“Ridiculous!” yelped Simonis. “We don’t have an appropriate facility to run a remote search like this. The trainer lacks the necessary communications gear.”

Jerry smiled broadly. “With all due respect, sir, yes, you do—
Oklahoma City
.”

Simonis’s eyes grew wide as soon as Jerry mentioned the stranded submarine.

“Dobson’s boat has the necessary comms and some UYQ-70 workstations on board. The UUV control and display software can be downloaded into them and your training staff can run the entire op from
Oklahoma City
’s control room,” stressed Jerry.

Simonis was clearly intrigued by the suggestion, but altering an order flew in the face of everything he believed in. “Are you suggesting that I intentionally ignore a direct order, mister?”

“No, sir. What I’m suggesting is that as a squadron commodore, you have some leeway to make the best use of your resources to maximize the success of both missions. I’ll bust my butt to get the UUVs to Hong Kong as fast as I can, but your staff runs the mine-hunting operation while I go after
Chakra
. Besides, this gets some of Bruce’s guys into the fight.”

Simonis’s scowl slowly melted into a devious smirk. “Captain, why do I get the distinct impression you’re trying to goad me into going around one of your close friend’s pet schemes?”

Grinning, Jerry shrugged and admitted his guilt. “Because maybe that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”

Simonis shook his head, but there was a smile on his face. “All right, Jerry, I’ll go with your recommendation. It makes good sense, and I like the idea of getting Dobson’s boat involved. And I find the idea of tweaking Dr. Patterson very appealing. It would be nice to win at least one argument with that woman! However, since I’ll be putting
both
our butts in a sling, you’d better get that Indian Akula.”

“We will, sir.”

20

EVASION

15 April 2017

1900 Local Time

Squadron Fifteen Headquarters

Guam

The videoconference image was blurry, and angled upward. It looked like something taken by a handheld cell phone rather than a mounted camera, but the picture quality was really irrelevant. The audio was perfectly clear, even if the situation wasn’t.

Commodore Simonis was first introduced to Hong Kong’s garrison commander, a gray-haired general named Tian. Thin and distinguished-looking, Tian spoke not a word of English, so a thirtyish army lieutenant named Li translated. Li had explained that translating was not his primary occupation, but he was doing a creditable job.

“When will the devices arrive?” Tian asked through the translator.

Simonis replied, “
North Dakota
is launching them as we speak, and they should take about three hours to reach Victoria Harbor and four to Shenzhen Harbor. I’ll give you a definite arrival time once her captain sends me the information.”

“How will we know where they are?” The general’s expression showed some confusion, as if he was still trying to understand how the UUVs operated.

“They don’t really need to be tracked, General. They have accurate navigation systems that use GPS updates, so they don’t require human assistance to reach their destinations. But they are equipped with a sonar transponder, which can be heard by any sonar operating at the proper frequency.”

That prompted a short sidebar with Lieutenant Li, as the lieutenant searched for the correct Chinese word for “transponder.” Li was still explaining it to the general when another senior officer, wearing a naval captain’s rank, hurried in. He bowed quickly to Tian and reported in rapid-fire Mandarin. The general nodded and then stood, indicating that the captain should take the seat in front of the camera.

As the new arrival sat down, Tian took a chair in the background, but remained visible. Li explained, “This is Captain Zhang, Commander of the Hong Kong Garrison Naval Brigade.” Squat and weather-beaten, Zhang looked like he belonged on a ship’s bridge. To Simonis’s eyes, he also looked a little wall-eyed, as if he couldn’t quite grasp the situation. The translator was more matter-of-fact. Zhang didn’t speak any English, either.

He explained through Li. “I have just closed the harbors to incoming traffic and ordered all ships in the harbor to either leave immediately or remain stationary until they are given permission to move.” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “This is more than what we do for typhoons.”

“That’s very good,” Simonis responded. “The UUVs need the harbor to be as clear as possible.”

Through Li, Zhang asked, “How will we control them?”

“You don’t have to,” Simonis answered. “They are completely autonomous—think of them as underwater robots. When they reach the harbor, they will extend a satellite antenna and ask for new instructions. My staff is preparing a search plan for each vehicle. One will search Shenzhen Harbor while the other looks in Victoria Harbor.”

This triggered an extended exchange between Zhang and his interpreter. When Li spoke to him again, he asked, “But how will your submarine,
North Dakota
, send them to the robots? Isn’t she submerged, pursuing the Indian rogue submarine?”

“We will direct the UUVs from here, Captain.” Simonis had to keep remembering that although Li was doing the talking, his audience was Zhang and his boss, the general. “Although
North Dakota
carried the two UUVs, any submarine can take over control, once they’ve loaded the software into its combat system. Any American submarine,” he added.

“A submarine in my squadron,
Oklahoma City
, was unable to take part in the search for
Chakra
because of a fault in her propulsion plant. She will monitor the search and transmit instructions to the UUVs by satellite. They’re downloading the software right now, and will be ready to send commands to the vehicles in plenty of time.”

Li asked, “Wouldn’t it be simpler to transmit the instructions from here? We have some very good computers.”

Simonis noted that Li asked the question without prompting from Zhang. Was he just curious, or did he have something he wanted to suggest to his boss?

“That’s not possible,” Simonis said truthfully. “The software is designed to operate with a display console in our submarines’ control room. It won’t work on a standard computer.” Simonis had no illusions about what would happen if the Chinese got their hands on that code.

Having deflected the inquiry, Simonis got back to business. “My immediate need is for the best information you have on obstructions and wrecks in the two harbors, Captain. Although the vehicles can avoid objects they encounter on their own, larger or more complex obstacles can confuse them, and certainly slow them down. It’s best if obstructions are entered in their navigation systems ahead of time. It will also help to reduce the number of false alarms.”

The commodore added, smiling, “I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of junk that’s accumulated on the floor of the two harbors.”

The three Chinese officers spoke together for several minutes; then the general addressed someone out of view of the camera. Li said, “We have surveys of different parts of both harbor bottoms taken over the years. None are complete.”

Zhang asked through Li, “What is the resolution of the vehicle’s sonar?”

“In area search mode, a foot. Excuse me, thirty centimeters. In high-resolution mode, it’s a little over three centimeters. The vehicles will be searching for an object only fifty-three centimeters in diameter and about seven meters long. If it sees something that matches this basic description, it will switch its sonar to high-resolution mode, go lower, and take sonar images of the object from several different angles. Then it will come to shallow depth and transmit them to us, along with the object’s location.”

Simonis waited while Li translated, and Captain Zhang asked, “Can the vehicle also retrieve the torpedo? Does it have a claw or other handing tools?”

“No, you will have to use divers, but the UUV will be able to tell them the object’s location within centimeters of its true position. I’m sure visibility near the bottom is terrible, but they won’t have to waste time searching.”

Li nodded his understanding, and relayed the information to Zhang, who also nodded, and answered affirmatively.

“You are welcome to anything that will speed the search. We will send the bottom information to you, but, in truth, your survey will be more detailed than anything we have.”

General Tian spoke up in the back. He sounded impatient, and Li relayed, “Do you have any more information on how long we have to search? When will the warheads explode?”

Simonis scowled. “That’s the big question. If we assume that the bombs are all supposed to go off at the same time, then we may have several days. It’s likely that Hong Kong was the first port on their target list. It’s our good luck that
Chakra
was discovered so soon after placing her torpedo, and we can begin searching so quickly.”

Li scowled and shook his head. So did Zhang, as soon as Li passed on Simonis’s words. “It’s hard to talk about ‘good luck’ when there is a nuclear bomb buried somewhere in your harbor, and that the good luck came at the expense of a submarine and her crew.”

“I’m a submariner, Captain, and I’ve lost a boat myself. I understand exactly how you feel. We all want to stop these criminals before any more blood is shed. My staff is calling on experts from all over my country to make the search as efficient and swift as possible. For instance, we know the weapon used was a Russian UGST-M torpedo, so we know its range. We know
Chakra
can’t go into very shallow water. That allows us to rule out some parts of both harbors.”

Zhang listened through Li, and asked, “Can one of my staff participate in the search planning?”

“Yes, of course,” Simonis answered immediately. He felt a small twinge of hope. After seeing and hearing Patterson getting the door slammed in her face earlier, he hadn’t expected the Chinese to be civil, much less willing to collaborate.

A side console flashed a text message from Patterson. “Good job, Commodore.” He knew she been listening in from Washington, but that was the first time she said anything.

Li said, “Can you please send us complete information on these UUVs? It will help our staff understand their capabilities.” Neither Tian nor Zhang had asked that question.

Simonis answered immediately, “Of course, I’ll have my staff send you the relevant information.” He hoped the Chinese wouldn’t object to only getting the “relevant” data. He could see Jacobs off to one side, taking notes.

Again unprompted, Li asked, “How often must the vehicles be recharged?”

“At their normal search speed, they have three days’ endurance—seventy-two hours, minus the time they spend reaching the harbors. Hopefully we’ll find the torpedo before it becomes an issue.”

Zhang fired a string of Mandarin at Li that sounded like an impatient question, and then Tian joined the conversation. There seemed to be a dispute between the two senior officers and the lieutenant.

While the three spoke with each other, a new text appeared from Patterson. “Lieutenant Li is actually a major, appears to be from intelligence—POTUS.”

There were two important facts included in that text. One explained why Li was so interested in anything to do with the UUV. The other was that not just the national security advisor, but the president himself, was monitoring his conversation with these Chinese officials.

It said something about the urgent nature of the meeting that the Chinese either hadn’t considered that they could be overheard, or just didn’t care. And, it was more than a little creepy to know that the commander-in-chief was “looking over his shoulder” in cyberspace.
No pressure,
thought Simonis.

Another text appeared. “They’re telling Li to focus on the problem, and not go into business for himself.”

Simonis had to read that one as Li was speaking again. “So all we have to do is sit and wait while the vehicles search our harbor, and hopefully when one finds the torpedo, we send divers down to recover it.”

“Well, we do have to work together on the search plan, but yes, once the vehicles begin their search, all we can do is monitor their progress and wait.”

Li relayed Simonis’s response, listened to Zhang, then said, “The captain wants to know if a minesweeper can hear the sonar transponder. That way he can follow the vehicles with divers standing by on board. That will save some time.”

Simonis frowned, but nodded. “Tell Captain Zhang that depending on the frequency of their system, yes, they should be able to detect the pinger. And his plan is fine as long as the minesweeper stays at least a hundred meters away from the UUV’s position. When it’s rising to make a report, if there’s a surface craft nearby, it will move that far away before transmitting. So staying too close will just slow it down.”