Foxbat

first to come to a hover alongside, then land, and finally move off the spot before making his own final approach.

‘Green deck fixed wing,’ Lieutenant Commander (Flying) ordered.

The rating sitting at the control panel made the appropriate switch and echoed the order: ‘Aye, aye, sir. Green deck fixed wing.’

Richter watched critically as the first aircraft began approaching the ship, speed dropping away as the pilot used vectored thrust to slow the Harrier until it was exactly matching the Illustrious’s forward speed of eighteen knots. The scream of the Pegasus was very audible even through Flyco’s armoured glass. The pilot visually checked the deck, watched for the FDO’s signals, then began transitioning to starboard.

Above three spot, the aircraft stopped and Richter, who had hundreds of hours’ flying time in the same type, marvelled again at the sudden immobility in mid-air of the sleek fighter. Then the pilot reduced the thrust and the Harrier started descending. It hit the deck fairly hard – most Harrier vertical landings are best described as ‘firm’ – and then almost immediately taxied away towards the forward end of the flight deck, clearing the way for his wingman, who was already moving alongside the ship, to land.

The second landing was a mirror image of the first, and the moment the Harrier touched down Roger Black stood up. ‘Good landings,’ he said, touching Little F on the shoulder. ‘Tell the Senior Pilot I said so, please.’

‘Will do, sir.’

‘That used to be the Royal Navy’s definition of exceptional flying ability, if I remember rightly,’ Richter said. ‘The same number of takeoffs as landings?’

‘It still is,’ Black replied. ‘I’ll be in the Bridge Mess,’ he added to Little F, ‘listening to Spook’s bad news. It is bad news, I presume?’

‘It is for someone,’ Richter agreed, and followed Black out of Flyco and down the stairs.

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Complex, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana

‘Stand by for Nuclear Control Order. Prepare to copy. Nuclear Control Order is code Oscar Charlie Three Lima Nine Four Sierra. Read back.’

‘Roger,’ Whitman said, looking down at the paper in front of him. ‘I copy Nuclear Control Order code Oscar Charlie Three Lima Nine Four Sierra.’

‘That’s affirmative.’

Whitman looked over at Fredericks, who had copied down the release code as Whitman read it back to USStratCom, and was checking the Emergency War Order folder.

‘OK, we’re still not launching anything,’ he said, passing the folder over to Whitman for verification. ‘Code Oscar Charlie Three Lima Nine Four Sierra decodes as “Bring all missiles to Alert Five, and hold at five minutes to launch”. Looks like we’re still in an escalating situation.’

‘Roger that,’ Whitman said, and glanced at the rows of tell-tales in front of him. The one labelled ‘Strategic Alert’ was illuminated, but all the others – ‘Warhead Armed’, ‘Ready to Launch’, ‘Launch in Progress’ and ‘Missiles Away’ – remained dark. And, as he began running through the familiar sequence of commands that would bring and then hold all missiles at five minutes’ notice to launch, Richard Whitman fervently prayed that they’d stay that way.

HMS Illustrious, Yellow Sea

‘Is it just me, or is this sheer fucking madness?’ Roger Black asked. He was sitting at the small table in the Bridge Mess, and for the third time was reading the signal Richter had received earlier.

‘It’s not just you, Blackie.’

‘And why am I reading this anyway? It says specifically it’s for your eyes only.’

‘I don’t care about the distribution list. My boss has no clue about the way a warship works. He doesn’t seem to realize there’s no possible way I could do something like this without serious support from the ship.’

‘It doesn’t mention your section here. This signal was authored by somebody at SIS, following a request from the CIA.’

‘That’s what it says,’ Richter agreed, ‘but this smells like a typical Richard Simpson set-up. The Company may well have requested assistance from us because we’re here and on the spot, but I’ll bet the rest of this plan was concocted by Simpson himself.’

Black put the three sheets of paper down on the dining table. ‘So what are you going to do?’

‘First,’ Richter said, ‘I’m going to ask you formally if the ship will assist me. You’re Commander (Air), so you own the Air Department. If you say “No”, that’s the end of it as far as I’m concerned. I can’t do this without support.’

‘What do you want me to say?’

Richter wearily rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Frankly, I’d be quite happy if you told me to get lost. But I can’t ignore this.’ He pointed at the signal between them. ‘I’m out of touch with the latest intelligence, obviously, but this looks to me as if it’s come straight from the CIA, and I think their analysis – or what proportion of it I can deduce from this – is probably right. If it is, then what they’re suggesting does make sense. More importantly, if we don’t comply, we’ll quite likely find ourselves in the middle of a shooting war that will include nukes from both sides. And however you slice it, that’s really bad news.’

Black glanced down at the signal before replying. ‘If you go ahead with this, we’re going to be in a shooting war anyway.’

Richter nodded. ‘I know, but it’s probably the better of the two alternatives.’

‘Right,’ Black said. ‘If you want my support, you’ve got it. I’ll go and talk to the captain. I’m sure he’ll be amenable.’

‘He probably will be. He’ll be out here safe in the Yellow Sea, in this steel war canoe bristling with close-in weapon systems and surrounded by frigates and Harriers on CAP. I’ll be the one out in the bundu getting my arse shot at.’

Black grinned at him and stood up. ‘That’s true, but at least he’ll be thinking of you.’

‘Do you want me to tag along now?’

‘Probably better not, but I’ll take the signal, if you don’t mind.’

‘Be my guest.’

Roger Black returned to the Bridge Mess five minutes later and opened the door to let the captain enter first. Richter stood up but Davidson motioned him back to his seat, then sat down opposite. ‘I’m not entirely happy about this, Mr Richter.’

‘I’m not wild about it myself, sir. But from what I know of the situation it might actually be the most sensible course of action.’

‘I don’t dispute that. What I’m concerned about is the suggestion that you undertake this as a solo mission. I think you’ll need help.’

Richter shook his head immediately. ‘I can’t ask anyone else to do this, sir. It’s going to be hairy enough for me.’

Davidson turned to Black. ‘What’s your opinion, Wings?’

‘I don’t think you’ll pull this off by yourself, Paul. I know you’re a very competent pilot, and your record speaks for itself, but you’ve been away from regular flying for some time. You’re not that familiar with the new weapons on the GR9, but even if you were, this is a highly dangerous mission into very hostile territory. At the very least you’re going to need a wing-man to watch your back.’

‘So what are you suggesting? You can’t make this an official operation. This signal makes that quite clear.’

Black unfolded the sheets of paper and glanced down at them. ‘I agree. The exact wording they’ve used here is “an illegal act by a renegade pilot”.’

‘That’ll be me,’ Richter said. ‘And I think it would be a lot more difficult to explain it away as “illegal acts by a squadron of renegade pilots”.’

‘We’re not talking about a squadron, Paul, or anything like it,’ Black said. ‘I’m thinking about one wing-man beside you, and one or two above to provide top cover. Or perhaps two pairs to hit two targets each. That’s four