SSN

    Thirty minutes later, the captain was seated at his normal position at the head of the wardroom table when the other officers entered. Mack didn't wait for the normal exchange of greetings and other pleasantries. As soon as the others took their seats he began to speak.

    "As you may have guessed from this meeting, we have received new orders." He nodded at the printout lying on the table before him. "You all, I'm sure, remember the United Fuels Corporation prospecting ship, Benthic Adventure. She was seized by the Chinese back in late July. That seizure, it turns out, is what started this war we are now fighting."

    The officers around the table stirred at that. They knew that Mack wouldn't be bringing this up now unless it impacted on their current mission.

    "Thus far," Mack went on, "the Chinese had been using the ship for drilling operations around the oil fields in the Spratly Islands." He paused for a moment, glancing around at each of his assembled officers. "The reason I say the Chinese 'had' been using the ship for drilling is because at 2300 last night, elements of the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team One were inserted by helicopter from Independence, boarded, and recaptured Benthic Adventure. Which means, among other things, that we won't have to worry about the ASDS (Advanced Swimmer Delivery System) vehicle. So far, the Chinese have yet to realize that the ship is now back under American control."

    Mack paused again, smiling at the thought of the Chinese's reaction when they learned. Then he sobered and went on, "The Chinese, of course, will find out soon enough. Benthic Adventure is now leaving the Spratly Islands under the protection of two Ticonderoga class cruisers, Gettysburg and Princeton, We are to join this convoy as soon as they clear the shallow water of the Spratly Islands. I have already directed the navigator to plot the most expedient course for the rendezvous point in order to meet up with the escort group as quickly as possible."

    Several questions were asked of the captain who then dismissed the meeting and headed to the control room to find out from the navigator what timetable they could expect on their voyage to meet the convoy group.

    Several hundred miles away, some other members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team One had been inserted into the Spratlys and had begun fortifying their new home. For the next few days, their teammates on board would make every effort to take Benthic Adventure out of danger. In the meantime, their job was to deploy Stinger antiaircraft missiles in positions near the probable routes of attack for any enemy aircraft or ships.

    These missiles, however, as the SEAL team knew, were more of an emotional security blanket than any real support. Benthic Adventure's real protection was provided by the two Aegis cruisers, Princeton (CG-59) and Gettysburg (CG-64), two of the most capable warships in the entire U.S. Navy.

    The Aegis warships had been designed to protect American aircraft carriers from massive Soviet air attacks, and these vessels also were equipped with the latest technology in antisubmarine and antisurface warfare. These two warships had sailed from Pearl Harbor as part of the Independence CVBG and had been waiting with Independence until they received word that the SEALs had recaptured the United Fuels prospecting ship. Once the capture was confirmed, Princeton and Gettysburg sailed at flank speed to Benthic''s position and were now providing an escort out of the shallow Spratly Islands area.

    The entire group would be glad once they reached deeper water. Once there, Cheyenne would be able to join them and take over their antisubmarine warfare patrols. Each of the warships' two Seahawk helicopters had been working nonstop attempting to track any submarines that might pose a threat to their mission, but they weren't as well equipped for this as Cheyenne.

    "What's our time of arrival for rendezvous off the Spratly Isiands?" Mack asked.

    The navigator looked up from the quartermaster's chart he'd been studying. Cheyenne was running at the ordered depth of four hundred feet and twenty-six knots as they approached the islands from the north, having earlier departed the Paracels. "We should be there within seven hours," he said.

    "Come to periscope depth as soon as we're sure that there are no surface ships in the area," ordered the captain. "I want to send a message to Gettysburg and tell them what time they should expect us."

    Cheyenne proceeded to periscope depth and transmitted the SSIXS message over her communications mast to the Ticonderoga cruiser escort group. They had been running with their TB-23 thin-line array deployed for several hours now, but had not detected any sonar contacts other than biologies, the undersea life of the South China Sea.