Maden Mike - Tom Clancy Firing Point

“Poseidon sounds like a doomsday machine,” Arnie said.

“It’s meant to sound like one,” Talbot said. “In reality, their speed and payloads are probably less than advertised. But even so, they can evade our defenses, which makes them a formidable weapon.”

“Do you think the Poseidon is the most likely weapon?” Foley asked.

“No, ma’am. It’s too new and too expensive for them to waste on something like sinking cargo ships.”

“What other subs do they have in the area?” Ryan asked.

“The Glazov was launched six weeks ago and assigned to the Pacific Fleet. It’s an improved Kilo-class diesel-electric boat. Probably the quietest boat they’ve ever put in the water, SSK or otherwise.”

“How quiet?” Foley asked.

“Remember the Krasnodar incident a few years back?” Talbot said. “That boat was also an improved Kilo class, only this new one is even better.”

Ryan shook his head, frustrated at the memory.

President Yermilov had announced to the world, and to NATO in particular, the launch of the Krasnodar and its mission to fire its Kalibr cruise missiles into Syria. NATO tracked the boat—which conveniently ran on the surface—all the way from its home port in the Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea. Somewhere off the coast of Libya, it submerged and disappeared. It was only found again after it launched its cruise missiles at targets in Syria. It then resurfaced and headed for its new home base in the Crimea. NATO had taken to calling the Krasnodar “the Black Hole.”

“Where is the Glazov now?”

“We’re not sure, sir. NRO satellites tracked it leaving port six weeks ago, and passed it off to the Japanese. They assigned the Toryu to keep an eye on it. The Toryu is one of Japan’s new lithium-ion AIP diesel-electric boats—the most advanced in the world. But three days later, the Glazov submerged and slipped the leash. We’re not exactly sure where it is now but it was last seen heading in the general direction of the area in question.”

Ryan pointed at the map. “Given its operational capabilities and the locations of the sunken vessels, you think the Glazov is the most likely culprit?”

“Right now, it’s the only candidate. The fact it carries Kalibr-M cruise missiles and supercavitating Shkval torpedoes doesn’t exactly fit with a whale-watching mission profile.”

SecDef Burgess held up his hands. “I’m sorry, I’m just not buying this. Are we saying the Russian government has gone into the piracy business?”

“If by ‘piracy’ you mean we’re chasing a bunch of Ivans with parrots and peg legs, my guess would be no,” Ryan said. “But given Buck Logan’s experience, I’m comfortable calling these criminal actions ‘piracy.’” Ryan scanned the table. “But if anybody here says ‘arrr’ I’m canceling lunch.”

That elicited a much-needed chuckle around the table.

“But it seems odd for the Russians to engage in this kind of behavior,” SecState Adler said.

“Could be a cover or a feint. Could be they want us to believe we’re chasing pirates instead of Russian subs,” Arnie suggested.

“Why? What cover? What feint?”

Arnie shrugged. “Testing new weapons systems—or testing ours? Or a feint to draw us into this area while they do something else on the other side of the globe? Or trying to throw confusion into our ranks?”

“I think the President already alluded to the real reason,” SecDef Burgess said. “We’ve put economic sanctions on them for years. Loss of trade hurts them. Perhaps this is their way to dry up global trade on our end. Tit for tat.”

“I’ve got a better reason,” Ryan said. He pointed at Admiral Talbot. “You’re the one that brought up the Krasnodar . At the time, we all agreed Yermilov pulled that publicity stunt to embarrass NATO. But we figured out a little later it was actually a piece of theater meant to sell the improved Kilos to Third World customers like Egypt and India.”

“That’s right. And it worked. We put sanctions on the Russians, and they turn around and sell their Black Hole Kilos to every regional competitor who can cough up the rubles. Makes our job a whole helluva lot harder.”

“So, this Glazov sub is doing the same thing? Sinking commercial ships to prove its worth?” Arnie said.

“It’s only a theory,” Ryan said. “And right now, five bucks and my theory will only buy you a cup of burnt coffee. And there’s one other little problem.”

“What’s that?” Arnie asked.

“How in the hell do you find an unfindable boat?”

—

“So let’s continue the ‘who’ conversation,” Ryan said. “Someone tell me why it’s not the Russians.”

“What if the sinkings weren’t caused by a sub?” Arnie asked. “What if it was done with an explosive device smuggled on board? That could be the work of a terrorist organization.”

“But no terror demands have been made,” the SecDef countered.

“Cash has been demanded—lots of it—and those assholes need a shit-ton of loot to carry out their operations. We’ve done a good job of drying up their primary funding sources. Maybe this is their response to our efforts,” Arnie said.

“Terrorists aren’t out of the question,” Foley said. “But it’s kind of a reach, if we’re talking about the usual suspects.”

“Even Houthis are flying aerial drones these days,” Arnie said.

“Not in the South Pacific.”

“What about the Chi-Comms? They have deepwater boats, don’t they?” Arnie asked.

“We have all of their submarines accounted for,” Talbot said.

“How?”

Talbot smiled and winked. “Sorry, Arnie, but you’re not cleared for that one.”

A few chuckles burbled around the table.

Slightly irritated, Arnie pushed back. “What about the NORKs? Those assholes are always up to something, and as I recall, they have over six hundred combat vessels in their fleet, including subs.”

“All true, Mr. van Damm, but most of their surface fleet is limited to coastal operations—gunboats, patrol boats, and amphibs. We estimate they have seventy operational diesel subs and some of those have deepwater capability. But most of those are Soviet and Chi-Comm surplus, which I wouldn’t trust to sail the Potomac. I wouldn’t rule them out entirely, given their tenacity, but I wouldn’t put them anywhere near the top of the list.”

“What about regular, run-of-the-mill pirates?” Foley said. “They’ve been quite active over the last decade.”

Talbot spoke as he flashed his pointer at the piracy hotspots on the coasts of Africa, the Gulf of Oman near the Arabian Peninsula, the Strait of Malacca, and the South China Sea.

“Pirates are typically indigenous locals. Their SOP is to seize vessels or hostages for ransom, and their weapons inventory is limited to small arms. Given the location of the incidents in the South Pacific and the catastrophic destruction of the vessels and crew, I’d rule them out.”

“So where does that leave us?” the President asked.

“The fact that only cargo vessels have been targeted intrigues me,” Foley said. “There’s a lot of money in the oil industry. I’m surprised they aren’t hitting tankers. Some of the big ones now carry in excess of five hundred thousand deadweight tons of petroleum.”

“According to Logan’s ransom letter, these jokers want to keep things out of the public eye.” Ryan leaned on the desk. “Remember the Exxon Valdez ? Imagine the global outrage if it was known that our pirates sank an oil tanker and destroyed an entire coral reef? There would be instant demand to find and prosecute them.”