He cocked his head slightly to the side, his eyes still on hers as he waited expectantly for her answer. As Elena pondered whether she’d garnered enough information, Ivanov added, “I offer tidbits only. I keep myself useful and you interested, coming back for more.”
He moved his hands up to her slender waist, waiting for her response. Finally, Elena replied, “That’ll do for tonight.”
Ivanov smiled again as he reached up and slowly unzipped the back of her dress.
CHAPTER 11
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The president entered the Roosevelt Room, taking his seat at the head of the rectangular table for this morning’s intelligence briefing. Normally conducted in the Oval Office, today’s meeting had been moved to the Roosevelt Room due to the expanded cast. In addition to the normal staffer from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, representatives from ONI and the CIA were in attendance, their presence arranged by Christine O’Connor, the president’s national security advisor. Christine and Chief of Staff Kevin Hardison, along with the president’s senior military aide, Colonel DuBose, joined the president at the table.
Logan Chance from DNI delivered the routine intelligence briefing prepared for the president each day, and when the usual topics had been dispensed with, the president turned to Christine.
“What have you got?”
“Two weeks ago, Mr. President, ONI received information that led them to believe Russia was developing a new torpedo. ONI also learned that Russia’s newest nuclear-powered submarine was launched ahead of schedule and in complete secrecy. Additionally, the new submarine has been modified, adding an extra section to the hull. ONI has been coordinating with the Navy and other intelligence agencies to gather additional information, which included retrieving one of the new Russian torpedoes from the bottom of the Barents Sea. It turns out that the Russians aren’t testing a new torpedo. They’re testing their newest submarine, Alexander, which has been the target for the torpedo firings.
“The CIA has informants hooked into several high-ranking Russian active-duty and retired military officers. One of them confirmed that new technology has been incorporated into Alexander, which the Russians are very keen on. The previous Russian Fleet Admiral believes this new technology will tip the balance of naval power drastically in Russia’s favor.”
“What do we know about this technology?” the president asked.
“Unfortunately, not much. Carmen Aguirre from ONI and Vivian Best from the CIA will brief you on what we know and the proposed way ahead.” Christine turned to Carmen.
“Good morning, Mr. President. As Christine explained, we thought the Russians were testing a new torpedo, and we were able retrieve one that went to the bottom of the Barents Sea. We’ve just completed its analysis, and there are no noticeable improvements in either the hardware or software. That leaves Alexander, as the former Russian Fleet Admiral implied.”
Carmen opened a folder and handed copies of a photo to each person at the table. It was an overhead satellite shot of a submarine tied to a pier, taken with an infrared camera.
“This is a picture of Alexander following its last sortie to sea. We were able to slew additional reconnaissance satellites onto the submarine, and the infrared picture is particularly revealing. Alexander appears to be a standard Yasen class except for the addition of an extra sixty-foot compartment.” She pointed to a section of the submarine outlined with a red rectangle. “Notice how bright this section is compared to the rest of the submarine, except the adjacent reactor compartment. That’s heat. The additional compartment in Alexander is a second nuclear reactor.”
“Is that unusual?” the president asked.
“Very unusual,” Carmen replied. “Early Russian submarines had two reactors, but modern ones, along with all U.S. nuclear-powered submarines, have only one reactor. Technology has evolved such that a single reactor can provide the necessary electrical power and propulsion, and today’s reactors have a fuel core that will last the life of the submarine — about thirty years. Given that a single reactor is sufficient today, and that the first two Yasen class submarines were built with a single reactor, the question is — why does Alexander need so much extra power?”
“A much faster submarine?” the president proposed.
“That’s unlikely,” Carmen replied. “The power required to increase speed underwater is an exponential function, and at the speeds we’re looking at, you quickly reach a level where doubling the power gains you very little speed. Plus, to double the shaft horsepower, the Russians would’ve had to redesign the main engine, reduction gears, and shaft to handle the increased torque. The size of those redesigned components wouldn’t fit within the existing Yasen class engine room. So the power is being used for something else.”
Carmen turned to Vivian Best. “To shed light on what the Russians are up to, the CIA has unearthed some interesting information.”
Vivian picked up where Carmen left off. “As Carmen mentioned, Mr. President, we know very little so far except that the Russians began developing this technology ten years ago. With that as our single data point, we’ve identified a team of experts that was assembled ten years ago at the Sevmash shipyard along the White Sea, where Alexander was built. Additionally, now that Alexander has been launched and is homeported at Gadzhiyevo Naval Base in Russia’s Northern Fleet, the team has relocated nearby. We believe that whatever this team has been working on has been incorporated into Alexander.”
Vivian handed to everyone around the table a single-page portfolio for each of the four team members.
“Alexei Novikoff — a torpedo expert who led the design efforts for Russia’s latest Type 53 and Type 65 torpedoes.
“Josef Topolski — a sonar expert who led the design effort for the Yasen class spherical array bow sonar.
“Dmitri Poleski — a leading expert in metallurgy.
“And finally, Mikhail Krasinski — Russia’s foremost expert in magnetic field manipulation.
“Considering the team composition,” Vivian added, “we’ve come up with several ideas of what the Russians are working on. But we’re all over the map on this and need more information. We’ve developed a plan to obtain that information, which is somewhat sensitive. The director has approved the plan but wants your buy-in, in case anything goes wrong.”
“What’s the plan?”
Vivian interlocked her fingers on the table in front of her, offering no documents to refer to. There would be no written record of what they discussed today. “Of the four team members, one of them has rented a villa along a canal on the Murmansk Fjord, not far from Gadzhiyevo. We’d like to have a talk with him.”
The president asked, “What do you have in mind?”
CHAPTER 12
USS MICHIGAN
Wilson was the last to enter Michigan’s Battle Management Center. The pertinent individuals were already present for the brief: Michigan’s Executive Officer and four department heads, plus Commander McNeil and two other SEALs occupying three more consoles. Lieutenant Jake Harrison was standing in front beside a sixty-inch plasma display. He was half-Russian and spoke the language fluently, and would lead the mission. Wilson settled into a vacant console beside McNeil, and the senior SEAL nodded in Harrison’s direction. Harrison kicked off the mission brief, beginning with a summary of the information provided in Michigan’s operational order.