Red Shark

“Yes, sir, true enough,” Ellsworth said, “but Moscow doesn’t control everything that happens in Russia. Take the Russian Mafiya for instance. They don’t just run drugs and whores, they sell weapons, and if they could get hold of some nuclear weapons, they’d sell them too.”

The president massaged the bridge of his nose. “That is, I’m afraid, an all-too-plausible scenario.”

“I agree, Mr. President,” said Chairman Webster. “The Mafiya has been shopping for nukes for years. The NKs might just be selling to the highest bidder.”

“Gentlemen,” said Paige, “I remind you that we don’t know for sure that they’ve moved the weapons to the railhead. We need more information to make the case and don’t have it.”

Ellsworth, stirred, steepled his fingers and put them to his lips. “General, Mr. Secretary, what’s on the other side of the border? In Vladivostok, I mean. Don’t the Russkis have a high-tech sector over there that employs technicians and scientists from around the world?”

“They do,” Gordon said, smiling faintly at Ellsworth’s dated Cold War reference to Russkis, not Russians. “The old Vladivostok is gone. No more shipbuilding and whaling. Now it’s all high-tech, you know, telecommunications and computers. Why?”

Ellsworth shrugged. “I got to thinking about all those Russki civilian nuclear weapons designers and former Soviet Rocket Force officers that found themselves out of work after the Soviet Union collapsed. I wondered what had happened to them, like where did they go and how did they support themselves and their families? Especially if there were no more nuclear weapons to design and service.”

“What are you saying, Carter?” Webster asked. “That the NKs are shipping their nukes over the border to keep the Russians employed? How? By having them build more weapons for them? By having them service the ones they already have? If anything, moving their nukes to Russia means there’s little chance they’d try to launch them against South Korea, Japan, or, for that matter, us.”

“I hear you.” Ellsworth looked around the table, perhaps hoping someone would pick up his idea and expand on it. But no one did. He shrugged. “Just a thought.”

“I think it’s more likely that they want them out of our reach,” the president said, “which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. After all, as Admiral Webster said, if the weapons do end up in Russia, the North Koreans can’t possibly launch them from Russian soil against us or our allies. It’s a win-win situation.”

“With respect, Mr. President,” said Gordon, “and you, Admiral, I’m not convinced that they took them out of North Korea to place them out of our reach. Jin is an old fox and a lot smarter than Kim ever was. Whatever it is that he’s up to, it required a trip to Matsu Shan only days after he seized power. General Yi is Jin’s right-hand man and controls the country’s domestic security forces and spy apparatus. That’s a lot of power in one man’s hands. And with the officer corps still in turmoil over the coup, Yi could have easily seized control of the country himself in Jin’s absence. Jin must have known that that was a possibility, yet even so he left the country in Yi’s hands for almost a week while he went off to Matsu Shan. It proves that Jin is not only a risk-taker but a ruthless bastard as well.”

The president said, “Which is why I’ve asked the CIA and Air Force to prepare a plan for a possible air assault on Najin.”

Paul Friedman added, “We can’t permit the North Koreans to transport their weapons out of the country, not even to Russia. An attack would be aimed at destroying the transportation infrastructure around Najin — roads, bridges, and, if necessary, the transport vehicles themselves, not the weapons. Yes, I know we run the risk of scattering highly enriched nuclear bomb fuel over a wide area of North Korea and Russia. Fortunately the area is mostly uninhabited, aside from a few oil terminals and harbor facilities. If we can immobilize the weapons, it will be impossible for Jin to recover them and, more importantly, use them.”

“Paul, have you informed the Russians about this?” Gordon asked. “I mean, do they know? Better yet, are they going to permit the NKs to send nuclear weapons across the border into their country? And why would they?”

“We don’t think they know what the NKs are up to, and we’ve not yet brought them into it,” Friedman admitted. “And we won’t until we have ironclad proof to make our case. When we do, a chat with the Russians would certainly be in order.”

“I should think so. They may have something to say about it, you know. After all, it might be their territory that we’d have to attack.”

Webster stirred. “Mr. President, rather than an air assault, I’d like to suggest you consider a Tomahawk strike from a submerged submarine. It would be far less risky than, say, punching in there with a flight of stealth bombers.”

“Admiral Webster, can we put an SSN into the Sea of Japan?” Paige asked. “Or won’t the Japanese allow it?”