by Bob Mayer
They were both ready for entry into the water, wearing cutoff fatigue shorts, weight belts, and tanks, with masks and fins at the ready. Skibicki had given Boomer a double-edged Fairbarn commando knife. It would rust after being exposed to the water unless cleaned, but as Skibicki had noted, he would only have to use it this evening and the edge was razor-sharp. Boomer had placed the diary pages inside a plastic Ziploc bag and tucked it into his shorts pocket. Harry was inland, providing security against the possibility of a police patrol stumbling on their position.
"You think they'll still come?" Boomer asked. "Trace has got to have given the diary to Maxwell by now."
"If she got to him and wasn't picked up by these DIA goons," Skibicki said. "We can't take any chances."
"What about the Joint Chiefs? They'll be out there with the President in the morning. They wouldn't be on the memorial if their plan was to blow it up."
"They'll come up with something," Skibicki said. He indicated for Boomer to be quiet now and they settled in to listen.
*****
Along the coast of Oahu, the two Zodiacs planed through the water at twenty-five knots, the men lying on the inside of the rubber hull, keeping their silhouette to a minimum. A light machine gun rested on the prow of each boat, pointing forward, just in case.
The navigator in the lead boat checked his heading on his handheld GPR. They were on course and would arrive in plenty of time.
HICKAM AIRFIELD, HAWAII
7 December
3:20 a.m. LOCAL/1320 ZULU
The head air traffic controller for Hickam Field had been rudely awakened by a phone call fifteen minutes ago, but when he heard the voice on the other end identify himself all irritation fled. The E-4B Airborne Command Post was to be moved to the ready flight line and prepared for take-off. The head ATC had "yes, sirred," General Dublois and now he was ready, along with the plane. There was no flight plan filed but the E-4B didn't need one. It could fly anywhere it pleased.
The plane was at the end of the runway, waiting, engines idling, surrounded by Air Police, their blue lights flashing. The head ATC had no idea what was going on but he assumed it had something to do with the ceremonies coming up in a few hours.
PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII
7 December
5:00 A.M. LOCAL/1500 ZULU
"Stick with the plan," Hooker said, and the four generals nodded. "Your country is depending on you to steer a straight course."
General Martin stood, the other Joint Chiefs, minus the Commandant of the Marine Corps, a non-Naval Academy graduate, joining him. They left the superbly furnished VIP quarters and got into two limousines for the short ride to Hickam Field.
Hooker remained behind with his aides and bodyguards, watching the taillights of the cars disappear into the darkness. There was no hint of dawn yet in the eastern sky. Upstairs in a large room, the other members of the staff waited by the radios which they would monitor.
"Take me up to the second-floor balcony," Hooker ordered. From there he would have an unobstructed view of the Harbor and the upcoming activities. It was an event he had dedicated a lifetime to and nothing could keep him from missing it.
OAHU, HAWAII
7 December
5:20 a.m. LOCAL/1520 ZULU
A light tapping on the door to her suite woke Trace out of an uneasy slumber. "Come in," she called out. She was surprised to see an agitated General Maxwell standing there. "What's wrong?"
"The Joint Chiefs are boycotting the ceremony," he said. "I heard that from a reliable source at Pearl."
"What does that mean?" Trace asked, pulling on a sweatshirt underneath the covers.
"I don't know," Maxwell said. "I'm just feeling jumpy." He walked over to the window and peered out into the darkness as Trace finished getting dressed.
There was another knock on the door. Maxwell turned and opened it. Two men stepped in. "Come with us, general. There's someone who wants to talk to you." They looked at Trace, now in her wheelchair. One man looked at the other, then the leader decided. "You too."
"Where are we going?"
One of the men pulled a gun out. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
CHAPTER 27
OFFSHORE, OAHU
7 DECEMBER
5:30 A.M. LOCAL/1530 ZULU
Through his night vision goggles, the navigator op the lead Zodiac spotted the IR strobe on shore. He steered directly in, slowing as they approached the rocky shore. A soldier in the prow threw a line to the woman waiting on shore. The party scrambled ashore, the last man opening the boat's valves, letting it slip back under the water.
The second boat came in and unloaded. The team leader walked up to the guide. "Major Keyes," he said, identifying himself.
"Sergeant Vasquez," the guide replied, taking his hand and returning his grip squeeze for squeeze.
Keyes broke off first. "All accounted for."
"I've got a van to take you on the final leg to your target, sir," Sergeant Vasquez said, pointing inland.
"All right." Major Keyes turned and gave a hand signal. His team spread out and they moved forward.
*****
Eighty miles to the south, men began loading out of the submarine. Their target was less than a half-mile away, but totally oblivious of their presence. The captain had crept up slowly, on silent running, taking the entire night to cover six miles underwater.
The men were experts at this task as they formed up on their SDVs and mini-sleds. In a V, their team leader at the head, they slowly began to traverse the last of the distance to their target.
PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII
7 December
7:30 a.m. LOCAL/1730 ZULU
Boomer felt exposed as the sun continued rising over the hills to the east and shone down on the harbor. They were hidden in tall grass right next to the water, but already two naval launches had gone by with security personnel on board. Boomer checked his watch again. It was getting close—too close. "Maybe they were already in when we got here," he suggested.
"If they are in, then we're going to see some good fireworks soon," Skibicki said, briefly pulling off one of the earpieces, then replacing it. "But I don't think they would have stayed in that long. They only have so much oxygen on the SDV. No, they're still coming."
Several minutes passed, then Skibicki suddenly smiled. "I've got a contact," he said. "Moving steadily at two knots." He took off the headset. "Time to get wet."
Boomer slipped on his fins and pulled his mask down. Together they slipped into the water, Skibicki in the lead. He had another piece of exotic equipment in hand that Boomer had never seen before. The sergeant major had briefly described its function when Boomer had asked how they would pinpoint the Mark IX if and when it came through the entrance. Five hundred meters of dark water was a pretty wide area for two men to cover. Skibicki had shown him a small handheld device and explained that it would lock in on the OAR, obstacle avoidance radar, that the SDVs used and bring them right up on the craft.
The exercise of swimming through the water felt good to Boomer. His ribs still ached but the soreness wasn't crippling. He breathed in air through his mouthpiece, slowly exhaling in rhythm with his finning. Skibicki was a dark bulk just in sight. Visibility was less than four feet at their current depth of ten feet.
7:40 a.m. LOCAL/1740 ZULU
Agent Stewart could tell that the protocol officer for Pearl Harbor was extremely flustered. The folding chairs set up for the Joint Chiefs of Staff were prominently empty, except for the Marine Corps Commandant, and the young officer didn't quite know how to handle such an unprecedented breach of etiquette.
Stewart glanced about. There were a group of survivors of the Arizona gathered together on the other side of the memorial beside the media. The surface of the harbor was perfectly still, looking like a dark sheet of glass! The distant chatter of security helicopters was the only noise breaking the tranquility of the moment.
"Even at this moment," Stewart could hear one of the n
etwork anchors speaking, "fifty-four years ago, the first wave of Japanese planes was making landfall on the north side of Oahu, breaking into their attack formations."
Since the fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1991, the memorial service had hardly made a blip on the major networks, but the President's presence and the promise of a major policy speech had drawn the media.
Stewart glanced northward at the lush green hills. It was all so beautiful and peaceful. Then he looked back at the empty chairs. To him they were a bad omen. Last night, he'd talked to Rameriz, his boss, and they had brought in extra agents from the second detail. He looked around the memorial and noted the additional security. If someone tried an attack, they were as ready as they could be.
7:43 A.M. LOCAL/1743 ZULU
All Trace knew was that they were in a van somewhere on the landward side of the Pearl Harbor Navy base. Their guards had told them to be quiet when Trace had tried asking General Maxwell what was going on. She knew they were on the Pearl Harbor Reservation because she could see through a crack in the curtains separating them from the driver up front and had recognized a few landmarks.
The van had tilted, as if going down a ramp just before stopping, and Trace and Maxwell had been hustled out, down a long corridor, and into a large room with concrete walls.
There were two officers manning radios in the room and another officer dressed in camouflage fatigues standing at a map board. He turned as they were brought in and nodded. "General Maxwell, Major Trace. I'm Colonel Decker. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we need to talk." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Unfortunately, I don't have time right now. Please, have a seat."
"I demand to know why we were brought here," Maxwell said.
Decker shook his head. "I don't have time right now, general. All your questions will be answered very shortly." He pointed at a TV on the wall that showed the ceremony just across the water. "Watch and see."
7:45 a.m. LOCAL/1745 ZULU
The two limousines had emptied their passengers fifteen minutes earlier. The boarding ramp was pulled back and the E-4B taxied the last few yards to the ready line. The pilot increased throttle and the plane roared forward, increasing speed until the wheels slowly parted company with the ground.
7:47 a.m. LOCAL/ 1747 ZULU
On the balcony of the VIP quarters, Hooker could see the silhouette of the E-4B disappear into the early morning haze, then he returned his attention to the harbor. The dark gray bulk of the Antietam was just making its presence known, coming out of the East Loch toward Ford Island and the memorial.
7:48 a.m. LOCAL/1748 ZULU
"All systems read green," the navigator reported.
"Turn the beacon on," the pilot ordered as he brought the propellers to a halt, having negotiated the final turn in the harbor entrance that would give them a line to the Arizona Memorial. They were just off Hospital Point, almost 2,000 meters from the target. It would be threading a needle, but if they got in any closer they risked getting picked up by one of the security launches.
The navigator transmitted a signal on the designated frequency and the beacon that had been hidden on one of the legs of the Arizona monument was activated. It began sending out its own signal.
"I've got target lock," the navigator said.
With the lock, they were confident that they would not miss. The guidance system of the torpedo would home in on the transmitter.
"Five minutes," he announced.
7:50 a.m. LOCAL/1750 ZULU
Eighty miles to the south of Pearl Harbor, the captain of the SHARCC was gratified to see that they had a secure link with the E-4B now airborne and gaining altitude to the north. He was less than gratified though, when his executive officer suddenly swore from his position near the sonar operator.
"Sir, we've got multiple small contacts off the starboard bow."
"What is it? Dolphins?" the captain demanded, looking over the shoulder of the sonar operator.
"Negative, sir." The technician frowned. "They look like five or six small submersibles and they're close." He fiddled with the controls. "Sir! There's a large contact on silent running behind the smaller ones. I wouldn't have picked it up if I hadn't gotten the others on screen. It looks like a large sub—maybe a Los Angeles or Ethan Allen Class!"
7:51 a.m. LOCAL/1751 ZULU
On board the E-4B, General Martin had the crew run through their communications checklist for taking over all satellite transmissions one last time. The five-mile trailing wire antenna was slowly unreeling behind the aircraft as it passed 4,000 feet of altitude.
Martin also made last-minute contacts with various military forces standing by, awaiting his orders. The SHARCC had been the primary plan, so they hadn't had a chance to do a run-through with the E-4B crew. He had no doubt, though, that the men and women on board would perform when the time came. They were all handpicked for their professionalism and even more so for their unquestioning loyalty. Especially since only a select few knew the exact nature of their mission.
7:52 a.m. LOCAL/1752 ZULU
"Two minutes," the navigator said, caressing the launch lever as he watched the red numbers turn over on his display.
7:52 a.m. LOCAL/1742 ZULU
Major Keyes checked his watch. Two minutes. His men were gathered together on the roof, the three-foot edging keeping them hidden from the ground below. They'd climbed up the back side of the adjoining building in the dark using collapsing aluminum ladders. Then they'd traversed across the gap between the two buildings using a line fired across from a crossbow.
They'd quietly manually drilled in anchor points for their rappelling ropes and securely attached the lines. Keyes slid the nylon rope through the snap link on the front of his harness, making sure it looped once so he could break. He edged up on his knees next to the wall. Three other men on lines watched him for the word to go. Behind each of them, four other men waited their turn. Vasquez was there too, over the protests of Keyes, dressed in black with a submachine gun, ready to go.
Keyes flipped his MP-5 submachine gun off safe.
7:53 a.m. LOCAL/1753 ZULU
"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States!"
The President walked to the podium and looked out at the sea of faces and television cameras. "Let us bow our heads in a minute of silence for those who died here in the service of their country."
7:53 a.m. LOCAL/1753 ZULU
The torpedo was a large bulk on the top center of the Mark IX, dividing the pilot's hatch from the navigator's. Boomer looked over the torpedo at Skibicki bobbing in the water and nodded. At the same moment they twisted the latch on the respective hatch below them. Skibicki leaned in and levered his arm around the neck of the pilot of the Mark IX, jamming the point of his knife into the soft skin under the man's jaw, pushing it up into his brain, killing him instantly.
Boomer wasn't so fortunate. The point of his knife glanced off the air hose of the navigator, severing it and leaving a gash along the left side of the man's face. The navigator convulsed forward, sucking in a lungful of seawater.
Boomer dropped the knife, letting it dangle on its lanyard, and grabbed the other man's arms with his own hands, pulling them away from the firing lever the man was desperately trying to reach.
It was a silent struggle in the surreal green glow of fifteen feet of water. Boomer was half in the hatch, upside down, pressed up against the open latch, his hands on the other man's forearms, holding them up and away.
Skibicki could only watch from the other side, unable to get in, blocked on the inside by the body of the pilot buckled into his harness and on the outside by the bulk of the torpedo. A steady spray of bubbles from the severed airline floated to the surface, the only sign of the battle going on underneath the placid harbor surface.
7:54 a.m. LOCAL/1754 ZULU
Keyes stood and hopped onto the edge of the building. He pushed off and dropped out of sight, one hand on the rope, the other holding out his submachine gun ready for use. The othe
r three men went over at the same time.
As soon as the ropes went slack, the next men hooked in and followed. As the last one cleared, Vasquez followed.
7:54 a.m. LOCAL/1754 ZULU
The arms grew weaker and weaker and then Boomer felt no resistance. He looped one arm around the man's chin and slid the blade of his knife into the man's neck to make sure he was dead. A small burst of red clouded the water.
Skibicki leaned into the Mark IX and adjusted the controls, turning off the power and disarming the torpedo. The submersible slowly sank down toward the harbor bottom. Skibicki then tapped Boomer on the shoulder and indicated for him to follow. Boomer turned to the west, but Skibicki grabbed him, shook his head and pointed east.
7:54 a.m. LOCAL/1754 ZULU
"Damn it, what's going wrong?" General Martin demanded, staring at the television screen in the war room of the E-4B at the President who still stood at the podium.
"We don't have contact with the SDV," Admiral Hancock reminded him. "They might have been held up. The President will still be out there for another twenty minutes."
"And if the SDV mission has failed?" General Dublois asked.
"We still have the back up on Air Force One." Hancock said.
Martin nodded. "Contact the SHARCC and have them relay the order for our decoy to back out. Go to alternate plan Stingray."