come out they bought it from the Russians. Whatever crimes were perpetrated against the West, China would have to accept the blame. Even worse for them if they should be forced to admit they bought a nuclear submarine for a known stronghold of terrorism. No, I agree with one thing. Discovery of this mission is worse for the Chinese than anyone.'
'The tricky part is they are paranoid about security. And they are not prepared to divulge their getaway plan. They have stored it in an impenetrable safe onboard the submarine. It will open on a timed device ten days into the mission. That way no one will ever have the chance to reveal to anyone where we are ultimately going.'
'I thought we were honored and trusted?'
'Up to a point,' said Ben. 'Until Chinese self-preservation kicks in.'
'Do we trust 'em?'
'No choice really. And anyway, what's the point of worrying. We are undertaking this mission on behalf of Islam. If Allah requires us to be martyrs, then martyrs we shall be. I'm not afraid to die.'
'Neither are we,' interjected Shakira Rashood. 'But if there is a chance of postponing it, I think we should do our best.'
'I think Allah would always agree with that,' said Ben. 'We are here to complete his work. Certainly not to squander the great opportunities he has given us. Allah is great.'
'Okay, Ben. That's all very clear then. Do we have an ETD yet?'
'Saturday morning. February 9. First light. Meanwhile, we're moving into the submarine. I had the Russians construct an extra private office, larger than the regular COs. As the overall commander, that one's yours. It has a bed that folds into the wall, a fairly large table, and a chair. I'll have a second one delivered. The bed's only a single but there's room for a small sofa or an armchair in that room. I'll get one.'
'Thanks, Captain,' said Ravi. 'Shall we go now?'
A Russian Naval driver took them down to the submarine jetties, where Iranian seamen awaited them to help with the bags and move the Mission Commander into his quarters. Ben Badr introduced Lieutenant Commander Shakira, and told them she had accepted a position as the Precision Targeting Officer and would be working in a special office close to the navigation area.
He revealed the news in an understated way, communicating an unspoken gratitude that one as accomplished as Shakira had condescended to join their humble operation along the West Coast of America. He realized the news that a female naval officer was joining the ship's company would travel around the crew in a matter of seconds.
The fact that it was Shakira Rashood, wife of the God-like Hamas warrior General Ravi, would probably render them speechless on the subject. Captain Badr hoped they would stay that way.
Shakira herself, far from seeming overawed, was apparently oblivious to the fact that she was storming one of the last all-male garrisons in the entire world. She strode confidently up the gangway, huddled in her unlabeled dark blue Iranian Navy greatcoat and scarf, black fur hat, lined fur seaboots, and gloves, and stepped on board Barracuda Type 945. She was the first woman ever to do so, anywhere, in anyone's Navy, as a member of a submarine crew.
The ship was running on electric power from shore cables right now, and Ravi hoped there would not be a cut in supply owing to unpaid dockyard bills. But the Russians had done everything in their power to make this mission run flawlessly. The Chinese had been prompt with their payments, and although no Russian personnel would accompany the voyage across the Pacific, there were several seamen from Murmansk still in attendance, particularly in the area of torpedoes (for self-defense only), cruise missiles, and sonar.
Lieutenant Commander Abbas Shafii had been back working in the reactor Control Room for more than a week, and the CPOs, Ali Zahedi and Ardeshir Tikku, who would assist him as chiefs of the propulsion and auxiliary control panels, were also in residence. All three men had spent nine months in Araguba, and then made the long journey along the Siberian coast in the Barracuda.
There were eight other Iranian officers in the ship's company, all of whom had made the Arctic voyage from Araguba. They would, however, now set sail without their Russian and Chinese tutors, relying entirely on their intensive study courses in nuclear submarine management. Some forty Iranian seamen, new to the ship, had all served in the Kilos.
Only six men would sail from Petropavlovsk devoid of any experience in submarines. They were all members of the twenty thousand-strong Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iranian Special Forces, modeled on U.S. Navy SEALs and the British SAS. All six were veteran 'hard men' trained and bloodied as hit men in the long war against Iraq. All six were expert frogmen, who believed they were fighting for Allah and that He would protect them, and, if necessary, guide them home, into His arms forever.
Their leader, Lt. Arash Azhari, a superb soldier, could have been offered a position as a SEAL instructor anytime, had his politics been somewhat different, not to mention his nationality and his religious beliefs.
Aside from Arash and his boys, every other man who would occupy a critical position, particularly in the Barracuda's reactor area, was trained and experienced. Captain Badr was the most experienced of all of them, and his father Admiral Mohammed Badr had been closely associated with the fine detail of the mission. He had, for instance, eliminated all uniforms, thus preserving anonymity in the event of capture. The two Commanding Officers, and now Shakira, would all wear navy blue sweaters. Lieutenant Commanders and Lieutenants would wear royal blue, Chiefs and regular Petty Officers, maroon, and the remainder, Seamen, Cooks, Laundry men, gray. Everyone would wear jeans (made in the United States), with white socks and trainers (also American made). To further preserve their anonymity, latex gloves were required to be worn at all times.
General Rashood asked to inspect the torpedo room and the missile director's section of the Ops Room. He authorized only twelve torpedoes, since they were only for self-defense and he did not imagine any need for the full complement of forty. He noted there were twenty-four land-attack cruise missiles as he had specified. The programming area for the electronic computer brain carried by each missile in its nose cone was adjacent to the navigation area, where Shakira would work.
Ravi already knew the ship well, and he toured all three decks, meeting again the men who would sail with him, and carefully introducing Shakira as the Precision Target Officer who had masterminded the original plan and who would be responsible for further adjustments and variations.
Mrs. Rashood was a model of politeness. She made certain of everyone's name, rank, and area of responsibility, jotting down the details in a small leather notebook. She told everyone she met how greatly she looked forward to working in cooperation with all members of the crew. She mostly did not sound very maritime, but she sounded sincere, and intelligent. Everyone was captured by her beauty, which was more or less why women had been banned from every submarine service in the world for almost a century.
However, no other female had ever joined a ship's company as the wife of a high-ranking officer. Which ruled out the possibility of any wayward behavior. At least, it would on this ship, because the Barracuda was not under the formal command of any Navy. It was under the overall command of a known Special Forces killer, on behalf of a Terrorist Organization, backed up by a known Commanding Officer, whose father held in his hands the careers of every last man on board. Disrespect to Shakira, on even the most innocent scale, was out of the question.
General Rashood and his wife moved into the Principal Officer's room, which was extremely spartan. They shared the wardrobe, loading it with a succession of shirts, sweaters, jeans, socks, shoes, and underclothes. No uniforms. They tested the bed and decided it was wide enough for them mostly to sleep in it together, with the aid of the big camping bag. If the incoming Russian Navy sofa was around the same height, it would be an even simpler task.
As it happened, the incoming sofa was one of the worst pieces of furniture ever made. It was the right height, made of plastic and only marginally softer than the floor. However, pushed against the bed, it made a passable extra area for the double sleeping bag, allowing an arm or a leg some extra space, and preventing either Ravi or Shakira falling overboard onto the deck. The danger of this latter occurrence was, however, remote. General Rashood and his wife tended to sleep very closely together.
They spent Friday working their way through the day, Shakira with her charts, Ravi touring the ship with Ben. At 6:30 in the evening, with snow again falling on the jetties, they began to pull the rods in the core of the nuclear reactor. As the sun endeavored to struggle out of the Pacific, the Barracuda would be on its way.
There were no good-byes. The Russians had removed the last of their seamen in the small hours of the morning, and were now keeping their distance. All Chinese personnel had returned to Shanghai the previous evening. Ravi and Ben Badr were about to go it alone, in an all-Iranian warship. At 5:48 on Saturday morning, they
