The anti-ship missiles traveled at over three times the speed of sound. As the SM-6s got close to their targets, they switched on their semiactive radar homing, finding their targets and “pinging” them to ensure they each got a precise hit.
Making them even more deadly, the eight missiles used their networking capability to communicate with each other, making sure that each missile had the most precise targeting information possible, and that the targets remained evenly divided up among them.
While the warhead on each missile was only one hundred and forty pounds, the kinetic energy of such a high-speed missile did enormous damage. Two blasts fragmented throughout the center of each ship, one after another. The entire event took a little over forty seconds.
One of the missiles struck the weapons hold on board the Lanzhou. It triggered a chain reaction that caused a massive explosion to rip the destroyer apart. The backbone of the ship rose thirty feet from the sea in a surge of white water and then plummeted back down. The Lanzhou sank within minutes.
The other three ships were “mission kills.” Many of their crew survived, but the weapons systems and power plants were out of commission.
26
Victoria walked back into the hangar. Behind the closed hangar doors, the helicopter spun on deck, waiting for its lone passenger.
“You alright, sister?” Chase said quietly.
She was a mix of energized and numb from the action. She tried not to think of the lives lost, but of the potential lives saved.
“I’m good. I hope this is all going to be worth it.”
He patted her on the shoulder, careful not to embarrass her in front of her men. “I think it will be.”
“Be safe. Good luck.”
Chase grabbed his pack, which contained the Chinese crypto key, and walked over to the helicopter’s aircrewman.
The two of them opened up the small hangar door and walked into the rear of the helicopter.
Victoria watched them take off through the hangar door’s small porthole. As the MH-60 Seahawk flew into the air, she said a silent prayer that they would land without incident.
“Captain.”
One of the ship’s ensigns stood behind her.
“Please don’t call me that.”
“Sorry, ma’am. Um, Air Boss, OPS asked me to tell you that the USS Ford will be within helicopter range of us by tomorrow afternoon. They’re asking that we close their position, and provide status updates.”
“Alright, thanks. I’ll be right there.”
27
Chase sat in the kitchen as NSA and CIA team members worked on their computers in the next room. They had a lot of sophisticated gear. Big servers. Lots of wires. When Chase arrived, they immediately hooked up the crypto key and got to work.
One of the CIA guys walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table across from Chase. He had a slight smile on his face.
Chase said, “So? What’s the verdict? Have you guys been able to get anything from it?”
He nodded. “Oh yes. They’re sending it all up to D.C. now.”
“What’s the story?”
The guy looked behind him and then back at Chase. He leaned in. “The short of it is that it looks like our rogue theory was right on. They’ve got Chinese military assets from the south region that are a part of this thing, but that’s it. It’s limited to them. So we can deduce from that information that, aside from Jinshan, the only other bigwig who is involved is this Admiral Song.”
“So that’s good, right? So now what?”
“I’m afraid that’s above our pay grade, buddy. For you and me, we sit and wait.”
Chase took a swig from his plastic water bottle. He got up and walked over to the window, looking at a small patch of Pacific Ocean.
Director Buckingham stood in the Oval Office. The president, the national security advisor, and the chairman of the joint chiefs were each there.
Sheppard was fuming, pointing his finger at the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the CIA director. “That ship should have requested permission to fire before attacking those Chinese naval vessels. This is outrageous. Only the president can authorize something like this. Now you people have opened up a real can of worms.”
The chairman of the joint chiefs said, “I would remind the national security advisor that the USS Farragut was attacked first, and that several friendly naval vessels were lost in that attack. The Farragut acted in self-defense, which is her right.”
The NSA said, “How do we know that the Chinese ships weren’t there for peaceful reasons? And you don’t know that the Chinese submarine was the one that attacked. That’s speculation.”
Director Buckingham said, “Charlie…”
“Don’t start, Sam. You’ve wanted this to be about the Chinese this whole time. Mr. President, this is outrageous. It’s Iran that we should be worried about. This nonsense about China has gotten out of hand. And now they’ve finally gone too far and started a shooting war. With no proof of Chinese wrongdoing.”
Director Buckingham said, “That’s where you’re wrong. The SILVERSMITH team was able to recover one of the crypto keys from Manta, Ecuador.” He handed the president a folder. “Sir, we now have hard evidence that proves that two Chinese nationals are responsible for this, and several other hostile acts over the past few weeks. Cheng Jinshan and the Chinese South Sea Fleet commander, Admiral Song. Together, they’ve organized a rogue military and intelligence operation that included the Red Cell, instigated Iranian-US hostilities, and attacked the US in multiple instances.”
The NSA’s mouth dropped. “When did you get a crypto key? Why wasn’t I told about this?”
The director shot the NSA an icy gaze. “It was determined that you didn’t need to know.”
Sheppard nearly exploded. “What? How dare you? Mr. President, I demand that—”
The president held up his hand. “That’ll be enough, Charlie.”
The NSA said, “Sir, this just doesn’t feel right. I don’t think you should trust this information. The director…”
The president stood and the NSA grew quiet. “Charlie, what do you mean when you say it doesn’t feel right?”
“Uh. Sir. It just… the Chinese wouldn’t do this. It just doesn’t seem like they would—”
The president said, “Charlie, first of all, you aren’t listening. Director Buckingham just said that this wasn’t the work of Chinese leadership. This was the work of two rogue individuals. And secondly, I have no use for people that come to me and tell me that intelligence doesn’t seem right or feel right. I want facts. Not feelings.”
“Mr. President, it’s just that—”
“Charlie, let me give you some facts. I’ve just read the most interesting report from the FBI. It seems that prior to accepting this post, you’ve done extensive work for companies with ties to Mr. Cheng Jinshan. Were you aware of that?”
The NSA went white. Director Buckingham had been wondering when the president would do this.
“Who told you that? Mr. President, did the CIA tell you that?” The NSA glared at the CIA director. “Mr. President, you can’t believe everything you hear. There are people here who would like nothing more than to see you go down in flames. But I’m one of the loyal ones. You can’t listen to them—”
“Charlie, we’re done. You’ve been moving forward your own agenda and ignoring the professional intelligence services for too long. At the very least, you’ve been giving me advice that’s less than stellar. At worst… well, I’ll let the Department of Justice handle that. But either way, your services are no longer required. Please vacate the White House.”