Red Shark

She hesitated, then said, “Colonel Jefferson said that your wife played a major role in my rescue.”

“My ex, you mean. She doesn’t know anything about the operation, if that’s got you worried.”

“I’m not worried, it’s just that I didn’t know she was in Tokyo, that you had seen her.”

“Fumiko, we’re on the government’s nickel. I know you didn’t ring me up to discuss my former domestic arrangements. Where’s Radford? I don’t see his happy face.”

“He’s briefing the president and asked me to brief you. There have been some important developments. Within the last hour the Chinese lodged a protest at the UN, charging that we’ve sent a submarine to spy on their naval facilities at Dingdao. They claim the spying is tied to our dispute with the North Koreans, that we’re accusing the Chinese of supporting the Jin regime and are trying to provoke their navy.”

“We’re provoking them? Did they tell you that we’ve tracked the Red Shark into Chinese territorial waters, and that one of their subs fired on us twice?”

That gave her a genuine start. “Oh, my God, Jake. No, we didn’t know any of that.”

“What did the Chinese say about the underwater explosions around Haizhou Wan? That they’re caused by Chinese oil exploration teams running seismic profiles? Or Chinese torpedoes? Check your sat infrared imagery and you’ll see them.”

“They haven’t said anything about that, not yet anyway.”

“Thanks to the Kilo’s attack on us, we lost the Red Shark. We’re trying to shake the Kilo, but I’m not sure we can. Anyway, we’re running out of time to find the Red Shark before she can break out into the East China Sea. No one asked my advice, but Radford can tell our UN ambassador that he should remind the Chinese that the Yellow Sea is international waters, not their private lake, and that when one of their subs fires on us, we’ll fire back.”

Fumiko put a hand to her mouth. “Jake, if you do, you’ll start a war with the Chinese.”

“Just tell them.”

“Jake—”

“Tell them!”

“All right,” Fumiko agreed. “I’ll tell General Radford what you said.”

“What’s he done about setting up the SSN blockade?”

“ComSubPac has ordered a surge of SSNs into the area, but they won’t all be on station for at least another thirty-six hours. JCS has ordered Seventh Fleet to deploy whatever ASW units it has, to back up the SSN blockade. In the meantime General Radford’s authorized a Global Hawk surveillance mission of the region, to help you locate the Red Shark. If we can get her image on a round-the-clock basis, SRO can vector you in for an attack.”

“The Chinese will protest that it’s an overflight of their territory, and it’ll only make matters worse.”

“I agree, but the general, like you, is concerned that she may give you the slip.”

“We’re trying not to let that happen, which is why we’ve got to deal with that Kilo. Look, I’ve got to go.”

“Jake, wait. There’s something else. Washington received another signal from their contact in Pyongyang. He gave them the names of the cities that are targeted for destruction — New York, Washington, and Chicago.”

“So we were right all along, weren’t we?” Scott collected himself and said, “What does Jefferson have to say? Has he helped that spec-ops unit find the base in Davao?”

“Actually, he’s with them. He sent his regards and said he’d catch up with you in Pearl.”

“What the hell’s he doing? I thought he was coordinating their ops, not wrangling to be another gun in the fight.”

“He got General Radford’s okay, said he didn’t want to sit at a desk in front of a computer and push buttons. If they take out the base at Santa Cruz, the terrorists’ plan will implode because there’ll be no one there waiting for the Red Shark to deliver her cargo.”