Don't own Chuck
Back in Langley things in the situation room where jumping. Roan and the Major were called in to monitor events as they unfolded in the Black Sea. As they watched the confrontation seemed to escalate between the Mason and the unidentified Russian submarine. The submarine refused to acknowledge the Mason's hails and dove deeper trying to avoid detection. But they couldn't avoid their AN/SQS-53C Sonar.
"What do you think they're up to," asked the Major as he and Roan watched the events unfold from their eye in the sky and by monitoring shipboard broadcasts.
"What do you think their up? Diane never got back to Igor and he got tired of waiting or the boys in the Kremlin pushed him into acting. He's probably pissed also because she never answered any of his numerous calls even though she said she'd get back to him. Now we've got this."
"Well for now we've got the him in check. He surely won't try anything that would put his submarine at risk or cause an incident over something he doesn't know what is."
"This is Igor Trotski we're talking about. The same guy who chase Diane and me all over East Berlin. The man is a dog with a bone when comes to things like this. You can beleive he won't give it up until he gets to the bottom of it."
"What the heck do you guys think you're doing," said General Thomas as he walked into the situation room. "This was supposed to be under the radar and or don't you remember? Who's missing from the party only the Chinese MSS and Iceland."
"I wouldn't say just them but the agencies and agent involved are quickly out growing the population on the rock where everyone is congregating."
"And you think this is something to joke about. I know Diane put you in charge while she was in the hospital but as Chairman of the JCS I'm going to recommend to the President that we appoint someone else. Nothing personal but I think you're way over your head."
"Well, it's kind of hard not to take it personal. I don't know if you want to or not but we could go up to Diane's office and have a drink on it then we can talk this out."
"Right there's your problem. You need to lay off the sauce and get your head back in the game before you cause world war three. You guys are provoking the Russians and they will push back. Imagine our reaction if they decided to conduct ops off the coast of Norfolk or San Diego. I don't think we'd let that slide."
"What would you have us do? Abandon our team while they're on the ground and what if they need back up or extraction?"
"Seals are a team of one... I know you don't like to hear this but they're going to have to get themselves out of trouble. What are we going to do anyway? We can't invade a sovereign state? Especially one who's warmed up to us after being under Soviet domination. You guys in one act can set diplomacy back to the cold war."
"And what do you expect us to do about that special weapon your people have misplaced? Do we forget about it until it goes boom? Or have you forgotten about it."
"As of right now I haven't seen any evidence to support that it is even on that rock so we could be risking all this for nothing. I don't even know why I'm arguing this with you. I've already made up my mind and that ship belongs to me..."
"Sirs we've just got a visual on a squadron of Su-27s that took off from Sevastopol. They're heading straight for the Mason. We expect them to intercept the ship in ten minutes."
"That would be checkmate," said the Major. Roan gave him a look. "I'm just commenting on my chess remark before."
"Maybe you should keep those comments to yourself," said Roan. He could tell General Thomas was livid but he was getting angry too.
"That's it I'm ordering the Mason out of the Black Sea. We can't afford for his to continue until someone gets nervous and pulls the trigger by accident."
"If the General were here you wouldn't dare do this," said Roan. He was getting a little tired of Tanks preaching. After all it was he who'd thrown this mission on them in the first place.
"If Diane were here I wouldn't have to. She's have this all worked out and none of this would've escalated this far."
"I seriously doubt that but if you want to pull the rug out from under our feet go right ahead but I want it in writing so when crap hits the fan with our agents ashore in Bulgaria I can hang this whole mess around your head. You want to go to the President and have me relieved well you go right ahead. I think I'd like to bend his ear about who lost what and expected someone else to find it for them then when they got a lead he got mad and took his toys away having a fit in the sandbox."
"You know this is what this is and you haven't go the guts to do something like that. You wouldn't dare... something like that could blow up in both our faces."
"I wouldn't have much to lose and you know how talkative I get after a few drinks. I just start blabbing away about this and that then before you know it the cat's out of the bag... or better you're left holding the bag. I'll be in Palm Springs with a certain flight attendant playing aircrew."
"Okay, I'll make you a deal with you. I'll talk to the CNO and Secretary of State. We can arrange for the Mason to pull into Romania for a week or so and in that time your people need to come up with proof our... well the special weapon is on the island. If they don't the Mason will continue on with her Med cruise.
"That seems a fair enough to me," said Roan. "You wouldn't want to come up and have a drink to seal the deal." The General gave him a look. "I didn't think so."
"Sir, we just go word that a group of Iranians we suspect as being members of VAJA were spotted arriving in the airport at Varna. They rented a car and are heading for the port. Our people are following them and are in contact with the local authorities. They want to know what you want them to do?"
"For now just keep them under observation. No doubt they will try to find some means of transportation to the island. Maybe we should let them go they'll be the perfect distraction for our people. While this Abu is getting ready to receive them our people get in undetected and do what they have to do."
"You realize that those cutthroats will most likely try to eliminate the Iranians as soon as they step off the boat on the island."
"You need a goat if you're going to build a tiger trap," said Roan. "You heard what I said for now we stand down and wait."
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[On board the Russian submarine]
"Okay, let's go full speed. Now's the time to make our run past the American warship. We go low while they're looking up in the sky. You my friends owe me and the squadron commander a bottle of vodka and I don't want the cheap kind they make from wallpaper glue. XO take our friends here to the forward missile tubes. You can launch from there in ten minutes."
"Thank you Skipper for the ride," said Anatoly. "Anatoly Mikhailovich, FSB and that's' my real name. This is Stefan Metrohken, SVR and Major Imma Stanasolovski, GRU. Put those names down in your deck log as being passengers. I'd like to think there would be some record of us in case we don't return."
"Well our orders are to patrol the area and wait for your signal. But if that ship is still riding on the surface it might be problematic for us to pick you up. How good are you at holding your breaths?" said the Skipper as he laughed.
"Sir sonar just reported they picked up the American ship changing course and is now steaming away from us and leaving the area. It looks like they are heading towards Romania."
"It looks like you three have someone looking over you. You need to get down and get ready. With the currents near the island we won't be able to hang around long. Ni puha ni pera. [neither fur or feathers]"
"K chertu [to the devil] Spah see boh," said Stefan as they all laughed then followed the XO towards the torpedo tubes.
[A little before on the Mason]
"Sir the squadron of Russian fighters are within radar range and they are illuminating us with their fire control radar."
"Okay tell the boys in fire control to standby but keep their fingers off the trigger. Stand by to launch chaff and tell the EWs this is when they earn their SRB money. Launched the Blackhawk and have it stand off. Any word yet from our hail to the Russian sub?"
"None and I'm getting word the sub is making a run for it. Fire control is requesting permission to launch ASROCs."
"Okay I guess today is as good a day as any to start world war three..." said the Skipper when a messenger ran in on the bridge from CIC.
"Sir, we just received an urgent message from Sixth Fleet to break off our engagement. The Admiral is on the horn for you."
"Everyone stand down. Well, man let's not keep the Admiral waiting patch him through so I can talk with him," said the Skipper as he slumped back in his chair.
"Here you go Sir," said the XO as he offered the Skipper a cup of coffee. "I wish it were stronger but that's what we have up here."
"Caffeine is the last thing I need right now. That was a close one and closer than I'd ever wanted to be to mutual assured destruction. There's a reason the Acronym is MAD. Let me talk with the Admiral then you and I meet up in my cabin for a real drink."
"Sir, I hate to point this out," said the XO. "But we still have a landing party ashore in a hostile environment."
"I know and I hope the Admiral has something to say about that we're going to like but I have my doubts. Have them recover the chopper while I take this call. What's taking that patch so long? We don't want keep the Admiral waiting," yelled the Skipper.
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Back on the island Abu went to the communications room where he could get a current status on his teams abroad. He found out that the Americans still had a warship patrol nearby but he wasn't too concerned about them because he had a plan for them. The first person he tried to get in touch with was Abram so he had radio place a secure call for him. The phone rang and rang then finally there was a click but all he heard as breathing.
"Abram, this isn't that type of call. What took you so long to answer? If this is you, you really need to do something about that asthma it will be the death of you."
"Well from where I'm standing that certainly isn't the case," said an unfamiliar voice. "I'd say his death was provoked be a .50 caliber round that passed through him leaving a hole where his heart used to be. I assume this is Abu."
"Yes, but you have me at a disadvantage. I don't know with whom I'm speaking but maybe I do... or do I? I take it Abram was unsuccessful in his mission."
"You mean because I'm talking to you instead of Abram. Well unless you have a special plan that allows you to call people in the hereafter then yes it was a failure from your perspective. I am still alive."
"Director, I don't think we've ever had the pleasure of talking before. How is Tehran this time of year? How's your job going?"
"The weather is the way it always is this time of year and thank you for sending Abram to me. The short time he was in my custody I learned a lot. Then when your people sent assassins to make sure Abram didn't talk... well that was just brilliant. They left all these wonderful shell casings with finger prints all over them. I've been very busy rounding up your collaborators. The executioner is a little pissed off with you though. Can you believe there's a current shortage of rope so he's had to recycle. For someone who takes pride in his work this is a little daunting for him but he told me he's saving a special piece just for you."
"Oh how kind of him but you should tell him he shouldn't bother. I don't think he'll get a chance to use it anytime soon."
"Never say never and who knows what the future holds that's out of our hands. You know I'm glad you called and we had this time to chat."
"I think the pleasure has been all yours. Well if you don't mind I need to go I have to say hello to Banai," said Abu then he signaled his guy to break the connection.
"So what do you make of that," said Ettore. Somewhere during his conversation with the director Ettore had walked in on him. "If what he said is true your people aren't going to be very happy with you for outing their people in Tehran... if not all of Iran."
"I wouldn't put too much stock in what he said. Now we need to get ready for the next phase. How comes the assembly?"
"Good, I just look at pieces and know where they go but aren't you going to help me. I can't be the only one doing this. Remember what Chuck said about over using this thing we have now."
"I thought you were the one who said he didn't believe him. Go back and continue with the assembly I'll be with you soon. I need to make a few more calls."
"Sir a squadron of Russian fighters are flying out to the American warship and it's changed course heading south."
"Good, good like I anticipated. Radio our friend and tell them they can come home now with their prize."
"Sir one of contacts in the Varna called saying a group of VAJA arrived on a flight from Tehran and are on the pier now looking for a boat to bring them here."
"I was joking about saying hi to Banai. Well, let's help them find one. Have our contact help them out but tell them not to make it too obvious or they'll smell a rat. I might have to call their Director back and thank him for sending me something to bargain with. I can use them to save some of our brothers in Tehran. Make sure our people know I want them taken unharmed."
"Our friend just radioed in that there was a Russian submarine blocking their path but they neutralized it."
"I'm getting one good piece of news after another. If anyone needs me I'm going to be working a puzzle with Ettore in the missile silo," said Abu as he began humming 'Whistle while you work'. Some of the men turned and looked at him strange.
"Sir, you do realize you're humming?" said one of the men brave enough to say something. "I'm not saying anything against it... it's just... well we've never heard you do that before."
"I am? You sure I am?" Then he caught himself humming. "I guess I am. Must be one of the side effects," he said. He caught their looks again. "What? You people get back to work. I'm not paying you to stand around and stare at me. Like I said if you need me you know where to find me. He left the room and as he started walking to the silo he started whistling the same tune.
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Onboard the Mason now steaming towards international waters heading for Romania. The Skipper and the XO were in the his cabin. This was the first breather they had since crap started hitting the fan. The Skipper was going over the new orders he'd received from Sixth Fleet as they studied a chart rolled out on his desk.
"Have you ever been to Constanța," asked the Skipper. The XO shook his head. "I have. I was a midshipmen doing my summer onboard experience. I was sent to the Coronado she was the Sixth Fleet flagship at the time and we made a port call there."
"So what was it like? I've heard mixed reviews from different people. Some liked it and others couldn't wait to get underway again," said the XO as he studied the chart.
"I couldn't tell you how it is now. Back then it was after Chernobyl and everything looked brown... even the grass looked lifeless. They told us we could eat one meal off the ship and it shouldn't do us any harm... shouldn't can you believe that. I noticed the Surgeon had all his meals onboard. Oh, and get the word out that Romanians drink Turkish coffee. I didn't know that and I thought it was espresso so I tossed back a cup and spit up coffee grounds everywhere. Naturally the locals thought it was a blast."
"That was a few years ago if it was after Chernobyl," said the XO as he smiled at the Skipper. "I guess there's a reason they call you the old man."
"Funny, you're not much younger than I am. Back then Ceaușescu was still in power and things were a lot different. A group of us were on liberty walking in town and these Romanians just walked up and started talking to us in perfect English asking who we were and offering to take us around. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out their end game."
"Sounds like it was an interesting port visit. I don't think ours is going to be quite that exciting. Or at least I hope not."
"Well I think this time we won't have to worry about whether or not to pay our respects to the major and other local officials," said the Skipper. He caught the puzzled look from the XO. "We had a Rabbi onboard and he visited the head Rabbi in Constanța to pay his respects. Well afterwards we found out the poor man was grilled by the Secret Police for a week wanting to know what he said."
While the two were unwinding, and chatting over the upcoming port visit. The Skipper received a call from the bridge. He put it on speaker so the XO could listen in.
"Sir we just received an SOS from that Russian submarine. They say they were attacked and are taking on water."
"Attacked by whom? Did they say if they were attacked by another sub or ship? Sound battle stations and turn us around. Tell them we are standing by to give assistance and relay that message back to Sixth Fleet. I want CIC to keep a sharp lookout for anything that looks hostile."
"We should radio the Russian command back in Sevastopol too before they misconstrue our actions as hostile."
"Good idea," yelled the Skipper to be heard over the 1MC as he and the XO headed back up to the bridge.
General Quarters, General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations. General Quarters set zebra throughout the ship," was announced over the ship's 1MC.
"We can broadcast the same message we send to the Russian command over channel 16 for anyone to hear," said the Skipper as they continued forward and up. "The Russians may not want us onboard their sub if they can surface. We can offer to bring their injured over here and if they allow us we can send a shoring party over to help patch them up."
"Captain on the Bridge," yelled the Boatswain mate of the watch as the Skipper walked through the hatch.
"Officer of the Deck report," said the Skipper as he took his binoculars and scoured the horizon. The OOD gave his report then the Skipper walked back to the Quartermaster and Navigator. "Where are we headed?"
"Here sir," said the Navigator as she showed the Skipper on the chart the location they received from the Russian submarine. "At our current speed and heading we should be there in about ten minutes."
"Do we have anything on radar?" yelled the Skipper. "I don't think our Russian friends ran into tree down there while they were joy riding."
"No sir there's nothing on the radar but sonar thought they picked up a faint signal of another submarine but it disappeared into the island."
"Into the island? Quartermaster, I want the latest charts you have of that piece of rock. Are there any caves or caverns that could hold a sub? XO you know what this was don't you? That son of a good woman on that rock played us... this was a set up. He knew the Russians wouldn't want us sitting here and that they'd send out their air force to scare us away. He might not have known about the sub but that didn't matter. He had his own sub waiting to enter port but it couldn't..."
"Because we were blocking its entrance into the island and we would've done what we did with the Russian sub and that was challenge it. But the question is why?"
"I think I know why and I need CIC to patch a secure call into Sixth Fleet and to Langley."
"There she is," said the OOD. "Geez look at that." They saw the Russian Submarine break the surface with a gaping hole in her aft starboard section.
"Open up a commlink with them and find out what they need," said the Executive Officer.
"We're going to find out soon enough. They're sending a small boat over now with what looks like their injured. Get our corpsman down there to help receive them then bring the senior man onboard up to the bridge. Put our small boat in the water and sent it over to help shuttle people back and forth. I don't want our people going below decks over there until we're invited and we know the status of their reactor. Boats, I want a constant monitoring of radiation levels even if they tell us they were able to shut down their reactor."
"Sir, Langley and Sixth Fleet are on the horn asking what's going on."
"I wish I knew. I have a hunch but they're not going to like it. XO you're in charge of the relief effort. I want to talk to their Captain as soon as I can. You can tell him if I haven't come back yet that I'd like to host him over here to talk about what we can do for them once his ship is stabilized."
"Roger that I'll make sure he gets the word."