‘You appear to be remarkably well informed, Mr Simpson.’
‘I am, Admiral, because that’s my job. Now, if we can eliminate the nuclear threat, taking out the No-dong missiles, Pyongyang’s going to have to rethink all this. If they can’t threaten Japan, they have one less lever to use in persuading the Americans not to interfere. And there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what happened out there in the Pacific. The CIA isn’t convinced that missile was actually carrying the weapon. Instead, they think the nuclear device was positioned on the ship the North Koreans allegedly used as a target, and that it was in fact detonated using either a timer or a radio signal. In short, they reckon it was a bluff that now the US might just call.
‘I’m quite sure the North Koreans well know that if they do launch a conventional invasion, and they haven’t already neutralized America, their country will then cease to exist as an independent state within about a month. So, if we manage to take out the nukes, we could well be stopping this whole operation in its tracks. No missiles could equal no invasion. It’s as simple as that.’
‘I don’t dispute anything you’ve just said, but the reality remains that such an attack would constitute an act of war. That needs government approval and, after the mess in Iraq, your chances of persuading Downing Street to sanction this action are, I suspect, substantially less than zero. I exercise functional and operational control of that ship, but there’s no way I can authorize HMS Illustrious to launch a first strike against North Korea.’
‘No,’ Simpson agreed, ‘but I can.’
‘What?’ The astonishment in the admiral’s voice was obvious, and the expressions on the faces of the other naval officers told the same story.
‘In a manner of speaking, anyway.’
‘You’d better explain that.’
‘I’ve already got one of my men on board the Illustrious.’
The admiral looked keenly at Simpson. ‘Are you telling me one of the ship’s present company works for you?’
‘No.’ Simpson shook his head. ‘He’s been investigating a number of Foxbats that went missing in Russia, and seem to have since found their way to North Korea. So I sent him down to Seoul first, and then on to the ship to deliver a briefing to the captain and senior officers. He’s still there now. His name’s Paul Richter and he’s a former naval officer and a qualified Harrier pilot, so he can take an aircraft and do the job solo.’
The admiral looked somewhat stunned. ‘I presume you don’t have any kind of a military background, because you clearly have no conception of the logistics involved in such an operation. Your man Richter can’t simply climb into a Harrier, pop over to North Korea and destroy a handful of missiles. It’s not like hiring a Ford Fiesta from Hertz.’
A polite titter passed round the assembled officers.
Simpson nodded patiently. ‘Richter’s very resourceful. I’m sure he’ll find a way.’
His quiet confidence seemed to unsettle the admiral. ‘Very well, let’s assume he did manage to do it. How are you going to overcome the diplomatic problem that a pilot in a Harrier flown from a Royal Navy aircraft carrier has launched an unprovoked attack on North Korea?’
‘Three things to mention. First, it isn’t my intention to launch an unprovoked attack. If North Korea’s actually entirely innocent and just playing war games to keep the population busy and take their minds off the dire state their country is in, fine. We can all go home and forget any of this ever happened. I’ll only instruct Richter to execute this action if and when Pyongyang makes a hostile move, or else issues some kind of ultimatum.
‘Second, if this plan works, the last thing anyone’s going to worry about is which aircraft or pilot did the job. Third, Richter’s now a civilian, and nothing to do with the Royal Navy. If push comes to shove, I’ll concoct a story that he had a sudden brainstorm and pinched the jet.’
‘You’ll throw him to the wolves?’ Ashton asked.
‘No way,’ Simpson shook his head decisively. ‘He’s far too valuable to me to lose. Whatever the outcome, I’ll make sure he’s protected.’
HMS Illustrious, Yellow Sea
The knocking on his cabin door was loud and sudden, and woke Richter immediately. He felt like he’d been asleep for only a matter of minutes, but from looking at his watch he saw that it was early evening.
‘Coming,’ he called, rolled out of the bunk and wrapped a towel around his waist. He slid the cabin door back and peered out. A communications rating stood in the corridor, a clipboard and a buff envelope in his hand.
‘Sorry, Commander. We’ve received Secret Flash traffic for your eyes only.’ He offered the clipboard. After Richter scrawled an approximation of his signature in the correct column, the rating handed him the envelope and walked away.
Richter sat on the edge of the bunk, ripped open the envelope and pulled out three sheets of paper covered in double-spaced printing in capital letters. He glanced at the originator – SIS via CINCFLEEET – and quickly read the text. Then he read it again.
‘Fucking Simpson,’ he muttered, stood up and began to get dressed.
Chapter Eighteen
Sunday
HMS Illustrious, Yellow Sea
Richter found Roger Black in Flyco, precisely where he’d expected him to be.
‘Blackie, a word in private, if you can spare the time.’
Black looked down at his flying programme. Two Harriers had taken off ten minutes earlier, and they were now expecting the two aircraft they’d relieved to land-on shortly.
‘Will this take long?’ Black muttered distractedly.
Richter nodded. ‘It might.’
‘Right, just wait till we’ve recovered these two jets, then I’ll be with you.’
At that moment the intercom buzzed from the Ops Room, and Lieutenant Commander (Flying) pressed the key to answer. The intercom was on speaker, and his voice echoed from it: ‘Flyco.’
‘Flyco, Homer. Cresta One and Two are on recovery, estimate minutes three. Request flying course.’
‘Roger, Homer. Clear to the low wait. Call visual.’
Richter leant back against the bulkhead and watched. Numerous things had to happen now at more or less the same time, and the intricate process always fascinated him.
Little F pressed another intercom key. ‘Bridge, Flyco. We have two Harriers on recovery, request DFC.’
The Officer of the Watch didn’t use the intercom to reply, but instead appeared at the opening to the bridge.
‘We’re turning now, sir, and increasing speed. I’ll call steady.’
‘Thank you.’ Little F selected the flight deck broadcast. ‘Flight deck, Flyco. Stand by to recover two Sea Harriers, number three spot.’
On the deck below, the FDO raised one hand in acknowledgement.
‘Flyco, Officer of the Watch. Steady on DFC of two four five.’
‘Roger.’
‘Homer, Flyco. DFC two four five.’
‘Flyco, Homer, roger.’
‘Flyco, Homer. Cresta are visual with the ship, coming to your frequency.’
‘Roger that.’
And then a new voice, clipped and precise, broke in. ‘Cresta Two.’
‘Cresta One, loud and clear. Break, break. Flyco, Cresta One with Two in company, visual. At the slot.’
‘Cresta, Flyco, roger. Wind down the deck at twenty-two, gusting twenty-five. No circuit traffic.’
‘Copied. Landing order will be Two, then One.’
Richter heard the roar overhead as the two Harriers overflew the ship and turned to port to start their left-hand circuit, the distance between them opening sharply. The pilot of the second aircraft had to allow time for the first to come to a hover alongside, then land, and finally move off the spot before making his own final approach.
‘Green deck fixed wing,’ Lieutenant Commander (Flying) ordered.
The rating sitting at the control panel made the appropriate switch and echoed the order: ‘Aye, aye, sir. Green deck f
ixed wing.’
Richter watched critically as the first aircraft began approaching the ship, speed dropping away as the pilot used vectored thrust to slow the Harrier until it was exactly matching the Illustrious’s forward speed of eighteen knots. The scream of the Pegasus was very audible even through Flyco’s armoured glass. The pilot visually checked the deck, watched for the FDO’s signals, then began transitioning to starboard.
Above three spot, the aircraft stopped and Richter, who had hundreds of hours’ flying time in the same type, marvelled again at the sudden immobility in mid-air of the sleek fighter. Then the pilot reduced the thrust and the Harrier started descending. It hit the deck fairly hard – most Harrier vertical landings are best described as ‘firm’ – and then almost immediately taxied away towards the forward end of the flight deck, clearing the way for his wingman, who was already moving alongside the ship, to land.
The second landing was a mirror image of the first, and the moment the Harrier touched down Roger Black stood up. ‘Good landings,’ he said, touching Little F on the shoulder. ‘Tell the Senior Pilot I said so, please.’
‘Will do, sir.’
‘That used to be the Royal Navy’s definition of exceptional flying ability, if I remember rightly,’ Richter said. ‘The same number of takeoffs as landings?’
‘It still is,’ Black replied. ‘I’ll be in the Bridge Mess,’ he added to Little F, ‘listening to Spook’s bad news. It is bad news, I presume?’
‘It is for someone,’ Richter agreed, and followed Black out of Flyco and down the stairs.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Complex, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana
‘Stand by for Nuclear Control Order. Prepare to copy. Nuclear Control Order is code Oscar Charlie Three Lima Nine Four Sierra. Read back.’
‘Roger,’ Whitman said, looking down at the paper in front of him. ‘I copy Nuclear Control Order code Oscar Charlie Three Lima Nine Four Sierra.’
‘That’s affirmative.’
Whitman looked over at Fredericks, who had copied down the release code as Whitman read it back to USStratCom, and was checking the Emergency War Order folder.
‘OK, we’re still not launching anything,’ he said, passing the folder over to Whitman for verification. ‘Code Oscar Charlie Three Lima Nine Four Sierra decodes as “Bring all missiles to Alert Five, and hold at five minutes to launch”. Looks like we’re still in an escalating situation.’
‘Roger that,’ Whitman said, and glanced at the rows of tell-tales in front of him. The one labelled ‘Strategic Alert’ was illuminated, but all the others – ‘Warhead Armed’, ‘Ready to Launch’, ‘Launch in Progress’ and ‘Missiles Away’ – remained dark. And, as he began running through the familiar sequence of commands that would bring and then hold all missiles at five minutes’ notice to launch, Richard Whitman fervently prayed that they’d stay that way.
HMS Illustrious, Yellow Sea
‘Is it just me, or is this sheer fucking madness?’ Roger Black asked. He was sitting at the small table in the Bridge Mess, and for the third time was reading the signal Richter had received earlier.
‘It’s not just you, Blackie.’
‘And why am I reading this anyway? It says specifically it’s for your eyes only.’
‘I don’t care about the distribution list. My boss has no clue about the way a warship works. He doesn’t seem to realize there’s no possible way I could do something like this without serious support from the ship.’
‘It doesn’t mention your section here. This signal was authored by somebody at SIS, following a request from the CIA.’
‘That’s what it says,’ Richter agreed, ‘but this smells like a typical Richard Simpson set-up. The Company may well have requested assistance from us because we’re here and on the spot, but I’ll bet the rest of this plan was concocted by Simpson himself.’
Black put the three sheets of paper down on the dining table. ‘So what are you going to do?’
‘First,’ Richter said, ‘I’m going to ask you formally if the ship will assist me. You’re Commander (Air), so you own the Air Department. If you say “No”, that’s the end of it as far as I’m concerned. I can’t do this without support.’
‘What do you want me to say?’
Richter wearily rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Frankly, I’d be quite happy if you told me to get lost. But I can’t ignore this.’ He pointed at the signal between them. ‘I’m out of touch with the latest intelligence, obviously, but this looks to me as if it’s come straight from the CIA, and I think their analysis – or what proportion of it I can deduce from this – is probably right. If it is, then what they’re suggesting does make sense. More importantly, if we don’t comply, we’ll quite likely find ourselves in the middle of a shooting war that will include nukes from both sides. And however you slice it, that’s really bad news.’
Black glanced down at the signal before replying. ‘If you go ahead with this, we’re going to be in a shooting war anyway.’
Richter nodded. ‘I know, but it’s probably the better of the two alternatives.’
‘Right,’ Black said. ‘If you want my support, you’ve got it. I’ll go and talk to the captain. I’m sure he’ll be amenable.’
‘He probably will be. He’ll be out here safe in the Yellow Sea, in this steel war canoe bristling with close-in weapon systems and surrounded by frigates and Harriers on CAP. I’ll be the one out in the bundu getting my arse shot at.’
Black grinned at him and stood up. ‘That’s true, but at least he’ll be thinking of you.’
‘Do you want me to tag along now?’
‘Probably better not, but I’ll take the signal, if you don’t mind.’
‘Be my guest.’
Roger Black returned to the Bridge Mess five minutes later and opened the door to let the captain enter first. Richter stood up but Davidson motioned him back to his seat, then sat down opposite. ‘I’m not entirely happy about this, Mr Richter.’
‘I’m not wild about it myself, sir. But from what I know of the situation it might actually be the most sensible course of action.’
‘I don’t dispute that. What I’m concerned about is the suggestion that you undertake this as a solo mission. I think you’ll need help.’
Richter shook his head immediately. ‘I can’t ask anyone else to do this, sir. It’s going to be hairy enough for me.’
Davidson turned to Black. ‘What’s your opinion, Wings?’
‘I don’t think you’ll pull this off by yourself, Paul. I know you’re a very competent pilot, and your record speaks for itself, but you’ve been away from regular flying for some time. You’re not that familiar with the new weapons on the GR9, but even if you were, this is a highly dangerous mission into very hostile territory. At the very least you’re going to need a wing-man to watch your back.’
‘So what are you suggesting? You can’t make this an official operation. This signal makes that quite clear.’
Black unfolded the sheets of paper and glanced down at them. ‘I agree. The exact wording they’ve used here is “an illegal act by a renegade pilot”.’
‘That’ll be me,’ Richter said. ‘And I think it would be a lot more difficult to explain it away as “illegal acts by a squadron of renegade pilots”.’
‘We’re not talking about a squadron, Paul, or anything like it,’ Black said. ‘I’m thinking about one wing-man beside you, and one or two above to provide top cover. Or perhaps two pairs to hit two targets each. That’s four aircraft maximum.’
Richter’s gaze switched between the two men. ‘I think we need to be absolutely clear about this,’ he said. ‘If you give me the go-ahead for this it will be an illegal act – an act of war, in fact – against a country that’s expressed no hostile intent whatsoever towards the United Kingdom. If I don’t make it back, the best outcome would be for me to go down with the aircraft. If I’m captured, I’ve no doubt I’ll spend some time in a cell
ar somewhere having my fingernails pulled out and various bones messily broken before they finally stick what’s left of me up against a wall and summon a firing squad. And the same will apply to any other pilot who goes in with me.
‘That’s one aspect of the situation. The other is that their Lordships at the Admiralty will probably not be entirely delighted if the captain and senior aviation officer on a Royal Navy capital ship are found to be conspiring with a civilian pilot to commit the said act of war. My guess is that the subsequent court martial would be the least of your worries. We could be talking of dismissal from the service, loss of pension rights and all the rest. Maybe even a charge of treason. This is serious stuff.’
Davidson smiled thinly. ‘I have a substantial private income, Mr Richter. I’m in the Navy because I like it, not because I have to be. I’ll make it clear that the final decision was mine, and I’ll issue appropriate orders to all those involved. If this particular can of worms ever gets opened, I’ll make sure I’m the one in the firing line.’
It was a somewhat mixed metaphor, but Black and Richter knew exactly what he meant.
‘Obeying an order an officer knows to be illegal is also a court-martial offence,’ Richter pointed out. ‘But if I handed you a copy of that signal with a few changes on page two, you wouldn’t know the order hadn’t come direct from CINCFLEET and, unless you went down to the CommCen to see the original, you’d never know that I’d made any alterations. That might provide a bit of protection.’
‘True,’ Davidson said, ‘but that would put you right in the frame if this all goes wrong.’
‘I’m used to that. About the only advantage in working for Richard Simpson is that he’ll do whatever’s necessary to protect his staff, as long as he thinks what they’ve done is justified. As this’ – he pointed at the signal – ‘is almost certainly his idea, he’ll find it very difficult to do anything other than support me. So don’t worry about my career, such as it is.’
Foxbat Page 27
