A commander just inside the door stared at them a moment. “Lieutenant Commander Blake Murdock?”
“Yes, sir. In response to Commander Johnson’s message.”
“Right. Glad you’re here. You’re going to talk to Admiral Birchard D. Bennington, and he’s getting impatient waiting for you. This way.”
“Can you tell us what happened to Pearl?”
“Half blown off the map. Missiles, but we’re not sure who fired them. So far the brass thinks it’s a Chinese attack.”
The men went to an elevator and down two levels, through a concrete tunnel, and into a war room with huge maps on the wall, a dozen large video monitors, and a table in front with six men clustered around it. All were Navy captains and admirals.
A four-star admiral stood and stared at the four SEALs.
“Are you Lieutenant Commander Blake Murdock?”
“Yes, sir.”
“About time. The CNO sends his regards. He has given me an assignment for you and your platoon.”
The four SEALs had come stiffly to attention.
“At ease, men,” the admiral said. “This is a rush job. You know we’ve been hit, Chinese we think. We also have lost most of our radio network. The key is the master communications center, Building Forty-two on Pearl. It was not damaged in the missile attack. Now it’s locked down from the inside. Our best explanation is that some terrorists captured the facility at the exact time that the missiles hit. At any rate, they have complete control. They haven’t sent us any messages, but right now they are seriously handicapping our situation. In short, we have only paste-up communications with the entire South Pacific. We’ve heard by phone that there has been an invasion on the windward coast at Kaneohe Bay. But we’re not even sure of that.”
The admiral looked at the four SEALs critically. “I see you have some of your combat gear. What you don’t have we can supply here in quick time. Your assignment, straight from a man called Don Stroh and the President, sent through the CNO, is to capture the communications building and drive out the enemy there with as little damage to the equipment as possible. Do you have any questions?”
2
Murdock looked at the four-star admiral, his face showing surprise.
“Sir, the communications building is like a fortress. I have fifteen men.”
“And good ones, from what I’m told. The Chief of Naval Operations says you’re the man for the job. Get it done as quickly as you can. We have a full-scale Chinese amphibious invasion in progress. We need our commo and we need it now.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll need equipment and arms.”
“We don’t want you simply blasting into the place and leaving it in rubble. We could do that. We want it to be on the air ten minutes after you liberate it. I understand you have a sound weapon that isn’t destructive.”
“We brought only four of the EAR weapons, sir, mostly for demonstration.”
“Good, use them. Anything you want, Commander. And I mean anything: tanks, flamethowers, a company of Marine Rangers. Just ask. Commander Johnson is your liaison. Good luck.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Murdock said. The four did about-faces and walked out of the room. Commander Johnson was just outside.
“What’s first, Commander?” Johnson asked.
“Recon and intel. I want a floor plan of the building. Base engineering should have it. Get about six men to help you run down things for us.”
They walked down the tunnel to the elevator, then went up.
“Get one man to take my Senior Chief Dobler to ordnance with a truck to bring back ammo and weapons. We left some gear here two days ago. Find it and get it to our assembly area about two blocks from the target.”
“I’ve got two Humvees and six men topside, Commander. We’ll get in motion. Also, I’ve got a man who works in the commo building who can fill you in on some of the problems and the defenses.”
At the six-by, Murdock told the men the assignment. He sent Senior Chief Dobler to ordnance. “Get all the exploding twenties they have, and regular 20mm rounds. Also we need TNAZ or C-5, whichever they have. Load up on 5.56 ammo. Anything else you think we might need. Some flashbangs would be good, a couple of dozen. Go. The Chinese are invading the other side of the island right now.”
Murdock turned to meet a chief who came up with Johnson.
“Commander, this is Chief Natterby, a commo specialist who works in the center. He knows the layout.”
“Welcome aboard, Chief. We’ve got work to do. You stay with me. We’ll recon the place soon.” He looked back at the liaison officer. “Johnson, if they have any Marine Recon or Rangers on-base, get me twenty of them combat-ready. I want them here as backup. Chief Natterby, we need a command post two blocks from the commo center. Tell Johnson where it should be so he can get the Marines there.”
Murdock scowled for a moment, thinking. “Recon time. DeWitt, Jaybird, Natterby. On me in that first Humvee. Let’s see what we have here to work against.”
The Humvee had a driver. Natterby told him where to go. They edged up to the side of a building a few blocks later, and all climbed out.
Natterby had talked all the way over. The place was a fortress, but it had weak spots.
“What about a central air-conditioning system?” Jaybird asked. “Any way we could get to it?”
“The central air-conditioning has its only air intake on the rear of the building at ground level. There is no room-by-room control. Tough to shut off the air-con.”
“Perfect spot for some tear-gas drills,” Jaybird said.
Chief Natterby took a small cell phone from his pocket. “Sir, I can call ordnance and have them include tear-gas canisters with the other material your chief is picking up.”
Murdock nodded.
“How many, sir?” asked Natterby.
“Fifty. No, make it eighty.”
Now the men peered around the building at the communications center. It was a concrete block building, three stories high, with a l50-foot frontage on the street. Windows showed on the first two floors, but none on the third floor. The roof was a pincushion of antennas.
“Two doors in the rear,” Natterby said. “One truck ramp. One door in front. It’s electronic with a guard post outside. You need a thumbprint and retina check to get in normally. Right now the security post is empty. No easy access.”
“What about the roof?” DeWitt asked.
“Never been up there. Must be access to service the antennas. Probably a weak spot.”
“Any windowless area that extends all the way to the roof-line?” Murdock asked.
“Yes, sir. On the rear, our near side. Rope climb?”
Murdock nodded. “Okay, let’s pick out our command post. Where should it be, Natterby? No more than two blocks from the target.”
They picked out a vacant parking lot behind another big building. The six-by came moments later, and then the other Humvee. The platoon began working over gear. Natterby made four phone calls, then went to Murdock.
“I found the rest of your gear. I’ve arranged to have it brought here. Should arrive within a half hour.”
“Good, check with ordnance and see if our truck there has left yet. We can’t do much until we get those canisters. That’s going to be our opening move.”
Joe Lampedusa came up and Murdock grabbed him. “Two blocks over is a three-storied building,” Murdock said. “The commo center. I want you to do a recon all the way around it. Stay out of sight if possible. Look for any weak spots. Should be a rope-climb area back there without windows. Check it out. You have forty minutes. Leave your weapon here and your vest. Move it.”