SSN

    The only aircraft that could possibly compete with the Viking was the SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. It lacked the range of the S-3, but Cheyenne had seen for herself just how effective the Seahawks could be. This was the aircraft that had earlier destroyed the Chinese Han submarine while Cheyenne tracked their actions by sonar, and Independence carried six of them. Because of her immediate locality to the war zone and the risk from Chinese submarines, Independence had been designated as the test ship for the new SH-60Rs-the newest type of Sea-hawk. This was the first to carry both the new airborne low-frequency dipping sonar, usually referred to as ALPS, and sonobuoys. It also had two torpedoes on board-either the powerful Mk 50 or the older Mk 46. These factors combined to make the SH-60R the most dangerous short-range ASW platform hovering over the seas.

    Even with all this firepower on board, the carrier still had her serious vulnerabilities. She needed to be escorted by surface vessels, and her entire group was vulnerable to modern enemy submarines. And that was where Cheyenne came into play. She would act as an advance party for Independence, proceeding well ahead of the Battle Group and either clearing a safe path or warning them of possible dangers that the F-14 radars couldn't detect. This combination of surface ships, aircraft, and submarines resulted in what Mack referred to as "syner-gism," where the end result of operating together would be far more devastating to the Chinese than if each warfare community operated alone.

    Unmindful of the weather, the Independence Battle Group got under way, steaming northward in the direction of the Spratlys. Travelling at flank speed, Cheyenne executed a quick sprint to regain her station in front of the Battle Group. If Mack fell behind the trailing edge of his moving search sector, Cheyenne would be free game, the so-called friendly fire problem that was a sad reality of warfare. When she was near the leading edge of her moving, haven slightly over an hour later, Cheyenne slowed and waited.

    After slowing. Mack ordered the OOD to deploy the TB-23 towed array for its long-range tonal-detection capability. The report came back exactly as he'd hoped- no contacts on the towed array. The sonar room watch slanders watched their consoles and waited for Mack's next orders.

    "Officer of the deck, prepare to come to periscope depth," Captain Mackey ordered. Mack wanted to relay information about the safety of their route back to the Independence Battle Group.

    "Prepare to come to periscope depth, aye, sir," the OOD replied.

    But Mack didn't get the chance to report to Independence. Before Cheyenne came shallow enough to transmit, she began to receive message traffic over the floating wire.

    "Sir," the communicator reported, "it looks like we just got new orders!"

    Mack went to the radio room, grabbed the sheet of printer paper, and quickly read the message.

    "Looks like a strike mission to me," the communicator said, with a note of eagerness and brashness. "What do you think, sir?"

    That annoyed Mack. It was a breach of protocol, and not smart. He looked at the communicator and shook his head. "Call a meeting in the wardroom in ten minutes," he said, putting an edge in his tone. "I want the executive officer, the combat systems officer, the operations officer, and yourself there."

    The communicator knew he'd screwed up. "Ten minutes, in the wardroom, aye, sir," he said. The cocky note was gone from his voice.

    Cheyenne returned to a patrol depth of 247 feet since the first thermal layer was gone, and within eight minutes all requested officers were waiting for Captain Mackey to arrive in Cheyenne's wardroom. Mack came in five minutes late. He carried a plain manila folder in his hand.

    "Gentlemen," he said. "I have called this meeting in order to pass on our new orders. From our present position in the South China Sea, we are to proceed to the north of the Chinese-held Spratly Islands. Once there, three hundred miles north, we will launch six Tomahawk land-attack missiles at the Chinese submarine base that has recently been set up near Cuarteron Reef, one of the islands in the Spratly chain."

    He paused to see how the others would react. He was pleased to see that, while there was some tension, it was mostly excitement, with only a touch of healthy caution. He was also pleased that the communicator kept his mouth shut.

    "As you all know," Mack continued, "naval intelligence has reported large numbers of Chinese submarines operating in this area. We've confirmed this with our own detections. Our new orders are to do something about that." He paused again, making sure that everyone was paying full attention. "We are going to enter the belly of the beast," he said. "We will launch our Tomahawks as ordered, and then we will meet up with the submarine tender USS McKee in order to rearm." He grinned and added, "Maybe we'll even get a quick glimpse of life on the surface."