“Okay. The first thing you have to do is calm down. You sound spun up. Explain it to me slowly.”
She scoffed and mocked herself with cynicism. “Sure, Gerry. Real slow. You ready? Here we go. Someone… hijacked… the… Goliath.”
“Good God, Olivia! I don’t know where to begin with that.”
“I told you it was bad.”
“This is catastrophic, but we deal with the catastrophic in our line of work. So stay calm and fill me in.”
Although she doubted he’d give her any political support, she expected his sincere concern. That was enough, for now. “Someone took the Goliath from its anchorage in Muscat last night, and Pierre’s got his submarines chasing it with a small chunk of the Omani Navy. He flooded the Goliath’s starboard engine room and is keeping it submerged and slow.”
“Who’s doing this?”
As an ace in the intelligence community, she felt sickened to give her weak answer. “No clue. Iran is the top candidate, but had my Iranian expert here tonight, and he turned up nothing.”
“Nothing? There’s nothing?”
“Someone’s covering their tracks, or they never created tracks.”
“Okay. You don’t know who did this. Absent that knowledge, what’s the risk?”
“The Goliath’s about fifteen miles from Iranian waters, and I don’t know what Pierre can do to stop it without sinking it.”
“Then he needs to sink it. That’s the worst-case end to this. It has to be.”
“I’m not sure I have total control of him. He’s trying to get it back without destroying it.”
His voice became icy. “Olivia, listen to me carefully. I can’t do anything to protect you if the Goliath ends up in hostile hands. You need to do whatever you can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“The commander of the Fifth Fleet doesn’t yet know about the hijacking, but he’s watching. He called me and said he’d destroy the Goliath before it gets to Hormuz. I think he’d be willing to help destroy it sooner if I asked.”
“Not in Iranian waters, he won’t. You’re running out of time if he’s going to help you.”
“I know. I need to decide fast.”
“Does he think you still control the Goliath?”
“Maybe. Probably. Do you think I should come clean and ask for help?”
“Yes. You’re in damage control mode. Taking a definitive step to sink the Goliath may be necessary for you to survive this.”
“Thanks, Gerry. I didn’t want to make this decision alone.”
“Make the call. Good luck.”
With the phone silent, she gazed out the window mustering courage, but then fate jolted her with her phone’s ringer.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet’s commander was calling her directly. As she fumbled to answer, a competing call arrived from Renard.
“Shit.” After a moment of indecision, she answered the vice admiral’s call. She struggled to find the breath to speak and fumbled through an inappropriate greeting. “This is Olivia.”
“Miss McDonald, this is Vice Admiral Schmidt. You’ll excuse my directness, but blunt action requires blunt speech. I’m afraid I need to tighten the noose around your task force.”
“I… I don’t understand.”
“I don’t have time for political positioning.”
“No, really. I don’t understand.” Her tone sounded desperate as her words circled her head. Her inner beast hated such weakness but judged it appropriate for her pending request for help.
“No matter. Your task force just forced two Iranian Ghadir-class submarines to the surface. Normally, I’d applaud your sailors for harassing the Iranians, but these subs were two of nearly a dozen we’re tracking near your task force.”
“A dozen?”
The vice admiral assumed a pensive tone. “I see. You really don’t know. Come to think of it, you can’t know. This is naval intelligence, and you have no access to it unless your task force is on an approved mission.”
The protective monster’s instinct was to launch a counterattack, challenging why the vice admiral was spying on a CIA mission. Then the beast recognized the vapidity of the argument and judged compliance as the proper tactic. “You’re right, sir. I don’t have such access.”
“Well, now you know. The recent Iranian activity suggests their involvement, and that changes everything. I can’t risk the Goliath falling into Iranian hands.”
“Of course not, sir. I understand.”
“Do you? Do you know what its railguns can do to my fleet from the safety of Iranian waters? They could cripple the engine room of every ship I have. They could make every building on my base inhabitable.”
She knew everything the Goliath could do. It had been her asset just half a day earlier. “I fully agree, sir.”
“Good. Then you’ll understand if I give the order to sink it.”
Her mentor’s advice aside, her world crumbled, and the inner girl groped for something to hold. The best she could find was a cry for clemency. “I’d like one last appeal to Renard. He tried to call me during our conversation.”
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes. If I don’t hear from you by then, I’m sending the Goliath to the bottom.”
“Thank you.” The line went silent, and she called the Frenchman.
Renard sounded enthusiastic. “Great news. Jake is beginning his final approach on the Goliath.”
“Really? Well I have shitty news. I did some math in my head after talking to the commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.”
“You informed him of our predicament?”
The Frenchman’s audacity angered her. “No, jackass, he informed me! Hours ago! Don’t you think the big boys watch you?”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
The beast let the inner girl vent at volume. “When he told me, it didn’t matter. He only cared about you reaching Hormuz. Now he sees that the damned Iranians are involved! He’s afraid they’re trying to steal the Goliath, and he’s right. He says a dozen submarines are out there waiting for you.”
“Damn. That many.”
“And my Iranian expert just told me there’s absolutely no sign of an Iranian operation against you. Nothing’s making sense. This is an unqualified disaster without a shred of insight. You got blindsided bad.” Silent moments passed, and her temper receded.
“Yes, I agree.”
“How do you get yourself into a mess like this?”
“I will share with you whatever insight I find as I learn it. However, we must keep our wits about us. You mentioned doing the math. What math did you perform?”
“Yeah, right. I have fifteen minutes, twelve now, to get back to the vice admiral, or he’ll sink the Goliath. I assume that means he has a submarine watching you, right? What else could he mean?”
“No, that’s logical. It’s a submarine. Based upon the intelligence you’ve shared with me, no surface combatant or anti-submarine aircraft is close enough to attack the Goliath within that timeframe. Nor do the Omanis see anything close enough.”
“That’s bad, Pierre. An American submarine can take down your entire fleet in a snap.”
“I know that. But its presence is also not unexpected.”
She found his enduring confidence arrogant. “So what? You act like you’re in total control, but you’re not. You’re about to be hunted down and destroyed by the U.S. Navy. What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m putting an end to it.”
“How?”
“Jake’s in position now. He’ll launch weapons at the port stern until this ends properly with the Goliath on the surface, or until it ends sadly with the Goliath on the bottom.”