This latter stemmed from the realization that the speed and ferocity of naval combat was steadily increasing, in some ways resembling aspects of aerial dogfighting. The old system of captain-tells-talker-who-tells-another-talker who-tells-watch-officer-who-tells-helmsman was becoming catastrophically cumbersome. Direct hands-on control of the rudder and engines could save time that could save ships.
Because general quarters hadn't been sounded, none of the command-cluster stations had been manned except for the duty Aegis operator. The captain's chair was facing aft, awaiting her. Amanda dropped into it and gave the sideways flick of her foot that rotated it 180 degrees and locked it forward. One fast look at the big Alpha Screen told the story.
The image displayed wasn't produced by any one system; rather, it was a computer composite, generated by combining the data flow from the sensor systems with oceanographic and geographic map overlays from the Global Positioning Unit and the navigational data banks. At the moment, two bat-shaped air contact hacks, glowing yellow to signify potential hostility, were clearing the northern Argentine coastline. A course-projection plot extended out from them to intersect the Cunningham's line of advance a few miles off the bow.
Christine had split off to confer with her people in the Elint bay. Now she returned to stand at her captain's shoulder.
"What have we got, Lieutenant?"
"Definitely Argy. They've been chattering away with Pedro out there, getting a position fix on us."
"Pedro" was the nickname that had already sprung up in reference to the relay of Argentine Atlantique patrol planes that had been shadowing the Duke through the night. The current incarnation was orbiting now thirty miles off to port.
"What are they?" Amanda inquired.
"Given their performance characteristics and the size of their returns, they're strike fighters. If they're Fuerza Aérea they'll probably be Rafale E's. If they're Aeronaval, they'll be the Panavia Tornadoes."
A slow quarter hour passed as the targets closed the range. Twenty-five miles out, the Duke's Mast Mounted Sighting System was brought on-line. A derivative of the same McDonnell-Douglas targeting unit used aboard the U.S. Army's scout helicopter fleet, it consisted of a high-definition television camera with 12X magnification and a FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) scanner unit, both mounted on a gyrostabilized platform atop the mast array.
Now, under radar guidance, its lenses swiveled around to lock on to the incoming aircraft. Down in the CIC, the image it picked up was windowed into the upper right side-bar of the Alpha Screen.
The two women studied the sleek, delta-winged forms shimmering slightly with air distortion. "Rafales," Christine said finally.
As more detail became apparent, the intelligence officer called up a media copy of Jane's Battlefield Surveillance Systems on a secondary screen and referred to it.
"No ordnance apparent and the flight leader is carrying a photoreconnaissance pod on his centerline," she commented. "It looks like a Kodak run."
The Argentine jets turned in toward the Cunningham and boomed overhead, crossing fore to aft at 5,000 feet. Dropping down to 2,000, they swung wide and came in again on the destroyer's flank, their engines smoking slightly at the lower altitude. Then, their mission apparently completed, they climbed away to the southwest, heading for home.
The CIC duty watch relaxed marginally as the Rafales pulled out of engagement range.
"I guess they just wanted a few pictures," Christine said.
"This time," Amanda agreed quietly.
10
**SECURITY***SECURITY***SECURITY***SECURITY***
*
**ALPHA LOG 5-AUTHENTICATOR***GREEN CHECK VERIFY
****************** MODE TERMINAL-TERMINAL
**SECSTATE-BRAZILCONSUL
*
**SECSTATE GO
*
QUERY: WHAT is SITUATION REPORT ON SABOTAGE
ATTEMPT OF USN CUNNINGHAM?
*
MILITARY ATTACHE HAS MET WITH BRAZILIAN ASSIST. SEC. NAV.
POINT ONE: DENIES ANY ATTEMPT AT SABOTAGE. BRAZILNAV REPORT CLAIMS INCIDENT DUE TO ACCIDENTAL FUEL CONTAMINATION DURING DOCKSIDE
LOADING.
*
POINT TWO: PROTEST FILED OVER UNSCHEDULED DEPARTURE OF USN CUNNINGHAM. VIOLATION OF PORT PROCEDURES CITED. REQUEST INSTRUCTIONS.
*
DISREGARD PROTEST.
REQUEST UPDATE ON BRAZILGOV ATTITUDES RE.
ARGENTINE ACTIONS IN ANTARCTIC?
*
ONLY AVAILABLE OUTPUT AS PER MINISTRY OF INFO PRESS RELEASE CALLING FOR "REASONABLE ATTITUDES AND NEGOTIATIONS."
BRAZILPRES, BRAZILVICEPRES, BRAZIL MINISTER OF STATE UNAVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION FOR PAST 24 HOURS.
CIA STATION CHIEF REPORTS AS FOLLOWS:
POINT ONE: SPECIAL ARGENTINE MINISTRY OF STATE LIAISON GROUP HAS BEEN ON SITE IN BRASILIA FOR PAST 72–96 HOURS.
POINT TWO: BRAZILPRES, BRAZIL MINISTER OF STATE HAVE BEEN IN CONSULTATION WITH
SAME.
POINT THREE: EXTENSIVE MOVEMENT OF DIPLOMATIC
COURIERS BETWEEN BRASILIA
AND MAJOR OVERSEAS EMBASSIES.
QUERY: WHAT is GOING ON, MR. SECRETARY?
*
*
*
WE STILL AREN'T SURE.
11
Vince Arkady double-timed up the 'tween-decks ladder to Air One, the Cunningham's flight-control center. A small triangular compartment located right aft in the trailing end of the superstructure, it was the only compartment on the ship other than the bridge with a direct exterior view, a vee of stealthed Plexiglas looking out over the helipad. In addition to the windscreen, it contained a pair of repeater terminals, a small communications console, and, at the moment, Chief Petty Officer Frank Muller, Retainer Zero Two's crew chief and the Air Division's senior NCO.
"What do we have, Frank?"
Muller passed his boss a headset as he replied. "Zero Two's just declared an in-flight emergency."
"Where is she?"
"About fifteen miles south-southwest and inbound."
The Aegis system's tactical display had been dialed up on one of the repeaters and Zero Two's beacon hack could be seen, warning flagged in glowing red.
"Right, what's she on?" Arkady asked, settling on the earphones.
"Tac Three."
As Arkady keyed in to the ship-to-air circuit, he shot a quick look at the sea and weather states. The Duke was running under a mixture of blue sky and broken cumulus cloud. However, she was also running through a sharp, choppy swell with plenty of whitecaps showing. The wind sock on its snub mast beside the helipad was whipping in an ominously suggestive manner. It was not a good day to try swimming away from a sinking helicopter.
"Gray Lady to Retainer Zero Two, do you copy?"
"Affirmative, Gray Lady, I read you."
Beyond the carrier hiss in his earphones, Ensign Nancy Delany's voice was tense but still level.
"Hi, Nancy. This is Vince Arkady. What's happening out there?"
"I'm not sure, sir. I'm getting a power surge and fade real bad. I can't maintain a constant engine RPM."
"What do your diagnostics say?"
"I've been getting a green board except for a fuel-flow variance. I've tried switching back and forth between the primary and backup fuel-feed pumps and between the interior and exterior tankage. I've also tried some fuel transferrals and I still can't isolate the problem, or get it to smooth out."