The Vigilant Spy

by Jeffrey Layton

  “What about that Russian naval officer…the one who dumped the bomb offshore? Can’t he testify about what happened?”

  “Kirov can and we may need to eventually do that, but for now we believe he’s much more valuable to us as an intelligence asset. His knowledge of the Russian Navy and his recent experience with China are golden. We’ve never had an asset like that before.”

  “Hmmm,” Magnuson muttered. “Does Moscow know he’s working for us?”

  “We don’t think so. They may have suspicions but he’s returned to his job and maintains a low profile.”

  The president bit his lower lip, recalling a critical item. “Are you certain he was not involved with the attempt on Pearl?”

  “I am. I’ve now read the transcripts of Kirov’s interrogations and spoke with key personnel from the FBI, CIA and Navy who questioned him. His actions were truly heroic.” Brindle collected his thoughts, knowing what he was about to reveal would infuriate his boss. “Something else has come up regarding Kirov that you need to know about.”

  Curious, the president said, “Go on.”

  “It’s about China.”

  For the next ten minutes NSA Brindle laid out the facts. President Magnuson’s demeanor slowly evolved as the story unfolded, from suspicion to astonishment and finally fury.

  “Sabotaging the Russian oil well and attacking our facilities in Alaska and then targeting one of our subs,” POTUS said, his voice almost a shout. “Beijing has been playing us the entire time!”

  “It appears so.”

  “Just how confident are you with all of this?”

  “It fits. Kirov filled in the missing pieces. The DNI briefed me this morning after he finished his review of the interagency analysis. A detailed summary will be in your daily briefing tomorrow morning.”

  “No wonder Lebedev has been such an ass about the oil spill. He was screwed just as much as we were.”

  “Without a doubt.”

  President Magnuson stroked an ear while processing the National Security Advisor’s info dump. “How solid is the business about the Trident sub?”

  “Kirov’s story is credible. The physical evidence that was collected along with the mission profile of the Kentucky suggest that what he claimed could have actually occurred.” Brindle mentioned the failed effort to sink an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine as it departed Puget Sound, bound for the Pacific. The U.S. Navy was not aware of the attempt.

  Reagitated, President Magnuson lashed out at Beijing’s treachery. “The bastards! We almost went to war with the Russians because of them.”

  “They played us both, and nearly succeeded.”

  “But why would they do such a thing? It makes no sense.”

  Brindle cupped his hands. “We think it was about Taiwan. China’s ready to forcibly return the rebel province to the fold, but only one obstacle stands in the way.”

  “We’re the obstacle,” POTUS said. “They incite a war between us and Russia and we end up seriously depleting our forces.”

  “Correct, sir. We’d prevail with a conflict with the Kremlin but we’d need months to recover. That would be the time for Beijing to make its move.”

  “Sun Tzu tactics,” offered Magnuson.” He referred to the Art of War, a definitive work on military strategy written over two millenniums earlier by Chinese General Sun Tzu.

  “‘All war is deception’,” Brindle said, quoting Sun Tzu.

  “But it all turned to crap for them.”

  “So it seems. Yet they almost succeeded.”

  President Magnuson’s brow crumpled. “If China had taken out the Kentucky, we—I would have assumed it was Russia. That would have sparked the war for sure, just as Beijing planned.”

  “We were incredibly lucky that Kirov intervened.”

  “Definitely.”

  NSA Brindle summed up his position. “The Kremlin figured out Beijing’s scheme and decided to turn the table on them.”

  “And us, too.”

  “Yes. The Russians took out the Yulin base on Hainan Island but left evidence that would convince Beijing we were behind the raid.” Brindle pinched the bridge of his nose. “Moscow then dispatched a sub to Hawaii where a spetsnaz unit planted the nuke at Pearl Harbor.”

  President Magnuson completed the rundown. “And we would have taken the bait, believing China took out Pearl as revenge for the Yulin attack.”

  “That’s right.”

  POTUS said, “Pete, this nightmare is right out of the old KGB’s playbook for the sixties.”

  “It is…an updated replay of K-129.”

  Brindle referred to a 1968 scheme hatched by rogue elements in the USSR to launch a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile from Soviet submarine K-129. The target was Honolulu. The KGB left a trail of evidence that pointed to Red China as the attacker. The nuclear strike failed when the missile exploded in its launch tube north of the Hawaiian Islands. The event precipitated the CIA’s most complex Cold War espionage operation—Project Azorian. Employing Howard Hughes’s deep ocean mining ship, the Glomar Explorer, the CIA secretly raised a portion of K-129’s hull from the seafloor three miles deep.

  President Magnuson folded his arms and uttered a curse, his rage scarcely in check. “I want options on the table ASAP for dealing with both China and Russia.”

  “Diplomatic…economic sanctions?”

  “No—military. We’re way beyond sanctions now.”

  Chapter 19

  Day 11—Saturday

  The ship was 345 kilometers—187 nautical miles—southeast of Hainan Island. With still air and temperatures in the low nineties Fahrenheit, the South China Sea was a millpond this afternoon. The ninety-four meter research ship hailed from its homeport of Sanya. Less than a year old, the Lian—the Graceful Willow—bristled with the latest navigation, communication and underwater sensing electronics. Diesel powered, the ship had a maximum speed of eighteen knots. Accommodations for the scientists that staffed the ship’s laboratories were luxurious.

  The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the principal operator of the Lian but the People’s Liberation Army-Navy owned the vessel. For its current voyage, the ship’s normal complement of Academy staff was replaced with PLAN officers and sailors, all garbed in civilian clothing.

  Dr. Meng Park was the only non-military aboard. Wearing coveralls, hardhat and an automatic/manual inflatable life vest, she was on the equipment deployment bay near the stern. She stood on the top level of an aluminum scaffold next to a collection of stainless steel canisters that had the appearance of oversized oil barrels. The lids for all barrels had been detached. She peered down into the nearest canister. The drum was nearly eight feet tall with a diameter of about five feet. Captain Zhou Jun observed from Meng’s right side.

  A metallic tube roughly a foot in diameter and eighty-two feet long—twenty-five meters—was coiled inside the circumference of the canister. Meng bent forward and reached inside the drum where she manipulated a control panel built into the end of the tube. She turned toward Zhou. “All systems are nominal, permission to arm it?”

  “Yes, go ahead.”

  Meng completed the same procedure for the other five barrels. Each canister contained her latest creation, codename VIPERINA. Named after Thalassophina viperina, the venomous sea snake was indigenous to the waters of the South China Sea.

  The half dozen barrels were secured to a steel cradle in two equal rows. A few inches of open space separated the drums. Clamps built into the cradle anchored the base of each barrel, preventing movement. A one-inch diameter coil of electrical cable was lashed to the cradle’s deck.

  After inspecting the arrangement, Dr. Meng addressed Captain Zhou. “I think we’re set now.”

  “Good. Let’s proceed with deployment.”

  Meng and Zhou repositioned forward twenty feet. Zhou turned around and raised his
right arm. He rotated his wrist, signaling the sailor inside a cab beside the A-frame hoist. The heavy steel assembly straddled the ship’s stern deck.

  The hoist operator engaged the winch. A steel cable linked to a harness that connected to the four corners of the barrel cradle pulled taut. Once clear of the deck, the A-frame hoist rotated aft until the cradle was suspended over the sea, ten feet away from the hull.

  The hoist operator made eye contact with Captain Zhou. Zhou issued a new signal, directing the sailor to lower the package. Within seconds, the prototype of the VIPERINA antisubmarine warfare (ASW) system disappeared from view.

  * * * *

  The package was delivered to the seabed 1,660 feet beneath the ship’s keel. While the winch cable was reeled back aboard the Lian, Captain Zhou and Dr. Meng transferred to the sensor control room in the interior of the ship near midships.

  Overhead red lighting in the compartment created a cave like environment. Four wide-screen displays covered the forward bulkhead. Although air-conditioned, the odor of hot electronics permeated the control room.

  Meng was in a chair next to the sensor operator. The PLAN lieutenant had over two thousand hours of mission time piloting ROVs—remotely operated vehicles. The ROV named Ming Ue—Bright Moon—hovered ten feet above the mud bottom. A pencil thick neutrally buoyant tether connected the underwater robot to its garage, which was about fifty feet away.

  The ROV’s garage consisted of a steel frame assembly. It was supported by a cable that connected to a topside winch mounted to a retractable side door platform currently cantilevered six feet seaward from the portside hull aft of the control room. Integrated into the cable were a steel wire rope for support, an insulated cable supplying electrical power, and multiple fiberoptic strands for communications and control.

  A reel built into the subsea garage housed the Ming Ue’s umbilical cord. The tether supplied power and comms to the free-swimming robot.

  Ming Ue was about the size of a household washing machine. The main body of the ROV contained ballast tanks, a collection of thrusters, an onboard computer and multiple sonars for navigation and targeting. Mounted to Ming Ue’s forward section were three cameras, two video and a still. An overhead rack of floodlights provided illumination for the cameras and also for the ROV operator. Two mechanical arms were located below the cameras. The four-foot-long articulated devices included handlike appendages. The left robotic arm’s vice grip was capable of exerting enormous clamping pressures on underwater hardware, powered by the ROV’s onboard high-pressure hydraulic pump system. The steel fingers on the right arm were capable of retrieving delicate in situ biological samples and placing them inside collection containers.

  The HD screen centered in front of the ROV pilot displayed a real time color image of the seabed package. The cradle containing the VIPERINA canisters had landed within two meters of the intended coordinates.

  Dr. Meng said, “Let’s check the power hub before we do anything else.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The pilot worked the joystick control on the left armrest of his chair. Ming Ue’s four thrusters worked in unison, propelling the craft twenty feet to the north.

  The power hub consisted of a canary yellow steel box about the size of a medium size pickup truck. Standing six feet high, all four sides of the hub sloped downward to the seafloor. The one atmosphere pressure chamber housed inside the protective outer steel shell contained a compact nuclear reactor and an electrical power generating system. The hub was installed a month earlier.

  Meng studied the image of the subsea installation, looking for anomalies. Satisfied she said, “Looks good. Go ahead and connect the cable.”

  “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

  The pilot maneuvered Ming Ue back to the package where he recovered the coil of black cable stored on the cradle. He next carefully paid out the cable while guiding the ROV back to the hub. Ming Ue currently hovered beside the power center with the end of the cable secured by the starboard mechanical arm. The port robotic arm was clamped to a steel bracket protruding from the hub; it anchored the ROV.

  “Permission to make the connection?” asked the pilot.

  “Yes, proceed.”

  The pilot rotated his right wrist, which was encased by a sensor laden glove. The glove converted the pilot’s manipulations into electrical pulses that were transmitted through the tether to the robotic right arm.

  The male end of the power cable entered the power hub’s female receptacle. With an additional twist of the pilot’s wrist, the cable was locked in place.

  “We’ve got a positive connection,” announced the pilot.

  “Excellent work, Lieutenant.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Dr. Meng swiveled her chair. In the shadows, Captain Zhou stood next to a bulkhead. “Captain, before we do anything else, I’d like to run a complete set of diagnostics on the power transfer system to verify it is operational. Are you okay with that?”

  “Yes, that’s fine.”

  * * * *

  Dr. Meng completed the testing program and was ready to proceed with deployment. She faced Zhou. He manned a control panel that connected to the ship’s sonar unit. “Captain,” Meng said, “We’re all set now.”

  “Very well. I’ll proceed with the launch.” Zhou triggered a toggle switch on the panel, which activated a thru-hull transducer located near the Lian’s bow. The narrow beam acoustic pulse sped downward at 5,100 feet per second.

  The apparatus coiled inside canister one recognized the unique sound signal from the ship. Within a heartbeat, the autonomous machine transformed from hibernation mode to search. The terminal end of the coiled tube disconnected from the power connection at the base of the cannister.

  Dr. Meng fixated on the screen displaying the ROV’s video transmission. Months of work and hundreds of millions of yuan were invested in her brainchild. Come on! I know you can do it!

  Viperina One’s head rose from the canister as it slowly uncoiled. Within a minute, the tail cleared the container.

  “Stay on it, Lieutenant!” Zhou ordered.

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” The pilot maneuvered the ROV’s thrusters, maintaining video lock on the target.

  Dr. Meng smiled as she observed her creation maneuver. Stretched out to twenty-five meters, it snaked through the abyss. Its body oscillated horizontally several meters, propelling itself forward at four knots.

  The test program called for the unit to orbit the subsea base, centering on the power hub.

  “How does it look?” Captain Zhou asked.

  “Perfect,” she said, turning his way and flashing a warm smile. “Better than I expected.”

  “Outstanding. What’s next?”

  “I’d like to observe for the next hour or so, slowly extending range.”

  Zhou faced the ROV pilot. “How far away can we let it roam and still observe by video?”

  “Water clarity’s good, but I’d limit it to no more than fifty meters from Ming Ue’s camera.

  “Can you keep up with it at that range?”

  “Yes, at its current speed. We have plenty of reserve tether and the currents are minimal.”

  “Very well. Let’s proceed.”

  * * * *

  Testing continued through the afternoon. Sunset was a half hour away but no one inside the ship’s sensor control room noticed. Dr. Meng and Captain Zhou observed Viperina 1 as it successfully completed each test exercise. It was currently in listening mode.

  Configured into a horizontal string, Viperina 1 hovered next to the ROV, several hundred feet above the bottom. Embedded inside the length of its snakelike body were tiny omnidirectional hydrophones. The eighty sensors listened for manmade sounds.

  The Lian had deployed the target three hours earlier. The twenty-foot-long by two-and-a-half-foot diameter autonomous underwater vehicle had proceeded southward ju
st below the surface at six knots. After running for an hour, it descended sixteen hundred feet and commenced its return voyage toward the ship.

  Now heading northward at five knots, the AUV’s electric motor was in effect silent. The only sound the robotic craft generated came from its propeller, which produced a faint acoustic signal.

  The Lian’s sonar sensors could not hear the AUV, nor could the ROV, which was still deployed over the clandestine subsea base. However, Viperina 1’s integrated sound surveillance array detected the AUV’s propeller as it closed on the base. Programmed to ignore the ROV’s acoustic output and thruster wash from the Lian’s dynamic positioning system, Viperina 1 transferred from surveillance to pre-attack mode. Switching from a linear array to a vertical circular arrangement, the machine’s brain head linked with its tail. All eighty hydrophones tracked the target, each one sending data to the miniature AI computer in Viperina 1’s head.

  Dr. Meng’s heart beat at Mach speed. She watched the ROV’s video output. “It’s in pre-attack mode now,” she announced.

  “The AUV must be getting close,” Captain Zhou said.

  Meng turned to the ROV pilot. “Be ready to track it. It could—”

  Before Meng could complete the warning, Viperina 1 decoupled and it raced southward. Now stretched to its full length, it slithered through the deep at an accelerated clip.

  The pilot uttered a curse as he attempted to keep the camera trained on Dr. Meng’s machine.

  Viperina 1 focused on the advancing AUV, calculating the optimum angle of approach. And then it attacked.

  V-1 wrapped itself around the AUV starting a couple of feet aft of the bow and continuing to the propeller and rudder assembly. Half-inch-long metallic spikes embedded along the length of Viperina 1 gripped the AUV’s steel casing. Like a python coiled around its prey, V-1 overwhelmed the target vehicle in just seconds.

  Astounded, the ROV pilot expressed another expletive.

  “Incredible,” Captain Zhou said.