Operation Barracuda

Herzog, now without the white in his hair and beard that made him look older. He’s talking with a man in a sharp- looking uniform whose back is to me. From this angle it’s difficult to discern his rank.

I carefully slide inside the pen and crouch behind three oil drums so I can get a better look. Finally, the man turns away from the control board and I’m able to snap a shot. It’s General Tun himself.

He and Herzog walk away from the control board and head in my direction. I hug the floor as they move past the drums and step outside. I quickly make sure no one is following them or watching, and then I slip out the door and tail them. They head straight for the command post, a small temporary building not far away from the pen.

After they go inside, I move around to the back of the small structure, where there’s a window at shoulder height. I reach into my backpack and find what I call my “corner periscope,” a device that’s really a lot like a dentist’s tool — it’s a thin piece of metal with a small round mirror at the end. The metal is bendable so I can adapt it to just about any kind of space. It’s best for looking around corners when you don’t want to be noticed but in this case I use it to look inside the window.

Well, well. A bunch of late-nighters. I’ve got all of them in one tidy package. General Tun, Oskar Herzog, and Andrei Zdrok stand over a worktable studying maps. Eddie Wu sits on a stool in the corner looking as if he’s about to nod off. And lying on a couch, barely awake, is Yvan Putnik.

I’m extremely tempted to lock and load and end it here and now. I press my implant and ask for Lambert.

“I’m here, Sam. What is it?”

I type in a text message: I HAVE ZDROK, HERZOG, PUTNIK, TUN, AND E WU TOGETHER IN CONVENIENT TARGET LOCATION. SHOULD I?

After a moment, Lambert says, “Do you know what they’re planning to do with the nuke and the MRUUV?”

I respond: NOT YET.

Lambert says, “Then you’d better wait. Please proceed with the primary directive. Then get the hell out. We’ll leave that other thing for the U.S. military. It’s not your job, Sam.”

Oh, man. Putnik is the one I really want. It’s my deepest desire to make the guy suffer for what he did to Katia. As I curse Lambert’s orders, I put the corner periscope in my trouser pocket and activate the T.A.K. on my Five-seveN. I aim it at the window and listen in on the conversation. Since the general can’t speak Russian and the Shop guys can’t speak Mandarin, they’ve opted for very bad English.

TUN:… they tell me submarine Mao do reach American west coast seven day.

HERZOG: Are you sure about that, General? Only seven days?

TUN: Mao is fast submarine we have. Xia-class.

ZDROK: I was impressed with how it looked today when it left the pen.

TUN: It beautiful boat. New diesel-powered sub very nice, too. United Nations not know about.

They do now, I think.

ZDROK: So, General, I believe this finishes our business together. You have the warhead my comrade General Prokofiev supplied to you, you have all the pieces of Operation Barracuda and they appear to be working, and now Mr. Herzog and I would like to leave you with your plans. That final payment…?

TUN: It is done. Here receipt for wire transfer into Swiss bank account.

ZDROK: Oskar, take a look, is this in order?

HERZOG: Appears to be. The figures are correct.

TUN: You not see Barracuda work, Mr. Zdrok?

ZDROK: Uh, no, General, I got here after your sub left.

TUN: Please. Allow me show. Come see before you go.

ZDROK: (big sigh) All right. Yvan, wake up. The general wants to demonstrate his new toy. Eddie, you coming?

WU: (grumbles, unintelligible)

I hear them shuffling about and finally all five men leave the structure and walk toward sub pen number two. I wait until they’re inside and then move around the back of the building. By doing so I discover metal rungs attached to the side of the structure, obviously there so soldiers can climb to the roof if they need to. I ascend to the top and come face-to-face with an infantryman who is very surprised to see me.

“Hello,” I say as I swing the butt of the QBZ-95 around and into his face. The guy plummets to the metal roof, making a bit more noise than I’d like. I quickly roll him against a ventilation pipe to conceal him a little and dump the Chinese rifle in the shadows. I don’t need it as long as I have my SC-20K.

There’s an open trap in the roof near the ventilation pipe. I look inside and see rafters along the underside of the ceiling. Perfect. I slip inside like a snake, grab hold and straddle a rafter beam, and scoot away from the opening. I’m now in the darkness and can see everything happening below me. General Tun has led his spectators to the front of the Xia-class sub and is directing soldiers to bring out equipment. A long coffinlike trunk is placed on the platform that runs alongside the boat. Inside is one MRUUV and it looks just like the one Professor Gregory Jeinsen drew up in the Pentagon. It’s long and cylindrical, about six feet long and maybe three feet in diameter — kind of like a cigar holder with flat ends instead of rounded ones. I aim the Five-seveN, adjust the T.A.K. frequency, and listen in.

ZDROK: So that’s it, huh. This is what all the fuss was about?

HERZOG: It’s a marvelous invention, Andrei. It’s beautiful.

ZDROK: How many of these things can your subs carry?

TUN: Launch from torpedo tubes. Mao has three Barracuda. Like this one.

ZDROK: Okay, so one of the MRUUVs has the warhead. What do the other two have?

TUN: Nothing! They decoy.

HERZOG: When do you plan to make your announcement to the United States, General?

TUN: When Mao reach target area. Seven day.

HERZOG: And you really plan to use it if they don’t let you take Taiwan?

TUN: (nods enthusiastically) No more Disneyland! Boom!

ZDROK: What will you do if the United States comes down on you before then?

TUN: “Comes down…”?

ZDROK: Attacks you. What if they attack you first?

TUN: (laughs) You funny man, Mr. Zdrok. Joke, right?

Whoa. I get it now. The general isn’t planning to use his nuke on Taiwan at all. He’s using the MRUUVs to deliver the weapon as close as possible to a major American city on the west coast. Los Angeles, from the sound of it. And that’s his insurance policy for attacking Taiwan. He’ll let us know that the weapon is in place and will be detonated if we try to stop him from invading the little island. Since they’re using a submarine to launch the MRUUV, it’s going to be difficult as hell to track it. From what I understand of the MRUUV technology, it can be shot from the sub’s torpedo tube and then be guided remotely to its final destination. The sub doesn’t even have to be in American coastal waters; it can sit right on the edge of the international boundary and do its thing. Ingenious.

It’s time to get out. I begin to scoot backward along the rafter beam toward the opening when I hear a rumble down below. An entire platoon of armed men barges into the place. The sergeant runs to another uniformed officer, who in turn whispers something to the general. Then everyone looks up at the ceiling as the general is escorted out of sight.

Shit.

Did they find the guard I knocked out earlier? Or the guy on the roof? They’re sure acting like they know someone’s up here.

A soldier brings out a searchlight, sets it on the platform beside the sample MRUUV, switches it on, and shines it at the ceiling. He slowly moves it along each beam as every man in the place studies what it reveals. I stay perfectly still and pray that not too much of my body extends beyond the outline of the beam I’m on.

Another couple soldiers bring in a device that looks familiar. In fact, it’s the boom box sonic transmitter I saw