Terminal Run

“Peter, let me put it to you this way. If you were at the coordinates I just described, at a depth of eleven thousand feet, you’d see a large metal object and a scattered debris field and you’d hear hammering from inside the object. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Collingsworth rubbed his beard. Good God, he thought, the Yanks had lost a sub in the Atlantic and were asking him to come to the rescue, with survivors waiting for him. There was no time to waste. He glanced at his panel and called to Jenson.

“Jenson, rig for an emergency ascent. Taking her up to ten feet per second rise. We should be on the surface in eighteen minutes. Knowles, this is Collingsworth on freq two, over.”

“Go ahead, Commander, we’re alone on frequency two.”

“Knowles, immediate execute, prepare to depart station at maximum speed. Start all turbines and be ready to answer all bells in twenty minutes. Station the underway watch section and plot a course for north latitude twelve, west longitude twenty-three at full ahead speed. And get the Admiralty officer of the day on the tactical freq immediately. I’m making an emergency ascent, and I’ll be on the deck and brief you further then. Do you copy?”

“Yes, sir, prepare to get underway, understood.”

“Admiral McKee, this is Collingsworth. I hope you understand we can’t just go running off to help you with your crisis without orders from the Admiralty. From what I read in the news files the Prime Minister is not entirely happy with you chaps about now. In fact, I could find myself in a spot of bother simply for talking to you this wonderful afternoon.”

“Commander Collingsworth, the President is prepared to speak directly to the Prime Minister about this.”

“Admiral, I’ll talk to my superiors, but I can offer you no guarantees.”

“Pete, can you at least get the Explorer II on her way? You can always turn her around if your bosses say different.” There was a pleading tone in the admiral’s voice.

Collingsworth nodded. “Yes, Admiral, I can get on the way. You understand, of course, that the Admiralty could turn me back around at any time. We’ll contact you in an hour, Admiral. Collingsworth out.”

Collingsworth sat back against the submersible bulkhead and shook his head. Good Lord, he thought. One minute all he could think about was cases of silver on the bottom, and now there might be sunken survivors who could die if he hesitated even one minute. Hold on, Yanks, he thought.

“Commander, the Admiralty officer of the day is waiting for you.”

“Patch him in.”

20

At five a.m.” Admiral Chu HuaFeng’s limo came to a halt in front of Beijing’s Hall of the People. He swallowed hard and got out of the car, the walk to the Party Secretary’s conference room seeming to take forever.

Inside the ornate room the members of the Politburo waited for him. He sat at the end of the table between General Fang Shui, the supreme commander of the PLA, and Admiral Dong Niet, the admiral-in-command of the PLA Navy.

“Sit,” Fang said. “Leaders, you all know Admiral Chu HuaFeng. commanding admiral of the submarine force.”

“Are you gentlemen comfortable?” Premier Baolin Nanhok asked in a saccharine voice.

“Yes, sir,” the general answered for them. “Good. Perhaps you would like to watch a movie with us. A very entertaining one.”

The lights went out and a digital movie played on the display screen. Admiral Chu watched in dismay as the ships on the horizon exploded one by one into incandescent brightness, the white fireballs turning orange and rising in mushroom shapes to the sky, until the seascape looked like a forest of mushroom clouds. When the movie ended, he found himself blinking back hot tears of fury and sadness at the incredible loss of life, his comrades, thousands of them, all dead.

“Who did this?” asked the Minister of Defense, Leader Di

Xhiou, his voice quiet and friendly. When there was no answer, he flew out of his chair and screeched, “Who did this?”

Chu cleared his throat when it became apparent that Admiral Dong would remain silent. “Leader Di, it is fair to assume that the American carrier surface action group caused this slaughter, or perhaps their submarines, or both.”

“Submarines that your forces were supposed to protect the battle group from, Admiral Chu? A carrier surface action group that your submarines were supposed to sink?”

Chu considered defending his actions, but decided to get this meeting over with and get on with his prison sentence, or his firing squad.

“Correct, sir, on both counts.”

“So, I can assume that you agree with us that you failed?”

“Yes, sir, you are correct.” Chu looked down at the table. “On behalf of the submarine force, I respectfully apologize and take complete responsibility for our failure.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Leader Di spoke.