by J C Ryan
And that posed a problem.
Hardly able to contain his excitement and sense of urgency, Carter called Sean and Dylan to meet him in the IT lounge.
“Look — there, there, and especially there.” He jabbed his finger at the screen, saying “there” each time the image shifted. “If that isn’t another library of the giants . . . We’ve got to go down there. The problem is, the ROV can’t travel that far, so we can’t use it to bring the plates to us. We can’t move La Solitude to the spot, or we’ll have those bastards over there under their Chinese flag all over us. What do we do?”
Sean and Dylan looked at each other with a gleam in their eyes. This was the opportunity they’d been planning for. And as they’d agreed in meetings to which they hadn’t invited James or anyone else, better to ask forgiveness than permission.
“Come with us, Carter,” Dylan whispered so that only Carter could hear. “It’s our turn for show and tell.”
In the privacy of their shared stateroom, Sean took over. “Okay, we’re under orders not to blow that fucker out of the water. But they didn’t say specifically that we couldn’t cripple her, and for that we have a plan ready. We just have to make sure we have plausible deniability. In other words, we can’t get caught.”
“How’re you going to pull that off?” Carter asked with skepticism.
“I’m glad you asked.” Sean grinned. For the next few minutes, Sean outlined the plan with Dylan’s occasional interjections.
It was simple in concept. Cripple the engines so the boat couldn’t move and take out their communications systems so they couldn’t call for help afterwards. It would require four of them, Sean, Dylan, and two SEALs.
Carter immediately wanted in; but Dylan claimed his sprained wrist was nearly one hundred percent, while Carter’s injured shoulder would make a long swim impractical. To Carter’s disgust, he’d already conceded it when they sprang their intention to hitch rides with four Dolphins, lying along their backs and hugging close to confuse the Chinese sonar equipment.
“You son of a bitch! I wouldn’t even have needed to swim very far.” Dylan’s grin told Carter he’d been had.
“I’ll get you back, buddy,” he promised.
Dylan just laughed.
Sean and Dylan had already briefed the two SEALs and Captain Randy, the only ones besides Carter allowed to know about the plan at that stage.
Captain Randy was brought into the plan only because they’d needed his help to secure some equipment they thought he might have, and in fact, he did. The final part of the plan required they bring Mackenzie in on it to request the Dolphins’ help.
They waited until three a.m., and then slipped into the water on the blind side of La Solitude. The four volunteer Dolphins were in a playful mood as they sped toward the Chinese boat, each with a land-human holding onto their dorsal fins for dear life. They were surrounded by another twenty or so other Dolphins as part of the diversion strategy.
Before they got to the point where radio silence had to be maintained, Dylan spoke quietly into his mic. “What a rush! Beats a ride on those SDV’s (SEAL Delivery Vehicles) we used back in our time any day of the week.”
When they reached the boat, the pod split into two groups. The first group took the two SEALs to the back of the boat where they could secure the small C4 charges to the propeller shafts right where they came out of the boat. The Dolphins stayed close to them to cover them but never got in their way, while they shaped the charges to blow inward and rigged the detonators to a switch that would blow the C4 as soon as the props began to turn.
The Chinese boat’s lonely and sleepy watchman saw on his sonar screen a pod of about twenty Dolphins arriving and hanging around their boat. Probably setting themselves up to “sleep”. Nothing to be worried about, he thought.
Although he remembered reading somewhere that Dolphins must be conscious to breathe, which meant they couldn’t go into a full, deep sleep, because then they would drown. Therefore, they had evolved in such a way that only one half of their brain would sleep at a time. A bit like a land-human mother with an infant.
The second group split into two and took Sean and Dylan to either side of the boat. They had the more delicate operation, even though their little gifts for the enemy wouldn’t blow up. They had to secure a jamming mechanism to the hull like a limpet mine. This was the equipment they’d borrowed from Randy. They needed it to cling to the ship for approximately 12 hours and then drop off so it couldn’t be traced. The Chinese, or whoever they were, would strongly suspect La Solitude’s team, but they wouldn’t be able to prove it.
The device had to be placed in just the right spot to cripple all comms in the ship, and it took some listening with sophisticated devices to find it. When they were finished with their task, Sean and Dylan with their Dolphin comrades joined the rest of the pod waiting for them and headed back home.
Back on deck on La Solitude, the co-conspirators congratulated each other. Carter, still a bit riled for being left out of all the fun, rained on their parade when he grumbled, “We still have to see if it works.”
***
Early the next morning, La Solitude weighed anchor and moved off, at first setting course in a direction away from the underwater city, as if they had decided to give it up and leave the dig. Not five minutes later, a distant thud was the only thing they heard to indicate the C4 charges had exploded.
“I hope all evidence was destroyed,” Randy remarked quietly to Sean, who stood next to him.
On behalf of all SEALs and ex-SEALs, Sean bristled. “Trust me, SEALs know what they’re doing.”
They watched for a while through binoculars as what looked like the entire crew of the boat scurried back and forth. A swarthy-skinned man in a snow-white uniform with bars on the shoulders was looking at them through a pair of binoculars and made obscene gestures in their direction.
Randy gave a big smile and wave in return saying, “And a good day to you, too, sir. Isn’t that nice!” Randy said. “That other captain is telling us good morning.” Randy and the others who knew what it was all about laughed and waved.
Once they were out of visual contact with the Chinese boat, Randy gave the coordinates for the new location, and they made their way there at Dolphin speed.
Chapter 72 -
A first time for everything
In about an hour, they had arrived at the new location with no sign of the Chinese boat on their trail. No word had come from the White House, either, whether they could or couldn’t dive the new location. James figured they were far enough away from the site of the attack that it was once again permissible to ask forgiveness rather than permission. However, standard procedure was to drop the ROV first, and so they did.
Carter literally hung over the shoulder of the ROV operator, eagerly looking at the screen not only to confirm his theory that the squares he could see were identical to those from the City of Lights, but also to make note of anything hazardous to divers. Seismic activity had made a mess of several of the buildings and had most likely been the cause of the plates scattering all over the rooms he was exploring. Were there any loose objects that could fall on a diver if another tremor happened while they were down? Were there places where ingress was through narrow openings that might close under the same circumstances?
Since his injured shoulder would prevent him from diving, he felt an increased obligation to make sure the remaining divers would have no problems.
Finally satisfied that a dive would be safe, he dispatched the ROV once more to pick up one of the plates and bring it to the surface for analysis. With Sam aboard, it would be short work to scan and translate the plate. He was ninety-five percent sure what they’d found was another library. He wanted to close that to one hundred percent before they risked the wrath of the President with an unauthorized dive, James’s opinion notwithstanding.
With the first plate in hand, he had raised his certainty to ninety-eight percent. To his naked eye, the plates did in fac
t look identical to those from the City of Lights. He and everyone looking at it was very surprised at the pristine condition. Fifty thousand odd years under the sea water had done nothing to blemish the quality and readability. The plates must have been coated with some sort of non-stick agent.
“Almost like Spray N Cook,” Mackenzie remarked to everyone’s delight.
“One day we’ll have to get metallurgists to analyze these plates and tell us what they are composed of,” Carter said.
He had just handed it to Sam for the final analysis when the crewman set to watch the radar for unwanted visitors raised the alarm.
“Ship ahoy!” he shouted as he pointed at the radar screen. “It should be coming over the horizon on starboard soon.”
Carter, Sean, Dylan, and James all raced to the bridge to join Captain Randy. Two pairs of binoculars made the rounds as each examined the horizon, and within five minutes they saw the superstructure on the approaching vessel breaking the skyline.
A minute later, James said, “That looks like . . .”
“A PLA Corvette,” Sean finished.
“Chinese Navy,” said Captain Randy, correcting Sean, who’d used the old term out of habit.
“No, shit!” exclaimed Carter. “Can we outrun her?”
“We’re not abandoning this spot. This dig is ours. Let’s see what happens. They can’t seriously mean to attack us in broad daylight,” James said, looking around for witnesses in other vessels. Unfortunately, there were none.
As the corvette continued to approach, Captain Randy grew nervous that the Chinese would attempt to board and confiscate his boat, or worse, blow it out of the water. He tapped James on the shoulder and mouthed, “Time to alert Bill.”
The situation grew more and more tense while they reported the situation to Bill, carefully leaving out any mention of explosions aboard the Chinese boat they’d left behind.
“I doubt they intend anything but to intimidate you,” Bill said. “If you’ve got any divers in the water, best to get them out. I am scrambling Hornets from Rota. Just give me a sec.” The line went quiet for a minute or so.
When Bill came back on, James said, “Bill, may I just point out to you that no one thought anything of the other boat, either, until their unprovoked attack on our divers? How long?”
“We’ve been expecting that sort of antics from them and had the pilots on standby. They’ll be in the air in less than five minutes.”
Ending the call, the two men rejoined the others who were all but biting their nails as the corvette drew closer but then seemed to slow down when it was about three miles out.
They were still watching the ship, which had by now come to a stop about a mile away and had them speculating about its intensions, when they were interrupted by a thunderous roar passing them. Their heads spun to the left for the source of the sound, but they could see nothing. In unison, all heads spun to the right, just in time to see the twin exhausts and distinctive markings of two McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets at low level. While they watched, the Hornets climbed steeply in tight formation before making a wide turn to make another run.
On their way past La Solitude for the second time, the Hornets’ course also took them over the Chinese corvette in a graceful air ballet. The loads of ordnance carried by the two Hornets were clearly visible.
By this time, almost every soul on La Solitude were on the deck. They were screaming, fist-pumping the air, and one or two jumped in jubilation. Based on the celebration on deck, the Hornets might have been giving a private air show for the entertainment of the La Solitude passengers, but definitely to the dismay of the corvette’s.
Sean looked at James, his brows drawn together in a slight frown. “If my memory serves me correctly, the Chinese Navy carry SAMs on their corvettes, don’t they?”
“Probably do, but they will be immensely stupid to try to use them. I wouldn’t worry about it. Those Hornets can handle anything the Chinese throw at them. They don’t want to start a shootout at the O.K. Corral with the 6th Fleet, believe me.”
They all watched the show as the Hornets flew in wide circles above, occasionally making a thrilling low swoop over each boat just for emphasis. Within the hour, another two ships had joined the party — a renewed shout went up when the US Navy destroyers also arrived on the scene and parked themselves between the Chinese ship and La Solitude. The message was clear — you want to get to La Solitude, you’ll have to go through us first.
Following Captain Randy’s and James’s call for reinforcements, President Grant was up early for a second call to the Chinese President. After a bit of saber-rattling on both sides, they agreed it was in no one’s best interest to escalate the already tense situation.
In a display of brilliant diplomatic skill and leadership, President Grant gave the Chinese President, who was struggling to hide his frustrations because he was outwitted, an opportunity to save face. First, neither of them would order more vessels to the area. The Chinese President didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just nodded his concurrence. Second, should anyone ask, the two countries had inadvertently scheduled a very small Naval exercise at the same time and place.
While they intended, and agreed to keep it out of the media at all cost, both would be prepared, in case of questions, to deny joint exercises. Certainly, China and the US would never schedule joint exercises!
The call ended on almost a cordial note — at least that’s what it would have looked like to any observer.
The Chinese President was fuming when the screens went dead. His American counterpart was grinning when he remarked, “Thought I didn’t have the balls to do it, did you?”
The way was now clear for Carter and his team to complete their mission.
Carter grinned. “My first dig under US Naval protection. There’s always a first time for everything.”
And the Chinese knew the American President would not hesitate to bring down that “full might” on them if they made one more move on that site.
They decided to let their corvette hang around for a few more days — just to make sure it didn’t look like they had thrown in the towel — before they left.
But in the days and weeks to follow, heads were going to roll in the Chinese Politburo — no doubts about that.
Chapter 73 -
Earned a nice Scotch and a cigar
When Carter and Sean got the results of Sam’s analysis of the plate, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They were identical in physical composition, and the scanned language produced the same vocabulary that was already in the database — it was confirmed. This was another library of the giants, and it appeared from the ROV’s underwater survey that it was huge. Enormous. At least twenty times the size of the library from the City of Lights.
“If there’s nothing in this one about nukes, then they don’t exist,” Carter said to Mackenzie in a private moment. “But there will be, Mackie. We know from the Dolphins that the giants took fearsome weapons from the smaller humans of the time. I’d bet my life the information we need, and a lot more, is contained in this library.”
“Just remember, your life isn’t your own to bet anymore. I have a claim, and so do the children.” Mackenzie smiled.
Carter had his hands up in surrender. “You know what I mean.”
She just laughed, stood on her toes, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him. “Now, how are you planning to proceed?”
“Well, I had in mind that the two of us retreat to our—”
“Carter Devereux! You know what I mean!” she interjected with a faux-serious tone.
He shrugged and said, “Oh that. Well, that’s a question for the group. Let’s go and discuss it with them.”
Once everyone was assembled, Carter made his announcement. “Okay, we now have confirmation that all those plates are like those we found in the City of Lights. I believe we’ll find most if not all of the giants’ secrets to their advanced civilization recorded and explained in them. The mission now
is one of retrieval of every plate we can find.
“Two reasons. The first is we’re looking for a record of where, if anywhere, they might have stored the ancient nukes they confiscated. If we can find them, we’d like to retrieve and neutralize them before someone like the Nabateans finds and uses them.
“Second, we may make great strides in practically every field where humans have an interest. Mackenzie has interrupted her own work for months, and if the library gives her the information she needs, that alone will be worth all the sacrifices we’ve made and the money we’ve spent.
“Yes, even the people we’ve lost.
“If respirocytes can be harnessed and utilized, it could cure many debilitating diseases and save far more people. Our country has fought wars for far less, and counted the sacrifice worth the result.”
A cheer went up from the SEALs, who knew better than anyone what was worth their lives.
“Thank you for your support,” Carter said, nodding to the SEALs. “All right. This is how we’ll proceed. Sean will lead every man,” he paused and looked at Mackenzie as he emphasized man, “who’s a competent diver to retrieve the plates. I’ll oversee control of the ROV from here to help. Even though we’re privileged to have the US Navy to protect us on this mission, we want those plates here on the yacht as soon as possible. We’ll go from there.”
Dylan spoke up. “What about the nukes?”
“Just getting to that. Chances are you won’t see them in the library,” he quipped. “Sam and her assistant will scan and translate the plates as fast as their equipment allows, and we’ll be on the lookout for mention of them.”
“What do you want Liu and me to do?” Mackenzie asked.
“Let’s have Liu working with Sam, and you with me,” he answered as he winked at his wife. “Everyone clear on their assignments?”
