Black Sea Affair (47 page)

"And given our current political climate with them, " Secretary Mauney added, "Moscow would blame a nuclear attack against St. Petersburg on us."

"Precisely, " Vice President Surber added.

"Which means we can expect a nuclear retaliation against the United States, " Defense Secretary Lopez said.

The secretary of state nodded his head in agreement. "We've got to sink this freighter, and we must do it now."

"And lose the evidence that we need to prove our case to the Russians that we did not sink an innocent civilian freighter?" the national security advisor asked. "We need that evidence for the world to see."

"Admiral Ayers, " the president said, "can
Charlotte
stop this freighter and board it without sinking it?"

"Yes, sir. We have a contingency plan for that option."

"Let's hear it."

"We disarm our Mark-48 torps and fire into the ship's propeller. If we get a lucky shot, we disable the prop, leaving her dead in the water. We surface our SEAL team and board the ship."

"What happens if they blow the ship before our SEALs can take control?" Vice President Surber asked.

"That could happen, " Admiral Ayers said, "but they may take a little time to figure out what happened. Hopefully, it's enough."

"How close are they to St. Petersburg, Admiral?"

"Close, sir. About thirty miles west of Kotlin Island. Put it this way; they're close enough that if they blew a nuclear device now, depending on the size of the device, it could devastate St. Petersburg. Depending on weather patterns, nuclear fallout could kill hundreds of thousands living along the Gulf of Finland. That includes the city of Helsinki, which is less than two hundred miles to the west, and beyond that, the city of Stockholm, another couple of hundred miles to the west and across the Baltic Sea. The weather will determine who dies, Mr. President. But unlike the Bikini Atoll tests or our tests in Nevada in the early sixties, this is a highly populated area. Hundreds of thousands will die, sir, and we have no control over the weather.

"We've got a narrow window, Mr. President, " Ayers continued. "Whatever you order, sir, we've got to act fast or we simply won't have enough time."

"I say sink her, Mr. President, " the vice president said. "We're looking at nuclear holocaust if that ship blows."

"And we might be looking at nuclear war if we don't produce that plutonium to convince the Russians we didn't sink one of their civilian ships, " the secretary of defense said.

Mack thought about that.
Lord, make my decision the right one.

"Secretary Lopez, send the orders. Have the
Charlotte
unarm the Mark-48s. Attack her propeller. Stop her in the water. SEAL team is ordered to board and secure the ship.

"That is all."

CHAPTER 31

The USS
Charlotte

Gulf of Finland

Skipper, "Let's go, XO!" Puck shouted to Todd Swanson. "Follow me! Officer-of-the-deck, take the conn!"

"I have the conn, aye, sir."

Puck bounded out of the control room, with his executive officer in tow. In the radio room, his radio officer was waiting for him with message in hand. Puck ripped the message from the officer's hand and flattened it out in front of a high-wattage reading light.

EMERGENCY ACTION MESSAGE

FROM: NATIONAL MILITARY COMMAND CENTER -- WASHINGTON, D.C.

TO: USS
CHARLOTTE

SUBJECT: ACTION MESSAGE REMARKS:

Intelligence assessments reports Egyptian freighter Al Alamein probably transporting weapons-grade plutonium stolen from Russian arsenal.

Intelligence further reports Chechen nuclear physicist may be onboard.

Al Alamein
may be transporting active thermonuclear device and may be planning suicide nuclear attack on St. Petersburg, Russia.

USS
Charlotte
ordered to disable
Al Alamein
with unarmed torpedoes.

SEAL team ordered to seize control of vessel and any nuclear contraband potentially on board.

Proceed with extreme caution and stealth. In the event of large nuclear blast, the
Al Alamein
is now within range to destroy St.

Petersburg.

Execute orders immediately.

Captain Puckett handed the message to Todd Swanson. "XO, sound the alarm. Man battle stations. Let's get moving!"

The
Al Alamein
Gulf of Finland

From the bridge of his ship, Captain Hosni Sadir brought his binoculars to his eyes and scanned the eastern horizon, just out front of the bow of his ship. A gray haze hung low over the water in the distance.

Sadir dropped the binoculars and pointed out. "It's out there somewhere. Kotlin Island. We should be able to see it soon. It's actually part of St. Petersburg, you know."

"How far are we,
Kapitan
?" Salman asked.

"Less than twenty miles to Kotlin Island."

"I cannot contain my excitement, " Salman said. "We could throw the switch now, and with the power of our bomb, we would destroy everything within a hundred miles. We could wipe out the city of St. Petersburg even now."

Hosni saw the fire in the young physicist's eyes. "You have done well, my friend."

"
We
have done well,
Kapitan
."

Hosni brought the binoculars back to his eyes. The haze was fading now. Still, no sign of the low-lying land mass that would mark the entrance to the waterways surrounding St. Petersburg. "Soon, my friend, 9/11 shall be but a footnote on the ash heap of history!" He handed the binoculars to Salman.

"We are going to kill millions of them,
Kapitan
." Salman peered through the binoculars. "Allah has brought us this far. We're so close and we can now accomplish our mission. Perhaps we should pull the switch now."

Hosni touched Salman's shoulders. "Patience, my young friend. Care for a cigarette?"

"Thank you, " Salman said, as Hosni flicked a red Camel from his pack and handed it to Hosni.

"Light?"

"Thank you,
Kapitan
."

Hosni ignited his butane lighter and held the flame out. Salman sucked in. "We will burn them alive either way, Salman, whether we pull the switch now or tomorrow." He took a satisfying draw. The nicotine jump-started his adrenaline. "But let history show, Salman, that we sailed the
Al Alamein
right into the Neva River, brought her up to the very banks of St. Petersburg, and then pulled the switch. I want to see with my eyes all that we shall vaporize."

St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral
St. Petersburg, Russia

At the front right of the crowded courtroom, Pete Miranda sat between Zack Brewer and his detailed interpreter and Russian defense counsel, Lieutenant Vaslov of the Baltic Sea Fleet. Across the aisle, Major Peter Andropov, the Russian Army prosecutor, sat steely eyed writing notes on a pad.

"They should be back at any moment, " Zack whispered over the slight roar coming from the back of the courtroom.

"What do you expect?" Pete asked.

"I expect they will rule on our motion or at least address it in some way. I don't expect them to dismiss the case."

"Some sort of face-saving position?"

"Exactly, " Zack said.

Lieutenant Commander Zack Brewer was an amazing naval officer, Pete thought. The JAG officer carried a courageous air like Daniel from the Bible. And like Daniel, Zack marched into the lion's den, and with some fancy legal footwork about the Geneva Conventions, at least delayed an inevitable mauling.

Still, Pete resolved that a mauling was inevitable -- that he was going to die. Something told him that his entire crew, and even his JAG officer defense counsel, were all in mortal danger. He was ready if that should happen, but the thought of never seeing Coley and Hannah again was a dagger in his soul.

"All rise!"

The three flag officers of the tribunal marched in bearing wrinkled and angry-looking faces.

"Be seated, " General Igor Smirnov snapped. Wearing thick plastic black-rimmed glasses, he leaned forward at the defense table. "Commander Brewer, we have considered your motion concerning the Geneva Accords." Smirnov paused, almost as if expecting an answer from Brewer. "We shall delay a ruling pending further study and advice by Russian international law attorneys." A slight smile crept across Zack's face. Perhaps they had bought more time, Pete thought.

"However, " Smirnov continued, "we cannot delay these proceedings. Therefore, we shall allow the prosecution to continue its case and rule upon Commander Brewer's motion at the end of the trial."

Zack rose. "Objection, General. It is this
process
that violates Articles 4 and 17 of the Geneva Accords." An explosion of flashes followed.

The red-faced Russian glared at Zack. "Sit down, Commander, or our guards will remove you from the courtroom and leave your client's defense to Lieutenant Vaslov. I remind you that you are a guest of this country, not a member of its bar."

"I will sit, but I will not withdraw my objection, " Zack barked.

"You are in contempt, Commander."

"Hold me in contempt if you'd like, " Zack snapped. "Proceeding under these circumstances is contemptuous to the Geneva Accords, and every established principle of international law."

"The guards will escort Commander Brewer to the temporary holding facility. This court shall stand in recess for one hour as we work to ensure that the commander receives a full briefing of the procedures and rules of Russian military courts."

"All rise."

Pete rose as Zack shucked off the hands of the Russian guards and walked with them voluntarily up into the chancel area, where he disappeared behind a door.

USS
Charlotte
Gulf of Finland

What's our range to the target?" Commander Puckett asked. "The freighter has now opened up a distance of four thousand two hundred yards. That gap is widening, sir."

"Good, " Puckett said. "That gives us some firing room. Are the Mark-48s unarmed?"

"Aye, Captain. Torps one and three are unarmed and ready for firing."

"Very well, " Puck said. "Fire torp one."

"Firing torp one."

A swoosh rushed through the boat, as the first Mark-48 torpedo, weighing 3400 pounds and nineteen feet long, popped out the forward torpedo tube and lunged into the water.

"Fire torp three."

"Firing torp three."

Another swooshing pulsation followed.

"XO, status of SEAL team?"

"Ready to go in the water at your command, sir, " Lieutenant Commander Todd Swanson said.

"Very well, " Puck said. "Torp one range to target."

"Torp one range to target thirty-eight hundred yards and closing."

"Torp three range to target."

"Torp three range to target thirty-nine hundred yards and closing."

The
Al Alamein
Gulf of Finland

K
apitan
, we are picking up FM radio from Kotlin Island and St. Petersburg!" the radio officer announced.

"Good." Dadir felt himself smile. "We are nearly at point-blank range."

Salman Dudayev burst onto the bridge, out of breath. His face was red and contorted.

"
Kapitan
, we may have a problem."

"What, Salman? Is something wrong with our bomb?"

"No,
Kapitan
. I have been monitoring Russian broadcasts on the radio, " Salman said. "The Russians are trying an American submarine captain in St. Petersburg for sinking the freighter
Alexander Pop-ovich
--
the same freighter that we got the plutonium from."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes,
Kapitan
. Apparently the Americans sunk her with a submarine in the Black Sea."

Sadir thought for a second. "The Black Sea? That is impossible. There are no American submarines in the Black Sea."

"It is all over Russian radio and also the BBC,
Kapitan
. Somehow, they did it. Somehow, the Americans must have discovered that the plutonium was once aboard the Russian freighter."

Sadir thought about that. "Even if this is true, the Americans sank the
Alexander Popovich
in the Black Sea. We are now a long way from the Black Sea. It appears that the Americans have sunk the wrong ship."

A violent shaking rocked the stern of the freighter, as if the ship had been hit by a giant sledgehammer. Men on the bridge staggered from the vibration. That was followed by a second shaking.