Fagan steepled his fingers and replied slowly, “If I were in Suluvana’s shoes, I would use the KILOs in choke points on the routes into the Java Sea." He grabbed a scrap of paper and sketched a quick chart of the Indonesian Islands. "I would put one up in the South China Sea, here off Singapore, to control the approaches from the North. That's our normal route."
Fagan nodded toward his crude chart. "The other is a gamble. Do you put it here, to the South in the Timor or Arafura Seas, here to the North in the Celebes or Molucca Seas, or do you keep it closer to home in the Banda or Java Seas? You just can’t cover all the approaches with only two boats.
“I’d keep the boats well hidden. That's key. Anyone trying to get in would have to play under the assumption that one of the KILOs was guarding whatever approach they chose. It’s like announcing that you had mined all the straits when you only had two mines. Too big a gamble to disregard the minefield although the odds are that it is not there, so you spend a great deal of time sweeping a lot of empty sea.”
Hunter nodded, “If he is really cagey, he will throw in some head fakes to really confuse us. It would be simple to take some KILO radios and radars to the various possible locations and allow the signals to be intercepted. Throw in a few spurious reports of periscope sightings and the picture gets really confused.”
“Do you think that he's that smart?” Bill Fagan queried.
“He didn’t get to where he is without being smart and ruthless. He could do something like this or something totally off the wall. We won’t know until we play it out. We just need to be on our toes and ready for anything. I think our plan to head way East and duck through the Sunda Straits may throw them off. That's a thousand extra miles out of our way. They shouldn't expect anything coming from that direction. Just the same, I want to be ready to take on a KILO by the time we go through the Sunda Straits. Put daily approach and attack problems on the training plan as we cross the Timor Sea," Hunter directed.
"Skipper, is that soon enough to start?"
Hunter answered, "Yeah. Don't want the team to peak early and slack off. I can't see a place where we will have a problem earlier, do you?" He stood and headed for the door.
"No, sir. Probably not."
Hunter ducked through the hatch into the reactor compartment passageway, thinking, Bill had certainly come along way since he reported onboard. He's thinking more like a submarine skipper now. Still, Hunter was worried. How would the XO hold up when it really got tense?
02 Jun 2000, 2100LT (1900Z)
Mustaf had just drifted off when his cell phone jangled.
General Liu Pen began without preliminaries. “Mustaf, are you still on schedule for the first shipment?"
These Chinese are almost as lacking in the social graces as those barbarian Westerners.
“We have decided on our first customer.”
“I must remind you not to use names on these circuits. We don’t know how closely we are being monitored,” Mustaf chided the Chinese spymaster. “We are still on schedule, but a complication has arisen. As you know, our competition has sent out a mission to stop our production.”
“Truly, most unfortunate,” General Liu Pen replied. “I am expecting you to counter this move.”
Mustaf explained the plan that he had put into effect.
General Liu Pen chuckled, “How ironic. Our first customer will be in Honolulu. With all the trans-Pacific traffic through there, the panic will spread worldwide quickly. I would expect such disruption that the capitalist economy could collapse.
"The delivery must be absolutely on schedule. Timing is very important. As we discussed, the demands will be delivered to selected world leaders with a requirement for payment in seventy-two hours. Symptoms must not be discovered before that time, but within twenty-four hours afterward. That way, if they refuse to pay, the world will blame them. If they pay, the treacherous admiral will be blamed."
"Brilliant,” Mustaf almost chortled in reply. "Not only will it be communicated from there, but that pest hole of capitalist decadence will be no more. The virus can live in the soil and be completely viable for years. America’s window on the Pacific will be shattered forever."
General Liu Pen replied, "Now it is I who must warn you to be careful, my friend. Please plan the delivery method most carefully. I want our first to be our best."
04 Jun 2000, 0630LT (03 Jun, 1930Z)
Hunter stepped into control and stopped beside Chief Jones, the diving officer. His small bench sat just behind and between the helmsman, Seaman Osterburg, and the planesman, Seaman Lipinski. All three looked at him expectantly.
He asked "You two ready?"
Chief Jones chimed in, "They're ready. I trained them real good."
"OK, then." Hunter turned toward Sam Stuart. "Officer of the Deck, pass the word on the 1MC."
Stuart grabbed the microphone and said, “The ship will be conducting high-speed maneuvers.”
The 1MC announcement was met with a chorus of, “Oh, Boy! E ticket ride time!” The crew loved the effect that large rudder angles had at high speeds. It made for an exciting roller coaster ride.
High-speed maneuvers were meant to be used only in extreme emergencies, like avoiding an incoming torpedo. Frequent practice was required to effectively and safely execute the tricky maneuver. Normally when operating at speeds above twenty knots, a limiter was placed on the rudder control
