U.S.S. Seawolf (54 page)

Admiral Mulligan sucked in his breath. “Jesus Christ, Arnie, are you kidding?”

“Kidding! Yeah, right. Just a little joke to give us both heart attacks. Joe, if the full length and breadth of this whole scenario ever got out, that we actually started a shooting war with China to save the ass of the President’s son, there’d be a change in administration, and we’d all be out of here in disgrace. And that includes the President.”

“Does he understand that?”

“Barely. I’ve tried to tell him that his only chance is secrecy. But he doesn’t care. He only wants to see his son as soon as possible.”

“And do you think secrecy is possible?”

“Not total secrecy. But we don’t want total secrecy. We have to come clean about the loss of the submarine, and how it happened, and who, if anyone, was to blame. That’s gotta be hard, regular U.S. Navy routine. But we do not want anything released about its mission, nor the actual…er…demise of the ship.”

“How about the SEALs and the release of the prisoners?”

“Nothing. We cannot admit there ever were any prisoners, certainly not that we effectively went to war over them without telling anybody.”

“Think we’d have done it if Linus hadn’t been there?”

“Nah. Not a chance. We’d have tried to negotiate them out, failed, and then had to threaten massive economic retribution. Which may have worked, over time, maybe, six months.”

“You really think we could keep this whole thing secret?”

“For one reason only…the Chinese also want it kept secret.”

“You know that?”

“Absolutely. I had Who Flung Dung on the phone an hour ago…for once we’re in step.”

“WHO FLUNG WHAT?”

“Oh, that’s just my nickname for Ambassador Ling Guofeng…slippery little prick, like all the rest of ’em. But smart. He knows what a disaster this would be if it got out. His government is more worried than we are. There’s a press clampdown in Beijing and Canton.”

“What worries them so much?”

“Well, not that they kidnapped the submarine and its crew in international waters. They’d just lie and lie about that. Much more, that they were unable to hold on to the hundred-man crew, that their jail was stormed and breached, that they lost a patrol ship and two hugely expensive helicopters, not to mention a destroyer plus some three hundred naval personnel. The Navy C-in-C, according to the ambassador, may not survive it. To the Chinese it all represents the most awful loss of face. In fact, it represents total incompetence. Let’s face it, old pal, they think they’re tough and militarily proficient. We made ’em look like fucking children.”

“Guess so, Arnie…but what you’re telling me is that both the governments of the USA and China wish nothing more to be learned about this confrontation beyond the loss of the submarine, in an accident, and the safe return home of the crew with maximum goodwill on both sides.”

“You gottit, CNO. And that’s fine with me, just so long as the little pricks understand that NO ONE fucks around with our navy. NO ONE. And should anyone try anything on, they will live to regret it.”

“Guess our old friend Admiral Zhang Yushu is feeling kinda sorry for himself right now?”

“Hope so. Cheeky fucker.”

“Which I guess brings us to the next real problem. How, Arnie, does the Navy deal with the total loss of the top submarine in the fleet?”

“In the regular way. There was an accident in the South China Sea. Something in the reactor room, and this loss of power caused some kind of collision with a close-
by destroyer. That much is already known. The Chinese answered a call for help, towed
Seawolf
back into Canton, and while they were helping to get the submarine going again, there was a further problem, and the reactor failed completely. The Chinese deeply regret any part they may have had in the final damage to the submarine, and we express our gratitude for their attempts to help us out. That’s all there is. That’s all the press are getting. From either side of the Pacific.”

“Arnie, can this be kept quiet indefinitely?”

“Probably. Since the two involved governments have no wish to say anything whatsoever.”

“And what about the guys? Someone may eventually talk.”

“If he does, it will be dismissed out of hand as the rantings of a lunatic.”

“And how about the President? Does he go along with this?”

“The President’s out of it for the moment. All he wants is to cruise through the last couple of years of his second term…and to see his beloved son again as soon as possible.”

“Which leaves us to organize a Navy Board of Inquiry, right?”

“That’s it, Joe. It’ll happen in San Diego, under the auspices of CINCPAC. Makes sense. CINCPAC is Captain Crocker’s Commander-in-Chief. He’s the guy who decides what happens downstream of the inquiry.”

“I just hope it doesn’t get messy…but I know it’s unavoidable.”

“You can say that again. The U.S. Navy simply cannot lose a billion-dollar SSN and not have an official and formal explanation to both the government and the taxpayer.”

“Jesus. You mean the Board of Inquiry hearings have to be public?”

“Hell, no. They’ll be held
in camera
, with a lot of witnesses. But the findings will be made public. The Board’s
report will have to be published, with its recommendations.”

“And that’s where life could get a little tough…if they start recommending the severest reprimands, or even censures, of the senior officers of the ship.”

“Might not even stop there, either,” replied Admiral Morgan.

“Huh?”

“In a case such as this, they could actually recommend the court-martial of the CO or his XO, or even both.”

“A court-martial? Hell, Arnie, I wouldn’t think so. We don’t court-martial for carelessness. Only the Brits do that, and even then they usually find the captain not guilty. It’s been years since the Navy court-martialed anyone for anything that was not actually criminal.”

“Maybe, Joe. Maybe. But there is nothing ordinary about this case, and I’m interested to hear whether anyone decides to draw a firm line separating a genuine but inexcusable mistake from gross negligence. This is a very, very big loss…it’s beyond imagination that a captain with firm orders not to get detected proceeded to do so, two or perhaps even three times, and then crashed into a Chinese destroyer…I mean, Jesus…it sounds like the boat was being driven by some kind of nut.…Joe, I would not be surprised to see a recommendation for a special court-martial. Unless they got some real classy alibi.”

“Well, I hope they don’t feel the need to go that far…because that’s likely to muddy up the waters real bad. As it is, that Board of Inquiry is going to be told their brief, and indeed their powers, are restricted to those actions that led up to the submarine’s loss of propulsion in the South China Sea. They are not empowered to ask any questions beyond the moment when the Chinese moved in to assist them. Otherwise we’ll end up with a public report, which details the whole gruesome saga. Which no one needs.”

“Hell, no. We gotta avoid that, Joe. In fact, I think for the purpose of this inquiry we’ll have a Navy lawyer
from the Pentagon sitting in at all times, to make sure our guidelines are strictly followed.”

“I don’t think we can avoid that, Arnie. But this might mean that the senior officers of the submarine may feel they have to be legally represented. Some of them might. I wonder whether the captain himself might be advised to do so.”

“Well, I think he would, Joe. And this will almost certainly mean the President will insist Linus has some hotshot attorney in his corner. I don’t have a problem with that. In fact, I think it’s better we advise the President that’s what ought to happen. In Linus’s interests.”

“Of course, we don’t even know whether Linus was personally involved in this debacle.”

“No. We don’t. But I somehow doubt Judd Crocker achieved it all on his own.”

0900. Thursday. July 27
.
The Oval Office
.

“Arnie, do I have the power to stop this?”

“Yessir. But you’d have to do it publicly. You’d have to say,
Look here, guys, I’m the goddamned Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces and I hereby order you not to inquire formally into the loss of USS
Seawolf.
Do not come up with any conclusions or recommendations. Just forget about the whole thing
.”

“Well, I plainly cannot do that.”

“Not if you like working here.”

“What I meant was, can I just ask you to express on my behalf a general disapproval of putting these brave men through some kind of a trial? Might my disapproval not be enough?”

“Nossir. It would not. The Navy is obliged to inquire into the loss of any warship. We cannot just put it down as bad luck and write the ship off. No one would put up with it. Least of all the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
We cannot be held unaccountable for our actions. Not least because such an attitude would be held over our heads forever…
What do you need? Another five billion? And you don’t even have to explain where it goes
?”

“Well, Arnie, I really do not want any criticism or blame attached to anyone over this.”

“Sir, you might make that view known. It worked for the Brits after the Falklands War back in 1982. They found it politically convenient to avoid any courts-martial, which there probably should have been…they lost seven ships, for Christ’s sake. But there was no action beyond regular Boards of Inquiry. But I do not think your admirals would ever approve of a presidential restriction being put upon the men inquiring into a very serious disaster that cost the Navy a coupla billion dollars.”

“How about the other tack, Admiral? How about I threaten not to approve the massive increase in shipbuilding budgets unless they do what I say over this inquiry?”

“Sir, if anyone other than my loyal self ever heard you say that, proceedings would begin to have you removed from this office. Remember, sir, it’s Linus. His presence, right in the thick of this mess, makes you an interested party…interested to see your son exonerated from whatever blame there may be.”

“Arnold, I am interested. I do not want Linus in disgrace. And I’m not having it. You heard my threat. Do not ignore it. Though I shall deny ever having said it.”

“Sir, I am going to pretend I never heard any of the last few sentences you have uttered.”

“That may or may not be a wise move on your part. It could cost your beloved Navy a couple of aircraft carriers.”

“Then so be it, sir. The budget veto is your privilege. But I could not recommend you use it as a blackmail weapon to save Linus’s reputation.”

The President stood up and walked to the end of his
office and back. And then he asked a question that had plainly been on his mind: “Have you seen the preliminary reports from
Seawolf
?”

“Nossir.”

“Are they in? Have the admirals read them?”

“I do believe so, sir.”

“Do you have any idea what they contain?”

“Nossir. Except there was a mighty problem right before the collision in the South China Sea.”

“Do you have details?”

“Nossir.”

“Could I demand to see the reports?”

“Yessir.”

“Would they acquiesce?”

“To the parent of one of the officers? I doubt it.”

“No, Arnold. To their Commander-in-Chief.”

“Possibly, sir. But they have one weapon that will always finish you. Any one of them could just say, ‘
This is tantamount to corruption. I resign from the Board and I shall have no hesitation in making my reasons public. Crooked President
.’

“Knowing them, sir, they might all do it. You are contemplating very dangerous ground. But right now I have no reason to believe Linus is in any danger. Take a worst-case situation…let’s say he made some kind of mistake, maybe compounding another. That’s not life-threatening. Maybe a reprimand or a letter of censure. Maybe nothing. Just a warning. It’s part and parcel of command in the U.S. Navy.”

“Arnold, I do not want my son to be reprimanded publicly. Do you understand me?”

“Yessir”

“Can you and I save him from that? With the combined powers of persuasion that we have?”

“Nossir. The Navy will not tolerate interference in a case as serious as this. Long after you’re gone, they’ll still have to answer to Congress.”

“Then we’ll just have to see about that. Thank you, NSA. That’s all.”

0930. Monday, September 11
.
United States Navy Base
.
San Diego, California
.

The Board of Inquiry was charged with investigating “the circumstances surrounding the accident to USS
Seawolf
some time before 0600 (local) on Wednesday, July 5, 2006, in the South China Sea.” It was convened in the main conference room under the Chairmanship of Admiral Archie Cameron, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet.

A tall, graying man of 55, Admiral Cameron was a former Fifth Fleet Commander. In the 1990s he had served for several years as commanding officer of the state-of-the-art guided missile cruiser USS
Ticonderoga
, and was regarded as a potential CNO when Joe Mulligan retired.

Seated to his right was the Commander of the Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Albie Peterson. To his left sat Rear Admiral Freddie Curran, Commander Submarine Force Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC). Flown in from New London was the newly promoted Trident commander, Captain Mike Krause. The final member of the five-man board was Captain Henry Bonilla, commanding officer of
Seawolf
’s Sister ship, USS
Jimmy Carter
.

At the end of the long mahogany table sat Lt. Commander Edward Kirk, the Pentagon’s attorney, whose task it was to restrict the inquiry to those matters relevant to the effective seizure of the American submarine by the Chinese. Not, understandably, the aftermath. Everyone was given to understand that when Lieutenant Commander Kirk spoke on a point of order, his words were to be heeded at all times. Those orders came from Admiral Mulligan in person.

And the CNO had serious reasons for ensuring that the inquiry did not somehow get out of hand. For the month previous to the opening session, he and Admiral Morgan had endured bruising hours with the President’s personal advisers, all of whom were attempting to arrange the fairest possible treatment for Lt. Commander Linus Clarke.