The ISIS Gambit

by Brad Carlson

  “Jolly Six, looks like we have five Russian ships headed out of Tarsus. Looks like they might be destroyer-type vessels,” the radar operator onboard the orbiting E2-D Hawkeye reported to the commanding officer of VF-103, the Jolly Rogers from the Abraham Lincoln.

  “Roger that, Seahawk,” Jolly Six replied. “We see ‘em. Commencing attack.”

  “Jolly flight, launch on my command . . . three, two, one, fire!”

  And with that order, sixteen AGM-84 Harpoon missiles flew off the rails of the four F-18Fs in the Jolly Roger flight. Approximately ten minutes later, the first of the Harpoons found its target, followed in near simultaneous succession by the fifteen others. The five Russian Destroyers never had a chance.

  The gloves came off in the skies over Syria as well—first came the Tomahawks, then the Israelis. The Tomahawks hit the fixed installation sites at the Khmeimim air base as well as the Tartus naval base. The Israelis followed up with what amounted to their own alpha strike on Hama, Palmyra, Shayrat and T-4 where the Russians had established air bases. Seventy F-16Is and twenty-five F-15Is, accompanied by another fifty F-16s for a fighter escort, targeted the four air bases. The Russians scrambled every one of their Su-34 and Su-35s but they were no match for the wrath of the Israelis—every one of them went down in flames. Those that didn’t get airborne were destroyed on the ground. One hour after President Barre’s address to the nation, and the world, the Russians no longer posed a threat to anyone in Syria.

  The White House Situation Room

  9:15 PM Local Time

  “Admiral, just how quiet is a Virginia class submarine?” President Barre asked Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elliott Richardson.

  “Sir, they’re in a class by themselves,” Richardson replied, who proudly wore his own dolphins on his chest. “We could probably duplicate Gunther Prien’s raid on Scapa Flow and sneak one into Severomorsk,” the home port of the Russian Northern Fleet, “and take out much of the Russian main fleet—they’re that quiet.” The admiral’s reference to Gunther Prien and his raid on Scapa Flow, the home port of the British navy, occurred early in World War II when Prien sailed his U-boat into the British port and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak. Prien’s raid is still regarded as one of the preeminent submarine raids in history.

  “If we put a sub up there, would it be able to essentially announce its location and then disappear into the depths of the sea?”

  “Mr. President, that’s asking a lot. The whole premise of a submarine is to avoid contact and use its silence as its own kind of shield. Once that shield’s been penetrated, it’s a little more problematic, but it could probably be done.”

  “Okay then, I believe we have a sub up there, do we not?”

  “We do. The Florida is up in the Murmansk area. It’s an older Ohio class SSGN, sir, but they still define what it means for a submarine to be silent.”

  “That’s even better. I want the Florida to announce its location to the Russian navy—I don’t care how they do it—and then they are to disappear. However, they are to be prepared to launch every one of their Tomahawks. I’ll be speaking with President Sergei Gromyko very soon and I want him to know that, while our attack is over, should they take any measure to retaliate, the Florida is in position for further action that will leave them with very little time to respond to protect their northern fleet.”

  “Mr. President, we can do that without giving away the location of one of our best submarines,” Vice President Donner broke in. Donner had retired as a captain from the Navy’s sub force several years earlier and hated the thought of betraying the location of one of its most sophisticated boats.

  “De, we’ve done this before. Several years ago—actually, you were probably still a sub-driver yourself—we intentionally surfaced three SSGNs simultaneously in waters off Korea, the Philippines, and the Indian Ocean specifically so the Chinese would see them and recognize a thinly veiled message to back down in the South China Sea. That represented an additional 462 Tomahawks pointed at them on top of the Seventh Fleet’s arsenal! They got the message. Now, I want Gromyko to know that we’re not only in his back yard, we’re on his back porch with just one SSGN with over 150 Tomahawks ready to launch on a moment’s notice if we detect even a hint of them spinning something up! Is that clear?”

  “Absolutely. It’ll be done immediately,” Admiral Richardson replied.

  “Pam, what are our capabilities at hacking into Gromyko’s computer?” Barre asked his national security adviser.

  “We’ve had access to his computer for some time now. What are you looking for?”

  “When I talk to him, I want to know what he has on his schedule tomorrow . . . well, today for him. I want to ask him about a few things that are on his personal schedule and I want the call made on his personal phone—not the hotline we have with them—I want to talk with him directly, on his phone. This will be sending another message: we’ve not only hacked your personal computer but also the presidential phone system. He can imagine what else we are capable of hacking.”

  “That’s easily done, Mr. President,” Pam McDowell answered. “We can do that whenever you’d like. I’ll just need a few minutes to contact someone on my staff to access President Gromyko’s system.”

  “Get on it, Pam. I want to talk to Sergei within the hour. You, too, Admiral, I want to send President Gromyko an unmistakable message.”

  XV

  INS Tanin off the Syrian Coast

  5:00 AM Local Time

  “So, what’s next, Colonel?” Jackson asked Dani in the tiny state room that doubled as the mess on board the Tanin.

  “Colonel, huh? Pretty formal there, aren’t we? I expect I’ll be calling you ‘General’ pretty soon, too, huh?”

  “That’ll be a while, though I do like the sound of that. Did you really carry Reno all the way back to the tower? That had to be close to a hundred yards.”

  “I did—and I think it surprised both of us,” Dani replied with a laugh. “I wasn’t about to let him know that, though. I was thoroughly gassed by the time we reached the tower.”

  “I bet you were. Reno was sure impressed, though.”

  “I told you before, I can hold my own.”

  “Yes, you did, and I never doubted you. It was still pretty cool to see, though. So, what’s next?”

  “I have no idea. I’ve seen a lot of action in the last few years but this last one takes the cake—not in terms of intensity but I’ve never been in on something with such huge strategic implications. I know we have American support but still, Russia can still make a lot of trouble with Syria and ISIS. I don’t see them sitting on the sidelines.”

  “Nor do I. I know we’ll do what we can to keep this from escalating, and I really don’t think it will, given the Russians’ role in what started all this.”

  “My thoughts, too. They’re tied down in the Ukraine and this was their only real foreign operation. I’d think they’ll respond either on the cyber front or try and resurrect Hezbollah. We’ve done what we can to root them out of southern Lebanon but we haven’t destroyed Hezbollah by a long shot. How ‘bout you? I’d expect you’ll be busier than ever at this point.”

  “No change in orders. You’re stuck with me for a while. My posting’s pretty much open ended but with what we just pulled off . . . yeah, you’re right, I won’t be going anywhere for some time. Plus, we just poked a bear in the eye and I hope that at the same time, we haven’t made things easier for ISIS by removing another major power player in the region. That makes the second one in as many months. It’s almost as if we’re trying to make things easier for them.”

  “Yeah, I bet none of the policy wonks even thought about that,” Dani agreed.

  “Switchin’ gears on you, I never realized you were so into Greek and Roman mythology.”

  “Oh, I’m not really but I do find it fascinating. I really like ancient history and we’re practically at the seat of two of the greatest ancient civilizations in the world with Greece and
Rome. All the ancient sites they have are just incredible. In Greece alone you have the Parthenon, the Erechtheum and the Acropolis, the Temple of Hephaestus, to name just a few of them. All of it is simply amazing.”

  “Too bad the old Jewish temple is gone.”

  “Yes, it is, speaking of amazing. Everything I’ve read and seen about it makes the Greek ruins pale in comparison. The framework, the stonework, the goldwork, just incredible and that’s from more than two thousand years ago. I can’t imagine.”

  “Think you’ll build it again?” Jackson asked.

  “Oh, I’d love to see it rebuilt but as long as the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque sit there, it’ll never happen.”

  “Really? I never took you to be that observant.”

  “I’m not really. I mean, I believe in Jehovah, I guess, but I’ve never really thought too much about it. I guess I’m more interested in our history than I am in the overall theology of everything. But, when you think about it, it is a pretty rich tradition.”

  “That it is. There aren’t too many that have a richer one. But, when you think about it, how do you, as an Israeli, separate your history from theology? I’d think they are practically intertwined.”

  “Good question. Guess I’ve never really thought too much about it.”

  “Fair enough. So, how long’s the trip back home?”

  “Depends. If we stay on the sub all the way home, it’ll be sometime late afternoon or early evening before we get home. If we rendezvous with a Destroyer and then possibly fly us back on a helicopter, it’ll still be early afternoon at best. Why, got any plans for tonight?” she asked with a sly grin on her face.

  “Oh, I thought it might be nice to stay in for a change since we haven’t been home all week. Tell you what, I’ll take care of dinner, you can tickle the ivories on the piano and we can simply have a nice relaxing evening for a change.”

  “That sounds absolutely wonderful. What’s for dinner?”

  “I don’t know. Depends on the inspiration from the piano player. Are we going to have jazz, classical, rock, the Beatles . . . ?”

  “I see,” Dani replied with a devilish look in her eyes. “Let’s go with jazz. I just love piano jazz—and I’ll make sure the inspiration is there for you!”

  Inside the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

  6:30 Local Time

  “Anton, are the reports we’re receiving accurate?” President Sergei Gromyko asked his defense minister. “Surely the American president is exaggerating the extent of what they’ve done.”

  “Mr. President, I’m afraid not,” the defense minister replied. “It seems that at approximately three o’clock this morning a combined SEAL-Israeli commando team took out our air defense network at Khmeimim air base outside of Latakia. They followed this up with air and missile strikes against all of our positions in Syria, including the navy ships at Tartus. The Americans and Israelis have destroyed every position we have in the region! Everything’s just gone! Everything! We’re still checking on survivors. The toll will be massive—we’ve lost every ship and plane, even every helicopter we had in Syria.”

  “Sir, this is huge,” the foreign minister added. “This is worse than anything we encountered in a single day in Afghanistan back in the ‘80’s. This is quite possibly our worst defeat since World War II.”

  “So, how do we respond? Our Black Sea fleet was completely untouched,” Admiral Nesterov, the chief of the Russian Navy added. “We can easily hit back there.”

  “We are looking at that right now,” the defense minister replied. “We can look at a cruise missile strike, which we’ve done in the past . . . ” and then President Gromyko’s cell phone rang.

  “Hello . . .” Gromyko hesitantly said, answering his cell phone.

  “Mr. President, this is President Jack Barre. I hope I’m not interrupting anything too important.”

  “What?!? How did you get this number?”

  “Well, the mere fact that I have it should tell you something, Mr. President. Oh, and I hope this hastily called meeting that you’re currently conducting won’t interfere with your granddaughter’s soccer game this afternoon. I’d really hate for you to miss th—“

  “How do you know about that?”

  “It’s on your calendar, as is the dinner date I believe you have tomorrow night with one of your, ah, ‘assistants’ . . . and it’s on her calendar as well.”

  “Okay, what do you want, Mr. President? You’ve made your point.”

  “No, I don’t think I have. You see, I know you’re discussing some means of retaliating against either us or Israel. I would encourage you to simply leave it alone so no one else has to die. I am more than willing to call us ‘even’ at this point, though you certainly achieved a higher body count than we did. I’ve obviously demonstrated our cyber capabilities. Admiral Nesterov is there with you, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is here with us.”

  “I thought so. Why don’t you ask him if he’s detected one of our subs off the coast of Severomorsk? I’ll wait for his reply.”

  “Igor, is that true? Do the Americans have a sub outside of Severomorsk?”

  “It would seem that way, Mr. President. One of our Destroyers picked them up not half an hour ago and then completely lost them. We haven’t been able to locate them since.”

  “President Barre, it would seem that you have now made your point. However, you can rest assured, we will get even,” President Gromyko added.

  “No, Mr. President, the scales are now ‘even.’ Any attempt to unbalance the scales . . . , well, you know of our capabilities.”

  “Mr. President, you’ve just poked a wounded Bear,” McDowell simply noted.

  “Yes, I have, but that Bear needs to know that this Eagle is still capable of soaring to substantial heights,” President Barre replied with a grimace across his face.

  “Are you okay, Mr. President?” Tom Fleming asked.

  “Yeah, I’ve got a headache that’s been building most of the day—probably nothing that a little rest won’t fix.”

  Raqqa, Syria

  7:00 AM Local Time

  “Mohammed, did the Americans really just take out all of the Russian forces in Syria?”

  “Imam, from what we are hearing . . . yes, I believe so, it’s hard to believe,” Baghdadi’s chief of operations replied, “but it certainly sounds that way.”

  “Do they have any idea what they just did for us?” Baghdadi continued.

  “No, I don’t think so. This has all the hallmarks of a typical kneejerk reaction—understandable but still, not smart. The attacks in Boston and New York happened just a few days ago. This is more retaliation, American style. I believe they refer to it as ‘shooting from the hip.’ I think everyone can understand their immediate reaction, though I don’t think too many of the cooler heads thought out the implications of what they just did. Secretary Axelsson, their Secretary of Defense, might have as well as their intelligence leaders, but their Secretary of State and National Security Adviser are both totally clueless. By taking the Russians out of the region, there is nothing standing in our way. I’m sure Axelsson understands this, but neither Johnson nor McDowell get it. They both come from academia and totally underestimate us.”

  “Mohammed, we couldn’t have asked for a better tandem of National Security Adviser and Secretary of State than Pam McDowell and Andrea Johnson, though I detest everything about each of them. They don’t miss a chance to humiliate us,” Baghdadi added.

  “Imam, I know you hate everything they stand for but as you allude, because of their ineptness, there is literally nothing standing in our way right now. Give me a couple days to realign our forces and our plans in Turkey will no longer be a question of whether we succeed, but simply how quickly we can make it happen.”

  “Excellent, but won’t the Americans be able to pick up on what we are doing?”

  “I’m sure they will, but the way we’ll be organizing everything, the obvious conclusion will be tha
t we are targeting the Kurds. By the time they realize otherwise, it’ll be too late.”

  “Excellent! That is what I was hoping to hear.”

  XVI

  Incirlik Air Force Base

  4:00 PM Local Time

  “Ah, Colonel, are we expecting any visitors today?” Sergeant Gomez hollered to his boss, and base commander, Colonel Nathan Cadonau, as he charged into his office.

  “Not that I know of, Gomez. What’s going on?” Colonel Cadonau replied, somewhat alarmed at his sergeant’s sudden outburst.

  “Sir, we just received word of a SAM flight,” a Special Air Mission operated by the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, “SAM Two-One-Four will be landing in about 20 minutes.”

  “What?!? Where’d that come from?” Cadonau barked. “Do the Turks know about this?”

  “They received the message the same time we did, sir. I’ve alerted Colonel Todd. She’s getting her security personnel spun up as we speak.”

  “Does she know if General Van”—the Turkish Base Commander—“received word at the same time we did? If not, let her know just in case. She’s going to love this.”

  “Yes, sir. She’s aware of that. And sir, it’s supposedly the SecDef and the Secretary of State! What the hell, sir? What’s going on?”

  “No idea sergeant, but I would guess it might have something to do with this morning’s activity in Syria—we just kicked the hell out of the Russians. I just love surprise visits!” Cadonau added sarcastically.

  “Rahmi, have you heard? The American Secretary of Defense and their Secretary of State are coming! Now’s our chance!” Sergeant Aydin exclaimed.

  “Yes, it is. Get Omer, grab your gear, and meet me at Supply in five minutes. If we’re going to act on this, we need to hurry. Once we meet up we’ll need to coordinate our own moves to make sure at least one of us gets a shot.”

  “Todd, you ready for this?” Colonel Cadonau bluntly asked Lieutenant Colonel Gretchen Todd.