“Their demands are laughable,” Wade said. “Except for the fact that they just might be crazy enough to plant a bomb on Pearl. Is there a chance that it’s a bluff?”
“Our people in Washington and here don’t think so,” the admiral said. “This threat about the nuke is ultimate top secret. We don’t want any word leaking. The fewer people that know about this threat the better. We don’t want any panic in the streets of Pearl City or Honolulu.
“I understand that our diplomats have turned over a response from our top military directly to China that if there is a nuclear explosion on Hawaii, the U.S. will at once retaliate with nuclear weapons on their three nuclear production facilities, and the ten largest Chinese cities, plunging their nation into the Dark Ages.”
“All we have to do is find the bomb and defuse it before they set it off,” DeWitt said.
“Any idea where it could be on Pearl?” Wade asked. “Did it come in by ship, or is it in a suitcase? No, they don’t have any weapon small enough yet for a suitcase.”
“Wouldn’t even need a ship,” Ching said. “They could drive it right into Camp Catlin Naval Reservation adjacent to Pearl. Any delivery truck could haul a bomb in. Leave the truck or camouflage the bomb in a wooden box and drive away.”
“They want us on the job to help find the bomb?” Wade asked.
“Right. CINCPAC has asked for you and the two top nuclear-deactivating men that I have to come to Pearl as quickly as possible. He thought you might have some additional equipment or gear here that you would need. He wants all of you on-site right now. We’re attaching them to your platoon. You’ll fly out of here as soon as we can get some clean cammies for you, a good meal, and another briefing.”
“Sir, any machine we can use to sniff out this package?” DeWitt asked.
“Not unless the bomb is leaking radiation, which we hope it isn’t.”
“Do they still have those prisoners from the CINCPAC takeover?” Murdock asked.
“I’m sure they do.”
“Might be a place to start. Questioning them. We must have something to start with. Anything. We can’t fine-tooth-comb five or six hundred acres, hundreds of buildings, and all of the ships in Pearl.”
“They lay out any kind of a schedule or deadline?” DeWitt asked.
The admiral scowled. “Damn them, they did. Tomorrow at noon we have to broadcast a message that we will receive a delegation from the Chinese battle group. Also, they say that all military operations against Chinese forces on land, sea, and air must cease immediately. That was about two hours ago.”
“Have you shut down your chase?”
“Partially.”
“What’s the highest-ranking Chinese we captured at Pearl?”
“One of them claims he’s a colonel in the Chinese Marines.”
“I didn’t know that China had any Marines.”
“Over five thousand from what this colonel says.” Admiral Magruder flipped a pencil onto his desk. “That’s it. We have your Sea Knight serviced and ready to go.”
“Let’s go now,” Murdock said. “No sense in keeping the Chinese waiting. We’ll get a better feel of it when we get on-site.”
“Good hunting,” Admiral Magruder said.
“Oh, Admiral. Work out some way to stall them on that 1200 deadline tomorrow. Not a chance we can find the thing by then. Also, it’s portable, so they may be moving the nuclear device around right under our noses.”
“That’s a Roger, Commander. I’ll tell Admiral Bennington that you’re on your way.”
Hickam Field
Oahu, Hawaii
The fifteen SEALs and the two nuclear technicians deplaned at Hickam Field, next door to Pearl Harbor, looking much better. They had washed up as best they could, changed into clean cammies, and stowed their firepower.
A Humvee and Commander Johnson met them at the chopper. He explained the four planners were to report to CINCPAC GHQ at once. The rest of the platoon would be taken to the quarters on Pearl they had used before.
“Everyone is on this one, including a team from NEST that is flying in from Guam,” Johnson said. “I think this whole bomb scare is a bluff, but it has to be checked out.”
“How the hell do you inspect every square foot of land and building in Pearl in twelve hours?” DeWitt asked.
Ten minutes later, the same four SEALs who had talked with Admiral “Tombstone” Magruder on the carrier stood at attention in front of Vice Admiral Bennington.
“Be seated, men,” the admiral said. There were six others in the room, half military, half in civilian clothes. “No need for introductions, we’re all here to get a job done. So far we’ve decided on several courses of action. Every ship that has docked during the past week is in the process of a minute inspection of all spaces for any large heavy object that could be a somewhat crude Chinese nuclear device.”
“What about Hickam?” Murdock asked. “Close counts in nuclear weapons and this device must be small enough to be hauled by a modest-sized truck. Security is not as high at Hickam as it is here.”
The admiral nodded at a three-striper. “Get on it. Tell them we’ll send search parties to help if they need us.”
“Sir,” Murdock said, and waited.
“Commander Murdock.”
“Do we still have the POW Chinese Marine colonel?”
“Indeed. He’s been in questioning for the past two hours. He tells us nothing and spouts Chinese propaganda he’s been spoon-fed since he was in diapers.”
“Sir, he looks like our only handle on the situation. He must know something. I’d like to put him one on one with one of my SEALs, Kenneth Ching, who is Chinese.”
Admiral Bennington twirled a lead pencil in his fingers for a moment, then eased it down on the desk. His face, a bit long, now showed signs of strain. He rubbed his eyes with his left hand. “Yes, give it a try. Can’t hurt.”
Murdock nodded at Dobler and Ching, who left the room with Commander Johnson, their liaison.
“Anything more, Commander?” the admiral asked, looking at Murdock.
“Yes, sir. Anyone here from NEST?” He referred to the Nuclear Energy Search Team.
“I am, minding the local store,” a civilian in light blue coveralls at the back of the room said. “Our five-man team is flying in from Guam.”
“Do you have a local center here with equipment?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You have leaded sheets and components to completely shield a leaking nuclear device?”
“Yes, sir. Bottle it up tight for as long as you want.”
“Wouldn’t that shielding work in reverse as well? Wouldn’t it prevent any radio signals from penetrating the lead shielding?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then I suggest that you have such material loaded on a truck and ready for deployment.”
The admiral nodded. “So when we find the device, we cloak it in a lead blanket and no firing sequence of signals could get through to activate the bomb. Yes. Get on that, Casemore.”
The civilian stood and hurried out of the room.
“Commander, to bring you up to date, a thorough and systematic search of all ships, aircraft buildings, and grounds is now under way. We have over three thousand officers and men scouring the base. It’s been the opinion in this room that if they were clever enough to slip such a weapon on-base, they would have an ingenious method for concealing it. This whole threat may be a hoax, but it is the kind of problem that we must take seriously. The lives of more than a million people are riding on our decisions, our actions, and our ability to find the device.”
DeWitt attracted the admiral’s attention. He pointed at DeWitt.
“Sir, is there a holding area on-base for damaged or leaking nuclear devices?”
A voice came from the side. “I can answer that. Yes, we do have such a facility. A week ago all but four devices were transshipped to another base where the items are being deactivated and disposed of. The four remaining items
have been on-site for a little over two months, and we know that none was made by the Chinese. We believe we’re clear in that area.”
The phone on the desk buzzed three times. Admiral Bennington picked it up. He said hello and lifted his brows, then pushed a button on the phone and the speaker came on.
“Admiral Bennington, General Kerstan here. We’re on your suggestion like a herd of wild grasshoppers at Hickam Field. Our people are furious about the Chinese attack and our losses. We won’t let a stone get left in place over here hunting that damn bomb.”
“Thanks, Kurt. I hope you get it. If you do, yell at us and we’ll send over enough lead shielding to keep any detonation signal from getting to it.”
The admiral hung up.
The talk went on for another hour. Murdock began to shift in his chair. The admiral stood up. Every man in the room shot to his feet.
“We’re repeating ourselves, gentlemen. We’ll meet here again at 1800 hours. Let’s hope we have some news, or some new ideas, by then. That will be all.”
The men filed out of the room.
Murdock and DeWitt stopped at the second of three desks outside the admiral’s office, and asked where the Chinese colonel was being questioned.
The chief looked at them questioningly for a moment. “Oh, you just came from the admiral’s office?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a restricted area. I’ll get you badges and a guide. It’s not far away.”
Five minutes later they met Dobler in an underground facility with a one-way mirror showing another room. Ching sat on one side of a bare wooden table, and a small, crew-cut Chinese man sat across from him.
Dobler turned down the loudspeaker.
“Nothing so far,” Dobler said. “They’re speaking Mandarin, so I don’t have a clue. My guess, just a warm-up chat.” Two video cameras recorded the scene from different angles.
Murdock turned on the speaker. Ching had switched to English.
“No, Zhang, you are the one who doesn’t understand. The others were gentle with you; they were polite and civil. I am through with all three. From now on you will answer my questions truthfully, or you will die.”
The Chinese colonel smiled. “It is easy for you to say, but you have no weapon. You are being recorded on videotape. I think you will not harm me.”
“I am a U.S. Navy SEAL. A SEAL never is without a weapon.” Ching reached to his left ankle and pulled up a.32-caliber automatic. The Chinese only smiled wider.
“I am not afraid of weapons.”
“First I will shoot you in the shoulder, break the shoulder bones, and ruin the rotator cuff. It’s more painful than you can imagine. I have the record in my outfit. Twenty-eight shots into a terrorist before he died. They said it was from bleeding to death.
“Now, let’s start over from the beginning. Your name?”
“Colonel Zhang Ding-fa.”
“You are a member of the Chinese Marines?”
“Yes, a full colonel.”
“You and six men in your group came to Hawaii as tourists?”
“Yes. It was simple getting in.”
“You know about the threat to set off a nuclear device in Pearl Harbor?”
“Only what you have told me.”
“Untrue. You were one of the prime planners of this invasion. Your true rank is that of vice admiral, commander of the Chinese North Sea Fleet.”
“That is not true.”
“You were the only ranking Naval officer who spoke good enough English, so you were drafted for the role to infiltrate and subvert the communications center and downgrade the size of the ‘goodwill’ fleet coming to Hawaii.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“Then you are a vice admiral?”
“No.”
Ching shot the Chinese officer in the right shoulder.
The roar of the gunshot in the small room was like a dozen bombs going off at once. Ching couldn’t hear a thing. He watched Zhang. He had been thrown back against the chair by the force of the shot, but the force of the small round hadn’t toppled the chair. He screeched in pain, but he couldn’t hear himself.
“Two Navy SPs boiled into the viewing room outside the interrogation space.
“Heard a shot,” one of them said.
“Sound effect,” Murdock said. The SPs grunted, looked through the window at the men inside, and turned and left.
Gradually Ching sensed his hearing return. He waited until he could hear the prisoner moaning. He had slid the weapon back in his ankle holster soon after the shot.
Now he leaned toward Zhang. “Let’s try that question again. You are a vice admiral, correct?”
Zhang nodded. “Yes.”
“See how easy that was? Now we’re making progress. You knew about bringing a live nuclear weapon onto Hawaiian soil when you came, right?”
“Yes, I knew.” The prisoner gritted his teeth, evidently to stifle the pain between his words.
“Now, just where did those men who brought the nuclear device ashore hide it here on the Pearl Harbor Naval base?”
Ching watched him. Zhang looked up at Ching, started to say something. Then his eyes closed and he fell facedown on the table. Ching stared at the prisoner in surprise. Had he only fainted or was he dead?
11
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Murdock, DeWitt, and Dobler watched through the glass as Ching tried to bring the prisoner back to consciousness.
Then Murdock went inside. Ching looked at him.
“What the hell, Cap. Nothing else was working. We don’t have time to play games.”
“He’s coming out of it,” Murdock said.
Zhang shuddered. Then his hands moved and his shoulders hunched where he lay with his chest on the table. Ching had bandaged the Chinese man’s shoulder and stopped the blood.
Zhang shook his head, then lifted it off his arms. Tears streamed out of his eyes. His face went white for a moment. Then his eyes half closed.
“You shot me!”
“I told you I would. The next one goes into your knee, so you’ll never walk again. Like the sound of that?”
“No.”
“So, back to the start. Where on our base has the nuclear weapon been hidden?”
“On the base. Weapon?” His face froze for a moment, then relaxed. “Yes, yes, I remember. Just don’t shoot me again. I have a low tolerance for pain. No one knew before this. The weapon is a class-three bomb for aerial delivery. It is forty kilotons and is in a heavy wooden crate. The crate has been put into a truck and three men who are in sailor uniforms and are Caucasians. They move it from site to site on the base. They think it’s a security test of the base. We told them it’s a nuclear bomb. They think it’s just an exercise.”
“It’s on the Pearl Harbor base?” Murdock asked.
The Chinese man looked up, seeing Murdock for the first time. “Ah. A commander. Shows more respect for my rank. Yes, a truck on Pearl Harbor itself. It was easy to come into the base with fake papers a week ago.”
“What kind of a truck is it?”
“Navy truck we stole. It is outfitted with nuclear energy warning signs, and more signs indicating that this is a nuclear energy testing unit, sniffing out any radiation leakage on the base or from the ships or nuclear weapons.”
“Good, Zhang. You’re doing fine. You might live through the day after all. Now, just where is that truck?”
“I have no idea. No control.”
“Where is it based?”
“This is an extra truck so it has no garage.”
“How many of these trucks are on-base?”
“Twenty-five. Some in repair, most on duty watching for any leakage.”
“Is the bomb fully armed, fused, and ready to explode?” Murdock asked.
“Absolutely. A threat is useless unless you can back it up.” The prisoner shivered. “I need medical attention. I want a doctor.”
Murdock left the room and found a phone in the observation
area. He needed three tries to get the right office. It was the Radiation Search Facility. He dialed.
“No, sir, I’m sorry, all of our people are out looking for the nuclear device. I’m the only one here. I’m a civilian secretary.”
“Do you have radio contact with your boss?”
“No sir, no radios left here. All in use in the field.”
Murdock called Admiral Bennington’s office. He got a captain and told him what they had found out from the prisoner.
“We think he’s telling the truth. The man has a low pain threshold. He says there are twenty-five of these trucks. We need to find the right one.”
The captain groaned. “I just authorized Commander Running to dispatch three of those rigs to Hickam and three more to the Camp Catlin Naval Reserve area. I’ll see if I can get him back and have him pull all his units in for a quick check.”
“Won’t help much, Captain. The one we want won’t have a radio and wouldn’t come in anyway. It may be in hiding now.”
* * *
On the far side of the Naval Reserve area, three men worked over a one-ton van-type truck. They had parked it in back of a grove of trees at the very bottom part of the camp near Highway H-1 and well out of sight of any prying eyes. They had taken compressed air bottles from inside the rig, attached them to hoses and nozzles, and quickly stripped off the Navy logos and Navy gray paint and all signs about nuclear energy. The triangle signs were removed, and what remained was a civilian truck in dull blue showing logos of a brewery.
They made one more inspection. Then two men went into the cab and the third into the back, and they drove through the military reservation to the back gate and had the guard check their papers. They were cleared to deliver beer to the non-com and the officers’ clubs on this day and to use this gate.
The young Shore Patrolman on guard at the gate gave the papers a quick look and waved them through. He had been concentrating on the exercise underway to find a nuke bomb that had been planted somewhere in Pearl Harbor. There was always another test being run.
He turned his attention to three cars lined up at the barrier. It was a duty weekend coming up and the reservists were piling onto the base. It would be a busy time for him.
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