Rick Campbell
Blackmail
DEDICATION
To Brett — your journey through life has been incredibly difficult, but you’ve managed to do so with a smile on your face. You bring joy to those around you and an appreciation for everything we would otherwise take for granted.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks are due to those who helped me write and publish this noveclass="underline"
First and foremost, to my editor, Keith Kahla, for his exceptional insight and recommendations to make Blackmail better. To others at St. Martin’s Press — Justin Velella and Martin Quinn — who assisted in many ways as Blackmail progressed toward publication. And finally, thanks again to Sally Richardson and George Witte for making this book possible.
While writing each book, I’ve relied on subject matter experts to ensure I get the details correct. While I can handle the submarine part, other areas require assistance. For Blackmail, I needed help of an altogether different type than information on weapon system employment, tactics, and operational protocols, and so I thank LynDee Walker, Kris Herndon, Sara Walsh, and Ramsey Hootman for their insight and assistance. Additionally, to those who have helped my writing career get off to a great start — there are too many to thank individually here, but I really appreciate your help getting the word out. You’ve done a fantastic job.
To Captain William (Bill) Kennington USN Retired, former commanding officer of USS Sand Lance (SSN 660), who passed away last year, and to the thousands of others who have gone before us in the armed services, protecting our country. You deserve a debt of gratitude. My heart and thoughts will always be with you.
I hope you enjoy Blackmail!
MAIN CHARACTERS
KEVIN HARDISON, chief of staff
BOB MCVEIGH, secretary of defense
DAWN CABRAL, secretary of state
CHRISTINE O’CONNOR, national security advisor
BILL DUBOSE (Colonel), senior military aide
MURRAY WILSON (Captain), Commanding Officer
JAKE HARRISON (Lieutenant), SEAL Platoon Officer-in-Charge
DAVID RANDLE (Captain), Commanding Officer
BILL HOUSTON / call sign Samurai (Lieutenant Commander), F/A-18E pilot
YURI KALININ, president
BORIS CHERNOV, defense minister
ANDREI LAVROV, foreign minister
SEMYON GOREV, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR)
SERGEI ANDROPOV (General), chief of the general staff
OLEG LIPOVSKY (Admiral), Commander-in-Chief, Navy
ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, president of Belarus
XIANG CHENGLEI, president of China
DEEPAK MADAN, president of India
MAP
1
WESTERN PACIFIC
Night was falling over the Western Pacific as USS Theodore Roosevelt surged through dark green waters, headed into a brisk wind. Seated in the Captain’s chair on the Bridge of his Nimitz class aircraft carrier, Captain Rich Tilghman observed two F/A-18E Super Hornets locked into the bow catapults, their engines glowing reddish orange in the twilight. In a few seconds, both aircraft would head out to relieve fighters in Roosevelt’s combat air patrol, as the carrier strike group cruised several hundred miles off the coast of China, just beyond range of China’s DF-21 missile, nicknamed carrier-killer. A few months ago, that’s exactly what the Chinese missiles had done.
The war between China and the United States was short, but devastating. There had been no declaration of war by either country or a formal cease-fire; the combat had halted once the outcome became clear. Although America prevailed, the cost was high. Four heavily damaged aircraft carriers were in shipyards being repaired, while a fifth rested on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, leaving USS Ronald Reagan as the sole operational Pacific Fleet carrier. Submarine losses had been heavy, with the opposing sides virtually wiping each other out, and U.S. surface ship losses had been high as well.
What remained of the U.S. Pacific Fleet had been augmented with Atlantic Fleet units shifted to the Pacific, joining USS Ronald Reagan. Not far to the south, the Reagan strike group was also on deployment, with the United States keeping two carrier strike groups off China’s coast at all times.
Captain Tilghman’s attention returned to the two Super Hornets as the bow catapults fired. The aircraft streaked across the Flight Deck, then rocketed upward, their paths marked by the white-hot glow of their afterburners against the darkening sky. Not long thereafter, the first of the returning aircraft landed, announced by the squeal of tires hitting the deck and the hydraulic hum of arresting wire motors as the Super Hornet’s tailhook snagged number three wire. The F/A-18 was soon headed to the nearest elevator for a trip to the Hangar Deck, while a second aircraft landed.
Tilghman pushed himself to his feet and left the Bridge for a short tour of his ship before calling it a night. So far this deployment, it had been all quiet on the western front.
Captain First Rank Dmitri Pavlov stood at the back of the Central Command Post aboard his Antey class guided missile submarine, called Oscar II by NATO, surveying his men at their watch stations as they shadowed an American carrier strike group to the west. The crew’s orders and reports were calm and professional, reflecting the proficiency a crew gains after several months at sea. Vilyuchinsk’s Watch Officer, Captain Lieutenant Dolinski, monitored the submarine’s depth, steady at seventy meters, occasionally checking the status of their communications, verifying they were copying the broadcast on the floating wire antenna trailing several hundred meters behind the submarine.
The Communications Post was downloading the latest round of naval messages, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until the speakers near Pavlov energized.
“Command Post, Communications. Have received a Commanding Officer Only message.”
Pavlov acknowledged and entered the Communications Post, stopping by the two printers.
“Ready.”
The radioman hit the print button and a message slid from the left printer. Pavlov read the directive, then read it again.
He took the message to the Central Command Post, addressing one of the two Messengers. “Request the First Officer’s presence in the Command Post.”
The senior seaman acknowledged and departed in search of the submarine’s second-in-command, and a moment later Captain Second Rank Mikhail Evanoff arrived. Pavlov motioned Evanoff to join him by the navigation table, also requesting the Watch Officer’s presence. When the two men approached, Pavlov slid the message across the table.
“Read.”
Pavlov waited while the two men read the directive, then, like him, read it again. Confused and then concerned expressions worked across their faces, and the two men exchanged glances before Pavlov’s First Officer spoke.