They walked on toward the ships, but they were moving slowly in the heat, and after ten minutes they turned back, toward the air-conditioning in the Admiral's Headquarters.
'Do you really think we might get a hold of a nuclear boat?' asked Commander Badr.
'I think so. The Russians are always ready to sell to the Chinese. And the Chinese will want to cooperate with Iran. I think there's every chance, so long as we come up with a master plan that will hold China virtually blameless.'
'And do you think we could mount an attack against the oil/power infrastructure of the West Coast of the United States?'
'Oh, yes. I'm sure we could. And I think we'd get away with it, so long as we remain covert. It will drive them mad.'
'Mad enough, Ravi, for them to increase their defenses against such acts.'
'Keep stretching them. That's the way. Until they decide it's just not worth retaining their global role.'
'Or until they do decide to make someone pay.'
'That's when we do not want to be present, Commander. When the Great Satan gets really mad, rush for cover, that's my only advice.'
They walked back in silence, two men with much on their minds. Lunch was served — fried prawns with delicious spiced rice — and the conversation was animated, while the most hawkish members of the Islamic Fundamentalist movement considered the views of the former SAS Commander.
Back in the meeting, the Ayatollah began by saying, 'I believe we are all in sympathy with the perceptions of General Rashood and I intend to relay them to His Holiness. If we receive an agreement in principle, I will appoint a delegation to make the journey to Beijing to discuss the matter with our Chinese colleagues.
'Meanwhile, I wonder if the General would explain whether he has a particular Russian submarine in mind for us. Or whether Admiral Badr should make a study and provide us with recommendations before anyone goes to Beijing.'
Ravi reached for his notes and replied immediately. 'Sir, in the broadest terms we need a good-sized ship because the crew are going to be on it for a long time. I'm thinking an 8,000-tonner, probably 350 feet long. We want speed of around thirty-five knots dived. A single shafter will do fine.
'Obviously, she must have a guided-missile capability, and the ship I have in mind will fire those excellent Russian RADUGA SS-N-21s, special Granat Type, land-attack, ship-launched from below the surface. With those you're looking at a good range of around one thousand miles, with a big warhead. They fly at 0.7 Mach, at a height of 140 feet. The ship I like most, also carries forty torpedoes.'
'Is she old?'
'Average, launched around twenty years ago. She was very expensive because of a new titanium hull. And she's very quiet, well maintained.'
'Did you not say we wanted two?'
'Yes, sir. And this submarine has a sister ship that was laid up for no real reason a few years back. Both of them were built to excellent standards in the Gorky yards. I think the Russians just found them too expensive, both to build and to run. And I think they might gladly sell them.'
'Where are they?'
'The operational one is in Araguba, the Northern Fleet submarine dockyard. The other one may be there as well.'
Admiral Badr interrupted. 'An SSN, right? What class of ship is this?'
'They were modeled on the old Sierra I, as a modern replacement for the Akula. But these two were a special class.'
'Name?'
'Barracuda, sir. Barracuda Type 945.'
5
General Rashood and Commander Ben Badr sat awaiting the arrival of the Vice Admiral. For almost two weeks now, they had been on standby while the most senior clerics in Tehran discussed the possibility of purchasing a nuclear submarine from the Russians under the auspices of the Chinese.
Ravi and Shakira had spent a thoroughly relaxing time at the hotel, where the ex-SAS man had spent hours trying to teach her to play tennis, concluding at the end of the first week that Shakira was a lot more dexterous with a hand grenade than a backhand. Ben Badr had been busy with crew changes and adjustments to the guided- missile systems onboard Sabalan.
This morning, they had both been told, a communique had arrived from the Ayatollah clarifying the situation with regard to China. And because the entire project would involve the acquisition of the heaviest Naval hardware, it had fallen distinctly into the realm of Admiral Badr, and the two younger officers sipped tea, nervously, wondering which way the Ayatollahs had decided.
Admiral Badr arrived with a flourish, in his air-conditioned staff car. He carried with him a black leather briefcase, and he wore no jacket, just white shorts, long cotton socks, shoes, and a white short-sleeved shirt, with epaulets and insignia of one thick gold stripe and two thin ones set on Navy blue, depicting the rank of Vice Admiral.
He came briskly into the office and wished his son and his new military ally a very good morning. He ordered fresh tea and came quickly to the point of the meeting.
'I believe you both know we have heard from Tehran this morning,' he said. 'And the news is encouraging, though not quite decisive. The Ayatollahs have decided they will request our friends in Beijing to purchase on our behalf the two Russian Barracuda nuclear submarines.
'Since we last met together, I have ascertained their whereabouts. Both are based in the Northern Fleet at the Russian submarine base in Araguba, way up on the Barents Sea, near the Finnish-Norwegian border. One of them has been laid up for almost ten years, the other, Hull K-239, the Tula, formerly the Karp, was operational until a year ago but has been in the dockyard ever since.
'So far as we can tell, there's nothing wrong with either of them, but they were massively expensive to build, with those titanium hulls, much more than the old Akulas. The Russians took the newer, second of class out of service only four years after it was commissioned. I think they were just too expensive to run, but they were very good ships. Fast, thirty knots-plus dived. And very quiet. They've got a large gap between hulls, which helped with radiated noise reduction, and there's built-in damage resistance.
'One way and another, gentlemen, I believe either one would serve our purposes very well. The question is, will the Russians sell them?'
'I suppose it's too early to make an assessment?' said Ben.
'Partly,' replied his father. 'But we have made a few discreet initial inquiries from our own office in the Ukraine, and the Russians seem unconcerned about the ramifications of selling a nuclear boat to a foreign power.
'Most of them have not been paid for several months, and they would all be most supportive of any scheme to pull millions and millions of dollars into the Navy's budget. They all reminded our man, the Russian Navy owns those ships, so the cash will be theirs.'
'Did anyone mention price?'
'No. Not specifically. But a Barracuda would probably cost around $650 million to build new. These are twenty years old, but lightly used, and well maintained. Which means they'd still cost around $300 million each to purchase secondhand. However, there's a distinct lack of customers, which might give Chinese buyers an edge. The Russians are very reliant on Beijing for cash these days. I'd say a flat offer of $500 million for the pair might just do it.'
'How about work on the ships? Where would you want that done?' Commander Badr looked skeptical.
'I think we'd insist it was all done in Russia,' said the Admiral. 'Because the work has to be done anyway,
