faster. At the same time, the WLR-9, Cheyenne's acoustic intercept receiver, started chirping at the frequency of the incoming torpedoes.
'Conn, sonar, explosions coming from our baffles!' That was the sound of Cheyenne's two torpedoes.
Unfortunately, because the explosions occurred in her baffles, the sonar operators could not determine what effect-if any-they'd had on the Akula.
But Mack couldn't worry about that at the moment. The enemy torpedoes were still out there, and closing fast, and they were his top priority. Mack released two gas generators, noisemakers, and brought Cheyenne hard right again, circling to the south to open the datum of the gas generators.
Cheyenne's high-speed maneuvers created an additional knuckle that helped draw the attention of the Russian torpedoes, which attacked nothing but the boiling water column. Confused by the noisemakers, they could not acquire Cheyenne, but merely headed off into the sea.
When it was time for the Russian torpedo end of run and the torpedoes could no longer be heard, Mack turned to the west and slowed Cheyenne to search for the Akula. There was no contact on any of the arrays, and no reverberations from Cheyenne's torpedoes exploding.
The Akula had vanished-though whether it had been destroyed or had merely gone back into hiding could not be determined with any degree of certainty. Mack took Cheyenne back toward Taiwan for reload, maneuvering her slowly and cautiously, but he could not gain any more contact on the third Akula.
Following the Navy's standard procedures, Mack's patrol report would list this last Akula as being sunk. Mack only hoped he was right.
14. Hornets' Nest
Cheyenne arrived safely back at Tsoying Naval Base, once again mooring alongside McKee. Before heading over for his next war patrol briefing, Captain Mackey requested a full loadout of Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes. He ordered Cheyenne's combat systems officer to ensure that the remaining Harpoon was off-loaded and its stow refilled with an Mk 48.
Mack's first clue that this briefing, like the last, would have political overtones was when the McKee captain notified him that the briefing would once again be held at the naval base headquarters rather than on board McKee. Mack didn't mind the politics; he just hoped that this didn't mean he'd have to deal with another Typhoon this time out.
The first thing Mack noticed when he entered the conference room on the second floor was the same CTF 74 staff members who had conducted the electronic security sweep of the room before Cheyenne's last patrol. They had already completed their task and were leaving as Mack and his officers arrived.
There was no sign of the Chinese leader, but the briefing officer said that President Jiang would be along before the end of the briefing. Without waiting for Jiang, the briefing officer launched into the background for Cheyenne's next mission.
As Jiang had pointed out at the last meeting, much of China was enthusiastic in its support and appreciation of Cheyenne's, successes-much of China, that is, but not all of it. One group in particular that was unhappy about Cheyenne's effectiveness against the Chinese submarines was the so-called Petroleum Faction. This group of engineers had developed the oil fields in Manchuria, and they had a personal interest in this war. Their leader, General Yu Quili, had taken charge of a squadron of Akula II SSNs and had made it his mission to deal with Cheyenne. 'What's a general know about submarines?' Mack asked.
That was the wrong question, though, as the briefing officer was quick to point out. It wasn't what General Yu Quili knew that mattered. The leader of the Petroleum Faction had been a major player in this war from the onset. Not only had he assisted in Premier Li Peng's coup, but his group was also the source of funds for the purchases of Russian submarines and Russian crews.
Besides, Mack realized as he listened to the briefing officer. General Yu wasn't going to be driving any of the submarines. But as a leader since the days of Chairman Mao Tse-tung, he undoubtedly would be effective in motivating and inspiring the officers and the crews.
What Mack really wanted to know about, though, wasn't General Yu and his petroleum faction, or even his Akulas. What Mack wanted to know about was what it would take to win this war.
'Back when we went up against those seven Akulas,' he said, 'I was told that killing four of them would stop the Russians from providing more SSNs to China. Cheyenne killed six of the seven, and yet Russia continued to provide submarines to China-not only Alfas, Kilos, and Akulas, but that Typhoon as well. Where are they all coming from? When will this end?'
The briefing officer answered frankly, perhaps because CTF 74 was at breakfast with President Jiang. 'You are right, Captain Mackey,' he said. 'To be honest, the intelligence community has not done too well lately. However, the CIA and naval intelligence have determined that the Russian Far East Shipyard, Komsomolsk -.u~ Am,,r Riv^r really did not go commercial like they had originally thought. Instead, it has been working three shifts a day in building submarines for export to China. Plus, China has been training new submarine crews, actually old Chinese diesel boat personnel, in the Kola Peninsula area.'
That was not good news. Not only did it mean that Cheyenne would have more enemy submarines to watch out for, but it also meant that Li Peng was committed to this war. Cheyenne's past successes notwithstanding, it was going to take a tremendous effort to bring this conflict to an end.
Mack didn't have time to mull that over much before the briefing officer started explaining Cheyenne's next assignment. In preparation for eventually moving President Jiang from Taiwan to mainland China, Cheyenne would have to ensure that the waters around Taiwan were sanitized of General Yu's SSNs.
That didn't sound so bad, but then the briefing officer went on to the details. Much of China was behind President Jiang-and that included most of its navy. Because of this, Mack's superiors were presuming that Yu's SSNs were the only remaining hostile Chinese submarines in the area, which meant that any other submarines Cheyenne detected were off limits for attacks. Unless, of course, Cheyenne was attacked first.
Mack didn't like that at all. These attack constraints were like those he had received during his transit from Ballast Point to Pearl Harbor, when Cheyenne had encountered the out-of-area Han and had to wait until she was fired upon. But Mack didn't have the chance to object before the CTF 74 admiral arrived with President Jiang and his heavies.
'Good morning, Mack,' the admiral said. 'I presume you are aware of 'our' problem, General Yu.'
Mack nodded, but didn't say anything.
'Captain Mackey,' the Chinese president said, 'we do have some good news to offer. Yu and Li Peng have had a falling-out over the general's actions. Li Peng has renounced Yu's authority and has ordered him arrested.
In addition, Li and I are once again communicating with each other-cautiously, I might add-but we are closer to negotiations.
Mack nodded again, but remained silent.
'You are a hero, Captain,' President Jiang went on, 'but watch your 180. I must leave now, for the roach coach is on the pier with its gedunks.'
Mack blinked at that, caught off guard by Jiang's use of U.S. Navy and submarine lingo. The president laughed, obviously pleased with Mack's reaction, then shook his hand and left the conference room, escorted by his heavies.
Mack wanted to get under way before dark, so once President Jiang had left the CTF 74 admiral told the briefing officer to finish what had not been covered.
According to naval intelligence, General Yu had been supplying the diesel fuel to several of the Romeo, Ming, and Kilo submarine bases-and he'd been supplying it for free. This had naturally won some converts for Yu, which meant that Mack could not discount the possibility of diesel submarines present in the area. Nevertheless, the
