by David Capps
Thirty-five mini-nuke mines and eight torpedoes crowded the small torpedo room. The torpedoes were chained to their curved support brackets on the side walls, four on each side. The mines were bolted to steel frames so they wouldn’t move around during operations of the sub. The only clear places were the two main pathways directly in front of the torpedo tubes. Everywhere else was full of mines or related equipment. Guang Xi ran his hand over each of the mines, imagining the destruction they would wreak on the country that had destroyed his life.
Captain Hu Xiao calmly watched Guang Xi as he examined the mines. The artificial skin had taken root on Guang Xi’s body and was now mostly a normal flesh color. He still had very little hair and no ears to speak of. He didn’t hear as well as before, but if he concentrated, he could keep up with conversations. He turned and tried to smile at the Captain, but the new skin was not as responsive as his old skin. This was partially due to the damage done to the underlying muscles. The new skin gave his face a boney look due to the loss of muscle tissue and the fat padding that would normally be under the facial skin.
“How long until we leave?” Guang Xi asked.
The Captain checked his watch. “Another fourteen hours. It will be dark when we depart. The Americans have a lot of satellites watching the movement of ships. There will be a one-hour gap in their coverage. We will use that gap to leave the tunnel system. We have made arrangements to travel under a large cargo freighter while we are in shallow water. That will prevent the Americans from detecting us on their infra-red satellites until we can get to deeper water.”
“And how long until we get to the Cascadia Subduction Zone?”
“Six and a half to seven days. One of my men has delivered your things to your stateroom. Would you like to see it?” Guang Xi nodded and started moving back into the officers’ quarters. The Captain led the way and opened the door to Guang Xi’s room. “Normally there would be two people to a room, but we are running with a small crew of fifteen, so you will have this room to yourself.”
The room was six feet deep and eight feet wide with a bed built into the wall. A narrow closet was at the foot of the bed with three drawers underneath. There was also a drawer under the bed for additional storage. To the left of the door a small desk had been built into the wall with a fold-down seat. It was small, but cozy.
“Very nice,” Guang Xi said.
The Captain bowed slightly. “Lunch will be served in the dining room in half an hour. It will give you a chance to meet the rest of the crew. I hope you will join us,”
“Of course,” Guang Xi replied, his mind still focused on the mission ahead.
* * *
After lunch Guang Xi took a nap in his stateroom. The trip down to Hainan Island had been exhausting. After dinner he returned to his stateroom to review the operating instructions on the mini-nuke mines. He went over his calculations once again, as well. Everything must be exactly correct for this plan to have maximum effectiveness, and Guang Xi was relentless about details. That is what elevated him to the research position with Dr. Huang and ultimately placed him on the Longmenshan Fault where America destroyed his life. The perfection of his plan for revenge rested in the exacting details of the placement of the mines and the timing of the detonations. The seismic signature would be indistinguishable from a natural event. He had made sure of that.
At midnight activity picked up significantly on the sub. The nuclear power plant had been running hot for the last six hours and steam was coursing through the turbine that generated the electricity, powering the submarine. Guang Xi entered the control room as final preparations were completed to begin their voyage to the Cascadia Subduction Zone and the punishment of America. Oddly, all the lights in the control room were red in color.
“Where’s the Captain?” Guang Xi asked.
The Executive Officer pointed up the ladder that went to the conning tower. “He said you should join him if you felt up to the climb.”
Guang Xi pulled himself slowly up the ladder. The climb was actually in two sections. The first section was identical to the ladder in the dining room where he first entered the sub, and ended on the main hull of the sub. There was a hatch door that opened to the left and a small landing on the right. Another ladder extended up from the landing to the platform built into the conning tower. He rested for a minute and then continued his climb to the top. The Captain extended his hand and helped pull Guang Xi to a standing position.
The sub was tied to the side of the canal, leaving enough room for another sub to pass by in the wide canal. The lights that illuminated the tunnel had changed. Where the overhead lights had been a bright white before, everything was now bathed in red.
“Why the red lights?” Guang Xi asked.
“It’s dark outside,” the Captain replied. “The red light allows our eyes to adapt to the darkness giving us night vision.”
“Interesting,” Guang Xi replied.
“I thought you might find it so.”
Until now the sub had been powered by a large electric cable that rose out of a rear hatch on the top of the sub and plugged into a distribution box on the side of the canal. As the generator onboard the sub came up to speed, an electrician’s mate began reading off the phase angle between the generator and the shore power. The phase angles had to match exactly for the sub to switch from external power to its own internal power system. If not exactly the same, switching the power system over could result in a huge electrical spike which would damage the equipment.
The Captain was standing next to Guang Xi on the small platform embedded within the top of the conning tower. The Captain was wearing head phones, listening to the ready state of his submarine.
“Stable at zero degrees,” the electrician’s mate reported. His voice came through the Captain’s headphones, but was audible also through a metallic speaker mounted in the platform area.
“Bring our generator on line and disconnect from shore power,” the Captain ordered.
“Under our own power,” the electrician’s mate reported.
“Disconnect from shore power,” the Captain ordered. He pointed to the sailor standing on the side of the canal, then waved his hand across his throat in a cutting gesture. The sailor standing next to the shore power distribution box pulled down the main lever on the box, disconnecting power from the heavy cable running into the sub. He pulled the plug and walked the cable across the metal walkway as another sailor fed the cable down into the rear hatch. A small crane lifted the metal walkway into the air and swung it over onto the side of the road next to the canal. The nylon mooring lines were unwound from the large cleats on the edge of the canal and tossed to the sailors for storage in sections under the top deck of the sub. With the lines properly stored the two remaining sailors climbed down the rear hatch and closed the hatch door.
The Captain checked forward and aft to make sure everything was clear of his sub.
“Five degrees left rudder, ahead dead slow,” he ordered.
Guang Xi watched as the sub slowly started to move forward, inching away from the side of the canal. As the sub came closer to the other side of the canal the Captain ordered, “Five degrees right rudder.” The sub’s course straightened out and the Captain ordered, “Zero degrees rudder.”
The sub moved slowly past several other subs tied to the right side of the canal. The tunnel opening gradually appeared in front of them as they approached the open sea. Finally the sub emerged from the tunnel into the harbor area east of Sanya. The city lights sparkled to the right and ships moved in various directions as the busy port continued its operations. A signal light flashed in short and longer pulses from a large freighter to their left.
“That’s our cover ship,” the Captain said. He picked up a long flashlight hanging from his belt and signaled back. The freighter slowly began to move to the left. As the sub came into alignment with the back of the freighter the Captain ordered, “Fifteen degrees left rudder, come to course 090 and prepare to dive.” T
he Captain extended his arm to the open hatch. “Time to get below.”
Guang Xi made his way down the ladder to the first landing and then down the second ladder into the control room with the Captain behind him. The Captain closed the hatch door and spun the wheel to engage the steel fingers that held the door closed. The crew was busy operating the controls, pushing buttons and checking lights and gauges. The Captain watched the main light board as lights turned from red to green. As the last light turned green the XO standing in the middle of the control room reported, “Green board, Sir, rigged for dive.”
“Very well,” the Captain replied, “Make your depth sixty feet.”
A warning horn sounded, letting everyone on the ship know it was about to dive. “Vent main ballast,” the XO said. Even through the thick Titanium hull, Guang Xi could hear the rush of air under pressure escaping the outer tanks and the water rushing in to take its place. The sub sank down into the water and stabilized at the requested sixty-foot depth.
“Raise periscope,” the Captain said.
A sailor operated a lever and the periscope rose from the hole in the round platform where the Captain stood. As the bottom of the periscope came to chest level the Captain lowered the handles of the periscope, put his eyes to the eyepiece and turned in a circle covering the full 360 degrees around the sub.
“Care to have a look?” the Captain asked Guang Xi. “This is the last chance to see the outer world until our mission is over.”
Guang Xi hopped up on the round platform, grabbed the handles and looked through the eyepiece. Toward the front was the rear end of the freighter. High up on its mast were a set of lights, red on the far left, green on the far right and a small white light low and in the center. He swung around in a slow circle with only darkness where the open sea beckoned. Behind them the lights of the city glittered and wavered as if saying good bye. Having seen enough, Guang Xi folded the handles of the periscope up and stepped back. The Captain nodded and the sailor shifted the lever and lowered the periscope back down into its storage well. The Captain checked his watch. “American satellite coverage will resume in fifteen minutes; time to make ourselves invisible. Make your depth 300 feet and bring us directly under the freighter,” the Captain ordered.
“Making depth 300 feet, directly under the freighter, Sir,” the XO answered.
“We will be under the freighter for the next day and a half until we reach deep water, then we can go deeper and increase our speed,” the Captain said.
Guang Xi seemed puzzled. “Isn’t deeper water denser? How can we go faster in denser water?”
“Cavitation,” the Captain answered. “When the prop turns too fast in the water it creates vacuum bubbles that make a lot of noise when they collapse. The denser the water, the faster we can turn the prop without creating cavitation. At a thousand feet down, we can run at 30 knots without cavitation.”
“Good,” Guang Xi replied. “The sooner we get there, the sooner I can punish America.”
CHAPTER 29
Office of Covert Operations, the Pentagon
Vice Admiral Billingsly sighed as Rod Schneider tossed the new report on the desk.
“It’s active.”
Billingsly swore under his breath. He opened the folder, read briefly, and looked up at Schneider. “They’re only using a quarter of the antenna array?”
“Infra-red scan shows it took six hours to bring the generators and transmitters online, then they started transmitting on that quarter. More generators have come on line since that time. We are estimating the entire antenna array will be active within the next 18 hours.”
“Where is it being aimed?” Billingsly asked.
“Low pressure area 500 miles southwest of Los Angeles,” Schneider replied.
“They’re building a storm,” Billingsly replied.
“Of course they are. That’s what you do with that technology. You create and steer storms.”
“That’s not the only thing you can do. This antenna array is extremely dangerous technology. It’s unbalancing the power structure in the world.”
“Then we just have to make our facility bigger to rebalance that power,” Schneider replied.
“You don’t get it,” Billingsly said. “It took us six years just to get the funding approved for what we have. There isn’t going to be any more money unless it becomes a National Emergency.”
“Well, at some point that at least gives you one card you can play.”
“Yeah,” Billingsly replied, “but by then it’ll be too late.”
Fifteen minutes later he was updating the Secretary of Defense. “We have to do something to stop China!” Billingsly insisted. “We can’t let an irresponsible country like that have such a powerful weapon. We just can’t.”
“Unless you’ve come up with a way to stop them without leaving any trace that we were behind it, I just don’t see what we can do,” the Secretary said. “Look, I’m sympathetic to your position, but as I said, we’re not starting World War Three over this. If the Chinese use this technology to attack us, then maybe – and I mean maybe – I can get something through Congress. Until then, there’s nothing I can do.”
Billingsly looked down at the floor. “I’ve been wracking my brain for the last two months and asking every expert I know. There’s no way we can do this and leave no trace.”
“Then it’s settled.”
“Yeah,” Billingsly said quietly. “We’re sitting ducks.”
“Sometimes that’s the price you pay for being a superpower. You just have to sit there and take it.”
* * *
That evening Billingsly and Jessica sat somberly and watched the weather report. The low pressure area where the Chinese antenna array was focused was upgraded to a tropical depression.
“This is what you were worried about, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said in a depressed tone. “I can’t really explain in detail, but this storm represents an extreme danger to our country. Something has to be done.”
“You’re a strong and powerful man. Something will come to you, James; it always does; you’ll see.”
Her reply was unsatisfying at best, but under the circumstances, there didn’t seem to be anything else he could do.
“I can’t take watching this storm anymore, I’m going to bed,” he said.
“I’ll be up later, dear,” she said. “You’ve been working so hard lately that I think a good night’s sleep will do you some good.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Maybe it will.”
CHAPTER 30
Chinese Submarine, Central Pacific Ocean
Guang Xi woke suddenly. The internal sounds of the sub had changed. He dressed as rapidly as he could and set off for the control room.
“What happened?” Guang Xi asked.
“We have entered an area where the United States has a system of underwater hydrophones. We have slowed our speed to 8 knots and taken certain precautions for silent running,” the Captain explained. “We will be in this area for the next six hours.”
Guang Xi hobbled over to the doorway of the sonar room and looked in. Two men sat in the tiny room, one wearing a set of headphones and the other staring at a computer screen filled with wavy lines cascading down from the top of the screen.
“Anything?” Guang Xi asked.
The sailor looking at the computer screen looked over at him. “Oh, hey, nothing yet but we’re just now coming into the hydrophone field. If they do hear us, we will probably get pinged. If that happens we will know they are after us. As quiet as this boat is, we shouldn’t have any problems. Just don’t drop anything or make any loud noises.”
Guang Xi looked back into the control room. Everyone seemed to be at ease, but he felt agitated and nervous inside. This was a critical part of the mission. If they were discovered here, the mission would fail and his revenge on America would not happen. He felt like he was holding his breath, and six hours seemed like an eternity. He leaned against the d
oor jamb and watched the computer screen. After a while the Lieutenant in charge of communications walked by and saw Guang Xi awkwardly braced against the door jamb. He went back to the dining area and brought a metal and plastic case to Guang Xi so he could at least have something to sit on. Guang Xi was thankful and sat down. He continued to watch the computer screen for the full six hours. Nothing had happened; no pings were heard. The sonar technician leaned over and notified the Captain in the control room that everything was clear. The sub slowly picked up speed and the sound level returned to normal. In twenty hours they would turn north and begin their approach to the Mendocino Triple Junction and the placement of the first of the thirty-five mini-nuke mines.
Guang Xi visited the torpedo room and found it full of sailors. “What’s going on?”
“We are entering enemy waters,” the Torpedo Officer replied. “We are loading four TU-8 anti-submarine torpedoes in tubes one through four. Your mines will be loaded in tubes five and six. We will be ready.”
Yes, we will, Guang Xi thought. For all practical purposes, we are now at war.
CHAPTER 31
U.S.S. Massachusetts, Pacific Ocean, Southwest of Los Angeles
The two knocks on his cabin door woke Captain Paul Jacobs. “Enter,” he said. The door opened.
“Excuse the interruption, Sir,” Daniel Adams, the Chief of the Boat, referred to as the COB, said quietly. “We picked up a notice of encrypted radio traffic on the long antenna. XO is taking us up to periscope depth and wanted you to know.”
“Thanks, I’ll be right there.” Jacobs rose and dressed quickly.
“What have we got?” Jacobs asked as he entered the control center.
“Encrypted message and file from COMSUBPAC coming in now, Sir,” Commander John Silverton, the Executive Officer replied. “Here’s the message. The file is being forwarded to the sonar room.” COMSUBPAC was the office of the Commander of the Submarine fleet in the Pacific, based in Hawaii.
Jacobs read the intriguing message a second time and handed it back to Silverton. “Someone was trying to sneak across the hydrophone network.”
