She knew it was time to get her neck on the block.
“Sir, we have one chance,” said Nikki. “We get Seopung to come out to play.”
“And how in hell do we do that, Kaminski?” asked Admiral Kamov.
“That’s the problem, Sir. You’re not going to like it.”
Chapter 7
THE ADMIRAL SMILED. “How did you come up with that, Kaminski?”
“I’m a Georgia girl, Sir. We’re all sick and twisted.”
Kamov nodded to General Cotton.
“Ok we’re done here,” said Cotton. “Thanks Commander Blake, Lieutenant Kaminski, we’ll discuss the option. Over.” General Cotton cut the connection.
“WHAT’S THE CONSENSUS?” said Cotton.
“It’s very risky,” said General Weingarten.
“It’s risky all right,” said the Commandant of the Marine Corps Bruce Nanut. “But it’s also ballsy, brave, imaginative and downright fucking brilliant.”
Admiral Kamov nodded.
“To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, when all else is impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the way forward.”
Weingarten leaned forward. “Can we sell it to the ROK government?”
National Security Advisor, Stockhaisen, tapped the desktop. “There may be a way.”
“How?” asked General Weingarten. “A lot of my men and women are at stake here.”
“I can’t say yet. I’ll have to speak to my contacts in Korea first. But I think we can do this. We can show Kim Jong-un up as a fool with a sore ass.”
“Let’s do it. Teach that fat kid that he’s playing with the grown-ups now.”
The President was surprised; his National Security Advisor had turned from sheep to wolf.
What the hell had changed?
It hadn’t really hit Stockhaisen, in truth. He felt more confident, more assertive, more alive. It was down to Peekaboo. She was back; and so was his spine.
“Mr President? It’s your call.”
“I can see that there’s misgivings. Who wouldn’t have them? But the mood of the meeting is unmistakable. Let’s go for it. This Bull Run operation. Do it people, make it happen.”
SEVERAL HOURS LATER he checked his wall clock. It was perfect timing. Stockhaisen could call his contact at the South Korean National Intelligence Service at 8pm and then drive to Dulles to pick up Peekaboo at 10.55 after her flight from LA. He’d organised a little midnight drinks party, his wife thought it was for an old college buddy of his. She didn’t like it, but was going along with it. Stockhaisen smiled. What a turn around.
She’s back. Let’s put it behind us, she’d said.
Stockhaisen dialled.
The phone in Naegok-dong, South East Seoul rang. “Yeoboseyo, Park Hae-jin.”
“Hae, it’s Stockhaisen. How’re you doing?”
“Hi, doing well my friend. How did I know you’d be calling soon?”
“You have your eyes on the game, Hae. Let me run an idea past you…”
The discussion went on a little longer than he’d thought but not too long. He’d still be able to meet her at Dulles.
Park Hae-jin thought that the move would be well received. It slotted in with the current political mood; he didn’t see it being hard to sell.
Life was good, thought Stockhaisen. They had a real chance of ramming a gerbil up Kim Jong-un’s ass, and with Peekaboo home, the Chinese Ministry of State Security was off his back.
“I’M ALESSANDRA CRISTOFORETTI and you’re watching NBC’s 40 minutes. The situation on the Korean peninsula gets even more critical with reports that South Korean reservists are being called up. Another sign of the tension being ratcheted up is the deployment of the carrier USS John C Stennis. The carrier will join the USS Abraham Lincoln off Northern Japan. Pacific theatre analyst Clayton Bernard joins me today. Thanks for coming in today, Clayton.
Could you give us your assessment of the current state of affairs regarding North Korea?”
“Thanks, Alessandra. I understand 40,000 reservists are being called up; this is small beer compared to the numbers available. But it is a sign of alarm. The DPRK is also raising its state of alert. All this follows the deployment of two squadrons of F22 Raptors to Japan a couple of days ago.
Of course, it’s set against the background of the launch of the Pukgukson-3 ballistic missile from the submarine Seopung off California. The sinking of the PRKN Corvette, the USS Benfield and the B1-B strikes on North Korea.”
“Clayton. Do you think it’s all building up to a war?”
“It needs to be cooled somewhat or it could end up that way. The President of Chile has offered to mediate and is flying to Pyongyang tomorrow before her visit to Washington. I must admit there doesn’t seem to be much appetite for compromise at the moment.”
“Can they carry out a ballistic missile strike on the US?”
“From their land based missiles; we just don’t know. They say so, but then they would, wouldn’t they? From the Seopung yes. They’ve proved that; but it can’t launch from home port.”
“Thanks Clayton. The situation’s certainly fraught; let’s hope the Chilean President can get the two sides talking.” She turned to the camera. “This is Alessandra Cristoforetti and you’re watching NBC’s 40 minutes.”
TWO DAYS WENT BY. THE Republic of Korea’s operation North Wind started at zero one hundred hours local time with an increase in communications traffic between the Ministry of Defense in Seoul and forward units of the Korean 5th Armoured Brigade; Iron Storm. This was quickly followed by messages to other units, ordering a general stand too. Copies of false orders were placed seemingly by mistake where known DPRK spies would see them.
Several destroyers and other warships were put to sea; the western squadron was led by the Destroyer ROKN Munmu the Great and the eastern squadron by the Destroyer ROKN Sejong the Great. Increased combat air patrols by the Air Force by F15 and F16 fighters took to the sky. The ROK Army’s First Operations Command started moving brigades to positions north of Seoul and north of the border area of Pocheon in the central part of the peninsula. From here they could outflank a DPRK army attack on Seoul.
At Camp Humphreys, south of Incheon, the American Eighth Army commenced full mobilisation.
The Republic of Korea was now on a war footing.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER Lemineux, handed Commander Nathan Blake a communications slip.
“This just came in from COMSUBPAC Sir.”
“Thanks.” Nathan read it.
PRIORITY RED
R 221345Z JUL 86 ZY11
COMSUBPAC PEARL HARBOR HAWAII//N1//
TO STONEWALL JACKSON
PACFLT// ID S072RQ81//
NAVAL OPS/02
MSGID/PACOPS 6732/COMSUBPAC ACTUAL//
MSG BEGINS://
FIND ATTACHED DOD-SUBPAC-TASKING68-43 DOCUMENT.
ACTION AUTHORISED.
MSG END//
Nathan opened the DOD-SUBPAC-TASKING68-43 file and read it.
He knew it. A first instinct is rarely wrong and when he’d first heard her suggest it, he knew it had the feel of inevitability about it.
Nathan walked over to the navigation station. She looked up at him quizzically. He smirked.
“COMSUBPAC has just confirmed that plan Kaminski has a go ahead. H hour for Bull Run is zero five hundred hours tonight.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Oh shit.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows.
“Oh shit, Sir.”
He grinned. “Weaps, you got that? We’re go for it at zero five hundred.”
The Weapons officer grinned.
“Yes Sir, I’ll take Johansson with me, we’ll check over the VPM tubes.”