Even as the echoes faded, a mighty roar went up from the crew.
'Party's over,' Austin said. Slade was grinning from ear to ear. The comment that followed might not have been in the same class of immortal words as 'Don't give up the ship' or 'Damn the torpedoes!'… but as Austin watched the departing wakes of the attack boats, he couldn't argue with the young sailor when he said, 'Old lronsides still knows how to kick ass!'
33
WASHINGTON, D.C.
SANDECKER GLANCED AROUND the Oval Office and reflected on the life-and-death decisions that had been made in the famous room. It was hard to believe that the political currents that swirled around Washington had their center within these quiet walls. On his last visit to the White House, he'd been treated as a pariah and warned to butt out of national security matters, but after NUMA had rescued the NR-1's captain and crew and saved the White House major embarrassment, Sandecker had become the proverbial eight-hundred-pound gorilla. He lost no time throwing his weight around.
The White House's formidable appointments secretary hadn't hesitated when he called and asked to meet with the president on an urgent matter. The secretary bumped an ambassador and a congressional delegation from the president's busy schedule, and she never blinked when Sandecker asked that only the president and vice president attend.
Sandecker had politely refused the offer of a White House limousine and made the trip in a Jeep Cherokee from the NUMA motor pool. The receptionist had ushered the admiral, Rudi Gunn and Austin into the Oval Office and saw to it that a steward served them coffee on White House china.
As they waited, Sandecker turned to Austin. 'I've been meaning to ask you, Kurt. How did it feel to commandeer a national monument?'
'Quite the rush, Admiral. Unfortunately, with only two cannon in the bow, I couldn't yell, 'Give 'em a broadside!' '
'From what I've heard, you and the Constitution's crew acquitted yourselves with undeniable valor. Old lronsides lived up to her glorious name.'
Gunn said with a twinkle in his eye, 'The scuttlebutt among the top navy brass has it that Old lronsides is being commissioned as part of the Seventh Fleet. After she's patched up, of course.'
'I understand that the navy plans to retire an aircraft carrier in her favor,' Austin said, with a poker face. 'The Pentagon sees great cost-cutting opportunities in the use of sail and belaying pins.'
'Cost cutting would be a new one for the Pentagon,' Sandecker mused. 'What happened to the men who attacked you?'
'The Coast Guard and police scoured the harbor. They found three boats scuttled in the marshes on a harbor island, the hulls shot full of holes.'
'I understand there were some injuries.'
'The tugboat crewmen were wounded, but they had the presence of mind to play dead.'
'What of the Russian, the man you call Ivan?'
'He was only grazed by the bullet and is doing fine.'
'What did Razov have to say about these pirates?'
'Nothing. He cut his party short, kicked his guests off the yacht and sailed out of the harbor before anyone could ask him questions.'
'This Razov is a shifty character,' Sandecker said with a j knitted brow. 'We've got our work cut out for us. We've been keeping an eye on him since he left Boston?'
Gunn nodded. 'Satellite surveillance had him heading at a leisurely pace along the Maine coast.'
'Just a gentleman yachtsman out for a cruise,' Sandecker said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
'I've asked the satellite department to run the latest results over here for this meeting,' Gunn said.
The door opened, and a Secret Service man stepped inside. 'The boss is on his way,' he said.
A bustle of activity could be heard in the hall and President Wallace came through the door, wearing his trademark smile, his outstretched hand cocked for action. The towering figure of Vice President Sid Sparkman was a step behind. After a round of handshakes, the president settled behind his desk, and as usual the vice president drew up a chair close at his right elbow, emphasizing his place in the executive hierarchy.
'Glad you asked for this meeting,' the president said. 'Gives me the chance to thank you personally for saving the folks from the NR-1.'
Sandecker acknowledged the thank-you and added, 'Kurt and the others in the NUMA Special Assignments Team deserve the real credit.'
The president's eyes narrowed. 'I heard about that business in Boston, Kurt. What sort of a lunatic would shoot up Old lronsides?'
'The same type of lunatic who would order the massacre of a NUMA crew, Mr. President. Mikhail Razov.'
The vice president leaned forward in his chair as if he were using his body mass to intimidate. 'Mikhail Razov is a prominent figure in his country,' he said, his smile belied by the fierce expression in his eyes. 'You're talking about the man who might be the next leader of Russia. What evidence do you have that he's involved in any of this business?'
Austin leaned forward as well, emphasizing his broad shoulders. 'The best kind of evidence. An eyewitness.'
'I read the report on the Sea Hunter attack. The ravings of a hysterical woman,' Sparkman said, with a snort.
Austin felt the bile rising in his throat. 'Hysterical, yes; ravings, no. Razov's man Boris made sure we knew the attack was retribution for trespassing on the old Soviet sub pens.'
'I'm glad you used the word trespass, because that's what it was, an illegal violation of another country's national sovereignty.'
Austin's mouth widened in a grin, but his gaze had the look of a lion regarding a wounded wildebeest. Sandecker saw Kurt ready himself to unsheathe his claws and deflected the attack. 'What's done is done, I'm afraid. We've got more to worry about now, gentlemen. The prospect of a plot against the United States. With all due respect, Mr. Vice President, we believe that the man behind this threat is Mikhail Razov.'
'That's ridiculous – ' the vice president said. The president silenced him with his hand.
'Razov expects to rise on the crest of a neo-Cossack revolution,' explained Austin. 'Claiming to be descended from the Romanovs gives him legitimacy in the eyes of his fanatical supporters, who will follow him to the death.'
'Any truth to his claims?'
'We don't know, Mr. President. We do have evidence that the Grand Duchess Maria, one of the tsar's daughters, survived the Russian Revolution and went on to marry and have children.'
'Maria? The only one I've ever heard of was Anastasia,' the president said. 'Saw that Walt Disney picture.' He toyed with a pen on his desk. 'Fascinating. Does Razov have any proof to back up his bloodline?'
'I wouldn't be surprised if he had a birth certificate. The Russians have decades of experience forging documents under communist rule. We believe he will buttress his claim with the crown of Ivan the Terrible. The crown is said to bestow mystical power upon its wearer. Razov will say that only the rightful ruler of Russia would have the crown. Once he's in power, I doubt if anyone would bother him for a DNA sample.'
'He has this crown?'
'Maybe. We found a jewelry box containing a list of the tsarist treasures being carried on the Odessa Sta1: The crown was not included.'
'What about DNA?'
'Once Razov is in power, he could fabricate any DNA evidence he needed. It would be a simple thing.'
'The Russian people are pretty sophisticated, for all their problems,' the president said. 'Do you really think they'll buy a cock-and-bull story like that?'
Sandecker's lips tightened in a smile. 'As an elected official, you've had more experience than I have with the
