SSN

    A short time later the small helicopter torpedoes went active. Cheyenne heard two noisemaker decoys being launched, followed by the loud cavitation of the Chinese submarine as it attempted to outrun the Mk 50s-to no avail.

    "Conn, sonar, two explosions, bearing 023." • "Radio, Captain," Mack said. "Send congrats to the helo pilots over Navy Red; they just sank themselves an enemy submarine!"

    Cheyenne's crew was justifiably jubilant at having witnessed the destruction of a second Chinese submarine. Perhaps it had not been as exciting as their initial taste of combat, but it had boosted their confidence in their naval brethren hundreds of feet above them.

    More than that, though, they were buoyed by the fact that every aspect of their first mission had gone off without a hitch. Mack ordered Cheyenne to proceed to Pearl, Once there, they would complete their mini-refit and prepare Cheyenne for her next operation: her transit to the home waters off China-the South China Sea.

2. South China Sea Station

    Captain Mackey looked around the small wardroom, meeting the gaze of each of the officers assembled before him. "The price of success," he said. "The Navy was so pleased with our operations while en route to Pearl that they decided to send us directly into harm's way. Cheyenne has been ordered to rendezvous with the USS Independence (CV-62), which will be heading in the direction of the recently occupied Spratly Islands. Independence is currently steaming in the Indian Ocean. We are to meet up with her one hundred miles northwest of Natuna Island. Upon crossing the Pacific Ocean we will chop (change operational commander) to the Seventh Fleet."

    Mack kept his voice and his gaze steady. Such transfers were common between fleets, but this one carried the connotation of an increase in risk. The Third Fleet was remaining on station closer to home; the Seventh was on the front lines of this new war.

    "Naval intelligence reports that there are large numbers of enemy warships operating in the area," Mack went on. "We will, without a doubt, come into contact with many of these. Our first priority, however, remains meeting up with Independence. We will take this dangerous mission one step at a time. Remember, they have the home-court advantage."

    He looked around the wardroom one last time. "We'll depart as soon as our refit is complete."

    If only that were true* Mack thought. But the truth was, they would be leaving before they were completely outfitted. As was always the case during peacetime, materiel was never ordered in large enough quantities to satisfy the demands of wartime operations. There were too many ships steaming into Pearl for supplies, and not enough weapons and ammunition to go around.

    More was on order, of course, and it wouldn't be long before Pearl was fully stockpiled, but by then Cheyenne would be halfway to the South China Sea.

    Cheyenne's loadout included sixteen Mk 48 ADCAPs, six Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, and four Harpoon antiship missiles for medium-range attacks on surface ships. The loading was a long process. The Mk 48s had to be slowly and carefully lowered into the loading hatch one at a time, and the Tomahawks in their loading canisters were loaded directly into Cheyenne* s vertical launch tubes.

    If Mack had had his way, though, the loading process would have taken even longer. He'd take Cheyenne out as soon as she was ready, of course, but he would have been happier if she'd had a full complement of weapons. The transit to the rendezvous with Independence would take Cheyenne in a southwesterly direction through the Pacific Ocean and past the Marshall and Solomon Islands, both sites of grisly combat operations over fifty years ago. She would then pass by the Caroline Islands and cut through the Celebes Sea before entering the Sufu Sea and, finally, the South China Sea.

    Naval intelligence had confirmed that Cheyenne had sunk the second of the Chinese Han class of nuclear attack submarines, number 402, and that she had been witness to the destruction of what turned out to be Han number 404 south of Honolulu. These two confirmed kills, along with the Han destroyed earlier by the submarine escorting Nimitz, meant that the Chinese navy had only two remaining nuclear powered submarines. Or at least, Mack reminded himself, only two that the United States knew about.

    Addressing that lack of intelligence was a part of Cheyenne^ mission. Once in China's home waters, Cheyenne's orders were to gather intelligence on Chinese naval operations while making her way south in the direction of Indonesia. There, 100 miles northwest of Natuna Island, their old friend USS Independence would be waiting for them.

    Thinking about their mission and the tools they'd have available to complete it, Mack adjourned the meeting. The loadout would be complete in less than two hours, and he wanted his officers and sailors ready for imminent combat operations.