With the risk of direct and indirect attack weighing on Wilson’s thoughts, he focused on the pending transit. The canal was a single-lane waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake. As a result, ships transited the canal in convoys, with a northbound convoy departing from Suez at 4 a.m., synchronized with a southbound convoy from Port Said. Michigan would be the first ship in the northern convoy this morning. Wilson checked the time on the navigation repeater. It was 3 a.m.: time to station the Maneuvering Watch. He gave the order, and the Officer of the Deck passed the word over the shipwide 1-MC announcing circuit.
An hour later, Michigan approached the southern entrance to the Suez Canal, passing several dozen merchants at anchor awaiting their designated transit time. Loitering near the entrance was Michigan’s security detail, two patrol boats armed with .50-caliber machine guns. The real danger was ashore, however, and the patrol crafts’ machine guns would be of little use against shoulder-fired rockets or missiles.
A shoulder-fired rocket would likely hit the submarine’s sail, and it wouldn’t take much to put the submarine out of commission. Destroy the submarine’s periscopes and antennas, and Michigan would be on the way home for repairs. Not to mention the loss of life; most, if not all, of the personnel atop the sail would be killed.
Assuming Michigan’s transit through the Suez Canal was uneventful, things could get interesting once the guided missile submarine entered the Mediterranean Sea. According to the last intelligence update, the Russian Northern Fleet had also entered the Mediterranean, steaming east. The best estimate was that the Northern Fleet was headed to Latakia, Syria. Satellite reconnaissance had detected the buildup of replenishment stores along the wharves at the Syrian seaport. If things went as planned, Michigan would intercept the Russian fleet not far from Latakia.
As they approached the entrance to the Suez Canal, Wilson requested a handheld radio, which the Officer of the Deck passed to him. After selecting the proper channel, he brought it to his mouth.
“Canal Operations, this is inbound United States warship. Request permission to enter the canal at time zero-four-hundred.”
After a short squawk, the radio emitted the expected response. “United States warship, this is Canal Operations. You have permission to enter the canal at time zero-four-hundred.”
Wilson checked the navigation repeater. His Officer of the Deck, plus his Navigator stationed in the Control Room below, had done a superb job, timing Michigan’s approach perfectly. The submarine’s security detail took their positions, one boat in front and one behind the submarine, with each machine gun manned and ready. Rather than stand during the 120-mile journey, Wilson pulled himself to a sitting position atop the sail, with his feet dangling in the Bridge Cockpit, settling in for the tense fifteen-hour transit.
21
FORT MEADE, MARYLAND
In a windowless cinder-block building off Taylor Avenue, Tim Johns leaned back in his chair at his computer workstation, waiting for the algorithm to begin sending data. Johns, a Cryptologic Technician Networks Petty Officer Second Class, was assigned to the U.S. Cyber Warfare Command, which was responsible for centralized control of all military cyberspace operations. Comprising 133 teams with varying assignments, Cyber Warfare Command employed over six thousand cyber warriors.
Johns was a member of a combat mission team, a cyber unit loosely modeled after special operation forces. During offensive operations, Johns’s unit would plant cyber bombs in target networks, but the current assignment was less ambitious, simply hacking into encrypted Russian diplomatic and military networks. After identifying another vulnerable node, he had planted a new spider, an algorithm capable of decrypting all messages transiting the router, searching for keywords.
The new spider started sending data, scrolling down his screen, which would be reviewed by the intelligence analysts. So far, the spiders had detected thousands of hits using the supplied keywords, but most were meaningless sentences and phrases. His eyes shifted to the top of the display as a new keyword appeared: Блок TM85.1051. As it moved down the screen, he read the sentence, translating it into English in his mind: Unit TM85.1051 reports the order was executed flawlessly. Not particularly interesting, Johns thought. But at least it was something new for the analysts to chew on.
22
WASHINGTON, D.C.
It was midafternoon in the Oval Office, with SecDef McVeigh seated between Kevin Hardison and Colonel DuBose, across from the president’s desk. There had been a breakthrough in the investigation into Russia’s attack on USS Roosevelt, and a blue folder resting on McVeigh’s lap contained the critical snippet of information, along with the Pentagon’s assessment.
“What have you got?” the president asked.
McVeigh answered, “Cyber Command has been scouring Russian military and diplomatic message traffic — emails and official messages. We have the ability to decrypt the lowest level of Russian classified messages — those corresponding to our Confidential level — and we detected an important keyword in a weekly summary provided from the Russian Navy to its minister of defense.”
McVeigh opened the folder on his lap and read the pertinent sentence: “Unit TM85.1051 reports the order was executed flawlessly.” He looked up and added, “The unit designation TM85.1051 cross-references to an Oscar II submarine in the Russian Pacific Fleet, K-456 Vilyuchinsk.” McVeigh refreshed everyone’s memory about the significance of the Russian unit. “Vilyuchinsk was the submarine that launched twenty-four missiles at Roosevelt.”
The president replied, “You’re saying the attack on Roosevelt was intentional?”
“Yes, Mr. President. The date in the report coincides with the Russian attack. This is what we’ve suspected all along, and this evidence is enough to convince everyone in the Pentagon that the attack was deliberate.”
“I have to agree,” the president said, “which puts us in a difficult situation. We have to either ignore the attack despite what we know, or respond. Your thoughts, gentlemen?” The president turned first to his chief of staff.
“There has to be payback,” Hardison answered. “A quid pro quo.”
The president turned to Colonel DuBose, giving his new senior military aide the opportunity to weigh in on the first significant issue during his White House assignment.
DuBose replied, “A response is required, but we need to ensure it doesn’t spiral out of control, either in a tit for tat that ratchets up, or a response that escalates into a broader conflict.”
When the president turned his attention to McVeigh, the SecDef said, “I agree with Kevin and Colonel DuBose. A response is required, although I’m not sure we can prevent an increasing tit for tat. That decision will rest with Kalinin. However, as Colonel DuBose recommends, our response should be narrow, minimizing the possibility this blows up into a wider conflict.”