The Bin Laden Plot

The Seahawk slowed to a hover fifty feet above the submarine, the downdraft from its blades sending circular ripples across the ocean surface. Two crewmen in the cabin helped Harrison and Khalila each don a harness. Khalila went first, attaching to a cable, accompanied by her duffle bag of personal items and clothes.

Khalila was lowered from the side of the helicopter, the metal cable paying out slowly, the duffle bag swaying in the downdraft as the helicopter crew aimed to land her in the submarine’s small Bridge cockpit atop the sail. The submarine’s Lookout grabbed the duffle bag as it swung by, then pulled hard on the lanyard, guiding Khalila into the Bridge. Harrison went next, joining Khalila and two officers, one of whom was the submarine’s Commanding Officer.

“Welcome aboard Michigan,” Captain Murray Wilson shouted over the roar of the helicopter rotor.

As the helicopter pulled up and veered back toward the coast, Wilson dropped down into the Bridge trunk and descended the ladder into the Control Room. Khalila and Harrison followed.

The submarine’s Control Room was rigged for black, illuminated only by the small indicating lights on the various panels. Wilson led the way around the Conn, where an officer was turning slowly on the periscope, into the submarine’s Battle Management Center, where his crew conducted Tomahawk mission planning and coordinated SEAL operations. The BMC was rigged for low-level light and transitioned to normal lighting once Wilson arrived with the two CIA officers.

Although Michigan was built as a ballistic missile submarine, it was a far different ship today from when it was launched in the last century. With the implementation of the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, the Navy had converted the four oldest Ohio class submarines into guided missile and special warfare platforms. Twenty-two of Michigan’s twenty-four missile tubes had been outfitted with seven-pack Tomahawk launchers for a total of 154 missiles, with the remaining two tubes providing access to two Dry Deck Shelters attached to the submarine’s Missile Deck.

For this deployment, one shelter carried a SEAL Delivery Vehicle — a minisub used to transport Navy SEALs miles underwater for clandestine operations — while the other shelter contained two rigid-hull inflatable boats. Also aboard Michigan were two platoons of Navy SEALs, ready should their services be required, along with sixty tons of munitions stored in two of Michigan’s missile tubes: small arms, grenade launchers, limpet mines… anything a SEAL team might need.

The Battle Management Center was crammed with twenty-five tactical consoles, with twelve on starboard arranged in four rows facing aft. Mounted on the aft bulkhead was a sixty-inch display. Waiting in the BMC, in addition to several members of Michigan’s crew, were a dozen SEALs. Harrison was greeted by the men; he knew almost all of them since this had been his last unit before retiring only six months ago.

One man he didn’t know was the unit’s new commanding officer, replacing John McNeil, who had retired a month after Harrison.

Murray Wilson introduced Commander Jon Peters.

“I’m sorry to hear about McNeil,” Peters said. “We served together in Afghanistan. He was a good man.” He stepped closer. “If you catch the guy who did this, make it painful.”

The SEAL commander’s attention turned to Khalila, who had already received plenty of stares from the guys in the BMC. Introductions were exchanged, and everyone took a seat on the starboard side of the room, facing the display mounted on the wall.

As they waited for the operations brief to begin, Harrison felt the deck tilt downward as Michigan submerged, returning to the ocean depths. Lieutenant Tracey Noviello, the Officer-in-Charge of one of the two platoons, moved to the display.

Noviello kicked off the mission brief. “As you’re aware, we’ve been tasked with infiltrating a compound on Failaka Island. The mission is to gain access and determine who is being held in the facility. If one of the detainees is the target of interest, we’ll extract him. Jake Harrison or his partner will identify the high-value target if he’s there.”

Upon returning to the safe house after surveilling Khalila at the Al Hamra Tower, Harrison had been handed a communication from Langley. It was intentionally vague, instructing Harrison and Khalila to extract the man at the facility if he was the high-value target. If he was anyone else, they were to simply make note of his identity and return to Michigan. If the captive was, in fact, the HVT, Harrison was directed to take all possible measures to conceal his identity while aboard Michigan, and additional instructions would be provided regarding where to take him.

Noviello energized the bulkhead display with a remote in his hand. A nautical chart of the Persian Gulf appeared, zooming in on the northern tip.