SSN

    Bad timing, Mack thought as he read the message. As if the inbound Alfas weren't enough, Cheyenne had just received orders to prepare to launch their Tomahawks. To do that, they would have to proceed to periscope depth to copy the IPAC Tomahawk targeting data over SSIXS.

    Mack didn't like it. Ideally, they would do that quickly, get to periscope depth, copy lengthy SSIXS traffic, and get back down before they lost the long-range shot advantage against the Alfas. Unfortunately, this situation was far from ideal. Launch directives were also coming in over the floating wire, and those launch directives wouldn't allow him that luxury. Cheyenne was to remain at periscope depth and launch all twelve missiles as soon as the download was complete and pre-Palawan Island waypoints had been inserted into the CCS Mk 2 console. Mack didn't like it, but his orders didn't give him any choice. Wasting no time, he ordered the OOD to take Cheyenne up to periscope depth.

    As soon as Cheyenne started copying the targeting data, the captain ordered, "Man battle stations, missile," then explained the situation to the crew. Cheyenne was to launch the TLAM-Cs to take out aircraft on the ground before they moved from their current revetments. She was also to launch the TLAM-Ds to crater the new runways so additional fighter aircraft, the SU-27 Flankers, could not be so quickly repositioned from the Paracels.

    This was a one-shot opportunity. The Chinese would be asleep when the missiles reached their targets-they didn't like to fly at night any more than the ex-Soviet pilots did. And the attack had to take place tonight because the Fleet Numerical Weather Center was projecting rainsqualls for the next two days, starting before daybreak.

    The captain also prepared the crew for possible attack by the incoming Alfas. The noise of the VLS launches would not go undetected by them. And in addition, if there were surface ships and aircraft with the submarines, the booster rockets' last-minute illumination of the darkness would provide them with Cheyenne's location, the proverbial "flaming datum" with Cheyenne at the wrong end of the weapon's track.

    It was a dangerous mission, no doubt about it. And, if they were unlucky, it would be more than merely dangerous. It could be deadly.

    The combat systems officer at the CCS Mk 2 reported that he had completed powering up each missile, downloaded the mission plans and flight profile, and verified proper weapon receipt of the data. He had then powered down the missiles until the captain was ready to start the automatic launch sequence. All plans and Cheyenne's launch location fit the mission parameters, especially the range of flight to the airfields and the initial waypoint prior to Palawan Island TERCOM and DSMAC updates. Flight time would be just in excess of two hours.

    "Firing point procedures, TLAM-C and TLAM-D, VLS tubes five through sixteen," ordered the captain. The open mike heads-up to sonar and the short delay as the combat systems officer reapplied power to the missiles, inserted the launch key, and pressed the firing button, gave the sonar operators time to prepare their ears for the six to seven minutes of noise that would follow.

    Mack wasn't worried about that, though. He was worried that the noise would start those three Alfas cavitating toward Cheyenne. Sonar wouldn't be able to hear that cavitation, but then it wouldn't have to. Mack knew they'd be coming, and they'd be coming fast.

    The hatch of VLS tube five opened hydraulically, freeing the interlock to detonate an explosive charge. The first TLAM-C burst upward through the thin plastic membrane of the loading canister that had helped to keep the missile dry until now.

    The TLAM-C covered the short trip to the surface, less than thirty feet away, quickly. Just before the missile broached the surface, its booster rocket fired, drying quickly as it cleared the water.

    The booster rocket used up the last of its fuel and the missile pitched down closer to the horizontal. Dropping its spent booster, the TLAM-C started its non-illuminating turbojet engine, accelerating to over five hundred knots as it turned toward the first waypoint.

    On board Cheyenne, tube five backfilled with water to compensate for the loss of the ejected missile's weight and then the hatch shut automatically. That freed the interlock for VLS tube six.

    One down, and only eleven more to go, Mack thought. For once he was grateful for the relative slowness of submarines. Even the Alfa's 40 knots were nothing compared to the Tomahawks.