State Of The Union

Harvath landed a vicious punch to the man’s jaw and wrestled the pistol away from him just as the copilot grabbed the microphone of his helmet to radio for help. What happened next was more reflex than anything else. There was no time to think. Harvath pulled the Gyurza’s trigger and sent two rounds into the co-pilot’s head, killing him instantly. Turning the pistol back on the pilot, Harvath disconnected the comlink from the man’s helmet and said to him, “There’s been a slight change of plans.”

After Morrell and the rest of the team had stripped the Spetsnaz soldiers of their uniforms and deposited their naked bodies in the woods, they pulled the SUV alongside the helicopter, offloaded their improvised tactical nuclear weapon and then ditched the car.

When everyone was onboard, Alexandra climbed into the co-pilot’s seat and with her silenced Walther P4 pointed right at the pilot’s privates, ordered him to take off.

Chapter 46

The flight was not only long, but extremely uncomfortable. The winter storm had created a lot of rough air and many of the helicopter’s passengers wanted to puke from the bumpy ride, but were all too macho to do so, including Alexandra. When they neared their destination upon the White Sea, the pilot was instructed to fly in a large circle aroundThe Cosmonat Yuri Gagarin.

It was an incredible vessel. With a displacement of over 45,000 tons, theGagarin was 774 feet long and had a beam of just over 101 feet. The ship was outfitted with two eighty-eight-and-half foot in diameter Ship Shell and two forty-one foot in diameter Ship Bowl stabilized communications and tracking dish antennae, as well as two Vee Tube HF communications systems and four Quad Ring yagi arrays. As they passed the enormous devices, DeWolfe narrated based upon experience and the recent intelligence he had been sent from Washington. Harvath, on the other hand, was less concerned with what was on the ship than what was around it.

Though he stole occasional glances at the vessel itself, his eyes were predominantly focused on the assault helicopter’s tracking and display systems. From what he could tell as they made their pass, theGagarin was being watched over not only by the three nuclear icebreakers, but by no fewer than three Russian submarines as well. Getting out was going to prove a lot harder than getting in.

As the helicopter banked and approached theGagarin ’s landing pad, they went over their plan one more time. Speed, surprise, and overwhelming force of action were the keys to a successful outcome, though every one of them had silent reservations as to whether this was really going to work.

When the Mi-17-1V touched down on theGagarin ’s aft deck, Carlson quickly unbuckled the pilot and yanked him into the cargo area. He removed the man’s helmet and then knocked him out with a quick punch to the head. “You’ve got to be the worst pilot I’ve ever flown with,” said Carlson who then looked up at the rest of the team staring at him. “What? He gave us that shitty ride on purpose. Fuck him.”

No one disagreed. Avigliano and Morrell quickly gagged the man, tied him up and stashed him in the back of the copter. A pistol was placed in the hand of the dead co-pilot and he was positioned in such a way that if anyone should happen to look in through one of the windows, it would appear as if he was diligently posting guard over a large plastic suitcase.

When they were good to go, Morrell and his men rolled down their own black balaclavas, readied their Russian assault rifles, and opened one of the helicopter’s side doors. Carlson and Avigliano jumped out first and were joined by Alexandra. Next came DeWolfe, who shoved Harvath out onto the deck and kept his weapon on him as Morrell slid the door shut behind him.

As two of theGagarin ’s crew members rushed up to attend to the helicopter, Alexandra barked at them to back off. She told them that the pilot and co-pilot had been instructed to guard their cargo with their lives and to shoot anyone but herself or General Stavropol who came too close. She asked where she could find the general and one of the men gave her instructions on how to find the control center. Then he and his shipmate immediately backed away.So far, so good.

The control center was located just beneath the bridge near the bow of the ship. As the imposing party of would-be Spetsnaz troops, a beautiful blond woman, and their prisoner entered on the main deck level and purposely made their way forward, every soul they came across jumped to get out of their way.