Terminal Run

“Well then, gentlemen, perhaps there is hope for the PLA after all.” Chu looked up at Defense Minister Di. “We have one truthful man in the military, one man with character, one lone man with accountability, sitting before us. Vice Admiral Chu, you may remember this day as the worst of your career, the day our battle group sank under the fire of an unseen enemy, but you will also remember it as the day you took command of the remainder of the PLA Navy. You are now a fleet admiral. Dong, perhaps you should hand him your stars.” Two Red Guards entered the room, on either side of Admiral Dong. Dong stood and pulled off his epaulette insignia and slid the stars over to Chu. Minister Di did not acknowledge him as he was led from the room. Dong looked back at Chu one last time with sad, dark eyes, eyes that would be shut forever within the hour.

Chu swallowed. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Now, to business, Fleet Admiral Chu. It would appear our offensive is in trouble. You are now in command, but obviously of a reduced force. What will you do with it?”

“I will deploy it in an antisubmarine-warfare formation with a random zigzag and maneuver it to the Indian Ocean. I will send my submarines ahead to look for the attackers.”

Di nodded. “Very well. Good luck to you and your fleet. But I warn you now, Admiral, do not lose a second battle group or else this war will be over before it has begun.”

“Yes, sir,” Chu said. “Would it be permissible for me to detach my submarines and attempt a mission of revenge against the attackers? With the duties of escorting the battle group removed, my submarines would be free to conduct forward-deployed operations, and they could experience a measure of vengeance.”

Minister Di stared at him with dead, unsympathetic eyes. “You have a week. Do not embarrass us. Inform your commanders that capture by American forces is prohibited, and any ship in such a situation shall self-destruct and all crewmen will be killed, and the captain shall shoot himself in the head.”

“Yes, sir,” Chu said. “If I am able, may I conduct a covert submarine mission against American targets?”

“What are you talking about, Chu?”

Chu gave a ten-minute briefing on the capture of the U.S. submarine Snare. “She never made it into the Indian Ocean as we had planned, since it took more time than expected to bring her under our control. But I can turn her around toward the East Coast of the United States. The fleet headquarters facilities are there in Norfolk, Virginia, as are the fleet bases. I can have my unit wait in their shallow waters and ambush the fleet as it returns to port.”

The Politburo members asked him to leave the room for a moment. He paced nervously until they called him back.

“Does this robotic submarine have cruise missiles?”

“Yes, Minister Di.”

“Can it attack American government targets? The White House, the Capitol building, the damned-for-eternity Pentagon?”

“Why, yes, sir.”

“Then do so, Fleet Admiral Chu. You are dismissed. Report your progress.”

“By your leave, sir.” Di nodded, and Chu rose, bowed to the group, and hurried from the room.

In his staff car, Chu glared at his young chief of staff. “Get Sergio on the phone. I have a new mission for his robot sub, assuming he knows where it is.”

“One, bring the ship to mast broach depth,” Krivak commanded. Unit One Oh Seven no longer responded verbally, but it did follow orders. He did not know if it would obey orders to release weapons against another American unit, though. If the machine had gone this catatonic over shooting the Piranha, imagine how it would be if he told it to take on an American battle group

At periscope depth, on course south, Krivak pulled off the interface helmet, and waited the ten minutes it would take him to adjust to physical reality. When his head stopped spinning he gently sat up and slowly stood, nausea churning in his stomach.

“Wang, set up the radio we brought on the BRA-44 antenna. Once it is tuned to the frequency, I want you to give me a few minutes of privacy.”

It took some time to get the satellite secure voice circuit synchronized with Beijing, but when he finally raised PLA General Staff Headquarters, Admiral Chu HuaFeng came up on the circuit. Krivak spent a moment trading the personal codes they had to identify each other and avoid an enemy deception maneuver. Once that was done, Krivak reported what had happened and apologized for the delay in getting to the Indian Ocean.

“It is too late for your apology,” Chu said. “But there is something you can do for me and the Peoples Republic. I want the Americans to experience a national emotional pain far worse than the terrorist attack on New York years ago. I do not have the power to inflict serious damage, but I would like this generation of Americans to remember our struggle. Are you in cruise missile range of any American targets?”

“I’ll find out, sir, but based on what I know, I’ma week’s transit away from anything worthwhile. The missiles have about a three-thousand-mile range.”