This process continues for the next hour until finally Stanley calls out, "Hey! I think I have one." Grimsdottir quizzes him on some of the instrument readings and he answers promisingly. The object is moving with the speed of a barracuda and is the correct size and shape. "I'm going for a dive," he says. Carlson and I continue our search as we wait with anticipation for good news. Six minutes pass and finally Stanley's voice rings in our ears.
"Affirmative," he says. "It's an MRUUV." Grimsdottir asks him about Geiger readings, but this time his answers are negative. There's no indication that this is the one with the bomb.
"Blow it out of the water," Lieutenant Van Fleet commands. Stanley confirms the order and tells us that he's activating the drop-mines. They're powerful explosives but nothing so serious that he'd be in danger by being on top of them.
"Mines released," he says, and we wait for the sound of fireworks.
But the tremendous noise we hear in our headsets is shocking, overamplified, and distorted. After a few seconds we hear nothing but static. Then everyone talks at once.
"Stanley? Ensign Stanley?"
"Oh, my God!"
"What happened?"
"Did you see that?"
"That geyser was sixty feet high!"
Lieutenant Van Fleet quiets everyone down and says, "I'm afraid the MRUUV was booby-trapped with a powerful explosive. When Stanley's mines hit it, the MRUUV blew the CHARC to pieces."
Well. I guess that's going to change our strategy.
38
" Ijust received word from the White House," Colonel Lambert announces to me through the implants. The other SEAL can't hear him. "The president is going to issue the go command in thirty minutes whether or not we find the nuke. People in Taiwan are dying and General Tun's forces are on the outskirts of Taipei. The president is going to call Tun's bluff."
"Won't China protect their general?" I ask.
"That we don't know. The vice president is in seclusion with China's president in Beijing. We're not privy to what communications are going back and forth between Beijing and Washington. The bottom line is we have thirty minutes."
"Then get Anna to give me and Carlson something to work with."
"I'm working on it, Sam," Grimsdottir cuts in. "I'm tracking two possibilities in your sector and one in Lieutenant Carlson's sector. Give me five minutes to narrow them down to the best choice." She sounds calm and collected in a stressful situation that would have anyone else at the breaking point.
The CHARC purrs closer to Santa Monica Pier as I study the sonar screen for anything unusual. Fish set off minor readings every few seconds. There's a lot of junk down there that causes the metal detector to jump continuously. I'm beginning to understand the various meter levels and what they might mean so I don't spend too much time looking at something that turns out to be nothing.
"Sam, I have coordinates for you." Grimsdottir reads them out and says, "Something's in motion there and it's bigger than what you've seen so far."
"I'm on my way."
I guide the CHARC about four hundred yards to the south and watch the screens for any blips. Sure enough, there's something down there. It's metal, it's moving at a slow speed, it's about six feet long and approximately three feet wide. More promising is the fact that the Geiger counter is going nuts. I snap some sonar pictures of it and transmit them to Third Echelon, all the while staying above the thing. I reckon the speed to be about fifteen knots and at that rate it'll be very near the shore in less than a half hour.
"Take a dive, Sam," Lambert says. "Anna thinks that's it."
"Roger that."
I put the CHARC on idle, lower the face mask, and insert the rebreather into my mouth. The backward dive off the vehicle pulls on my abdomen, which delivers a jolt of pain through the sore spots, but I ignore it and allow myself to descend. It's been a while since I've been diving. It's a lot like riding a bike, though--you never forget how.
The water here is murky and not very clean. L.A. must have one of the most polluted shorelines in the world, yet people swim in it all the time. This far out I would have expected it to be a little clearer but no such luck.
I switch on my lamp and shine the beam across the ocean floor until it finds the object. Sure enough, it's an MRUUV, just like the one I saw in the submarine pen in China. It's an odd thing to see down here. The device is shiny silver with several indicator lights burning brightly along the side. My earlier thought that it looks similar to a giant cigar tube is even more apropos down here.
I quickly surface, climb aboard the CHARC, and transmit my message. "You're right, Anna. I've got one. And the Geiger is about to jump out of its skin."
"Excellent," Lambert says. "Stay on top of it, Sam. Stand by until we figure out what we want to do about the damned thing."
"Well, hurry up. I'm not very fond of nuclear enemas."
A few minutes go by and Anna says, "Sam, can you hear me when you're underwater?"
"Yes."
"Then go on back down."
Another backflip off the CHARC and I'm below the surface. I break open a chem-light and place it in the holder so I can see what's in front of me.
She continues. "Sam, I want you to swim alongside the MRUUV and look for something. Tap your OPSAT to let me know you're there."
I keep up the pace, swimming four feet above and parallel to the device, then push a button on the OPSAT.
"Okay, good. Now, do you see the rectangular panel on the top? It should be directly behind the antenna in the front." I see it. The lid is roughly two feet by one foot.
AFFIRMATIVE, I type.
"Right. Now get on top of the thing like you're riding a motorcycle. You're going to have to unscrew that panel."
Ride it?Is she kidding? The other one blew up beneath poor Ensign Stanley. How do I know just touching the damned thing isn't going to set it off? I tap out the question on the OPSAT.
"Sam, it won't blow up just by touching it. It's got to be protected against minor bumps and scrapes down there. The thing's probably collided into a rock or two since being launched from the sub. Not to mention fish or other plant life. Go ahead, you'll be okay."
Fine. I swim a little faster so that I'm gliding evenly with the thing, then I reach down and grab the front end. I try not to flinch when I do so and thankfully "the Barracuda" just keeps purring along. I let it pull me through the water for a few seconds and then I lower myself onto its back. I'm now riding it as if it was a dolphin.
AFFIRMATIVE.
"Good. Now get that panel off. It's the only way to get to the booby trap and, if I'm not mistaken, also to the guidance system controls and the bomb."
I take a screwdriver from my utility belt and begin to work. The panel is lined with twelve screws, so it takes a few minutes to get them all off. I put them in a pouch on the belt in case I need them again later. The panel comes off and I hold it in one hand. In order to work with both hands I have to grip the MRUUV with my thighs.
"You can let go of the panel. You're not going to need it again." Okay, so I let it float away. I indicate that it's off and she says, "Good. Now look carefully inside the compartment. I assume you have a chem-light? You should see plastic explosive attached to the inner surface, probably encased in waterproof material. It's probably brick shaped and has wires coming out of it."
I would have found it without her description. Recognizing explosives is part of my job. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can dismantle the thing without her instructions. It's pretty straightforward. "What you need to do is determine which is the positive lead and which is the negative lead. The wires go to a--"