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  The CNO gave a smile. “Actually, we can. Our submarine assets have been whittled down by about ten, but they are still sinking ships. On the aviation side we will have the Nimitz, Roosevelt, Washington, Stennis, Truman and the Enterprise. In addition, we are presently turning our amphibious assault ships into carriers. They are smaller, but can add a little more weight. On that side we have the Wasp, Essex, Kearsarge, Boxer, Bataan, Bonhomme Richard, Makin Island, the America and Tripoli. As you recall, the Iwo Jima was sunk in Norfolk. She’s a total write off.”

  “So we have six front line carriers and nine LHAs. With the scope of this operation is that going to be enough?” asked O’Bannon.

  “I’m hoping the Lincoln will be ready, but that should be enough to cover the bases. Of course, we are supplementing with the battleships. They will be ready on time,” said the CNO. “They will be supplemented by the British carriers Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales plus an assortment of cruisers, destroyers and frigates. The French fleet will be available for sorties into the Baltic as weather permits. The other Allies are providing ships, but that is the bulk of our naval assets,” he concluded.

  “What about the Air Force?”

  General Foote nodded. “All in place and ready. We have lost about thirty of our front line aircraft since this started. I called up the Warthogs and a few others, but most of our operations are currently being accomplished by the Predators and other drones. They are stealthy and can get in a little more effectively than using manned aircraft. The Supreme Commander just asked for an all-out effort against a column ducking down through Slovakia. They will be on it within an hour. They are on trains and running through mountains so they won’t be the easiest to hit, but we’ll take care of it. According to the current plan, we will begin going in and striking targets just before D-Day. It will be an all-out effort. We will punch holes in the lines along with the Army’s localized drones and the armored spearheads will follow. Just keep in mind, because of the wide area of effort in the planning, we will be spread pretty thin. I won’t be able to hit all the targets, but between all of us, we should keep things pretty much covered. The only thing we have to worry about is their fighters. They have a ton of them and could overwhelm us. I am placing our hopes on our stealth capabilities and the new panels being set into the skin of our aircraft. We’ll keep our fingers crossed,” he said.

  “How is that working out, by the way?” the President asked.

  Foote chuckled. “My guys are having wet dreams with the idea they can’t be seen. From what I understand the Navy is going all out too.”

  “He’s right. I’ll have those panels on my ships by the time they sail next week. Admiral Hustvedt himself flew out in one of the trackers and tried to find one of the equipped ships. They never found a thing on radar. He only found the ships when his pilot visually saw the wakes. That would put him well within a missile envelope. That young friend of Hammond has made a lot of friends in the Navy,” said Johnson.

  “Mister President, we are all ready for the kick off. You and I discussed a few other things the other day and I’m glad the NSA and CIA are here to maybe cover this,” Black said.

  “Yes, I talked over a few things with our intelligence people and they can now brief on their plans,” said the President turning to look at a couple of people at the end of the table.

  Patricia Reed had been with the NSA for nearly twenty years. Starting as an analyst, she had worked her way to a Deputy Director position. She looked forward to sharing her part. “Mister President, Joint Chiefs, most people don’t know that since this started, the United States has been under a cyber-attack as well. We have been getting a lot of stuff coming in from Russian sources. Luckily, we have so far been able to prevent hacks and viruses. The latest was directed at the Pentagon internet and computer systems which would allow a dump of military data to a place in St. Petersburg. I won’t go into details, but right now they think they have successfully hacked into the system and are retrieving data. In reality, we are controlling the data they receive. The same is going on in one of the Navy systems. On a more positive side, our people are now into their military hardware programs. It seems that once a week each command’s computer systems call into the central computer system to receive any updates in programming for their onboard computers. We also are locked into their central command headquarters where they issue command orders for each commander down to the unit level. It’s like a central messaging system. Right now, we are doing nothing. But twenty four hours prior to D-Day, we will be taking over those systems and recalibrating their computers and command orders. The nice thing is, they will be able to send out orders and changes, but we will be intercepting them and making small changes to throw them off. We are hoping they will think it is a human error on their part. Our work will not happen all the time and things should appear as normal,” she said. “Since they started this mess, they will get to feel the pain of what we can do to them.”

  “Are you limited to these two areas?” asked General Foote.

  Reed grinned. “No, sir, there are others, but you know we aren’t supposed to share everything we can do,” she said with a wink. The people in the room chuckled.

  “Now how about the CIA?” asked the President.

  Todd Graham stood. “As many of you know, last week, the Russians shot down the KH-14 over that part of Europe. They also tried to intercept our Eyeball system in place. We were successful in stopping that intercept. Under the President’s orders, beginning one day before the kickoff, we will target and destroy every Russian satellite over the Earth. This means their communications, weather, tracking, spy satellites and any other piece of hardware in space will be destroyed. That alone should give the Russians a few things to think about. We estimate it will reduce their communications effectiveness by about eighty percent. It will also piggyback onto the NSA efforts, because we will hit the communications satellites after the updates and orders have been transmitted. This will force them to transmit updates via high frequency radio or single side band. That will be much more difficult for them to do and will make it easier for us to disrupt,” he said.

  “Isn’t this a violation of treaty?” asked one of the men.

  “We are in a war. Treaties don’t mean much when people are pulling triggers. If someone pushes the point, we have all the data that shows the Russians violated it first, and that we are justified in our actions,” said Graham.

  The president held up his hand. “I do have a finding. My decision. It’s my hope that these two efforts will be beneficial to our forces over there. These agencies are also conducting operations on their own, but the commanders in Europe are aware of their efforts. You need to know about these two in your planning. Now, are there any questions?”

  “What about the extra fallout and space debris all these hits will make?” asked General Black.

  “Without going into details, we shouldn’t have any. There should be no bits and pieces flailing around that might hit our own systems,” said Graham. There were nods around the table.

  “Quick question about our Link 16. I am relying heavily on its remaining operational. Are we prepared to protect those assets?” asked the CNO.

  “We have a special team of people watching for any incursions into that system in particular,” said Reed. “Now that the patch has been issued to convert the Eyeball data into the military data systems at the fleet level, we should be able to keep it running indefinitely.”

  “On our side, the Eyeballs are protected and we have systems to protect the other military satellites. The data is transmitted via laser and that should make hacking and interference efforts almost impossible,” said Graham.

  “Famous last words,” said Black.

  Graham smiled and nodded. “Yea, I almost hated to say that, but in this case, we have been working to protect our systems against such things for years. I have people on the consoles who can make changes in a moment’s notice. If something does get through, we will be ther
e to stop it,” he reassured the group.

  Additional questions were asked around the group, but the general consensus was that the United States would be ready. The President looked around the table one last time. “Very well. The operational plans are a go. Everything is being turned over to the Supreme Commander. It will be his decision on when to ultimately kick this thing off. I continue to urge everyone to put all your efforts into supporting the Supreme Commander. He needs all the help he can get. Our job is to see that he has what he needs. Thank you all for your hard work,” he said as he rose from the table. O’Bannon went around the table and thanked everyone there.

  Norfolk, VA

  It looked almost like wrinkled turd floating on the water. In this case, the turd was going about ten knots and there was a wake behind it. The patrolling frigate hadn’t even noticed it until the lookout sighted what looked like an American flag flying over a blank sea. A helicopter was sent to investigate. Sure enough, the pilot radioed back that something with an American flag was making its way toward the entrance to Hampton Roads. There appeared to be some sort of railing with a single human being on the top of the wrinkled mass in front of the flag. As the helicopter flew over, the figure, dressed in blue camo, waved up at them. As the helo got closer, another figure came out of a hatch behind the flag and ran forward on the rolling deck. They unfolded a small banner. It read “USS Texas.”

  Norfolk exploded with the news. Immediately tugs were dispatched and an admiral’s barge got underway. As the submarine rounded the point, cars and trucks stopped along the shoreline drive to see the ship everyone had been told was at the bottom of the sea. She sailed slowly past the battered Eisenhower and past the hulk of the Iwo Jima. Media helicopters swarmed overhead. By now the tugs had been attached and the pilot was standing beside Captain Jacobs. Within 30 minutes, USS Texas was moored port side to pier ten. A brow was placed from the pier to the ship and an army of naval officers descended on the ship. The first was the Commander of Submarines, Atlantic.

  Admiral Hendrick practically embraced Jacobs. “My God, Frank, we all thought you were dead,” he exclaimed.

  “We almost were, Admiral. Come on down to the wardroom and I’ll fill you in,” Jacobs said as he ushered the Admiral down the hatch.

  On the way, Hendrick noticed the damage to the control room, periscopes, shorted equipment and other things not normal on a submarine. Sitting down at the head of the table he looked at Jacobs. “Frank, this is more damage than I have ever seen on a submarine. Fill me in on what happened.”

  “Short version, we had just finished sinking the sub after the Kennedy when my sound man heard a torpedo in the water. He said it was a 46. We immediately began maneuvering to get out of the thing’s way, but except for one time, it stayed with us. Even the one time it lost us, it found us again in short order. Just before it looked like the thing would hit us, I ordered the planes full down. It was just enough that the torpedo missed the tail and hit the sail. You see the damage. I lost communications, periscopes, snorkel, just about everything. We were at about 250 feet when it hit. The water coming into the control room was like a waterfall. It seemed to come from everywhere. My damage control team jumped on it. I was afraid somebody up there might drop another one, so I ordered everything to stop and just made like a hole in the ocean. It took us four hours to get all the leaks stopped. When we got underway again the noise of all that damage made a racket in the water, so I had to keep our speed below five knots. I doubt you noticed, but the pressure hull is dented. So I could not go below about 150 feet without leaking again or maybe even breaking apart. By the time I felt like it was okay to surface, there wasn’t anybody who might hurt us or help us.” Jacobs gave out a sigh. “It’s been a long trip home. My people have listed all that needs fixing, but I figure just redoing the hull will take a year.” He chuckled. “At least I brought her home,” he said.

  Hendrick sat back and looked at Jacobs. The story was written in the lines of his face. He could tell the man had almost single handedly willed his ship back home when others might have abandoned the vessel and allowed it to sink. He nodded at the man. “Yes, Frank, you brought her home. You need to know that Texas was the first to strike a blow to our enemy. You already have a higher kill ratio than any other sub in the Atlantic. You really did save that carrier, despite the idiot that had her going around at 27 knots. I’ll be sending a team aboard to take statements and debrief. Then as soon as a space becomes available, USS Texas will move into a drydock. This ship needs saving, Commander, and we’re going to do it. Once the team is done, you and your crew will be relieved and sent home on 30 days of leave. Then I want you back with me to get her ready for sea again. I need you and your men out there, Frank. You’re the best team I have,” Hendrick said.

  Jacobs brightened at those words. “Thanks, Admiral. I have some recommendations for the crew. They were the ones who saved the ship.”

  “I’ll see to it. Now get some rest. From what I see, you more than deserve it,” Hendrick said.

  When the admiral left, Jacobs looked around at his command. The ship’s sail was gone with only jagged fragments where it was attached to the hull. All along the top of the hull the plating was dented and scarred. Holes were in several places along the hull where fragments had penetrated the outer hull. In the area where the periscopes had been even the pressure hull was dented so that the openings were at different angles. Rust was everywhere around the small foothold where his hull technicians had welded supports for someone to stand topside without falling overboard. Even the place for the flag had been jury rigged. Jacobs wondered if she could ever be fixed. There was a shout behind him on the pier. He turned to see his wife and two children running toward him along with some other families. He scooped them into his arms and hugged them hard. His wife was crying.

  “Are you coming home, Daddy?” asked his young son.

  Through tears of his own he said, “Yes, Christopher. Daddy’s home.”

  Near Munich, Germany

  Dearest Freda,

  I have to write quickly. We don’t have much time to ourselves. The training seems to be getting better for me. I’ve lost about ten pounds and it feels like I am moving around quicker. Of course, my sergeant is always keeping us moving. He was very strict with us at first but he is getting a lot easier to understand. He puts on a mean face, but I realize it’s for our own good. He says what we are doing might mean the difference between going home alive catching a bullet. Most of us are doing well, although some of these guys are pretty thick.

  It’s hard to believe that my training is being done in Germany. There looks like thousands here. Between the running everywhere we go, the exercises and the training classes, there is no time to really think about much. But when I do have some time I think about you. I miss having you with me. The thought of your smile takes my mind off my sore muscles. It helps me get to sleep at night. This will all be worth it just to be able to come home to you.

  In the evenings and during breaks in the day we are told to play these video games. I never really did these before, but it turns out they are quite fun. Just the other day after I finished playing the sergeant told me they are putting me in a special program. I am told that I will be doing something with drones. I understand it’s like the games we’ve been playing. The sergeant says when I finish my training I will have a higher rank than many of the others. That’s fine with me. I’ll leave here in two days for another camp just ten miles from here run by the Americans. I guess it was a good thing I took English in school.

  Please keep writing. I keep reading your letters over and over. In my mind I can see you writing them to me. It makes a big difference for me.

  Say hello to your family for me. I’m still hoping to get some time to see you before I go out. The thought of being with you again gives me the strength to go on. I’ll write as often as I can.

  With all my love,

  Petyr

  Norfolk, VA

  USS America
was huge. Just finding his stateroom was a challenge, but eventually Rod Jeffers got all his gear from the car to the small ten by fifteen foot space that held a single bed, desk, sink, bookshelf and closet, all made of metal. A second door led from his stateroom to a shared bath. He was lucky. Most of the officers shared a stateroom with at least one other person, but because he was on the Admiral’s staff and a Lieutenant Commander, he had been given this one.

  The drive from Washington had been uneventful. Fewer cars were on the road because of changes the President had made. There wasn’t gas rationing, but the gasoline tax had been tripled. New tolls had been placed on roads so that driving was discouraged and the use of public transportation encouraged, even for the wealthy. Now the Rolls would be used only on a rare occasion. He had already made arrangements for it to be placed in a special parking area where it would be watched after.

  When everything had been put away, he decided to look around some before turning in. It was already 2100 hours and except for the constant hum of the blowers circulating the air, the ship seemed quiet. Like most ships, the passageways were clean and neat. All piping was labeled and there were stenciled numbers on the bulkheads indicating compartment and frame numbers so that anyone familiar with a ship’s numbering system would know where they were and what the space was.

  Going down some ladders he entered the vast hangar deck where the ship’s aircraft could be kept and maintained. Because of the new blackout regulations, the huge hanger doors were closed so the lights inside were on. People could be seen going back and forth doing some task or another. There were no aircraft aboard. They would come on only after the ship got underway, but pallets of supplies seemed to be everywhere. Some of the bustle in the hangar deck was centered around getting those supplies into their proper spaces.