They must only be doing a sprint to a new location. After a moment, the interphone at her elbow buzzed.
"Sick bay, aye?"
"Chief, this is the Captain." Amanda Garrett sounded relieved and pleased. "We've got it worked out for Erikson! We're going to rendezvous with the British ice-patrol ship Polar Circle. They not only have a doctor on board, but they have a full medical team and a surgical suite. The problem is that the Brits will have to swing out wide to the south and east to stay out of the range of the Argentines.
"Tonight we're going to work over to the east side of our patrol area. Then, tomorrow, as soon as the Polar Circle reports that she's in position, we'll execute a second high-speed run to the east to get within range of their helicopter.
"With a little luck, the Argys will never even know we've been gone. We're just going to need a little more time to pull this off. Can you keep Erikson going another twenty-four hours?"
"You just bet we can, ma'am! May I tell him what we're going to try and do?"
"Negative, Chief. I'll be down in a little while. I'd like to do that myself."
38
"It was an ambush," General Arco stated flatly. "The surface contact we detected was one of their stealth helicopters, flying slowly at very low altitude and using a blip-enhancer device to simulate the return we would have gotten from the ship. The destroyer itself presumably lay hove to in one of the nearby snow squalls.
"We detected the decoy target and maneuvered to engage it. As we did so, the North Americans launched what we believe were LORAIN surface-to-air missiles set in antiradiation mode. They homed in passively on the radar emissions of our aircraft. There was no warning."
"These damned fancy radar tricks did not work, and in proving it, you cost me two of my patrol planes!" Admiral Fouga spat.
"It did work, Admiral. That is why the North Americans sought out the system and destroyed it."
"Remarkable," President Sparza mused. "A surface warship turning on, and hunting down, the aircraft that are supposedly pursuing it. That is hardly a conventional tactic."
"This is not a conventional ship," Arco responded grimly.
Sparza had again summoned his military Chiefs of Staff and his Minister of State in his private office. During their past conferences on the Antarctic crisis, there had often been tension. Now there was open strain, stemming from the growing sensation that events were slipping more and more beyond their control.
"We are modifying two more of the remaining Atlantique aircraft for bistatic search operations," the Fuerza Aérea general continued. "We are also revising our tactics, so we will not be so vulnerable to this kind of ambush again. By this time tomorrow we should be able to resume the search."
"And what do we do until then? Sit around with our thumbs up our ass!"
"It is irrelevant what else we do, Fouga! When they downed our spy satellite, we lost the only other viable reconnaissance asset we had. During the past four days we have flown more than three hundred conventional search sorties over Drake Passage with every kind of aircraft we have in our inventory. We have not produced a single solid fix on the enemy's location. The North Americans' stealth systems work! Combine them with the deteriorating weather conditions over the Antarctic convergence and they are rendered effectively invisible. The bistatic radar is our only hope!"
"Possibly," Sparza interjected quietly, "but we may not have time to wait for it. Gentlemen, just before the two of you arrived, General Orcho was giving the latest intelligence updates from the Malvinas. I suggest that we hear him out."
The Army commander glanced at his notes in the manner of a man who knew all too well what they contained.
"With the assistance of the United States Air Force Transport Command, the British have completed their defense buildup. Currently, they have two full squadrons of F-model Tornadoes flying out of their military field at Mount Pleasant.
"In addition, VTOL fighter and helicopter units are operating out of satellite fields at Port Stanley, Goose Green, and Pebble Island. Signal intelligence also indicates that mobile air-search radars and Patriot and Rapier 2000 antiaircraft missile batteries have been deployed and are operational.
"The Royal Marine ground garrison has been augmented by the British Army's Parachute Regiment, plus light armored and artillery elements.
"At sea, the British have shut down and secured their offshore drilling operations. They have evacuated the civilian rig crews and the drilling platforms have been manned by Royal Marine commandos, armed with Stinger and Starstreak antiaircraft missiles. In addition, the Royal Navy has been basing ASW patrol helicopters off them. There is also evidence that CAPTOR mines are being deployed in the vicinity of the rigs. The liquid natural-gas storage facilities at Low Bay have also been successfully vented and shut down."
"What is the latest information on the naval forces?" Fouga demanded.
"Maintaining course and speed. They will arrive within strike range in approximately seventy hours. It is believed that both the British and American carrier groups have nuclear submarines running about a day ahead of the surface ships. This is not the most immediate threat, however."
The General removed a folder from his briefcase and began to pass around the photographic prints it contained.
"This first print is a freeze-frame still taken from a CNN news broadcast out of Mount Pleasant. In the background you can see the tail of a United States Air Force KC-10 tanker/transport, and a number of ground personnel, also identified as North American.
"This second print is a computer-enhanced blowup taken by the Brazilian Geo-Resources satellite of Wideawake Field on Ascension Island. The three straight-winged aircraft are P-3E Orion patrol planes of the United States Navy. There is also a second KC-10 and what appears to be a B-1C heavy strategic bomber.
"We believe that with the completion of the British defense buildup, the United States and Great Britain are preparing to escalate their level of aggression. We believe that they are preparing to forward-deploy long-range reconnaissance and strike aircraft into the Malvinas to support their blockade. If this is done, our situation will become… more difficult."
"How long do we have before they become operational?" Sparza asked.
"Possibly two days at the most."
The Argentine President returned his attention to his Air Force commander. "Arco, what can we do about this?"
The aviator looked down at the carpeting for a moment, wearily trying to assess the situation. "Well, we could try and knock out Mount Pleasant. It would mean taking our best aircraft off of their current antishipping mission. Even at that, I could not make any guarantees. Hardened airfields require a lot of killing, and they are ready and waiting for us. We would be bound to take heavy casualties."
"You cannot sink a solitary ship! You cannot destroy an airfield! Sweet Christ, why do we bother to have an air force?"
"That is enough, Fouga!" Sparza snapped. "I will be the judge of who is performing adequately and who is not. To date, I have found no fault in General Arco's actions, or in the performance of his service."
Fouga subsided, brooding, and Sparza turned his attention to his Minister of State. "Aldo, what of the diplomatic situation?"
"Things are not good, Mr. President," Salhazar replied. "At the United Nations, it appears that we are caught between North American diplomatic power and British diplomatic finesse, much as it was during the Malvinas conflict. A few of the traditional anti-Western states have responded favorably, but as more of a reflex action than a declaration of solid support. We hold the ABC block and our immediate allies. Not much more."