Red Storm Rising

Two miles away, PHARRIS was tied alongside her tender. As Ed Morris watched from the bridge, ASROC rocket-boosted torpedoes were being lowered onto his bow by crane, then fed into the magazine. Another crane was lowering supplies onto the helicopter hangar aft, and a third of his crew was hard at work moving them into proper storage spaces throughout the ship. He'd had the PHARRIS for nearly two years now, and this was the first time they'd had a full weapons loadout. The eight-cell "pepperbox" ASROC launcher was being serviced by shoreside technicians to correct a minor mechanical glitch. Another team from the tender was going over a radar problem with his own crew. This was the end of his own checklist of problems to be fixed. The ship's engineering plant was functioning perfectly, better than he would have expected for a ship nearly twenty years old. In another few hours, USS PHARRIS would be completely ready... for what?

"Still no sailing orders, skipper?' his executive officer asked.

"Nope. I imagine everybody's wondering what we'll be doing, but for my money even the flags"-Morris always referred to admirals as flags-"don't know yet. There's a meeting of COs tomorrow morning at CINCLANTFLT. S'pose I'll find out something then. Maybe," he said dubiously.

"What do you think of this German stuff?"

"The Krauts I've worked with at sea have been all right. Trying to blast the whole Russian command structure-nobody's that crazy." Morris shrugged, a frown spreading across his dark face. "XO, there ain't no rule that says the world has to make sense."

"Damn if that ain't the truth. I think those ASROCs are going to be needed, skipper."

"I'm afraid you're right."

CROFTON, MARYLAND

"To sea?" Martha Toland asked.

"That's where they want me, and it's where I belong, like it or not." Bob had trouble meeting his wife's eyes. Listening to the brittle edge on her voice at the moment was bad enough. It wasn't his job to bring fear into her life, but that was precisely what he'd just done.

"Bob, is it as bad as I think?"

"There's no telling, babe. It might be, but there's no telling. Look, Marty, you remember Ed Morris and Dan McCafferty, right? They both have their own commands now, and they have to go. Am I supposed to stay in a nice safe place on the beach?"

His wife's reply was devastating.

"They're professionals, you're not," she said coldly. "You play weekend warrior and serve your two weeks a year just to pretend that you're still in the Navy, Bob. You're a civilian spook, you don't belong out there. You can't even swim!'' Marty Toland could give lessons to sea lions.

"The hell I can't!" Toland protested, knowing that it was an absurd thing to argue about.

"Right! I haven't seen you in a pool in five years. Oh, dammit, Bob, what if something happens to you? You go out there to play your damned games and leave me behind with the kids. What do I tell them?"

"You tell them I didn't run away, I didn't hide, I-" Toland looked away. He hadn't expected this. Marty came from a Navy family. She was supposed to understand. But there were tears on her cheeks now, and her mouth was quivering. He took a step forward to wrap his arms around her. "Look, I'm going to be on a carrier, okay? The biggest ship we have, the safest, best-protected ship we have, with a dozen other ships surrounding her to keep the bad guys away, and a hundred airplanes. They need me to help figure out what the bad guys are up to so they can keep them as far away as possible. Marty, what I'm doing is necessary. They need me. The Admiral asked for me by name. I'm important-at least somebody thinks so." He smiled gently to hide his lie. A carrier was the best-protected ship in the fleet because she had to be: the carrier was also the number-one target for the Russians.

"I'm sorry." She broke out of his grasp and walked to the window. "How are Danny and Ed?"

"A lot busier than I am. Danny's sub is somewhere up-well, right now he's a lot closer to the Soviets than I'll ever be. Ed's getting ready to sail. He's got a 1052-an escort ship-and he'll probably be out protecting convoys or something from submarines. They both have their own families. At least you get a chance to see me before I go."

Marty turned and smiled for the first time since he had unexpectedly walked through the door. "You will be careful."

"I'll be damned careful, babe." But would it matter?

13. - The Strangers Arrive and Depart

AACHEN, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY