Red Shark

“Sir, if we can get a fix now, we won’t have to take time to update later if things get hot. Plus with our RDT we don’t have to slow down or come to PD.”

Scott noted their depth on the digital display: 620 feet. He turned to Kramer and said, “Can we piggyback our nav updates with high-data rate capture from SRO and Yokosuka?”

“No, sir, can’t do both simultaneously. We have to reconfigure for each capture. Only takes a few minutes to make the switch.”

“We’re due for an SVTC conference in less than an hour. By then we’ll be crossing the continental shelf. From seven hundred fathoms to less than a hundred,” Scott snapped his fingers, “just like that.” He pointed to the line of demarcation on the chart where the ocean’s depth changed from 4,200 feet to less than 600. “And it’ll only get shallower the closer we get to the China coast.” He pushed away from the plotting table. “Permission granted to update. When you’re finished, break out charts of the coast south of Shanghai. Let’s see if we can figure out where the Red Shark might be hiding.”

* * *

Radford looked frightful on the split SVTC transmission from Washington. Exhausted and drawn, he chain-smoked as he spoke. “A few hours ago we intercepted a message to Admiral Chou at North Sea Fleet Headquarters transmitted from what we are pretty sure is a PLAN submarine on patrol in an area south of Dingdao. To summarize, the message indicated that the unit had made and then lost contact with a DPRK submarine. The PLAN message states that they are in the process of making an end around to hunt for this submarine near Rizhao.”

“Has to be the Red Shark,” said Scott, glancing at Kramer, who had joined him for the broadcast conference in the control room. Kramer nodded agreement. “Seems to confirm, General, that the NKs have a 213 on the loose,” Scott added.

“Indeed, except that we’ve been over our archived material and can’t find a thing that points to its existence. No satellite material or electronic intercepts. I just don’t see how we missed it.” Radford was still distressed over SRO’s having been surprised by the existence of the advanced North Korean boat.

“Anything new on satellite?” Scott said, pressing on, thinking that Radford could rake his fingers through the dead coals looking for clues later; right now he had a live sub to find.

“Yes, Ms. Kida can fill you in on that. By the way, she’s working for us now.”

She appeared on the other half of the monitor looking tired but alert. The brightness Scott liked to see had returned to her eyes, and the bruise on her face had been covered up by skillful application of makeup. “Greetings, Captain Scott. And to your crew.”

“Thank you. I’m pleased to see you looking fit again.”

“The U.S. Navy’s taking good care of me.”

“Your family, they were unharmed?”

“Yes.” She lowered her eyes. “But Higashi-san was considered part of our family. His death has hit my parents very hard.”

“I’m sorry, Fumiko. Very sorry. Please tell your father.”

At length she looked up and said, “I will.” She cleared her throat. “We have updated satellite imagery, which, after analysis, we believe shows the North Korean sub. We’ll have another update in eight hours. For now the coordinates you see on the monitor are the latest we have, and they jibe with the position of the PLAN sub at the time of its contact transmission to North Sea Fleet Headquarters. As you can see from the heat bloom — and it’s very faint — the DPRK sub has indeed moved south to Rizhao.”

“Yes, I see it — barely. We’ll adjust our search protocol accordingly.”

Kramer was busy roughing out courses and search patterns based on the information Fumiko had just provided. He leaned into Rodriguez, who was standing at the portside plotting table, and filled him in.

“General, anything from the Philippines?” asked Scott.

“The president has spoken to Santos. He’s offered full cooperation and is assembling a special-ops contingent of Filipino Special Forces for insertion along with our people. Colonel Jefferson is with a recon unit that lifted out of Guam an hour ago. We’ve narrowed the search for the terrorists to an abandoned port facility in Santa Cruz, south of Davao City.”