Steve Abbott - Devil's Gambit

Gayle was aghast. “You don’t obviously mean to pull that kind of sexist crap with me, do you Harris?”

“What kind of crap would that be, Captain?”

“That I’m a woman.”

“Sorry, but you have the wrong century. I’ve worked with women operatives before. I don’t trust you because you’ve never been under fire.”

“I am in command. If you try to undermine me one more time, you had better watch your back.”

“Bill, back off.” Sean looked at Gayle. “Fine, you’re in charge. Don’t be so easily led to argument next time.” Sean looked back at Chun. “Why not unload at Wonsan instead? It’s farther from the DMZ and even closer to air assets. Apart from the one air battle, this conflict has been played out in the diplomatic arena. Why run the risk of unloading so close to the border?”

Chun pulled out a fresh cigarette and used the glowing stub of his previous one to light it. “I’m afraid it’s much more complex than that.”

Forest pulled a dossier out of his briefcase and slid it across the conference table to Gayle. “He’s right. The Japanese and the Koreans have been enemies for a very long time. Each has always seen the other as the aggressor. Don’t forget that even the South Koreans named Japan as an antagonist in one of their recent white papers on defense. The North has been secretly building a launch complex for static launch versions of the Nodong missile at Chanjon. Though it is nowhere even close to complete. Washington believes that the proximity to the China Sea is an excuse for such a facility. It is, after all, on the other side of the peninsula from Seoul. Chanjon is one of the most southern points of North Korea. It is well within the range constraints of the Nodong to strike at mainland Japan. A mobile launcher can be set up with a minimum of time from a pre-surveyed site. Washington feels that there is a good possibility of there being sites with launchers on them. Current intel suggests the North Koreans have not yet completed the first series of prototype Nodong launchers. Judging from the warhead types taken, it is a very good chance the missile bodies will be on standard TEL mobile launchers associated with the SCUD variant of missile.”

Chun continued from where Forest left off. “Our weapons program was proceeding with enough speed to not warrant the purchase of these warheads. My only stumbling block was not being able to get my hands on the needed Krytron switch technology. There is only one plan of action that Comrade Sung could have sold the Supreme Leader on: a plan of invasion.”

Yevgeny was shocked. “You’re saying that they intend to use these warheads? Not study them for reengineering?”

Chun turned to the Russian, “What did you think, Comrade? We would sit idle while your empire went through the last stages of disintegration of the glorious dream? That we would let you sell us out for a few creature comforts? That we lacked intelligence to follow our own path? Did you see how fast your resplendent dominion came down around your ears? Your government could not even rule effectively through fear. All that time of worldwide dread, and in the end, Russia was just a paper threat. The people finally saw through the facade and burned it to the ground. All they ever wanted was food. When they opened the state coffers, all they found were weapons. They stole back this nightmare built for them and sold it to all who wanted it for themselves.” Chun’s clenched fist crashed down on the table. “Now they sell death paid for in their own cold dark blood to any who can pay, because it is all they have to offer.” Chun turned his back on the Russian. His words resonated off the cold steel wardroom walls. “You were always a country of peasants. A Czar by any other name is still a tyrant.”

Yevgeny’s hands gripped the edge of the table hard. He answered Chun through clenched teeth. “Better a peasant’s grave than a traitor’s.”

The wolf flashed across Chun’s face. When he grinned, there was no warmth. “Perhaps you are right. But of one thing I am sure: Pyongyang means to start the next war with a big bang.”

A long silence descended on the gathering as this last piece of information was digested.

Sean turned to Gayle. “We need to brief the Admiral on this. It’s beyond the boundaries.”

Gayle nodded. “The joint chiefs and the President should be notified as well.”

The Marine Sergeant was annoyed when he returned to find the wardroom empty. A note pinned to the door told him to bring the maps and photos to the Admiral’s wardroom.

The sonar officer sat hunched over his control panel. The Leader’s depth was just under the convergence zone. Her towed array was limited in the extreme because of the Leader’s small size. He could not be sure, but he thought that there had been some explosions at extreme distance to the northwest of their position. American active sonar had increased dramatically after. He made another notation to the marks on his plotting table.

It was definite: the Americans were moving deeper into the Yellow Sea. It had to be so. The proof lay before him. Still, there were waiting American subs and ASW aircraft to worry about. They were still a long way from home.

A ship, by its very nature, is a noisy beast. A submarine, by contrast, is a ghost. Anti-submarine aircraft are the fish hawks. The Americans made the best subs in the world. They could afford to. The workmanship on the Leader was the best the Democratic People’s Republic could muster. Still, it was a boat with systems and equipment from several different countries including some components from America. Their hull design was only partially tested. An American hunter/killer could be running a firing solution on them right now. His tubes already flooded, so there would be no warning. Only the… He shook his head. Fatigue was making them all jumpy. He shot a glance at his partner. The strain was evident there as well.

Captain Kil-Yon sat in his command chair. It had taken twenty hours to get to their present position. So far, there had been no further contamination of the forward torpedo room reported. That would change if the Americans found the Leader and they could not escape. Of course, if that happened, contamination would be the least of their worries. Kil-Yon was surprised at the ambivalence he felt towards their current situation. All his life, he had trained for war, schooled and steeled himself for the ultimate test, and now that moment was upon him. There was not even an increase in heartbeat, no sweaty palms… nothing.

His sonar officers had done a fine job of locating many of the sonobuoy nets strung by the Americans hoping to ensnare them. The Americans were still blind to the Leader’s position and bearing. There had also been no active sonar detected under the three hundred and fifty meter level.

The Koreans were leaving the safety of deep water behind them soon. They would continue to hug the sea bottom in an effort to avoid detection. The Carrier Battle Group now to the northwest of them was still a threat, albeit a misguided one. Still, the gauntlet left to run was formidable.

The sonar officer leaned further into his console. Had he heard another explosion? No, this was farther to the south of their position. He waited, ears hunting for the sound to be repeated. There, there it was again. But it was in the surface clutter, and again. It wasn’t explosions; it was thunder.

He turned to his Captain, face triumphant. “Captain, there is a storm moving in from our stern. It sounds like a big one.”

A thin smile cut across the Captain’s face. “Excellent. How soon will it be over our position?”