“Number Three: The island of Taiwan is to be immediately returned to its rightful place in the People’s Republic. Its present illegitimate government is to be given a chance to recant, and admit to the world community the errors of its ways. Then, like Hong Kong, they too will become at one with their motherland.
“All of these demands are nonnegotiable, and are to be drafted in treaty form at United Nations headquarters, and signed by all members of the Security Council no later than three days from now. Until this document is delivered to us, we shall continue to hold the eight heads of state, and the traitor Li Chen, in protective custody.
“Let it be stressed that it is not our intention to indiscriminately kill. We reserve the right to do so only when justly provoked. Any sign of another rescue attempt on your part, like the helicopter assault we have already repelled, shall be considered an act of provocation, and will be responded to accordingly.
“The military forces of the People’s Liberation Army have already been placed on alert, and shall be authorized to respond with all offensive systems at their disposal, including nuclear weapons. The release codes of these strategic delivery systems are already in our rightful possession. Any preemptive strike against us shall be deemed an attack against the Republic, and will result in a nuclear strike of global proportions. We also reserve the right to destroy the ship on which we travel, as a further expression of the sincerity of our demands.
“This, then, is the extent of our manifesto. Never doubt our will.
Long live the Republic!”
With this, the radio link unceremoniously went dead, and a concerned murmur filled the operations center. Not bothering to silence his staff, the CNO ordered Tolliver to get a copy of this tape to Naval Intelligence with all due haste. Not only did its legitimacy have to be assured, but the voice analyzed in an attempt to identify the caller.
Thomas once more found himself part of a small group of individuals invited back into the conference room by General Ridgeway. As he sat down between Brittany and the CNO, Thomas listened as a spirited discussion of their options ensued.
A terrorist takeover of the QE2 was one of the worst case scenarios that Admiral Buchanan had wisely instructed his staff to prepare for.
Since Brittany helped draft the report, she offered her initial conclusions.
As far as she was concerned, there was a definite link between the terrorists who had supposedly hijacked the ship, and the mysterious Chinese submarine that had recently penetrated the GIUK gap. Brittany went as far as to theorize that the manifesto’s threat to destroy the QE2 wouldn’t take place until a successful rendezvous between the Lijiang and the ocean liner was completed. At that time, the hijackers and their nine hostages would most likely be transferred onto the submarine for safekeeping, and only then would they dare destroy the QE2.
General Ridgeway’s main concern was the nuclear threat that the caller had mentioned. Of all the leaders participating in the summit, only the Chinese president had brought along his version of the “football.” This meant that the codes could easily be compromised, making this a global threat, with major cities throughout the world presently at risk of nuclear annihilation. Since the terrorists’ demands were completely unrealistic, and there was no practical way of ever fulfilling them, especially in three days, then’ only option was to forcefully intercede.
Once more it was Brittany Who shared an operational plan, one her staff had drawn up to address a variety of worst-case scenarios. Its primary component was the USS James K. Polk, and the men of SEAL Team Two. By means of their Swimmer Delivery Vehicle, the team could clandestinely board the ocean liner, eliminate the hijackers, and retake the ship.
Though this plan certainly sounded interesting, General Ridgeway came up with a number of problems that would have to be addressed before it could be implemented. The primary one involved their continued inability to contact the Polk, and the fact that the QE2 was traveling at speeds well beyond the SDV’s rather limited, battery-powered propulsion system.
The CNO readily responded to Ridgeway’s first concern. In the event that VLF contact with the Polk couldn’t be reestablished, the Navy had already scrambled an E6A TACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out) aircraft into the North Atlantic. This plane’s primary mission was to communicate with submerged submarines by means of a 5,000-foot-long trailing antenna. By stationing itself well out of visual range of the QE2, TACAMO would be in a position to guarantee them reliable communications with the Polk and the other three submarines of the escort force, within the next hour.
As promising as this sounded, it still left them with the problem of how to slow down the QE2, to allow for the transfer of the SEALs.
Because of his previous experience with the Achille Lauro hijacking, Thomas dared to speak up at this point. Unbeknownst to the other occupants of the conference room, an SDV-borne SEAL team had been seriously considered as one of the possible rescue contingencies available in the retaking of the Italian cruise ship. At that time they were also faced with the challenge of finding a way to slow down the vessel so that the SDV could reach it, and a plan had been devised to snag the ship’s propellers with a cable or net. After the tragic loss of a passenger, events in the Mediterranean eventually led to a peaceful outcome aboard the Achille Lauro, without this daring scheme ever having to be attempted.
The CNO appeared to be fascinated by this story, and though he doubted that they could come up with a quick, practical way of snagging the QE2, he did ask Thomas for more information about his intended role in the rescue. In particular, he wanted to know what they had hoped to achieve by having Thomas parachute aboard the Achille Lauro?
Before Thomas could answer, Brittany sat forward and excitedly proclaimed, “That’s the way we can do it; by airdropping an operative onto the QE2 to disrupt the ship’s propulsion system, all timed to coincide with the arrival of SEAL Team Two’s SDV!”
“I like it!” snapped General Ridgeway. “I’ll give the AFSOC folks down at Hurlburt a call, and get the location of the nearest Combat Talon that’s available for the drop. All that leaves is finding someone qualified to actually make the jump.”
“Preferably someone who’s been previously trained in the art of HALO jumping onto a moving ship on the open sea,” added Brittany, while turning to Thomas.
Both Ridgeway and Buchanan did likewise. And Thomas Kellogg, who’d sworn to himself he’d never jump again, swallowed heavily, knowing full well who they hoped this someone would be.
28
The USS Path’s all-out flank sprint beneath the cold waters of the North Atlantic ended as the speedy ocean liner it was doing its best to follow neared the mid-Atlantic ridge. It was here that the QE2 finally cut its forward speed from twenty-eight and one-half knots to twenty-four knots, thus allowing the Folk’s engineering watch to throttle back their engines.
With this slowdown came an audible respite from the incessant pounding roar of the QE2 ‘s nine powerful diesel engines. Nowhere was this more evident than inside the Folk’s sonar room, or sound shack, as it was commonly called. Here senior sonar supervisor Brad “Sup” Bodzin and his two-man watch team were the first to report the ocean liner’s change of speed. The data showing this velocity alteration arrived by way of the various passive hydrophone arrays that were mounted throughout the sub’s hull. This sonic evidence was then routed into the sound shack through the technician’s sensitive headphones, and was visually projected over the individual waterfall displays mounted above each console.