‘Why do I feel I’m not going to like what you’re about to tell me?’
Harris coughed weakly. ‘We were told that one of the submarines had to surface quickly.’
‘What’s the connection with our task force?’
‘The submarine was tagging behind the rest of the fleet. She’s a boat belonging to the British Navy called the Astute.’
‘So… maybe our Chinese friends were active in the area?’
‘We have a very full report from the Astute’s Commander via the Admiral of the fleet. The damage came from something the Commander has never experienced before.’
The President looked weary. ‘You’re going to tell me the boat was attacked by that experimental sub, right?’
‘It’s called Cetus, Robert. And yes, I’m afraid that is what it is beginning to look like.’
It was a minute before the President asked the next question.
‘Casualties?’
Harris glanced at his papers. ‘Over forty but none serious. Most reports were about bleeding from the ears. I understand that one sailor broke a leg when he fell. About a dozen sailors are recovering from smoke inhalation. Everyone is expected to recover though.’
‘Thank God for that’ the President said fervently.
Harris coughed again. ‘Unfortunately that isn’t the end of the story.’
‘What, don’t tell me another ship was attacked?’
‘No, nothing like that Mr President. But in some ways it is worse.’
‘What could be worse?’ asked the President, genuinely mystified.
Harris cleared his throat. ‘There was extensive damage to the boat. Everyone got out in time but the hull was breached. It took on water before it reaching the surface. The Admiral tells me there was water ingress to the nuclear power plant and it will require a major overhaul and refit. They’re still checking but some of the crew may have been exposed to abnormal levels of radiation.’
A hush descended as they absorbed the shocking news.
At last the President asked, ‘So you think that Cetus is responsible, but you can’t be absolutely sure?’
‘I wish I could say it happened because of something else’ Harris responded. ‘But in my view Cetus is responsible. We will still continue to keep an eye out in the South Atlantic, of course. But it looks like the sub is travelling north.’
‘Jesus, this just keeps on getting worse!’ The president let out a gasp of frustration. ‘What about those satellites you tasked?’
Harris looked uncomfortable. ‘We’ve not been able to track it via satellite sir. Cetus is smaller than a regular submarine. It’s also built with stealth technology borrowed from the air force. It uses electric engines for propulsion so it’s almost impossible to track, either under, or above the water.’
‘In the meantime what do you recommend we do about the British sub?’
‘Well Robert, basically we have two choices. You can call the British PM, offer your condolences and explain that we have a rogue sub which attacked their boat. You can say that we’re very sorry that it was responsible for damaging their state-of-the-art submarine and causing so many casualties. You can tell him that we’re doing our best to search for the rogue sub, but we don’t know where it is and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’s not going to cause any more damage before we get it back.’ Harris paused for breath.
‘Or you can just keep quiet.’
Chapter 16
As Sean followed Natasha he thought about her resilience. Over the last few days she had suffered the loss of her boyfriend, had been hunted in the streets where she lived and fired on at the funeral. He was not surprised that Natasha might want to break out.
Wherever she was going Sean felt she knew something she hadn’t told him. Perhaps she knew why Ben had been killed? Perhaps she had found out whatever Ben had found out before his murder? Whatever it was the only way Sean was going to find out was to stick to her like a leech.
Sean plugged in his ear-piece and called Lomax.
‘Natasha’s on the move, travelling north. I’m following but I’ve no idea where she is headed just yet.’
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you’ replied Lomax. ‘That woman’s trouble.’
‘You’re starting to repeat yourself’ replied Sean dryly.
‘DD’s found out she’s the liaison person for the National Security Agency.’
‘Understood’ responded Sean.
‘Putting you through now Prime Minister.’
The PM waited a second before speaking. ‘Good morning Robert. I hope you are well?’
‘Hi Terrence, never felt better. How’s the family?’ replied the President breezily.
‘Fine’ replied the PM, referring to his notes. ‘I hope you don’t mind the intrusion but I heard some disturbing news recently. I hope you might shed some light on it.’
‘Glad to help in any way I can, Terrence’ replied the President.
Those around the table saw the PM wince at the President’s use of his full first name for the second time. No-one in the cabinet, let alone the country, used his first name in full.
‘I’ve been told there’s a project called White Shield. It’s a fleet of NATO ships sailing from the Caribbean to Gibraltar as part of an exercise.’
‘Sorry, the name doesn’t ring a bell. But please carry on.’
‘Bear with me Robert. One of our submarines was accompanying the fleet and had to surface quickly. She came up because she thought she was under attack.’
‘Did you say “thought she was under attack”? How come you’re not sure?’
‘Well it wasn’t like any other attack — you know — torpedoes, depth charges or anything like that. The boat was subjected to a massive vibration that started to shake it apart. If the Commander hadn’t taken the emergency action he did the hull would have split and ninety eight people would have died.’
The PM paused. ‘Thankfully all 98 crew were rescued but there were a number of casualties. Some of the men came into contact with radiation.’
‘Good grief Terrance. Just remind me of the name of your boat.’
‘Astute, Robert. HMS Astute.’
‘Right, thanks. I’ll get someone onto this immediately. Were any other ships harmed?’
‘None that we are aware of. The fleet continued after the men were successfully rescued.’
‘OK, gotcha. Were there any other non-friendly ships in the area?’
‘That’s why I’m ringing you. I hoped you would be able to tell me.’
‘Well, I’m afraid I’m very light on details. But I can find out for you. I appreciate how you must feel about your boat. I’m glad that no lives were lost. As I recall Astute is an expensive piece of kit.’
‘Quite right, Robert. But I’m more concerned about who carried out this unprovoked attack.’
The PM waited for the President to respond.
‘Terrance, I wondered if you have considered the most obvious cause of the accident?’
‘What’s that?’
‘Well you say that the boat suffered from vibrations and that there were no other ships or submarines in the area.’
‘Correct — as far as we know, apart from the fleet, the Astute was alone.’
‘Well it would seem obvious to me’ continued the President. ‘If there was no sign of another ship in the area, the vibration came from the Astute.’
Quiet fell as the PM and people around the table thought about that.
‘Terrance — are you still there?’
‘Yes, we’re all still here. Just considering your suggestion.’
The PM looked around at the baffled set of faces.